TTRPG Roll 24-11 ~ I&R Platoon battles in War Stories: A World War 2 RPG (Firelock Games, 2022)

Continuing my Intelligence & Reconnaissance Platoon (I&R Platoon) solo campaign for War Stories: A World War 2 RPG (Firelock Games, 2022) in this posting I explore the Intelligence & Reconnaissance Platoon in a Campaign Battle. For previous entries see:

• TTRPG Roll 24-7 ~ Infantry & Reconnaissance Platoon for War Stories: A World War 2 RPG (Firelock Games, 2022).
• TTRPG Roll 24-10 ~ I&R Platoon Leader and mission for War Stories: A World War 2 RPG (Firelock Games, 2022).

War Stories: A World War 2 RPG, designed by G.I. Garcia and published by Firelock Games (2022) is a roleplaying game focused, as it should be, on individual characters. While different sessions may represent a “day in the life” or a specific mission event in Chapter 9: The Campaign the core rule book also offers guidance on how the player-characters fit into the “big picture” (158):

War Stories focuses on the player experience, and as such combat action is ‘zoomed-in’ on their characters and their squad. These Battle rules are not intended to run complete combat engagements in detail, but instead re-create the feel of wider combat for the players. The rules help immerse players in the bigger engagement developing around them, and that they can have a big impact on them. The battle rules give the GM tools to see how the sweep of the battle is going, narrate the evolution as it progresses, and provide options for enhacing the player experience as we follow them through the fight.

War Stories, Chapter 9: The Campaign, 159

RPG SOP

The play sequence for Simulating the Battle in War Stories is laid out starting on page 160 of War Stories. The eight-step play sequence (heck, just call it a Sequence of Play or SOP) looks like this:

1. Calculate the Army Dice Pool.
2. Divide each force and assign battle objectives to each.
3. The Player Phase – This is basically a game session.
4. The Battle Phase – After The Player Phase the larger battle is resolved; the outcome of The Player Phase can influence the battle.
5. The Casualty Phase.
6. The Narrative Phase – The GM narrates the outcome.
7. The next Player Phase starts.
8. The sequence of play repeats until:
   • One Army is reduced to zero battle dice, or;
   • Five Battle Rolls are made without victor (stalemate), or;
   • The GM changes the direction of the battle.

With my Intelligence & Reconnaissance Platoon ready, let’s see how it can fit into a larger battle.

The Battle of Hill 530

While it is easy to try to fit a War Stories campaign into a real historical setting with real units in a real historical battle, in my campaign I want more flexibility. Therefore, in my campaign the Intelligence & Reconnaissance (I&R) Platoon is assigned to a unidentified U.S. Army Infantry Regiment (‘the Regiment’) fighting in the fall of 1944 somewhere in France. In this battle the Regiment is opposed by an equally nameless German Infantry Regiment.

Army Battle Pool

“Each army in a battle has a Battle Pool of dice, indicating how effective that army is” (159).

Steps to determine Army Battle Pool (159):

• Determine Army Ratio – The number of dice is supposed to be proportional their strength so, without getting too deep into combat ration and the like, I simply give each army a single d6 for each battalion (1:1).
• Equipment Advantage – U.S. gets +2 for “good equipment” while the Germans get +1 for “decent equipment.”
• Command Advantage – The U.S gets +1 for “there’s a plan” but they face a seasoned German commander (+2 for “inspired”).
• Morale Advantage – U.S. gets +2 for “can’t wait to see the enemy off” while the Germans get +0 for “morale is poor.”
• Defensive Positions – U.S. gets +0 for attacking; Germans get +2 for towns or natural advantages.
• Weather – Fair weather gives the U.S. side +1 for tactical air support.

Mission

The I&R Platoon is one of several U.S. units assigned a mission:

• I&R Platoon – Scout flanks of 2nd Battalion
• Able Company – Hold left flank.
• Baker Company – Hold right flank.
• Charlie Company – Reserves.
• Dog Company (Heavy Weapons) – Portioned out to Able and Baker Companies.

The German unit (a Battalion of the an unknown Regiment) is assigned the following missions:

• 1 Company – Advance.
• 2 Company – Advance.
• 3 Company – First Reserve.
• 4 Company – Second Reserve.

The Player Phase

Assume the U.S. I&R Platoon accomplishes their mission successfully. Under the “Player or Other Influence” modifier (159) the GM rules the success adds one battle die (+1 die) to the U.S. roll.

The Battle Phase

The U.S. rolls 8 battle die: 4, 2, 3, 3, 6, 1, 5, 2 = one success only! Battle Outcome (161) roll is 44 or “One enemy unit Falls Back under pressure – if they can’t fall back they Rout. The enemy Army loses 1 Battle Die.”

The Germans roll 8 battle die: 1, 2, 4, 1, 2, 6 = one success. Battle Outcome roll of 22 is, “A unit in this force spearheads an attack. It breaks through an enemy line or overruns an enemy position.”

Casualties

U.S.rolls [6]+1=7 or “5% casualties.” Assuming these come from between Able and Baker Companies, that’s about 10 casualties per Company.

German rolls [5]+1=6 or “The army suffers some light casualties, a few serious, and some KIA.”

Battle Narrative

Having completed his recon and delivering the maps to the Colonel, 1LT Bradley “Funny” Fundati had a front-row seat at HQ of the battle that followed. The Colonel was not happy; while Able of the 2nd used the intel Funati delivered to push back a probing German infantry company, another German company found the seam between Able and Baker and advanced past the front lines threatening to cut off Able Company. Meanwhile, Charlie of the 2nd was trying to un-a$$ itself out of its reserve position. This didn’t look good.

“Fundati!”, roared the Colonel. “Get your recon boys back to Hill 530 and let me know if there is another German regiment out there. Let’s hope it ain’t any Panzers but if they are there you must tell me soonest!” Fundati threw a quick salute as he acknowledged the order, hoping the Colonel didn’t see him gulping at the same time. If his I&R Platoon was to be a regimental outlook alone and unafraid on the flank the last thing he wanted to see was a Panzer. Fundati wondered if his Platoon would have time to stop by the Weapons Company and see about some bazookas…

The Next Player Phase

The I&R Platoon has a new mission: Scout for Panzers. Oh my!

Post battle

Generally, I feel the Campaign Battle system in War Stories is…acceptable. One lesson I learned playing this War Stories campaign is not to get too grognardy when building the Army Dice Pool. The first time through I assigned dice based on unit strength (1d6 per battalion in a regiment) which added several more dice to each pool. The large pools of dice didn’t seem to “attrite” at a speed usable for a campaign. I went back and used the proportionality rules (as written) which reduced the starting number of dice and made the system seemingly flow at a better rate.

A second lesson I learned is consideration for the scale of the Campaign Battle in War Stories. Given my characters are in a Squad or Platoon, looking at the battle from the regimental or division level is likely “too high a view” and makes it difficult to translate the results from the Battle and Casualty Phases into a plausible narrative. There is an old Army approach to command that says you should manage no further than two levels down (i.e. Control – one level, Understand – two levels). In a War Stories campaign it is perhaps better to use build an Army Dice Pool with units no higher than two-levels above. In the case of the I&R Platoon, the next level up would be Companies and the highest would be a Battalion. Most important, my characters are in a Platoon which is part of the battle; I am not the commander like in so many wargames.

Grognardy RPG play

At the end of the day I have to remember that War Stories is an RPG. As I said at the top of this post that means the focus is on characters. While it is easy to get carried away in a Campaign Battle and try to go all wargamy, it is best to remember that War Stories is not a wargame. If anything, War Stories is a reminder that I need to keep my grognardiness under control in RPG or Adventure Wargames.

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Feature image “British and American combat engineers swap stories, news, and cigarettes around a small fire as they wait for a call to build a Bailey Bridge near Someren, Holland. The British are with the 15th Scottish Division, while the Americans are with the 7th Armored Division” courtesy warfarehistorynetwork.com.

The opinions and views expressed in this blog are those of the author alone and are presented in a personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Navy or any other U.S. government Department, Agency, Office, or employer.

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