Over the last week I finally got around to painting and basing a couple of British mortar units that had been sitting on my shelf for a year or two. The motivation behind painting them is because of my current testing of some World War II rules. The rules could be considered a bit old school, they are heavily influenced by various rules by Donald Featherstone and Charles Grant. While I have settled on the mechanism for direct fire I wanted to use a different mechanism for indirect fire by artillery and mortars using scatter dice and blast templates. There reasons for this approach are:
- It encourages units to be dispersed, as a miss on a target may result in a hit on nearby units if they are bunched up.
- It introduces the risk of hitting one's own troops when calling in indirect fire on enemy units close to your own.
Furthermore, artillery and mortars require observation by their Forward Observation Officer (FOO) for targeting. This approach limits the ability to switch artillery fire quickly across from one side of the tabletop to the other, and I get to use my scout cars and jeeps for a purpose in my games.
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| Recently painted British mortars. |
Scout cars are put to use as FOO to direct indirect fire.
Once a target is observed, the template is placed, and the scatter dice are rolled. Successful hits occur a third of the time, but if fire is off target, the template is moved 6 inches as indicated by arrows on the scatter dice. The effects of hits vary depending upon the type of target:
- A direct hit eliminates any non-armoured unit covered by the blast centre, while hits on armoured units result in immobilisation.
- Non-armoured units covered by the template, but not its centre, are suppressed unless in cover; while armoured units remain unaffected.
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| Scatter dice and templates. |
Your WWII project continues apace. Are these the same rules that Steve at SOUND OFFICERS CALL has been using in his recent games?
ReplyDeleteNo, these are different. Although I do wonder whether they will converge and end up being pretty similar. I have been following the posts on SOUND OFFICERS CALL and am really interested in any modifications Steve ends up making.
DeleteI'm not sure they are so old school. I think Bolt Action some such mechanism. We have used similar rules for WW1 indirect fire. Just a device that works.
ReplyDeleteThe scatter dice and template, mine are from my W40K days, are a fun rule mechanism to use.
DeleteHow much of a target must be within the template to count as hit? Any part of it, most of it, all of it?
ReplyDeleteI generally say if any part of the model or its base is covered by the template. The same applies to the template centre.
DeletePeter this is fascinating. Scatter dice and templates do have a very nice "old school" feel to them and I have been on the receiving end of my own barrages many times! Really looking forward ro where you take this project. If they're anything like your current WW2 "panzerblitz" mod, they're going to be outstanding!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I have always enjoyed using scatter dice and templates, partly because they are a very clever solution and straightforward to use.
DeleteYep, we have used a similar procedure too in the past although not recently - ideas on the best way to represent this type of thing change from time to time, I guess. If you are firing two or three turns at the same target, does it become progressively more likely you will score a direct hit?
ReplyDeleteCurrently there is no rule on improving accuracy with successive attempts at a unit. If a mechanism was introduced I would likely go with reducing the scatter distance by 1 inch for each attempt on the same target. For example, reduce from 6 inches to 5 inches on the second attempt, 4 inches on the third, and so on.
DeletePeter this is the best wargaming blog on the web
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you publish your rules bases sizes for all the periods you've covered
You've revitalised my Wargaming particularly your Napoleonics and Imagination projects
Loving WW2 also might see if Can but the Airfix 25 pounder kit I built as a10 year old to go with the Airfix Infantry Combat Group
What's next?
Pete
Thank you for your kind words. It's great to hear you are back enjoying some Napoleonic and Imagination projects. I try and make any rules usable for any base size with a level of consistent basing. Hence I generally don’t mention the bases I use. Most of my bases are on 4x3 or 3x3 inch bases.
DeleteSOOoooo, mainly just an excuse to put your scout cars and jeeps on the table? 😁
ReplyDeletecan't say I blame you. If I had painted up scout cars I'd want them on the table too.
The things we do for those “lost” units that never seem to get onto the tabletop :-)
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