Fields of War

Fast Play World War II Rules

These rules started off as a very simple dice game with a few of my sons’ tanks and men, and has developed into a game we play on our dining room table – they work pretty well, give a very fast and fun game, and are not too inaccurate either! The basics of the rules are a simple playsheet, shown below (if you copy it off this page it prints on 2 A4 sheets). We’ve tried to explain the “how” it is played below that, along with some basic definitions of vehicle types. The rules are pretty much designed to cope with the “plastic kit” period of the war, i.e. c 1942 – 1944, so pre and early war light tanks and guns, and later extra heavy tanks are not well catered for as standard - though we have got some (fairly untested) modifications for this at the end of the rules.

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FIELDS OF WAR PLAYSHEET

1. Movement in Inches

	Fast	Medium	Slow	Rough Ground	Crawling
Vehicles	18”	15”	12”	6” + Dice
Infantry				6”	3”
Aircraft	48”

Add 50% for every whole move on roads.

Infantry who have gone to ground and move while lying down can only crawl

Deduct ½ move for getting in and out of vehicles, limbering/unlimbering/ hand moving Guns, HMG etc

2. Shooting

Direct Shooting – pick target, use the To Hit factor for that weapon in Table 2 or 3, adjust by the Shooting Factors in Table 4 below to get score to KO target Throw a dice, if throw beats the score needed to KO, the target is removed if Infantry, has smoke placed on it if a model.

Indirect Shooting – use Scatter dice first, anything then totally covered by relevant template is a potential target, dice 4+ for partially covered to be a target.

Use To Hit Factor and adjust for Shooting factors as for Direct shooting. If Armour is hit by indirect fire count it as where the centre of the Template is (top, side, rear etc).

Anti Tank guns firing High Explosive use a small blast template, dice To Hit without any armour modifications

and then dice to hit anything covered by template using all modifications as per Indirect Fire. All armoured vehicles have a LMG as well as their main gun

Artillery Guns firing direct at Armour count as the next lower type of Anti Tank Guns. Mortars and Rockets cannot fire direct

Type	Shots/Turn	Type of Shot	Range	To Hit Factor
AT/ AA Guns	(per model)
Heavy	1	At Target	48”	3+
Medium	1	At Target	36”	4+
Light	1	At Target	36”	5+
HMG	2 vs. foot 1 vs. vehicles	At Target	24”	6+
Artillery	(per model)
Heavy	1 Large Template	Scatter + 1 die	Anywhere	3+
Medium	1 Large Template	Scatter + 1 die	Anywhere	4+
Light	1 Large Template	Scatter + 1 die	Anywhere	5+
Aircraft	(per model)
Bomb	1 Large Template	Scatter + 1 die	12”	4+
Strafe	1 Flame Template	At Targets covered	Flame Template	5+
Target	1 (hits Rear/Top)	At Target	12”	4+

Aircraft are not on table in turn 1 and must be diced for at 5+ from turn 2, with - 1 at every subsequent turn

Once on table they stay on for 3 turns or unless shot down.

3. Infantry Shooting

Only Support and Heavy Weapons can shoot at armour, Infantry Squad Weapons cannot

Type Squads	Shots/Turn	Type	Range	To Hit Factor
Infantry Squads
Rifle Squad	1	At Target	24”	6+
Assault Squad	2	At Target	12”	6+
Light MG	2 vs. foot 1 vs. vehicles	At Target	24”	6+
Support Squads
Medium MG	3 vs. foot 1 vs. unarmoured vehicles only	At Target	24”	6+
Sniper	1	At Target	24”	5+
Bazooka etc	1	At Target	6”	4+
Flame Thrower	1 Flame Template	At Targets covered	Flame Template	5+
Anti Tank rifle	1	At Target	12”	6+
Heavy Weapons	(per base)
Heavy MG	2 vs. Foot 1 vs. vehicles	At Target	24”	6+
Light Mortar	1 Small Plate	Scatter + 1 die	24”	6+

4. Adjustments to shooting factors

Shooting Factors
Indirect / Anti Aircraft Shooting	Shooting at a point for 2nd time in a row -1 on To Hit Factor		1st time Off Table Artillery shoots +1 die to scatter
If Armoured, where will target be hit?	Rear or Top Armour - 1	Side Armour + 0	Frontal Armour +1
Type of armoured vehicle shot at	No Armour - 2	Light Armour -1	Heavy Armour +1
Target’s Range adjustment	Infantry vs. armour or truck < 3” away - 1	Short < 12” -1	Long > 24” +1
Shooter/ Target Moved?	Neither -1	One of them +0	Both + 1
Target is in Cover for more than ½ move?	In open > ½ move – 1	Soft Cover/ Lie Down / Hull Down + 1	In Hard Cover + 1
Shooting at Aircraft			Non AA unit shooting +1

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HOW TO PLAY FIELDS OF WAR

These are rules for a fast game, and to be played for fun! Armies can be built according to what cool model you want to build next rather than any structure as such so long as the agreed number of points is not exceeded (a basic organization structure is given below to prevent overloading ), though they can be used with proper organization structures if required. Knock-outs are fast and furious and represent more a loss of unit effectiveness for the period of the game rather than total destruction per se, but lots of cotton wool is de rigueur.

1. Scales, Basing, Organisation and Starting

Scales

The game is more designed to be played on a dining room table with Plastic kit scale (HO:OO or 1/72^nd) where most tank guns start at about 36” effective range, so ground scale is about 1 foot : 500 yards (give or take). For figure scale we play 1 infantry base of 2 men is about a 4-5 man section, though we also use higher scales quite happily (e.g. 1 base = 1 platoon)

Basing

Troop Basing convention is divided into (i) Infantry Squad bases and (ii) Heavy Weapons bases (because Heavy Weapons typically come on plastic bases in model soldier boxes):

• Infantry bases are 1” x 1”, we put 2 infantrymen on each base.
• Support weapons and Platoon HQ are 1” x 1” ( Bazooka, Light Machine Guns, Flame Thrower, Snipers, Anti Tank rifles) have 1 man per base. If the figures are lying down the base can be 1” x 2” deep.
• Heavy Weapons Bases are 2” X 2” to fit the plastic base that is often given. Heavy Weapons bases are for Mortars, Heavy Machine Guns and Anti Tank Guns and any on table guns. For simplicity we assume any indirect fire artillery bigger than Light Artillery is Off Table
• The Main HQ is on a 2” x 2” base and has the air liaison, artillery co-ordination etc
• Aircraft are based on stands so they are a few inches above the table.
• Vehicles can be based or not.

A Basic Organisation Structure (used if no “proper” structure is being used)

For fast games we use a generic army structure based on a “rough average” organization of most World war 2 armies at about 2:1 scale (mainly brought about so that 1 box of plastic figures makes 1 complete Platoon). In more formal games one can organise the armies to their historical structures, or use scenarios - the rules work quite well at various scales. This “Rough Average” Structure works for c 500 - 1000 points games which we play on our table:

• To start, every force must have a Main HQ for 20 points

• You can then attach up to 3 Heavy Weapons bases in total. Only the Main HQ has Indirect (Off table) artillery and air calling capability so keep it safe!.

• A second Main HQ is required for every additional 500 pts, one needs to be designated C in C

• There must be at least 1 infantry platoon fielded per 500 pts. This is organised into a recognisable Platoon HQ base (a commander + radio is preferred), 3 Infantry Squads, and a Support Squad. Each Squad is made up of 2 Rifle or Assault squad bases and 1 Light Machine Gun base. Trucks / halftracks may be added if required for transport.

• Each Platoon’s Support Squad can have up to 3 teams of any of the following : Bazooka, Light Machine Gun, Flame Thrower, Sniper or Anti Tank Rifle. Trucks / halftracks may be added if required for Transport

• The Platoon HQ base can attach a single Support Weapon base as well, plus Transport.

• For every Platoon used, one Tank/ Tank Destroyer company of 3 models or one Recce Company of up to 4 models (incl Jeeps) is allowed

• One Aircraft, or one Tank/Tank Destroyer Co or one Recce Co is also allowed per every Main HQ

Starting the Game

Decide on who is attacker or defender, or dice to decide. Play can be on a wide or long table setup. Defenders can set up in 25% of table depth closest to their table edge (e.g. 18 inches in on a 6 foot table, 12” on a 4 foot). Attacker also goes first and enters table on opposite edge. We don’t have night rules yet so the game is always in the day.

2. Tanks and Armoured Vehicles Points

Choose characteristic from each column. All armoured vehicles get a free light machine gun.

Speed	Transportability	Armour Weight	AT / AA Gun
Fast (18”) 15 points	Large (takes 6 bases) + 15	Heavy + 30	Heavy + 30
Medium (15”) 10 points	Medium (takes 3 bases) + 10	Medium + 20	Medium + 20
Slow (12”) 5 points	Small (1 base) e.g. Jeep, Tank riders + 5	Light + 10	Light Gun or HMG + 10

- Unarmoured vehicles pay only for the Transportability capability and are all Fast

- Trucks, Jeeps etc can buy an LMG or HMG at +5 or + 10 points respectively

3. Infantry Squads & Support Weapons Points

	Flame Thrower Team*	AT Rifle/ Bazooka Team*	Light/ Med Machine Gun Team	Sniper Team*	Light Mortars	2 Rifle Sections	2 Assault Sections
Range	Flamer Template	12” / 6”	24”	24”	24”	24”	12”
No of Shots/ Turn per Base	1 Shot (Counts as Medium Artillery)	1 Shot ( Counts as medium AT Gun)	2 / 3 Shots vs. Infantry 1 Shot vs. Vehicle 6 +	1 Shot To Kill 6+	1 Shot To Kill = 5+	1 Shot To Kill = 6+	2 Shots To Kill = 6+
Points	10 points	10 points*	10 / 15 points	10 points	5 points	5 points	5 points

Infantry Squad Weapons except those marked* may not shoot at armoured vehicles.

* If you want to make a Panzerfaust a fire once per game weapon it is only 5 points, not 10

4. Off Table Artillery and Aircraft

	Light + med mortars	Medium + hvy mortars	Heavy + rockets	Aircraft
Points	+ 10	+ 20	+ 30	+ 50

• Off Table Artillery must dice a 2+ to fire each bound
• Medium Mortars (c 3”) are Light Artillery, Heavy Mortars (c 4”+) are Medium Artillery
• Rockets are Heavy Artillery
• Aircraft are not on table in turn 1 and must be diced for at 5+ from turn 2, with - 1 at every subsequent turn

Once on table they stay on for 3 turns unless shot down.

5. Visibility and Shooting

Range

	Short	Medium	Long
Direct Range	Short < 12”	Medium < 24”	Long > 24”

Visibility

All targets are visible at Short Range, infantry in cover are not visible at Medium Range, Armour in cover is not visible at Long Range. A target seen by one unit is assumed to be seen by all. When a target shoots or moves it becomes visible. Troops more than 3” in cover cannot see out, or be seen. Troops hiding on the other side of cover but not in it e.g. hedges cannot be seen nor see out. Enemy must be visible to shoot at it.

Direct Fire

• Take the To Hit Factor from the relevant chart in Table 2, adjust on Table 3.
• Field Guns shooting directly at vehicles count as the next lowest level of Anti Tank Gun
• If using flamer template for Flame Thrower all troops covered can be targets, partially covered troops throw 4+ to be targets

Indirect Fire

• Use relevant blast template (large for artillery and bombs, small for light mortars)
• Designate centre of blast, use scatter dice to see where shot lands
• All troops covered can be targets, partially covered troops throw 4+ to be targets
• For armour, the centre of the blast template determines whether the hit is in top, side etc
• Take the To Hit Factor from the relevant chart in Table 2, adjust on Table 3.

Direct High Explosive Fire from Tanks, Field Guns

• Use small blast template
• Take the To Hit Factor from the relevant chart in Table 2, adjust on Table 3 ignoring armour adjustments.
• If you hit, designate centre of blast
• All troops covered can be targets, partially covered troops throw 4+ to be targets
• Dice for targets with factor of weapon adjusted for factors

Casualty Removal

• If a D6 throw is equal to or higher than the final the dice minimum the model or base is removed
• Where infantry squads are shot at you cannot target the Support Weapons specifically if they are within in 2” of 2 infantry squads

6. Some Definitions of Vehicles, Guns etc

Definitions are pretty broad to give us a relative feel, but are roughly as follows.

Transport

Jeeps, Tanks etc can carry 1 base. Large 6 wheeled lorries carry up to 8 bases i.e. 2 squads+). Anything in between, e.g. halftracks, carry 4 (i.e. 1 squad or 1 Heavy Weapon + a Support base)

Speed

“Fast” is all wheels and Halftracks, plus any tanks that could easily do 30 mph on road. Slow tanks do less than 20 mph on road. We count all German heavy tanks except the Panther based ones as slow as well. Transports get speed for free but must pay for MG.

Armour:

Light is up to about 25 tons, Heavy is over about 40 tons. The lighter early war tankettes, halftracks etc and very heavy later tanks are bundled into the “light” and “heavy” armour brackets respectively. Any open topped tank (e.g. M10) is always Light no matter what weight.

Anti Tank Guns/Heavy Machine Guns

Heavy Machine Guns are from c 10mm to 20mm calibre. All Anti Tank Guns from the 6 pdr/57mm to 80mm are medium, except the long barrel German 75mm gun on the Panther, and the British 17 pounder. Anything smaller is Light, anything larger is Heavy. All Armoured Vehicles get a free Light MG. This may seem dreadfully unfair to the Russian 85mm, US 76mm, Panzer IV 75mm etc but the simple test was “can this gun KO a Tiger frontally at medium range or did they have to go around it?” Likewise guns on the cusp of medium guns like the Panzer III 50mm and Japanese 47mm cannot KO a Tiger frontally outside of short range

Anti-Tank guns used to fire high explosive use a small blast template, not a large one.

Artillery

Artillery from about 70mm to 105mm counts as medium. Smaller than this is Light, larger is Heavy. Rockets count as Heavy. Indirect Fire Artillery is typically played off-table and is assumed to have the range of the table. Mortars count as one grade down so an 81mm mortar is a light artillery piece (2”/50mm Light Mortars are Infantry Support weapons).

Artillery used against armour, or non AT guns in tanks count as 1 grade lower, so a Heavy artillery piece counts as a Medium anti tank gun.

Anti Tank guns firing HE count as that level of gun but use the small blast template

Aircraft

We only have 1 type of aircraft in these rules, a fighter bomber with some form of heavy gun/rockets, some bombs and some strafing MGs.

7. Typical Points Values

Type	Speed	Transport	Armour	Gun	Points
Infantry
Platoon					90
Hvy Weapons e.g.				HMG, 2 x Med AT	50
Transports
Jeep	Fast	Small	None		5
Armoured Halftrack	Fast	Medium	Light	LMG	20
Medium Truck	Fast	Medium	None		10
Big Truck	Fast	Large	None		15
Britain
Sherman Firefly	Medium	None	Medium	Heavy	60
Sherman	Medium	None	Medium	Medium	50
Matilda	Slow	None	Medium	Light	35
Churchill	Slow	None	Heavy	Medium	55
Cromwell	Fast	None	Medium	Medium	55
Stuart/ Honey	Medium	None	Light	Light	30
Armoured Cars	Fast	None	Light	Light	35
Germany
Tiger	Slow	None	Heavy	Heavy	65
Panther	Medium/Fast	None	Heavy	Heavy	70/75
Panzer III F	Medium	None	Light	Light	30
Panzer IV H	Medium	None	Medium	Medium	50
Armoured Car w/ 75mm gun	Fast	None	Light	Medium	45
Italy
Tankettes	Medium	None	Light	Light	30
Japan
Chi-Ha	Medium	None	Light	Light	30
Russia
JS 11	Medium	Small	Heavy	Heavy	70
T 34/76	Fast	Small	Medium	Medium	55
T 34/85	Fast	Small	Medium	Medium	65
USA
M4 Sherman	Medium	None	Medium	Medium	50
M2 and 5 Stuart	Medium	None	Light	Light	30
M18 Hellcat	Fast	None	Light	Medium	45
M36 Jackson	Medium	None	Light	Heavy	50
M6 Greyhound	Fast	None	Light	Light	35
M3 4 barrel AA	Fast	None	Light	4 x HMG	40
All Aircraft	Fast 48”	None	Light	Various	75

1. Some Further Definitions of Early and Late War Vehicles (under test)

By 1945 the Germans were using very heavy tanks and guns, so we introduced these Extra Heavy rules when we bought a JagdTiger.

Similarly, pre war and in 1939 / 40 the lack of differentiation between a tankette, halftrack etc and a light tank makes these rules a bit

	Weight	Armour Factor	Gun Change	Points
Extra Heavy Tank	c 65 tons +	+ 2	Extra Heavy guns (105mm+) hit on 2+	Armour 40 Gun 40
Halftrack, Very Light Tankette/ Armoured Car etc	C 5 – 10 tons	- Count as Unarmoured vs. Guns, not HMG	None	Armour 5 HMG 5

2. Troop Skill Levels (under Test)

To reflect the differences in training, the following amendments can be made

Training Level	Factor	Examples	Points
New / Poorly trained	+1 To Hit	Most Russian troops, some early war US units	50% of Regulars
Regulars		The vast bulk of troops	As in main rules
Veteran/ Elite	-1 To Hit	Many German troops until 1944 British Guards, US veteran units	150% of Regulars