European Battlefield

Core Rules v3.0

I. Introduction

These rules are for World War II company-level war gaming loosely based on Games Workshop’s Lord of the Rings war game.  These rules are recommended for skirmish gaming.  I have received much inspiration from A Fistful of TOWs, Flames of War, Gear Krieg, Warhammer 40,000 and Trench Storm.  One full turn represents about 30 seconds to a minute of combat: enough time for a grenade to be thrown and then thrown back.  Each soldier represents one soldier and one vehicle represents one vehicle.  All that is needed is the set of rules, a handful of six-sided dice, a GW scatter die, weapons templates, some soldiers and a ruler measuring.

II. Scales and Modals

All numbers and ranges are for 25mm figures, or 1:72 scale.  I recommend using Revell AG 25mm figures, and 25mm and 20mm vehicles armor from any source.  Italerie is also a good choice for figures and vehicles.  If a gamer wishes to use 6mm to 15mm scaled figures, then halve all ranges and measurements.

For basing the figures, I recommend basing infantry on 25mm round bases, and prone machine guns and special weapons with crew on 40mm round bases.  Unless otherwise modeled, base the crews of support weapons separately from the weapon, with one crewmember attached to the weapon. Do not base your vehicles.  For aircraft, what I did was take notebook spirals, stretch them out and cut them into 6 inch segments.  Attach together to for a tripod and attach a triangular counter to the top, and draw an arrow pointing to its front.  That is your aircraft.  I do not advocate the use of model aircraft, unless the gamer can find a means to support it on a base.

III. Game sequence

1)                 Priority phase

2)                 Resolve courage tests

3)                 Player 1 Action phase

4)                 Player 2 Action phase

5)                 Hand-to-hand combat phase

IV. Profiles, Charts and Methods

Here is a sample infantryman profile:

	F	D	C	P
Soldat	3/5+	4	3	5	Kar 98K, grenades

The first column is the name of the soldier, in this case the Soldat.

The second column is the Fight Value (3), next to the Shoot Value (5+).

The third column is the defense of the soldier (4).

The fourth column is the soldier’s courage (3).

The fifth column is the point value of the soldier (5 points).

The sixth column is the list of weapons the soldier carries (Kar 98K, grenades).

 

Here is a sample weapon profile:

	S	R	ROF	T	Notes
M1 Garand	3s	20	2	-	SA

The first column is the name of the weapon, in this case the M1 Garand.

The second column is the strength of the weapon and its weapon class (strength 3, s-class).

The third column is the range of the weapon (20 inches).

The fourth column is the Rate of Fire of the weapon, or how many dice are used when it fires (ROF 2).

The fifth column is the type of template that is laid down after the weapon is fired (in this case, none).

The sixth column is any notes related to the weapon (SA).

Extremes: A 1 rolled for any test will always cause the test to fail.  A 6 rolled will always cause the test to pass.  This ignores any modifier rolled.

Saves: Terrain and other items will give a soldier a save.  If a soldier with a save is hit, roll the save before rolling to wound.  If the save passes, then the soldier is not hit.

Line of sight: In order to shoot or charge an enemy, a squad must have line of sight to the enemy.  This means that a ruler placed between the two squads cannot be blocked.  The exceptions to this are picket fences, small objects and trees.  Friendly infantry and heavy weapons do not block line of sight, but vehicles do.

Squads: The lowest vehicle and weapon units count as squads.  Therefore tank platoons, headquarter sections and 6-men weapon sections will count as squads.

 

V. Priority Phase

Each side rolls 1d6.  Re-roll all ties.  The higher roll gets priority that turn.  The side with priority moves his forces first, fires his weapons first, and decides the order of hand-to-hand combats.

Count the difference between the dice rolls.  That is the number of command points the side with priority gets.  They can be assigned to soldiers, land vehicles, heavy weapons and artillery, one per squad only.  They can be used for another round of fire, a +5 to a courage test, removal of a suppression, or an extra half movement.  Example: a German MG42 gunner receives a command point and can either fire 6 rounds, move 9 inches, or get +5 to his courage test.

After the Priority phase is completed, then all courage tests that need to be resolved are taken simultaneously. 

VI. Action Phase

Player one will nominate a squad, and then roll 1d6.  If that is less than or equal to the Courage value in the units’ profile, then the squad can do its action: any combination of moving and shooting.  Note that if a unit will shoot before it moves, it suffers the penalties that it would suffer if it moved before it fired.

Once player one has finished activating his squads, player two can activate his squads.  If a squad fails, it cannot move or charge, but it can shoot.

VII. Movement

Movement is completely voluntary, but risky if not done.  To move a figure, place a ruler in front of the figure and move the figure based on the ruler however many inches it is allotted (or less).  All figures must stay within 2 inch cohesion in their squad.  It is a given that infantry move 6 inches per turn.

There are certain restrictions to movement.  This is shown on the Difficult Terrain chart.  Difficult means movement is halved.  Impassible means the unit cannot move in the terrain.  All soldiers, based weapons, and vehicles must remain at least 3 inches away from an enemy base, except when in hand-to-hand fighting.  Infantry can pivot on the spot without counting as moving.

There are three special movements a squad can make:

Digging in: For a half move penalty, a squad can go prone.  They get a 5+ save when fired upon.  When prone, they cannot move. 

At the Double: A squad’s movement is doubled, but it cannot charge or shoot.  They must stop within 6 inches of any enemy squad.  The squad cannot go At the Double in difficult terrain.  Vehicles cannot move at the double.

Take Cover: A squad can move behind a terrain feature that gives cover, like ruins, a fence, light forest, et cetera.  It gets a 4+ save for hits from non-h class weapon.

VIII. Shooting

The process for shooting:

1)                 Elect the shooting squad and its target, as long as both squads have line of sight.

2)                 Find the range between the two squads.  If out of range, the shots were wasted.

3)                 Roll 1 dice for each rate of fire on the weapon’s profile to hit.  Roll the shoot value of the soldier or higher to hit.

4)                 The targeted squad can decide which figures are hit as long as they are within range.

5)                 The target player will roll on the wound chart.  He must roll equal to or higher to wound the figure or base, comparing strength to defense.

6)                 Remove all wounded bases except for multiple wound bases.

7)                 Place any suppression or pin markers.

Soldiers can fire only their assigned weapon and grenades.   If any non-h weapon misses, then the shot simply hits a non-threatening target like a tree, a building, etc.  If a weapon with limited ammunition runs out, then the user will either revert to his main weapon or flee.

IX. Weapons

There are four classes of weapons: s, a, t and h. The small arms, or s-class, cannot affect armor (see section XI).  The antitank, or t-class, are antitank guns; they have a -2 strength modifier against soft targets, but get no penalties against armored vehicles.  The howitzer and artillery class, or h-class, gets a -1 strength modifier against armor. The antiaircraft, or a-class, gets a -2 strength modifier against both soft and armored targets. If a weapon has two classes, then it will be bound to both: for example, an ht weapon has no penalty against soft and hard targets, and sa cannot affect armored vehicles.  Unless otherwise specified, all t and a-class weapons will have a minimum of 6 inches.   The minimum range of h-class weaponry is 12 inches.

Heavy weapons cannot move and shoot.  Weapons noted as SA (small arms) in the weapon chart will get the rate of fire halved if the soldier moves, rounding down.  Weapons with a rate of fire of one cannot move and shoot.  Weapons noted as FA (full automatic) will not get any move and shoot penalty.

A flamethrower, if the user is hit in shooting, will detonate on a roll of 5-6 on 1d6.  Place a 2x2 template over the flamethrower.  Anybody under it will receive a strength 8h hit.  Detonation will automatically kill the flamethrower operator.  Should another flamethrower be under the template, it will be detonated on a roll of 5+.  Flamethrowers on vehicles are not affected.  Flamethrowers ignore cover saves.

Certain weapons hit targets on blast templates.  If the weapon hits, then all under the template will be hit.  A soldier cannot use grenades and a rifles in the same turn.  Up to 1 grenade or demolition satchel can be used per turn per squad.  Grenades fire like h-class weapons, even though they are s-class.

Light Support Weapons, like machine guns, bazookas and mortars, work differently from regular infantry.  The gunner of the weapon must be in base-to-base contact with a rifle-armed soldier.  If the assistant is killed, another soldier must become the assistant or the gun cannot be fired.  If the gunner is killed, the assistant may either pick up the machine gun and get an assistant, or just use his rifle.  The assistant and the machine gun can fire in the same turn.  Should there not be enough soldiers to be assistants in the unit, the weapon will be lost.

X. Hand-To-Hand Combat Phase

A squad can charge into combat in this phase, player one charging first and alternating until both sides are finished.  A squad can charge up to once per turn, but the squad can be charged multiple times.  The squad will charge up to 6” to get into base contact with a visible enemy squad.

Vehicles cannot participate in HTH combat.  Soldiers can shoot their pistols or sub-machine guns with a halved rate of fire, and then move into base contact with an enemy.  The process:

1)                 Roll 1d6 for each soldier in direct contact with an enemy figure.  Add a -1 penalty if the soldier does not have a club or bladed weapon (knives, swords, rifles; sub machine guns do not count).  Roll for individual soldiers, not rolling the entire squad.  At the same time the opponent will roll for the enemy soldiers.

2)                 Compare the rolls.  The one with the higher roll wins the fight, unless a tie is rolled.  If a tie, then the soldier with a higher fight value wins.  Re-roll if there is a tie in the fight values.

3)                 Move the loser back 1 inch.

4)                 Roll on the wound chart like in shooting.  Each soldier has strength of 3s.

XI. Courage

If a squad that has received 25% or more of its current strength in casualties, then mark it to take a courage test.  To do so, roll 2d6 and add the squad leader’s courage value (if dead, add the next highest courage value).  If the total number is equal to or greater than 10, then the test has passed.  If the test fails, the squad will move up to 6 inches to get to a defensive position in the action phase.  If there is none, then the squad will fall either fall back 6 inches to the nearest cover or they will go prone.  The search for a defensive position will count as movement.  A non-infantry squad will fall back up to the lowest movement rate in the squad.

Should a double 1 be rolled, the squad loses all faith and retreats in disorder: they move 2d6 inches per turn towards the nearest board edge, and they cannot shoot or charge.  They will ignore any pinning or suppressions.  They will continue to retreat until they leave the board edge.

A squad within 6 inches of its platoon command can test using the platoon commander’s courage value.  A squad taking a courage test within 6 inches of its company command can use the company commander’s courage value.  Platoons cannot intermingle when it comes to this rule.  If a squad/platoon/company commander is killed, test all squads under his command.

A hit from h-class weapons or five hits from s, t and a weapons suppresses a squad. Suppressed units get their movement halved.  A courage test is required to go back to normal.  A unit with 3 or more suppressions is pinned.  They cannot move, they get a -1 to hit penalty, and a -1 penalty for courage tests.  Pinned squads must take cover.

XII. Vehicles

Vehicle units need to stay in 4 inch cohesion instead of 2 inch. Dismounting and mounting occurs during the movement phase.  When a transport dismounts its troops, roll 1d6 for every soldier in it on the dismount chart.  This represents a soldier’s willpower to leave safety.  All troops exit from the rear of the vehicle. Dismounting takes up half of the vehicle’s movement. Soldiers can mount automatically if they are within 6 inches of the vehicle. It takes up half of the vehicle’s movement to mount troops. This occurs before the rest of the forces move.  Soldiers inside cannot fire their weapons. Vehicle crews can voluntarily bail out at this time. Roll a courage test using the courage of the vehicle to exit or enter the vehicle.  Damaging but not destroying a vehicle will force a crew to test courage for a dismount.  A fail will result in the crew dismounting the vehicle.  If the crew is reduced to 50% after bailout, they have a -1 to hit penalty with the main gun after remounting. If reduced to 1, the vehicle cannot shoot its main gun but or move, but a crewman can shoot a machine gun.  A vehicle that has a crew of 1 or 2 will not be affected by this rule.  If the crew of another vehicle bails out and their vehicle is destroyed, they can join the crew of a different one. Vehicles can run over soldiers. Roll a courage test for individual bases.  If the test fails, the soldier is dead. If the test passes, the soldier dodges out of the way. Soldiers cannot dodge the vehicle and shoot.  Heavy weapon bases cannot be ran over.

Vehicles with turrets can rotate their turrets to spot an enemy.  Turning a turret does not count as movement.  Vehicles without turrets have to pivot to spot and fire their weapons.  They can pivot up to 90 degrees to hit a target without penalty.  Every further 45 degrees counts 1 inch.  A vehicle can fire both the main gun and its machine guns without penalty, but the main gun cannot fire on the move.

Some vehicles have multiple machine guns.  The additional machine guns will add an additional rate of fire to the first machine gun.  If the weapon is not visible, then it is on a co-axel with the main gun.

Some vehicles can receive more than 1 wound.  If the vehicle is damaged, write down that it is damaged and how many wounds are left.  When a vehicle receives all wounds, roll 1d6. On a roll of 6, roll on the KO chart. A 1-2 means the vehicle cannot move. A 3-4 means the vehicle has to move to spot its target. A 5-6 means the vehicle explodes and the crew is killed instantly. If on a roll of 6 on the wound roll (excluding vehicles that need a 6 to destroy), roll on the KO chart.  The vehicle is not repairable if KO’ed. If the crew wishes to bail out, instead of waiting for a recovery vehicle, roll a 4+ to save the crewman.

When a vehicle is destroyed, its hulk remains where it is if it is not KO’ed. If so, its hulk is on fire and untouchable.  The vehicle can be pushed aside by another vehicle at half speed, blown up by engineer explosives (it is considered KO’ed) - roll at least fight value to detonate: after detonation the vehicle becomes KO’ed, or it can be pulled away by a recovery vehicle (marked in the army lists as ARV).  A recovery vehicle takes a turn to hitch the vehicle. They then can tow the destroyed vehicle off the board with no movement penalty. If the recovery vehicle is destroyed before leaving the table, the destroyed vehicle is left in place where it stopped. If it successfully recovers the hulk, the recovery vehicle can return two turns later.

All armored vehicles have two armor ratings (noted with an A). The first one is the front armor, which is the front and sides. The second is the flank armor, which is the turret and rear. To hit the turret requires an additional role of 4+ after the vehicle is hit. If a fail, the front armor is hit.  Vehicles without an A next to their armor rating are in shooting treated as infantry.  They are treated as armored vehicles against t-class weapons but with the others are treated as infantry. 

Transports have limits according to how many troops it can carry.  A transport can carry according to its maximum carry points (CP): 1 soldier equals 1 CP.  Heavy Support weapons take up all the CP of a transport with a minimum of 7; that includes the crew.  A mortar equals 2 CP; a bazooka 1CP, and a heavy machine gun 2CP; that does not include the crew.

XIII. Heavy Weapons

Some weapons are too big to be carried around by infantry alone.  These are Heavy Support Weapons.  Such weapons are antiaircraft weapons, antitank weapons, mortars, and light cannons.  They are operated as light support weapons, but they are different in these areas.  They need two people to move, and one person to fire. 

Heavy support weapons will always move as if they are in difficult terrain.  They cannot move and shoot.  They can pivot up to 90 degrees and not count as moving, except for mortars, which can pivot without penalty.  Every further 45 degrees count as moving a full inch.  Mortars and weapons with wheels can move, but wheel-less weapons are stationary.

In shooting, heavy support weapons fire as light support weapons.  If the weapon has a gun shield modeled on it, its crew will receive a 5+ save if hit from the front.  Any other heavy support weapons, except for mortars, will give its crew a 6+ save.  Heavy support weapons will fire either direct fire, like antitank and antiaircraft guns, or indirectly, like mortars and field guns.  All h-class weapons will fire indirectly.  The process for indirect fire:

1)                 Place a template and find the range.  If out of range, then the round is wasted.

2)                 Roll to hit.  If the target is in a different position than in the previous turn, add a -1 penalty to hit.

3)                 If a miss, roll a scatter dice to determine where the shot lands in 2d6 inches.

4)                 If a hit, then roll a scatter dice to determine where it lands in 1d6 inches.

5)                 If a 1 is rolled to hit, then the shot disappears over the horizon.  If a 6 is rolled, the shot hits the original target.

6)                 All soldiers and bases under the template are hit by the strength of the weapon.

Some heavy support weapons are too big to be fielded on the battlefield.  These weapons are marked as off-board, as they are located miles away from the field.  They fire like ordinary h-class weapons, but they will scatter an extra 1d6 inches.  They must have a radio operator in direct line of sight with the target, and they will use his shoot value.  Should a soldier armed with a rangefinder also be in line of sight with the target and within 2 inches of the radio operator, there will not be an extra dice penalty.

Heavy support weapons can participate in assaults, but they must always be the defender.  Each crewmen count as being armed with the standard rifle of the nation.

Some weapons can fire smoke barrages (marked as Smoke), like mortars.  They fire like the normal weapons, but instead of wounding, they lay a bank of smoke the size of the blast template used.  Smoke banks move in a random direction 1d6-3 inches each turn.  They will dissipate on a 2d6 roll of 2 or 3.

XIV. Aircraft

Airplanes in this game are represented not as individual aircraft, but as air strikes. Unless otherwise mentioned, a force gets a maximum of one air strike per platoon. Drop tanks add an additional air strike.  An army can only use air strikes if it has a live radio operator.  For the sake of anti-aircraft gunfire, all air strikes have a defense of 6.

Process for air strikes:

1)                 Roll 5+ to receive the air strike.

2)                 Test for mistaken identity: on a 5+ on 1d6, the opponent may use the air strike. 

3)                 Place a plane model above air strike area and place blast template.

4)                 Antiaircraft weaponry fire at half range. If the air strike is hit but is not destroyed, roll a 4+ to press on, otherwise the air strike flees. 

5)                 Work the strike like artillery, with a shoot value of 4+.

XV. Army Lists

Each army will consist of five types of troops:

Core Units: These are the infantry or tank platoons.

Foot Support Units: These are supporting units.

Mechanized Support Units: These are also supporting units, but are mechanized.

Special Characters: These are special named soldiers or commanders.

Artillery Units: These are the off-board artillery batteries.

Each army can have up to 2 supporting platoons or artillery batteries for each Core Unit.  HQ squads in supporting platoons are not required, but HQ squads in Core Units are required.  An army cannot have more than one command unit.

An army can buy up to two special characters.  Those two cannot be the same (like two Rommels).  Both sides must agree to use special characters before playing.

Adding transports to a foot support unit will turn that unit into a mechanized unit.