I'm afraid that not all oldies are goodies, especially in the context of wargaming rules. The rules systems of, say, twenty years ago, are far, far, behind those of the present.
As an example, at the mid-February PW meeting, Ben Pecson set up a game of PANZERTROOPS, so-called "adventure game rules", which were published in 1980. Yes, PANZERTROOPS certainly showed its age. It's never untimely to put in a plug for a friend, and so I can say that Ben paints figures, quite reasonably priced, under the name of BRUSH WARRIORS, and can be reached at: 2922 Weisman Road Wheaton, MD 20902
For his PANZERTROOPS presentation, Ben brought along a number of his super-painted 20mm American Marines and Chinese Infantry... his scenario was set in Korea. About 14 Chinese troops were to be hidden on the field, while some 20? 25? Marines were to root them out.
Hill Rankin, Fred Haub and I were the Chinese, and we set up as shown on the map. The entire area was wooded, restricting rifle range - which ordinarily stretched out to 10 inches - to 5 inches. I commanded about half the Chinese, which I set up in the town of Daai Sai, midway in the center of the table. My boys had orders to hold at all costs, which, if one translates this to mean that they were to die in place, they carried out rather well.
The PANZERTROOPS sequence is identical to that employed in the current American Civil War rules, FIRE AND FURY:
- (1) Side A moves
(2) Side B defensive fire
(3) Side A attacking fire
(4) Side B moves
(5) Side A defensive fire
(6) Side B attacking fire
The firing routine consists of 4 phases; for example, if one of my troops fired his rifle at an advancing Marine:
- a. I selected a target within the 5 inch range, and tossed 2 6-sided dice.
b. Each weapon has its own Hit Number which added to the dice toss. For the rifle I added "2". The total was called my Attack Factor (AF).
c. The target man's Defensive Factor (DF) varied; it could be 9, if he was stationary, down to 6 if he was running. If my AF exceeded his DF, he was hit. d.
The target then got a "savings throw". For example, if he was in the open, he tossed 2 6-sided dice, and a 7 or 11 caused the bullet to bounce off.
The above sounds fairly simple, n'est-ce pas? But not necessarily so. For example, suppose one of my troops, on his active phase as Side A, ran forward on Phase (1) of the sequence.
And further suppose that he was fired on during Phases (2) and (6) . As a running figure, his Defensive Factor was, purportedly, a "6". But was it a "6" for the entire sequence cycle, both Phases (2) and (6) ? In other words, did a player have to remember what each of his men had done for the entire bound? Or, perhaps, only for the halfbound?
This may not sound like much to you, but it certainly confused me. And, in fact, it confused our host. Ben had to admit that the rules weren't too clear on this point.
The firing routine did make it possible to target more than one man for rapid-firing weapons. For example, the rifle had a Hit Number of 2, while the BAR had a Hit Number of 3.
The BAR-man could target two figures... he could split his Hit Number of 3 into two parts, a 1 and a 2. Then he'd toss the dice for each of his targets, adding the 1 to one throw, and the 2 to the other.
The same held true for the light machine gun, which had a Hit Number of 4 and could fire at 3 separate men. Heavy machine guns could split their Hit Number of 6.
You'll note that the sequence provides for two fire phases for each side during the bound. Which means that twice a bound, we Chinese traded fire with a superior force.
Bill Rankin, a fellow Chinese commander, had one lonely point man in the town of Ho Uk. This man, Gau Jai by name, traded fire with about 4 Marines, miraculously survived and took to his heels. No dreams of glory for Gau Jai... he merely wanted to see his family and friends one more time.
Toward the end of the battle, Bill handed control of Gau Jai to me (this was after my entire platoon had been wiped out at Daai Sai), and I promptly put a stop to Gau Jai's retreat. "There are no cowards in Chairman Mao's army," was my comment.
Alas! Gau Jai never did see his family again. Several Marines surrounded him and charged. PANZERTROOPS has no close assault procedure; troops that actually make contact with an enemy simply engage in a close range fire fight following the regular phases of the sequence.
Gau Jai managed to get off one shot for the Chairman before he joined his ancestors.
PANZERTROOPS has no morale procedures, and Ben inserted one of his own: when the non-com of a 7-man platoon was hit, the required dice toss (2 6-sided dice) was a total of 6 or more, otherwise the platoon fell back.
We poor Chinese didn't stand up too well. But then, neither did PANZERTROOPS.
Critical Flaw
And now I must mention one critical flaw in Ben's presentation. There we were with about 20 or so troops per side, fine looking little fellows, each individually based. The firing was fast and furious and most of the time, hit tosses were successful.
And what did we do when a man was hit? You guessed it... we simply toppled him over on to his side. There he lay, a grotesque display of a 20mm figure lying on its side, mounted to a 1-inch washer on its base, with the base sticking way up in the air.
Not a casualty figure in sight! Not a single prone figure on the table-top! All we saw were washers! And this from a Four Star, Class AAA, winner-of-multiple-awards figure painter!!
What is the world coming to? I intend to write Newt Gingrich, for an amendment to his Contract With America, requiring that all who intend to present a skirmish game must ante up, well in advance, proof that they have an adequate supply of casualty figures. I think the Republicans will definitely agree that this is one area in which the federal government must step in. Nothing less than a declaration of martial law is required.
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© Copyright 1995 Wally Simon
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