In this post I explain how a turn works.

A turn consists of a variable number of Friendly and Enemy Command Pulses. Each turn players alternate using their Command Dice to issue orders. As the Command Dice results vary each turn, players have to adjust to the changing fortunes of war. The turn ends after both players have used all of their Command Dice.

Start of the Turn

At the start of each turn, both players roll their Command Dice to determine the number of orders available.

Command Failure – Rolls of More 1s Than 6s

If you roll more 1s than 6s, a Command Failure occurs. A Command Failure is a temporary breakdown in the army’s dissemination of orders. It reduces the number of Command Dice available this turn and increases the enemy’s Command Dice by an equal amount.
Command Failure represents a break in the action and ends artillery and smoke missions for the unlucky player.

All the 1s you rolled are given to your opponent who adds them to his Command Dice as wild dice. He gives the dice back to you at the end of the turn.

If Both Sides Roll a Command Failure

If both players roll a Command Failure, the turn ends immediately. It doesn’t matter how many 1s were rolled by either player, both failed to press the battle this turn. Both players’ artillery and smoke missions are cancelled unless Staff Orders are
used to maintain them.

Rolls of Equal or Less 1s Than 6s

If you roll the same or less number of 1s than 6s you avoid a Command Failure, but the 1s are discarded until next turn. While this is not as disastrous as a Command Failure, it reduces the number of available orders. Think of these discarded dice as orders you didn’t have time to issue or orders that didn’t get through.

The Command Pulse

On your Command Pulse, you choose a Dice Chain and issue orders with it. You are free to select any Dice Chain, but you must choose one; you cannot pass the Command Pulse to your opponent. If you choose a Single Dice chain, you issue one order and your Command Pulse ends.

If you choose a Double, Triple or larger Dice Chain, you must use all of the dice in that Chain. How you use them is up to you. With a triple Dice Chain you could issue three single orders, or a double order and a single order, or use all three to issue a triple order. You may also use a multiple dice Chain to increase your number of Staff Orders.

Once you have used all of the dice in the Dice Chain, your Command Pulse ends, and your opponent now chooses a Dice Chain. Command Pulses alternate between players until all Command Dice have been used. Where one player has used all of his Dice Chains before his opponent, he continues to choose and use Dice Chains until all have been used.

End of Turn

The turn ends after all Dice Chains have been used. Fire Markers are now removed from all units.

The Turn Sequence

Both Players Roll Command Dice

The Player Who Rolls the Most 6s has the First Command Pulse

First Friendly Command Pulse
Friendly Logistics Phase

First Enemy Command Pulse
Enemy Logistics Phase

Second Friendly Command Pulse

Second Enemy Command Pulse

Command Pulses Alternate Until All Command Dice Are Used

End of Turn

Remove Fire Markers

Command Failure

More 1s Rolled Than 6s
A player who rolls a Command Failure automatically goes second
If both players roll Command Failures the turn ends
Artillery and Smoke Missions are cancelled
Staff Orders may be used to maintain them

Next Post

The next post covers dice chains and their use.

This post explains unit statistics using the Sturmgeschütz III Assault Gun as an example.

Sturmgeschütz III
Cohesion: 3
Training: Regular
Move: Average 6+1D
Reaction: 6D (vs direct fire) / 5D (vs artillery)
Weapon: 75L48 Gun
Range: 8/16/32
FP: 7D AT: 8D

Notes: Restricted to 180° fire arc. The Stug’s low profile makes it harder to hit than other vehicles. This increases its Reaction Dice to 6 against direct fire. Against artillery fire the Stug III has 5 Reaction Dice.

What Each Statistic Means

Units have similar statistics that determine their performance. Some units have special abilities and these are listed in the notes section.

Cohesion
All units in Armour Battles have a Cohesion of 3. They are Dispersed (removed from the table) when they have three Disruption Points.

Training
All vehicles in Armour Battles are Regulars. In the full game each unit is rated according to its level of training and combat experience with Veterans having higher statistics than Raw Recruits.

Move
Move is how far a unit can move in inches in a single activation. Move comprises a Fixed Move and a Variable Move.

A unit with a move of 6+1D” moves 6” plus the result of 1D added to the 6 for a move of between 7” and 12”. A unit with a move of 6+1Dx2”, moves 6” plus the result of 1D doubled and added to the 6 for a move of between 8” and 18”.

Reaction
Reaction represents how well a unit is likely to respond in combat. Whenever a unit is hit, it makes a Reaction Check. The more armour a vehicle has, the more Reaction Dice it has.

For example, a Panther tank has a 7D Reaction while the less armoured Panzer IV has 5D. The Stug III has the same armour as the Panzer IV, but has a low profile which makes it a harder target and gives it an extra Reaction Dice against Direct Fire.

Weapon
This lists the main weapon carried by the unit. Although most vehicles were also equipped with machine guns, no separate rating is given as the effects are included in the Fire rating. When using its Fire Dice the tank is firing its main gun and machine guns together.

Fire
Fire is short for Firepower and shows the number of dice rolled when firing at infantry, guns, soft-skinned vehicles and other un-armoured targets. It is not used in Amour Battles as all enemy vehicles are armoured.

AT
AT is short for Anti-Tank Fire and shows the number of dice rolled when firing at armoured targets. All targets are armoured in Armour Battles.

Range
These are the weapon’s range bands in inches: short/effective/long.

Short range fire is more accurate and units receive a –1 TN modifier.

Effective range fire is unmodified.

At long range units fire with a +1 TN penalty.

Notes
Any additional information regarding a unit is listed here. For example, the Sturmgeschütz III is restricted to 180° fire arc as it does not have a turret, It can only fire to its front.

Next Post

In the next post I cover how the game turn works.

Measuring

To measure the distance between units take the closest point of on a vehicle’s hull to the closest point of another vehicle’s hull.

Using Dice

Armour Battles uses similar game mechanics for all actions (command, movement, combat and rallying).

Success Rolls

When determining whether an action is successful or not, between one to ten dice are rolled. Each dice needs to score the Target Number or more. The Target Number is referred to as TN.

Most rolls start with a 4+ TN and are adjusted up or down from there. With a 4+ TN each roll of 4, 5 or 6 is a success; rolls of 1, 2 or 3 are failures. If the TN was 5+, then only those dice that score 5 or 6 are successes.

Opposed Rolls

Most rolls are opposed. Which means that your opponent rolls dice at the same time as you and the results are compared.

With direct fire combat, you roll to hit your opponent’s unit, and then he rolls to see how it reacts. If he gets the same or more successes, his unit isn’t hit.

When calling an artillery mission, you roll your Artillery Response Dice against dice rolled by your opponent. If you achieve more successes than your opponent, your artillery immediately fires for effect.

Sliding Dice

Sometimes adjustments to TNs can result in a player needing to roll 7 or more. The sliding dice system adds or subtracts dice depending on the Target Number.

If the TN is greater than 6, it remains at 6, and a dice is deducted for every TN over 6. With a 7+ TN, you roll one less dice and the TN becomes 6. If your unit has 5D and needs a 7+ TN, you lose one dice and the TN is reduced to 6. No dice are rolled if a unit is ever reduced to zero dice.

TN>6+
Lose –1D if 7+ TN
Lose –2D if 8+ TN
Lose –3D if 9+ TN

Also, if the TN becomes less than 2, it remains at 2, but you gain one extra dice for each TN below 2.

TN <2 = 2
Gain 1D if TN =1
Gain 2D if TN = 0

It is still possible to score successes, but the number of possible successes is reduced. Also it avoids the sure thing of letting you hit on a 1 but increases the number of successes you can can achieve.

Next Post

In the next post I get down to the nitty gritty with a look at unit statistics.

In this post I cover the basic gear needed to play Armour Battles. You’ll need an opponent and some model vehicles. For the first battle you also need nine US tanks and seven German tanks. This increases to 12 US vehicles and 11 German vehicles for the second battle. For the third battle 15 US vehicles and 13 German vehicles.

Although model vehicles are always best, you can try out the game with home made cardboard counters. Grab a few pictures from the Internet and mount them on thin card roughly 40mm wide and 60mm long (or as needed).

Essentials

Tape Measures: A tape measure for each player marked in inches to measure movement and weapon ranges.

Model Terrain: You need a few hills, woods and hedges to play Armour Battles. These can be model terrain or be cut from coloured card or paper.

Standard Dice: Six-sided dice numbered from 1–6 are used for firing, checking reactions to fire, and rallying. Eight to ten dice per player should cover most situations, but it never hurts to have more.

Dice are referred to as D. When the rules state that you need to roll a single dice or multiple dice it is shown in this format: xD. One dice is shown as 1D, two dice as 2D, three dice as 3D, four dice as 4D, and so on.

Command Dice: Command Dice are standard six-sided dice used to determine how many orders a player can issue in a Command Turn. You don’t need any special dice, but bigger dice, or dice of a different colour, or preferably both, will help avoid any confusion in the heat of battle.

D3: You need to roll a D3 each time a unit is Dispersed. You can buy special dice numbered 1, 2, 3. Or you can use a six-sided dice and half the result (rounding up): with a roll of 1–2 = 1, a roll of 3–4 = 2, and a roll of 5–6 = 3.

Deviation Dice: A special six-sided dice marked with “Hit” and directional arrows is used to check the accuracy of off-table artillery. Its use is not essential; the artillery section provides an alternative method for checking artillery accuracy.

Markers

Various markers help keep track of information during the game.

Disruption Markers: Disruption Markers show the effects of combat on a unit. You can use micro dice, coins, coloured counters or glass beads to show a unit’s current number of Disruption Points. Alternatively, Disruption Points can be tracked with pen and paper.

Suppression Markers: A Suppression Marker is placed next to a unit following an adverse Reaction result. A Suppression Marker can be as simple as a coloured counter or glass bead (red is good), or can be a specially created marker modelled to look like an explosion. Alternatively, a prone or dead figure works well.

Fire Markers: A Fire Marker shows that a unit has fired this turn. Cotton balls work very well, as do coloured beads or counters.

Staff Order Markers: You can use counters or dice to keep track of Staff Orders. Alternatively, you can use Staff Figures and/or vehicles that are removed when orders are issued.

Artillery Impact Markers: Artillery Impact Markers show where your Staff Officers have targeted artillery missions. Use counters or other markers modelled to represent shell craters or explosions.

Smoke Markers: Similar to an Impact Marker, a Smoke Marker is used to show where a smoke mission has been plotted. White cotton wool glued to a washer or coin works well.

Next Post

In the next post I take a quick look at measuring and using the dice.

Over the next month I’ll be posting the rules needed to play Combat HQ: World War Two Wargame Rules with armoured fighting vehicles supported by off-table artillery. Armour Battles will present the core rules of Combat HQ and serve as an introduction to the larger game. Each post will add new rules and will build up into a playable rules set.

Armour Battles will also feature a series of linked armoured battles set in Lorraine, France in 1944 as Patton’s 3rd Army advances towards the Rhine. The first battle is a small meeting engagement between US and German tanks. The next battle has the Americans attacking the Germans. This is followed by the Americans attempting to break through the German positions as the Germans counter-attack with a Tiger I platoon.

Here’s a list of what’s planned.

Rules needed to play the introductory mission

Gaming Gear
Measuring
Using Dice
Unit Statistics

The Turn
The Command Pulse
Dice Chains

Movement
Fixed and Variable Moves
Multiple Moves
Movement Orders
Moving and Firing
Moving and Facing
Sideways and Backwards Movement
Terrain and Movement

Line Of Sight

Unit Morale
Disruption
Suppression
Forced Back
Rally Order

Command Orders
Rolls of 6 – Wild Dice
Staff Orders
Off-Table Assets

Direct Fire
Fire Markers
Arc of Fire
How to Fire
Reaction Checks
Direct Fire Combat Results
Opportunity Fire
Cover

Additional Rules for Missions Two and Three

Off-Table Artillery
Smoke Missions
Minor Obstacles
Hidden Units
Reconnaissance Units and Command Groups

The Battles

Battle 1 – Meeting Engagement
Battle 2 – Attack/Defend
Battle 3 – Counter Attack

The full Combat HQ rules will include rules for infantry, heavy weapons, more vehicles, and rules for close assaults, hidden units, terrain, vehicle breakdowns and more detailed artillery.

I hope you enjoy reading Armour Battles as it’s posted.

Once Armour Battles is complete it will be compiled into a free ebook and sent to everyone who signs up for the Wargames Design Newsletter.

To go the Newsletter Page Click Here

If you have any questions or comments then leave them below and I’ll get back to you.