Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 9 - Monty Gunner Who?

This was something of a late entry being a set of private rules developed by one of the guys in the ACP164 campaign which he has graciously let me playtest. I'll only post this if he's OK with it.

Presentation

29 page word document. Simple layout, no pics, but it is a private set so same state as most of mine. Sensible structure though.

Set-Up

Operation Martlet Scenario 5: Winning Your Spurs. This is a delaying action with the Germans holding a shallow spur line and the British advancing across mostly open ground. I randomly added some of my felt "humps" which block line of sight for infantry but not for tanks. Both sides are reduced in force from the previous scenario, the Brits losing the 6pdr (no great loss) and the German's the Pak (but keeping the IG).

A pretty empty table - Germans at the bottom end

How It Played

The Brits went for a 4-square approach, 2 up, 2 back, either side of the road. The Germans waited til thee Brits were in close range and then 1. Gruppen in the hedgeline on the N side of the road opened up. No. 1 Section went to ground and the OC brought in smoke to cover them. Meanwhile No. 2 Section moved forward S of the road and came under similar fire from 2. Gruppen. The Cromwell moved up to support No. 2 Section but the Panzer darted out for cover, and tried to get a quick shot in before the Cromwell but failed. The Cromwell fired and hit the Panzer IV tracks, and a second shot took it out completely. Meanwhile No. 2 Section Gun Gp and the UC Bren team (now midway down the road) concentrated fire on 2. Gruppen MG team in the copse and eventually silenced it.

The Panzer IV moves up to engage the advancing Cromwell

With more progress being made on the S side No. 3 Section was switched S, and supported No. 4 Section who were passing through No. 2 Section to assault 2. Gruppen. This must have taken the Brit OC's eye off the ball as he forgot to stoke the smoke, and as it cleared the IG and 1. Gruppen hailed fire down upon No. 1 Section who were routed.

Fresh smoke to protect a shattered No. 4 Section as 2. Gruppen pull back

Back on the S No. 4 Section took a lot of damage on the way in on their assault, but just got the better of the melee (although on checking the rule both sides may have eliminated each other!), pushing 2. Gruppen back behind the spur. 3. Gruppen had swung round to the road to protect the German L flank, 1. Gruppen considered a similar swing to come down on the flank of 2 and 3 Sections, their own front now bring clear, but initially thought better of it.

No. 4 Section just didn't have the oomph to push on to the road, and fire from 2. and 3. Gruppen was enough to force them back to the shelter of a hummock. 3. Gruppen pushed their LMG team into the copse, but the Cromwell and No. 2 Section soon took them out. But 2. Gruppen then snuck a Panzerfaust man into the copse who, despite taking hits, managed to put his round through the hull of the Cromwell, effectively putting it out for the rest of the game.

With 1. Gruppen finally swing round and bringing enfilade fire down on the UC and No. 3 Section, and the IG also putting HE into No. 3 Section the British situation was looking dicey and although neither side had reached breakpoint the Brits decided to call it a day.

Rules Impression

The main rules mechanic is a deck of playing cards, with red=good, black = bad. For shooting its typically 4 cards, +/- extra cards as "DMs", and a hit for each red, with saves likewise dependent on drawing reds from 1 or 2 cards.  A really nice and fast mechanism. Activation is by a unit deck - IABSM style, and there's also a hand of 3 "special action" cards for commanders to use and refill. On activation a unit can either take 1 activation, or gamble and draw 2 cards and get an activation for each red - there's even an option for 3! Damage is in two stages, hits that reduce capability, but once they are "full" you start taking morale hits - which might cause a fallback or worse, and once a threshold is reached (typically 4 hits and 4 morale for a rifle group) then the unit is destroyed.

Where the rules fell down a bit was in tank/anti-tank fire. It roughly 5 cards to hit, then 5 cards to penetrate, 4 cards to counter penetrate, 5 cards to locate the hit, and 5 cards to assess damage - 24 cards to end up with just a bent sprocket wheel! Melee is similarly card heavy. In contrast HE is spot on, with cards giving accuracy and distance.

Overall

The core mechanic is really good, and very tempted to use it for some of my own rules. With some mods to the anti-tank and melee it would make a superb set for newcomers, or oldsters fancying a different sort of game. Seems inappropriate to give it a score since it's someone's own set, but with a few tweaks I think I'd rate it as at least as good as Chain of Command.