Managed to play through 5 solo turns with O Group today getting a decent delve into the rules.
Turns are split into a Command Phase wherein you roll your Battalion dice to generate available Orders and Initiative, this then leads to the Combat Phases termed firstly Offensive and then Defensive. Then finally a Regroup Phase which allows limited free actions (2 for attacker and 1 for defender) with units that were not ordered during turn.
The Command Phase starts with rolling your dice (generally 9 but can reduce) to obtain total orders for the turn. 1's are duds unless you roll 3 which causes one of your Companies to go Hesitant (reduced capabilities), 6's generate HQ orders (to a max of 6) and 2-5 generate Company Orders. There a few twists to this once 'Fubars' appear (1 for every 4 sections lost) and HQ Orders can be used to boost totals at possible cost of Initiative loss.
Initiative is then decided by a 2D6 dice-off with current HQ Order total added, with the winner determining who takes each phase and gaining 1 extra Company Order (something I kept forgetting).
Then its into the real meat of the system with the Combat Phases.
Company (and if you wish HQ) Orders are used at varying rates to conduct actions with Company Command Orders allowing possible second actions in a given phase (but can be costly in number of Orders used).
There are several Orders (I wont list them all) as one would expect with the most used being the Fire/Move order. This allows units to Fire and Move, Move and Fire or simply Move or Fire. There are Orders to Rally, Deploy, commit Reserves and call in Mortars or Artillery.
The enemy (orders totals permitting) can react to Firing or Movement with a React Order to either fire back or attempt to Opportunity Fire at a moving target.
There are a lot of decisions to make as to how best to utilise your limited Company Orders (think 9 was most either side had in my game) combined with possible use of the HQ Orders and the Company Command Order option.
There just never seem to be enough orders to do everything you want in a turn and indeed whether to retain any for reaction purposes. Company Orders are discarded if unused unlike HQ Orders which are retained.
I managed to go through just about every order and conducted lots of Movement, Shooting, Bombarding with only exception being not having conducted any Close Combats.
Units use Tactical Bounds which simply means you declare your intended finishing position prior to moving with such movement based on rolling 2-3 dice and according to circumstances moving that amount toward destination.
The Spotting rules are rather clever with units in Cover (and some other situations) requiring the firer to roll a Spotting Dice which either generates a Spotted or Obscured result which in turn effects the possible outcomes of fire (obscured targets are harder to inflict hits upon).
Units fire by Platoon or Tank/Independent section. Again I wont spell out every action but as an example a standard Infantry Platoon of 3 sections firing small arms would roll 2 dice per section for of course 6 total (possibly adjusted up or down for moving etc) needing standard 4+ to hit. If in target in the open no spotting roll required but if in cover a separate dice is rolled with 1-3 meaning an Obscured shot and 4-6 a Spotted shot. The target Platoon/Section then rolls against its morale to save hits again based on being Spotted or Obscured. Each 'unsaved' hit generates 1 Shock marker. When a unit accumulates 2 Shock it is Hesitant, 3 it is Suppressed and any further Shock causes possible or actual KIAs.
Indirect HE is similar but hits all Platoons within a burst circle of 4-6" radius with multiple dice eg Bttn Mortars roll 5D6 per target.
Anti-Tank firing is based on a 2D6 roll (with some adjustments) requiring 7+ to achieve a hit. A strike value is compared to an armour value with +/- difference applied to another 2D6 roll with possible outcomes of destroyed, damaged or unperturbed.
In my game I had a 75mm Pak40 which is a superior gun fire from ambush and fail miserably twice to hit Sherman target whilst a 50mm L60 standard gun hit and brewed a Firefly on second attempt.
I also 'massed' the 2 available German MG42s (MMGs) into a single Platoon instead of attaching them out. Whilst this generated a whopping 12 firing dice it made them rather vulnerable to enemy particularly Mortars.
The British attackers did accumulate 1 Fubar marker having lost 3 Infantry sections and the Firefly and this reduces your HQ Orders by 1 unless you decide to ignore the Fubar when rolling for orders but with added risk of a Company becoming Hesitant.
Several units (those MG42s in particular) took varying amounts of Shock, seeing them go Hesitant or Suppressed (if not KIA) but most were able to Rally the shock, but of course this costs an Order that cannot then be used for other tasks. The Regroup Phase can be important in this regard as Rallying is an allowed action but only if unit performed no other order in either Combat Phase.
The above is a very cursory look of the rules but suffice to say I found the rules to be very good for the level of game they are aimed at. There is a nice balance of playability vis complexity and flavour (much like authors Panzer Grenadier Deluxe set which I also like) and always plenty of interesting decisions to make every turn and phase. I like the fact that the attacker really does need a plan in order to effectively deploy his reserves and use Orders to concentrate on taking key objectives, trying to wing it will lead to wasted opportunities and frustration.
I am of course far from offay with all the possibilities and consequences inherent in the Command and Orders system. Solo play is also less than ideal to delve into the game fully as quite a lot to learn and remember and am sure I made several errors.
Probably my only negative thought is that the game by design really only works for a single Battalion versus a single Battalion (even multiplayer options simply pair off Battalions) so might be limited for historical scenarios ? There are army 'lists' with points included with these being based around a core Infantry Battalion with lots of support and reserves options which appear workable.
Very keen to try these rules in a proper face to face game (hopefully in next few months ???).
There is an excellent video of the rules in use at Storm of Steel: https://youtu.be/_rKbeiXhHp4
NB - this video does contain a few errors in rule play most of which are noted by author but still gives a very good overview of system
And of course the Too Fat Lardies UTube channel has lots of great stuff by the author for those looking more information.
MG42s hit by 3" Mortar stonk have 2 Shock (dice) and are Hesitant (yellow puff)
British platoon has taken a farm house (a Phase Line objective) but fellow Platoon is Suppressed (red puff) and whittled down to a single section (they passed a Rout roll to stay on table)
Another platoon invests an orchard before Cristot
German left is strong with 2 deployed platoons, one still in Ambush (green puff)
A British Combat Patrol has pushed forward
Another hesitant British platoon after being caught in open by enemy Mortars
Sherman Troop appears on British right in support of B Company
British Infantry pushing towards another farm to clear enemy Combat Patrol
British platoon pushes forwards to engage MG42 unit
Second Tank Troop moves to support A Company
MG42s now suppressed as further Mortar barrage hits (green dice denotes ongoing point of aim)
German platoon appears in Cristot and has taken fire
A firm German line of defence
British Battalion HQ now sporting a Fubar marker and reduced HQ Orders
A Firefly brewed by a Pak38
