Mission
There are old hex map and counter tactical wargames where each army is just a bag full of counters, with no organization.Modern games have Command. Control, Communications (C3), Morale and training. And activation systems instead of turns.
But with some colored stickers and index cards this can be fixed.
Here we have Situation No. 8 from "Panzer Leader", click to enlarge.
Execution
Summary
Go through the game counters and color coded counters with small stickers into groups of 3 to form "Companies".We take any Panzer Leader/Panzerblitz/Whatever scenario, and add paper 3x5 cards to represent companies with pencilled-in stats, specific to the scenario (See above diagram).
If you have a dozen Allied counters, pencil in 4 cards, maybe 5 minute's work.
Details
We take all our counters and group them into stacks of 3 identical counter types. Each stack gets a sticker of a different color on each counter. You can cut a big sticker into smaller ones. If you only have a few colors, write a letter or number on the sticker to distinguish companies.
The counters are "Platoons", 3 "Platoons" with the same color sticker form a "Company".
3 or more "Companies" form a "Battalion". If you just have one of a specific counter, you can add it to a Company card as "Clear" (no sticker), and call it a "Det" (Detachment).
Each Company has an paper index card with its color and stats noted.
Each Battalion has an paper index card with a list of the Companies it activates.
Here we have divided the Americans up into an Infantry Battalion and a Tank Battalion.
Not all of the Tank Battalion is present, just the HQ Company.
The Germans are an Ad Hoc group, just some people thrown together.
Card Activation
Instead of I go, You Go player turns, we have an Activation system. The German player plays a card face down. The Allied player may play a card, or not.
If the Allied player does not play a card the German player turns over the card. If it is a Company, all the units in that company are activated, and may move or shoot, assault or overrun. If it is a Battalion, the German Player may activate any one of the companies named on the card, as if she had drawn that Company's card.
If the Allied player plays a card, the German card is turned over. If the Allied card has a higher C3 (big letter in bottom right corner) value, the German player takes their card back and the Allied card is played instead. The German company is not activated, it will be activated later in the turn.
"A" is higher than "B", and so on. If the Allied card has a lower value, the Allied player takes the card back, and the German activates the card. If the C3 letter is the same, doll a D6. If the number is even the Allied play activates, if the number is odd, the German player activates.
Then the situation is reversed, with Allied player playing a card, and the German player may respond by playing a card, or not.
Repeat until all the cards are played and all units have done something. If some units don't have cards or stickers, each player gets a card with a C3 letter "X", otherwise blank. That card has the lowest C3 rating, and activates all units that don't have stickers.
Air units have Company cards representing squadrons. They cannot be activated by a Battalion.
Offboard artillery is organised into Companies too.
Offboard artillery is organised into Companies too.
Chit pull
You can have a paper "chit" for each company, with the colored sticker on it, the sticker may have a letter or number on it, as in the the counter set picture above. The chits go into a cup, and are drawn blindly. The company chit drawn has its companies activated immediately, the chit goes into the discard pile. To simulate superior Command / Control / Communications, the Soviet player has to roll a D6 when they draw a chit, a 6 meaning the chit is discarded without activating the company. When the cup is empty, the turn is over, put the chits back in the cup and repeat.
Statistics
DRM - "Training"
Each Company has its own Statistics. The company will have its own Die Roll Modifier (DRM) values to represent training, and motivation to use that training. A British Para Company will have a negative modifier for CAT/Overrun, since they love to assualt things. Attack represents skill with Direct or Indirect fire. Defense represents the ability to avoid fire, scouts might have a negative modifier here.
Morale
Morale in this context is the willingness of a Company to take losses.
If a unit suffers a "D", "DD" or "X" result, the Company must throw a D6 for a Morale Check. If the result is greater than their Morale number on the card, all the surviving units on the card that do not already have "D" or "DD" results suffer a "D" result. Add 1 to the D6 roll for each unit in the Company that was currently suffering a a "D", "DD" result before the Morale Check. Add 1 to the D6 roll for each unit in the Company that was destroyed before the Morale Check.
So if a platoon suffers, the whole Company suffers in sympathy.
Morale of 7 means the Company can take losses and keep on going, Morale of 4 can't afford to take losses. Low morale troops may be veterans who are simply careful, they may be high quality troops.
Application in the Scenario
In the Scenario at the top, the German Officer Trainees are die hard fanatic hero types, with high morale (7). They just got off the trucks, and they are in training, so they have a low C3 value. They will put up an enthusiastic defense, and get a Close Assault and Defense bonus. The veteran 88mm gun crews have -1 to attack and defense, but low morale, since they have seen too much, and believe the war to be lost.
The Americans Infantry have fairly low morale, not because they are cowards, but they prefer to avoid losses by letting Armour and Artillery do most of the work. No Banzai charges.
Keep the cards for the next time you play the scenario. You can research a historical Company, and write their special abilities on the card. Unit History on the back of the card, perhaps.
Comment
The cards add color to the scenario, each Company has its own personality, as in real life.
Low morale units will collapse as soon as they come under fire, elite tanks with -1 CAT/Overrun will ride roughshod over such troops.
The Activation system allows the well organized Battalion to cleverly outmaneuver their hapless opponents. The player with low C3 will end up reacting to their opponents cunning plan.
In stereotypical Eastern Front (Panzerblitz) scenarios, the high morale/C3/training SS Panzer Abteilung/Kampfgruppe taking on a much larger conscript Soviet force, the Soviets falling into disarray quickly.
The Cards
Print these to play the scenario (Click to enlarge):
