Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Close Quarters Battle


+Erik McGrath

Last time mentioned my three exceptions to the 'all fire is suppressive' rule: Snipers, ambushes and assaults. Today I want to talk about the latter.

Close Assault

Boots on the Ground takes place in a 1"=4yds ground scale using 1/72 scale infantry and vehicles. This is a 1:2 distance to model size scale chosen to make the typical game a 200x300yd area. At this scale the majority of the game is spent exchanging fire and the attacking side maneuvering to seize their objectives. Since the maximum speed of dismounted infantry is 12"/turn and they rarely get to move that fast its usually 4 turns before they are in position for the final assault. 

I say the final assault because its very rare that there is a close assault conducted before the climax of the game due to the fact that they are so decisive that its not normally possible for the loser to recover in time. When there is more than one its because there are several being launched at once to take multiple locations or its a desperate last stand by an isolated unit to hold the attacking force back. In one case it was a failed attack that didn't completely break the attacker and reinforcements joined the next turn to end things. 

So even though its a small part of the time spent at the table it gets its own phase in the turn sequence. The majority of the game doesn't use it but I find its helpful to have it there on the summary sheet so that its kept in mind.

The way I've been looking at it an assault comes in several stages. First there's the set-up where the attacker gets into position, then comes the pre-assault softening up where the attacker tries to pin the target. Once the enemy is suppressed below the risk threshold of the attacker they make the charge then conduct the action. 

Set-Up

This part starts from turn 1 as the attacker moves across the board toward the objective. In any scenario where there are defenders dug in on or covering an objective its likely that they will need to be fought in close combat to dislodge them. BotG is set after the artillery falls silent with only mortars and the occasional howitzer or aircraft intruding on the duel of men and tank. Because of the short, tactical nature of the game the enemy won't be destroyed by stand-off firepower. 

Sure, AFVs and infantry guns cause damage and casualties but rarely enough to force the enemy to abandon an important position. In any game where this has been the case its due to massed firepower against one of several objectives so even then there are other points that need to be fought for tooth and nail.

Moving your infantry is a trade off between speed and safety. The faster they go, the more vulnerable they are. This is true if they are hoofing it or hitching a ride, especially if they are in lightly armored or soft transport.

On foot infantry can move 4" on their turn and 2" on the opponent's turn in relative safety by using tactical movement. They can up this to 8"/2" (its always no more than 2" for reactive movement) by rushing. If they have some hard cover this is also pretty safe. Going all out is 12"/2" and unless they are hidden from view is a pretty hairy option since it abandons the use of incidental and low cover entirely.

In a transport they can easily cover 12"+ each turn but since vehicles are large targets and packing them full of infantry makes them very tempting targets you can be assured anything with range will be shooting at them. An emplaced MG has been the doom of many unprotected riders whether its jeeps, M3s or on the back of a tank.

Soften the Target

In a way this part is pretty simple. You pick a target and then you pummel it with as much firepower as you can. On turn 1 you might not have everything in place to prep the target so this step can blend with the set-up step as you both move your assault force into position and move your fire support into place as well.

Naturally while you are doing this your opponent will do their utmost to prevent you from doing so. By using firepower defensively to deny certain lanes of attack and suppress key support or maneuver units the enemy can at least force you to divert your firepower toward the goal of silencing their support.

Due to the ground scale in BotG only the shortest range small arms ever have to worry about being out of range. At 300yards in scale a rifle can easily reach out and touch the enemy provided they can be seen. For support weapons this is point blank range with the only real defense being visibility impairments and luck. Even a 37mm AT gun can kill most things at this range.


Clear the Objective

The culmination of all your hard work is when you finally launch the assault itself. Or at least, when you attempt it. Rushing into close combat isn't something most soldiers want to do, especially those with limited training or personal initiative. So in order to do so there needs to be a leader present.

The leader then makes a command test and if passed everyone withing their command radius gets up and goes. If you have multiple leaders and the chosen one fails you may keep trying until you run out of leaders to issue the order but leaders who fail stay behind. Don;t worry though, if the set-up has gone well you should have plenty of bonuses to the roll.

Assuming a leader passes the test everyone else gets to make a morale test to charge in. This is a standard morale test so you get a disruption counter if you fail but you also determine how far the model moves as well. A success allows the model to charge up to 4" and then fight in the firefight and hand to hand subphases. A failure allows the model to follow up to 2" and fight in the firefight subphase only. Even if an enemy counter-charges into base contact on those who passed the morale test can fight in that phase.

On a crit the model charges the full 4" and rallies one friendly as usual (remove a disruption counter from any model with an equal or lower Morale rating) and a fumble means not only does the model gain 2 disruption counters but they don't follow along and don't fight in either subphase. If this takes them over their broken threshold they make a casualty test as normal. 

After the attacking force finishes moving the defending force follows a similar process. First the leader tries to rally the men. If this succeeds then the men check morale to see if they counter-charge, hold fast or flee. On a success they may counter charge up to 2" and fight in both the firefight and hand to hand subphases, on a fail they stay put and participate only in firefight subphase. On a crit you may use the rally effect to shift one friendly's result one row upward (fail to success, fumble to fail). 

On a fumble the model makes a flee move away from the assault and fights in neither phase. They make a casualty test as normal and if they pass they can still become a casualty as a result of the assault but they do not fight in either phase. Keep in mind that this action inflicts 3 disruption counters (1 for failing, 1 for fumbling and a 3rd for the flee move) and defenders in an assault often already have disruption counters so chances are this will be an automatic removal.