Gist of the Human Factors rules
Units initiating movement or opening fire without the cue from a nearby friendly unit must pass a TC or be delayed. There is a bit more to it, but I want to keep it simple and add a level of unpredictability without altering gameplay too much. Passages relevant to the playtest are color coded in purple.
The Setup
The germans are going to use forward stone buildings to force the UK commando to bypass into an open area setup as a killing fields. The forward position is also strongly supported by many fields of fire. If the Brits/Canadians spend too much time on this, they remain exposed to dangerous fire.
The UK is going to engage the Germans in an attempt to force their way into the village and discover the fortifications. They need to clear the way quickly so the Canadians can enter the board on turn 3, as pointed out by +Jackson Kwan in his AAR.
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| Positions at Setup |
Turn 1 - Allies
Platoon B and C are to fix the forward positions on the western side of the map while Platoon A bypassed and flank to fix the supporting line in row U. The first unit to move is subject to a TC according to E100.12. It passes and this will act as a cue to all units in LOS of each other (All of them in this case).
The SAN goes a bit nuts: the top Ger leader is wounded, a UK commando squad is broken. Another UK commando is broken by HMG fire.
In the Defense phase, the 50mm MTR initiates fire against the UK hero and a squad. Rule E100.2 is activated because no german unit has fired in the DFPh yet. The TC is failed and the MTR is marked as delayed. The LMG in row S has to pass a TC because the previous units failed to provide the cue. The first stack breaks a MMC, the second pins the leader.
When all non-delayed units have fired, the MTR may fire. The LOS hindrance is heavy and the mortar fire miss its target.
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| End of the Allies turn 1. |
Turn 1 - Axis
In this turn, human factors didn't have any game-changing effect. This largely is because we are dealing with elite troops on both sides. The german MRT was indeed delayed, which means that it had to fire last instead of first. In such an open map, once a unit fire/move, it is witnessed by most units and if the order of action is done properly, there is a need to succeed a single TC to obtain complete freedom of action.
The Germans stuck to the plan and moved units to optimize fields of fire. The evil plan set, they waited for the Brits to assault in the next turn.
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| End of Turn 1: Breaking already broken Commandos (O8) really pissed them off. |
Turn 2 - Allies' turn
The advance was a disaster for the allies: they lost >20% of their Battlefield Integrity in 1/2 turn! The advance was blunted in the West by a KIA, in the centre by a strong of 5-6 50mm MTR bombardment, including a CH which cause a K/1 result. In the East, the Brits rushed the German positions and eliminated them in CC but at the cost of a number of broken supporting units. Human factors didn't influence this turn which played out normally with a single key TC in the West. The germans didn't really get to fire in the DFPh as they fully engaged in the MPh (where no TC is required). Residual fire/fire lanes were all over the place by the end of that phase.
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| The Brits have score some good positions in row Q by clearing forward positions. |
Turn 2 - Axis' turn
The Germans were pretty much set on pulling out to the second line of defense until the MMC in R6 miraculously rallied. The Tactical Command Unit (TCU) in R6/R7 passed their HF TC and broke the commando in Q7. This provided the cue to all other units to open fire without further TCs (except the one in T10 which would get its cue later from the MMG).
The German 50mm MTR completely wiped the commando in Q3 with another long string of ROF'd airburst fire. With both hard-won positions lost and a majority of the Brits either broken or dead, the germans only have to wait for the French-Canadians to walk into the map in turn 4. Things are looking up for the Panzergrenadiers.
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| The german 50mm MTR is, at this point, going to win the most valuable player award today. |
Turn 3 - Allies' turn
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| The defeated Commandos are pulling back in hope tha the French-Canadians will save the day. |
Turn 3 - Axis' turn
30% casualty has downgraded the Brits' ELR by one from now on. The germans are positioning to maximise firepower. A squad fails to entrench to the East. The biggest rearrangement is the HMG which needs to be relocated because the Brits' snipers has honed on its position. The Brits have little to fire back with. However, the AFPh sees two key germans positions delayed. This has for consequence that the squad in Q7 decides to engage the broken fanatics in N10. Only later would the MMG will open fire.
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| The calm before the storm. A rare quiet ASL turn. |
Turn 4 - Allies' turn
The time to party for the germans wasn't expected to last for very long. The Canadians barged in and the germans lit up the map with residual fire counters. The German 50mm MTR stopped the advance in the open once more in the East, holding an impossible position as the only squad there is broken. With such high density of troops all working together, HF didn't influence this turn as it took only one elite squad to cue everyone else, and no TC is required for defensive fire in the MPh. The decision to pull back was made by the Canadian's advancing fire as they broke the key MMG in R9.
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| The French-Canadian elite troops have arrived! |
Turn 4 - Axis' turn
The germans had a low-key turn as they pulled back to a second line of defense. They decided to leave a squad in U7 to open possibilities for fire lanes. However, with a LMG, this isn't very useful. The germans are hoping that the terrain will help singling out units spearheading the advance and blunt their charge.
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| The French-Canadian elite troops have arrived. |
Turn 5 - Allies' turn
The sheer number of advancing troops made it difficult for the germans to manage. They pulled their MMG just on time and their 50mm MTR which caused so much troubles to the allies malfunctioned. Interestingly, two key units on the West-end of the german lines got delayed in the DFPh which forced the other units to adjust to ensure that the Canadians in R6-R7 were under fire. This is the first case where HF has affected the development of the game in a significant manner. Because it was hard to tell whether these units would get broken or not, the HMG had to open fire first. This gave a free ride to the squads in Q6. In the end, R7 got peppered thoroughly and enough for one squad to lose it and go berserk. |
| Mad frogs in R7. |
Turn 5 - Axis' turn
The germans lost 3 HS equivalent in the pull back but got everyone to the second defensive line. The Canadians are going to inherit a fancy MG38 if they choose too. The HF rule played an interesting complicating factor here again as the movement of a squad was delayed. This required other units counting in its ability to draw fire and FP away to adjust their paths. Again, a subtle effect but a disturbance in an otherwise better suited sequence of movement.
The berserkers are in for a surprise as the nearest unit is in fact located inside a fortified building! Ooops.
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| A well ordered withdrawal. |
Turn 6 - Allies' turn
This turn sees the testing of v 0.3 of the HF rules which integrates graphics control measures into the HF rules. As a military sim geek, I love to be able to model a battlefield closer to how planning and execution was conducted. I find that these rules behave more naturally than in previous versions of the HF rules: if the battlespace is well planned, units are going to act naturally and not require TCs.
I divided the board into two Area of Operations (AOs) so that my force may chase two Objective Areas (OA) simultaneously. The stack in T5 had to cross the boundary and required a TC, which both units in the stack failed. They had to get delayed and activate at the end of the MPh with one less MF. Thus is the cost of meddling with pre-planned orders.
The mad rush to the fortified hex V7 didn't ended well, with one unit taking two consecutive ELR downgrade and one casualty reduction. Even the berserkers got broken as they inadvertently bumped into the fortification and couldn't enter. The germans in V5 valiantly gave a hard time to the advancing Canadians/Brits but got broken in the end by advancing fire.
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| Ooooh, graphic control measures. Now we are talkin' |
Turn 6 - Axis' turn
It was a toss-up between standing fast and pulling back. The British sniper solved the impass by breaking the unit in the V7 fortification after a freak sniper relocation roll which sent the counter halfway across the board. They left a wounded leader to manage a broken squad and relocated across the plaza to defend the last two hidden fortified locations, AA4 and Z6.
Turn 7 - Allies' turn
The allies' berserker unit didn't get satisfied as the unit that they were about to destroy got eliminated by other friendly fire (a gamble, I know). A large mass of allies are now in position an peppering the last few germans with killer fire groups. The ELR of the Brits is down by 3 because of battlefield integrity, and the ELR of the germans is down by 1. Both sides are suffering 60% casualties.
Turn 7 - Axis' turn
Oops, forgot to take a picture. The germans tried to suppress in the PFPh with no real success. They got severely slammed in the DFPh by the killer fire groups. It wasn't pretty.
Endgame
The fire on the East side wasn't very effectual, but the allies swept the large building in the west and thus cleared the second hidden fortification. A perfectly pointless but entertaining berserker charge in the centre square added a final touch to the turn, and the scenario.
Notes about Human Factors rules
Using control measures greatly simplified the gameplay as most actions didn't require a TC. I really need to playtest in different context, with low quality units where planning is more important. However, solely on the basis of this playtest, I'm not sure that these rules add a lot to the game. This is the first playtest, though, and a poor choice for these rules.
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