Attack On All Fronts Ver 1.1

8/9/2019 Attack On All Fronts Ver 1.1

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ATTACK ON ALL FRONTS

Stickfish Productions Presents...

A GAME OF WORLD WAR 2


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2 ATTACK ON ALL FRONTS

Version 1.1; Modified 4th of August in the year of our Lord two thousand and ten.

Table of Contents

Introduction & Scales..3

Deployment & Army Building..4

Unit Types & Definitions..5

Sequence of Play & Player Init iative..6

Movement & Firefights..7

Assaults..8 Victory Conditions & Scenarios..9

The little known Entemitfahrer from the Kriegsmarine


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Introduction

Attack on All Fronts is an attempt to modify the rulesof DBA and HoTT into a set of rules suitable to fastplay World War II war gaming. Ultimately it turned

out to be heavily influenced, and in some places anoutright copy, of WRGs rules sets. My strongest moti-vation for developing these rules are the vast array of 1/72 nd miniatures available for this setting. I am, bynature, a fantasy war gamer and am greatly addictedto the 25/28mm scale but had such a strong pull to-wards the smaller 20mm scale that as I write thisthere is a pile of boxes and sprues of figures in mybasement waiting to find a use. They range from an-cients to AWI to WWII and each is fabulous to me. Ihave also completed and ancients rules set namedSavage Contest and are working on its accompanyingfantasy version (Savage Fantasy) but those are notinfluenced by WRG, but instead by Neil Thomas andhis collection of fine war gaming works. It is importantthat players of AOAF keep in mind the game is de-signed with a certain level of abstract and a combatunit can be something as small as a single squad to asbig as a battalion. I hope that the reader finds themdigestible and when played the generals find themserviceable to their needs.

Scale, Basing and Measure

Scale -The units within the game are representative of anysize of military unit from a single squad to a full com-pany as players need to fit the scenario. One gameturn is roughly equivalent to 15 minutes of battle fieldactivity so the play of a twelve turn game is represen-tative of three hours of combat. Any sized miniaturesmay be used but the base size with figures per basereferenced in the rules on unit definitions is designedwith 20mm in mind.

Basing -All units consist of a single base with from 1 to 6 fig-ures according to unit type. All units have the samewidth (60mm) but have different depths of base(either 40mm or 80mm) although any basing system

is acceptable so long as all units utilize the same sys-tem.

Measure -The standard of measurement for movement andrange is the click or klik representative of the mili-tary slang term for kilometer. For the purposes of thisgame a click of measure is 40mm if using 20mm orlarger figures or on click equal to 25mm if usingsmaller. It is best to create a range ruler with six totwelve clicks of measure for use during play. A click inthese rules is representative of approximately 100yards of distance and the movement of models andthe range of weaponry is roughly in ration with thistaking into account terrain effects, the fog of war, andeffective range of weaponry or penetration range.

An American Heavy Machine Gun team(Weapons Team)


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Battlefield and Deployment

The Board-The game board should measure two to three feet toa side or any dimension that is suitable to the players.

There should be terrain on the table within at leastthree of the four quarters and each quarter shouldhave one to three pieces. Terrain is broken into threecategories while the rest of the board is consideredoff road.

Dense terrain consists of woods, forests, craggyor structured areas and is considered bad groundfor movement purposes and dense for firefightpurposes. Dense terrain can be sighted into ourout of but not through effectively blocking line of sight.Rough terrain consists of dragons teeth,swamps, and similar terrain that would makemovement through it difficult for infantry andvehicles alike. Rough terrain is considered badgoing and impacts the movement of all units.Rough terrain has no affect on line of sight.Linear terrain consists of either waterways orroad ways. Road ways improve movement havingbeen built to facilitate movement while a water-way completely restricts movement except atindicated crossing points. Both of these shouldenter from one board edge and exit at a differentboard edge. It is acceptable for a water way to bepresented as a pond/lake like terrain piece but a

linear waterway may not be presented along witha pooled water way. It is also acceptable for oneof the board edges to represent a coast line of which no further than three inches of board maybe waterway.

ObjectivesAfter the board has been built it is important thatthree objectives be placed on the field; alpha, bravo,and charley. Each must be placed within the middlefield of the board, consisting of an area of one-thirdthe width of the board and no closer than six clicks toanother objective. This disposition of objectives re-lates to a game without scenario and outside of thescenarios presented later in these rules. Objectsshould be clearly marked and tokens or larger identifi-ers such as chess pieces can be used to accomplishthis end.

Control of an objective is established by a unit occu-pying the terrain element or being positioned upon or

in contact with the point of the objective. If a unit is incontrol of an objective at the end of a round then theplayer accumulates an extra PIP in the initiative phaseof his turn. An objective with units from both sides incontact with it is under no players control.

DeploymentBoth players roll one dice and the highest roller se-lects which edge of the board his army will enter bat-tle through with the opposite edge being his oppo-nents deployment. Beginning with the player thatlost the roll two units are moved onto the table oneor two moves, the players choice, as desired fromanywhere along the deployment edge. Players alter-nate entering units until all have entered the boardindicating the end of the deployment phase.

A player does not deploy artillery or air strikes.

A player may with hold up to 6 ap of units to bring inas reserve units later in the game.

Any units of Commandos may be deployed on thetable in any terrain element to represent their pene-tration of enemy lines.

Building an Army

Each player builds an army according to the numberof army points (ap) being used for play. It is best if

both players build using the same number unless ascenario is being used in which the historical units arebeing fielded or one of the scenarios later in this rulesset dictates otherwise.

The standard build is 24 ap of units with the followingrestrictions1. No army may have more than half of its total ap

spent in 3 and 4 ap units.2. No army may spend more than 6 ap in air strike

and/or artillery units.One unit must be selected as the command unit (withexception of artillery and air strike) and must beclearly indicated as the command unit.

An example build would be;2 Sherman tanks (armor)...8ap

1 Mortar team (weapons team)...2ap1 Bazooka team (weapons team)...2ap

2 Air strikes...2ap1 Artillery...2ap

4 Rifle teams (combat squads)...8ap


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Units (Types and Definitions)

Each unit is classified by its intended battle field rolland the common mobility of the unit. Infantry arealways all foot forces, or at best horse mounted while

mechanized units are armor or armored transports.Two units; artillery and air strike, are not depicted onthe table representing forces that are temporary orwith such a long range that they will not be within thenormal theatre of the battle although players are en-couraged to create suitably dramatic token represen-tation for their use.

Artillery (special): off board artillery battery shellingthe enemy when given radio communicated coordi-nates.

Air Strike (special): air support in the form of bombersand attack planes called in to harass the enemy, lim-ited use due fuel constraints.

Armor (mechanized): the various heavy armor such asthe T-34, Panzer, and Sherman. Armor is the king of the battle field but they lack the speed of infantry off road and lack effective counter measures to a concen-trated infantry assault.

Combat Squad (infantry): the standard combat unitconsisting of soldiers armed with small arms and handgrenades, fairs evenly against all other units.

Commandos (infantry): infiltration units with smallarms and specialized equipment that is capable of

moving through enemy units to attack sensitive unitsor command structure, weak in both fire fights andassault except against specific units.

Cavalry (infantry): unconventional horse mountedinfantry fielded by few nations during the era but stillseen occasionally, very effective in assault againstinfantry but weak otherwise.

Mobile Infantry (mechanized): Infantry squads trans-ported by armored cars, APCs, jeeps and motor cy-cles, less in number than a combat squad unit butwith some armor support and greater mobility.

Paratroopers (infantry): infantry squads that aredropped into the battle zone by parachutes from lowflying air craft. Historically paratroopers were usedonly rarely but were very effective in all instances of

use.

Reconnaissance (mechanized): lightly armed reconunits in the form of armored cars, jeeps and motorcy-cles designated to locate the enemy and return infor-mation. Weak in assault or fire fight but capable of providing needed support at a moments notice orholding up enemy units to tactical advantage. Mosteffective in coordinating artillery strikes.

Weapons Team (infantry): heavy weapons or specialweapons teams such as mortars, flame throwers,

heavy machine guns and so forth, very effective at firefight combat but susceptible to assault.

Base width of 60mm

Unit Base Depth Number of Models Firefight Range Army Points Cost

Armor 80mm 1-2 4 clicks 4

Artillery n/a n/a n/a 2

Air strike n/a n/a n/a 1

Cavalry 40mm 1-3 2 clicks 2

Combat squads 40mm 3-5 3 clicks 2

Commandos 40mm 2-4 2 clicks 3

Mobile infantry 80 mm 1 -4 3 clicks 3

Paratroopers 40mm 3-5 3 clicks 3

Reconnaissance 80mm 1-3 2 clicks 2

Weapons teams 40mm 1-3 3 clicks 2


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Sequence of Play

The players follow these steps each turn, alternatingturns until one of the victory conditions are met;

1. The player whos turn it is rolls for PIPs

2. Movement is performed, tracking all ex-pended PIPs

3. All units of both players within fire fightrange of an enemy must engage in a fire fight(a unit will only be able to engage in a singlefirefight per turn)

4. Any air strikes or artillery barrages are per-formed

5. Any assaults are resolved6. The turn comes to an end and players check

for victory conditions, if neither force hasobtained victory the turn switches to thenext player

Player Initiative

At the beginning of each players turn he dices forPIPs (by rolling 2d6) and may use them in the follow-ing manner.

A roll of 6 on either dice enables the playerto deploy one of their armys air strikes totarget one enemy unit, this must be declaredbefore movement and the target must be

marked with an appropriate counter. Oncean air strike is used it cannot be used a sec-ond time (it is expended). Note that this mayonly be used if a 6 is rolled, not if a 6 is ob-tained from bonus PIPs from objectives. Theactual PIP cost of the air strike is 2 PIPs. It ispossible in this way to call in three airstrikesin the same turn, but if the same target issubjected to more than one air strike thenthe rules for multiple units in a firefight areused (i.e. any air strike beyond the first pro-vides support).Any infantry unit may be moved by expend-ing 1 PIP and may be moved a second timeby expending a further 2 PIPs (for a total of 3).Any mechanized unit may be moved by ex-pending 2 PIPs and may be moved a secondtime by expending a further 2 PIPs (for a to-tal of 4).A formation of units may be moved for 2 PIPs

but the formation must move at the speed of the slowest unit, formations may not bemoved a second time in the same turn. A

formation of units indicates that all units arein contact with one another and share thesame facing.

Cavalry units may be moved for 1 PIP andmay be moved multiple times although theymay not engage multiple enemies. Any num-ber of PIPs may be spent this way on cavalry.A formation of all cavalry moves as if a singlecavalry unit and benefits from unrestrictedPIP expenditure.An artillery barrage can be called down on anenemy unit that is within line of sight of afriendly unit by expending 3 PIPs. Unlike airstrikes, artillery is not expended and it is ac-ceptable to use two artillery barrages in the

same turn.A unit being held in reserve may be broughtinto play for a cost of 2 PIPs if brought intoplay from the players deployment zone or 4PIPs if entering from a flanking position. Theunit may not be moved a second move.Paratrooper units held in reserve may airdrop onto the board for an expenditure of 3PIPs. The unit may be placed anywhere onthe table at least 4 clicks from the enemy.


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Movement

Infantry may move 4 clicks on road, 3 clicks off roadand are unaffected by rough ground although theymay not cross bodies of water except at fords,

bridges, or other appropriate locations. Cavalry unitsmove 4 clicks off road but only 3 clicks in roughground but otherwise move as infantry.

Mechanized units (except tanks) may move 6 clicks byroad, 2 clicks off road, and must end move in roughground. If they begin their turn in rough ground theymay move as off road until out of rough ground. Theymay only cross bodies of water at bridges or othersufficiently supportive structures, fords will only miredown the mechanized unit ending its move on theford for the remainder of the game.

Commandos are able to move through enemy units asif they are not present instead of initiating an assaultas all other units must do.

Fire Fights

After movement each unit with range to an enemyunit may engage in a fire fight with that unit. Eachunit may only engage in a single firefight each turn. If the targeted unit is within its own fire fight range it

may fire back. Multiple units f iring on the same targetunit provide supporting fire to the primary firing unit,which must be the closest firing unit. Counter fire isperformed on the primary firing unit only. To resolvea fire fight roll two dice for each unit and apply thefollowing firefight value;

Some situational modifiers apply to the dice roll aswell; all of these modifiers are applied as bonuses toone of the two units.

For each supporting unit the primary attackerreceives a +1 (so two supporting units would be+2).

If the unit is in dense terrain or other cover itreceives a +1 to its dice roll.

If the unit is mechanized and mired in a ford of other restrictive area the attacker benefits from a

+1 bonus.

ResultsIf the combat rolls are tied then both units will fallback one-half move from each other.

If the losing roll is greater than half of the winnersroll

Heavy armor will fall back one-half movefrom infantryAll other mechanized units will fall back onefrom infantry and suffer a casualty pointInfantry will fall back one move from otherinfantry and suffer one casualty point or fallback two moves from mechanized units andsuffer two casualty pointsMechanized units will fall back one movefrom other mechanized units and suffer one

casualty pointIf a units fall back move carries them intodense terrain, rough terrain, or an enemyunit it is eliminated instead. (This does notapply if the unit began the move in the sameelement of dense or rough terrain)If a units fall back move carries it into afriendly unit the friendly unit will be pushedback as far as necessary to accommodate thefall back move and will turn to face the samedirection as the unit falling back.

If the loosing roll is half or less of the winners roll Infantry are destroyedMechanized are destroyed by other mecha-nized, weapons teams, air strike, or barrageor will fall back two moves from anythingelse and suffer two casualty points

Unit Firefight Value

Armor +5 vs all

Artillery +4 vs all

Air strike +6 vs all

Commandos+4 vs weapons teams, other commandos andcommand; +2 vs all other

Cavalry +3 vs infantry; +2 vs all other

Combat squad +3 vs all

Mobile infantry +2 vs armor; +4 vs all other

Paratroopers +3 vs all

Reconnaissance +3 vs infantry; +2 vs mechanized units

Weapons team +4 vs mechanized; +2 vs infantry


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Assaults

When two units are in contact they are considered tobe engaging in hand-to-hand and small arms combat.If more than a single unit is in contact with the same

enemy unit only one is considered to be attackingwith the others providing support. All units in contactmust perform an assault every turn.

To perform an assault roll 2d6 and add a modifieraccording to the kind of unit that is involved in theassault.

Some situational modifiers apply as appropriate withthe modifier applied as a bonus to one of the twounits involved in the assault;

+1 for each supporting unit, maximum of +3

(indicating the target unit is completely sur-rounded)+1 if the unit is within a structure or otherdefensive works+1 if the unit is within dense terrain

ResultsIf both combat rolls are tied then both units fall backone move from each other unless one is outnum-bered in which instance only the outnumbered unitfalls back.

If the losers roll is better than half the winners roll Infantry will fall back from all other infantryand mobile infantry and suffer one casualtypoint or is destroyed by other mechanizedunitsMechanized units will fall back one movefrom infantry or two moves from other

mechanized and suffer two casualty points

If the losers roll is half or less than that of the win-ners roll

Infantry will be destroyed by all of unitsMechanized will be destroyed by infantry orfall back three moves from other mechanizedunits and suffer two casualty points

Casualty Points

A unit may sustain three casualty points before beingeliminated. These reflect attrition losses and generalmorale of the unit and while the unit may not bewiped out to a man it is effectively eliminated fromthe battle. It is important a unit is marked in somewayto indicate its accumulated casualty points; glassbeads are ideal for this purpose.

Unit Assault Value Armor +2 vs allCavalry +4 vs infantry; +2 vs all other Combatsquad +3 vs all

Comman-dos

+5 vs infantry, mobile infantry, andreconnaissance; +4 vs all other

Mobileinfantry

+4 vs infantry and mobile infantry; 2 vsall other

Paratroop-ers +4 vs infantry; +2 vs all other

Recon-naissance +3 vs infantry; +2 vs mechanized

Weaponsteam +2 vs all

A N EXAMPLE OF MODELED TERRAIN


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Victory Conditions

There are three conditions that can lead to victory;Commanding unit is defeated in assaultHalf or more of the enemys forces one the

board are eliminatedAll three objectives are controlled for twoconsecutive turn

If any of these three objectives are met then theplayer meeting the objective is victorious and thegame comes to an end.

Scenarios

The writing of the rules detail a standard pitched bat-tles between equally built armies. The following twoscenarios; Bunker Defense and Break Through modify

the rules only slightly. Where the written rules arechallenged by the scenario rules the scenario shouldbe obeyed.

Bunker Defense places one player with a smaller forcein command of two bunkers and the other player witha larger force has the objective of defeating the forcesin both bunkers. For the purposes of this scenario theregular objectives are ignored. The defending playerreceives only 18 ap of forces with the following re-strictions on their expenditure;1. The player may not purchase more than a singlearmor unit.2. The player may purchase no artillery.

The attacking player has no restrictions on purchaseand receives 30 ap for building their army.

The battlefield should be split into two deploymentareas each equal to one half the board. The defendingplayer places two bunkers, no closer than 8 clicks toone another or 4 clicks of an edge, anywhere withintheir half of the board. Then all of his forces are de-ployed as he desires with at least one unit deployed ineach bunker. Bunkers can hold only infantry units.

The attacker does not deploy but instead moves hisforces onto the table edge from his deployment zoneas if they are just off the board at the edge. If theplayer has reserves they may be deployed as normalfrom the flanking edge of HIS deployment zone only.Paratroopers and Commandos are deployed as nor-mal.

Victory is obtained if the attacking player is able toeliminate the forces in each bunker AND occupy eachbunker with an infantry unit before the defender isable to eliminate 50% of their units (not counting ar-tillery or air strikes).

Break Through recreates a defensive line that is pro-tecting a valuable resource. The attacking player isattempting to move units through the enemy and off the table while the defending player is attempting tohold the line and prevent this.

Both players receive the same number of ap (24 issuggested). The defending player places his units any-where on the table at least three moves (by unit)from the attacking players table edge. The attackingplayer moves all of his forces on to the table (no re-serves allowed) a single move as deployment.

Play of the game is as normal except when the attack-ing player is able to move a unit off the table throughthe defending players edge the defender must re-move two of his units from the table (defenderschoice). This will continue until one army is reducedto 25% of its original forces determining a victor.

While the scenario seems straight forward it shouldbe obvious that terrain is a great factor and both play-ers should work together to build a battlefield that isboth fair and exciting.


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Reference Table 1: Use of PIPs Air Strikes: cost 2 PIPs and may only be called in on a PIP roll of 6 not counting objective PIPs

Movement (infantry): 1 PIP to move and a further 2 PIPs for a second move

Movement (cavalry): 1 PIP to move and further moves for 1 PIP without limit

Movement (mechanized): 1 PIP to move and a further 3 PIPs for a second moveMovement (formation): 2 PIPs to move and entire formation at the slowest move in the formation; not secondmove permittedArtillery Barrage: 3 PIPs declared in the tactical movement phase allows an artillery attack in the fire combat

phaseReserves: any unit in reserve may be called onto the table through the deployment edge by expending 2 PIPs or aflanking edge by expending 3 PIPsReserves (paratroops): may be called into play from any table edge for an expenditure of 2 PIPs

Reference Table 2: Firefight Value Table Unit Firefight Value

Armor +5 vs allArtillery +4 vs all

Air strike +6 vs all

Commandos +4 vs weapons teams, other commandos and command; +2 vsall other



Mobile infantry +2 vs armor; +4 vs all other

Paratroopers +3 vs all

Reconnaissance +3 vs infantry; +2 vs mechanized units

Weapons team +4 vs mechanized; +2 vs infantry

Reference Table 3: Assault Value Table Unit Assault Value

Armor +2 vs all



Commandos +5 vs infantry, mobile infantry, and reconnaissance; +4 vs allother

Mobile infantry +4 vs infantry and mobile infantry; 2 vs all other

Paratroopers +4 vs infantry; +2 vs all other

Reconnaissance +3 vs infantry; +2 vs mechanized

Weapons team +2 vs all

Documents

Attack On All Fronts Ver 1.1