Company Chits
In older tactical games, each counter is a free spirit, with no relationship to its peers.
A simple system for creating companies out of platoons is to have a Company Chit.
You have 3 platoon counters in a clump, and place a Company Chit beside them, which defines the abilities of each company.
Watch in horror and disgust as your Green recruits hesitate in their attack, get butchered as they run away from their Veteran defenders, and spend the rest of the battle hiding in the woods like Conscripts!
Features:
- Veteran, Seasoned, Green and Raw unit abilities.
- Command Radius
- Step Loss
- Routing
The Company Chit has a number for Routing, Roll Twice, C3 range , and Emergency Opportunity Fire.
In a scenario, you group some or all of your units into companies. Maybe one side has a Veteran SS Tiger Company, the other side have 2 Raw Infantry companies defending a key point. If you group 3 Soviet Infantry Company counters together you technically have a Regiment, but the principle is the same.
Roll twice (ROLL)
For normal Panzerblitz / Panzer Leader / AIW direct or indirect fire attacks, assaults and overruns we will give you the chance to shoot twice:For a free second shot on attack roll of:
Veteran | Seasoned | Green | Raw |
4-6 | 5-6 | 6 | - |
For example, a Seasoned unit rolls a 5 when attacking an enemy. The attacker is allowed a second shot. There is no third shot. If the first shot is a "DD" and the second shot is "D", "DD" or "X" the target is eliminated.
Veteran troops on an unmodified 1-1 attack will get a dispersal 75% of the time, Raw troops 50%. This is more effective in combination with the Rout rule.
Step Loss
In Panzerblitz a damaged unit is magically restored to full capacity after a short rest.
A step loss represents permanent damage, which is more realistic.
So if you start with a "VET 5" counter on your Company, immediately turn it over to "REG 4" if the company suffers 2 "D" results or one "DD" result during the turn. This is in addition to the D/DD effects. The "REG 4" is demoted to "GREEN 3" the next time. A unit may suffer up to 1 Troop Quality reduction per turn. If a "Raw-B" Company suffers a Troop Quality reduction, all units of the company are destroyed.
Rout (ROUT)
If the unmodified Attack roll is a six, and has no effect, the target must take a Rout Check.
Veteran-A units have a Rout value of "10", you have to roll this number or less with two D6 to pass.
If the target passes the Rout Check, nothing happens. If it fails, place a "Rout" counter (3 different images on this page with red stars) on top of the target's Company Chit. No unit in a company can fire with the "Rout" counter on its Company Chit. A routed Company moves as normal, but its Defense Strength is halved when moving. The chit is removed in the Target's movement phase if the target rolls its Rout value number with two D6. If the attacker is not Raw, they get a free shot against the routed unit.
"The Jagdtiger took several hits, but American projectiles could not penetrate the 250 mm (9.8 in) frontal armor. However, the inexperienced German commander lost his nerve and turned around instead of backing down, exposed the thinner side armor, which was eventually penetrated and all six crew members were lost."
-Carius, Otto (2003). Tigers in the Mud., p. 221
Emergency Opportunity Fire (EOF)
Any Company counter may conduct Opportunity Fire once per turn at any enemy entering an adjacent hex, even if the counter has already fired, if it passed the "Emergency Opportunity Test". The test involves rolling the EOF number or less.
Comment: A lucky Veteran platoon can disrupt an enemy with a "4" Direct Fire, disrupt another with the free shot, then kill a third (adjacent) unit in the same turn.
Command Radius (C3)
This is the maximum number of hexes apart two counters from the same company can be. If this unit is exceed, the company must roll that number or less with two D6 at the start of each friendly movement phase. Failure means that no unit of the company may move in that turn, except when forced to rout. They may still fire.
Drawbacks
The only fiddly thing is remembering which units go with each chit. Not a problem if you just have 3 Panthers, but you might get a bit mixed up during massed infantry assaults with a mix of veteran and green troops. Your average units can do without a Company Chit, use Chit with the elite troops and the conscripts.
Other Ideas:
Chit Pull Company activation
If you number the chits, you have a chit pull activation system. Say 1-6, roll a D6, if it is a "3", then all the "3" chits are activated.Order Chits
The chits are placed upside down at the end of the move, and turned over when the time comes to do something (as in MBT/Panzer). If the chit says "Move" you can move or do nothing, you can't change your mind. Soviet units stack 2 order chits, turning over the top one and placing a new order under the remaining order at the end of the turn.