Post by gavmeister on Apr 24, 2018 10:45:27 GMT
I've now had a chance to read the 4th edition FoW rules and the German & US army lists. I'd been warned of the game's Hollywood tendencies and shameless pandering to wargamers' fancies (every army is elite! especially mine!), but had been lulled into false security by the surprisingly more mature approach taken in the 'Nam rules.
Boy, was I in for a shock. The rules themselves get a lot right and actually look pretty good in terms of the mechanics, but some of the special rules in the army lists look more suited to flames of war(hammer)...
Anyway I have tried to identify the worst offenders and suggest fixes to give a more challenging (and simpler game)
Stormtroopers - German tanks and infantry (only) get a second 'special' move. Seriously?
Fix - don't play this daft rule
Medium mortars and AAHMG move at same speed as anti-tank guns; MMG move like infantry
Fix - let mortars and HMG move like tripod MMG - slower than infantry
AT guns fire whilst moving, and MMG can fire whilst passengers in an M3 HT.
Fix - No. No, they don't do either of these things. The M3 has its own pivot MG/s.
US tanks have stabilisers allowing them to fire as rapidly and accurately on the move as halted i.e. 2 shots.
Fix - No. These blasted things didn't work in WW2; the British cut the wires to prevent any idiotic tank crew from being tempted to fire on the move. Battlefront admit even the M48 couldn't achieve this in their 'Nam rules. Treat them the same as everyone else's tanks - one shot per bound if moving.
US infantry are physically more fit due to extra PE and cross country running, and move 2" faster than everyone else.
Fix - No justification for this. The US infantry habitually got the least fit recruits and (wow) other armies also had PE lessons. Truscott trained his own division to march across Sicily. That's all.*
Panzer IV with 75mm IG were used as long range SP artillery and the British AT were terrified of them; and the L24 in the III was better than the same gun in the IV.
Fix - No. Ripe camembert. Direct fire only. No FC or gun sights to fire long range barrages, no training, and not enough shells. Why do they make this stuff up? The Panzer III 75mm/24 is the same as the one on Panzer IV. Make them both AT7, HEAT and smoke.
28mm cone bore AT were fired from the shoulder like AT rifle and move at same speed as 'stormtroopers'
Fix - no. Goodbye right half of chest. These are wheeled AT. Use the same stats for the British ATR instead, for the infantry platoons.
US tank destroyers (only) have the skill to move to cover, shoot twice, and then scoot successfully all on one turn
Fix - I wouldn't use this. This is too good and unfair to other nations' SPAT. If T/Ds come back to the edge of cover again I think it's more realistic that their victims will be looking for them and have a chance to fire back. Start them in ambush instead.
US platoon commanders could call down artillery barrages directly
Fix - Nope. Didn't have the kit or authority. Company C/O team's attached FAO only. Other nations should probably be required to field observers as indie units though.
60mm mortars same as 81mm mortars
Fix - give them range 32" instead of 40", and blast 5 not 4.
Time on Target - US artillery observers faster and more accurate than German or British FAOs
Fix - No. No they weren't. Another US Hollywood rule for the scrap heap. US FAOs were attached to company headquarters and couldn't always reliably get 'their' battery to fire in support.
M3 Lee/Grant commander can control both 37 mm and 75mm effectively. The M3 Death Star.
Fix - The 37mm turned out to be as good as superfluous, and the British took out the 7th crewman (the US followed suit later). Being stuck in the turret, the commander would be distracted from the main gun if the turret gun aims and fires at the same time. Prevented him directing the more important 75mm etc. In which case I suggest the 75mm gets the +1 penalty if both guns fire. While I'm on, I see they make the Grant's crew resilient to bailing out. Hello? This is the petrol-engined 'coffin for seven brothers'!
'Overworked' penalty only applies if firing once while moving.
Fix - if the commander has to do loading as well it badly hampers acquisition of new targets and accuracy. Suggest the +1 penalty also applies to the first of two shots from halted or the Team Yankee approach is adopted. 1 shot per turn, Slow if moving.
Repeat bombardments can be controlled by anybody and are better than the first bombardment
Fix - no, they need to keep the same observer and same effect (so no re-rolling saves)
Pz II and M3 Stuart FAO tanks
Fix - neither of these vehicles existed. the Germans should use H/T or possibly Pz I for their SP artillery, the US used H/T.
I am continuing to look for more nonsense. It's a real shame as the game mechanics look really interesting.
*"Truscott took command of the 3rd Infantry Division in March 1943, and oversaw preparations for the Allied invasion of Sicily, .... He was known as a very tough trainer, bringing the 3rd Infantry Division up to a very high standard. ... He led the division in the assault on Sicily in July 1943, coming under the command of the Seventh U.S. Army, commanded by Patton, now a lieutenant general. Here his training paid off when the division covered great distances in the mountainous terrain at high speed. The famous 'Truscott Trot' was a marching pace of five miles per hour over the first mile, thereafter four miles per hour, much faster than the usual standard of 2.5 miles per hour."
