Sunday, September 23, 2007
Disposable Heroes Review, Battle Report and Photos
Miniatures Games
This past weekend, I played my first game of Disposable Heroes, Iron Ivan Games’ rules for World War II skirmish. You can see some photos here.
I’ve been looking for some years for a rules set that strikes the right balance between “realism” and playability; in Disposable Heroes, I think I’ve found it.
Disposable Heroes’ rules are simple and a great deal is abstracted, but actual play is quite complex. Each turn involves involved a great deal of thinking about the proper order in which to activate squads, and how best to use them.
The game is played by alternating the activation of squads. As each squad is activated, the player may move, fire and conduct Close Combat.
Movement is conducted by moving a single figure to a new location and then arranging the others in the unit within command range. There are no terrain modifiers for movement of foot troops. In keeping with the streamlined nature of the rules, if one figure in a unit can make it into a terrain feature, they all can.
Firing is conducted on a unit to unit basis and is resolved with two die rolls: one for accuracy and one to kill. A weapon’s rate of fire determines how many dice are rolled.
Snap fire can be conducted if an enemy unit maneuvers within 12 inches. Modifiers to the rate of fire and accuracy roll reflect the
Units that receive fire must make a Morale Check. A first failure results in a pin; a second requires the unit to fall back; a third forces a rout. Pinned units cannot fire or maneuver until they rally.
Entering Close Combat requires a morale check by the attacker. An initiative check determines which side fights first. Units that are pinned automatically fight last.
Disposable Heroes “feels” right for World War II skirmish. Machine guns, for example, can be used to pin opposing units, allowing friendly ones to advance or charge. Units caught in the open are dead. Troops in cover are hard to dig out. Leaders can play a key role. Weapon ranges and killing power also seem about right.
The only thing in the rules that we were unsure of involved a certain morale modifier. When a unit takes fire, it receives a -1 modifier for each casualty. We were not sure if that meant casualty taken during that turn, or cumulative casualties. We decided that it had to mean cumulative, because otherwise you are left with the ridiculous situation having a two man squad (all eight other having been killed) that’s really no worse off in morale terms than it was when at full strength.
Our scenario involved two squads of Germans and three squads of Russians, in a meeting engagement at a small town and crossroads. The town consisted of five buildings in the center of a five foot square table. The rest of the board consisted of patches of light woods. A road ran across the middle; walls lined much of both sides of the road.
The Germans won the initiative on the first turn (as indeed they would on all future turns) and moved their first squad into cover in a stand of trees. The Russians advanced toward a roadside wall, and the second squad of Germans moved toward a house. The second unit of Russians decided to advance down an alley into the town; the final squad – a submachinegun unit – moved to try to flank the Germans from the left.
On the second turn, the Germans got into a house with a view, and opened up with the MP-40s on the Russians in the alley; the Russians, caught in the open, were slaughtered. They broke, and retreated into a house. The Russian submachinegun squad maneuvered again, but was not paying attention to the angles. The Germans in the trees were able to get a line of sight to half their squad and opened fire. Again, the Russians took heavy casualties and retreated to a house. The final Russian squad, seeing the handwriting on the wall, rushed to a nearby house.
The next few turns consisted of squads in houses firing away at squads in houses across the road. As the houses afforded bonuses for both shooting and morale, neither side looked as though it was going anywhere. Finally, however, the Germans got a break. The Russian submachinegun squad took two casualties and were pinned. That meant that in Close Combat, an attacker would automatically get the first strike. On the next activation, the second German squad rushed the house and killed the Russians, taking no casualties in return.
From their new position, the Germans concentrated their fire on the weakened rifle squad, finally killing all of them. Then, they turned on the healthy Russian squad.
That battle lasted for some time, with the Russians killing most of a German squad before finally failing two consecutive morale attempts and fleeing the house for new cover. That left the village to the Germans. The Russians had no realistic chance of retaking the houses, so it was declared a German victory.
At the end of the game, we discussed the rules, and how they played against our expectations of World War II squad level combat. We agreed that it went very well, and decided to play again soon.
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