Welcome to Platoon Forward!

Welcome to the site where the story of the battle is as important as the battle itself. Here we will focus on men thrust into extraordinary situations of life and death. They must lead other men with duty and honor to meet their countries objectives. Some will be blessed with great skill, some will carry great shortcomings. No matter what nation, no matter what war, no matter what theater, they are all called to move their Platoon or Squadron forward!

These are their individual stories as played out using my various campaign rules . Hopefully these stories will entertain and inspire you to use your own troops, airmen and sailors to accomplish your own great heroics.

Monday, September 24, 2018

More Cold War Tanker Playtests

Continue to playtest Cold War Tanker.   Good thing about the system is it is easy to play 2 games an hour so easy to get several battles in a week.  Happy with the basic armor values and the anti tank missiles.  Still working on the infantry rules and how the infantry interact with their carriers.  I want infantry to play a part in relation to armor combat but not devolve into an infantry vrs infantry game.  [ First game slowed to a crawl because of that.]   Also working on the "platoon structure" of warsaw pact units.  Would like the Soviets to feel different than NATO but not change the way the basic game plays.   A tall order I know but 80% there.
  Am failing with helicopters though. Without dedicated AA the defender is naked and with AA units it has become helo vrs AA which is an interesting subgame until it is over.  If helo wins see above.  If AA wins then helo was expensive waste. Any thoughts on helicopters welcome!
 On to pictures

That is what I call hull down!  


Yep rules and stats for recon vehicles.  Here my Luchs takes out a BRDM.

Marder looking for a hull down BMP.   Need to make sure the IFVs are there to support the infantry.

German infantry moving into a house.  A Leopard guards the flank. 

Russian infantry trying to get into the house.  This was the game that slowed down too much.  Also the game I realized I needed to pimp my BMPs! 

Russians retreat into the vinyard after losing their IFV. 

Also working on scenarios.  This is a "move off the board" scenario.  US vrs USSR

Waiting....   as a Platoon!

An Abrams moves forward.  [ Russian plastic kit.  Not too thrilled with it.]

Bradley spots and fires a ATGM!  Finally made a ATGM marker. 

Hits home!

Gee, I can do that!    [ It missed}

US makes it to the near side.   Infantry dismount.

Bradley's 25mm damages the BMP but the Abrams finishes the job!

1v1 tank stand off.  US likes the odds.

Particularly when the infantry shows up with a LAW!  Would be great to write that the LAW succeeded but failed to do damage. 

But wait, the Russian platoon stays together. Now it is 2:1.  US still not overly concerned.  Russian scores 4 hits.  [ Needs 3 to destroy]  Abrams has 15 dice to save and DOES NOT ROLL ONE FIVE OR SIX!  Sgt Morton does the honorable thing; allowing his crew to evacuate but staying with the flaming wreck. 

That is it for now.  Hopefully you will see Cold War Tanker in the next Lardie special.

Enjoy

Joe

















 

5 comments:

  1. Cool stuff man, looks like some fun fights, and lots of new toys, both vehicles and terrain. I’m shocked at how much better the decals make the vehicles look, so pimp away, and I need to as well.

    V/R,
    Jack

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jack, Thanks. Yes new toys. I was surprised how much decals and painting scopes on the AFVs really made them stand out. I am thinking of adding white stars to the US vehicles even though ahistorical just because I think they will look great on the table.
    Prufrock,
    Thank you sir!

    Joe

    ReplyDelete
  3. Where are you getting your data for armor thickness and penetration? Everywhere I look I find different numbers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just seeing this; sorry. You are right numbers vary widely. I am using the popular Wikipedia, 2 armor books I have and then making a best guess at times!
    Joe

    ReplyDelete