I am new to this forum and I am sure this question has been ask a million times, but I could not find it in the search. So I am sorry in to bore such intelligent and good looking folk. But here it is anyway.
My gaming group is currently playing micro modern using Fistful of Tows 2 and I would like to know:
1. What is the most popular modern rules being used, for both casual games and tourneys.
We are also starting on micro WW2 and I do not think FOT3 (when it comes out) will be too suitable for WW2, so I would like to know:
2. What is the most popular WW2 rules being used, for both casual games and tourneys.
Thanks for your help.
Regards,
TT.
Micro WW2 German and Russian (Schwere Kompanie)
1/1200 Napoleonic Ships
For modern rules sets, the platoon-scale big ones (which are all I have) are:
GHQ's Modern Micro Armour: the Game
Combined Arms (modern version of Command Decision)
Modern Spearhead
Fistful of TOWs
All are pretty good -- with different focuses. GHQ and FFT are more fast-play rules, while CA is more detailed for a given sized battle. Spearhead has heavy emphasis on command and control and written battle plans.
Can't speak much about WWII, as I have only Command Decision and GHQ's set, both of which are good.
Have you tried the WWII version of FFT2 that currently exists? I believe it's called "Where Panzers Dare" and is available for free on the web.
The two best "casual" published WWII games IMO are Rapid Fire and Poor Bloody Infantry II. Between the two I think PBI2 is much better (although the RF folks publish outstanding scenarios).
PBI2 is company-level and uses an interesting approach to speed play (squares instead of rulers...I've tried this approach with my home grown rules and will never go back to rulers!) The scale is 1:1 but figures are grouped on stands so all game mechanics ignore individual figures and only consider stands (perfect for 6mm). A typical force is about 3 platoons each of 7-10 stands plus a few supporting units or a few AFVs. The force structure is more realistic than many other games in that the support available at company-level is very limited. PBI2 has an active tourney community in GB but I'm not sure about RoW.
PBI2 also takes a very reasonable approach to op fire. Old school op fire allows instant (and typically lethal) firing at any point along a moving unit's path. This instant response is usually too fast compared to real world combat where targets can't always be engaged so precisely (but at least it's better than games such as 40K and FOW which lack any op fire and in fact allow units to move and shoot stationary enemies who must sit politely). Old school op fire can also slow a game to a crawl as movement is constantly interrupted. PBI2 puts realistic limits on op fire which does a better job of representing historical limits while avoiding the 40K tourney tactics problem which turns real world tactics on their head.
In RF the basic maneuver element is the company of several individual figures. It's very much a return to the old days of toy soldiers in that game mechanics look and feel very much like a 1:1 skirmish game but the units nominally represent companies. So, about 8 individual figures or so are called a "company" but play like a squad. Since most rules suffer from this double-scale mentallity I don't let it bother me. Using 6mm figures would also mitigate this problem in that you could call each stand of ~3 6mm figures a squad and have about 9 such stands represent a company in RF.
FOW is another popular choice for tourney play but it's not a set of WWII rules per se. It's really a marketing tool played with WWII miniatures intended strictly to sell miniature figures (eg stands represent teams of 3-5 soldiers, each force is a company, but supporting 105mm arty batteries appear ON table with the infantry platoons in order to sell more figures). And rather than represent WWII tactics on the tabletop the game's tourney tactics are the opposite of history (I dislike old school op fire rules since they're unrealistic but FOW turns modern tactics on their head and includes lots of scifi rules...between laser-like old school instant op fire and the FOW/40K approach I prefer FOW/40K since both are unrealistic and FOW/40K's approach is less burdensome, but there are alternatives to laser-op fire which are just as fast as FOW/40K and which are more realistic than either approach.). FOW's also also a lot more expensive compared to other games since its many rules and army info are scattered across multiple publications (the core rules are ~$50 and other books sell for ~$25+).
Meanwhile games such as PBI2 include all of the rules and army lists you need (ETO to PTO!) in one book at a reasonable price. Rapid Fire's rules and lists are contained in three books but its main book includes typical force structures.
In any case all of these games include army lists and points systems so that, as a club project, different players can build a force to individual taste and cooridanted with the others and still play together.
Thanks for the replies.
I have downloaded Where Panzers Dare and had a quick read. Doesn't look too bad. It will be interesting to see what the modern tank stats in FFT3 will look like, with the addition of WW1 and WW2 tanks. I guess a lot high than what they are now in FFT2. Does anyone know when FFT3 is being released?
Regards,
TT.
Micro WW2 German and Russian (Schwere Kompanie)
1/1200 Napoleonic Ships
You may also want to have a look at Blitzkrieg Commander and it's companion Cold War Companion. Both rule sets are becoming very popular. We play a lot of WWII and almost exclusively use BKC now. Both rule sets are self contained with army lists and campaign rules. The link to the website is below...
I'm looking as well, and have settled on Mein Panzer. I was looking for a set that's scaled as "armor skirmish" as The Miniatures Page calls it....one tank=one tank, a stand of infantry equals a squad or weapons team. I wanted something that had good balance between playability and accuracy. I needed to be able to teach it to new players easily. Anyway, other rules that I've heard were good were "Blitzkreig Commander", and a free downloadable set called "Kampfgruppe" (these might be a little too complex for casual gaming...). Hope this helps.
But here it is anyway.