Best tabletop rules

[5RANGLIAN]

I haven't wargamed WWII for a long while, but had problems then finding a good set of rules that matched my research/prejudices. Does anyone have any recommendations? 1:300 is my preferred scale. Any recommendations for a decent set of modern rules would be gratefully recieved, too.

For the same reason, I'm not a big fan of computer wargames, as I have found that you have to fit in with someone else's world, and I need a little more flexibility. I like to play around with the small unit tactics, to see what works or not.

[Howard]

Hi,

I'm currently building small late war forces for Abteilung 2 from Peter Pig. Quite simple rules but give a reasonable gave in a couple of hours and you don't need a second mortgage to put together a battalion or two.

They've got some others for WW2 on their website. I think most are designed for 15mm but could possibly be adapted. The only 1/300 rules I have date back to the late '70s and I can't for the life of me recall the name. What I do remember is that is that Panthers and Tigers were really the kings of the table when we used these at school!!

[phylo_roadking]

5RA, I'll get back to you on this. I came across a lot of reading on this about a year ago. As you know, WWII was neglected in wargaming terms for quite a while, as there simply were no decent rule sets. WRG rpredominated for too long at competition level But this has settled down in the last three years - there's two sets in widespread use in the UK, I can't remember othe names but I'll find out for you. The most widespread is a variation on Peter Gilder's original WWII rules. He didn't as far as I'm aware publish them while he was alive - I had the priviledge of playing them at his place in Yorkshire in 1981 - but a club later published a VERY close copy. This has now been developed and refined. I'll try for the name. They predominate for 1/72nd. but there ARE conversions for 15mm and 1/300th as far as I remember.

[Howard]

One widely-used set is Rapid Fire (memory has come back!) but again I rather think that's for 15/25mm, but conversions should be possible.

[derGespenst]

Depends upon what scale game you're looking for - and I don't mean figure scale. In my opinion (35+ years of very serious wargaming) the best around for WW II is "Spearhead" in which 1 vehicle/figure = one platoon, the battalion is the basis of orders/maneuver and two people can easily play with a Division/Russian Corps (space permitting).

[Howard]

You're right Gespenst, Spearhead's a good set and the accompanying scenarios booklets are very useful too.

[Jason Pipes]

GDW used to publish a fairly detailed and well rounded set of rules and guidebooks called Command Decision. Since GDW is no more those rules are oop, but I believe easy to find and affordable. Worth looking into.

[5RANGLIAN]

I like to run campaigns, probably at Div level, on the map to generate interesting scenarios, then play encounters at battlegroup level on the table.

In Moderns, I used to use the Challenger rules, which were pretty clunky and tried to cover every possible encounter between 1950 and 2000. BUT, the ground scale at 1:300 was the same as the model scale, which looks good and works well on the table.

It does make it difficult to put much more than a battlegroup on the table at any one time, as the table is rarely more than 3km square (if you want to pack more troops into that area, then I've got a Tacnuc with your name on it, opps sorry, wrong period).

[Kommandeur]

Hi 5RANGLIAN

You might like to have alook at Blitzkrieg Commander:

http://www.blitzkrieg-commander.com/BKC.aspx?area=bkc

This set is characterised by the command system and streamlined approach to the various mechanisms for firing/combat/morale.

Well worth a look IMHO.

There's a related set for post WWII:

http://www.blitzkrieg-commander.com/CWC.aspx?area=cwc

[derGespenst]

Thank you, Howard. I wrote the scenario books (well, three out of four).

[JASGripen]

GMT's Barbarossa series got good rules. They don't go into detail as the game is meant to be playable (whole of Barbarossa's army groups is so large that details bog the thing down).

But they have made some smart moves in the rules to make the game interesting anyway. Different Sequence of Play for Germans and Soviet is a very talented thing to incorporate for example.

Army Group South:
http://www.gmtgames.com/bags/gmtefbs0.htm

[Paul Timms]

At platoon level I am a big fan of " I ain't been shot mum" their depiction of battlefield friction via a card driven activation appeals to me, for a slightly larger/higher level ( company/battalion ) the new " look sarge no charts" again with a randomish activation is interesting. Both have yahoo groups and IABSM particularly has great web support, LSNC is newer and just starting up.

[BobM]

http://www.testofbattle.com/drupal-4.7.4/

Command Decision :)

[papagolfwhiskey]

Odd that no one has mentioned 'Flames of War' by Battlefront.

Ist it only a local phenoma where I live? or is it dissmissed as a varient on 'dorkhammer'?

[Whiterook]

"Flames of War" has a huge following, and gameplay is very accurate, especially in tournaments. The caveat being that you don't mind assembling and painting the miniatures and building the dioramas to play upon (or have someone do it for you). The game system is much more complex than say, "Axis & Allies Miniatures"...though in truth, I prefer, and own A&AM and play it solitaire, and find it good gameplay in researching battle scenarios and tactics. A step up from A&AM would be "Fire and Fury's Battlefront: WWII", which is much more involved than A&AM.