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A Sergeant’s War Supplement

Tuesday, 12 April 2016 17:11
Written by Mike
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The platoon of Sherman tanks, down to three tracks thanks to landmines and breakdowns, emerged from the wood and accelerated across a clearing. Immediately, the crack of a high-velocity gun cut through the air. Sergeant Glen, peeking out of the turret hatch of Daisy Darling, reflexively ducked. He scanned the far side of the field, looking for an AT gun emplacement or an enemy tank. Another round cracked and Mobile Macy, about fifty yards to his right, lurched to a halt and leaked flame and smoke.

A third round cut overhead. Over the intercom he heard the driver say a prayer and his gunner curse. There was a killer out there, and they hadn't even managed to spot it yet…

Armored contains scenarios and special rules for use with the WWII small unit game A Sergeant’s War (ASW). The scenarios are perfectly compatible with other wargame rules, of course.

The special rules included here are intended to spice up armor-only games and to add more detail to combined arms games of ASW.

To play all the scenarios in this booklet, you will need a 6’x4’ table (or 3’x’2 if using 6mm figures and half-inch game scale), terrain, and the following vehicles:

US Germany Soviet Union
4x M4 Shermans (75mm) 4x Panthers (A or G) 4x T-34/76
4x M4 Shermans (76mm) 4x Pz IV-H (long 75mm) 3x T-70
2x M10 Wolverines 4x StuG III-G (long 75mm) 4x Su-85
2x M5 Stuarts 2x Marder III (long 75mm)

The scenarios include variants that change the above vehicle quantities and types.

At the end of this booklet, A Sergeant’s War stats for these vehicles are provided at the end of these rules for convenience, as are simple, printable hidden unit counters.

New special rules include:
Vehicle Leaders
Infantry manning Vehicle MGs
Movement in Tight Spaces
Tank vs Man: Overruns
Tank vs Tank: Smoke Dischargers
Tank vs. Tank: Positions in Cover
Tanks and Pinning
Vehicle Special Rules
These various rules add historical detail to different types of vehicles.
Hidden Unit Counters
Simple “limited intelligence” rules so that both sides can use hidden unit counters.

Scenarios: This booklet includes six scenarios in two mini-campaigns. Most of the scenarios feature alternative forces, to increase replay value.

Campaign 1: Tanks and Panzers, somewhere near the Franco-German Border, 1944
Scenario 1: Thrust
US tanks engage the forward elements of a German kampfgruppe.
Scenario 2: Parry
A platoon of Panther tanks plays cat-and-Sherman with a group of 75mm-M4s.
Scenario 3: Lunge
Shermans and M-10s meet Panthers and Panzer IV’s in close terrain.

Campaign Two: Tables Turned, Eastern Front, Summer 1944
Scenario 1: Road Cut
Mixed Soviet armor cuts a road against a weak German blocking force.
Scenario 2: Panzerschlact
Panthers and StuGs counter-attack against defending T-34s and SU-85s.
Scenario 3: Kill the Cat
T-34s hunt a lone Panther.

 

LINK

Introductory A Sergeant’s War

Tuesday, 23 February 2016 09:20
Written by Mike
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I have made a free introductory version of my WWII small unit rules, A Sergeant’s War, available at the Wargame Vault. The introductory version of the game includes the basic rules for infantry combat and two starter scenarios. It is 25 pages long, 19 of which are the rules. The rest are introductory/designer notes, a table of contents, and the scenarios.
It is available HERE

A Sergeant’s War emphasizes troop quality and morale as well as small unit leaders, who help you pass morale tests and withstand enemy fire. You track casualties individually but your minis fight in units of 3-8 troops. A full description of the game can be found here , and a play-by-play run through can be found here.

If you already have the full version of the game, the starter scenarios could still be of use to you.
Thanks for looking!

Rail Gun Starship Rules Updated

Saturday, 16 January 2016 14:14
Written by Mike
2 Comments

Rail Gun playtest version updated

I have updated the playtest version of my spaceship wargame RAIL GUN. Changes to the game are numerous—it’s a different game than when I released the first version.
Players who have already bought the playtest version will find their files updated. Anyone who wants to come aboard now gets the playtest version and will get all the updates, including the final game.
Only $1.99 from the Vault.
Available HERE

The playtest version includes:

Ship data charts
Rules for crew quality, vector movement, and fire combat
Two starter scenarios
Space ship counters so you can play without models

Rules in development include:

Fighters and carrier operations
Planets and orbiting
Boarding actions
Logistics
Campaign play
Lots more ships

RAIL GUN is a medium-complexity game of space ship combat. Dice rolls are done with D6s.
Measurements are in inches or centimeters.

Crew quality plays a big role, affecting movement order and damage control. Fire combat is very
dangerous—guns, missiles, and heavy “ship killers” can quickly wreck your ships. Electronic counter
measures, point defense systems, and agility protect your ships from damage.

The game can be played with any models and background. The game comes with fictional background
fluff, which players can ignore, replace, mutilate, or mock at their discretion.

This is what a ship’s data card looks like:

Escort Destroyer


Some of the ship designs by Andy Nelson of Paper Forge games—these come with the rules, shrunk down to small counters:

Cruiser


Destroyer


A Sergeant’s War Updated

Saturday, 02 January 2016 15:52
Written by Mike
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I have updated A Sergeant’s War by adding a few new rules, refining some of the game mechanisms, and reorganizing the rule book to make it easier to read and reference.  I've added a new scenario (bunker busting!).  I also decided to dispense with the pictures embedded in the text—there’s plenty of pretty eye candy on the internet and, really, are you buying a set of rules online via PDF for the artwork or for the game play?

The rules are available here 

A brief synopsis of the rules:

Fast play—2 hours or less

Easy combat mechanics—infantry fire, anti-tank fire, and close-range firefights all use the same basic to-hit mechanic

Importance of leaders—your squad and platoon leaders are critical to keep your force fighting, but every time they do something significant, they might get hit by enemy fire

Solo-friendly

Emphasis on units over individuals—players focus on the placement of squads, tanks, and heavy weapons, not individual riflemen

Can be played with any scale of miniatures and any type of basing

This book contains:

Rules for infantry and vehicle combat

Artillery and air support

Special terrain rules for bocage, urban combat, fighting in forests, and more

Special combat rules for human wave assaults, night fighting, chaos and confusion, and more

Tips for designing scenarios

8 scenarios

Orders of battle the US, German, Soviet, British, Italian, Japanese, and French armies

Vehicle and gun stats for 1940-1945

Markers for pinned, broken, and other game conditions

 

If you’re on the fence about buying the rules—the wargaming world is not exactly starving for WWII rules!—I will be releasing a free, introductory version of the game soon and will announce the release here.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Inexpensive 15mm Painting Service

Saturday, 10 October 2015 09:00
Written by Mike
3 Comments

If anyone is interested in quick, relatively inexpensive “table top standard” painting (ie, painting that looks good on the table at normal gaming distances), here are some pictures of what I can paint in 15mm. I can do this fairly quickly and would be willing to do WWII and other simple uniforms at $1.25/figure. For more complex uniforms, including lots of camo, $1.50/each.

I can do regular basing (with various types of flock), as seen here, for free (other than the bases themselves). I can also do the prep on the minis, and am willing to discuss either doing it for a small fee or for free, but factored into the completion time.
I can also paint armor; please email to discuss rates. Estimate $10-$12/vehicle, more if with complex camo scheme.

I can provide free infantry samples, minus the S&H; PM or email me and we'll set up mailing them to you.

If you’re interested, email me at [email protected]

15mm WWII

15mm sci-fi: Ground Zero Games, Ravenstar, and All Quiet on the Martian Front

 

NOTE: I am less experienced in the complex uniforms of Napoleonics, 18th Century, etc. and make no claims to being able to paint as quickly or that this process would work for those uniforms.

Thanks!