ORBAT. Order of Battle. Table top game 1:72 scale.

I found in my shelf few boxes with plastic soldiers in 1:72 scale and decided o add them to Paper Tanks War.

In few hours I have created scenario and rules. Here it go..

First to build platoon. I used 1:72 soldiers and glue them to 2.5 x 2.5 cm cardboard. Sample below are new troops with Panther tank - paper. So my troops will be part of Paper Tanks War game too.

Before painting...

After painting.

To build Team we need 2 x 2 cm cardboard and grass. Marker with unit letter is small square. Glue soldiers to cardboard, cover with grass, terrain element and paint.

German platoon with Panther tank, ORBAT cards and moving triangle markers for Recon unit.

Game is called Order of Battle - Orbat. On table player will decide about tasks based on picked card with orders for units, tanks.

Each player has set of orders and depend from card he can move some units based on their name and distance from Sergeant or Commander.

In sample below there is a Orbat with disturbance which create order to widthraw some units. Only two cards are with disturbance.

Each box has up to 50 soldiers so I have devided them to three Teams (A, B, C) under command of CMD officer and Sergeant (SGT). Depend from box I have added also Recon Team (R), Machine Gun (MG), Sniper (S) and.. Medic (Red Cross).

So far I added tank - Panzer III to German platoon. We have mortar team as well and Antitank canon but that will be used later.

And Soviet troops with T-34. So I have low cost platoon ready to play.

CMD is commander who control all troops and is can be use in combat if he lost his sergeant. He moves follow all troops if necessary. I am thinking about some rules with distance between CMD and SGT to have command chain...

And so far both platoon leaders used distance ruler and they can control units whit that range only. So it is important to keep good formation.

If Orbat card has CMD or SGT then we have to use ruler and based on his length we know which tank on unit we are controlling.

Player will use cards with orders ( depend on side will select some units to move, attack..etc..). That orders will move particular units and player can move or fight. CMD move forward too.

SGT

Lead troops and also add some orders to own soldiers (but less that CMD). Sergeant can be used also as reconaissance when they lost all reconaissance teams. Sergeant follow teams and can also fight.

Recon (R) is most important part of platoon. If they all lost only sergeant can move forward and mark positions for his troops to follow. After move (10cm rule) player mark his position with ABC token - location of troops and move Recon Team again. During each move he can leave two markers for his troops. So if player going to move other units such Team A he place that team in area of field marked with A letter on token with maximum distance 5 cm from that marker. So units can move on table follow Recon markers.

Old version

New version. Markers are triangle shape with Army symbol. Tanks also use markers for his troops to follow.

Here you can see Team C follow Recon squad. H token is information that soldiers hide and they can be attack only by enemy Recon units or short distance granade (called Close Combat) or Sniper.

Recon Team moved two steps (10cm each) and each 10 cm left markers for Team moves. H mean hide. Recon unit can attack other hide units. But after attack they switch Hide token to V token - Visible and they can be attack by any enemy units.

Below you can see V (Visible) tokens near Team C and Sniper. If you move unit to new position - then you can flip that token to H- and hide unit again. If unit with H open fire - they are visible and player must flip token to V positio

Each Army has three Teams A,B,C (each Team has three infantry units and one unit with granades and antitank weapon)..there is also Machine Gun teams, sniper teams and medic team to help wounded units.

Team with black square symbol near letter can attack enemy tanks with bazooka, Panzerfaust or grenades.

Medic (M) is used when we have to help wounded unit ( during attack they can be killed, wounded or grounded). Medic move same as Recon and when he came to wounded unit player throw dice and depend from result he can take unit back to Commander for recovery or could not help and they lost team. Also Medic can help Team. Still working on that. Below result of help. Medic arrive too late. If Recon Team died also marker must be removed.

Order dice has variants of move or attack for each side. When Team will be selected player throw dice with A or B or C letter and move selected unit only. In sample below B team move no far than 5cm from Recon marker in B field.

Playing field can be 90 x 120 cm with any terrain you can build. My terrain was devided to objectives where player tried to take and hold some targets ( building, crossroad)..

For that game I have two houses, about 150cm roads, few field, small forest and boccage to create more complicated field.

Also I have added small train station to create objective.

Each time when teams moves they are moved they can hide and during hide they can't be attacked until they open fire..so they can hide until enemy will be on close distance. Units who attack remove H and it can be attacked by opponent. Sniper and Recon can attack unit with H.

How they move:

ABC Team move 10cm maximum around each Recon marker and leter on its side with distance up to 5 cm.

Recon team can move 20 cm and after 10 cm player will leave marker for ABC Teams to follow. He can place marker for team on the way so not exact 10cm are required. It is maximum distance m So one color is German, second Soviet. Recon is like Team but move faster and can also fight if necessary. Teams move around each marker so more reconaissance units explore than more we can move.

Machine Gun (MG) moves as Team. Medic (cross) moves like Recon.

Sniper (S) moves as Team

Tanks moves only 10cm.

To start playing player throw dice. 1/3/5 - German starts. 2/4/6 - Russian/US, British. Player who move will throw "order dice" and if team moves were selected - he used ABC dice to select which Team will move or attacks.

After move player will placed H (hide) allow unit to hide against attack or fire. Only Sniper can attack units who are Hidden. When player decide to use unit with attack he remove Hide marker and from that moment they can be seen and attacked until his next move.

Teams follow around each Recon marker. So when Recon team moves ABC Teams, Medic or MG or S follow marker and they can be placed around each marker in area designated with Team letter.

When player decide to use unit with attack instead move range of fire for team is up to 30 cm. Machine gun range is about 40cm and sniper can shoot 50 cm target. When team has square symbol they can use grande against enemies behind walls, hedges, etc... Range of attack is 5 cm only so typically short distance is required. At short distance (below 10cm) units can't hide and they can be attacked.

When attack (shoot) use 6K dice. Result are - killed (result 5), wounded (2 or 6) or grounded (result 3) . Result 1 is missed and 4 is missed with fire back - if attacked unit is in range of fire). When wounded - place red cross marker near team and wait for medic. When he can close enough - he use 6K dice to check result of medical help...

Combat Card with results of attack.

Result of Soviet attack was Wounded German Recon team. Now Medic must move to wounded recon unit and provide help. Up to that moment he can't fire back or move.

Tanks moves follow dice with three options: move only, fire only, move and fire. One side is X - no move and no fire. Below there is a sample of P.III move - X, no chance to join battle during that move. So dice has options - F (fire), MF (move and fire), M (move only), X - no action.

Command dice with orders.

Sergeant (SGT) can move or fire when all Recon teams are lost or all units are moved forward (no troops behing SGT). One recon team can move or attack, one Team can move or attack, Medic can help wounded, MG can fire or move.

Below sample of Recon team attack Soviet team with result - team destroyed. If Recon team was destroyed player remove Recon marker from last position too.

Machine Gun can fire to multiple targets if they are close to each other (10cm is maximum separation).

Tanks can shoot or to other tanks or Infantry. If Team hide in ruins, tank must throw dice result higher than 3 - then throw again and check result of attack. Tank can be hit three times in Armor, lost track (can be fixed) or got hit with Ricochet (can't be used next round). A small token - one Armor hit, AA small token - tank was hit twice. Next hit damage tank. Tank can use canon or machine gun (range 15cm only).

And Soviet tank destroyed...

When Medic was selected to move and help he moves same as Recon (two ABC markers) and help wounded unit. There are three options. Medic can help and remove Wounded marker, medic must take wounded soldier back to CP (each time move with one marker only) or his help came too late and wounded unit died.