Rule Clarifications and House Rules for Megablitz

I’ve put together some notes below on rules that I found a bit puzzling. They result from asking the Megablitz Yahoo Forum for clarifications. Thanks to in particular to Martin Rapier and Bob Cordery for sharing their wisdom.

A.1 Scales

A.1.1 Ground Scale

Standard Megablitz supports two possible ground scales:

• 1:25,000 so 4cm on table is 1km. A 6 x 4 foot tale is 45km x 30km. Nominally for 15-20mm figures.
• 1:50,000 so 2cm on table is 1km. A 6 x 4 foot table is 90km x 60km. Nominally for 5-12mm figures.

But I have also used

• 1:33,333 so 3cm on table is 1km. A 6 x 4 foot tale is 60km x 40km. This suits my 15mm figures based for Crossfire.

A.1.2 Time Scale

Turns are officially two hours but what is more important is the number of day light turns in a day. Martin Rapier recommends short days so there are plenty of days and logistics becomes important. He suggested 4-6 turns per day although in his “Megablitz NWE” Martin suggested 7 turns for a Summer’s day (MJJA), 6 turns in Spring/Autumn (MASO) and 5 in Winter (NDJF). Assume 3 hour turns if you prefer.

A.2 Game Equipment

What you need to start is:

1. Two armies. Unless both sides are leg infantry you’ll need lots and lots of trucks.
2. Some form of recording each unit’s strength points (SP), and logistics (POL, LOG). This could be any of:
   • A unit roster
   • Numbered markers fixed to each base by small lengths of magnetic tape or small piece of POST-IT notes .
   • Strength point markers next to each unit (these can be downloaded from the Megablitz website). If going for this approach you may want to differentiate between LOG, POL and SPs – I used different coloured card.
3. Coloured markers for Supply State (Blue, Pink, Red, Yellow)
4. Order markers (these can be downloaded from the Megablitz website)
5. Two combat boxes (any small tin or box will do)
6. A scenario (there are several on the Megablitz website or in the ‘Files’ section of the Megablitz Yahoo Forum or my own A Dot in Russia)
7. A tabletop with whatever scenery the scenario needs.

A.2.2 Armies

One division per player is recommended (substitute a Corps for Soviets). If more than one player/division then add the higher level commanders.

A.2.3 Terrain

Keep terrain minimal and only include significant features. The key thing is the road network and movement choke points like rivers and extensive areas of difficult (aka impassable to vehicles) terrain like steep wooded hills, swamps etc. In terms of military terrain analysis this would be:

• Hills
• Rivers and large streams
• Road net including bridges
• Significant Built Up Areas (BUA)
• Areas of bad going (swamp, woods, etc)

New Rule: Martin Rapier, in his “Megablitz NWE”, suggests a third terrain category of “Difficult terrain” (thick woods, major BUA, rugged hills etc) in addition to good and bad. Difficult terrain slows movement to the leg rate and is harder to attack. This has interesting implications for supply, as units which rely on motorised supply are almost certainly going find themselves out of range, however mules have quite a fair ‘leg’ range.

The Orders and terrain interrelate:

The BUA rules make wise attackers avoid BUAs like the plague.

Optionally you can include some scenario specific rules such as:

• Units on hills get a spotting bonus.
• Units stop on desert escarpments before they can move off again.
• Only leg/horse units can pass through steeply wooded hills.

A.3 Stands

A.3.1. Troop Representation

For specialist mechanised/motorised infantry the infantry stand and transport model are essentially the same stand so to represent the stand you could use any of:

• An infantry stand
• A vehicle stand
• A stand with both infantry and a vehicle (particularly if you’ve using 1/300th).

Where the transport is not integral, e.g. British lorried infantry, then you are best to keep the infantry and transport as separate stands. Some orders of battle on the Megablitz site give both Russians and Germans a radio truck. But it is just a motorised signals unit, so representational options include:

• One or more men with a radio and/or map standing next to a kubelwagen / jeep / truck / horse cart
• Opel Blitz radio trucks
• Armoured artillery radio halftracks
• Command Pz 1s
• Armoured cars and halftracks with extra aerials

A.3.2 Stand Dimensions

For 15mm figures the rules recommend 6x6cm for Russian rifle regiments, 4×4 cm for other infantry and 4cm wide by 10-12cm for other stuff.

My kit is based for Crossfire so quite different to the above. My infantry and guns are all based on 3cm wide stands. My stands are usually also 3cm deep although some guns stands are a bit longer. My vehicles are not on bases at all.

I’m happy enough for the most part using a 3×3 cm base instead of a 4×4 cm base for battalions and such like.

I’m still grappling with Russian regiments. Options are to use:

• 3×3 cm bases. I’ve tried this but they don’t quite have the footprint you’d expect from such a large formation.
• Two 3 x 3 cm stands pushed together.
• A 3 x 3 cm stand on a larger sabot. I’m considering 6 x 3 cm, 4.5 x 4.5 cm, and 6 x 6 cm.

My unbased vehicles also pose a problem as they don’t have a unique ID.

A.5 Organisation of Stands

A.5.1 Example Orbats

2 New Zealand (NZ) Division

250th Infantry Division, Spanish Volunteer Division, Division Azul, or the Blue Division

B.1 Sequence of Play

The rules say “Turns are simultaneous, each player resolving each phase in turn” but apparently it really can be simultaneous, with no one going first. If there is a dispute get both player to state their intentions (stand and fight, fall back, advance) and pro-rata the movement. I’ve taken the order of play from the rules, added in a suggestion by Bob Cordery about the movement sequence for different Orders, and added some steps that are buried in the rules but aren’t mentioned in section B.1.

[New Section] B.0 Weather

New Optional Rule: An optional rule from Martin Rapier’s “Megablitz NWE”. At the start of the each day roll 1d6 on the Weather Table:

Seasonal Weather Modifiers: +1 in Summer, 0 Spring/Autumn, -1 in Winter.

B.2 Orders

B.2.3 Order Details

There are no constraints on how granular the orders are, i.e. you could, if you wanted, give the whole division the same orders, or give every stand in a division different orders, but typically each regiment/brigade will be given an order. The rules don’t mention many limitations on the orders but some gentlemanly conduct is assumed. For example…

• A Retreat is a retreat, you have to run away.
• Attack is just a mode of deployment, it is slow but deliberate combat and is allowed to include artillery support, so attack in any direction you like. You can “attack” to the rear, i.e. away from enemy. If one player is attacking away and the other player is attacking forward then they will stay in contact. You can also attack towards enemy even if you can’t contact them this turn.
• If a player really wanted to break off he’d have to go into Mobile or Retreat because they are faster than Attack.

Stands that are in combat this turn can still change orders. For example, two stands attack each other but in the second turn one player stays on Attack and and the other changes to Retreat. Note you can’t move directly from Attack to Static. I was interested in what counts as fighting when two enemy stands are in contact. But on reflection the combat matrix makes that clear. But it is interesting to see when combat happens and when it doesn’t. Unpicking the combat matrix I’ve organised it from the most violent to the least violent combinations. The numbers in parenthesizes are the rolls necessary to take casualties.

B.3 Visibility

Visibility is important for

• Reconnaissance
• Artillery spotting
• Spotting minefields, fortifications etc.

It is more relevant if you are using hidden deployment.

Optional scenario specific rules:

• Give a spotting bonus to units on hills.
• Defenders deploy hidden. Plot deployment on a map.

B.4 Movement

Mechanised/motorised infantry, i.e. infantry with integral transport, move at the rate of the their transport, i.e. track/wheels. There may be some occasions when they abandon their to enter or cross difficult terrain.

Infantry without integral transport can be carried by separate transport stands (e.g. British lorried infantry). To bus / debus takes no time.

New Rule: Infantry without integral transport that is carried by separate transport must debus 1km from the enemy and pro-rata the movement.

New Rule: Stands under M, A or S orders have a Zone of Control (ZOC) to limit enemy activity in the immediate vicinity. The ZOC is 1 km all around. Essentially it forces nearby enemy to attack the stand rather than drive past. The ZOC also blocks supply. Enemy stands in a stand’s ZOC can only remain stationary, withdraw away from the friendly stand, or engage the stand in combat. Any movement by the enemy stand, other than a withdrawal, causes a combat to occur. ZOC for aircraft is handled slightly differently.

New Rule: Difficult terrain:

• Difficult terrain restricts all movement to leg rate (including supply units).
• All units attacking difficult terrain drop one combat dice, including air and artillery.

New Rule: Overnight moves may be forwards or backwards, but not both, and units cannot both move and dig in.

B5. Air Action

B.5.2 Air Missions

Air Missions last one turn, i.e. the planes over the table for only one turn before flying back to base to refuel/rearm.

[New Section]B.5.2.6 Air Interdiction

New Rule: There is a another Air Mission called “Air Interdiction”. This is used to blocks supply routes. Supply may not be traced through this ZOC, and any movement cannot be in T. It may be intercepted/supported by fighters and Flak negates SP turns of the mission without losses.

• Variant 1: A plane gets a ZOC equal to its SP value in km. Example, a 3 SP dive bomber has a 3 km ZOC. The plane stand is placed on table in the Air Action Phase and the ZOC, if larger than the model, extends to each side.
• Variant 2: Air interdiction lasts for (SP) turns, and imposes a ZOC within 1km of the air unit.

B.5.3. Anti-Aircraft Fire (Flak)

Flak fire with their AA factors when they are defending the following from air attack:

• themselves
• any friendly stand they are physically in contact with
• an air base – the flak is considered integral to the air base

A good spot to park flak is right in the middle of Div HQ and all the supply trucks and guns.

B.5.4 Airbases

You can raid off table airbases although they have integral flak defences.

B.7 Combat

There are no facing rules however the convention is to butt opposing stands together frontally. The only exception is when one stand supports another; the supporting stand must be to the rear of the supported stand. Otherwise a flank attack just lets you get more SPs in contact with the target.

A stand can disengage from an enemy it was in combat with last turn using a mobile type order (R,T,M,A) permitted by the order change restrictions (Section B.2.3). The attacker can follow up but if the attacker is in A and the disengager in M, the attacker isn’t going to catch them.

Resolve combat at the highest possible level, so all stands involved throw all the dice at once. This normally ends up being at roughly brigade level (plus supports) although I have seen entire divisional engagements resolved with one big dice throw. Losses are allocated evenly in participating units, and artillery units will suffer losses if they are within counter-battery range. This means that attacking fortified positions on a broad front is a really, really bad idea as you are never going to get a high enough force ratio to break through. Attack in a narrow front in great depth with as much support as you can throw in.

New Rule: Martin Rapier, in his “Megablitz NWE”, proposes defensive benefits:

• All units attacking difficult terrain (thick woods, major BUA, rugged hills etc) drop one combat dice, including air and artillery.
• Infantry and AT in S gain 1 extra combat dice.

B.7.2 Artillery Support

Russians are the main candidate for artillery spotter stands, although in later war/artillery intensive scenarios where extensive planning is assumed, you might want to ignore them.

B.7.3. Procedure

Stands are only removed when their SP falls below 0. Units with 0 SP are still extant, they just have no combat capacity and can be overrun by armoured units in the movement phase (see rule B.7.8 Overrun Attacks). 0 SP units can work quite well as delaying screens etc and if in S will handily stop units in M.

Hits on Logistics stands come off the stand’s capacity (in LOG and POL). If their capacity falls below the supply (LOG or POL) carried, then both one point of supply is also destroyed. For example, a truck with a cap of 3 has 2 LOG on it, it takes one hit so down to cap 2, the LOG is unaffected, but if it takes another hit so cap is down to 1 then it loses a LOG as well. Note: Many people play it that the hits come straight off the LOG; simple but less accurate.

B.7.6 Minefields and B.8 Engineering

B.8 Engineering says that engineers lay mines in 1 km chunks. They may as well be 1 km deep for
consistency. The “Cost in EP/turns” to lay 1 km of mines is 5. My pioneers had 2 EP. That means it takes the pioneers 2.5 turns to lay 1 km of mines.

If an engineer (or stand with flails etc) does attack the minefield and reduces it to 0 SP then remove 1km or the frontage of the engineer unit, whichever is larger.

We usually play it that if the minefields are undefended then you can just lift them, but if they are defended (ie enemy troops on the far side) then your engineers are going to have to enter combat ie move into the minefield and fight the enemy while/before doing any mine clearance. We usually either just include the engineers in the first assault wave through defended minefields, or save them until the infantry have cleared the defenders away. Either way, attacking defended minefields is expensive and unpleasant and best conducted on narrow fronts with heavy fire support.

B.9 Logistics

B.9.1. General

Logistics stands are rated for both capacity and how much stuff they are actually carrying (LOG/POL). By default the capacity is the same as the LOG/POL it was originally carrying.

B.9.4. Supply Usage Rates

LOG/POL get consumed during the Overnight Phase for per day consumption and at the end of the Combat Phase for per turn consumption. ‘Overnight resupply’ is effectively the LOG unit spending its daily consumption point. The resupply is the logistics unit supplying its dependant subordinates. Any LOG transfer happens in the overnight resupply phase.

To an extent supply is a scenario specific thing:

• For a short game don’t bother with stuff coming up from the rear and just make the units subsist on their integral supplies. For in/out of supply you can do something simple like unit traces supply back to Divisional LOG and Divisional LOG traces supply back to friendly table edge via road. Or something.
• For longer games then assign some sort of off table daily resupply rate. There are two choices for moving LOG around:
  • Variant 1: Load the logistics elements up LOG markers and physically move them around at game movement rates. To transfer LOG or POL you must move the two logistics elements physically together; the transfer happens overnight. [Martin Rapier recommends against this option as it allows a large amount of supplies to be moved around and negates the usefulness of air interdiction.]
  • Variant 2: Set up a supply chain (another suggestion by Martin Rapier). LOG does not have to be physically moved around. Divisional LOG can only be replenished from the rear if it is on a road back to a Corps supply unit or the table edge. Use Corps logistics units on roads in T to keep moving supplies up to divisional units already on a road. Road capacity is generally 3 LOG max, although this may be modified in special circumstances; MP units increase road capacity by 1. Let the divisional units operate in whatever mode they like. Bit hard to supply anyone off road if you are in T. Divisional supply radius is double move distance from divisional LOG. Artillery units have their own LOG.

B.9.5 Supply State Effects Table

Supply state applies at all times. Stands need to be able to trace supply to a valid supply source at all times, day or night, or they suffer from bad things happening (see below). So you need to keep your combat stands within supply distance of their LOG. This can be very entertaining when certain bits of terrain are impassable or only passable to leg units.

Supply state is indicated by coloured markers next to the stand (or HQ for larger formation) in question.

This is my version of the Supply State Effects table:

* There is no physical route. Being on the wrong side of an unbridged/ferried river might be on such example, as is being surrounded. This is when you realise it is a good idea to consider each combat unit as having a Zone of Control or it becomes very hard to physically surround something. Failing that say the path has to be less than 1km wide to be considered isolated.

** This is likely to be the state of units on the wrong side of difficult terrain being supplied by wheeled transport or if their LOG units are simply a long way back, or doing something dim like being in T when the combat units are sitting in a forest.

*** From the overnight supply phase when the LOG or POL ran out. The first day isn’t so bad; you are just “Cut Off”. Then it get nasty. A typical divisional LOG has 2-3 points and it takes two days completely unsupplied to get the really bad effects (“Spent”) so this stuff is only really relevant in multi-day games. It takes a minimum of five days to isolate and reduce surrounded units.

B.10 Medical and Repair

New Rule: Divisional staff units may generate 1SP infantry replacements and repair 1SP armour if in supply, and 2SP each if within 1km of div LOG. Replacements may be passed forward as normal overnight supply. Specialist capabilities may not be repaired.

New Rule: Martin Rapier, in his “Megablitz NWE”, allows infantry to dig in:

• Infantry in S overnight dig in (1 fortification).
• Infantry in S for two nights erect obstacles etc (count as minefields all around)

C The Scenarios

Scenario idea from Martin Rapier: Quite an entertaining thing is give some units very limited transport (late war Germans being obvious candidates) – their lonely horse cart is then kept very busy indeed pulling the divisional artillery around and trying to keep the guys supplied. And then some Jabos turn up, oh dear…

C.2 Dot sur la Mappe

The French are trying to kill 3 German stands and prevent 2PD going off the western table edge. But it is not stated how much of 2PD has to get off the table to deny the victory. It could be

• All stands off (seems harsh)
• All less 2 (probably dead) stands off
• All less 3 (probably dead) stands off
• Only 1 stand off (seems overly generous)

If only one stand of 2PD survives and leaves I’d think the French did more than achieve a Draw. I’m am inclined to say that if the French kill 6+ stands they win regardless of whether the rest of 2PD gets off.

I’ve got a Eastern Front version of this scenario called A Dot in Russia.

Megablitz Quick Reference Sheet

I have prepared a PDF version of the Megablitz Quick Reference Sheet. I have kept the Combat Matrix separate because the matrix should go on the ‘Combat Box’.

References

Gow, T. (n.d.). Megablitz: Rules for fighting large actions of the Second World War. Strategem.

Megablitz Official site by Bob Cordery

Megablitz and More blog by Tim Gow

The Games we Play blog by Martin Rapier

Martin Rapier. Megablitz NWE

Megablitz Yahoo Forum