BATTLEFRONT: The Ridge (Playtest)

[TRDG]

Roger, just to much chat today and tonight to really think straight, I'll check thursday, sorry.

Cheers, dang chat rooms!!!

Tommy

[Whiterook]

Wow, good dice results my good German foe.....we will have to step up the pressure, perhaps.

[Hagen]

I'll have to talk it over with Generaloberst Lufttiger but I think the commander of our Panzer II deserves a promotion and the awarding of the Iron Cross.

[Whiterook]

Even I have to admit he's a tough little Bugger! It's a shame we have to put him down....

[MAGNA]

Yes the old Panzer II can sneak under your guard sometimes. Not too bad against infantry.

[TRDG]

6 hours til' work, DF orders Friday, but I get off early that day!!! done at 7pm I hope anyways guys........

Cheers

TOMMY

[MAGNA]

Ready when you are old bean. Roger, Tally Ho and all that chukka stuff like that there type thing.

[MAGNA]

Just thought I would give you a quick overview of the Battlefront game system and why it is good.

The manual is comprehensive with pictures showing what fronts, flanks, movement options and all that do.

The main rules are on the front and back of a laminated A4 sheet. These cover modifiers for artillery, morale, movement and the like.

There is another sheet for terrain modifiers for spotting, firing, and movement such as hills or woods.

The real winner for this system is that every unit from observers, infantry, machine gun sections through to trucks, guns, and AFV's of all types has it's own battlecard.

Cards are available for nearly all countries and periods of the war. For instance the 88 flak gun has two cards, one to 1942 and another for 42 - 45. This reflects the differences in the gun at those times.

Have a look at the Crusader card I have posted here.

It has the type and model of this tank at the top - plus it's main period of use, followed by a picture.

Just below the picture on the right you will see Lrg V. This means it is a large vehicle for spotting purposes.

After that is Armour 3/2. 3 for frontal and 2 for flanks (side, rear, top). This is not strictly tecnically correct of course but is there to reflect being outflanked. The Stuka attacked the Crusader in our game on it's flank, another advantage for aircraft.

Next comes track 10/14. This is the movement in inches. 10 off road, 14 on road. This is for a single move. A double move gives Crusaders, Cromwells, and T34's in particular an on road move of 28". Pretty quick. That is how the Crusader got behind the ridge so fast. Many other tanks are limited to 6 or 8" off road.

Under all that there is a table. In black above it are the range steps in inches. 0 5 10 20 40 60. 60 is maximum range - about 1.5 Km or nearly a mile (maximum effective range within reason).

At the left of the table you see V - this is the line used when firing at vehicles. The +3 in red is the close combat factor which came in handy against the 88.

After that in orange are the gun factors according to range.

Against a tank such as the Panzer IV the Crusader would have +5 at 0 - 5 " range then +4 at 5 - 10" range and so on. When it fired at the Panzer IV at 5 - 10" range it got +4 against the Panzer IV armour of four plus 1 for hull down. That means it's best shot at that range cannot destroy the Panzer IV.

Example Crusader at 5 - 10" range fires and rolls 9. Add 4 for the range modifier giving 13. Panzer IV has 4 for frontal armour and +1 for being hull down, giving 5.

The shot calc is 13 - 5 leaving 8. 8 or 9 disorders so the Panzer IV is disordered. A ten or better is required for a kill. A 6 or 7 is suppressed. Lower number = ping! What was that ? A mosquito?

Note that a disordered AFV loses 1 off it's armour when fired at. This can make a big difference if you can fire two or more times at the same target.

The last table shows TG. This is for troops and guns. They are harder to hit for this tank so the range modifiers start lower and end up negative.

Specialist vehicles such as Brummbar and Churchill AVRE have much higher numbers against infantry and lower against tanks.

On some cards there is more info below these tables. EG - JagdTiger card will show no flank fire.

So there you have it. All that is required at the start of a game is to get the correct cards out for the types of units you have and then you are ready to go. There are no tables required for move speeds, armour rating, shooting and so on as the info is on the one card.

An easy system to learn and still one that has enough info on the main sheet to make things realistic yet playable. I have lost track of the number of rule sets we have tried (and written) and none ever gave realism without complexity. This one does.

Hope this helps.

[TRDG]

Now I'm getting the picture a little bit better, I'm on lunch right now, another nasty day at work, but only a couple of hours left thank god!!!!
Then I can spend some quality time here!

Cheers

Tommy Boy...........

[Whiterook]

Very cool Mag-man! I'm a bit burned out from a heavy day of driving...had the day off, to get an inspection sticker for my car (passed!), and then took my wife for a VERY long drive on a beautiful day... went 2/3rds of the way up the State of Vermont, which is one long didtance, up to Quechee Gorge...it confirmed it Gents...I'm officially afraid of hieights...well, them kind a hieights, anyway!

I started to read you post on the Battlefront System....man, that does look excellent. I've heard of it, but that's the most I've seen of it. I'll have to sit down to another read sometime this weekend to digest it a little better. With terms like Overwatch, Disrupted, Suppressed, I was beginning to wonder if you were using Advanced Axis & Allies Miniatures Rules! I don't know if you've read them, Mate, but they're nboth very similar in a lot of ways.

Tommy, send me a PM in what you have in mind my friend. I smell sauerkraut, and I'm gettin' hungry, 'ol Boy!