Gunther

1980s World War III War Game

Two Years ago I ran an actual war game based on the GDW game system, Assault. The RP was titled, Spearhead in the Gap. I am ready to attempt this again if anyone is interested. You don't need to be a brilliant strategist or military tactician. You are not playing against me. I am the game moderator.

If you decide to join this game, I will ask you to choose a side, NATO or WARSAW Pact. Then I will ask you to make a dice roll of 1d12. The outcome of this dice roll will allow me to determine the size and composition of your unit. Your opponent will not know. Most of the RP will take place in PMs between the players and the GM (me). Once, I send you the outcomes of your actions based on the game rules, you can then make a role play post in the IC thread. I will play each turn of the war game and communicate to you what your units see, who they shoot at and what sort of damage they may inflict or receive. You tell me where they are going and what sort of formation they may occupy.

Two years ago, both the NATO and WARSAW players happen to roll an armor battalion-sized formation. The game system does tend to weight the defender. With a US Armor Battalion defending in dug-in positions and an East German Armor Battalion of T-80s attacking. It was not pretty for the East German Panzers. But your dice rolls could be different. Various options include a company-sized formation of either tanks or mechanized infantry and may also end up being air assault light infantry units. The beauty of this experiment is you do not know what you are getting and you do not know what is on the other side waiting for you.

I am also willing to play this with four participants instead of two if there is interest. This would allow for the NATO players to work together and the Warsaw players to work together.

1980s World War III War Game

NATO v. WARSAW Pact

Assault: Tactical Combat in the 1980s

The countryside of the Fulda Gap

“Lariet Advance!”, the charge of quarters or CQ yelled as he moved from room to room in the barracks of the XX UNIT, West Germany. The first sergeant’s duty roster randomly assigned a Sergeant or Staff Sergeant in the company to serve as Charge of Quarters after duty hours. This junior NCO was responsible for the unit while the company commander and first sergeant were relaxing at home.

Within the hour, the entire XX UNIT was on the road headed to their General Deployment Positions near Location, Germany in the Fulda Gap. Upon arrival. They would receive an upload of their Basic Load of Ammunition (BLA) and receive their orders from higher headquarters.

Although the entire USAREUR (US Army Europe) conducted alerts once a month at 0230 hours, this was no drill. The WARSAW Pact was threatening military action and a declaration of war by the US Congress was imminent. All of NATO was on alert, tensions were high.

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The WARSAW Pact Unit as well as the entire WARSAW Pact Unit reacted with professional skill as they rolled their vehicles out of their respective cantonment areas. They would move to attack positions along the 1K zone on the West German border. The soldiers of the WARSAW Pact Unit could feel the tension of what they were about to do. No one was speaking.

The Soviet Army was well known for rehearsing battle drills until their execution was as rote as breathing. It was with precision and professionalism that the Soviet units could move into a battle efficiently. Their East German counterparts were no different, exercising that cold Germanic professionalism during the art of war.

The East German and Russian forces positioned themselves along the 1K zone waiting for their orders to push forward. Like their American, British, and West German counterparts, they also had received a Basic Load of Ammunition. Their commanders were confident they could roll right over the arrogant Americans in their steel death traps.

NOTE: The Maps have been updated! This is what we are using.

Maps

I photographed and emailed the maps to myself. I then copied the images onto MS Paint and found that the town/village names are blurred by the process as well as the hex identifiers. I retyped the town/village names onto the maps in order to make them more legible. Also, I linked a larger version of the map, which you can click on to make it crisper; easier to read. If you can read the hex identifiers, which are four-digit numbers, please use these when calling in artillery and CAS.

Map A is on the Western side of the combined map.



Map B is on the Eastern side of the combined map.



Combined map. North is to the top, south is to the bottom, west is to the left and east is to the right.



Terrain Key. This is what is depicted in each hex. Notice that the brown colored hexes depict higher elevation. Your units are assumed to be everywhere in a hex. Therefore, units in village/town hexes can be one level higher than the ground.

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Notes
1. I will serve as the Game Referee. I will use the rules of a war game called, “Assault: Tactical Combat in the 1980s.” I will also provide you with reports and messages from your subordinate leaders as though I were Role playing those NPCs.

2. In order to maintain the Fog of War, we will communicate via Private Messenger until contact with the enemy is made. You tell me where your units are moving along what route and who is firing at whom. I can answer questions related to the gaming system to help facilitate who is doing what, when, and where.

3. I will use the gaming system to determine the outcome. Please do not argue about the outcome of an engagement.

4. There are several dice rolls to be made throughout this game. I may ask you to roll as many as twenty or thirty different rolls of 1d10 or more during each turn. I will use your rolls to determine the outcome of engagements. Since both commanders are giving me instructions at the same time, I will play one full turn to determine the outcome and then communicate this individually to each. If a Soviet unit can see a US unit and vice versa, I will post a map of what is seen on both sides in the In Character tab.

5. As you create dice rolls in the RPG forum’s Dice section, link them in the OOC tab for all to see. You can label them or compartmentalize them however you see fit. I will tell you how the dice rolls relate to the outcomes. I may come back and ask for more dice rolls if needed. In fact, I will need new dice rolls every game turn.

6. As I am made aware of the outcomes of combat, I will communicate them to the respective player(s) so they can post them in their own style preferably using a role-playing style. Create characters and tell a story about these characters; about their life and maybe even their death.

7. The maps I will use have a hexagonal grid overlay which depicts sections of terrain that cover 250 meters.

8. Each game turn is 5 minutes. I will use both the NATO and the WARSAW Pact orders/moves/dice rolls as though everything is happening at the same time. I will post a timeline of each game turn below; broken down into 5-minute increments.

9. You do not need to know how to play the game. In fact, possessing a grasp of the game might interfere with your ability to enjoy the aesthetics of this role play.

10. You have the option to enlist (a) friend(s) to role play (a) subordinate(s) unit if there are too many units for you to manage.

We will use a TBA Scenario of my choosing.

A few things you may need to know about the gaming system…

1. I will ask for die rolls for your HQs and TOC units (Tactical Operations Center).

2. Units move either in column formation (one behind the other) or in Line formation (vehicles are abreast). You may need to specify which you are using as column provides the fastest movement speeds over great distances, but lacks combat power. Line formation provides the best combat power, but the movement is slowed.

3. Units in column formation will not shoot. They must switch to combat formation. All you need to do is give me the instructions to have your units automatically switch to combat formation when fired upon.

4. Units that are in cover can execute Opportunity Fire which is similar to executing an ambush from a covered and concealed location. You must tell me before a battle which units and where are in cover. These are units that are in the defense. They may be dug into the ground and invariably are using some form of camouflage.

5. I will also ask you to give me locations of where you want your indirect fire (Artillery) to land, depending on whether you have artillery assets. Artillery is fired at a location on the earth. If enemy or friendly units happen to occupy that location, they must accept the consequences they receive.

6. Pay careful attention to the maps I provide you. The colors depicted on the maps refer to different elevations. Your HQs units need to be able to see their subordinate units in order to have a more efficient and positive effect on them. I can provide you with a guide to determine a clear Line of Sight (LOS) if you need one.

7. I will ask you to roll 1d6 to determine the number of CAS sorties your side possesses for this operation. They will attack on your orders only and have an impact on an area cover seven hexes. They might miss and they will come under air defense artillery fire before they exit the map.

Note on Characters…

You will not need a character sketch for this role play. Feel free to name the characters in your command element and develop their characters throughout the game. The US or Bundeswehr commander will hold the rank of Captain, Major or Lieutenant Colonel. The Soviet Commander will hold the rank of Major, Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel. I will let you know when we know what size element you command. I encourage you to name the NPCs subordinate to your commander, whom I will play as when reporting to you about sightings and combat action.

If you have any questions, please ask. If there is something confusing in this OP, please let me know so I can clarify and maybe edit to this passage.

@CaptainBritton@Landain

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