Stargrunt 2 for WW2

8/13/2019 Stargrunt 2 for WW2

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Stargrunt 2 For WW2

Stargrunt 2 is a set of Science Fiction rules published by Ground ZeroGames, copyright and trademark to same.SG2 are excellent rules: elegant and producing a believable result

uickly.!ne problem " have noticed is the order in #hich topics arepresented, people find this confusing and get the impression that therules are complicated. $verything but armour is simple and usessimilar mechanics.See %earn##2.rtf for a fast track approach to learning the game.&ou #ill need the Stargrunt 2 rules in order to make sense of #hatfollo#s, it #ould have been clearer if this document actually explained

all the rules together'. (ut then you #ouldn)t need to buy SG2 and*on #ould be suing me for copyright."f you do not already kno# SG2 #ell, read %earn##2 and then therules prior to this document.

Introduction

+hese rules modifications are definitely not intended to cover massarmour actions across the rolling steppes. e play #ith a platoon ort#o of infantry, the odd troop of armour support in fairly close terrain.+he emphasis is slightly different from SG2 in that armour rules areless detailed, thus allo#ing tanks and infantry a more e ual part inthe action. -layers like tanks, so their mechanics are more like theinfantry rules. +his in turn makes the rules for tanks lean moreto#ards game rather than simulation. "f you don t like that then eitheruse the sg2 rules for tanks or leave them out. +he vast ma/ority ofplatoon actions involved no tanks.+he emphasis is on producing a result #hich seems 0about right #iththe minimal mechanics.

(e a#are that in order to avoid reams of stats there s an assumptionherein that the reader kno#s 2 #eapons and tanks reasonably#ell.

+he rules have been pretty much stable for some time no#, but if youfeel there s some suggestion you have for improvement or uestionon #hat do you do #hen' let me kno#.



" fre uently run scenarios and some of these #ill appear on the #ebsite, as spare time and inclination allo#s. 1s and #hen this happens,stats for all vehicles and #eapons used #ill appear in these and canbe consulted for more examples.

Dice and range bandsFe# people had any personal armour to speak of in ##2, so peoplehad a habit of lurking in holes or behind nice thick #alls.Colour

Type Dice / Rangeband

Armour

ed $lite 32!range

4eteran 35

(lue egular 6 -ill boxGreen Green 7 8eavy cover 9 emplacement&ello# ntrained ; <one

Turn Sequenceithin a turn a given unit may be activated once, reactivated once

=only>. 1t the start of a turn, move routing units first. For the purposes ofrunning, routed over?rides suppression and the unit #ill still run.+he defending player and the attacking choose the units they #ish to

activate first, and roll off uality dice. 8ighest chooses. !n a dra#the defender chooses. !ptionally, if one is moving and the otherstatic, the static unit may choose #ho goes first."nvert the confidence chit as each s uad or troop s activation isresolved, the uality is more likely to be referred to later on in thebound.8idden units should be allocated the abc chits and their lettersmarked on the map. +he units laid out on a clipboard or in a boxfilecomplete #ith uality @ confidence chits. 1s they activate = often to

/ust sit there > their confidence chits can be turned over in the box.

Actions!ne of the psychological effects of battle is that cre#ed support#eapons are much more likely to shoot than riflemen as there sseveral people there to give each other confidence.Support #eapon detachments still use the actions of their leader, butno communications test is necessary if all you #ant to do is shoot.



+hey kno# they re expected to blast things, and hence a machinegun 0nest can function or someone in a half track can Ashoot theirs uad inA to an ob/ective.Some very #ell organised units such as early #ar German, or (ritish-aras are an exception to the usual rules and = as scenario dictates >may take both a leader action and a s uad action for the cost of theirfirst action in a bound, read the redefined list of actions carefully priorto implementing this. "t ll have a big effect so get to kno# the rules#ell first.

1 s uad #ith no <B! gets a single action. 1s #ell as #hen a leaderis lost this covers unusual teams such as poorly trained tank huntersor cooks and bottle?#ashers manning hasty defences.Cetachments made prior to the game start may be set up this #ay.+his can also be used to simulate troops caught in unusual

circumstances, such as early #ar artillery men #ho find themselves inthe thick of things, and are inexperienced9psychologically unpreparedfor the situation.



Squad ActionsFire s uad #eapons D? a single support #eapon. $ach soldier mayonly fire once per bound, but a s uad can fire lmg then rifles.Fire heavy9sustained fire support #eaponEove9combat move. Eostly 7 or d7 doubled if under threat or fire.

eorganise = includes medical attention, turning heavy #eapons etc >.+ake cover ? get into position. = Bonfidence test if not in cover >Set up9take do#n heavy #eapon

emove suppression$lect %eader Ceploy cre# for Blose Bombat

Leader Actions

%eave cover under fire = Bonfidence test >Get up out of position = full action, but you can roll confidence tests tomove and remain in position >

1im = 8eavy #eapons only >Celiberate sighting

ally subordinateeactivate subordinate = <( Eust be in chain of command >

BommunicateEan gun = Follo#ing close combat or similar >Balm -anic = +akes t#o actions >Cetach = "ncludes sending runner >

Reactivation 1 leader may use an action in an attempt to activate another unitunder him in the command structure. 1 given unit may only be re?activated once in a turn, and this may be limited to being prior to theiro#n activation depending on uality of <B!s #ithin the unit. +hisdoes not usually give the unit another shot the exception being cre#served #eapons #hich may shoot once per activation. $G SFEG,

1+ guns, tanks, ba ooka. +hus excluding flamethro#ers, rifles, smgand lmg."n order to successfully reactivate, a communication roll must besuccessfully made.



Communication 1n officer may talk to another or s uad #ithin 7 automatically. +hisdoes not take an action if it s /ust to make a detachment carry out anaction. !ther#ise an action is re uired.

Further than this and either shouting, a runner or a radio arenecessary."n all these cases a command roll should be made. +his uses the#orst number of both leaders involved, the uality dice of the unit hetalks to."n ##2 radios #ere often unavailable."nfantry find it very difficult =if not impossible> to talk to buttoned tanksand vice versa, #ith some exceptions such as open topped vehiclesand Shermans #ith rear mounted telephones. !ther#ise either adetachment must be sent to physically contact the vehicle or theleader involved must do so himself.

Communication Roll ModifiersD3 adio communicationD3 (y voice, per range band distantD3 <o clear %oS bet#een units9target in cover and hence difficult tomake out.D3 $nemy9#hatever target is engaged #ith is out of sight.D3 "nfantry yelling to open topped 1F4

D2 "nfantry yelling to other 1F4D3 $ither unit under fire this boundD2 $ither unit under 8$ fire this bound

Loss of Leader 1 s uad #ithout a leader performs at 3 uality and 3 leadership#orse than it s original, #here possible. "t may only be activated byitself or a leader #ithin it s =ne#> uality range in inches. 1 specialH$lect leader action is available #hich does /ust that. oll on original

uality, if e ual or less to original leader s number then the ne# oneis one #orse, if that is possible.-articularly high uality troops kno#n for leadership from the ranks=eg early German > have a ne# leader automatically appears #ith thesame number. See <ational characteristics, or your scenariodesigner.



similarly the uality dice drops by 3 for each beyond the first. "f thismeans dropping belo# a d;, then the fire #ould be ineffective.+he follo#ing is based on my interpretation of ho# #eapons #ereused ? " feel that most riflemen in a s uad didn)t fire effectively, hencethe undeniable difference bet#een a garand and a KarL6k is toosmall to be relevant. +here are arguments against this, so you couldtry 3.2F- at short range for a Garand or E3 carbine if you feel this ismore appropriate.Barbines J?3 " feel that the lo# po#er of the m3 carbine is made upfor by rounds in a maga ine.$arly - Fausts have short range only, very late #ar ones 2 nd bandalso, but at J?3.SEG 2 F-, short range only.Stg ;M 1ssault ifle, fp3 each ! F-2 and ?3

-istols in the hands of experts are F-3 for short range and as abayoneted rifle in close combat, other#ise are no use except in closecombat, #here they are e ual to a plain rifle.

%EG are defined by ammo feed for #eapon dice, effective #eight offire for impact.Eag fed d7 F- unless less than M5 rounds, then d;. 1ll mag fed ared6 impact.(elt fed #ith loader d6 F-, d7 #ithout.Eost belt fed mg "mpact d35, SFEG mg;2 d32 due to high oF.$xamples.(1 d; support #eapon #ith loader or 2 F-, d6 impact(ren d7, d6 impactM5cal belt d6, d35 impactEGM; Crum d7, d6 impactEGM; belt d6, d35 impactI5 Bal and other 8EG9autocannon penetration is such that ordinary#alls effects are reduced to light cover.



Confidence+his represents the morale of the units and drops either one or t#olevels if a confidence roll is failed. %ess than half the roll re uiredindicates a drop of t#o levels. allying is possible by a superiorofficer using an action or as a 0self rally using t#o actions.+he SG2 mechanism is simplified by deciding on a scenario basis#hether to add the test number as #ell as people lost #hencasualties are inflicted. nusually #ell motivated troops in theadvance might disregard dead =only> on the first bound they incurthem. Fanatics and those motivated by certain death onretreat9capture may disregard #ounded as #ell, ho#ever, be verycareful #ith this until you re sure of the rules. Soviet human #aveassaults #ith <K4C stopping machine guns shooting people running

a#ay still suffered morale failure.ThreatLevel

Trigger

3 First time unit suppressed5 nit suppressed, after first time3 nit takes losses2 Eore losses in a given bound than are left3 Supporting friendlies move rear#ards or rout3 Sees friendly unit #ithdra#, rout or destroyed. na#are of, or

po#erless against cause2 +ank in contact #ith enemy infantry

D3 -er killed this boundD3 -er untreated #oundedD3 -er untreated #ounded man left behindD3 <o leader at presentD3 nder 8$ or artillery attack this boundD3 Fired at by unsighted enemy from out of frontal arc

D3 orCouble

1ttacked by terror #eapon

-articularly aggressive troops may ignore =only> suppressiontriggered tests after the first.<ote, #here bound is specified this may mean that casualties prior tothis #ill be added.Great care needs to be taken in balancing this.



Self Rall# hen a s uad is 0safely out of the line of fire it #ill obviously

eventually stop running.+o ualify such as s uad must be able to dra# no line of sight to an

enemy, and not been under fire previously in the bound."t must either have another s uad #hich is at Shaken or better moralein sight or have been safe the previous bound.(asically, it must feel pretty safe and or have some friends about toreassure it has some support.+his test is at a penalty of 2 along #ith any other applicable penalties,uses both actions and re uires a live leader.

Treating Wounded 1s can be seen from the above, treating #ounded is a good idea,even if you do not get the soldier on his feet so long as he s dead orstops screaming you #ill be reducing your potential morale penalties.

1lso note that once 0+reated soldiers may be left at no penalty.+hink of them as sat against a tree #ith gritted teeth and a pistol if ithelps.

1 reorganise action allo#s each un#ounded figure to treat a#ounded one. 1 d7 roll is then made for each.7 !K, remove #ounded

marker I +reated, but stillincapacitated.

M9;

Still counts as untreated,you may try again

392

Cead

1dd D3 for a proper medic and an optional ?3 for an officer orcommissar on the eastern front.



ehicles+he rules for these are changed rather a lot, the extra vehicle rules inSG2 are ignored and a more infantry fire orientated procedureadopted instead.(asically, " don t like the multipliers mechanic and felt that somethinga bit simpler and closer to the #ay infantry #ork might be practical.

Anti$Tan% Fire 1rmoured vehicles are allocated an armour value =d; to d32> to frontand sides. 1nti tank guns are allocated an armour impact value.+hese are nominal dice, and #ill re uire changing #hen there is anyrange of difference bet#een armour penetration and armour. +heeffective range of tank guns and the like is much greater than small

arms. +he range band is increased by adding a 8eavy eaponange to the usual uality. 1n average gun cre# are therefore likely

to have range bands in the order of 36 .!WR !igh elocity "un/!o#it$ers

; +ripod orpintle EEG

7 1utocannon 9coaxmg

6 Small 1+ Gun Short barrelled 9Eortar 35 Eedium 1+

Gun%ong (arrelled

32 %arge 1+ Gun

Modifiers(uttoned up 1F4s reduce 8 by 24ehicle moved across %oS in last activation or /ust came into sight forsome other reason, D3 range band unless full auto fire.8ull do#n is considered light cover at short range, hard coverbeyond.

1n 1im action reduces range band by 3.Shooting as a second action after a move halves range band eg

uality 6, medium 1+ N 36 , halved N L .



&e!icles and Command +he radius of command is greater for vehicles than it is forindividuals, they can have up to their uality band bet#een the centreof each vehicle in a s uadron9structure.

Armour and 'eutralise (ffect For an effect that disrupts tanks in a similar #ay to the suppresseffect on infantry, #e ll adopt the term <eutralise.+anks are suppressed by fire from small arms etc #hich d beineffective, but <eutralised by 1+ fire #hich could reasonably destroythem. 1-Bs and open topped vehicles treat suppression /ust thesame as infantry for fire purposes but may still move.<eutralised 1F4s must act rather like infantry in that they mustremove the neutralise prior to any move or fire actions."f hit by enough effective fire, a cre# may decide to bail out of another#ise functional vehicle, #hen receiving #hat #ould be a ; th <eutralise, or any neutralise on a lightly damaged vehicle, the vehiclecre# must make a Bonfidence roll or bail each time they re hit.<eutralise effects only the individual vehicle, unless as a result of avehicle being K! d in #hich case the marker is allocated to the troopleader and all vehicles may not move.

here a troop leader is neutralised, then a maximum of one of hissubordinates may fire in an activation.

+his #ill result in tanks sat there and players #ho feel tied by this mayask #hy the tank can t reverse out of line of fire 9 #hatever.ell, the #hole point of suppression9<eutralisation is to frustrate.

Ey explanation here is that the tank has /ust been meaningfully hit,the cre# are confused, shaken up and there s minor things damaged.Eaybe the cre# are slightly panicked, so they re firing backineffectually or vacillating. So they 1 $ doing stuff, it s /ust notproductive.

here the troops leader is hit, the rest of his troop are expectingorders and #ondering #hat to do, so any still active are are limited toshooting back at obvious targets.

1dmittedly this is a bit artificial, but it s meant to simulate minoreffects #ithout reams of rules.

Suppression<o occupant of a suppressed vehicle #ill #illingly leave it.Bommanders #ill drop do#n and 0button up .



!nce suppressed a commander must make a confidence roll andtake an action to 0leave cover to unbutton.

uttoning 1ny close by 8$ fire, or a suppressive hit by any #eapon #ill makeall but confident 1F4 commanders drop back into the tank and closethe hatch ? Hbuttoning up .+his is a 0free action, and a player may also elect to button upvoluntarily at the start or end of their activation.+his has a dramatically bad effect on the vision capabilities of a tank.+he cre# has only it s periscopes and narro# vision slits to seethrough, vision rolls are impaired by one step and only things directly#ithin 3I degrees of the frontal arc or turret direction may be spottedat all.

&e!icles and Actions+anks etc are more likely to keep firing ? keeping their heads do#n isnot an option and cre#s have no option to act individually.

&e!icle Movement !n the face of things, one might imagine a tank to race along at fargreater than speed than infantry. eal ##2 tanks #ould generallyadvance hesitantly, far belo# full speed. -artly this is becauseseeing anything from a fast moving tank as it buckets about is /ustabout impossible.Eost vehicles move 6 cross country, D2 on roads, #hen in combatmove they are some#hat more reliable than people and move 2 dicerather than 3 doubled.$xamples:Bhurchill 7 92d7, Sherman 6 92d6, E36 35 92d35+urns over ;I degrees cost 2 if moving at over half speed.Friendly infantry #ithin 2 of 1F4 front at any point in turn reducespeed by 2 . 1F4 #ill not drive through friendlies, especially not over

#ounded #ho are lying there screaming as they ve been abandoned.4ehicles must finish the turn facing in the direction they moved unlessconforming to a terrain feature or some other logical limit.+urrets may turn to face any kno#n, reported or reasonably likelydirection of threat.Eoving tanks #ould not usually have the turret facing further than ;Idegrees from their front, half move if you #ant to do this.



+urning a turret over ;I degrees counts as a move action.+anks may be ordered to move at 7 constantly, in #hich case anyinfantry follo#ing behind get the benefit of heavy cover = even #henthe vehicle has moved off and the s uad have yet to be activated.+he do#nside is that they have to either be given orders to abandonthis at a set point, or be specifically told to speed up.<ote that tanks #ere often historically on a completely differentcommand net to infantry, so the referee may have to either imposeseveral bounds delay as orders go up the chain of command, thenback to the tankers, or =simpler> allo# no change in orders.



AF& Damagehen hit by a potentially penetrating #eapon, roll off "mpact v

1rmour, as an open roll."mpact is increased by D3 at half short range, reduced by 3 perunmodified range band over the M rd distant.Should a ma/or success have been scored, then t#o impact dice arerolled, and the best result taken..Couble the score is a kill, over is a light damage."f you #ant to simulate poor guns firing at good armour, take the#orst of t#o d; for a minor success, and a d; for a ma/or success.

Lig!t Damage)eceiving any sort of penetration effect in a tank is a very #orrying

business for the cre#, bits #ill likely stop #orking, the turret can /am,optics smash' not to mention #ounds to cre# members. "t #asfairly common for tank cre# to bail out on receiving such a hit,sometimes they #ould later get back in #hen they realised that thedamage #as not as bad as they thought.

1ny light damage result gives an additional suppression to the tank.Subtract armour from impact, for a difference of:3 ?3 uality step for vehicle2 <o move, ?2 off 8 for rest of game.M <o Firing, ?; off 8 for rest of game.; Fire, another impact attack #ith cre# uality v impact at end ofevery bound until put out by cre# doubling impactID Serious damage, tank cre# bail out

!nce all suppressions are removed an extra confidence test can beattempted in order to recover from effects 3 through M.

ntil this point, the level of damage is added to any confidence testand a serious failure indicate that they bail.

hilst side or rear hits are probably more likely to produce disablingthan frontal hits they re also more likely to penetrate as armour #ill bethinner... #orry about the reason #hy move became ero only if thescenario means it matters, or in a linked series of games."f you have a referee, he can consider #hether cre#s #ill hang aboutand act as infantry s uads or they can be rallied and get back in later.



ith no referee, assume a bailed out cre# means the tank isdestroyed.

&e!icles firing Eachine guns in tanks can be considered as sustained fire mounts,and thus any tank guns may be fired once per activation rather than

/ust once per bound. 1 tank #hich moves and fires may only use main gun or coaxmachine gun.

here the first action of an activation is to fire, or the first #as aimand the second is fire, then all tanks in a troop may fire.!ther#ise, only one may fire."f the first action in an activation is a fire action then any detachmentmay also fire as #ell as the rest of the s uad activated.

+anks or guns in a unit may pick different targets if a communicateaction is first successful, other#ise the targets are randomisedbet#een appropriate available targets. +his can be carried out in aprevious turn O and represents the commander telling 1 to fire at theleft target, b the middle one etc.Stationary tanks may fire bo# mg or flame thro#er at enemy directlyin front, at ?3."f the commander is brave enough to remain 0up he can also fire anypintle mounted mg, but at the risk of being a target for small arms.

Accurac# dice of *eav# +eapons- Faust M5 and thro#n #eapons out of close combat range: d;Eortars and lo# velocity #eapons such as other infantry 8$1+ orthose unsuited to direct fire: d7Eost guns, 8igh velocity guns, tank guns: d68igh velocity large guns #ith spotter: d35

*( Fire!ne of the disadvantages of bunching up is that you can take more

casualties from any given shell. (urst diameter and firepo#er shouldbe specified for a given #eapon system.Calibre !

"un"un/!o#

%ortar

P73mm 3 2 2.IP6Imm 2 2.I M

P3M3mm M M.I ;



(igger ; ;.I I

&mpact d; d7 d7ussian guns98o#it ers count as one step smaller for radius as they

have less explosive in the shells.

1 failure to beat the defender indicates a complete miss. nless areferee is running the game, assume that misses have no effect.

1 minor success or a ma/or both indicate the 8$ landed about #herethe player #anted.

ork out #hich figures are in the burst area and roll off "mpact v 1rmour for each in turn.+he "mpact die is shifted up 3 for a ma/or success, the armour dice isshifted up 3 for being in position.8$ is particularly good at suppressing, and success indicates asuppression as usual, but any #ound or kill gives a second additionalsuppression.

1s to the location of a hit O roll a dice to decide a figure #hich it iscentred around, moderate this if you have a referee and the result isillogical. For a ma/or success, roll t#o dice and pick the Hbetter .

!ptional:+he above radius can be rather fiddly to #ork out and hence an

alternative is to test for 3 through ; figures #ith the impact sho#n,#ith an additional test if the first #ounds or kills a figure.



Routing !n the bound a unit routs, any activation is lost and the routed unitloses any activations until it is rallied.!n the positive side, all suppressions are also removed.

1t the end of every bound after the first, it #ill move as fast as it canmanage to#ards a safe = or apparently safe > position.<ote that this means an unactivated unit given a rout result #ill notact in that bound."f still under fire and surrounded or an unsuppressed threateningenemy is #ithin the enemy unit s short range, then the unit must passa confidence test at +%D3 per enemy unit or surrender.+he unit may attempt one self rally once out of trouble.

outing s uads may neither reactivate nor activate, they must rally

first.

Rall#ing 1 successful rally #ill not normally give that unit an activation thatturn. "f the B! is #ithin short range, the player may opt to takeanother confidence test at +%3."f this is passed, then the unit gets an activation this turn, other#ise itloses it s leader =#ho has been shot>.

Close Combat +he basic factors don t take into account that some troops may be ina very bad position to fight close combats.Further factors:?3 ntrained in infantry combat?3 nready for close combat?3 n#ieldy #eapon, such as rifle#ithout bayonet

D3 8ave grenadesD3 Cefending obstacle orsignificantly higher

se these to cancel out

Follo#ing a close combat, gun cre# or similar personnel manningnon?personal #eapons are considered to need re?organising beforethey can man the #eapon properly.+hey could choose to fight on as infantry using personal #eapons= assuming the troops of their nationality and period #ere suitablye uipped. >



Eost infantry #ould only have one or t#o grenades issued, unlesse uipped specifically for street fighting or the like. !ptionally, theaverage line infantry #ould use up their grenades in the first closecombat they engage in. Scenarios could also allo# for re?supply ifthis level of detail sounds good.

Additional actions

-repare for Blose Bombat!nce 0prepared gun cre# etc do#n their usual tools and readypersonal #eapons etc.!nce prepared, they need to re?organise and pass a +% 5 confidencetest to return to manning the gun.



Artiller# Getting in game artillery to #ork as representative of 2 is prettytricky. (y far the easiest is to limit fire to pre?game and even to buildthe effect into the scenario by the referee deciding precisely #herefire is to fall prior to an attack O defence game.+his is arguably more realistic in that the time needed to set upartillery is fairly long. +#enty minutes before calling for a dedicatedasset to put do#n map fire and the shells starting to land #asconsidered pretty good by some forces.

+he number of artillery tasks available should be limited by thereferee or scenario designer.

1n extra phase is added to the end of a turn, the artillery phase. +hisfollo#s rout movement.+o gain the bonus from an artillery observer, the observer must be onthe phone talking to the battery all the time. 1s soon as they startdoing something else, the line is potentially dropped and they mayhave to start again.

Some nationalities and units may attempt to call an artillery task fromhigher levels = such as Civisional >.+he scenario designer should be uite careful about allo#ing this, asgenerally speaking the unit #ould ve had the guns allocated if#hoever gave them the task thought that this #as /ustified.Soviets #ere notoriously inflexible and they #ould represent one endof the scale #ith effectively no chance, #hilst S artillery #asparticularly flexible and so from the point of vie# of realism #ouldhave the highest chance of support.

ealism and game balance are often difficult to resolve, so bear thisin mind.

1ny asset on table can attempt artillery re uests by communicatingup the chain of the command. "t is strongly recommended that onlythe B! on table plus any dedicated F!! should actually be able tocall and correct fire.+he !bserver9etc must first make a successful communication actionin the bound, this is at the usual D3 for radio communications andusing the uality dice of the observer calling for fire.



Cepending on the scenario and nationality-re?programmed fire tasks land as long as a successful 1rtillery roll ismade, if they fail in one bound shift the programme along and tryagain next -re programmed batteries must s#itch off for at least onebound bet#een targets as it takes some time to set the guns up. +hiscould potentially be upped to several turns for some forces.

%evel of difficultyDM ussianD2 "f not an allocated batteryD2 !nly one communicate action used in the turnD3 if target not a ma/or point easily identifiable from a mapD3 German late #ar calling other than mortars

?3 (ritish or S late #ar ?3 Same contiguous re uest as last turn and F!! concentratingpurely on calling this task.?3 Cedicated observer9F!!9etc?3 Cedicated or on table support being re uested.

1t the end of each turn, there s then an artillery roll made in theartillery phase."f successful, these achieve the follo#ing steps:1) Bontact non?allocated asset2) Span an inflexible off table level of command3) Ball for spotting round4) Fire for effect5) Bontinue fire task.+he first step is only necessary for artillery not specifically allocated.+he second step is necessary should the person calling not havesufficient influence to call for fire, and is influenced by nationality,unit, type of asset and =by definition> effective level in command

chain.Spotting rounds can be dispensed #ith, but the artillery task #ill countas unspotted.

1llocate a uality and score to 1rtillery, mostly d6 =average> M.+his plus the above modifiers must be beaten.



1 ma/or success indicates a roll for the next level may be madeimmediately.

+hus, on a successful roll a F!! may call un?spotted fire of allocatedassets in 3 bound, 2 if they #ished to spot.Should spotting rounds fall out of sight, then the observer may call foranother spotting round.thing.



"!ere are t!e bangsnder most circumstances, some sort of generic effect is my

preferred #ay of play. +his is a game rather than an academicexercise."n theory, buildings should be turned to rubble by heavy artillery #hilstlight mortars should produce only slight damage.

Resolving Artiller# fireBlose support mortars shoot as if they had %oS to target if underactivation from a superior9!- #ho can direct fire.Balled in artillery is largely outside the scope of the games our groupplay.-re?game bombardments are fairly regularly used.

Give the attacker a number of points = 2 to ; is a good number > theypick these once the defender has map deployed, and place markers.+hey then deploy their forces.For each marker roll a dice, a d; or a d7 depending on ho# accurateyou /udge the bombardment to be. 1pply a minus 3 if the point is onan obviously recognisable point for mapping purposes = church orcross?roads eg >.For anything other than a 3 roll that many d7 and a d32 or Gartillery dice. +he burst area #anders by the sum of the d7 inches inclock9arro# direction of other dice.+he defender places any unit #hich is in the appropriate area and#ounds etc are resolved.

For batteries of #eapons, at least double the 8$ area. 6 diametergives a reasonable area on an 6 x 7 table.

alancing ,ames" uite often referee games #hich are put together on the fly,immediately prior to the game. Eostly, this #orks reasonably #ell and

the balance of forces and terrain is close enough so that areasonable game is en/oyed by all.!ccasionally, " realise that " ve made a mistake and that patch ofopen ground or that extra Sherman means one side has a hard /obon it s hands.+here are several techni ues " use to keep the game interesting,largely these rely on not telling the players all the scenario s Hrules



prior to starting the game. +hey kno# that " deliberately keep them inthe dark and accept that this is part of the fun. 1s an added bonus, "can make it particularly hard or easy for them to get artillery supportor some such. -erhaps #hen they contact the battery they #ereallocated, it is only to discover that they /ust had to put do#n a heavybarrage and are /ust getting the 8$ organised' /ust be a fe#minutes before #e re ready.Sometimes counter battery fire may have been allocated at a higherlevel.

1s yet " have not got it S! #rong that significant assets needed toarrive as reinforcements, but that s the ultimate option to consider.*ust don t do this too much.

"f you have no referee, #ell spending some time to balance a game is

absolutely necessary unless you re /ust playing for laughs and neitherside #ill take things too seriously."f you and your opponent #ant 0serious games then scenario detailsmust be #ritten do#n in advance." #ould suggest that one player designs a scenario and the otherpicks #hich side to play based on a verbal synopsis.<ext game, reverse the roles.+he games #ill become balanced pretty uick.

-lanes" feel planes are outside of the scope of a platoon v platoon fightunless there as more of a scenario effect controlled by myself as thereferee.



Sig!ting "nfantry moving in the open may be seen by anyone #ith a clear %oS#ith the target in frontal arc. "nfantry or heavy #eapons in cover andcamouflaged 1F4s hidden in cover, may not be spotted bysuppressed infantry or <eutraliseed 1F4s #ho are further than closea#ay. "$ anything #ithin uality range band is automatically spotted.!ther#ise, #here in doubt, an open roll should be made.+arget uses range bands shifted:Target Sighter "n -osition !utside frontal arc nder fire Eoving"n Bover +o rear -er suppression 4ehicle"ndividual <e# target beyond

3stCefault sighting (uttoned 1F4

Bamouflaged -er Eove actionSighter rolls uality dice DTarget Sighter -er move actionvisible

Full vehicle visible Seen something previously

Firing "n ob/ective Friends firing at targetFiring 8y #eaponQ;5mm

1 0free deliberate sighting is available to a leader at the start of anactivation, ie you can spot something and then do your t#o actions.!nce seen, a unit remains visible until it someho# moves out of sightor the spotting unit receives #hat #ould have been a ; th suppression.

1ny infantry unit unsuppressed at the end of the bound #hich had%oS to an enemy #hich shot that bound sights it then, any 1F4similarly except only in frontal arc and only if did not move 0like theclappers by issuing a double move.

1ll this is intended to give a frame#ork to base referee decisions on,if applied in rules?la#yer manner then odd things are likely to happen.

Snipers+he sniper rules in SG2 do not represent the range of capabilities andapproaches taken in ##2. +hree different ualities of sniper areintroduced.B: Soldier has been handed an accurate rifle



Eay shoot individually #ith d; ?3 F-, or as a group #here they get2F- per shooter.(: 1ccurate rifle and a scope, as above but double range bands.

1: 1bove plus training. C; F-. 1 specialised sniper character = indicated as such in scenario > or onein a team and directed by a partner or officer #ith binoculars ortelescope may elect to pick off leaders."t takes an action and a successful uality roll to identify a unit sleader.

Measuring here it s a leader action taking place, measure from the leader.sually you #ill measure to the centre of a target s uad, an exception

is in sighting #here you measure to the nearest member of the

s uad. For passing actions, measure from leader to leader.

Cover .I5 Bal mgs, 25mm auto?cannon, 8$1+ and similar #eapons reduceheavy cover to light for hit prob purposes.

uildings"f 35 yards is represented by one inch, then those 39R7 scalebuildings are #ay out of groundscale. 1nother thing is thatmeasuring %oS from the upstairs #indo# of house x, through the holein y and into the back #indo# of is likely to result in grief.(uildings are considered to represent chunks of built up area, figuresare measured to and from #herever they physically are.$ach building is considered to block %oS beyond it, regardless ofindividual height, #allpaper etc etc.Similarly, a s uad in a building may fire out in any direction, and oneentering9exiting a building does so from any direction regardless ofdetails such as doors or #indo#s, they re there /ust to look pretty.

Infantr# movement Subtract 2 for entering a building, M for crossing a high #all orhedge, I for crossing bocage hedge. Cragging heavy #eapon ?M .

Suppressive . -rop!#lactic Fire"f players are allo#ed to, some #ill reduce every copse and hedgero#to cinders prior to advancing to#ards it. +his does not make for a



good game and hence speculative fire of this sort is madedeliberately unattractive.<o in/uries may be sustained by suppressive fire, the only effect canbe to inflict a suppression.

1 piece of suspected cover is selected, roll off an attack at 3 extrarange penalty, as an open roll."f the attacker rolls greater than the target, it is suppressed.<ote that the firer must have some reasonable explanation for pickingthe cover, this could be pre?game orders, taking fire from thatdirection and advancing to#ards it, or supporting another unit #hichis advancing on the cover. -icking something #ay over on the otherside of the table and out of the line of advance #ould therefore beright out.

Simultaneit# +he activations in a bound are not simultaneous. +his convenientlycuts do#n on arguments based on remembering #hich did #hat as#ell as adding to the skill in choosing #hen to activate a unit.Curing it s activation a unit may shoot at #hatever the enemy /ustactivated as if it #as at any point in it s turn.( +, this is regarded as hurried fire and is at D3 range band if thetarget is no longer in sight. Should this also be keyhole shooting = iethe unit #as only in sight very fleetingly, then any cover adopted atthe end or left at the beginning of it s move is also applied.

sually, this latter sort of fire is unnattractive and hence manoeuveuris encouraged.

Ob/ectives!b/ectives are usually set out in the scenario or by the referee.Should no referee be available, then simple ob/ectives should be setbet#een the players. "f this proves a problem then " suggest eitheranother opponent, or one player #rites out a scenario and the otherpicks #hich side they #ish to play.

Deplo#ing "n attack9defence scenarios the defender should map deploy theirforces and explain the dispositions to the referee. "f and #hen theymove, the figures should be placed on table. 1s they are laid out, theplayer decides #hether they are 0"n position or not.



'ational Characteristics( )urope+hese very broad stereotypes may help you in designing scenarios#ith #hat to consider and ho# " feel mechanics can be t#isted a bit inorder to match my particular vie#point. 1s al#ays, change to taste.Cefault <B!s. nit may be re?activated by superior passing on anaction, but only after that s uad has been activated."nflexible <B!s ? "f passing on actions by superiors is done prior toactivating a s uad, it uses up that s uads activation for the turn, andmay not be repeated.Flexible <B!s: nit may be re?activated prior to or after it s activationby a superior.$xtra <B!s: should s uad commander be lost, replacedautomatically next activation. Special forces often eligible

0an%s1Some infantry have #alky?talkies, #hich greatly improvecommunications bet#een infantry s uads.(reak fast, recover fast ? lo#er grade troops, good commanders.Some units have flexible <B!s from late 3L;;.Flexible orders and arty support.(a ooka attached to 8J s uad, half track bourne infantry may alsohave up to a ba ooka per s uad. 32 man paper s uads often 35men.

ritis!1-articularly stubborn in defence ? make confident and ignoresuppression triggered confidence tests after the initial.Eorale started to #ane to#ards end of #ar.Fast arty support but less often available in defence.(oyes 1+ may be attached to platoon 8J s uad."nflexible <B!s in attack.Snipers in ordinary infantry uncommon, but consist of a shooter and

spotter #ith telescope, advantage in identifying a target and sighting.,ermans1Sometimes have extra <B!s, mostly flexible <B!s.SS fanatics ignore suppression confidence tests, sometimes start on0last stand status.Greater accuracy of observed mortars and indirect map fire.



Eortars often available in defence."nfantry may be placed in same command structure as tanks as in -Grenadiers9SS.

nder strength s uads of 6 common in late #ar, late #ar pgrenadiers and paras often had 2 lmg per s uad.

Russian1<o change of orders available. -oor 8$ ammunition. !ff?board artynot available during an attack. -re game bombardment isappropriate, but remember scenario balance.%o# uality snipers set up for#ard and infiltrating scouts areparticularly appropriate on the attack.Special character snipers are applicable.$arly #ar s uads of mixed rifle and smg likely early #ar, rifle =D3

dpmg> or smg s uads late #ar. 1+ rifles used throughout #ar, formed into s uads attached to 8Jgroups.

1ll except elite have inflexible <B!s.



*ther Weapons

-2Fausts%ate #ar Germans #ill often have a figure per s uad carrying aFaust, #hen the s uad comes to use this for the first time in a game,optionally roll a d35 per figure in the s uad. !n a 35 the figurecarries a=nother> faust.

1ny number may be fired at a given vehicle in a turn =using them up>as if one support #eapon for action purposes .Eay be used as part of a close assault attack ? resolve at D3 shiftedpenetration for short range prior to any close combat of s uad 4cre#.+ank hunting teams are assumed to carry sufficient devices that they

#ill not run out. AT ,renadesFairly commonly carried by ussian troops from 3L;M on#ards, byGerman in various forms throughout the #ar, rarely other#ise.Eay be used as part of a close assault by infantry on 1F4s. !Ksome #ere thro#n, but that s pretty short range."nfantry take their threat test at extra penalty of 3, unless rolled overby tank or in close terrain and then at D3 dice shift, or specifically tankhunting trained and then at ero or D2 shifts respectively. Cad s armytraining doesn t count.Failure reduces morale as indicated.!nce infantry reach tank they roll to see ho# many have a grenade=ready> and get an attack per device. 1ny figure #ith a suitablegrenade in hand gets one automatically, roll 6D on uality dice forfirst additioneal, then 35D on a d35 or d32 if elite, for each otherfigure.Specifically e uipped tank hunting teams are automatically suitablyarmed, but may only carry a single molotov each.

Eolotov penetration is d7, shaped charge d35.*and !eld bombs(ritish paras and some ma uis had Gammon bombs, Germaninfantry and particularly $ngineers had or could make bundlecharges. 1nd /ust about all $ngineers have satchel charges.



+#o regroup actions in a turn in sight of 1F4s can guarantee creatinga single suitable #eapon if a uality roll can be made.!ther#ise roll 6D on a uality dice to have an effective #eapon #hendeclaring a close assault.-enetration d6, blast effect d7.Eolotovs may be used as a d; terror #eapon in close assault.$ngineers may choose a M diameter blast radius in their side s nextactivation, or a 0shaped 3 into a building.structure.

Flamet!ro+erssed either as a short range #eapon of d7 penetration and firepo#er,

or in close assault as d6. $ither #ay cause terror.

Tan% and ve!icle Riders

+ank riding straight into contact is not a good idea. +roops arevulnerable up there hanging off a tank. 1 safer use #as =is> to usethe tank as cover to bring the riders up, dismount and then assault.+he tank gives some cover to the front as some may hide behind theturret etc.+o represent this, riders on the back of a tank have the benefit of lightcover .+ orepresent the difficulties inherent in leaping off of a moving 1F4, aunit tank riding uses the actions of the tank.

1 move action for /ust the riders is used to dismount and they get ;from the rear of the vehicle."f the vehicle riders are on becomes suppressed then the ridersbasically fall off, and are placed around the rear of the vehicle #iththeir o#n suppression marker. !uch.+here are some benefits.

hilst unsuppressed, these get to take on any troops closeassaulting them and the vehicle prior to any close assault resolutionon the vehicle. "n this case the attacker may opt to fire ranged#eapons at the tank prior to dealing #ith the infantry, hence you can

flame thro#er and faust a tank prior to dealing #ith it s riders. 1 destroyed vehicle immediately suppresses it s riders. 1 rangedattack should also be resolved on these in the case of such things asflamethro#ers or 8$.



Close Assaulting &e!iclesp to 3L;3, tank terror #as a common phenomenon, as infantry got

used to tanks this effect reduced and by 3L;; German infantry #eretaking a huge toll of ussian armour. "nfantry should make theirthreat test to close combat a tank at D2 up to 3L;3, D3 up to 3L;Mand normally after. 1dd D3 if starting from side and D2 if starting fromrear of tank, so long as not crossing the frontal arc of another.- Faust and flame thro#ers may be used in close assaults, optionallythe to hit roll may be dropped and a minor success assumed.Eovement to close assault a tank is measured to either of it s rearcorners, thus assaulting from the front means infantry must startcloser to stand an e ual chance of success.

"t s notoriously difficult to take on infantry cra#ling all over the outsideof one s tank and there #ere several historical approaches to dealing#ith this.+here are pistol ports to poke personal #eapons out of, thecommanders machine gun, and fre uently tanks had a small calibremortar built into the turret roof. +ankers also trained to blastunfriendly infantry off their sides tanks #ith machine gun fire.

"n ussia being close assaulted proved a particular problem for theGermans, #ho responded in several #ays.- ; #ith RImm l2; proved handy, in that their 8$ could be used atshorter range than most other tanks, and hence their inclusion in the+!@$ of units #ith +igers. +his gun also had canister #hich #asuseful for similar purposes.$ventually, launchers #ere used for shooting out S mines, from theturret roof.

S forces had less problems #ith infantry assaults in $urope, due tothe effectiveness of the 8$ round for the standard E;a3, and thegeneral availability of supporting artillery.

"n the Far $ast, fanatical assaults #ere more of a problem and thecanister round #hich #as available for most S guns #as particularlyhandy for beating up infantry in the cover of /ungle. <ote that the SMRmm is e uipped #ith canister and hence is a much more effectiveshort range #eapon vs infantry than one might at first imagine.



Soft &e!icles(eing shot at in a soft skin vehicle is considered to be verydangerous.

sually infantry are spread out and can hug dirt. $ven a football pitch

#ill have slight folds in the ground to get some cover from it'.hilst in the back of the truck you are an extra yard or t#o off motherearth, and then there s the matter of burning fuel, cramped escaperoutes and being attacked by an unseen enemy to make your shortlife more interesting.

1ttacks on soft vehicles are given an extra positive open shift inrange or impact to model their relative si e and fragility."f the vehicle is destroyed, any s uad #ithin is attacked at D3 shiftfirepo#er, d; armour. "f the vehicle moved this bound prior to beingattacked then it is considered to be moving #hen attacked and anysurvivors bailing out receive an extra additional suppression toanything else inflicted on them.$ven if the vehicle survives, the occupants are also attacked.+rucks are for transport, not fighting from.

*eeps and the like are perhaps a different prospect, you can see theenemy, are that bit less exposed and may even have a nice big I5cal to bla e back #ith. +he % CG and S1S had notable successesmarauding around in /eeps.

Fire at a moving /eep should perhaps /ust get the D3 shift infirepo#er.



The Tedious armour and penetration lists%argely speaking, " decide this as " design a scenario. Ey vie# isthat there s a lot of detail one could put into armour penetrationmechanics but detailed mechanics can easily become both mindblo#ing and spurious.Ey solution is to adopt a rule of thumb approach and if this meanssome thought must go into each game, that s good.

Armour 4ehicle, Front armour dice, side armour dice, for their period.Eatilda 2 35 7 - 2 ; ; +M;9R7 6 74alentine 7 ; $arly p M 9

;7 ; +M;96I 3

57

Brusader ; ; %ate - M 9;

6 ; K43 35

7

Brom#ell 6 7 +iger 35

6 S R7 ; ;

Stuart ; ; -anther 32

7 +R5 ; ;

Sherman 35 ; S+ G 35

7 Sd2M; 7 ;

E35 7 ; Earder 7 ; EM

track

; ;

Schur en on - M 9 ; make the side armour 6 vs 8$1+ ammo, 7other#iseSome vehicles have very good or bad 0turret armour compared to therest of the vehicle, and one may #ish to model this.

1 hull do#n -uma could arguably rate d6 armour for example.

,uns1 A- Impact d;: 1lmost anything less than I5 mmd7: IRmm, 7pdr firing #ithout 1-CS. Shorter I5mm, $arly ussianR7 as in +M;, short RId6: Eost medium length RImm guns, ussian R7, 6Imm, I5mm%75, 7pdr 1-CSd35: German RI, early - Faust, 322, 3I2, 3Rpdr 1-B(B, SL5mm, ba ooka, 6Imm 1rro#headd32: Eost - Faust, p Shreck, 66, 355mm, RI %R5, 3Rpdr 1-CS,L5mm 841-



Skirts give D3 on even armour dice rolls from side, and ?3 on thepenetration dice of 8$1+ ammo from the side.

Finer Tuning Bomparison of theoretical armour penetration values, tank armourthickness #ill sho# that the above is dealt #ith by using a very broadbrush approach.&ou are expected to either shrug and roll, or put some thought inyourself. 1 fe# moments thought is all is re uired for more 0realism ifthat is #hat you #ant."f you have a +iger hunt scenario of E;a3 versus a +iger then youmay #ish to make the +iger d32 frontal and d35 side armour, makethe short RI of a Sherman a d; so that they really need to get into

close range to up that penetration into a d7.

"f you #ant more 0accuracy then there are several mechanics toconsider #hich can produce finer sub?divisions.Ey players mostly appreciate simple mechanics but maybe you #antmore'.

(ritish solid shot 2 pounder ammunition had a tendency to break upon face hardened German steel such as used in the - ; from 3L;3.+he (ritish and S RI had little chance of penetrating a +igerfrontally, and even less for a -anther.+here are several things you can do to model this sort of thing.Subtract 3 from odd impact rolls.

1lternatively, make armour rolls best of 2 dice, reduced to a singledice on a ma/or success, using /ust one dice for impact.&ou could find that tank?anti?tank duels go on for some bounds, but ifyou #ant a shot to be a single shell, then that s not unrealistic.!r +here s #orst of 2 dice for minor hit and /ust the one dice for a ma/or.

" ve tried these, a uick result is more fun than bouncing 1- shot offof something all game, and the balance of emphasis shifts to#ardsarmour over infantry.

Aesthetics+here are already a number of counters per s uad #hich have to beon table. "t is more attractive if figures and scenery can be used to



indicate certain effects. "n position can be indicated by substitutinglying do#n figures for the s uad support #eapon or leader figure,cotton #ool explosions can be used for suppression markers.

here a limited number of #eapons of say grenades of p faust areavailable, consider substituting figures carrying the #eapons for any0left over after the first attack. eplace those #ho use up their#eapons by figures #ithout.

Stargrunt 2 for WW2

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