Up the Blue! 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!"!