Another 28mm Test Game

 All,

Alright, this is what we came for, right?  Okay, you have no idea what I'm talking about, so let me put you on to it: when I lost my mind and jumped into 28mm miniatures it was initially just to have a few of them in order to play some very small-scale skirmish fights, maybe five on five up to a full squad per side (which is how it's shaking out, but more on that later), but that was it.  Then the megalomania hit and my next objective(s) became two-fold: first, to facilitate big 'Army-men' style fights with/between my two sons, and second, to foster some solo platoon-level games driven by Joe Legan's "Platoon Forward" solo engine.  I really, really, really wanted to play some character-driven platoon-level games, following a multitude of different platoons including, but not limited to:
-US Army in the Med
-US Army in NWE
-US Army in the Philippines (early war Bataan)
-US Army in New Guinea
-US Paras in Normandy and Market Garden
-USMC all over the Pacific
-Brits in Fall of France
-Brits in North Africa and the Med
-Brits in/around Caen
-Brit Paras in Normandy
-Brit Paras in Market Garden
-Brit Commandos (not sure where)
-Aussies in Greece
-Aussies in North Africa
-Aussies in New Guinea
-Wehrmacht in early war
-Wehrmacht in North Africa
-Wehrmacht in Ost Front
-Fallschirmjager in early war
-Fallschirmjager in the Med
-French Foreign Legion in Indochina
-French Foreign Legion in Africa (in the 1990s)

So, sorry for the long list, and I'm sure there's more, but the point I'm trying to make is I am VERY interested in this type of gaming, just need to get it mapped out and get going.  But here's the issue: whilst Platoon Forward is a great solo engine, you still need a set of rules.  In terms of platoon-level rules, I've tried quite a few.  Off the top of my head:
-Chain of Command
-Bolt Action
-Battlegroup
-Combat Patrol
-No End in Sight
-Troops, Weapons, & Tactics
-5Core Company Command (which each stand being a team vice a squad)
-Force on Force

Probably some others I'm forgetting about.  In any case, I've given quite a few rulesets a run out, and while I've had some good games with them, none of them were of the bright, shining, "this is EXACTLY what I'm looking for" variety.  So I found myself perusing the internet and came across an old favorite of mine, No End in Sight, which re-stoked my interest.  I'd played quite a few games using these, with my US Marine platoon in the (fictional) Philippines campaign, and on my Cuba Libre blog where I was playing using the characters from the movie "Platoon," so I decided to give it another shot with my 28mm troops.  It didn't go great; I don't really blame the rules, it was more about the size of the fight that irked me.

I used Platoon Forward's random terrain generator and this is what I came up with.  The table is 4' x 4', which might have been my first problem...  This is WWII, US vs Germans somewhere in France, with US baseline at bottom and German at top.

The US force is one rifle platoon with support.  The rifle platoon has a platoon command element (with Lt, Platoon Sergeant, Doc, and two-man bazooka team) and three rifle squads (each of twelve men).  Additionally we've got a 60mm mortar team (with FO) and 57mm anti-tank gun attached, the ATG being towed by a halftrack.  And just for fun, I decided to throw in another halftrack since my plan was to start with the command element, two squads, and the mortar team on the table, with the ATG and third rifle squad off table in reserve, so I gave 3rd Squad a halftrack to aid in their timely arrival on the battlefield.

In accordance with the mission profile from Platoon Forward ("Hasty Attack"), and based on what my force consisted of, the enemy started with four Type A, four Type B, and one Type C blinds.

I have placed my starting force on the table, with the platoon command element and FO in the field at bottom center, 1st Squad to their right, and 2nd Squad at far right, with the 60mm mortar team set up below the ruins.  I have placed the enemy Type A, B, and C blinds across the table.  They also received barbed wire, which I strung across the top portion of the table, the objective of the attack being the hillock at top center.

It was right here that I began getting a sinking feeling; 28mm troops are just too damned big to be playing platoon-level games on a 4' x 4' table...  Look how much space one squad is taking up, even packed in together, base to base...

The US center, with CE and FO in field at left and 1st Squad moving up at right.

The US right, with 2nd Squad moving up and the mortar team set up below the ruins.

The German right, where you can see several of their blinds positioned.

The German center, to include the objective.

And the German left, capped by my beautiful apple orchard ;)

The only German troops that start on the table is their 80mm mortar team, which I am allowing any of the blinds to spot for.

Right off the bat I had a random event that meant one of my guys was pinned (yellow bead at far left), but time waits for no man, and 2nd Squad is off to the races (top right).

The mortar team (bottom right): "hey fella, dontcha think ya ought to be movin' out with those boys?"

2nd Squad keeps pushing up the right side, past the pond.

And a whole bunch of Germans pop out!  On the road we get a full rifle squad with Platoon Commander and a 50mm mortar, while on the hill we've got a machine gun team and a panzerschreck team.

The German rifle squad on the road opens fire on 2nd Squad...

Two doughboys go out of the fight.

1st Squad moves up in the center (center, with 2nd Squad at top center, and Platoon CE and FO at bottom right, German rifle squad on road at top left).

The German MG team on the hill (bottom left) and the 50mm mortar team (center) open fire on 1st Squad (top right), pinning several men.

The GIs form a firing line and cut loose.

As the FO dashes forward (top left, from bottom right, with 1st Squad at top right).

The German MG team on the hill (bottom left) spots them (far right) and opens fire...

But they hang tough!  They get on the horn and call up their mortar team to start registering fire...

But I get another random event, a leadership check, and all of a sudden the Lootenat thinks he's Audie Murphy!  He leads the command element left (far left, from bottom center, with FO and 1st Squad at top center/right), looking to perform a left hook.

As the mortar team goes to work.

Dropping some 60mm HE on the objective.

And then walking it back onto the German rifle squad on the road.

Fire for effect!

Two riflemen go down, several more are pinned, and four head for the hills!

Bad guys running away (top center right) draws react fire from 1st Squad (bottom left)...

Which put another German out of the fight, which causes a 'break test'...

Which the whole squad fails, forcing all of them to fall back (right, from bottom left)...

Which draws more react fire from 1st Squad (bottom left)...

Which drops another Landser.

Oh yeah, and the Yanks had artillery support, one barrage, which comes in right on target, atop the objective.

Out of the six men belonging to the MG-42 and panzerschreck teams atop the objective, five of the men are out of action, and the last one makes a run for it (top right, next to one of the runners from the rifle squad).

Whilst back on the US left, the Lieutenant and bazooka team move up to the hedge (center, from bottom right).

And spot another MG-42 team in a nearby field.

The German MG team (bottom left) immediately opens fire on the Lieutenant and bazooka team (top right, with 1st Squad just visible at top left and the FO at top center).

The German MG team (bottom left) doesn't score any hits, but the Lt and and both members of the bazooka team (far right) are all pinned.  At this point the Lieutenant activates again and it's time to spot that Type A blind in the ruin at bottom center; I roll it up on the applicable Platoon Forward chart and... it's another full rifle squad with Platoon Commander!

I begin moving Germans into the ruined house, thinking about how I'm going to deal with them (I guess bring on the reserve 3rd Squad and ATG, let the ATG pound the house while 3rd Squad runs up the road in its halftrack and dismounts straight into close combat), but my heart's just not in it.  As I'm looking at the photos I think it doesn't look too bad, but playing the game, it all felt so congested, too many troops in such a small place, no real room for maneuver, just kind of line everyone up and have a dice-rolling fest.  And I've been playing for three hours, and I haven't even finished the first turn!!!!  To be fair, I've had some really good activation die rolls, which has allowed me to just sit there and punish the Germans (for example, when I used the 60mm mortar team I passed four straight die rolls, which is what allowed me to pound that German rifle squad in the road into oblivion).  

With these 28mm troops a rifle squad is just a big blob of men, doesn't look right and doesn't feel right, you just mob them forward into LOS and roll dice back and forth until someone gets put out of the fight, no real decision making.

So I threw in the towel, not going to come back to NEIS with 28mm troops, might not come back to 28mm troops for platoon-sized fights.  My ginormous investment in 28mm figures and terrain is beginning to look like a ginormous mistake.  It's hilarious; just a minute ago I was thinking 'these 28mm troops are awesome, they make my 15mm troops superfluous, I need to get rid of them,' and now it's looking/feeling like the reverse is true, and that I should just keep a handful of 28mm troops around for squad-level skirmish fights.

The search for a platoon-level solution continues...

V/R,
Jack