In reverse order of the post's title - an update on Pulse of Battle: The text is complete, and edited thoroughly. Final, final work is being done on the army list text, and then it will be time to take photos and do the final layout of the rules. I'd really like to get this off my plate no later than sometime in June, but we'll see how the schedule works out....
I'm extremely happy with PoB and how it plays. I think its a unique approach to ancient combat, yet fully in line with the Piquet/Field of Battle emphasis on the fog of war and command challenges.
With that creative project wrapped up, I've turned to the WW2 squad level (every unit = an infantry squad, a vehicle = 1 to 3 vehicles, etc) game, tentatively (very) titled "Follow Me". It's aimed at allowing multiple companies up to a battalion or more on the table per side.
We played 2 games last Saturday night. The first had two recon type forces fighting over control of a strategic road intersection. The US had two companies of infantry (18 units) plus 4 MG sections, plus a platoon of M8's and a Stuart. The Germans had an armored recon platoon (armored car and a halftrack) plus an infantry company with a couple of HMGs. Both sides had offboard mortar and artillery assets (available via an asset deck of cards).
The second game was an extremely armor heavy game with 3 Sherman platoons (9 units), an M10 TD platoon (2 units) and the M8 armored cars, plus a couple of platoons of infantry (6 units) vs. a German force of a Stug Platoon (3 units), a PzkwIV platoon (3 units), a Panther platoon (2 units), and 2 platoons (6 units) of PanzerGrenadiers in halftracks.
The US won the first game handily, and the Germans did the same in game 2. The first game (with the rules being entirely new to the players) lasted around 2 hours, and the 2nd game lasted around 1 3/4 hours.
Overall, I was thrilled with how the games played and felt. I always feel more than a bit nervous when I trot out a new game for the first time. Its hard to guess how things will go...
Some photos from the games:
Good to hear that Pulse of Battle is nearing the final pre-publication stage.
ReplyDeleteWW2 project is of only academic interest in my case, but I know there are many others interested in it!
Peter
Great news on POB and a new set of WW2 rules is always a winner :-)
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