Long Road....Short Wait

I'm very excited to see how this new game from Flying Pig is coming on. A development from their Platoon Commander series, The Long Road is full on WW3 1985 style with a large number of linked scenarios. Due spring next year and definitely on my present list (I'll invent an extra birthday at the right moment!).

Research or drinking beer?

It is remarkable how in-depth research can appear to the uninitiated as sitting about drinking beer. Indeed, I have been researching very hard and am busy digging up some interesting modern tactical stuff. 

One great source is CALL (Centre for Army Lessons Learned). The 17-02 Newsletter (December 2016) is called "Decisive Action Training Environment at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Vol. XIV: Company-level Combined Arms Maneuver". At JRTC (Combat Training Center, Louisiana) the OPFOR is provided by 1st Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment who rough up in fine style all units put through the training routine. The hard lessons learned are fairly brutal as shown in this example:

How Can I Best Plan Where to Employ My Weapon Systems? ....an infantry company was tasked with establishing a blocking position on a high-speed avenue of approach near Hilltop 95. The company commander was able to position key weapon systems far enough away from the blocking obstacle that they could be effective against the planned targets. One critical deduction missed was that these weapon systems had no line of sight due to vegetation. The enemy was able to move through the blocking position’s dead space and destroy the company.

Other lessons that are really interesting are:

Companies do not identify the ammunition consumption rate required to attain the doctrinal level of effect for a given task for a given time period (they don't brass up the target enough to suppress it effectively).

Platoons and squads do not forecast the impact of moving the ammunition to succeed in achieving the specified task ("ammunition weighs more in person than it does on paper" as it cogently explains).

And the real gold dust for all wargame designers is a table entitled: Analog tool for commander’s reference in determining munitions requirements for a given task (i.e., enemy suppression). Basically this shows realistic ranges and fire suppression rates (effective range with a 50% probability of a hit):

• small arms 200m against troops
• .50 cal HMG 800m vs vehicles
• 40mm GL 400m vs troops/vehicles
• AT4 300m vs vehicles 

The only weapons with a long reach deployed by infantry themselves are 60mm mortars and Javelin missiles.

GZ: Update

I have uploaded the next working version of GZ. This includes rules for sniper units. As you might guess from the picture above, the next section is breaching.

GZ: Snipers...

filling in the gaps!

I'm starting to make progress with filling in some of the gaps in the current version of the rules. Next up is the sniper section. I'll update the rules page shortly.

As an aside, I'm pleased that the game I have been working on as developer for Tiny Battles (Operation Icarus) has now been released. A really nice game that produces great narrative. Well worth a look! As my first developer gig this was pretty tough and a real learning curve. No wonder my 6 x 6 challenge is behind schedule!

GZ Vietnam.......

search and destroy!

Just to draw your attention to Duc de Gobin's brilliant use of the draft GZ rules for a Vietnam scenario. I'm always really happy when people try the rules I produce especially when it looks fantastic as well!

GZ: Coalition forces....

half way there!

One of the nice things about GZ is that you need very few forces to have a good game. I'm looking at around 8 units per side plus a leader. Each unit is one fire team, one specialist team (HMG, ATGW, JTAC etc) or one vehicle. Above is one leader, one HMG team (ok its cheating, there are two M60 gunners which will do in my book), and one vehicle.

Here are two fire teams (working from the bottom up), HMG team, Leader, vehicle, and, lastly, an ATGW team. 

The troops are Esci US troops (a bit Cold War but they will do for me), the HMMWV is Matchbox and the rest is paper and Fab Foam.

For Coalition forces you probably just need one box of modern US infantry (Caesar make several) and for the OPFOR, one box of militia (again Caesar make two types).  

I have nearly finished painting up my US infantry and have undercoated the bad guys. I have also stocked up on Matchbox style HMMWVs including UN and Police vehicles. In the wings I have 3 M113s (Airfix) and a Revell Abrams (which was on sale for £2.99). I'm also working on an Mi-24 (1/144) to be my generic close air support.

I'm using 3D card buildings from Junior General as well as their trees and elephant grass!

Next step will be to play test through a series of training scenarios which I will post about here. I'm really pleased, this is quite exciting!

Ground Zero...

playtest version now up!

Although the rules are not yet complete, and there is much to do, I'm happy to share this current version in the hope of eliciting some useful feedback from those that take an interest. You can find them here.

The interesting thing about the mechanisms in this game are that they are very fun and very fast. Even playing both sides solo, the rules contain such a remarkable amount of uncertainty that they are very challenging. Mastering the tactics though will be the real trick.

My thanks as always to Peter for the fundamental ideas from his Grid Based SciFi game which form the basis of these rules.

GZ: Training scenario...

it seems to work!

AO Barnet: Block B3 Building 6

Mission: This area has been infiltrated by OPFOR during the night. Surveillance indicates the enemy have occupied building B6 (red circle) with the intent of interdicting the main supply route (dual carriage road to north). The intent is to enter the building using fire and manouvre and destroy enemy forces in close combat.

Enemy: Estimated at 10, light weapons including automatic weapons. Likely course of action is to resist as exfiltration routes are limited.

Own forces: Three fire teams from ready response squad plus one HMG team as manoeuvre support. 

Terrain: The enemy occupies a walled area (low walls) surrounded with open ground. scrub and trees to the south provides a covered approach to the rear of B6.

Time: Building to be cleared by 0700. Units to secure Line of Departure at 0500.

Execution: HMG team to provide support by fire from covered position to left of start line (yellow) with fire team 3. Teams 1 and 2 to manoeuvre and gain access to walled area and then assault and clear the building.

Time schedule: Supporting fires to commence at 0515 and manoeuvre to commence at 0520.

My apologies to anyone that knows how to use METT-TC and OPORD procedures correctly. This is a quick trial run of the basic mechanisms in GZ to see whether they produce the game I have in my head.
  
Set up

So, not quite like the surveillance photo but not bad. OPFOR occupy the house and a small walled grove. Coalition in the tree line, teams 1,2 and 3 reading from the right with the HMG team on the far left.

    

By the way, Fab Foam hexes and Junior General paper house and trees. The low walls do not block LoS but do provide cover. Friendly teams do block LoS.

0515: HMG suppresses the OPFOR team on the roof but it rallies and goes into overwatch. Teams 1 and 2 manoeuvre. 

0525: The HMG team keeps OPFOR on the roof suppressed while Teams 1 and 2 start engaging the enemy in the grove to little effect.

0530: The HMG team fully suppresses the enemy on the roof who now disperse (destroyed, but in reality they couldn't take the heat and scarpered). Coalition pop smoke to obscure the enemy's LoS from the grove.

0535: The guys in the grove make a break for the house as Coalition teams move up to set up a new base of fire. That HMG is proving tricky to move up!

0540: Small arms fire pins the OPFOR team down in the open, they are disrupted and finding it hard to rally and move into cover. Unsportingly, Team 3 with a great LoS pours intense fire into the enemy who crumble and run. My plan had been to use Team 1 to try out the close assault rules.

AAR: Did the rules do the job?

Absolutely, I'm really happy with that little battle. It told a story and the tactical feel was spot on. Even though the rules are simple, they are a bit slippery and I made some errors. 

Tactically, although in this scenario this was the right start line (concealed approach and cover for the support teams), it was too far from the building to make a rapid assault.

Although I rated the Coalition troops as three activation dice (i.e. very good) and the OPFOR troops as 2 (which is not shabby), if the OPFOR had an HMG on the roof then there would have been problems as they would have raked the start line. As it was, two Coalition teams took casualties. 

Overall, a nice little battle. My fallback plan was to call in an airstrike which I might do next time just to see how it works.

Ground Zero.....

street fighting in Vietnam!

On my first post about GZ Duc commented that it could be used for Hue or even a 1985 cold war gone hot battle in Germany. Well, the funny thing is that I chanced upon this article on the War is Boring site about the new book on Hue by Mark "Black Hawk Down" Bowden. The book will be released in the UK in a few weeks and looks like it will be really interesting.

What caught my eye is the video above of a CBS news report from the battlefield. This shows some fascinating things:

• As a nine year old I was glued to the evening news abut Vietnam so this looks really familiar. This sort of coverage though is not something you expect nowadays and probably reflects some significant changes in news reporting and societal norms. I don't see Kate Adie doing anything like the reporter in this news item.
• The US Marines had to relearn street fighting from scratch, as every generation of soldiers does. What this report shows is a classic hesitation in troops moving from a covered position under fire to make an assault. You see Marines making the "is it worth it" calculation and then deciding that it isn't with some unfortunate results.

My design objective with GZ is to make a simple game that feels like the real world, but without the bullets. This seems a bit tricky but I'm hoping I'm almost there. More on this soon. In the meantime, I'm dipping back into Leo Murray's Brains and Bullets which is very much on the money in terms of the reality of combat.

Cleared Hot!

Ground Zero: Helicopters

JTAC: “Deuce 31, Broadsword 11, 5-line, Type 2 control, BOT, rockets and guns, my position is checkpoint 295 marked by IR strobe, northwest 200, single technical vehicle marked by IR SPARKLE, make all attacks over my right shoulder, left pull, keep all effects of fires west of MSR Clovis.”

A/C: “Deuce 31 copies over your right shoulder, left pull, keep all effects of fires west of MSR Clovis, pushing.”

JTAC: “Deuce 31, CONTINUE.”

A/C: “Deuce 31 and flight, VISUAL, TALLY, IN.”

JTAC: “Deuce 31 and flight, CLEARED HOT.”

Today I have mainly been thinking about rotary wing close air support (RW CAS). To you and me that's choppers! Here are the first thoughts.....

Helicopters: Helicopters have special capabilities and vulnerabilities. These rules modify all relevant sections above. Helicopters have three activation dice. On an odd d6 result they may only move (they cannot rally, go into Overwatch). A helicopter may not discard an odd d6 result.

A helicopter may be subject to anti-aircraft fire as opportunity fire from enemy units in Overwatch in any hex that it starts in, passes through or ends its move action in. A helicopter that does not move at least three hexes in a move action becomes a sitting target and enemy units firing receive a fire bonus when firing at it.

Helicopters ignore terrain restrictions. They may only land in clear hexes that contain no vehicles (or wrecks).

Unlike other units, helicopters may fire at more than one target if they have more than one even d6 result. They may also make an intense attack on a single target if they have more than one even d6 result.

Special actions available to helicopters include: Landing, taking off, embarking or disembarking passengers (this includes allowing passengers to disembark by rappelling) and lasing targets for air strikes.

And, yes, I'm nicking ideas off Peter again!

Next problem to solve is that helicopters don't roam around shooting stuff up for fun. The air response must be proportionate and avoid collateral damage (as well as friendly fire) and enemy anti-air assets. That's the job of the JTAC who must have eyes on target, at least for a type 1 weapons delivery (visual contact with both target and A/C). How do we represent the JTAC and their interaction with the CAS? I have a few thoughts, they make for good scenarios! 

Ground Zero.......

work in progress!

I suppose it says something if I have gone to the trouble of designing a logo for this game. My enforced absence from blogging and game related activities has spurred my enthusiasm.  

As usual, I blame Norm and Peter for ideas which have lurked for many months. This game represents, at long last, my attempt to model squad level modern combat in a simple way and in a way that I actually want to play.

I even have a blurb (of sorts!):

A nameless small town somewhere in the war zone. This game is played on a six by nine hex grid, there is no scale but each hex represents an area sufficient for the footprint of a small house, back yard or street.

There is no timeframe other than that each battle is concluded in a day. Each turn may represent anything from a few minutes of violent combat to several hours of desultory gunfire. Units are activated by random card draw and unit actions are dice driven. 

The troop types reflect what you see on You Tube videos, small groups of men, of varying commitment and training, largely fighting in built up areas. Weapons are light small arms with heavier weapons in support, with the ever present HMMWVs and improvised armoured vehicles. 

Scenarios reflect the reality of modern combat, often mundane tasks fraught with risk and unexpected dangers.

Nuff said at this stage but progress has been excellent. This time I will blog test games to show the mechanics in development.