Traveller: Striker 1e Playtest!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STRIKER
WARS

AN UP THE BLUE! LIMITED 
Production

Well, to me, it is OK to mix genres that entered my little young life at around the same time - 1980-ish. It is likely that I bought the game [or convinced mom to buy it for me] because of the box image and description, and it was certainly at the old Allied Hobbies at Montgomeryville Mall in Montgomeryville, PA, USA, where it was purchased:

Like many wargame projects from middle school, I found myself a bit overwhelmed at the complexity of the rules, commitment to sports and that fascinating discovery... girls!  Still, the sci-fi genre was firmly established as a creative outlet orienting around the future. Nevermind that so little of it makes any sense realistically or scientifically or what have you - stories get TOLD in the Far Future, whether it is A long time ago or 5,000 years into the future in the Traveller Universe.

Below, Ral Partha and Martian Metals figs, mercs and Zhodani respectively.  I painted them at the time with Testors enamels, and today they are mounted on bases that cost exactly 1 cent!

It was a long time coming, with several false starts - I would read through part of the books, then find that as much as I LOVED the first several pages, including the strong narrative of a game, I couldn't push on into the mechanics. 

The last strong attempts were made in spring of 2020, during "The Late Craziness" as I like to call it [CLICK], followed by a break of at least two years. Then, there was a sudden, unexplained urge to get into 1e Traveller in winter of 2023 which pushed me to get moving on my Striker forces [CLICK]. That has gone quite well, and with regular forays into the Traveller-verse I finally built up enough drive to [again] pick carefully through the rules and create a Player's Aid, which I find essential for these old rule sets.  And thus a 4th or 5th draft that was workable was completed:

...and it only has a few key items that were overlooked, which will be corrected - more on this anon!

With a draft in hand, and some encouragement and assistance from similarly afflicted gamers over at the Fb page [CLICK], I finally found the stars aligning [pun intended] to throw down an initial playtest. I used Scenario #7: Flank Attack from One-Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas. While there are MANY scenarios suitable for modern combat in that amazing book, this one suited my availability and the CONOP that was in my mind: a small force of 20 Strikers against 37 Zhodani Home Defense Soldiers. 

As I was putting the scenario together, I then realized I needed a worksheet, one that I would continuously refer to and create from. This is due to the ruleset ultimately being an elaborate tool for a Traveller RPG Referee / GM. This was also done, with the momentum picking up as I got closer and closer:

This involved quite a bit of work, as a first-timer with the rules, to decide on weapons that were different from each other but comparable in lethality and range, along with armor, organizing squads and teams, etc. Going forward, it will be a lot easier to use the worksheet as well as modify the weaponry.

What yet *another* task complete, I put the forces onto the table, impatiently tossing some adequate and unimpressive terrain down so I could FINALLY get this 40+ year project going!  And here we go...

Scenario #7 is quite simple: two equal forces face each other, one on a large, strongly defended hill that is pinned by enemy to the front while a flanking force attacks on the right flank [shaded area]. As this did not suit my figure collection, or my desire for an asymmetric fight, I created a Zhodani Home Defense Conscript force of two Sections, 37 figs in four TL 12 Squads.  S1 top, S2 bottom, PL to left.

And a quick close-up of the Martian Metal figs. They are solid, not spectacular.

This faced a smaller attacker composed of 20 Picked TL10 mercenary Strikers [how fitting!]. I organized them into a Section of 2 Squads. Top is Squad 2, average quality to be the base of Fire, bottom is Squad 1, High IN to maneuver better:

At center is the PL with some more shooters. Bottom is the Assault suits:

Below is the Platoon Leader with a Team:

Below are the shooters for the base of fire. Great sculpts, as you'd expect from RP!

This match-up is very much in the theme of the rules, as well as making things interesting. Can a smaller, lower Tech Level force win a fight against a larger, higher TL force that is almost twice as big? Let's see how the Striker 1e engine works here!

I set up per the scenario, with all Zhodani upon the hill, altho I gave them a likely deployment of two teams covering the road, with the PL's Team and 1 Squad in reserve, back of the plateau. 1 Section below, 1 Squad back, 2 Squad up:

2 Section on the right, with 1 Squad top of hill, 2 Squad covering the road. Behind is the Rally Point, the 2nd Transcendental Center of Elbiz, in the Sword worlds.

I also decided to give the Zhodani Camouflage, a penalty of -2 to Spot them. Until you Spot the enemy, you can only use Recon by Fire, which has a large penalty.

For the attacking Strikers, I put the base of fire on the small hill, three teams to pin down the Zhodani Home Defense Force:

This included 2nd Squad and the PL's Team.  1st Squad is prepared to attack the Flank from the cover of concealing terrain.

For terrain, all hills and the two templates, and all green bushes are Concealment. This gives a 1 bonus to troops in them for morale, and a 1 penalty for Spotting and Fire against them. More importantly, it prevents them from being automatically Spotted, which turns this into a deadly game of shoot'n seek! 

The fight developed gradually. 

As all were Concealed and Stationary, they needed an 8+ on 2d6 to Spot each other at least; the Zhodani were also Camouflaged, which made it a 10+! This would drop by 2 for either side if the Team Fired. Interesting point of dice-rolling friction, the Zhodani failed to Spot any Merc Teams [abysmal rolling, a 3, 5, and 6] while the Mercs managed to Spot one Zhodani Team, rolling an 11! They proceeded to Hit 2 and Forced Back the other 2. Immediately, I noticed that Recruits were easily Removed on any Wound, Light or Serious. "I got an owie - bye!"

Having fired upon the Zhodani, their Spot number went down to 6+, and the Zhodani managed to spot 1 [ONE!] Team. This team withstood the Fire quite well, taking one Light Wound. In Turn, the Mercs then began to Spot more and more Zhodani, as they were Firing, so were an 8+ to Spot. 

The Fight then quickly escalated!

After 2-3 Turns, the Zhodani and Mercs had a solid firefight going across the valley. But the combination of higher individual Quality and Team Initiative Forced Back or Routed 3 of 4 Z Teams from the fight - and the 4th was Suppressed. The Mercs sustained a Serious and Light Wound, not much to attain Fire superiority and inflict 13 casualties! 

As a result [below], the Zhodani had to use a Code Word ["Ephemeral"] to start the advance of their Squad 1 reserve, and the PL with his Team of 3.  This gave the Merc Squads confidence to also Move up using Code Word "Starbird".

This turned out to be a bit of an error - by moving 4/5 of the Merc Teams, they lost their Overwatch / Defensive Fire, and made it too easy for the Zhodani to advance as well. Below, 2 Squad's advance:

Below, 1 Squad's advance to the edge of their Concealment.

Below, the last Team of 2 Section is encouraged to see the PL's Team advancing!

...While 1 Squad fills the gap left by 3 Squad's hasty retreat! A Suppressed Team is all that is left opposing the Merc advance into the valley.

Below, remnants of 3 Squad, lightly Wounded Regulars.

Another Turn sees the Zhodani reserves in position.

But so are the Mercs! First Squad below...

...and second squad.  Advancing put their ACRs into Effective Range. 


The game requires markers for status, or use of a roster. This greatly enables it to feel more real, but some don't like markers or rosters. Rosters is likely easiest, fastest and most realistic - you can keep hidden info hidden from opponent. 

This time, it was easier to spot everyone, as the rolls were 6+ due to the Moving. Another sharp firefight developed, and the Zhodani again got the worst of it. This resulted in several more Wounded Soldiers, and several more Routs.

As I didn't have a "Force Morale Check" number in mind, I just conceded for them when only the Elite and Veteran Leaders were left, with the PL Seriously Wounded.

This was a fascinating playtest!  A simple firefight in the brush, looked and felt very realistic. Definitely made me think - "army".

Positives:

- GREAT FEEL! The varied wounding of Soldiers helps you to realize how a few people hold a small Unit together and keep fighting while others leave. This is clearly designed for the RPG Gamemaster / Referee, and is similar to the possibilities latent in Larry Brom's "The Sword and the Flame", where they encourage you to run a platoon of 20 men all with names, tracking wounds, etc.

- Weapon capability shapes decisions and tactics. Their relative effectiveness does also. The Zhodani 4mm Gauss rifle outranged and out-powered the TL10 9mm Advanced Combat Rifle; the Mercs had to use Disposable Sabot rounds to counter them. They need rifle grenades [next fight!].

- Detection and Spotting. The Spotting mechanics shape a firefight's development; this also gives great feel. 

I was hoping that the Zhodani weapons would enable them to hang tough, but the opening 5 v. 3 Teams firefight went decisively in the Mercs favor due to spotting rolls and the Wound rules. 

- The Order rules force you to actually make a plan ahead of battle [just like real life]. To some extent, this is aided by Code Words. But again, there's great feel when the Leader giving the Code Word and the Unit(s) receiving it have to do *nothing* else. You can imagine the guy ordering "Cease Fire, Cease Fire!  Codeword *Hawk* Execute!" or something.

Negatives:

- The game is status marker heavy... there are ways to reduce this, but probly a roster will be a must [this also more realistically conceals info from opponent] 

- The rules are text-heavy with no bullets. I made a Player Aid / summary sheet.  The good news is that if you don't make it complicated with lots of gear and gadgets, it won't be very complicated; once you've played a certain matchup, it's a lot easier. You can gauge your game play and target audience - if they like the nuance of gear, it's there. If not, you can make a scenario as simple as the one in the book.

- They play best cooperatively, or with a referee for optimal "feel".

- The rules are a bit demanding. 

OTOH, they reward the time and effort put into learning them and the nuances of gear / tactics interacting.  I like this, some prefer more "game in their game" and want this abstracted. However, simpler games can become repetitive unless there's an RPG / Character aspect, or interesting scenarios are brought forwards.

- The RPG aspects require more time / effort to manage. Presently, there is no way in the rules to not use them. One has to modify it like any diligent GM.

Overall, it felt quite real, partially because there's a lot of professional instead of "game" language in the rules, but also because it is a more granular game: you game out the wounding and removal of Soldiers, the relative effectiveness of weapons, and Spotting is important - you can get some free chicken with good spotting rolls, but then you have to work that advantage into Fire Superiority. Just like real life, at certain Tech Levels the battlefield becomes a bit "empty" and detection is a significant issue. This can be aided with gadgets like Infra-red, etc.

The total experience of getting this game going reminded me a lot of my mom's cooking. She was a serious cook, and used old-school complicated recipes from Betty Crocker. Sure, it takes more work up front to make Beef Wellington with Napoleon's for dessert. However, it is more flavorful to be eating Waterloo! This is just what this game was like - flavorful.

Basically, the RPG aspect gives it a lot more "feel", and pressure the gamer / PL to push on to get into better range, better terrain, work for Fire superiority, maneuver against the objective, etc.  While they represented a fair amount of work for me to set up and execute the first time, it will be only a small fraction of that effort next time, and there WILL be a next time, I assure you!

"Up the Blue!" 3 Playtests

Somewhere on a Hill in 1940...

...the fate of France is being determined.

For the same reasons as ever - a playable set of WWII rules that easily accommodate my - and everyone else's - Flames of War armies, I'm now playtesting "Up the Blue!" WWII with an assortment of grognards I've accumulated over the years. Some I've known for 40+ years, some for less.  But all have one thing in common... they have the WWII armies, but they don't have a set of rules they want to play, so they collect dust in storage bins.

We quit FoW III when we realized that we were never going to get the rules down, even after lots of effort.  It was also exhausting to play, and took too long for a full game.  Also, there were plenty of things I disliked about them, especially the unrealistic micro-managing of Units two levels or more below the command level. There was also a lot of false differentiation, or unneeded differentiation, redundancy of factors [that often cancelled each other out], and over-engineering of, well, just about everything.  All of which caused the groups playing it to give up eventually. I don't know anyone who regularly plays v.4, and I refuse to buy more rules and all those cards for what they claim is a streamlined game.

Anyway, among the senior grognards, I found some willing playtesters. The incentive was one fellow discussing selling off his [FoW] WWII armies, as he just wasn't using them.  I said I was interested, BUT why not try my rules first?  If they suited, he'd have a set of rules that played painlessly enough to provide lots of enjoyment in small time spaces using "One-Hour Wargames" which he said he had [somewhere]. He agreed, and we conned another fellow into trying out "Up the Blue!" as well, since he has an even large collection that don't get used.

To get the ball rolling, I used an old favorite, Scenario #4 "Take the High Ground". Having played / run it at least 30 times, I appreciate the multitude of decisions it presents player with, using only one hill and one woods as key terrain. With the mechanics of UtB! as designed, a simple scenario becomes rich with possibilities, altho the enemy always gets a vote! Our host put down the small amount of terrain necessary, I marked out the board edges [the table was a lot bigger] and he chose French v. Germans from his extensive collection - so it was off to fall, 1940 we went!

Below, is around Turn 3. Attacking French are pushing hard against the objective, threatening both flanks. Dug-in Germans are outnumbered 3-2, which isn't really enough except that there are Mortars, ATGs and Tanks adding a few casualties here and there. ATGs are also on overwatch against the Road.

French have moved left platoon into Close Combat range, and the casualties will significantly increase.

View from the French Mortars [which are really 75s]. Their support will be essential to "Take That Hill!"  In the distance, German Infantry hasten to reinforce the objective - but will they make it in time to contest it?  The French must have "exclusive occupation of the hill" to win.

The battle develops. Turn 5, the German reinforcements are playing hide'n seek around the woods. The Tanks are clearly nervous in the service about the significant AT assets on the other side, the French Tank Unit and the ATG Unit. French Mortars and ATGs are supporting the objective with Fire while an Infantry platoon moves to reinforce it. French Spotter has a choice - call the Mortars on the objective, or against the reinforcing Infantry moving in the open?

This fight progressed nicely, with both sides feeling out the scenario and the rules. There were plenty of opportunities to discuss choices, like the Germans deployed on the back of the hill in defilade to reduce the amount of Direct Fire they took and reduce the effectiveness of the Indirect Fire.  But that's not the only way to do it.

As the game plays pretty quickly, and we had time, we played again, keeping the same sides as both wanted to try a different plan. This time, the Germans deployed in two layers, Dug-in, with both  Infantry platoons on the front side of the hill, with line of sight to the approaching French. This time, the French put their tanks up close to the action, on the left. The Mortars supported from the woods [you can see their template paper on the Germans] and the ATGs interdicted the road.

The Germans opted to similarly deploy their ATGs and Mortars, and sent both the reinforcing Infantry and Tanks to support the hill.  As the Germans have already lost the front Infantry platoon, this is a good idea! Being in defilade reduces your firepower forward, but preserves your troops - the opposing infantry can't engage you across the military crest until you are in Close Combat Range.

German Tanks take a loss from the supporting French Tanks [yellow marker]. French Infantry are executing their company attack with closely supported platoons on a narrow frontage. This is only possible because the German Mortars can't get effective IF raining down upon them. That would require re-positioning. It appears their Spotter was lost with the front Infantry platoon.

Playtests went well, both players were engaged with making decisions and not with looking things up on charts. They liked that. While there are plenty of decisions to be made, and it takes experience to know when and how to execute key parts of your plan, it never gets bogged down in minutiae - players feel like company commanders, and not like team leaders.

A week or two later, we met up again. This time the Italians defended against the British. Players had switched sides. Defender liked being in defilade, and started with an Infantry platoon and the ATGs on the hill - the Spotter appears to be with the ATGs. 

Attacker concentrated heavily on the left, out of Line of Sight of most of the Italians, and pressured them heavily with Close Combat on each side supported by Tanks, ATGs and the mortars.

The British Spotter is with the ATGs, so has limited vision of the battlefield. Italians are racing two Infantry platoons and the Tanks towards the hill. Their Mortars are behind them, getting set up for some IF support. 

After the Italian ATGs were taken out by an Infantry platoon in Close Combat, that platoon was lost to Italian supporting fire. The Tanks then engaged the Italians in Close Combat, driving them from the field [no pun intended].

Ultimately, this cost the British Tanks some losses, and the Italian Tanks also knocked out a few, it appears. The British were left with their weakened Tank platoon and ATG platoon facing a fresh Italian Tank platoon, Infantry Platoon, and a weakened platoon Dug-in on the hill, not enough to take it.

Below appears to be the end of the game, Italians are holding part of the hill.  Either that, or we played a second game, with both sides using a similar plan as first time around.

These playtests went well. Both sides picked up the rules quickly and enjoyed focusing on their plan and their decisions. While die-rolling is always a factor, neither player rolled particularly hot or cold, altho there were a few rolls that beat the average, both ways.

From these two runs, I got more confidence to clean and streamline a few more mechanics and explanations, as well as keep a few mechanics the same [that I was wondering about changing].  What to keep in and what to drop are always the most difficult final decisions with a game design, I find.  I console myself with putting some nifty mechanics [that complicate things a bit] into an "advanced or optional rule" section, while I try to stay focused on delivering the most important aspects of combined arms WWII tactics into the table.

A few weeks later, I was invited to throw a playtest with some pretty experienced gamers with whom I had never played. This is always an exciting opportunity, as one tends to get some unexpected input with a "cold" playtest.

The table was set up for Eastern Front WWII micro-armor, and the host had a nice snow cloth with the Germans defending a ridgeline against an advancing Russian horde, while the German Fire Brigade units raced to reinforce them. Below, the Russians are developing their attack. With little in the center, they essentially have two independent commands with limited ability to support each other, besides some long-range gun fire and the Mortars.

The Germans on the right are set up in the town and woods. The "X" marks the spot - the objective - the Russkies are trying to seize.

On the left, the Russians race forwards, and take some powerful hits from the defending Germans, who are Dug-in and Ready to receive them. They are still contesting the town, even though T-34s burn at the top of the pic.  But their Commissar is "encouraging" them to keep moving forwards.

On the right, the Russians establish a strong base of fire, and begin grinding down the German defenders. Things aren't looking good, so the Germans shift their Infantry from the woods to the town, but take some Mortar fire along the way, dashing down the road in the open between the woods and town.

Above, the Russians put a lot of pressure on the Germans, and destroyed an Infantry platoon. They closed in, but at just the decisive moment, a German tank platoon arrived and began knocking out their Tanks! The Germans and Russians were locked in a see-saw scrap that was uncertain when the game was called.

The 88 ATG that showed up did not do a lot in the center, and was knocked out by mortar fire. The Russians in the center contested that objective, but Germans were pressing them hard, and it was hard to tell what might happen.

On the left, the Germans are held their own. The Russians settled in, however, and laid a lot of fire down on them. Eventually, the casualties the Russians took racing forwards told against them, and when the German reinforcements arrive they are stalled outside the town, unable to contest the objective.

This was an interesting playtest to watch. I didn't have to explain a lot once they got going. A couple of the guys picked up the rules quickly and helped me explain mechanics periodically.  The scenario was similar to #4 and #8, but they were not identical. It's always hard to get play balance just right. However, the general concession was that the Russians could have won with a different plan, most likely the two forces fighting for the center and one flank objective.

I left it with the host that we could try again in the future if he wished, and offered to bring my 15mm desert forces.  Some more incentive to get the last of the British mounted and the tank decals on!

This all went very well.  I feel like there was substantial progress made with me understanding the strengths of "Up the Blue!" with new and experienced players alike. Generally, those who "get it" really like it, and that's good to see.

Now, to get some more figures done!

"Up the Blue! WWII" Revisited & OHW #14 Static Defence

"Ciao! We are preparing to see off those pesky 'Limeys'...

...and then have a very fine dinner!"

Did a couple of playtests with the 2020 draft of these rules... the last time I seriously worked on them! I blame the CHI-FLU years entirely, as lots of things just got forgotten about, including all my WWII figures, projects and rule sets. 

D--n CHICOMs...!

Anyway, here we are today, with two playtest using One-Hour Wargames #14 "Static Defence" under the belt, and some work streamlining, simplifiying, clarifying all going well.  I can't really complain that I haven't had enough time to look at the rules with a fresh eye! The scenario has equal attacking and defending forces of six Units each. However, the Red defender has to keep two units on each objective, the town and the hill.  There are two Units that are free to move around. The attacking Blue player has the option to attack either objective. The main difference between the two objectives is that the Town acts as Cover for a defending Unit within it, while the hill is only helpful if the defender is a Tank Unit, as it can go Hull Down. In both cases the casualties are halved in the original rules.

Below, the British force. I'm almost ashamed to display them, but time is limited and I'm forced to use my partially painted Crusaders, aka "Cruds" and two units of Blackshirt Italians as the Motor Infantry. There's three platoons of regular old Cruds and one of Close Support Cruds, that function in the game as a Tank platoon in all respects except that it Fires as a Mortar.

Below, the Italian force, for which I should express some modest embarrassment at having to use gun platoons from my continental Italian company, as I still haven't finished the Bersaglieri gun platoons. But anyway, two tank platoons, two Infantry platoons, an ATG platoon and a Mortar platoon. A nice balanced force able to meet multiple threats.

I then did a first playtest and had a bunch of ideas for improvements, mostly subtle but still important. I didn't take any pics of that fight.

Below, the end of the second playtest, using a somewhat re-drafted 2020 set of rules. This was a debacle for the Italian defenders, largely due to bad die rolling and a couple of bad decisions. The British got a tank platoon on the hill for a win, AND contested the town with a platoon of Motor Infantry. 

The Italians contested it with a platoon of Tanks. Still, both Units had 6 Hits and the supporting Cruds 5 Hits, so anything may have happened on the next player turn with the town. Most likely, both Units would have been eliminated and the Cruds would have occupied the town and gotten their first bath in a few weeks!

A number of small but complicating mechanics were removed. I made the hard choices instead of splicing hairs, mostly by using one modifier with several single conditions, i.e. if you're firing on the move OR firing at long range, you are penalized once, instead of adding the two together. Also, I found easier ways to incorporate things that I feel *really* matter, and most of all I obeyed Neil Thomas' design goal to only stress the big things - most of the little things are adjusted by soldiers and largely cancel out based upon the relative Quality of the opponents.

I was very pleased with the changes, which after aggressive decisions and clean re-writes not only kept the basic rules at 5 pages, but I was able to go from 11 to 12-font Ariel, since I had cleared out a few things!

Finally it was time to unveil the rules in a full post. 

Below, the end of Turn 1.  

Italians have Mortars behind the crest of the hill with the command team spotting at the crest [can't be spotted themselves]. In front, an Infantry platoon is Dug-in, and also Ready [on overwatch]. Some ATGs are in the center rear, facing the likely avenue of approach to the left. below them are a Tank platoon with another behind the town; in the town the other Infantry platoon.

The British had an interesting deployment: altho halve of each force is on either side of center, most of their force on the right is already engaged - two Tank platoons and an Infantry platoon. The CS Cruds are center-left with Line of Sight [LoS] to both objectives, a powerful asset in either case. One Infantry platoon is racing forward to the heavy brush dead ahead, with the final Tank platoon moving rapidly up the left to prevent reinforcements from shifting towards the town. Altho they are fighting to the right, the British can still shift to the left quite quickly if needed, as they have trucks and tanks.  The Italians are playing the same game with their ATGs, which can Fire into the open spaces on either side of the center brush [it acts like a wood, basically].

Turn 1 ended with some solid hits on the right-most Italian and British Tanks, and the Italian Mortars thrashing the British Infantry by Ranging-in and dumping a well-placed barrage on the British moving in the open desert.

Above: the white 100m x 50m card is the sheaf for the Mortar barrage.

Turn 2 ended with the Italian Tanks behind the town almost being wiped out at 6 / 7 Hits, while the British Infantry on the right were forced to Rally as their fellows dashed up the middle to gain a fire position in the heavy brush at center.

The Italian Mortars only got a hit and the British rallied it off. The left Crusader platoon used a Tactical Move to approach the Dug-in Bersaglieri at the hill.

At the objective, the Bersaglieri are in good shape, while their Tank support has moved behind the town to Rally in future turns sheltered by the other Tank platoon and the ATG's. Those will prevent the British from dashing up the open space near the town, as there'd be some serious damage, most likely.

Turn 3 was a "Respite" as there was a net tie on the Initiative roll. Everyone benefited from having a chance to rally, and all the dust was removed.

Some good Rallying by the British has them ready for action again!

Turn 4, the Italians seized the Initiative and chose to keep it. 

Turn 4 saw the left Crusader platoon engage the Bersaglieri at the hill objective. They *just* managed to stay out of LoS of the ATGs, and they outrange the infantry a bit, altho the Fire isn't decisive as they are Dug-in.  At the town objective, the British advance everyone and put a lot of Fire on the Infantry in the town and the center Tank unit. 

For the Italians, their center Tanks fought back, along with the Infantry, and the Mortars provided some more Hits on the advancing British Infantry. The other Tank platoon rallied quite well and was almost in perfect shape after their near-brush with death early in the fight!

Below, the British Infantry are almost done with 5 / 7 Hits, while the Cruds next to them are at 4 / 7 Hits.  Fortunately, for Turn 5, the British seize the Initiative!

On the left, the Cruds advanced to attack the rear of the Italian Tanks, and scored three Hits on the move! They were met with weak Fire from the ATGs on overwatch.

The Bersaglieri missed, and the British continued to Fire upon the defenders to some effect while moving forward one Crud platoon.

Then, the second Crud platoon advanced and knocked out the Tanks huddled behind the heavy brush, eliminating that platoon! The British Infantry were able to advance out of the Mortar barrage, which failed to Range-in on their new position farther forwards. 

Thanks to the Mortars, the Tanks and the weakened Infantry, they were able to push the Bersaglieri in the town to 7 Hits, and they withdrew from the field in good order, leaving the Tanks to hold the town.

"Give'em hot lead Lads!" shouts the grizzled sergeant leading the Rifles. And they do, and the town is now empty!  But can they exploit this opportunity?

Turn 6, and the forward advance of the Motor Infantry is halted for them to Rally and reorganize a bit, and they are again Hit with Mortar Fire.  

The end of Turn 6 sees the British mostly in a cautious advance, while the Italian Tanks occupy the town, driving carefully down the road. While they are able to see the Brit Infantry and vice-versa, none of the Brit tanks can see them, not having a good view down the road. They will need to re-position and support the Infantry's drive into the town.

Turn 7 is another Respite. This mostly helps the British, who have a few Units with Hits, while the remaining Italians are in good shape altho outnumbered 6-4.

Turns 8-9 see the British dashing after the objective!  They speed Tank and Infantry platoons forwards [altho the Infantry roll a '1' and only advance a few inches]. 

The British keep the pressure up but tank some Hits along the way, and both the lead Crud and Motor platoons are nearly spent at 5 /7 and 6 / 7 Hits - can they seize the objective before they are destroyed? 

Turn 9, on the left, the Cruds put the pressure on the Bersaglieri by the hill, with the help of the CS Cruds - getting them to 5 / 7 Hits. If they can destroy that platoon, there is still time for the hill to be seized if the Town objective doesn't work out.

Turn 9, at the town, the Brit Motor Platoon finds it's speed and rolls a '6' to dash into the town!  They are now in Close Range of the Italian Tanks. This is a big help as the other two platoons failed their Quality Tests and had to Rally.

Turn 10, the Italians seize Initiative from the Brits!  They choose to retain it, as they will, overall, be able to give a better fight for the town.

On the left, the ATGs and the Bersaglieri manage to knock out the Crud platoon, mostly thanks to the ATGs rolling for perfect Hits and the Bersaglieri getting that last 7th Hit before the Cruds could rally in their Turn. Avanti Savoia!

In and around the town, a furious close fight ensues, with Mortars landing, tanks firing at Close Range, the infantry fighting from the buildings [not pictured].

British Turn 10, the Motor Platoon dashes forwards, passing their Quality Test to assault the Tanks. Both the other platoons have to Rally, so they're on their own!

End of British Turn 10, and the town is still up for grabs, with a single Italian Tank platoon holding off four British platoons, two of which are close to spent.

A series of Close Combats leave the Italian Tanks 1 Hit from departing the field, while the surrounding British are all battered.

The Mortars wipe out one Motor Platoon! But the Tanks are forced to Rally - not entirely a bad thing, as they were at 6 / 7 Hits, and are now at 4.

In the Close Combat Phase, the British go first [as the Reacting Side], and get no less than 4 for 4 Hits, wiping out the Tanks entirely [with a Hit to spare]!

The cheering Riflemen loot the Italian tanks for food and souvenirs, and catch a breather.  The supporting British platoons see the shattered remnants of the Italian carri platoon drive off in a cloud of dust.

Well, that was a dramatic finish!

My combat system, like that in OHW, does allow one to completely miss and has a similar attrition mechanic scaled down to 7 Hits from 15, using 3 dice per Unit [which can decrease to 2 or 1 depending on serious losses].  So altho it works differently, it has about the same elements of predictability with the math.  Occasionally, you get a spectacular miss or hit, but normally Units are inflicting 1-2 Hits, and it takes a few turns [or a lot of firepower] to destroy a Unit quickly.

In this case, the added danger of Close Combat that was initiated by the British Motor Rifles allowed them to up the intensity of the fight and drive the Italian Tanks from the town with just a little help from the nearby Cruds.

This playtest went very well, and I am very pleased with where the rules are. They are a lot more nuanced than the One-Hour Wargames rules that inspired them, but I have managed to stay focused on history, likely outcomes, and make the player's decisions in the scenario the most important factors.

Here, the British chose the closer town as the main objective, and used one Crud platoon very well to keep three platoons busy by posing a genuine threat to the hill objective. This effort was greatly aided by the Close Support Cruds, thanks to their long reach and real danger to ATGs and Infantry [Tanks...not so much].

With no armor to try and take the town back, the Italians faced a slow movement across the open ground North of the heavy brush with the Infantry, and the ATGs would almost certainly have been knocked out by the CS Cruds. The British would be able to sit in place and Rally off a few Hits, preparing for the Bersaglieri counter-attack, and it would not have gone well.  Ergo, the Italians had to concede.

One thing I might have done is put the Italian ATGs closer to the town, ready to fire down the open space between it and the brush. This would have put additional pressure on the advancing Brits, but may have resulted in the Bersaglieri at the hill objective being forced from the field.  Hard to say.

Next, some more blind playtesting is in the works.  LMK if you want to participate in the comments below, giving me an email to contact you.

Until then, I'll be looking for you, "Up the Blue!"!