UWS meeting (deferred from end of December) and I played in a game using Combat HQ rules that was set up (a good deal of work) and umpired (even more arduous !?) by Mike.
He used a Command Decision (?) scenario from the excellent Bob McKenzie site with action around Pesano and Tobacco Factory in Sicily campaign.
This has Yanks defending (2 infantry Battalions with a Tank Battalion as off-table reserve) being attacked by Pz Grenadiers with tank support (PzIVs) and with options to conduct flanking maneuvers (ie entry points).
Both sides had artillery support with Yanks having roughly double
Bryn and Mr B took Krauts/Heinies/Nazis and Ian and I the glorious US forces of freedom.
We got to set up on 'blinds' to create some fog of war with Huns coming on from varied directions.
Ian took the forward US Battalion which were dug-in and on the half of the table with lots of cover (tree lines) whereas my Battalion had much more open half of table but would see the tank support arrive in this area (very conducive to a tank engagement).
So it proved as Mr B arrived on my flank with Panzers and Grenadiers and overwhelmed my Support Coy (an MG a Mortar and a lowly 37mm AT gun).
Yank infantry on this flank really took little part here as hugging distant limited cover and outside their range, spotting for Artillery their main activity.
Tank support arrived on third turn and engaged MrBs PzIVs, a Pak40, a Puma and a PzIII (which turned out to be a Flam Panzer).
Shermans outclassed in the end although a single Veteran M10 did kill a PzIV and US force morale faltered.
To be honest not really sure what occurred between Bryn and Ian, German infantry seemed stymied but they had several Panzers which were pushing forwards, Ian only had a 37mm AT gun and a T30 half track (75mm) with any ranged AT capability (infantry all have Bazookas but of course limited range)
Not played these rules in couple of years and took awhile to get gist of how one uses the various dice as 'strings' or the very flexible 'wild dice' (sixes) along with the Staff Orders but once it clicks it all plays smoothly.
Good fun with a very interesting scenario, kudos to Mike for arranging the game
Not many pics as too engrossed in game (always a good sign)
Initial set up with US on Blinds (mine to rear)
First of Germans arrive on my flank
The scenario map
Also at club there was a large Sharps Practice, French-Indian Wars game in 28mm,no idea how this panned out but looked great.
I keep seeing copies of Combat HQ on eBay. What's it like as a system? What sort of force level is it aimed at?
ReplyDeleteCan't find a decent review or determine much from his website.
Neil
Hard to be brief ! game level is similar to Cmd Decision (this was a CD scn) with each stand an platoon/troop but without all the HQ/half/patrol stands. This game had 5 Bttns sized formations per side) It uses a command dice system (usually 5+ d6) that generates orders on the fly each turn (sort of like Chain of Cmd but with more flexibility) with a force pool of Staff Orders that can be used for Arty etc (and restocked if needs be). Rolls of 1 are duds or if you roll more 1s than 6s this is a Cmd Fail and can 'gift' dice to enemy. 6s are Wild dice ie useable as any value and for other stuff. A formation (a nominated Cmd Stand and up to 3 other stands within 6") can be activated only once per turn but you can use dice 'chains' (same number) to allow multiple moves. Players alternate these activations. Units can only fore once per turn but this can be done as opportunity fire. Moves are usually a fixed amount plus a xD6 roll. Shooting is sort of 'buckets of dice' system with say a PzIVH rolling basic 8D6 on a Hit number of 4 (this can be adjusted for range etc) against a Sherman with 7 'Reaction' Dice (this incorporates armour level and other factors again on basic target number of 4 but adjusted by +/- numbers of d6) which cuts out seperate rolls for hitting and damage. Units can take Disruptions hits (all kia on 3rd such hit) and can be Suppressed (no actions allowed and costs a single dice to Recover). Obviously a very brief overview and not well enough versed in it to give full opinion, but it does play fast and smooth (once you grasp Cmd Dice options) and very much on the game rather than simulation category.
DeleteNot sure but there may be videos and/or pdfs on publishers site/FB pages showing some of the basic concepts. Also a cheaper (or free ?) Tank Only version ? I found it fun and fast play overall but maybe not meaty enough in the combat systems at times for my tastes.
DeleteI did buy earlier version but a deluge of Pdfs for amendments and new rules put me off so never bought latest set (not sure of still being tinkered with in this way ?) but core rules remain biggest change was to artillery with a lot more options for types of fire. I would probably put rules in similar category/level to Blitzkrieg Commander
DeleteThanks for the overview.
ReplyDeleteNeil
Good looking game Gary. I like the fact that there was plenty of board and not too many tanks. The French & Indian War game looked great as well.
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
p.s. Completely unrelated, I noticed the comment at the end of your blog about the Battleground series. You most likely know this already, but they are available on yoo-toobe, reasonable quality too (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdAPAly2sNIUdymRCXrz3gImY388My00J). I enjoyed the wargaming in Callan, but did not see these at the time, so was pleased to be introduced to them some years ago.
Yes have those Utube episodes of Battleground just a pity several missing. Callan was excellent series with his wargaming an added bonus :-)
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