Thanks, I have 28mm figures for the Brit Para and heer, then 6mm figures for the 1941-43 Eastern Front, so curious to know how the rules translate between platoon and battalion size games, I have to admit that the rules look good. You need to create a video of a test match. I`m looking forward to the upcoming PSC models, 10mm will be tempting, but I also hope they will also make 15mm versions, which would lead to instant purchases for the many pieces of hardware found in the rules that no one else does. Essentially, these are the first 60 pages of the Kursk Battle Group, which have been reduced to a smaller and more convenient format. The production quality of the regulation remains the same. There are a few pages added to the introduction that develop the game`s design principles and talk about the balance of the game and the desire to add more historical character to World War II games. This may well have been written in response to the initial reaction to the rules and especially the army`s lists, which are somewhat restrictive (a very good idea in my opinion). Battlegroup is published by IronFist Publishing and distributed by the Plastic Soldier Company (PSC). The rules were written by Warwick Kinrade with the support of Piers Brand. The rulebook was originally published in the form of a small paperback, which was distributed along with the Kursk Battle Group`s theater book. It now exists as a standalone hardcover product.
The hardcover part of the book adds special rules from previously published theatre books of operations. The first in the section is Street Fighting. followed by Night Fighting and the rules for the winter game. This is followed by a dozen different game scenarios with tables and rules for goals and reserves. I think these rules justify a strong buy recommendation. Battlegroup: NORTHAG builds on the well-designed Battlegroup series, but for World War III. The system develops good mechanics and offers a modern taste. Battlegroup has produced many companion books for their World War II series and I have great confidence that we will see more lists and more complementary volumes for this era. One of the things I particularly like about the Battlegroup books is that the army lists are designed to be realistic for the particular point of war. In the final months of the war, the Germans did not have access to unlimited supplies of Tiger tanks and veteran troops. Heavy tanks were very limited, forces were cobbled together with everything available in this area, and this is reflected in the army`s lists and the taste of some of the special rules. I will cover the rules myself in future articles here on WWPD and include visual images to illustrate the concepts of these pieces.
If a unit is lost in battle, you will have to select a random combat evaluation counter, which usually has a value – this will be deducted from your battle score. This represents the attrition of your battle group – losses, abandoned and destroyed vehicles, moving units. Last but not least, a big thank you to Dane Tkacs for his help and contribution to this story. Thanks to Piers Brand and PSC for early access to the rules. Our club tried them for a while. We liked the moral chit-draw system and the treatment of artillery and airstrikes as random events. But we found the command rules cumbersome and the fight was slow. We played quite a bit of Battlegroup about 5 years ago.
It helped to have someone who was a real fan of the rules, especially when it came to artillery calculations. I think the base game is good, I liked the order system and the “breaking point” mechanism to determine the winner, so you didn`t have the “fight to the last man” syndrome. Books have a huge amount of information, but it can be very expensive if you want to play at more than one time period. We played with 20 mm figures and 10 mm figures and I preferred the latter because it resulted in a more “realistic” relationship between the scale of the figures and the scale on the ground. The next type of shot is targeted shooting with powerful explosives or armor-piercing grenades. If you`re familiar with Battlegroup`s World War II version, you may be wondering if there`s any targeted small arms fire. There is none. Everything is rationalized under oppressive fire. (That`s a nice improvement!) Where can I find it? I have the overlord hardcover book as well as a mini-rulebook. They don`t seem to be there for me. Help? To calculate the overall star rating and percentage distribution by star, we do not use a simple average. Instead, our system takes into account, for example, the current rating and whether the reviewer purchased the item on Amazon.
It also analyzes reviews to verify reliability. The morale of unity is covered and is related to the scope of the action and struggle that a unit sees. In addition, Battlegroup introduces the Combat Evaluation System (BR). Each unit has a BR value between 0 and 5 – this is not the cost, but the importance of the units to the battle group. In the different types of vehicles and weapon systems, the keywords are interconnected, which gives some of them improved aiming capabilities, improved shots, etc. What I described above is a standard bog mechanic. As you might expect, a British MK9 chef has both advanced observation and shots, which are granted via keywords that comply with special rules. The Verdict – Battlegroup is a solid WW2 miniature war game. There are difficult parts and with larger games, accounting can get a little clunky. Plus, it`s not the most innovative set of rules and you`ll likely find that you`re passing over familiar game elements that can be found in a variety of other WW2 rules. Excellent overview. I will definitely buy the rules if they are available.
Unfortunately, I missed the pre-order. There are rules for the use of outboard artillery and air support. A series of rollers is manufactured to simulate communication and ignition priority. As outboard artillery goes, there is a certain chance where the shells actually land, which certainly allows the potential for friendly fire. The anti-aircraft assets on the table also have a role that is a pleasant change from other systems. The Plastic Solider Company (PSC) will soon release a highly anticipated new set of rules for World War III, while a conventional war has been unleashed and NATO and WARPAC forces are being sent into combat across Europe, each in a desperate struggle to gain ground/give way before nuclear weapons can fly. The Battlegroup Rulebook is a new small-format book published on the occasion of the release of Battlegroup Overlord. These rules have already been published as part of the battlegroup Kursk book, but Iron Fist and Plastic Soldier may have realized that not everyone wants to buy a full book on the Eastern Front just to get the rules of the game, and so they are introduced in this book. Battlegroup is the Plastic Soldier Company`s entry into the World War II game system. The system of rules written by Warwick Kinrade is a narrow approach and historical enough to play a variety of force sizes, whether on 15mm or 20mm scales. Plastic Soldier Co. and Iron Fist Publishing have teamed up to produce the Battlegroup book series.
As I understand it, the Kursk Battle Group was the first set of rules to be published in combination with additional documents to describe this battle of World War 2. From there, a small “mini” book was published that contains only the basic rules. There are several other books detailing different campaigns with different theater selection lists for forces and scenarios, but these only have special rules regarding these campaigns. You need the small set of rules to be able to play. As mentioned earlier, this is a points system game. You select units up to an agreed total. However, the actual force lists are quite structured, with limited choices depending on the base units you host. The game is very infantry-centric, but armored battle groups can also be assembled.
Overall, I consider the battlegroup rulebook to be a solid and well-written game system. The rulebook gets a huge thumbs up from me. This article looks at the battlegroup`s main rulebook, its layout, and how it represents the core of the battle group system. The rules themselves will be addressed in future trials. However, I can`t wait to try the rules in our next game. This is the first part of a series that deals with the rules of Battlegroup Wargaming. This article was originally published on WWPD.net and is reprinted here as part of an ongoing review of the Battlegroup game system. The lists in the book take you as far as the minimum and maxima you can use.
The listings include a variety of materials that will likely make you feel like a kid in a candy store. Consider Soviet tanks, you will find the T62K, T-64A, T-64B, T-64AK, T80s, T-80B and T-80K. NORTHAG includes weapon systems that do not contain other rules, such as mortars and towed weapons. This will bring a large amount of flavor to your table. Disclosure: The publisher has provided a review copy of these rules The basic rules for Battlegroup start on page five and go through page 63 of the hardcover rulebook. The only drawback of the book is the lack of an index. (there is one on the bg Facebook Group Files page) However, this omission is not a critical error due to the way the book is presented. It`s rare that I find myself turning the pages to go back and find something in another section of the rules. Most of the rule sections I`ve accessed so far contain all the relevant information about the rules. All the basics of the rules are covered in this book: command and control, movement, shooting and moral, as well as the rules of special units, aircraft and engineering.
It also includes 4 generic scenarios, an organizational chart and a quick reference sheet. So far, we have looked at most, but not all, of the ground rules.