--------------------------------------------------------------- FIRE + STEEL UMPIRES RULES AND GUIDELINES (c) Megagame Makers 1994 --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------------------------- This is a set of general rules and guidelines for the Umpire Team in FIRE + STEEL. You should have read the Game Handbook before starting on this section. The Functions of the Umpires The main Handbook gives a rough outline as to what the various umpires do. In this section I want to explain a bit more about how I see you operating in the game. a. OPERATIONS UMPIRES: These are obviously key to the whole game. They are the drivers of the system and must work as quickly as possible. Speed is of the essence if the players are to have anything like a reasonable amount of decision-making time pressure. The game is, in effect, an unfolding story in which the players are the main characters. You should therefore be impartial but at the same time sympathetic. It is NOT your job to ensure the players are all destroyed at the earliest opportunity. On the other hand you should not be preserving the incompetent! You should be positive, helpful, but firm when necessary. It is also important to remember that you represent the crew of each tank - the driver, gunner, loader, etc. The player is ONLY THE TANK COMMANDER. If you don't understand what they mean when they give an order, then their 'crew' don't understand and will make their best guess, do nothing, or query the order (taking a turn to do so). One final point: check the tank configuration of the units you are handling - there are often some details that are relevent to the situation they are in, and this game is about such details. One obvious example is the T34 tank in which the Commander (player) is also the Gunner. This means that if firing the main gun or co-ax MG, he cannot perform any other functions at all (such as observing other threats, communication, giving orders and so on). b. OPPOSITION UMPIRES: It is your job to fill out the story of the game as it unfolds. You are NOT PLAYERS, so don't think in these terms at all. When moving or handling opposition forces you must consider the following important factors: i. What are they actually aware of? Most of the time they will have only a fragmentary view of the player's actions. ii. How motivated are they? Few troops will fight to the death, and withdrawing or running away is an important option when then perceive that their enemy is outflanking or even surrounding them. iii. What are their orders? Some commands will come from the Opposition Command Team (who are players); you must interpret these in the light of i. and ii. above and see to what extent they are obeyed. You should also be considering how best to report back to the Opposition Command, given the inevitably confused nature of any battle. Panicked or incoherent reports are quite acceptable. --------------------------------------------------------------- 2. GAME RULES --------------------------------------------------------------- These are simple and arbitrary. The full version appears here. The full rules should NOT be disclosed to the players. MOVEMENT: Slow or Backing 1 tank model length per turn. Advance approx. 2 tank model lengths. Top Speed approx. 3 tank model lengths. CROSSING LINEAR OBSTACLES: Hedges - takes 2 turns at slow/back or advance speed. If crossed at top speed the tank gets stuck in the hedge. Roll 1d6 next turn to get free, score 6 to succeed. If this fails, the score reduces to 5 or 6 next turn, and then 4, 5, or 6 and so on. Walls - takes one turn at slow speed. If crossed as advance or top speed, roll 1d6 and score 1 or 2 to get stuck. (For getting free - use the rule for hedges above). TURNING: Each turn is 45 degrees approximately. Turning on a hedge or wall forces a roll to get stuck (1d6 - use wall rule above). Lesser turns are permitted, usually these are necessary to fit into a gap etc. Don't move the tank model in a robotic and unintelligent way - there is a driver and he will avoid obvious obstacles and find routes he can see. However - the drivers view is limited to pretty well only straight ahead. Neutral turns can only be done whilst stationary. FIRING: Roll 2d6 per shot. It takes one turn to reload provided the appropriate card has been displayed. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR OPERATIONS UMPIRES NO.1: THE FIRST ROUND FIRED AT A PLAYER TANK WILL ALWAYS MISS, WHATEVER THE DIE ROLLS. You should go through the motions and report a very near miss. This gives players a chance to take action as necessary. After that, they are fair game. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR OPERATIONS UMPIRES NO.2: NEVER TELL THE PLAYERS WHAT THEY NEED TO ROLL. The umpires are the only ones that need to know, and we should aim to keep it that way. It also encourages potential rules lawyers who might pick up a slight miscalculation on your part! It also makes Important Note No.1 more difficult to implement. Range: Less than 5 Up to half Over half Tank Lengths Playing area playing area length length Firer infantry AT Rockets 9 no chance no chance Firer AT Guns 5 6 7 Firer Tank Stationary 5 7 8 Firer Tank Moving SLOW 7 10 11 Firer Tank Moving ADVANCE 9 12 no chance Firer Tank Moving TOP SPEED 11 12 no chance FACTORS: Target HULL DOWN -2 Target moving -1 Target moving TOP SPEED -2 Target in smoke -4 Firer under small-arms fire from infantry -1 REFER TO THE WEAPONS/ARMOUR TABLES AT THE END OF THESE RULES IF YOU WANT TO CHECK FOR ARMOUR PENETRATION (Although in most cases this is irrelevant). If a hit bounces off - you should report the hit as a loud CLANG! and see if the crew bale out anyway. Obviously they can return if the tank is undamaged. THE DEATH OF A TANK - BALING OUT AND FIRES: A tank that is hit and penetrated is knocked out. Roll 1d6 to see if it burns or blows up: -1 = BANG, tank blows up spectactularly. 1-2 = Tank Burns 3-6 = Doesn't burn Sherman Tanks -1 There is one die roll for the crew baling out, roll 1d6, score 3 or better to get out. -2 if the tank burns. Don't bother if the tank blows up! If the crew gets out it is treated as an infantry rifle group. The player then has a number of options: a. Play the surviving crew (if any) with the objective of reaching safety (=usually the start-line). b. Take command of Supporting Troops coming up (there will be some spare roles in the Support troops to accomodate this). c. Have a break until the next scenario. d. Be given some other task by Control as appropriate (Depending on the scenario). SMOKE DISCHARGERS: Fire a smoke screen 25" out from tank in direction turret pointing, and 25" long at right angles to the line of firing. This screen lasts 3 turns. HIGH EXPLOSIVE: Roll for hit using above table: If hit on infantry or guns, then roll again (1d6): All hits PIN the target (i.e. it will not fire or move for 1d6 turns) Target in cover roll 4+ and all killed Target dug in roll 6 and all killed Target in open roll 3+ and all killed Target moving in open roll 2+ and all killed. FACTORS: Near miss (within 5" and in open) -2 from die roll. MACHINE GUNS/SMALL ARMS Roll 1d6 to hit: if a hit, then roll for effect on HE table above. 2' 4' 12' Tank MG stationary 3+ 4+ 5+ Tank MG moving slow/back/advance 5+ 6+ - Tank MG moving top speed 6+ - - Infantry MG 3+ 5+ - Infantry Rifle Group Light Mortar team n.a. 5+ 6+ INFANTRY MORALE The player's Command group can do anything it want - no matter how risky. Other groups must roll for morale if asked to do anything dangerous such as move around under fire, or attack something. Roll 1d6 per platoon (or similar collection of infantry groups given a single task). Score -3 or under = Run Away or surrender. -2-0 = Try and find a covered route out. 1-2 = Stay put 3+ = Obey Orders FACTORS Under fire -1 Enemy Tanks about -1 Platoon has taken losses -1 per group INDIRECT ARTILLERY This has to be called in, and is not very accurate, the minimum 'beaten zone' is around 4 feet square! it also takes time to be called in, if it is not pre-planned. Umpires will put down cotton wool puffs at random within the beaten zone (there is no 'artillery spider' in this game - frankly it would be too complex and take far too long to adjudicate!) Each puff is an HE shell. Depending on the weight of fire, 1d6 shells will land per turn (this can be varied by increasing the number of d6 used). Observed fire can be attempted - but since we won't be giving the players and trained artillery observers, the impact will be marginal. To act as an observer, a player with the correct type of radio must remain stationary and give the umpires corrections in the form of "Up 50 metres"..."Left 30 metres" etc., in response to single ranging shots. This can be used to determine the centre of the beaten zone, but otherwise doesn't much affect the random distribution of shells within the zone. --------------------------------------------------------------- 3. WEAPONS/ARMOUR TABLES --------------------------------------------------------------- Close Range Armour Penetration Most actions in FIRE + STEEL will be at ranges well within 500m. Most of the time, most ATk weapons can penetrate virtually all armour types in 1944. Should you wish to use different or special mixes of opponent, the following tables might be useful: Approx. 4' 8' 12' 16' 20' Weapon Penetration: 100m 200m 300m 400m 500m US & British 17pdr/77mm 150 148 145 140 140 76mm M1A2 110 108 103 100 98 75mm M3 75 72 70 70 68 6pdr/57mm 92 90 88 85 82 QF 75mm 82 80 78 76 75 37mm 65 60 55 51 49 German Tank guns 88mm L/71 198 192 188 182 180 75mm L/70 137 132 130 128 126 88mm L/56 118 115 111 110 109 75mm L/48 98 97 95 94 93 75mm L/43 94 93 91 90 88 75mm L/24 100 92 87 82 78 50mm L/60 62 60 59 58 56 50mm L/42 53 51 49 46 44 German ATk guns PaK 43 88mm L/71 223 220 216 210 206 FlaK 36 88mm 110 105 102 100 98 PaK 40 75mm L/46 125 118 112 108 102 PaK 38 50mm L/60 92 89 83 80 77 PaK 36 37mm L/45 70 64 59 52 49 Russian 100mm 173 170 165 160 155 85mm 120 115 112 110 108 76mm 84 81 80 77 75 Infantry Anti-Tank weapons such as PIAT, Panzerfaust etc. will penetrate around 200mm if they hit and go off (they roll 1d6 - 1 or 2 to fail!) Armour Thicknesses The following are illustrative thicknesses, giving maximum and minimum for each side. As a simple test, roll 1d6, 1 or 2 means a hit on an area of minimum thickness, 4-6 is a his on an area of maximum thickness (since they were usually in the areas most likely to be hit). Vehicle Front Max/Min. Side Max/Min. Rear Max/Min. Sherman 100 / 65 65 / 38 51 / 38 Stuart 40 / 25 25 / 25 15 / 15 Churchill 152 / 93 76 / 76 76 / 50 Firefly 100 / 65 65 / 38 65 / 38 PzKwIII j 53 / 35 33 / 30 54 / 31 PzKwIV f1-g 75 / 51 40 / 33 31 / 22 PzKwIV h-j 82 / 56 36 / 30 31 / 22 Panther 140 / 112 58 / 40 31 / 22 Tiger I 110 / 102 80 / 60 83 / 80 StuG III D 54 / 51 40 / 30 42 / 34 StuG III G 127 / 82 40 / 40 51 / 31 SdKfz 234 43 / 43 43 / 31 37 / 31 SdKfz 251 58 / 10 10 / 10 10 / 10 T34/76 96 / 80 75 / 47 64 / 54 T34/85 110 / 90 78 / 47 64 / 54 SU 85 59 / 51 52 / 45 59 / 47 SU 100 102 / 90 52 / 45 59 / 47 KV1 137 / 101 101 / 76 79 / 73