Battleground World War II

Many of the key engagements fought by armies in

World War II took place before dawn. Night fighting has a
very different character than day-time fighting and a number
of special rules apply. Obviously, sighting will be far more
difficult in the dark, but morale will also be effected. People
really are afraid of the dark. Darkness can be very deceptive,
therefore players and Gamemasters are encouraged to use
their own judgement on what can and cannot be seen at
night.
Sighting
Any battle taking place at night will follow special sighting
rules. To determine sighting chance at night measure the
range as normal. Then triple the measured range. Find this
new range on the chart and then apply any modifiers as
normal. All sighting rules remain the same, figures and
vehicles will be Concealed or Open, Firing or Moving, just
as in daylight.
Muzzle Flash: The muzzle flash of any weapon will be
sighted far more easier than the firer in the dark. Even flash
hiders will not help, because flash hiders are designed to keep
the firer from being blinded by his own flash, not to hide the
flash from the target. It is never possible to hide a muzzle
flash. Any muzzle flash will be sighted automatically by
any piece within range and Line of Sight. Figures returning
fire on a muzzle flash without sighting the firer will always
suffer the No Target penalty and thus be at half chance to
hit. Hits will be resolved as normal. The muzzle flash of a
grenade will give away the landing point of the grenade, not
the location of the thrower. Thus, returning fire on a grenade
flash will only have a chance of hitting figures in that area,
and not necessarily the thrower.
Sound: Sound becomes a key aspect in locating friends and
enemies in the dark. The general direction of the sound of
any weapon fire will be automatically detected by everyone,
regardless of Line of Sight, at double the sighting range of
the muzzle flash. Thus, the sound of rifle fire will be heard
out to 48. Green troops will be unable to tell friendly
weapon noises from the sound of enemy weapons. Troops
of regular or higher quality are able to tell friendly weapons
from enemy by sound alone.
Distant Noise: Sounds still carry at much greater ranges
than those listed on the chart. Any piece on the table will
hear the sounds of distant battle in the direction of the fire.
Pieces will be unable to tell what type of fire they hear or if
it is friendly or enemy at these ranges. Pieces may be able to
tell the difference between small arms and main guns.
Infanty Motion: Infantry figures in motion may be heard
moving even outside of Line of Sight. A moving infantry
figure can be heard at triple the number of inches he moves
each action. Thus a figure moving 4 per action can be
heard up to 12 away. Thus, any enemy piece making a
Sighting Check within 8 of the moving figure will hear the
night rules
Night Rules
Battleground World War II
noise if they make a successful roll to Sight on the Infantry
Concealed chart at double the actual range.
Example: A figure moving 3 per action moves to within 9
of an enemy sentry who is on Op-Fire. The sentry rolls on
the Sighting Chart to Sight a concealed infantry target at 18
range, taking all modifiers into account. If the sentry rolls
a sighting, then the sentries player is told of the noise of
motion in the direction of the movement.
Vehicle Motion: The noise of any vehicle moving will be
heard by any piece within four times the vehicles movement
each action. Thus, a vehicle moving 6 will be heard out
to 24 away. The sound of a vehicle starting will be heard
36 away and the sound of a non-moving vehicle idling will
be heard out to 12 away.
Blocking Noise: Infantry troops firing their own weapons
will not be able to hear the sound of movement or other
weapons firing. Vehicle crews that are buttoned-up, moving,
or firing will be unable to hear any noise over the noise of
their own vehicle.
Terrain: Terrain that is plainly obvious in the daylight can
become invisible in the dark. This can have a very adverse,
and amusing, effect on fast moving pieces.
Ground: It will be impossible to tell Open Ground from
Rough Ground in the dark, although tall fields will be visible.
Hills and Roads will be readily apparent.
Woods: Woods will be sighted automatically. Line of Sight
within to or out of the wood will be blocked at 1.
Natural Obstacles: The visibility of natural obstacles will
vary by type. Brush, Hedge, and Bocage will generally be
sighted once within 24. Gullies may be sighted at 12 or
may not be noticed until moved over (fallen in to) at GM
discretion.
Emplacements: Elevated Emplacements, such as Sandbags
or Roadblocks will be sighted just like Hedges and similar
Natural Obstacles. Dug in Emplacements such as Trenches
will be sighted like Gullies.
Water: Rivers will be automatically sighted. Streams will
be sighted just like a Gully. A Marsh will be sighted similar
to Rough Ground. Thus, a Marsh will not be sighted until
moved into unless previously known about or sighted by an
alert piece at GM discretion.
Buildings: Buildings will be automatically sighted. Sighting
within a Building with a roof will blocked at 1. Sighting
within Buildings with no roof will be as normal.
Light: Light has the obvious effect of removing dark.
However, light can be seen at a far greater distance then
it illuminates and can give away the position of the light
source. Any Sighting Checks made into an illuminated area
follow all sighting rules for daylight. Sighting ranges are not
tripled for Sighting Checks made within an illuminated area.
Pieces within an illuminated area may not make Sighting
Checks out of the illuminated area.
Flashlights (Torches) Any figure that is equipped with a
flashlight may turn the light on or off for free as part of
any action. A flashlight will illuminate an area 1 wide and
6 long. A flashlight can be seen by anyone within LOS
and within 24. Generally flashlights are covered with a
dark filter to prevent the user from being sighted. A filtered
flashlight will only illuminate a 1 by 1 area and will be
sighted out to 6 with Line of Sight.
Flares Flares are pyrotechnics fired from flare pistols. Flares
may be used to illuminate an area at night. It takes one action
to load a flare pistol. Flare pistols are fired exactly like rifle
grenades. Place a counter on the location the flare hit.
Flare pistol flares last for 3 turns once fired, as it falls to the
ground. On the turn fired a flare will illuminate a 12 radius
area. On the turn after a flare is fired it will illuminate a 8
radius area. On the second turn after a flare is fired it will
illuminate a 6 radius area. Model flares can be made out
of a washer built up with putty with a straight rod sticking
up. The base is then flocked and the rod painted black, with
the very tip painted white. If you are ambitious you can
make 3 different heights of flare to indicate how long a flare
has been burning.
Starshells Some mortars and artillery pieces have special
illumination rounds called starshells. Starshells will be
uncommon and only available in limited supply, d6 rounds
per gun if available at all. Starshells roll To Hit and deviate
exactly like an HE shell from the weapon firing. Once a
location is determined for the shell place a counter to indicate
the starshell. Starshells last for 6 turns. On the turn fired
and the following turn the starshell will illuminate a 32
radius area. On the second and third turns after being fired
the starshell will illuminate a 24 radius area. On the fourth
and fifth turns after being fired the starshell will illuminate
a 16 radius area.
Vehicles
Vehicles will not be able to move full speed at night without
great risk.
Headlights Vehicles can use headlights to reduce the risk
of accident. But in war most headlights are of the covered,
black-out, variety that will not increase visibility greatly.
Uncovered headlights will be very rare. Vehicles may only
night rules
Type
Muzzle Flash Chart
Sight
Rifle
Machine Gun
Grenade
Main Gun
24"
36"
18"
48"
Sound
48"
72"
36"
96"
night rules
Battleground World War II
move a limited speed safely at night. Any vehicle may exceed
the limit at any time, but will face a Skill Check. Failure
of the Skill Check will lead to either a collision or a Bog
for the speedy vehicle. Vehicles must mark the status of their
headlights during the Mark Special Fire modes phase of each
turn. A vehicle may not turn its lights on or off outside of the
Mark Special Fire mode phase. This to prevent players from
taking unfair advantage of the Sighting rules.
Sighting Headlights Full headlights will be automatically
sighted at 96 range with LOS. Blackout lights will be
automatically sighted at 32 range with LOS.
Vehicle Sighting Vehicle crews will make Sighting Checks
with the triple range as described in the Sighting rules.
Headlights will illuminate 16 in front of the vehicle.
Blackout lights will illuminate 6 in front of the vehicle.
Sighting Checks made into an area illuminated by lights do
not suffer the triple range penalty.
Vehicle Speed Procedure:
1. Determine speed the vehicle is moving.
2. Determine status of the vehicles headlights.
3. Cross reference the vehicles headlight status with its
movement, using the Vehicle Headlight Chart.
4. The chart will indicate either an OK or a Skill Check.
If an OK is indicated the vehicle will complete the action
safely.
5. If a Skill Check, or Half Skill Check is indicated, roll a
d20. If the number rolled is equal or less than the crews
morale (or half morale) then the action was completed
safely.
6. If the number rolled was greater than the crews morale (or
half morale) a mishap has occured. The vehicle in question
has struck any near by vehicles, infantry, or terrain. Use
the Ramming and Crushing Things rules to determine the
effects on the vehicle and the item hit. If there is nothing
to hit then the vehicle may have blundered into soft terrain
or had a similiar mishap. Gamemasters should determine
exact results based on the specifics of the terrain and vehicle.
In games with no GM, players must determine the results,
always deciding against the speedy vehicle and in favor of
serious mishap. A speedy vehicle that fails a Skill Check can
stray a significant distance from its intended course.
Morale
Night fighting will also have a serious effect on the Morale
of the men fighting.
Morale Checks The chaos of noise and muzzle flashes
combined with uncertainty of friendly and enemy posistions
made most soldiers far more cautious and nervous. Because
of this any Morale Check made during a night engagement
will be at a +2 modifier. This modifier is cumulative with
all other modifiers.
Squad Morale The confusion of night fighting, especially
the uncertainty of friendly and enemy positioning has an
effect on Squad as well. Any Squad Morale Check made at
Night is with a +2 modifier.
Platoon Morale Any Platoon Integrity Check made at Night
will suffer a +2 modifier. Individual vehicle Morale Checks
are made normally, because of the relative security of a
vehicle and the close proximity with other crew members.
Lights
Vehicle Headlight Chart
Half
Off
Blackouts
Headlights
OK
OK
OK
Full
SK
OK
OK
Road
Half
SK
OK