I was in the mood recently for a good, 90's-style WW2 ruleset. You know the kind: lots and lots of charts, rules for every occasion (smoke grenades, fighting on skis, box barrages), tons of nity-gritty treadhead details (hit location tables, different ammunitions), supplement rulebooks up the wazoo, assymetical game mechanics (no 'universal' die mechanic), no points systems (not on principle, just because no one had thought of that yet) and so on. Then I remembered that I had played such a game a few years back at a gaming convention: Battleground WW2. 11 madison park new york. I remember this was an interesting game because it treated every soldier individually: a rarity in any skirmish game (I can only think of two others, Nuts! And Final Combat, that do this). So I looked online and was pleased to find several places that still carry the rules and promptly ordered a copy.

Now, while I camp out by my mailbox in anticipation, what can you tell me about this game? I vaguely remember d20's were used (roll low?) but not much else.

How does the game work, and what makes it great? 05 Apr 2016 7:31 a.m. PST. Ahh yes, MG42's being more myth than reality was so iconic to 90's WW2 games! That and the Tiger tank, of course. Two squads per side sounds good—I was actually planning on using it for 'one squad plus' (i.e.

A ten man squad and a weapons team or a vehicle per side). Would it work ok at that level, or is that too small to really get a sense of the command & control and army maneuver aspects of the rules? Also, do squadmates have to stick together (or close to the sergeant)? Or can they go off and do their own thing (and is that penalized)? 05 Apr 2016 8:12 a.m. PST. I really enjoyed that game with, at most, a reinforced platoon per side.

You know the kind: lots and lots of charts, rules for every occasion (smoke. Such a game a few years back at a gaming convention: Battleground WW2. There are a few tank charts there and some things you can download. PDF link DoomOnYou72 Inactive Member, 05 Apr 2016 12:57 p.m.

Games featuring infantry against tanks in close terrain were especially fun. Aspects of the game are finicky, but I remember me and my junior-high and high-school aged friends playing it in the 90s/early 2000s without trouble, getting in several games a month and having a blast. It was my entry into WWII gaming and I have been trying to get around to playing another game of it soon. Were I to go back to it, I think I'd trim down a few parts, add a few others, and ignore some rules, but man I had some fun times with that game. 05 Apr 2016 8:28 a.m. PST. I also played a game with all armor and it did that very well. I kinda think the armor rules are too detailed for what usually happens in the game.

I like the d20 hit charts for each aspect of the AFV or other vehicle (Front, Rear, Side, Top). But what usually happens is something like this: 'OKPanther fires at Sherman.HIT! Side aspect table, roll 1d20ok, hit the side hull near the rearcompare penetration of the gun to the armorsignificant over penetration, roll on the tableBOOM!' Is usually almost always the result when a Medium or Light tanks is hit, so all the extra die rolling seems wasted sometimes.

05 Apr 2016 12:23 p.m. PST. BGWWII was fun when it was the only game in town (as well as Jim Bland's 'characterful' 28mm minis), but it fell out of fashion due to its clunkiness and was slowly eased out to pasture in favor of simpler, more fluid and streamlined rules such as DHC7B, Nuts! And newer systems that allow more miniatures to be played without getting bogged down. Though I kinda wish I kept my copy of the game along with its supplements for old time's sake. They were all kept in 3-hole binders. For tanks there were nothing available outside of old 70's-era Bandai 1/48 aftermarket kits on Ebay and 1/43 to 1/50 diecast Solido toys with large metal linked tracks and lacking all the great detail you see in 1/56 and 1/48 kits today. 05 Apr 2016 12:44 p.m. PST.