Thursday 7 July 2016

WW2 Campaign Stocktake and Bridge Rules

I am now about a third of the way through my WW2 campaign based upon the number of supplies used. So for those of you who may be following my solo campaign progress, I thought a quick stocktake would be helpful.

At the start of the campaign Commonwealth forces occupied 7 squares on the campaign map and had 3600 tonnes of supplies. The German forces occupied 18 squares and had 1400 tonnes of supplies at their disposal. The objective of both sides was to occupy the most campaign map squares. To achieve this they can make a full scale attack at a cost of 400 tonnes or a limited attack for 200 tonnes. For simplicity there was no supply cost for defending.
The starting positions. (All the arrows remind me of the start of the Dad's Army TV series I watched as a child)
So far there have been six games played, four Commonwealth attacks and two German attacks. Both German attacks were limited attacks (400 tonnes used in total) and three of the four Commonwealth attacks have been full-scale attacks (1400 tonnes used in total).
Current front lines. The arrows show the last three attacks (2 arrows are a full scale attack)
As it stands now Commonwealth forces occupy 9 squares and have 2200 tonnes of supplies remaining, while German forces occupy 16 squares with 1000 tonnes left.

So far all games have been won by the attacking forces. Half the games have been close and could have gone either way, and the other games had a predictable winner halfway through. The dice generated terrain and unit numbers partly determined by the score of two average dice, has meant attacks on squares with woods and rivers really do require a full scale attack to have any chance of being successful. As was the case of my last game where Commonwealth forces successfully made a river crossing against stiff German resistance.

Commonwealth forces finally force a crossing which as in doubt for a long while.
I finally got to use my Airfix Buffalo which briefly supported the vinyl river crossing
At this juncture in the campaign I have made changes to both campaign rules and added to my house rules used to play the games.

In the campaign attacks cannot be made diagonally and any single isolated squares will be eliminated. An isolated square is one where a supply line cannot be traced to other squares occupied by friends forces (diagonal moves are not allowed). The owning force does gets one campaign turn to attempt to reestablish a supply connection.

In may house rules I have not really covered bridges (A bit slack of me and still not added at time of writing). Because bridges are a bottleneck for movement, I allow units to move their full movement onto the bridge and they must stop on the bridge. When moving off the bridge they can only move 1 square. Bridges do provide cover for infantry units.


5 comments:

  1. Very interesting WW2 Campaign Peter and I like how you have come up with a way to manage it all using your gridded Map and your home-grown rules- on Supply and such. Yes, almost tempted to purchase some Plastic 1/72nd British and Germans- I believe that the ITALIERI figures are indeed the old ESCI figures- from the early 1980s ( Had these yonks ago- should never had parted with them). Enjoying your postings. Regards. KEV.

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    1. A mixed bag of figures from ITALIERI and AIRFIX. For the Germans there are a mix of Panzer Grenadiers, Infantry and Afrika Corps. All painted one colour, brown wash applied, heavily dry brushed in a lighter colour, guns and boots painted black, lightly dry brushed in a sand colour and flesh painted. I opted for a quick and simple approach for my WW2. Thanks for your comments. Regards, Peter

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    2. Yet to receive my copy of One Hour War Games- awaiting in anticipation...also my WW1, 15mm order hasn't turned up yet- I'm hoping that between OHW and your rules I can begin to game in WW1 properly...WW1 which is something I've never done in 15mm. Regards. KEV.

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    3. Always a frustrating time between ordering and waiting for delivery. When collecting my WW2 units I made a point of buying models from my local model shops here in Melbourne. A nice change with instant gratification when the stock was in and only the odd couple of times waiting for their next shipment. Regards,Peter

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    4. Yes buying Locally is better than waiting 3 weeks for the Postman- Melbourne sounds well stocked- our Hobby shops here aren't so well stocked- not if you need more than one box of something or other...however I must say that one of our Hobby shops is very well stocked with Tamiya and Humbrol paints. Regards. KEV.

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