20mm WW2 - Operation Martlett - British vs Germans - Rapidfire 2 Rules

Some photos from our 'big' Christmas 2024 Club game, Operation Martlett, using Rapidfire 2 rules.

Lots of laughs, lots of blown-up AFV's (apart from one heroic Hanomag which refused to give up), good food and good company. Nine members involved in the game, never easy, and thanks to Adrian for organising.

ACW 28mm Game using simpler-faster rules from Osprey.

 Steve, Ray and Bob set up an ACW 28mm game with roughly equal sides facing each other, although with differing troop compositions. Ian, Norman and Guy joined in too.

The Osprey rules are pretty simple and fun to play (if you activate your battalions).

The Rebs went on the attack immediately, sending in their two regiments of shock cavalry to destroy a Union artillery piece before it got a chance to fire, and also taking out an infantry battalion. Both cavalry units were shot into retreat, but they'd done their job.

The two sides' infantry faced-off and commenced firing, pretty much even-Stevens in the Union centre and right flank, but the Rebs fell back on the Union left flank.

Overall a marginal Union victory. 

Look forward to another game soon. Thanks to Bob for the photos.

DBA Deep-Dive: 5. Deployment, Sequence of Play & PIPs

DEPLOYMENT

Each side rolls 1d6 and adds the aggression factor of its army list to the score, dicing again if the scores are equal.

·         The side with the lower total is the defender, the other is the invader.

The defender chooses and places terrain allowed to its army to create the battlefield.

The invader then selects a base edge.

·         If a road crosses the battlefield, one of the intersected sides must be chosen, otherwise, any edge that is not opposite a Waterway.

The defender’s base edge is the one opposite the invader’s base edge.

Next, both sides place their camps, the defender first.

Then the defender deploys his troop elements, one of which (if eligible) may be used to garrison a City or Fort.

Then the invader deploys his troop elements.

All non-garrison troops must deploy at least 3BW from the battlefield centre line and 1BW from any enemy City or Fort.

Cavalry, Light Horse, Camelry, Mounted Infantry, Auxilia and Psiloi must be deployed at least 2BW from battlefield side edges, and others at least 4BW away.

If a Waterway has been placed, either side can reserve 2-3 elements (who’s army lists them as LITTORAL) to be deployed at the start of its first bound (before PIP dicing) as a single group anywhere along the Waterway.

·         At least one element of the group must touch the Waterway.

·         These elements cannot include Elephants, War Wagons or Artillery.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

The defender takes first bound, then the two sides take alternate bounds.

During each player’s bound:

1)       The player dices for Player Initiative Points (PIPs).

2)       The PIPs are used to make tactical moves.

3)       Any Artillery, War Wagons or Bows elements of both sides that are eligible to do so, must shoot once each (the moving player decides the order) and make or inflict outcome moves.

4)       Any elements of both sides whose front edges are in suitable contact with enemy must fight in close combat in the order the moving player chooses and make or inflict outcome moves.

PIP DICING

The side starts its bound by rolling 1d6.

·         The score is the number of PIPs that can be used for tactical moves this bound.

·         Unused PIPs are lost.

In each bound, the first move of each single element or column uses 0 PIPs if it is entirely by road, providing it moves until it contacts enemy or friends or moves its full tactical distance and does not reverse direction.

Each other tactical move uses 1 PIP.

Except in the side’s first bound, a move that uses a PIP uses up an extra PIP for each of the following cases that apply:

a)       If the moving element or group includes any Scythed Chariots (not moving into contact with enemy), Elephants, Hordes, War Wagons, Artillery, denizens or camp followers, or it is an element currently garrisoning a City.

b)       If an element is not the general’s element and either its general’s element has been lost or is entirely in a BUA, Camp, Wood, Oasis, Marsh, or Gully, or if the element or group to be moved starts outside the command radius of its general.

COMMAND DISTANCE:

·         20BW if entirely Light Horse in line of sight.

·         4BW for troops entirely beyond the crest of any Hill, beyond a BUA or Camp, on a Difficult Hill, or in or beyond a Wood, Oasis, or Dunes.

·         8BW otherwise

  

DBA Deep-Dive: 4. Built Up Areas & Camps

BUILT UP AREAS

If a Built-Up Area (BUA) is chosen, it must be a City, Fort, Hamlet, or Edifice and will belong to the defender.

These are placed like other area features except that all of a City or Fort must be within 6BW of 2 battlefield edges and can be on a hill.

At the start of the game, a City can, and a Fort must, be garrisoned by one (non-allied) foot element.

If the garrison is Artillery. Its shooting effect is reduced because the artillery is distributed around the perimeter.

Thereafter, any single foot element (except War Wagons) can move completely within an undefended City or Fort and then garrison it.

A garrison or other occupying element does not pursue defeated attackers as the result of an outcome move.

Occupiers of a BUA beside any but a paltry river counts as defending the bank against enemy elements assaulting it   who are still partly in the river.

A City or Fort on a hill includes the hill in its tactical factors and so occupiers do not count uphill, nor do assaulters count as being in BAD GOING.

CITIY

 A City has defensive walls, high economic and prestige value and denizens who will defend it if it has no garrison.

It must be modelled with 1 or 2 gates, through which all elements entering or leaving must pass unless they are enemy assaulting it.

A single friendly group or element can move through a City, even if it is garrisoned, by using 1 PIP per element to get from just outside the near gate to having the last element moving just outside the far gate (PIPs will be explained in a later post).

DENIZENS of a City are armed civilians initially loyal to the defender, and are NOT a garrison.

If a garrison vacates a City, the denizens continue to defend it.

If a garrison of the City is destroyed, the denizens do not defend it.

When a garrison or the denizens are destroyed in close combat, any one assaulting enemy element (except Elephant or a mobile tower) occupies the city and sacks it until its player has a PIP score of 5 or 6.

The sacking element can then garrison the City if eligible, or vacate it.

Prior to that, the sacking element does not get a garrison tactical factor in close combat and cannot shoot or be shot at.

Denizens may sally out to assist a relieving army if the City does not contain a troop element and there are both enemy and friendly troop elements within 2BW of the City.

The denizens cannot themselves go more than 3BW from their City.

A City is undefended in their absence.

If the denizens of a City sally out or are destroyed and it is left unoccupied, by the enemy or vacated, either side can move into or through it without combat.

If denizens defending inside the city are destroyed by artillery, the City surrenders and is not sacked.

An appropriate enemy element immediately becomes a garrison on moving into it.

If it is not occupied by the enemy, or it is vacated, a puppet administration has been put in power and its denizens will defend the City for the enemy.

Denizens of a surrendered City cannot sally.

If a City has surrendered during the game or was captured earlier in a campaign, and there is no enemy troop garrison or this has been destroyed by shooting, the player that originally owned the City can pay 5 PIPs at the start of any of his side’s bounds for its citizens to revolt against and overthrow the puppet administration, resume their original loyalty and defend the City.

  FORT

A Fort (or castle) has permanent defences and a gate and must start the game garrisoned by a foot element.

It has no economic value or denizens.

It is left undefended if its garrison vacates it or is destroyed and can then be moved into and garrisoned by any foot element (except War Wagons) of either side.

  HAMLET

A Hamlet (or township) is a small inhabited area of scattered or grouped houses among small enclosed fields, or a larger village or town with denser housing, but no permanent defences except fences to keep out animals.

It has insignificant economic or defensive value and its inhabitants flee when troops approach.

It functions only as ROUGH GOING.

  EDIFICE

An Edifice is an isolated large building.

It has no denizens, economic or defensive value.

It is treated as BAD GOING, except when it is used as a CAMP.

CAMPS

The Camp is the logistical component of the army.

It is optional if the army has a City or more than 2 War Wagons, compulsory if it does not.

It must be in GOOD GOING (but not Plough), on the rear edge of its side’s deployment area, or on a Waterway, or beach and should have only temporary structures, except that an Edifice so positioned can act as a Camp.

A Camp must be at least 1BW x ½ BW and fit into a rectangle the length plus width of which totals no more than 4BW.

At the start of the game, a Camp can be occupied either by:

a)       1 non-allied troop element (except Elephant or Scythed Chariot) which can subsequently vacate it and may be replaced by another such element

b)       By Camp Followers (represented either by a camp follower element that can move out of it, but without being able to return, or fixed figures that cannot move out of it, but not both)

If neither has been provided, it has been left undefended.

A Camp that has been captured by any enemy either as a tactical or outcome move is immediately sacked and ceases to have any defensive or other value.

Camp followers may sally but this leaves the Camp undefended.

DBA Deep-Dive: 3. Terrain

The battlefield is produced by the defending player, placing pieces on a flat field representing GOOD GOING.

Defender bisects the battlefield into four equal quarters, numbered 1-4 clockwise from his left.

Choosing and placing features

Each army list has a list of terrain types for use when the army is defending.

·         Choose 1-2 compulsory and 2-3 optional pieces.

·         Must include at least one BAD or ROUGH or River or Waterway.

·         Can only have one of Waterway, River, Oasis, Gully, or BUA.

·         Can only have up to two of Roads, or three of any other single type.

Place Waterway first, then compulsory, then others.

Dice for each feature.

·         1-4 indicates which quarter it goes in.

·         5 means defender chooses quarter.

·         6 means attacker chooses quarter (but does not place it).

Plough MUST overlap one adjacent quarter.

Gentle Hills MAY overlap one adjacent quarter.

All other area features must be entirely within the quarter.

Linear features MUST overlap one adjacent quarter.

A feature that cannot be placed is discarded.

Each area feature must have at least 1BW of free space around it (but can be closer to a BUA).

Feature Size

Area features must fit into an area whose length plus width is within 9BW total.

Only one feature can have a length AND width less than 3BW.

 Length and width must not be less than 1VW each for all features.

A Gully’s length must be at least 3 times its width.

Length of other features must not exceed twice their width.

BUA and Plough can have straight edges. Others need to look ‘natural’.

A City or Fort can be combined with a permitted Hilly type which has a larger footprint.

Good, Bad, and Rough Going

BAD GOING includes:

·         Difficult Hills, Woods, Marsh, and Gullies.

·         It slows down movement and affects close combat factors for some foot and all mounted.

·         May also affect shooting.

·         Dunes and Oasis are BAD Going for all except camels.

·         Hills slope up to a central crest line and give close combat advantage to an element whose front edge is partly up slope of his foe’s base.

ROUGH GOING includes:

·         Rocky, Scrubby or Boggy flat ground, and Enclosures.

·         They affect some movement but not combat or shooting.

·         Plough is ROUGH if game’s first pip roll is a 1.

GOOD GOING includes:

·         Plough (but see above), Gentle Hills and all other areas not covered by terrain features.

·         An element only partly in GOOD GOING is considered in the other going type.

LINEAR features include:

·         Waterways, Rivers and Roads.

WATERWAYS:

·         are impassable,

·         extend along one battlefield edge.

·         can be 1-4BW wide,

·         no more than half its length can be more than 3BW.

·         can have a 2BW beach or flood plain which is GOOD GOING.

RIVERS:

·         run from one edge to another or join a Waterway.

·         Cannot be wider than 1BW wide

·         Length cannot be more than 1 ½ length of board.

·         Can cross any feature except Hill, Dunes, Oasis, or BUA.

·         Must be further than 4BW from any edge except end edges.

·         Can only be entered when attempting to cross it.

·         Condition is true for its whole length for the whole game.

·         Conditions determined when first element tries to cross (see a later post).

·         An element is defending the bank if all of it is on land and its opponent is at least partly I the river.

ROADS:

·         can be paved or dirt tracks.

·         Must be less than 1BW wide.

·         An element is on the road if the centre of its front edge is in the centre of the road.

·         Must run from one (non-Waterway) edge to opposite edge, bending minimally to avoid features if necessary.

·         A second road must join or cross the first.

·         Combat is made in going it passes through.

DBA Deep-Dive; 2. Troop Definitions

Troop Definitions

Troops are defined by battlefield behaviour instead of the usual formation, armour, weapons and morale class.

Mounted troop types are: Elephants, Knights, Cavalry, Light Horse, Scythed Chariots, or Camelry.

Foot troop types are: Spears, Pikes, Blades, Auxilia, Bows, Psiloi, Warbands, Hordes, Artillery, or War Wagons.

Camp Followers and Denizens of a city are not included in the allowed total of 12 troop elements, but are extra elements of armed civilians of no specific troop type, but which, if they sally, count as “Solid” foot for movement and “Fast” foot for combat.

A few army lists permit some elements defined to “dismount” i.e. be exchanged for a foot element, but these cannot later remount. These listed as / or // can be deployed as either the mounted type or already dismounted as the foot type; those listed as // can also dismount during the game as a compete ingle element tactical move. A very few armies have mounted infantry (prefixed by “Mtd”). These are on larger bases with their mounts, but remain foot and differ that in GOOD GOING they have the same tactical move as knights and can move more than once per bound.

ELEPHANTS (El). Used to charge massed foot and block horses. Vulnerable to artillery and skirmishers.

KNIGHTS (Kn or 6Kn), and heavy chariots (HCh).  Rode down most foot and good against cavalry. Vulnerable to massed bow fire, massed spear, pike and blades, and skirmishers, elephants and scythed chariots.

 CAVALRY (Cv or 6Cv), light chariots (LCh). Good all-round type against most enemies.

LIGHT HORSE (LH) or camel riders (Lcm). Good to hamper movement of most solid formations. Disliked other light troops, foot bow, and artillery.

SCYTHED CHARIOTS (SCh). Used early in a battle to disrupt solid formations.

CAMELRY (Cm). Main purpose is to disrupt other mounted troops. Vulnerable to massed fire and foot in close combat.

SPEARS (Sp or 8Sp). Good at blocking other foot. Can hold their own against mounted. Classed as “solid”.

PIKES (3Pk or 4Pk). Excellent against most foot if double ranked. Vulnerable to bow fire and skirmishers.  3Kn are classed as “fast”, 4Pk are “solid”.

BLADES (3Bd, 4Bd, or 6Bd). Less safe than spears against mounted, but superior to all other foot in close combat except double-ranked pike. 3Bd are classed as “fast”, 4Bd are “solid”. Also includes Command Post (CP) represents stationary generals with their bodyguard, or in a litter (Lit), or Command Wagon (CWg). The latter are treated as Blades, but cannot move into contact with enemy.

AUXILIA (3Ax or 4Ax). Over-matched in the open by other close formed foot and cavalry. Good in difficult terrain or as a link between heavy foot and mounted, and a melee reserve. 3Ax are “fast”, 4Ax are “solid”.

PSILOI (Ps). Used to slow the enemy down, support flanks, capture difficult terrain. Vulnerable to mounted in open terrain. Classified as “fast”.

BOWS (3, 4, or 8. Bw, Lb, or Cb). Effective at recoiling foot and mounted. Very effective against knights. 3-figure bases are “fast”, all others are “solid”.

WARBAND (3Wb or 4Wb). If not resisted they swept their enemy away. Susceptible to Psiloi and mounted. 3Wb are “fast”, 4Wb are “solid”.

HORDE (5Hd or 7Hd). A good holding element. 5Hd are classed as “fast”, 7Hd as “solid”.

Artillery (Art). Long ranged, but slower to fire. Good against war wagons, elephants and other artillery. Classed as “solid” foot.

WAR WAGONS (WWg). Used to blunt enemy attacks or provide slow pressure. Vulnerable to artillery. Can fight all-round. Shoot from one edger only per bound. Classed as “solid”. Can be depicted without draft animals, so mounted on a square base.

BASING.

Figures are based on rectangular or square thin bases with the number of figures mentioned above.

There is a table in the rules which gathers all this information together in one place.

The general’s base should be easily identified.