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Breakout!Rules for World War II wargames

by Mike Snorbens

1. Introduction

These rules are for a company or battalion level game set in World War II. They are basedon the principle of a unit having three states: active pinned or suppressed. The game

se!uence is a straight forward alternate move scheme. In his turn each player may rally fire

and move each of his units. Rallying must be conducted first then unsuppressed units may

fire at observed targets and lastly active units may move.

The ground scale is "very roughly# $in to %&&yds.

The game is designed for '&mm "%()' or %()* scale# models. + group of three infantry

figures represents a platoon. Three such platoons a machine gun platoon "of one machine

gun model# and a command figure is a company. + single truck or half track representssufficient transport for a company. + tank or armoured car model represents a platoon or

troop of four or five vehicles. Three models are therefore a s!uadron or company. + single

anti,tank gun model represent a section of two guns. + single artillery model represents a

battery.

The popular %($&& scale models may also be used with these rules. It is suggested that a

infantry platoon be represented by three bases each having three or four figures. The same

ground scale can be used or alternatively all distances can be halved "i.e. reducing the

ground scale to % %('in to %&&yds#

-n an average sied table "say */ by 0/# there will not be room to deploy more than one ortwo battalions of infantry with maybe a tank battalion in support plus other supporting arms.

+rtillery may be 1off,table1 or may be placed on or near the edge of the table for effect. The

temptation to place a lot of figures and models on the table should be avoided.

It will be found that frontal attacks !uickly bog down with lots of units under pinning or

suppression so it is wise to keep some reserves. 2or e3ample an infantry battalion can be

deployed with two companies in line and the third held in reserve. 4se the front line

companies to fi3 the enemy in position and then use the reserve company to find and turn the

flank.

5redits:

6im Wallman for the idea of unit action states "used in his game ST-78#

9on 2eatherstone for the original concept behind the firing mechanism in his seminal book

1Wargames1 "sadly now long out of print#.

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2. The Game Sequence

layers may toss up for first move or they can agree which player should start. ;enerally the

attacking player should have the first move. <ach player/s turn consists of the following

phases:

Rally phase , The player may attempt to rally all units which are currently suppressed or

pinned. +ttempt to disperse smoke.

2ire phase , The player may attempt to observe opposing units that are concealed. +ll

unsuppressed units may fire at targets that they have observed. 4nits that

were observed in previous turns and that have not moved remain observed

and may be fired upon.

Move phase , The player may move all currently active units and conduct any close

assaults. The --SI7; player may challenge and fire at moving units.

3. Command and Control

3.1 Leadership

<ach platoon of vehicles "i.e. each model# and each company has a leader. Infantry company

commanders are represented by a figure but other leaders need not be individually

represented. The !uality of each leader is either defined by the scenario or randomly

determined when it is first needed "either for rallying or close assault#. To establish the!uality of a leader roll 1D6:

% or ' oor leader

$ or 0 +verage leader

= or * ;ood leader

3.2 Rallin

To rally a unit "that is attempt to remove pinning or suppression# roll 2D6 to equal orexceed a target of 8 with the following die roll modifiers "9RMs#:

>' ;ood leader

>% +verage leader

>& oor leader

,% ?eader not within *in. "applies to infantry only#

+ suppressed unit rallies to pinned status.

+ pinned unit rallies to active status.

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" #irin

".1 $%ser&ation

+ny target must first be observed by the firing unit or by a designated 2orward -bservation-fficer "2--# in the case of indirect fire weapons.

Targets in the open are automatically observed. 5over is recognised as offering either partial

or good concealment. To observe a target in cover the firing unit rolls 2D6 to equal or

exceed the score shown in the table below. 5over of any kind constitutes a visibility break

"that is you cannot see beyond it#. <lements at the edge of cover may however see out with

no restriction. + unit may attempt to observe no more than 3 target units each turn.

Partial Good

Infantry platoon, towed gun

or half trac

@ %&

!eep, light truc or

armoured car

A %%

"ruc * @

"an ) A

9RMs: ,% Target is camouflaged or dug in

,% Target is a hull down tank

>% Target fired in opponent/s last turn

".2 'eapon Ranes

Small arms %'in.

Machine gun %@in.

Infantry anti,tank $in.

Tank gun $*in.

+nti,tank gun $&in.

?ight mortar '0in.

Beavy mortar $*in.+rtillery unlimited

".3 In(antr and )achine Guns

Infantry and machine guns fire by platoons when firing at opposing infantry or soft vehicles.

?eaders are individuals and if they fire count as an infantry platoon with two casualties. Roll

2D6:

%% % casualty and suppressed

@ Suppressed

* inned

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9RMs: ,% 2iring unit is pinned

,% 2or each casualty

,% Target in cover or mounted in armoured vehicles

,' Target in hard cover or dug in

>' ?ess than half range

>% 2iring unit is an M;

"." In(antr *nti+tank 'eapons

Infantry and machine gun platoons firing at armoured vehicles. It is assumed that a platoon

has some anti,armour capability "e.g. I+T baooka or anerfaust#. Roll 2D6:

%& Target destroyed

A Suppressed

@ inned


,% Beavy armour

>% ?ight armour

>% 2iring at rear of target

"., Tank and *nti+tank Guns

Roll 2D6:

%& Target destroyed

A Suppressed

@ inned


,% Target is heavy armour

,% Target is hull down or an anti,tank gun

,% 2iring element is a light gun

>% Target is light armour

>% 2iring at side or rear of target

>' ?ess than half range,' Speculative fire at an unobserved target

Tanks firing at infantry or soft vehicles at ranges of 18in# or le$$ do so as for machine guns.

-ptional rule: When firing at infantry or soft vehicles o%er 18in# range first roll 1D6 to

check for the availability of B< ammunition , the unit has no B< on a roll of 1 or 2 and

cannot fire.

".- Indirect *rea #ire

Indirect area fire is performed by mortars or artillery. Such fire can be directed at any target

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that has been observed by a 2orward -bserver. Roll 2D6 to e!ual or e3ceed 8 for the

2orward -bserver to contact the battery "&2 if the 2orward -bserver is suppressed#. Roll

1D6 and 1D12. The 9%' shows direction "using the clockface method#. The 9* shows the

deviation distance in 1'2in# increment$ for mortars and 1in# increment$ for artillery. +dCust

the position of the marker according to the dice scores.

Mortars affect targets within 1in# of the impact point. +rtillery affects targets within 2in# ofthe impact point

Indirect fire against unarmoured targets:

Roll 2D6 for each target affected:

%& Target destroyed

= Suppressed

0 inned


,% Target is in cover

,' Target is in hard cover or dug in

Indirect fire against armoured targets:

Roll 2D6 for each target affected:

%' Target destroyed

%% Suppressed

A inned


,% Target is heavy armour

,$ 2iring unit is light mortar

>% Target is light armour

". Casualties and /((ects

+ pinned unit may not move.+ suppressed unit may not fire -R move "vehicles must withdraw 3in##.

+ suppressed unit that is suppressed again must withdraw a normal mo%e and remain

suppressed.

,. )o&ement

Three types of ground are recognised. Bard going is any hard flat surface such as a road.

7ormal going is any other surface that is not classed as difficult going. 9ifficult going is any

surface that is difficult to move across such as steep hills dense woods built up areas "otherthan on a road#. +reas of difficult going may be traversed at half the normal going rate. In

addition some areas may be classed as impassable to some or all troop or vehicle types.

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(ard going )ormal going

Infantry 0 0

!eep or light truc '0 *

*rmoured car or light tan %= %=

"ruc %= *

(alf trac %' A

+edium tan %' A

(ea%y tan A =

When infantry mount or dismount vehicles both the vehicle and the infantry move at half

rate and the infantry may not fire.

-. Challene #ire

+ny element that during its movement crosses the field of fire of an opposing element and

is not in cover may be challenged by the opposing element. When this occurs the player

moving the challenged element must stop moving it at the point desired by the challenger.

The challenger may now fire at the challenged element. If the challenged element is

unaffected by this fire then it may complete its movement. Regardless of the result the

challenging element receives a 15hallenge 2ire1 "52# marker. The 52 marker is removed

during its unit/s ne3t fire phase and this must be done instead of firing the element. +n

element may not fire again until the 52 marker has been removed.

. In(antr Close *ssault

Infantry units that move to within 3in# of opposing infantry units during their move phase

may close assault them. <ach attacking unit may only close assault one defending unit but a

defending unit may defend against several attackers.

<ach unit rolls 2D6 and applies the following modifiers. + defending unit may continue to

roll against successive attackers as long as it remains in place "that is does not withdraw#.

*ttacer$ D-+$ Defender$ D-+$

>D ?eadership >D ?eadership

>% 2or each tank unit within *in. >% In cover

>% Supported by M; within *in. >' In hard cover or dug in

,% 2or each casualty >% Supported by M; within *in.

,% 2or each casualty

,% inned

,' Suppressed

<ach tank or machine gun may only support one infantry unit. The highest score wins. Theloser withdraw$ .in# If the difference between the scores is:

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' ?oser is also pinned

$> ?oser is also suppressed

In the event of a draw the close combat will continue in the opposing player/s own

movement phase.

0. Smoke

Smoke may be fired by mortars or artillery or discharged by tanks. When fired by mortars or

artillery a 2in# diameter 1blob1 appears at the impact point. When discharged by tanks a

similar 1blob1 appears directly in front of the tank. Smoke 1blobs1 remain until dispersed by

a roll of 1 on a D6 "roll in the Rally phase of each turn#. 4nits behind smoke count as

partially concealed for purposes of observation.

Smoke moves downwind "decide the wind direction randomly# at a speed of 3in# per turn.

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