Byron Collins
United States
Suffolk
Virginia
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This thread is devoted to external playtesting of Situation IX for Spearpoint 1943, "Man vs. Beast". This thread includes a draft of the situation and the OP will be edited to suit as rules changes are incorporated. In a sense, it's a 'living' OP that will change as feedback is incorporated. Edited rules and text appear as bold text (some rules headings are also bold).
Man vs. Beast is the most complex situation for Spearpoint 1943 to date. It adds several rules modifications to incorporate movement, line of sight, buildings, ruins, and a map. Map artwork of a village road with square 'zones' is currently in progress and will be made available with the situation upon release. There may also be an option for a printed version if there's enough interest.
Playtesters will be adding session reports which will be linked from this 'parent' playtest thread, so keep an eye on this thread to see how things unfold. Public comments on the session reports and the main thread are certainly welcome. I thought it would be interesting and unique to show the external playtest process I use from start to finish. Please follow along and let me know what you think.
The Situation: IX: Man vs. Beast
Current Version of Situation IX: Beta 6 (first 4 were internal drafts, 5 has been edited as of 8/16/10)
General’s Orders (US): Take up defensive positions with infantry in the partially ruined village north of our position and be ready for anything. The village is deserted but there has been recent enemy movement in the area.
General’s Orders (Germany): Provide close support for our infantry with a Tiger as they move in to clear the village. Search for and destroy any enemy units in the area.
Special Rules:
 [Setup] Create or download / print the free movement grid (approx 12" x 36") included in the Spearpoint 1943 files section along with this Situation. This grid will be used to assist with movement in this Situation and to define placement zones for intact and ruined buildings, represented by Command and Damage Cards respectively. You may also create the grid by drawing a simple grid on poster board as shown. The grid should be made from 4"x4" squares arranged in three rows by nine columns. Place a center dot in each space of the movement grid. The grid represents a village street (shaded blue) with setup zones on either end of the street (shaded gray). White spaces represent legal "zones" to place Intact Buildings or Ruins during the next setup step. Dimensions in Inches.
[Setup] Remove all copies of the following cards from the Command Deck: Capture That Unit!, Fighter Ace, Fire Mission!, Fire for Effect!, Zero In Artillery. These cards are not used as part of the Command Deck in this Situation, but they may be used to represent Intact Buildings. Take turns placing any combination of 8 Command and/or Damage cards face down in any of the white spaces above to define the village road and surrounding buildings. Each Command card represents an Intact Building. Each Damage card represents Ruins. At least two Ruins must be placed of the 8 cards. Cards may be placed adjacent to each other.
[Setup] Place starting US Units within Intact Buildings or Ruins. The German Player then chooses one of the two setup zones (shaded Gray) and places starting German Units in the chosen zone.
[Setup] Each player creates an Infantry-Only 35 point maximum (25 point minimum) Reserves Deck.
[Setup] Each player selects 1 Unit Card and randomly draws 1 Command Card as a Starting Hand, then shuffles their Reserves deck.
Unit Stacking Limit. Unit Stacking Limit within a single space is as follows based on the three types of spaces: Open, Intact Building, and Ruins. Combinations of Unit Types (i.e. Infantry with a tank, etc.) within a single space are not allowed.
Newly committed German Units always enter the village in any space of the previously-chosen German setup zone. Newly committed US Units always enter the village from the opposite setup zone. Space Stacking Limits apply for the entry of new Units in these zones.
Additional US Units may not be committed until Turn 2. Additional German Units may not be committed until Turn 3. Committed Units may not move during the Commitment Phase they enter play, but they may attack.
Movement. Any Unit that was in play the previous turn may move during the Commitment Phase. Always accomplish movement before committing new units. Starting Units may not move during Turn 1. For all future turns, the player who won Initiative the previous turn moves all of his units first. Units may not move diagonally. Movement Rates are as follows based on Unit Type:
* Also see Sprinting, below.
Sprinting. Infantry may sprint through any Open Space or through Ruins in a single turn, increasing their movement rate by 1 additional space. To sprint, the player must discard one Command Card per sprinting Infantry Unit.
Line of Sight (LOS). Units must have a clear Line of Sight to attack a target. Only Intact Buildings block line of sight (Ruins hinder but do not block LOS). LOS is determined by tracing an imaginary line from the center dot of an attacking unit’s space to the center dot of a targeted unit’s space. If the line passes through any portion of a space containing an intact building and/or another unit (friend or foe), LOS is blocked and the attacker may not target that unit. No attack penalty is applied when the targeted unit occupies Ruins.
All units except Mortar Squads receive a penalty 2 to Attack for each Ruins space that hinders Line of Sight (LOS).
When Mortar Squads attack with a mortar, they may target enemy units in their own LOS, or in any friendly unit’s LOS. If neither the Mortar Squad nor a friendly unit has LOS, the Mortar Squad may not target that unit. Normal LOS rules apply for secondary weapons.
Units (except Mortars) may fire from Intact Buildings but not into them. Intact Buildings provide impervious defense for occupying infantry from all attacks except from a tank or from a raiding Infantry unit.
Units may fire from and into Ruins. Ruins provide Defense +3 for all occupying Units.
Mortar Squads may fire Mortar weapons from the Open or from Ruins only. They do not require Line of Sight to the target.
This Situation does not use a rear line. Ignore any Damage Effect that would require a unit to retreat to the rear line such as "Shaken".
Infantry may only Close Assault from Open Spaces. To Close Assault, each member of the assaulting group must occupy one or more spaces adjacent to the target when Close Assault is declared.
Infantry and guns receive Bonus 3 to Attack when within 1 space range or less to a target. Mortar Squads may not attack using Mortars when within 1 space range or less to a target.
Raiding Buildings. Up to one Squad OR two Teams may "raid" a single enemy-occupied Intact Building or Ruins by entering the space during Commitment Phase movement. A raid attempts to clear Infantry from a Building or Ruins. If raiding, the infantry within that building must target each other in that and subsequent Combat Phases until either one unit is eliminated or the raiding unit moves back out of the building. Units fighting within the building all receive Bonus 3 to Attack (subtract 3 from each Attack Value) with all weapons.
A Raided Building or Ruins may not be targeted by either side (such as by the German tank) during a raid.
The Tiger tank may destroy an intact building within LOS by targeting the building with its main gun. To do so, declare the building as a target. If within 2 spaces (counting the Tank Space as 0), do not roll Attack- the shell automatically hits. If 3 or more spaces away, roll as if attacking a fixed Gun (Bonus 2 to Attack vs. Vehicles). If the building is hit, roll Intensity. If Intensity is a 6 or higher, the building is immediately destroyed and converted to Ruins (Remove the Command card and replace it with a new face down Damage card). If Intensity is less than 6, the building remains intact.
If an Infantry unit occupies a building hit by the Tiger and that building is destroyed, Infantry within the building are immediately Damaged and placed in the resulting Ruins. If already damaged, those Infantry are destroyed along with the building. If an Infantry unit occupies a building hit by the Tiger I and that building is not destroyed, the Infantry within are considered protected from the blast and are unharmed.
If a crewed unit is destroyed, fate of crew is as follows: Base Intensity 1-3, crew survives unharmed, continues to fight. Base Intensity 4-6, crew survives but is damaged, continues to fight. Base Intensity 7+, crew perishes with crewed unit.
Only one card of any type may be drawn by each player in each Draw Phase.
Starting, Committed Units (do NOT count toward deck point total):
US:
1X Sniper (may start in an Intact Building, Ruins, or non-setup zone Open Space). Roll D10 before placement. If 8+ choose either a Field Camouflage Command Card or a Veteran Soldiers Command Card and place with that card.
1X Any Team (may start in an Intact Building, Ruins, or non-setup zone Open Space)
1X 57mm Anti-Tank Gun (may start in Ruins or non-setup zone Open Space)
1X Artillery Crew (with AT gun)
Germany
1X Panzer VI Tiger I (Place in a setup zone Open Space only)
1X Tank Crew (with Tank). Roll D10 before placement. If 7+, place with a Veteran Crew Command Card.
1X Rifle Squad (Place in a setup zone Open Space only)
Win Condition: 25 points or Overrun.
Session Reports
Collins Solo Session Report - 7/22/10
Fell Solo Session Report - 7/27/10
Fell Solo Session Report - 8/5/10
Update: Edited on 8/16/10 to Beta 6 to incorporate some rules changes and playtester feedback including center-dot LOS rules with more LOS detail, mods to Mortar targeting, and more realistic attack bonuses / penalties based on the LOS (firing thru Ruins cumulatively penalizes Attack by 2 per Ruins space the fire passes through on its way to the target).
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Phil Crompton
United Kingdom
St Helens
Merseyside
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This sounds great, Byron, and I hope it makes it to print. I received my game a few days ago and I think its a fabulous addition to my collection and well worth the extra £11.51 that our wonderfull U.K Customs (
 ) had me cough up before handing it over to me!
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Byron Collins
United States
Suffolk
Virginia
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Edited to Beta 6 to incorporate playtester feedback thus far and link to Pete Fell's second solo session report.
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Posted Sat Jul 24, 2010 3:49 am
