Game Rules

Rules for Kriegspiel 1944 Campaign – "Breakout from Normandy"

1.0 Scale

1.1 Time and Turns

The campaign will be conducted in a series of turns, each of which represent 1 day.
Turn one will be the 1st August 1944. Turn two will be the 2nd of August. Turn three will be the 3rd August and so on.

During each turn the two teams of generals may confer over strategy via emails to the umpire and then each player will submit his troops movement orders to the umpire via email.

Orders will be executed in the sequence they are received.

1.3 Troop Scale

The armies in use will be the historical forces in the field as at 1st August 1944 as far as research allows them to be presented. As weeks and months pass, reinforcements will become available to both sides. Artillery is considered to be ingrained within a brigade.

On the map the basic manoeuvre unit will be the army corps.

The smallest element that a player may issue independent orders to on the map is a brigade.

1.4 Command Scale

Each player will be a senior general most often in command of a corps, army or army group. This will be played somewhat like a committee game with all players of one side able to confer and plan moves for each turn. Given the density of fairly good communication routes, good knowledge of the region concerned, the half 1 day turn and proximity of opposing forces, military information will travel speedily and fairly reliably, giving each team the opportunity to discuss moves before committing their troops to a march. Please send all messages to me and I will send them where they need to go. Also, please send orders to me via email.


Airfields are indicated by a symbol that looks like a compass rose.

The map, although it gives some artistic indication of terrain and topography, is a hex map, with all map movement being through hexes.
2.1 Roads, Traffic Capacity, Movement Rates

Roads are divided into two categories; Good and Poor. Good roads are shown on the map as a pair of solid lines. They are paved and permit ten divisions  to pass along them in a half-week period. Poor roads are shown on the map as a pair of closer together, partially broken lines. They are unsurfaced and permit only five divisions to pass along them in a half-week period.

Infantry Divisions moving along a Good road may move 5 hexes. Infantry Divisions moving along a Poor road may move three. Mechanized Infantry can move 7 hexes on a good road, but 5 on a poor road. Armored may move 8 hexes on a good road, but 6 hexes on a poor road.

2.1.2 Forced Marches and Fatigue

Troops may be ordered to force march on the map which will advance them an additional node. They will however then become fatigued. Fatigue prevents forced marches and lowers all unit experience ratings by 1. It impacts troops if they fight a battle during the turn they force march. Fatigue is lifted by remaining halted one turn or marching a normal turns march.

2.2 Rivers

Where roads cross rivers there are assumed to be suitable crossing places of a quality consummate with the road type. Crossing a river will reduce the number of nodes that a body of troops may move by one. Thus a poor road that crosses a river will require a full turn for a body of infantry to march from the node on one side into the node on the far side. Armor is affected the same way.

See Pontoon Trains (5.2).

2.3 Settlements

The map distinguishes three classes of settlement: Towns (small circle), City (large circle) and Fortress (Circle with defensive angles). In addition some settlements are ports, indicated by an anchor symbol.

2.4 Terrain

The nodal nature of the map results in no terrain or march speed effects on campaign movement (unless moving cross country) beyond those governed by roads, rivers and fatigue (see 2.1, 2.1.2 and 2.2). Distance between nodes and road quality becomes the defining function of how easy or difficult it is to pass through a region.

On the battlefield consideration will be given to the type of terrain indicated around the settlement where a battle is to be fought and suitable terrain types will be chosen (farmland, forested, hilly, river crossing, etc).

3.0 Strategy and Objectives

This rule section is included to encourage historical play and suppress hindsight play.

3.1 Allies

Eisenhower must consolidate his beachheads and make a breakthrough to drive the enemy from France.

3.2 Germany
The Germans must drive the enemy from their beachheads and prevent the enemy from liberating France and driving into Germany.

4.0 Exhaustion, Truces

4.1 Exhaustion

When a map corps or division (MC or MD) loses a battle it is considered to be exhausted. It may fight but suffers the effects of fatigue (see 2.1.2) for three turns (one and a half weeks).

A MC or MD that loses a further battle when exhausted will withdraw along its LoCS to the nearest fortress and remain there as a garrison for six turns (three weeks).

The commander in chief of each side, if they are present in a node with an exhausted force, may rally (remove the exhausted status from) one MC. This requires a full turn.

4.2 Truces

Truces may  be agreed at any time by free-form mutual consent of the two sides. Such truces may contain any terms either side is able to agree to. Troops may usually move freely during a truce but not closer to any enemy or beyond agreed boundaries and no battles may occur.

5.0 Campaigning

5.1 Radio and Supply
Supply (LoCS) is vital to support troops for the conduct of strategic operations. Any airfield or port garrisoned by an MD contains a depot sufficient to support 2 MC. Any airfield or port garrisoned by an MC contains a depot sufficient to support 4 MC. LoCS may be traced along any good or poor road back to a fortress.

If an enemy force of at least MD strength occupies a node along an LoCS, the force suffering the cut line will suffer as though fatigued (see 2.1.2) until the LoCS is restored.

A cut LoCS will also prevent any replacement troops reaching the isolated MC (see 5.3).

5.2 Pontoon Trains

Each army has one bridging train. Unless otherwise, it moves with the last-listed infantry corps of each army. A bridge of boats may be built across any river in one map turn. The bridge allows movement between the occupied node and any node empty of enemy on the opposite river bank as though there were a road link in place.

Pontoon bridges may remain in place or be taken up and moved. Dismantling a bridge of boats takes a full map turn and breaks any LoCS that crossed it.

A deployed pontoon train or one that is moving to re-join its army must be escorted by a minimum of one MD at all times.

A pontoon train will be captured by the enemy if the force it is with is defeated in battle.

5.3 Armor

Battle Armor and efficient scouting light Armor is in short supply to the Germans. The Allies have numerous Armor Divisions but these are somewhat weaker than the German Armor.

Allied forces may scout one node further than German forces. This represents information given to Allied troops by civilians and denied to the Germans by the same disaffected persons.

5.3.1 Recon Ratings
Infantry alone: +3
Armor alone:+0
Armor and Infantry:+2
(Mechanized infantry is considered to be infantry)

5.4 Replacements

Replacements will flow to both sides down to each respective corp using historical rates as far as I am able to determine them. If an LoCS is cut, no replacements will arrive until it is re-opened. The activation of additional forces will occur broadly in line with historical events, however a variable is included.

5.5 Battles

Generals will be informed via their mechanized scouts of nearby enemies. Based on these reports a decision should be made on whether to advance upon an adjacent enemy-occupied node which will make that force the tactical attacker, or to stand and receive any advance made by the enemy which will make that force the tactical defender. Any force that is advanced upon by an enemy may also elect to withdraw back along its LoCS and give up the node to the enemy.

A force that chooses to stand and defend if attacked gives up the initiative and may not move except to withdraw down its LoCS that map turn.

5.5.1 Marching to the Sound of the Guns

A force within one node of a battle may march to the sound of the guns if the player in charge of that force wishes to do so.

5.5.2 Reserves, Rearguards and Pursuit Forces
Commanders may wish to leave reserves before a battle. These additional  troops will remain in reserve and will be used to cover a retreat or conduct a pursuit. If such reserves are present on both sides the effects of the rearguard/pursuit actions are neutralised. However if one side has reserves and the other does not, additional losses will be inflicted during a pursuit, or some losses will be recovered by a rearguard action.

5.5.3 Eisenhower's Presence on the Field of Battle

If Eisenhower is present in person and assumes command, all units of the Allied force have their experience rating raised by 1

6.0.0 Airfields
Airfields may be used to launch a fighter sweep, which tells the player what forces are present on a selected node. They can also launch a bomber attack on a city. Airfields may also launch Airborne Assaults. All aircraft may move 8 hexes.

6.1 Airborne Assaults
An airfield may launch an airborne assault if the following condition is met. First, the force being dropped must be present for 2 turns  at the airfield of launch. If the airborne force runs out of supplies they may be resupplied by Transport Aircraft.
Note: airborne forces carry a limited amount of supplies. They can stay supplied for 5 turns.

6.2 Weather
Weather can halt all airborne actions scheduled for that turn.

You may want to make some further changes in your re-skinning.
1/. Time should be compressed, given motor cars, telephone and radio, the speed of communication and travel would be much, much faster.
By compressing time you wouldn't need to expand the travel speeds substantially. Consider how far you could travel in a europe with proper roads, signage, and motor vehicles in a day, let alone 3.
A turn maybe should be a half day? You could have enemy contacts to the defining feature that slows advances.

2/. You should probably allow travel off road. The maps were originally used with a computer program, so there needed to be limited connections for database purposes as well as computer path finding routines.
Drastically reduce it's speed overland would decrease the use, but allow for proper battle lines to form up.
Supply should probably only follow roads however.

3/. Artillery support (including naval guns) operate under a range umbrella. A node based map may be problematic for this. It's possible to throw a hex map under these maps. You have the advantages of hexes (a popular feature in many ww2 games) with a simplified map of locations and roads. Could be a win-win. Murdock did this with a naps game http://campaignofnations.blogspot.ca/p/campaign-map-of-central.html

4/. Your movement differential between infantry and armour looks a bit suspect to me. With horse and musket you find that cavalry doesn't really travel *that* much faster than infantry, certainly not over a long range. With automobiles that changes....a lot. You probably want an infantry, armoured and mechanized infantry class. The latter would move very fast, but be very sensitive to loss of supply.

5/. You probably need to consider a recon rating. Ambushes were the big advantage of the defenders. Armoured columns alone should be terrible at recon. Infantry alone much better. Increased speed degrades it. Recon specific assets should improve it. WW2 is a far different beast that lining up thousands of men into triple lines and closing to 100 yards to fire.

I'm working on a hex map. I'll roll it out in a few turns.

There's quite a nice hex map here:

http://www.insidegmt.com/?p=1550

Also,
If you need any help putting hexes onto an existing map, then I can do this for you (like I did for our Peninsular campaign map).

Mike

That's a really nice map. Good find Mike.

Hi Mike that would be really good. Here is the map. If you could number it like you did for the Peninsular Campaign, that would be really helpful.

Thanks, Bob

Try this, Bob
Download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7m2b91ij9vkslif/Western%20France%20Hexed_jpg.jpg?dl=0

Preview:

And Grog waves his magic wand!!

Looked at merging the others together to make a big one.

Western and central France maps go together pretty well. Would just need to edit some of the map graphics. Adding on the Northern France and Low countries would prove more tricky but could possibly be done.

Unedited examples:

Download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/08igvyj8h6f5ll1/Big%20Merged%20Map%20France_CUT_1.jpg?dl=0

Preview:



Download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f4fwaogp7brhpjs/Big%20Merged%20Map%20France.jpg?dl=0

Preview:



The last one might be a 'Bridge too Far'

The hex overlay is really nice. I was completely unaware that it was you who did that for the Peninsular map. Thank you very much for that! At the moment I am finding the nodal method okay for the 1813 campaign but Malcolm's maps do lend themselves nicely to a hex-based real area map. Something maybe for a future project.

Yes very nicely done, Grog.

Just one thought though. It will always be a struggle to get the hex overlay to fit all of the rivers and hills. From the point of view of clarity (but not accuracy), there's something to be said for using a hex map from a board wargame, where the necessary terrain adjustments have already been made.

Martin (J)

Hey Mike, the hex numbers are kind of hard to see. Is there any way you can make the numbers more clear?

I'll see what I can do. Probably tomorrow, otherwise later in the week.

With the program that I use, I can alter various parameters on the various aspects of the hexes. This involves making the layers more or less transparent. I think this can be done with the numbers too.

I could also change the definition of the map (increase the pixels) or alternatively reduce the number of hex rows and columns.

I can upload the program (which has a free licence) and write some instructions, if you or anyone else is interested. Its just an extension for inkscape (which is free too).

- Martin C
No problem, its a pleasure. Let me know if you need any more doing.

-Martin J
You are right. There are limitations in this sense. They are more of an aid, I suppose and are most useful when there is an umpire.

Mike

Thanks so much.

Hi Bob

I've done another version. A bit more clear. If you want it clearer then I can do another (a LARGE PRINT version )

PNG:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ktmebtrq78sxvz/bwNWfrance_Bob2_png.png?dl=0

JPEG:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ye2js45ro1ky6vg/bwNWfrance_Bob2_jpg.jpg?dl=0

I liked the way most of the main Normandy towns/cities seem to sit quite closely in this one.

Increasing the map size or hex size will make the coordinates as clear as you want them, so just let me know. It doesn't take me long.

Mike

Thank you. This should be fine.