I've tried Don Bailey's STURM rules in a solo format, and they're excellent in that they take much of the decision making away from the player, who is supposed to remain neutral throughout the battle. I recently tried out my own attempts at generating a set of rules for solo action, and this article describes the results. I set up a small encounter of 8 German units advancing against 7 British units. Each unit consisted of a single stand… I tracked its losses, and when the unit took what I considered to be too much damage, it was removed from play: What's the definition of "too much damage". That's a very subjective assessment. It's a function of the scale of the game, the size of the forces, and how long the battle should take. Piling on hit after hit on a unit, and letting it recover, simply lets the game go on interminably. For my solo efforts, I chose the following format. a. Losses came in basic increments of 10 Loss Points (LP) b. When a unit fired, it tossed percentage dice twice, and each time it hit, the target took 10 LP. Thus hitting on each toss resulted in a total loss of 20 LP. c. When 30 LP were accumulated, the target lost one Efficiency Level (EL). The various types of units had different EL's… Infantry: 4 EL Light tank: 5 EL Heavy tank: 6 EL d. When all EL's were lost, the unit was destroyed. Note that a heavy tank could take 60 LP's more than an infantry unit before it was put out of action. In essence, the sequence was an alternate one, to which I added reaction phases. After the regular A-move/B-fire phases, each side was given Reaction Points (RP) permitting it to selectively choose certain units for additional movement or firing. The terrain was pretty bare as is shown on the map. The British were set up defensively, from the town of Krip on the western side of the field, to the town of Pril on the eastern side. Krip and Pril were some 4 feet apart, and the Brits were spread pretty thinly. The Germans first advanced on Kril… 3 infantry units, accompanied by 2 light tanks and one heavy tank, pounded the lone defending British infantry unit. If we follow Bound #3, the 8-phase sequence looks like: a. The Active Side (AS)… in this case, the Germans… moves all its units 5 inches. b. The Non-Active Side (NAS)… the Brits… moves its vehicles (tanks) 5 inches c. AS now selects individual units to either move or fire. Not too many units can be chosen, since there is a limit to the number of units that may act. (i) The first unit is selected, and acts appropriately. (ii) After the first unit acts, there is a 20 percent chance the AS cannot select any further units. (iii) If the AS selects a second unit to act, then there is a 40 percent chance the AS stops. (iv) If a third unit acts, then there's a 60 percent chance… and so on. (v) On Bound #3, during this part of the sequence, the Germans were successful in getting 3 units to fire upon the British unit in Kril, before the dice cut them off. Three units firing produce 6 dice throws, 5 of which were successful, producing a total of 50 LP on the British unit. 1. The first 30 LP resulted in one EL crossed out, with a 20 LP residue, or carryover. 2. Each time an EL is eliminated, the unit receives a casualty marker, and takes a morale check, and here, the defending British unit couldn't hack it… they fell back from the town. d. Once the dice prevent the AS from acting, all NAS units may fire. Here, the Brits, as the NAS, fired away, but despite the 2-dice-tosses-per-unit, were ineffective. e. In this next phase, I tossed in artillery support, plus an air strike… I drew cards from a deck which denoted the side calling on artillery or aircraft. More LP lost, and more casualty markers. f. Now we come to additional movement or firing via the use of Reaction Points (RP). Both sides started out with 10 RP, and in the previous bounds, had used some up. RP are replenishe d each bound, and the Germans now had 8 RP, while the Brits had a total of 9 in the kitty. (i) The AS… the Germans… went first. To issue an order to move or fire, 3 RP are required, followed by a dice toss of 80 or less (indicating the order was successfully received). (ii) The Germans, with 8 RP, issued 2 orders successfully, leaving them with 2 RP in the kitty for next turn. the Brits tried to issue 3 orders, and failed all three 80-percent tests. The orders were never received and the RP were simply wasted. (iii) The German use of RP allowed them to advance south out of Kril, following up and closing with the retreating British unit. g. On this phase, close assault is resolved. The opposing units add their Combat Points (30 for a light tank, 40 for a heavy tank, etc.) to a percentage dice throw, and the higher total is the winner. (i) Despite its losses, the British infantry, which had fallen back out of Kril, repulsed the German attack. (ii) The winning unit, the Brits, took another 10 LP loss. (iii) The losing German unit, a light tank, took a loss of 20 LP, received a casualty marker, and backed up 10 inches. h. In this final 8th phase, all units that lost EL's and took casualty markers, dice for additional losses, which could range from 5 LP to another 20 LP. Note that the above sequence gives both sides opportunities for movement and firing beyond that of the regular You-go/I-go system. The Active Side first moves on Phase (a), and then has additional fire or move on Phase (c). And on Phase (f), there's another chance, via Reaction Points (RP), to move or fire again. The Non-Active Side moves its vehicles on Phase (b), and fires all its units on Phase (d). Then on Phase (f), it, too, can use RP for additional movement or firing. I like the interspersed sequence, as first, one side, and then the other, gets to respond to the actions of the opponent. In a solo gaming atmosphere, it lessens the boring repetition of first-move-one-side's-units, then move-the-other-side's-units, and so on. Back to PW Review March 2000 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Wally Simon This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com