KG Klink, France, Game 4

[War Panda]

Was very busy today…just got in but I’ll take a look at these in the morning…something to look forward to at breakfast 🙂

“The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad.”

[Ivan Sorensen]

by the by, there’s going to be some nifties soon from me, for Blitzkrieg era battles.

[kyoteblue]

Cool !!

[Just Jack]

Hurry up Commissar, I’m in the middle of Blitzkrieg as it is, I can’t stop now!

Take your time, Panda.

V/R,
Jack

[kyoteblue]

Hurry up Ivan !!! Yeah I know I should be painting T-64s….

[War Panda]

A true Monster post Jack…

 

 “From the way you talk, you want to play a Company-level game (actually, I believe you want to play a Platoon-level game), but be the Company commander, the four Platoon commanders, and the 9-12 Squad leaders.”

In regards to the level of command that interests me most right now I think you’re probably spot on Jack. Actually I do think sometimes that can be influenced by the size or scale of the minis you might be using 🙂

In relation to the nature of “control” or how you might define to “be” (as in ,”be the Company commander, the four Platoon commanders, and the 9-12 Squad leaders”) I don’t believe I want direct control but rather to see their impact on proceedings. The best analogy I could use for my solo games is a movie. The director who from time to time focuses on the activities of especially instrumental NCO’s.

My point is that you look at 5Core and wonder where the leadership is……

……..but they do perform a major function of combat leadership, they keep their unit in fighting shape (by getting ‘free’ rallies).  I also give them bonuses in close combat as another nod towards their above-average combat leadership.”

How do rallies exactly work in your games? Free rallies? Does this mean an special mini that is removed after a free rally?

I picture firing is pretty much an ongoing deal, that the game started about when the firing started, and it’s ongoing, that when a unit activates/reacts to fire we’re simply kind of ‘chalking it up,’ i.e., calculating the results.

Yeah that’s exactly how I imagine things too.

So, from that, it also makes sense to me that there are lulls in firing which my small unit leaders are able to take advantage of and push everyone forward (scurries),

OK…I can accept that explanation…somewhat…;)
I personally would prefer to shutdown the enemy by laying down heavy suppressing fire but your explanations of the mechanics make a lot of sense…

I’m playing a game this evening so I’ll respond with my thoughts after the experience

 

“The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad.”

[Ivan Sorensen]

Don’t get too excited, it’ll be small, but it’ll have some rules tweaks for the period, some suggested gun ratings, brigade commander assets etc.

Regarding squad leaders: You do see their impact. After all, you can pick a squad to move right? 🙂
What /should/ the effect be though?

[Just Jack]

Panda,

“A true Monster post Jack…”
Indeed, sorry man.

“Actually I do think sometimes that can be influenced by the size or scale of the minis you might be using…”
Then you need to pick up some 10mm toys so you can do some proper wargaming 😉

“I don’t believe I want direct control but rather to see their impact on proceedings… from time to time focuses on the activities of especially instrumental NCO’s.:
You are, it’s just that you have to pay an activation point to zoom in, and if you don’t, nothing is going to happen unless he’s a ‘hero’ (more on that in a minute), and even then it’s not a lot (rally).  I think there are other games out there that put more focus on the lower-level leadership than Company Command does, but it doesn’t bother me in these rules as I’m the Company commander (but that’s just me, and, as always, everybody should go and find what they’re looking for).

“How do rallies exactly work in your games?”
Ahh, yes, I do play slightly different than the way the rules are written.  Pinned, Hunkered, and Man-Down units need to be rallied, and this can be done by 1) the CO moving over into base contact (the CO gets a ‘free’ move each turn, doesn’t count as an activation point), 2) a friendly unit moves over into base contact (this costs an activation point), or 3) the pinned/hunkered/man down unit has a ‘hero’ as part of the unit (which I mark with a single-figure stand placed with the squad stand, or with a blue bead on vehicle stands now that I have some tankers with Iron Crosses).  When a unit has  a ‘hero’, every turn he may attempt a ‘free’ (not costing an activation point) rally for his unit.  This is different than the rules, where using the hero is supposed to be a one-time deal, i.e., you use him to rally the unit once and then the hero is removed from play.

My heroes have stamina, and it’s a way that I show better troop quality, i.e., the combat experience the Germans racked up in Poland vs the French wot ain’t been kissed yet.

“I picture firing is pretty much an ongoing deal, that the game started about when the firing started, and it’s ongoing, that when a unit activates/reacts to fire we’re simply kind of ‘chalking it up,’ i.e., calculating the results.”
I would like to modify this, please, as I read it later and thought, “that’s not how I feel about that.”   The first part is correct, I believe that firing is always going on, but I disagree with my own statement regarding rolling fire dice = chalking up the results of that firing.  I don’t feel that rolling the fire dice is chalking up the results of continuously ongoing fire, I believe the continuously ongoing fire is largely ineffective, and the die rolling reflects a leader focusing the unit’s fire (either during their activation or in reaction) at a specific enemy target.

Sorry, just wanted to clear that up, though I’m not sure it’s all that important to what we were discussing.

“I personally would prefer to shutdown the enemy by laying down heavy suppressing fire but your explanations of the mechanics make a lot of sense…”
I understand what you’re saying, but please don’t lose sight of the fact that that’s exactly what you have to do most (5/6) of the time (normal activations and ‘firefights’).  But every once in awhile (1 in 6 chance) you (or the enemy) catch a lucky break which allows you to move troops around and/or rally without drawing effective fire.

As an aside, I can assure that you these lulls happen in real life.  If there’s something perhaps unrealistic/unfair about this rule, it’s that the commander is ‘automatically’ able to capitalize on this lull in the fighting and get people moving and rallied, which is certainly not the case in real life (a lot of times guys just need a break to pound some water, check on their buddies, you’ve got to kick them in the ass to get them back in the game).  So if you want to make it more realistic/difficult, when a player rolls a scurry, make him roll again: on  a 1 or 6, play the scurry as written, on a 2-5 you’re unable to get your men going and the only thing you can do that turn is move your CO (and try to rally if you get him into base contact).

I would say do the same thing with a firefight if you’re really die-hard; it’s another lull, can you get your men firing?  You’ve got a 2 in 6 chance, a 4 in 6 chance of them doing nothing.  Definitely more realistic, but then you’re back to “I’m complaining that I can’t my troops to do anything.”

“I’m playing a game this evening so I’ll respond with my thoughts after the experience…”
Awesome, I can’t wait to hear about it.

Thanks for nothing Commie 😉

V/R,
Jack

[kyoteblue]

I’m jonesing for a new AAR !!

[Just Jack]

Yeah, me too Kyote, but it’s not looking promising. No game this morning, I’m running around all day, and tomorrow’s a big day…

 

Jack

[kyoteblue]

I understand what with the rain tornadoes and humidity , I can’t get any thing done…

[Shaun Travers]

I posted a small Stars Wars space fighter AAR the other day (for a belated May the forth by with you).  Does that count?  And If Ivan is looking at rules for dogfighting with planes, it would translate into space fighters just as well.

[Ivan Sorensen]

I’ve handed off the dog fighting to some barely literate bozo I met online 😉

On the topic of leaders and being one-use, I’ve started treating the one-use specialists in Company Command as Persistent (ala the Brigade Commander persistent assets), giving them a 1 in 3 chance of being “used up” each time they are used.

I imagine I’ll fold that into the main rules to make it official this coming week.

[Just Jack]

Just took a look, pretty cool.  Micromachines, eh?  It seems like everyday I see where one someone that’s been gaming for awhile found something cool for really cheap, but now it’s out of production and costs 10 times as much on Ebay (my personal bane is Takara 1/144 prepainted tanks).

Commissar – I gotcha, like arty  becoming exhausted in Brigade Commander?  But I think, because of my campaign, I’ve got to keep them the way I’ve been playing though, as it seems to me the only explanation for that ‘asset’ going away is that the leader got hit (but the squad/vehicle is still in action).  That doesn’t work for me, I lose my guys fast enough as it is…

V/R,
Jack

[War Panda]

Okay …too nice a day to be indoors today so I didn’t get a chance to try out any gaming; hopefully this evening though…

Ahh, yes, I do play slightly different than the way the rules are written.

Didn’t doubt it for a minute 😉

 1) the CO moving over into base contact (the CO gets a ‘free’ move each turn, doesn’t count as an activation point), 2) a friendly unit moves over into base contact (this costs an activation point), or 3) the pinned/hunkered/man down unit has a ‘hero’ as part of the unit

Now this sounds more like it 😉

I mark with a single-figure stand placed with the squad stand

When a unit has  a ‘hero’, every turn he may attempt a ‘free’ (not costing an activation point) rally for his unit.

I really love the sound of this. You won’t be surprised to find out that I prefer the longevity of your version 😉

Ivan wrote: ” On the topic of leaders and being one-use, I’ve started treating the one-use specialists in Company Command as Persistent (ala the Brigade Commander persistent assets), giving them a 1 in 3 chance of being “used up” each time they are used”

Don’t know if you guys noticed the thread on favourite rule mechanisms I started on the “Unmentionable Site”.  There were some very interesting responses.

One repeated and maybe could be relevant here was Song of Blades and Heroes activation system – roll 1-3 dice to activate a figure; 2 failures ends your turn. You can play it safe and roll 1 die for a figure but that limits what that figure can do. Or you can take a risk and roll more dice and possibly gain more actions.

Adopting this to the present discussion would mean either rolling a single dice, with a single chance of rallying…rallying on 5 or 6?  Two dice obviously doubles the chance of rallying but now the NCO (or whatever) risks losing control of the squad…and the unit being “Out of the Fight” . Not sure what would constitute this result. Perhaps double 1’s or any combination of  1 and a 2 (there has to be at least a one 1 )

Perhaps a do-or die situation requires your commander to push his unit real hard (this is going to work or completely back fire…holding a gun to their heads …maybe not literally 🙂  ) this would allow three dice rolled to rally the troops but the potential two failures represents the unit having heard enough and they completely rebel against his command and are “out of the fight”

OK I’ll be back… 😉

 

 

 

 

 

“The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad.”

[Ivan Sorensen]

Jack – my view of it is not just the leader getting ganked, but also the chance of him simply being exhausted or “past his prime” for the encounter.
I do like the idea of a “battle hardened” hero who provides the bonus consistently, though.

What’s this talk about rolling 2’s? 😉

[Norm S]

Jack – sorry to hi-jack, but this just seems a good place to catch your eye. I know you have left the Poland campaign behind, but this soon to be released Osprey book may be of interest and in any case  the Pz II is relevant to your current actions in France as posted here. The Duel books typically look at the difference in two tank types by looking at an engagement.

 

LINK – https://ospreypublishing.com/panzer-ii-vs-7tp

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