Looking back, I can see my Startline project dates back to autumn 2023, more than two and a half years ago. To say I've been 'working' on this project for that long wouldn't really be true - it's more like I've been dabbling in writing a set of WW2 gaming rules during that time, sometimes quite intensively, sometimes hardly at all.
About two years ago I decided to change from an IGO-UGO turn system to a Bolt Action-style alternate-unit activation. It seemed more modern (dare I say, more fashionable) and I had the idea it might represent the cut and thrust of WW2 combat more believably. But now I've changed my mind, and Startline is back to IGO-UGO.
The reason is simple - the rules play better and more easily with IGO-UGO. I realised that Startline is not Bolt Action - it's company level, not skirmish, and the basic units are platoons, not single vehicles or squads of infantry. And Startline has fairly traditional combat and morale mechanics which don't really fit into an alternate-unit move sequence. The fact was, players (me included) were finding the rules non-intuitive and more complex than necessary. As soon as I went back to IGO-UGO (with a straightforward opportunity-fire rule included) I felt the game become much cleaner.
After some solo playtesting, it was time to get some proper face-to-face games in. So I invited two long-time gaming friends over to make sure everything worked - and this is where Flames of War came in.
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| © Battlefront Miniatures. Reproduced with permission. |
In March this year Flames of War made their latest list of scenarios (which they call 'Missions') available for free online. I have found these mission ideas very useful in the past, and the latest list has 35 scenarios, each presented in a 2 page format with a deployment map on page 1 and special rules laid out on page 2. The list is a great source of ideas for WW2 games regardless of which rules you use, and many of the set-ups are quite original. All are described assuming a 6' x 4' table and opposing forces of equal points. I went for the 'Bypass' scenario as it seemed to me to fit very well into a 1939 Blitzkrieg setting, which of course is the part of WW2 which my collection represents. The full Missions Pack can be downloaded here.
Naturally the Germans would be the attackers. The forces in use were as follows:
German
Panzer Company (-): company HQ of 1 x Panzer I
Light tank platoon: 2 x Panzer II, 3 x Panzer I
Heavy tank platoon: 2 x Panzer III, 2 x Panzer IV
Infantry Company: company HQ of 1 command base in light truck
3 x platoons, each 6 infantry bases, 1 ATR base
2 platoons each in 3 Protze trucks, 1 platoon on motorcycles
Armoured car section: 1 x Sdkfz 231 6-rad, 1 x Sdkfz 221
6 x off table 8cm mortars, MFO with radio in light truck
2 moves pre-planned fire
Random air attacks on 10+
All units regular training, reliable morale
Points 1685
Polish
Infantry Company: company HQ of 1 command base, 1 ATR base, Lazik jeep
3 platoons each 7 x infantry bases, 1 x ATR base
*1 platoon in 2 x Praga medium trucks
*Tank platoon: 4 x Renault R-35
*Recce section: 2 x TKS (MG)
ATG section: 2 x 37mm Bofors + Lazik tows
*Field Artillery section: 2 x 75mm m.1897 75mm guns + halftrack tows
MMG section: 2 x MMG, 2 x Lazik jeeps
8 x off-table m.1897 75mm guns, AFO with telephone + Lazik jeep
Random air attacks on 11+
All units regular training, reliable morale
Field defences: both the infantry platoons which start on-table, plus the AFO, comapny HQ and the 37mm Bofors may be dug-in
Points 1680
*Polish designated reserves (30% in points)
Tank platoon
Recce section
Infantry platoon in trucks
Field artillery section
The photo below (taken late in the game) shows how I set out the terrain. The Polish baseline is the long table edge to the top right, the German baseline is bottom right. Rather than have each player place an objective as per the mission description, I set up the terrain to include two obvious objectives (a road junction and bridge) at what I judged to be sensible places. It's just the way I prefer to do things.
And so the game commenced. Readers will have already realised that the Germans have two main options - go for the road junction, hoping to punch through the dug-in Polish defenders, or loop round to the more distant bridge, avoiding the area already occupied by the defenders. Let's see how that worked out.
The Game in Photos
To provide a little fog of war, both sides set up divided by my home-made cardboard screen. The screen's folding nature made it pretty easy to use.
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| Paul (Germans) and Steve (Poles) deploy simultaneously, unaware of what their opponent is doing. |
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| Paul decided to hedge his bets - the motorcycle platoon, armoured cars and the heavy tanks went left for the bridge, whilst the 2 lorried platoons and the light panzers went for the road junction. Centre left you can see that an advancing truck-mounted Polish platoon has been wrecked by artillery fire. |
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| Unfortunately the German armoured cars and motorcycles were not making the dashing advance hoped for. Both units threw a rash of 1s in the early turns of the game, halving their movement. |
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| Despite losing most of an infantry platoon to a devastating artillery strike, the light panzers and the remaining infantry pressed on into the Polish defences and made steady if slow progress. |
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| The Poles were in luck in turn 2, when their tanks arrived from reserve just where they were needed to defend the village and road junction. |
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| The Germans battled on, destroying many first-line Polish infantry teams in their slit trenches and driving the remainder back into the nearby woods. |
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| Another piece of Polish luck - their reserve infantry platoon arrives in just the right place to occupy the bridge objective. |
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| Realising the bridge is now out of reach, the German heavy panzers and motorcycle platoon turn towards the village, hoping to break through to the road junction objective. |
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| The right flank of the Polish defences is now under severe threat. |
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| A Polish anti-tank rifle team have their trench overrun by an attacking Panzer IV. Ouch! |
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| The Germans deploy a smoke screen to prevent the Polish R-35s from engaging their frontal attack. Instead, an indecisive firefight develops along the central road between Polish and German tanks. |
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| Close up of the German armour and motorcycles. |
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| The Polish 75mm guns have arrived, and they set up to cover the approaches to the bridge. |
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| The bridge is now firmly in Polish hands. |
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| Turn 5 ends, and Paul decides to admit defeat. The Polish defence has held, and neither objective is in reach within the number of moves remaining. |
Conclusions and Comparisons
The return to IGO-UGO seems to be the right thing, as long as it is supported by a reasonable opportunity-fire rule. Steve is a longtime supporter and user of the Blitzkrieg Commander rules, which makes him a player well versed in the use of opportunity fire in a wargame. He demonstrated that familiarity during the game, quickly identifying situations where the rule could help him, and showing me that the rule was both necessary and easy to use.
Unusually (in fact, very unusually) not a single AFV was knocked out during the game. There were plenty of hits, but the KO rolls never materialised. What was interesting was that the Germans managed to lose despite not losing any tanks! I think in this scenario the attacking player has to concentrate on one of the two objectives and go all out for that objective, with the slimmest possible covering force to divert the defender. As so often, I got the feeling that if the Dice Gods had decided differently the game could easily have gone the other way. For an alternative view of this engagement, see Steve's blog post.
Only one or two minor rule tweaks suggested themselves during the game. I felt the game played easily and encouraged period tactics. I was particularly pleased that the close combat rules were quick and bloody, involving a good deal of knockabout fun involving foxholes being overrun by advancing tanks.
In fact, I am optimistic that the development of Startline is entering it's final phase. If I can manage a bit of solid playtesting over the next few months, I reckon I might have a pretty good set of rules on my hands - or at least, a set of rules that pleases me and that my gaming associates will be happy to join in with. The rules occupy much the same space as Flames of War, but I consider them simpler and more intuitive to to play than those rules (well, I suppose I would).
Sadly, of course, there's not much chance of Startline becoming as popular os FoW! My own opinion is that FoW owes its popularity as much to the ambition and business acumen of the owners of Battlefront Miniatures as it does to its qualities as a rule set. It is relentlessly advertised and renewed. But then, as probably the most popular WW2 miniatures game out there after Bolt Action, FoW is genuinely enjoyed by thousands of wargamers around the world, so I must conclude that the game has qualities that I personally fail to appreciate.
As the biggest WW2 miniatures game out there (according to Google AI), Bolt Action has the advantage of being a skirmish game that seems to capture the current zeitgeist for an easy-to-access and easy-to-play game with a limited amount of collecting, painting and research needed. It also seems to capture a large number of gamers looking to transfer from the world of sci-fi and fantasy to historical gaming. There's not much hope of me capturing much of that market, but maybe a few FoW gamers might give Startline a try - assuming I ever decide to get it published.
But that's enough daydreaming. I'll happily repeat that the Missions Pack for FoW is a great free resource for which we should be grateful to Battlefront. If you're a WW2 gamer, check it out.
The current version of Startline (version 8) and a QRS can be downloaded free from Google Drive via the links below. Enjoy.
Thanks for reading. 'Til next time!
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