Updated Optional Rules

Ian S has pointed out that I missed out some of the optional rules from Arc of Fire when I originally posted the table.  Here it is fixed.

Page	Rule	Use?	Notes
4	Excellent leaders	y	But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
5	Heroes and unit integrity	n	Not inclined to use Heroes
7	Initiative Cards	y	Need to think about how this will work with multiple units activating on the same card
12	Direction of fire	y	No reason not to
12	Special camouflage	y	But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
14	Moving dismount	y	If anyone’s daft enough to use it
14	Jumping horses	y	If anyone’s daft enough to use it
17	Suspected fire	y	But reserve the right to remove if the game is slowing down too much
18	Gunnery skill	y	But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
18	Tightly packed infantry targets	y	Easy enough to implement
20	Extremes	y	Easy enough to implement
24	Multiple vehicles in close attacks	y	Easy enough to implement
24	Special close combat weapons	y	But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
24	Grenades and close combat	y	Need to agree grenade loads, “special grenades” available only with umpires’ agreement.
25	Snipers vs fortifications	n	Too powerful
25	Jamming	n	Slows down the game too much
25	Horrific KIA	n	Slows down the game too much
25	High ROF belt-fed LMGs	n	Inclined to leave it out and say no-one has enough ammo
25	Detailed infantry wound and KIA	n	Slows down the game too much
26	Canister Ammo	n	Simpler to leave it out
31	Light and medium mortar rate of fire	n	Inclined to leave it out and say no-one has enough ammo
32	Blind fire	y	Easy enough to implement
32	HE overhead fire	n	Simpler to leave it out
34	Ripple effect	n	Want to avoid the risk of players losing their force due to an unlucky series of die rolls
34	Destroyed unit retreat	n	Simpler to leave it out
35	Reorganisation of leaderless units	y	Allows people to keep playing a force that’s been unfortunate with Leader casualties
35	Hero and Panic	n	Simpler to leave it out
35	Heroes as Leaders	n	Not using Heroes
36	Entry and exit from buildings	y	Would have needed a house rule for this anyway
36	Fire from buildings	y	Ian S has suggested 4 men can fire per window, 2 per door.  Or we could just count the openings and divide by three?
36	Camouflaged field defences	n	Simpler to leave it out
47	Random Events	y	Best rule in the book!

Andreivian Forces Made Easy

Setting up Andreivian forces for AoF can be dead easy.

Suppose your 20mm collection totals a dozen WW2 Soviet infantry, a T34/85 and a Landrover.  Sounds to me like you have the makings of a nice little Andreivian militia force.

An Andreivian force yesterday

There's precedent from the Tuzkhur Valley game for the Andreivian paramilitary force, the Gendarmerie, being in WW2 Soviet uniforms.  We also know that some Gendarmerie units ended up defecting on masse to particular factions.  The T-34 is an obvious AFV for a second-line force like the Gendarmerie and the Landrover can be justified by the Andreivians' history of flexibility in military procurement.

Do we have a couple of figures that look like leaders?  A guy with a pistol or SMG would be good, especially if he's waving or pointing.  Assuming we do then we're pretty much there.  We end up with some thing like this:

Gendarmerie squad (Tac 7)

Squad Leader SMG 6(L)

Gunner Clip-fed LMG 7

Loader Bolt-action rifle 7

6x Gendarmes Bolt-action rifles 7

Speed-painted Soviets masquerading as Andreivian Gendarmerie

Recce team (Tac 6)

Team leader SMG 6(L)

3x Scouts Bolt-action rifles 7

    Landrover

The Recce Team - Landrover straight from the toy box

T-34/85 (Tac 7)

 with four crew (Morale 6)

A barely-painted T-34/85

Seven seems a reasonable Tac score for these guys as they aren't front line soldiers.  The recon guys are slightly better (recon types always think of themselves as elite).  Again 6 or 7 seems about right for morale too.  I've given the leaders better morale because I see these troops as reliant on a few experienced men to keep them performing at their best.

All of these need to be tidied up a bit but I think they illustrate how easy it can be to put a useable force together.  If I were to spend some more and time and effort on these guys I might see if I could find an HMG or perhaps an RCL to give the recce team some more firepower. 

Optional rules for Tcherbevan

I've put together the following list of the optional rules in Arc of Fire that I'd suggest using (or not using) for the game at Crisis Point 2014.  Comments welcome.

Page	Rule	Use?	Notes
4	Excellent leaders	y	But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
5	Heroes and unit integrity	n	Not inclined to use Heroes
12	Direction of fire	y	No reason not to
12	Special camouflage	y	But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
14	Moving dismount	y	If anyone’s daft enough to use it
14	Jumping horses	y	If anyone’s daft enough to use it
18	Gunnery skill	y	But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
18	Tightly packed infantry targets	y	Easy enough to implement
20	Extremes	y	Easy enough to implement
24	Multiple vehicles in close attacks	y	Easy enough to implement
24	Special close combat weapons	y	But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
25	Snipers vs fortifications	n	Too powerful
25	Jamming	n	Slows down the game too much
25	Horrific KIA	n	Slows down the game too much
25	High ROF belt-fed LMGs	n	Inclined to leave it out and say no-one has enough ammo
25	Detailed infantry wound and KIA	n	Slows down the game too much
26	Canister Ammo	n	Simpler to leave it out
31	Light and medium mortar rate of fire	n	Inclined to leave it out and say no-one has enough ammo
32	Blind fire	y	Easy enough to implement
32	HE overhead fire	n	Simpler to leave it out
34	Ripple effect	n	Want to avoid the risk of players losing their force due to an unlucky series of die rolls
34	Destroyed unit retreat	n	Simpler to leave it out
35	Reorganisation of leaderless units	y	Allows people to keep playing a force that’s been unfortunate with Leader casualties
35	Hero and Panic	n	Simpler to leave it out
35	Heroes as Leaders	n	Not using Heroes
36	Entry and exit from buildings	y	Would have needed a house rule for this anyway
36	Fire from buildings	y	Would have needed a house rule for this anyway
36	Camouflaged field defences	n	Simpler to leave it out
47	Random Events	y	Best rule in the book!

Random Stuff

The random events table really adds to the fun of any Arc of Fire game.  Although it’s listed as optional, I never play without it.

There are a number of the random events that work best if you’ve prepared some appropriate models in advance.  Here are some things you might consider building.  Note that the descriptions in the rules are more detailed.  I'm paraphrasing here.

Air Recon Arrives - an opportunity to build a recon aircraft for your faction.  

Civilians on the Battlefield - a group of eight civilians tries to cross the battlefield.

Combat Engineering Skills - can place a 1”x3” minefield (or three of them if you’re an engineer unit). Might be worth knocking up some hasty minefield markers.

Dead Farm Animals - place some dead livestock as cover.

Sniper! - you can have a sniper if you’ve bothered to model one.

Molotov Cocktails - 1d6 of them, to be distributed one per figure - any thoughts on how to show this?

Providential Scrounging - team finds an LMG.  This is a good opportunity to produce an extra LMG-equipped figure for your unit (of course this doesn’t need to be an LMG usually used by your side - fancy a Russian with a Minimi?).

Motorcycle scout - in the rules you get a motorcycle and sidecar combo but I think for the 1990s we could stretch to two guys in a 4x4, but only if you’ve provided a suitable model.

Crazed Dog - speaks (barks?) for itself.

Dig In! - the unit can dig foxholes. I don’t suppose we could provide dug in versions of every unit? Thought not.

Heroic Medic - this one can be really useful.  It’s a good idea to have a medic figure handy for your unit.