Division Squares: Simple WW2 Combat on a Square Grid (with a heavy dose of Morschauser)

As I mentioned in the prior post, I'm on my 6th iteration of my Morschaser division-ish on a grid toy soldier WWII rules.

Once I realized I needed more Morschauser (originally there was virtually none), the games really began to click.

A German recon battalion surveys the Soviet defenses.

Reading Neil Thomas's articles in Battlegames 22 and Battlegames 23 on writing rules helped a great deal. There was something bothering me about the combat system, but it was those articles that pointed out the problem; I was adjusting for cover both for combat and unit quality. It was an unnecessary layer of complexity.

I'm now using the same method to hit that I use in my Modified Morschauser Modern rules, 4/6 hits in the open, 6 hits units in cover.. However, here, saving rolls are made regardless of whether unit is in cover or not, and the results are based on unit quality, not on the presence of cover.

Per NT, if the unit has taken fire in cover and now need to save, the effect of the cover has already been negated. Modifying their saving roll/morale check gives a benefit/penalty for cover/being in the open twice.

I probably explained that poorly. 

All I know is the rules work well for my tastes - although they are no doubt incomplete, they give me an absorbing toy soldiery game and require little to no reference to the QRS (admittedly, I wrote them, so I may not be the best judge).

I have added a link on the right, although here it is in case you're on a mobile device.

You really only need the 1st page (the QRS) to play, the rest is self-indulgent rambling and some attempt at expounding on the various bits of the QRS.The rules are a living document and I reserve the right to update them as necessary for clarity or obfuscation.

Air rules are still missing. I have no plane models, so, for now,  would count them as a very limited artillery.

Cheers!

Operation Citadel : Verkopenye

"The village of Verkopenye was another important objective for Gross Deutschland as the town had one of the few bridges over the river Pena so it was critical that it be captured to open the way to Oboyan." (Axis of Attack: Kursk)  

For the actual scenario, rather than historical research, I used my favorite Table Top Teaser (and one of the only one's I've played), "The Bridge Demolition" 

The Soviets had a rifle regiment supported by two tank battalions and divisional artillery. Gross Deutschland had a recon battalion, two PZ IV battalions, the Panzer Grenadier regiment, the Panzer-Fusilier regiment, a PanzerJaeger, an on-table battalion of of howitzers/field guns, and off-table artillery.

A view of the Soviet defenses. Aufklarung Abt. can be seen on the hill surveying the field.

Gratuitous close-up.

Turn 1. PZ IV and PanzerJaeger units advance.

German right flank. Panzer-Fusiliers on the hill preparing to advance on the Soviets in the woods

Initial contact between the tank units went quickly in Gross Deutschland's favor.

The Panzer-Grenadiers arrive and advance up the road towards Verkopenye.

The battle for the woods is fierce, but the Fusiliers gain the advantage. The Soviets opted then to abandon the position to get the battalion over the bridge before detonation.

Gross Deutschland closes in on Verkopenye but not without some losses.

With the second tank battalion eliminated, the last Soviet infantry battalion abandons their hold in the part of town South of the river.

With the Germans hot on their heels, the plucky Soviets fight hard for Mother Russia and force the Gross Deutschland armor to break off.

The Soviet engineers are ready to blow the bridge but they opt to wait for infantry to make it across.

As soon as they cross, the command is given. The bridge goes up at once. A Soviet victory.

*******

Rules used were my own Division Squares, which are now on their 6th iteration and have proven themselves in the last two games. 

The German advance was hampered by my playing around with limits on unit activation. This was a terrible idea, given the piecemeal arrival of units already due to the scenario. Lesson learned. Around turn 8 or so I opted to switch back to a more traditional, all units can be activated method. 

Per the scenario's advice, the Soviet engineers would need 12 turns to set the explosives. I used a variant of the suggested die roll to determine what happens when the Soviets try to blow the bridge. In this case, I rolled and it blew up immediately - snatching victory away from the Germans who were so close they could taste it.

The Soviets lost 44% of their force, Gross Deutschland lost 25%.

With the 2 points for the win, and 1 point for damage inflicted, the Soviets scored 3 points total. Gross Deutschland earned 2 points for damage inflicted.

The campaign score is now Gross Deutschland 11 to the Soviet's 8.

And just for giggles, here's my conversion of the map to my 8 x 6 grid:

Painting Again

 Well, it's not a lot, but after finally clearing off my hobby desk - which had become a repository for all manner of things - I put paint on a figure for the first time in several months.

"Aren't you all a little short to be stormtroopers?"

All I did was the white kit - and roughly done at that. I will do a second coat today perhaps, and then go back and "cut in" to fix all of the over painting. It's not the most efficient method but I am too shaky a painter to keep my brush on the intended bits. 

To keep my new found painting inspiration going, I opted to paint only 4 of the 7 in this bunch. I'm hoping that keeping the numbers small will keep me motivated.

The Playmobil  figure was on my desk for foot reattachment surgery, which I'm happy to say was a complete success.

Operation Citadel : Syrtsevo

 This is game 2 in my Operation Citadel campaign.

July 7, 1943, elements of Grossdeutschland advanced on Syrtsevo which was held by elements of 10th Motor Brigade, 1st (?) Motor Brigade, 90th Guards Rifle Division, and 112th Tank Brigade. Or at least that's what the internet told me.

I'll let the pictures tell the story -ish.

Two Soviet SMG units, an AT unit, and a mortar unit have taken positions in and around the village. Meanwhile, the Grossdeutschland Recon battalion observes the village from the hill.

Usual close up sot. The Germans are Matchbox, the armored car is 32x or one of those brands.

II/PanzerGrenadier arrives opposite the Soviet tank unit.

Stug battalion in the house. II/PzG leave their vehicles in order to make use of the woods for cover.

Same turn (3) two Panzer IV battalions arrive on the hill South East of the village. The Tiger company arrived shortly after.

A bit of a log jam on GD's right.

"Pretty sure we didn't sign up for this."

Soviets hold on the village despite shelling and an assault by the Stug battalion.

A battalion of Pz IV from 3rd Panzer Division arrives on the left to offset the loss of one of GD's Pz battalions.The Soviets are being squeezed.

A collapse on the Soviet right opens the door for GD to enter the village.With remaining units in bad shape and outnumbered by the Germans, the Soviet HQ concedes the village and orders the village abandoned.

GD captures the village.

Some Notes:

Changing the scenario so that both sides arrived piecemeal made for a much more interesting battle. I can't be sure, but I think it helped to break up the scrum I ran into in previous plays of this scenario.

The Tiger company was only given two Hit Points/Strength Points to reflect it's company size, but could only be hit on 6s, and still had saving roll.

Here's the map I created for the table - I stole the general layout of the roads from someone else on the web, and I can't find it now. If I do, i"ll update this with a link:

My grid is 6 inch squares, so the total space is 3' x 4'.

For campaign points: 

• GD held the village for the win: 2 points.
• GD eliminated 60% of the Soviet force:  3 points.
• Soviets eliminated 25% of the German force: 1 point

Total in the campaign now is: GD: 9 to Soviets: 5.

This is Why I Prefer Published Scenarios

 Working on the scenario for the 2nd campaign game - it takes place on July 7, 1943 at Syrtsevo.

Over view of the table early in third try. Three scales of vehicles o the table. Simulationists avert your eyes!

Gratuitous close up. Grossdeutschland HQ in the woods South of the village while Stug battalion advances cautiously against Soviet AT fire.

The first attempt at  this scenario was designed for 6x6 and that was too cramped (due in part to the number of vehicles) and was a scrum that ended in a draw. The second and third attempts were on 8x6 tables. I tweaked some things and ended up hitting 15 turns with nether side losing a unit in the second game and gave up from boredom - something wasn't right. 

Third try - units fell way too quickly and it was a blood bath (another rules tweak that went too far). Tonight, I'll play for the campaign points as I think I've got the bugs worked out.

Self Examination

No not that kind. Although you should do that.

A few days back now,  over at the wonderful The Duchy of Tradgardland,  Tradgardmastare posed a question for readers as to what their desert island hobby book, rules, and armies would be. 

You should go and read the comments on that thread and then come back - lot's of inspiration there.

Back? Good. 

 To my own surprise, my answers were nearly instant:

Asquith's Solo Wargaming - no offense to Featherstone's premier work on the topic, but I prefer Asquith's writing style, plus he includes several practical scenarios - even one programmed scenario!

G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. by Christopher Palmer and Buck Surdu. It's a game that seems to have fallen out of popularity since its heyday some years back, but a system I have always found enjoyable and incredibly flexible. Card based activation and a morale system that is less than serious leads to all manner of battlefield chaos, even if you aren't fighting Martian invaders or laser equipped dinosaurs.

For my armies, I chose my mostly Armies in Plastic 19th C. Russian and British forces, in large part because of the narrative freedom and possibilities a completely fictional conflict brings.

Progress on these 7 British figures stalled back in March. Time to get cracking. The Germans are not new paints - for some reason, the batch of Airfix knock-offs I got don't glue well to the wooden bases and they constantly pop off.

Given my answers were so immediate, I have to ask myself, why do I play so many WWII games with all manner of rules? 

And, perhaps more importantly, why am I lately drooling over Frontline French and Indian War figures for ultra-small skirmishes?

Operation Citadel Campaign Begins

Having pushed past the initial defensive lines, Grossdeutschland found itself within a few kilometers of Cherkasskoye. The 199th Guards Rifle Regiment stood in their way.

Grossdeutschland advances headlong into the Soviet center - now with the regimental AT battery. In the background, the beans represent mined grid spaces.

The Soviets demonstrated an iron will to fight and only yielded ground after several hours of fighting. Two AT batteries of the 67th Guards Rifle Division reinforced what remained of the 199th. Grossdeutschland's Panzer regiment attacked the village from the west, while the Pioneer battalion flanked the village to the East. The Germans were careful to avoid the mine fields between the defensive works and Cherkasskoye.

The Soviet HQ surveys the scene : it does not look promising .

GD Pioneers overrun the 199th's regimental mortar battery before making an assault on the AT battery in the village.

The GD Pioneers fought their way into the village where fierce close fighting with one of the AT batteries went unexpectedly wrong.

The Regimental HQ survives in the village, but for how long?

Heavy artillery called in by the 199th's FOO attached to the Regimental HQ scattered II/PzGrenadier GD. Bogged down during the initial contact, Grossdeutschland's drive to the village had been delayed and at a significant cost. Despite the presence of two Panzer battalions on the outskirts of Cherkasskoye,  III/PzGrenadier was still a kilometer from the village and at risk from increasingly dialed in artillery fire; Grossdeutschland had run out of momentum and soon would run out of daylight.

To their relief, from the East, the tell-tale rumble of tanks and armored half-tracks grew louder; reinforcements from 11th Panzer Division were arriving.

***

You're probably tired of seeing this table set up. Me too! I'm ready to try the next scenario.

So, Friday night I decided that I would play for the campaign points with the Morschauser-fied version of my battalion-per-base grid rules. I also modified some things for the scenario - like I decided to forgo 11th Panzer's arrival as part of the game and instead this is just about Grossdeutschland's effort.

The game ended after 14 turns, with both sides having reached their break point (the Soviets had reached theirs several turns before the assault on the village itself began). 

For this game, I tried out the rule that units could move or shoot but not both in the same  (with assault counting as movement). Because I'm tracking hit points per unit, the units last a bit longer and the initial break through took a little longer than hoped. More artillery fire and more combined attacks on a single target could help there.

Because the Soviets held the village at the end, they were awarded 2 points for the win. In addition 50% of German units were eliminated, which gives the Soviet 2 additional points, for a total of 4.

The Germans failed to take the village but they did eliminate just over 80% of the Soviet regiment, for a total of 4 points.

At the end of the first campaign game, the campaign is a tie at 4-4.

Add More Morschauser

 Rules tinkering continues.

After another dozen or so games played on the computer using Google Draw for the map and units, I learned quite a few things. I could go into a deep dive about what I found "wrong" with my recent rules attempts, but in short, they weren't Morschauser enough for me.

So, last night, I ran through a grid-based homage to Morschauser with an overall feeling that was just "better" to me.

The only thing I think the scenario needs now is some mine fields.

The now familiar opening moves of Cherkasskoye.

The Soviet middle melted away before the combined Panzers and PanzerGrenadiers of Grossdeutschland.

The Soviet left fell away shortly after. Effective Soviet ATG fire dealt a blow to the Panzers.

11th Panzer Division (the "Ghost Division") sends help [turn 9]. The Soviets are in an even tougher spot now.

A hard fought battle for the town ensued - including an accidentally suicidal assault by the Grossdeutschland Pioneer battalion which opened the way for Recon to advance.

After turn 8, I roll for how many turns remain and with a roll of 3 it was going to be tight. In the end, the Germans could not quite clear the entire village, although they managed a foothold. 

The Soviets suffered an overwhelming loss of units - because I kept going well past their break point. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not for the scenario. I kind of feel like it does, but the fact that it came down to the last turn, I feel, means they should get some additional credit.

If I scored this per Featherstone, it'd be 5-2 , in favor of the Germans (the battle was a draw, plus 1 point for every loss of 20% inflicted). However, given the Germans had to call on 11th Panzer, even if they never reached the village, to me, means the Soviets deserve some extra credit for delaying the German advance. I would score this 5-3 if this was for the campaign.

Like I said, I want to add mine fields, which, given the change in rules, seems a necessity to balance out the sides a little better.

I Am Not Good at Leaving Well Enough Alone

As an inveterate rules tinkerer, I decided to make some changes to my own grid-based battalion per base rules - particularly regarding effects vs armor (I didn't like that mortars could eliminate tanks). However, I made some other tweaks, that, frankly, broke the game in some respects during play testing.

So here are some pictures while I reset some of the changes. Please note, the game pictured does not count towards the campaign, although it is the Cherkasskoye, July 5, 1943, scenario I posted.

I/PzGr, and I and II/Pz advance up the middle, while Recon races up the road. All units encounter fierce Soviet resistance, but the Soviets on the German right collapse, opening the advance on that flank.

With their lines breached, the commander of the 67th Guards Rifle Division orders two ATG batteries to provide support for the 199th, as it falls back towards the town.

To say things don't look good for the Red Army is an understatement.

Another view of the same scene. This is my favorite picture of the night.

The Soviet side of the line.

I and II/Pz reach the village, swinging to the left flank, and engage in a shootout with ATG batteries (the 1st was destroyed by combined artillery and I/Pz fire)

Recon arrives on the right flank and I/PzGr advances in preparation to storm the town. (Yellow dice are my "Overwatch" markers. It did them little good,)

It was an overwhelming German win, and a victory for GrossDeutschland , as there was no need for 11th Panzer Division's support.