Very Simple WWII Rules

Tradgardmastare expressed a passing interest in my WWII rules. I said I'd post them on here. I can't see how to add a document so I've shared them as a post. These are not quite back of a postcard but do fit on to one side of A4 paper (in Helvetica Neue, 10 so genuinely readable). They mainly fit such a small space because they are SIMPLE and probably have gaps that will leap out at you a mile off, but don't jump out at me. The idea was that they were specifically written for small scale actions in the Finno-Soviet conflicts of WWII, hence the title (Metsäsota '44: Forest War '44). But there's no reason why they won't be equally bad for anywhere else.

I wanted to get a game on the table quickly without having to acquire and read through several different WWII rulebooks to decide what I want to do. The second reason for the simplicity was because at the time of the first draft the hope was that I would get my small girls interested on the flimsy basis that their great grandfather fought in each of Finland's three wars from 1939-44. The toys sat in a box for years and I don't have a cat in hells chance of getting the girls interested now. They're also simple because I frankly do not know much about this period.  I finally got a game in last year after painting some more troops.

I play them with 10mm figures mounted on 3cm square bases. Usually there are 3 figures on a base except for heavy weapons which usually just have two men on them. A dozen bases a side works well. I could adjust the firing slightly if a section were all armed with SMGs, e.g. tank riders, (shorter range, but more dice) but otherwise they're considered built into a rifle section. Hitherto I haven't tried them with any AFVs so that section could well be written - in any case it is extremely simplistic!

Metsäsota ‘44

A base represents:

1 infantry section (rifle/SMG/mortar or MG); 1 artillery piece; 1 armoured fighting vehicle; 1 leader (HQ section - can be in vehicle or on foot).

Movement (in cm per turn):

If not under fire 20; fire & move: 10; under fire but not pinned 10; Pinned 0.

Woods, buildings, rocky ground half move. Swampy ground 1/4 move

Vehicles can only move through woods/swamp/cross river on road

Firing (ranges in cm; line of site, ‘LOS’, unless stated otherwise):

Roll 1 dice/base except L/HMG which can roll 2 dice but ceases fire next go or can keep 1 dice per turn. Consult table below for effect.

Cannot fire if pinned.

Woods, buildings, hills, vehicles block LOS and troops hidden unless they fire. Firing at these - 2 from dice. Prepared defences -3.

Artillery and aircraft: estimate co-ordinates (centimetres Eastings and Northings) and dice for fire effect on each base within 5cm of the spot for artillery and a strip 20 long x5cm wide for aircraft.

Bases will fire at nearest visible enemy base in range unless prevented from doing so by leader.

Bases already pinned are automatically wiped out if fired on by infantry within 5cm, otherwise deduct 2 from firer’s dice throw. 

Bases panicking are automatically wiped out if fired on by infantry within 10cm, otherwise add 1 to firer’s dice throw.

Firer type	Direct Fire	HMG	Indirect Fire*	Target Infantry/Artillery crew	Target vehicle (+2 to dice if target is not armoured)
Infantry	40	50	N/A	1, 2 No effect, 3,4 pinned, pinned, 5 panic, 6 wiped out. Close Assault <5cm 4,5,6 wiped out	1-4 no effect; 5 pinned; 6 immobilised (Armour must be within 10 of firer).
Artillery/mortar/tanks	80 main arm.	50	Unlimited		1D6 for effect: 1, 2 No effect, 3 pinned (half tank’s fire effect dice), 4 pinned, 5 damaged (immobile), 6 blown up
Aircraft*	Unlimited			1,2,3 No effect; 4,5 pinned, 6 wiped out.

* providing the leader has troops in LOS of target and within 20cm of leader

Command and control:

1 leader base per side/player

Leader has N** Leader Points (‘LP’) to allocate. Leader under fire but not pinned: -1 point. Leader pinned - 2 points.

Can save points from turn to turn.

	What you can do with Leader Points
1 leader point	Move 2 bases; get base to fire at nominated target; stop firing at target; retire from pinned location (can move normally again next turn)
2 leader points	Advance or shoot with pinned unit;
3 leader points	call off board artillery or for on board indirect artillery/armour fire
4 leader points	call air strike (Soviets only) - same procedure as off board artillery
Soviets with Commissar <20 cm	To advance from pinned roll 1-5 on D6. 6 = base wiped out.

** vague because different scenarios would suit different allocations. Usually I roll a dice each turn to determine how many Leader Points a side has. The type of die can be adjusted to suit different scenarios.