This is a new game I’ve been working on to get some use out of the 20mm Italeri models my dad got my brother, himself and me. I’d greatly appreciate feedback
Turn sequence
Each player’s turn consists of 2 phases: the Movement phase and the Combat phase. These phases can be done in whatever sequence the player chooses, but during the movement phase units may only move and during the combat phase units may only engage in combat. During either phase any unit may perform manoeuvres and officer teams may issue orders.
Visibility and Line of Sight
Units can only shoot or assault enemies they can see. To determine if they can see each other, draw a straight line between the two units in question and if a piece of terrain obscures them entirely the units may not shoot at or assault one another.
Characteristics
Each infantry unit has a set of characteristics which determine how good they are at shooting and in an assault, how well armoured they are, how motivated they are to fight and how well trained they are. Vehicles, however, have characteristics showing how good at shooting they are and how well armoured they are on their front, sides and rear. The infantry characteristics are: WPN, which is how skilled a unit is at shooting and in close combat; ARM, which is how well armoured the unit is; MOR, which is the morale of the unit; and TRN, which is how well trained a unit is. Vehicle characteristics are WPN, which is how accurate the vehicle is; ARM, which is how well the front of the vehicle is armoured; TRN, which is how well trained the crew of the vehicle is, and HP, which is how many hit points the vehicle has. Weapons also have characteristics, which are RNG, the range of the weapon; ROF, or rate of fire, which determines how many dice are rolled when each team fire; and PEN, which shows how powerful the bullets are and how capable of penetrating armour they are.
Unit types
There are four types of units: Infantry, Guns, Light Vehicles, Tanks and Heavy Tanks. Infantry type units make up the bulk of the company and while not as fast or as powerful as the vehicles, they are easily the most numerous. They are made up of teams of between 2 and 6 men, although snipers and officers able to act as a squad by themselves. Guns are artillery cannons and anti-tank guns crewed by infantry and towed by artillery tractors, light vehicles such as halftracks, or the crew. Light Vehicles are fast and lightly armoured, and often armed with a single machine gun or cannon. Tanks are heavy and powerful, armed with cannons as well as several machine guns, while Heavy Tanks are even bigger and more heavily armed and armoured, although have to move slower as a result.
Ranks
There are three ranks: Conscript, Trained and Veteran. Conscript units are often poorly trained and fielded in large numbers. A squad shooting at a unit with the rank of Conscript gets +1 to their to-hit roll. Trained units are soldiers who have been given enough training that they can handle their weapon proficiently, keep relatively calm under fire and manage to act autonomously to complete their objectives. All vehicles have the rank of Trained. Squads with the rank of Trained gain +1 MOR for Initiative tests. Veterans are troops who have been baptised by fire and have learned through experience the best way to stay alive in battle. Any unit can be upgraded to Veteran rank, and gain +1 MOR, and any squad that shoots at them suffers -1 to their to-hit roll
Weapon types
Each weapon falls into two of 6 types: Light, Mobile, Heavy and Artillery as well as Infantry or Vehicle. Light weapons refer to pistols and grenades, and can only harm infantry units with an ARM value equal to or less than the weapons PEN value. Mobile weapons are weapons which can be moved then fired in the next turn, and Heavy weapons may not be fired if they moved in the previous turn. The exception to this rule is when a heavy weapon is mounted on a vehicle, in which case it acts as though it were a mobile weapon. Artillery weapons are considered heavy weapons, and must roll a scatter die for every shot they fire, which is covered later. Infantry weapons are capable of killing infantry and damaging light vehicles with a -1 PEN modifier, while vehicle weapons can damage all unit types.
Deployment
Before the game begins, all players deploy their armies on the table. Each player gets an edge of the table to deploy on, and can deploy up to 12” from the edge of the table along their edge. This is called the deployment zone.
Movement
Every team moves together, with every man staying within 2” of one another. All infantry moves 5”, light vehicles move 12”, tanks move 10”, heavy tanks move 8” and guns move either 5” or 10” depending on whether they are towed by the crew or by a vehicle. All units move 50% faster on roads, paths and in trenches (which only affect infantry) and 50% slower through terrain such as rivers, ruins, and forests
Shooting
Check the range of the weapons and whether weapons can harm the target, which is covered in the Weapon Types section earlier. Next, roll to hit, rolling one die for every point their weapons ROF has and compare TRN of the target to the WPN of the shooter on the table below, modifying each roll by -2 to +2 depending on the ACC value of each weapon.
| TRN/ARM | |||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| 1 | 4+ | 5+ | 5+ | 6+ | 6+ | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| 2 | 3+ | 4+ | 4+ | 5+ | 5+ | 6+ | 6+ | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| 3 | 3+ | 3+ | 4+ | 4+ | 5+ | 5+ | 6+ | 6+ | n/a | n/a | |
| WPN/PEN | 4 | 3+ | 3+ | 3+ | 4+ | 4+ | 5+ | 5+ | 6+ | 6+ | n/a |
| 5 | 2+ | 3+ | 3+ | 3+ | 4+ | 4+ | 5+ | 5+ | 6+ | 6+ | |
| 6 | 2+ | 2+ | 3+ | 3+ | 3+ | 4+ | 4+ | 5+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| 7 | 2+ | 2+ | 2+ | 3+ | 3+ | 3+ | 4+ | 4+ | 5+ | 5+ | |
| 8 | A | 2+ | 2+ | 2+ | 3+ | 3+ | 3+ | 4+ | 4+ | 5+ | |
| 9 | A | A | 2+ | 2+ | 2+ | 3+ | 3+ | 3+ | 4+ | 4+ | |
| 10 | A | A | A | 2+ | 2+ | 2+ | 3+ | 3+ | 3+ | 4+ | |
After this, the next step is to roll to kill, which is rolled by the attacker using the same chart. Successfully rolling to kill causes the unit to take a casualty for every successful roll. Next, remove casualties. Casualties must be removed from the closest models to the attacking unit first
Explosions
Artillery shells, mortar bombs, tank and gun shells and grenades all explode when they hit their target. Shooting with them is resolved as normal, but if they are successful in hitting their target then all units within 1” also count as being hit.
Grenades
Infantry units may choose to use grenades, be they rifle grenades or hand grenades. To do this, designate a unit to use a grenade and use one per squad. Grenades explode, wounding all within 1” of the target.
Artillery
Artillery shooting is done in the same way as regular shooting, except rolling to hit. Each team rolls a scatter die as well as a regular die for every round they fire. They designate a target as normal and roll both dice, with the scatter die determining which way the shot scatters and the regular die showing how many inches it scatters. The shot automatically hits whatever is in the location the scatter die shows. They also inflict damage to all units within 2” of where they land.
Smoke Round
Mortars have the ability to fire smoke rounds to conceal the movements of troops. To fire a smoke grenade, designate a target as per normal artillery shooting rules. Smoke rounds count as completely blocking visibility for all units drawing line of sight through it.
Shooting at Vehicles
When shooting at vehicles, determine whether the top, front, side or rear is being fired at. The ARM value of a vehicle is the armour on the front, and as such shooting at the side gives a modifier of -1 ARM and on a roll of 6 the vehicle is immobilised, and shooting at the top or rear of the vehicle gives -2 ARM and on a roll of 6 the engine is damaged, causing the vehicle to move at half its normal movement rate. Rolling a 6 when shooting at the front of a vehicle causes a weapon to be destroyed, with the first result destroying the main weapon and the next destroying any other weapons the vehicle has. For every successful hit, the vehicle loses one HP until it reaches 0, at which point it is knocked out and becomes terrain.
Melee
Units ‘sprint’ into hand to hand combat, moving at +2 to their Movement value when charging. Attacker hits first, but the assaulted unit may shoot at the charging unit, which is done before the charging unit makes contact with their target, and is resolved like normal shooting. Combat is resolved in the same way as shooting.
Orders and Manoeuvres
Squads are able to act independently on the battlefield, or under the guidance of an officer. Officer teams are able to issue orders to any unit within 12” of themselves, and any squad may perform a manoeuvre instead of moving or engaging in combat. To use an order or manoeuvre, designate the unit performing it and roll an Initiative Test. This is similar to a Terror Test, and if they are successful, the order or manoeuvre is carried out, however if the unit counts as having performed an action. The orders are Fall Back, Concentrate Fire; Hold the Line, and Supporting Fire. The manoeuvres are Hit the Dirt, Set Up Position, Sprint, Overdrive, Hull Down, Barrage, and Button Vehicle.
Orders
Fall Back – All non-vehicle units within 12” of the officer must fall back to the nearest terrain. If they are already in cover they are not affected by this order
Concentrate Fire – Up to two designated units including vehicles within 12” of the officer must fire at a designated target. They have +1 WPN when performing this shooting attack
Hold the Line – All units within 12” of the officer automatically pass Terror tests
Supporting Fire – The officer calls in a barrage of mortar and artillery rounds on a target to soften it up before assaulting it. Designate one target and roll 3 Artillery attacks against it at ATT 8
Rally On Me – All retreating units within 12” automatically pass their next Terror test and must move as normal towards the officer that issued the order
Manoeuvres
Hit the Dirt – The infantry unit gets down on the ground to make them harder to hit. They gain a partial cover bonus and all units shooting at them suffer a -1 WPN modifier. Units that have used this manoeuvre move at half their normal rate
Set Up Position – The infantry unit sets up a defensive position, using whatever cover is available to hide behind or digging fire pits and setting up sandbags. The unit gains a full cover bonus and +1 WPN, but is not allowed to move
Sprint – The infantry unit sprints as fast as they can to the nearest piece of cover, often while under fire. The unit moves at +2” for one phase and is allowed to move instead of shooting or charging during the Combat phase
Button Vehicle – The infantry unit fires at a vehicle’s vision slits and commanders cupola, forcing them to close up to keep safe. This is resolved by rolling to hit, and if the majority of shots hit, the vehicle cannot move or shoot for a turn.
Barrage – Any artillery type unit may fire 3 rounds at a single target instead of 1. After doing this they may not fire or move in the next turn
Overdrive – The vehicle’s crew pushes their engine as hard as it’ll go, allowing them to move faster. The unit moves at +3” for one phase and suffers -1 WPN
Hull Down – The vehicle’s crew set up a defensive position, covering their vehicle in foliage, netting or whatever else happens to be available and uses walls or sandbags to cover their sides. The unit cannot move while hull down, but gains a partial cover bonus and +1 WPN
Terror
The battlefield is a terrifying place, with bullets flying, artillery hammering the area trying to hit the enemy without being able to see them, and death an everlasting, imminent spectre looming over every man. When a squad loses members, they must take a Terror test; this is done by rolling 2d6 and comparing the result to the Morale value for the squad and if the test is passed, the squad acts as normal, but if they fail, they are pinned. If a squad loses at least half their men, then they take a Terror test, with this test being modified with -1 for every lost member, and if they fail the squad must fall back the same distance as they are allowed to move. Units must take a new Terror test at the beginning of every turn until they either pass or
Pinning
When a unit comes under fire from heavy weapons such as machine guns, mortars, and artillery, they can be suppressed and forced to keep their heads down. When a unit is pinned, they cannot move in the next turn, gain a Partial Cover bonus and suffer -1 MOR
Terrain
The battlefield is full of terrain, from ruined buildings and fortifications to hedgerows and fences to swamps and streams. Being in cover such as ruins, trenches, walls, and craters grant modifiers to each to hit roll, with full cover giving -2 to the roll and partial cover giving -1. Terrain that covers up to half of a model gives a partial cover bonus while terrain that covers the majority (but not the entirety) of a model gives a full cover bonus. Moving along roads allows units to move 50% faster and moving through water and swamps forces units to move half their normal rate, rounding down.
Minefields
Some battlefields have minefields set up in them. These need to be marked on the table with a counter, with the minefield extending a certain distance in all directions from the centre of the counter. Any infantry model that walks into a minefield rolls a to-hit roll to determine if they trigger a mine and automatically die if they do. Vehicles that move into a minefield are automatically hit and immobilised. Units equipped with minesweepers can detect minefields and do not trigger them as a result.
Objectives
There are two goals in the game: destroying the enemy’s army entirely or forcing them to retreat, and capturing objectives. Objectives are special tokens which are placed by players on the table before the game begins, with a randomly generated number of objectives, done by rolling a D6, being placed by the players one at a time until none are left, with the first ones being placed in the deployment zones, then the rest being deployed in the middle of the table. To capture objectives, infantry must be moved to within 3” of an objective, and vehicles cannot capture them. Pinned infantry can’t capture objectives and any infantry pinned while holding an objective stop holding it. The player that holds the majority of objectives for 2 turns or is the last man standing wins.
thatkiwiguy 