Blitz Commander

Blitz Commander is a game representing Operational Level Warfare during World War 2.
It is a universal system, in that its rules can be used to represent any given battle or period
of fighting during the War. Designed to be played with plastic or metal miniatures (Axis
and Allies Europe minis work great), the paper counters included with the game can be
used as a rather makeshift substitute.

(Note: the game is 300% better if played with miniatures) (hint hint judges)

Units
There are 3 distinct unit types in this game. They are the following:

Infantry
An infantry unit represents a regiment of infantry, along with all the support units
contained within. These units will almost always be the mainstay of your combat force.
Unlike the other units in the game they no specific special function. Even so, when used in
mass, their sheer weight of numbers can achieve great effect on the battlefield.

Armor
An armored unit represents a battalion of tanks, along with attached infantry and anti-tank
assets. Armored units are a highly specialized type of unit, that are often necessary to
achieve breakthroughs on the line. Not only may they single out and attack other armored
units, they also have the special ability of adding +1 to the Anti-Personal Factor of any
attack they engage in.

Artillery
Artillery is the support arm of your army. Without its suppressing fire, infantry assaults
are almost assured to fail. In the defensive role, it can be used to break up attacks and if
used in coordinated barrages, to stop them.
Turn Sequence
Players conduct their turns one at a time, with the scenario indicated player going first.
Their is no sequence of play to an individual player‘s turn. Instead his units may be moved
or attack at anytime, just as long as those units haven’t previously moved or attacked
during that turn (think Panzer General 2). It is possible to move a stack of units, move 3
more, then go back to that same stack of units and conduct an attack. The only real
limitation is a unit(s) may only move and/or attack once. Also, once a unit has attacked, it
may not move.

Movement
Movement is conducted during an active player’s turn, and is done on a hex to hex basis.
Units can be moved individually or in stacks, as long as all the units began the turn in the
same hex. A unit can basically move as many hexes as it has Movement Points, with
individual hexes costing variable amounts according to the terrain chart. If a unit wishes
to use road movement it must do so between two connecting road hexes that do not
contain any units, friendly or otherwise. Infantry can always move at least 2 hexes,
regardless of terrain. Once a unit(s) has been moved, it may not move again that turn.

Zones of Control
Every unit exerts a Zone of Control (ZOC) into its six adjacent hexes. This zone basically
represents roadblocks, interdicting artillery fire, and the general ability of unit to stop
enemy movement and force them to engage. The effect of the ZOC is that a friendly unit
must stop its movement as soon as it enters an enemy ZOC. Friendly units, however,
negate ZOCs in their hex.

Stacking
Up to six friendly units can be stacked per hex. Units can never be stacked with, or
moved, through hexes containing enemy units.
Overrun
An overrun is a special type of attack that can be conducted by any unit during its
movement. In order to conduct an overrun a unit must spend one additional movement
point. Units that are overrun are immediately destroyed. Units can only make overruns in
a few exceptional circumstances noted below:

A hex solely occupied by Artillery can be overrun by any unit.

A sole Infantry or Self-Propelled Artillery unit in a clear hex can be overrun if the units
attempting can generate an AP Value of at least 5 into that hex.

Also, if after any combat advance an attacker finds himself adjacent to enemy non self-
propelled artillery unit(s), those units can be immediately destroyed. Although the artillery
is considered overrun, the attacker may not advance into that hex.

Surrounded Units
Units that are surrounded on all sides (have an enemy unit in every adjacent hex), lose
several of their ablities. The first is they cannot move, or overrun under any circumstance.
The second is they lose their ability to make any type of attack or defense roll in combat.

Combat
To initiate combat, the attacker first nominates a target hex anywhere on the game board
to be attacked. He then indicates which particular units, all of which must be in adjacent
hexes, that are going to participate in the attack. If both the attacker and defender have
armored units then the attack immediately proceeds to the Anti-Tank Phase. If not, then
the Anti-Personal Phase is proceeded to.

Anti-Tank Phase
In this phase shots are exchanged between attacking and defending armored units, with the
attacker always firing first. To begin the phase, the attacker first nominates which
defending tank types are to be targeted by which of his armored units. He then makes a
dice role for each of his attacking tanks. If the attacker can achieve a roll equal to or less
then the Attackers Anti-Tank strength minus the Defenders armor strength, then a hit is
achieved and the defender’s tank is immediately destroyed. The die result needed to
achieve a hit can never be greater then 5. If multiple tank types are attacking the same
target, the attacker can optionally choose to find the average AT value of the these tanks
(rounding up), so as to minimize individual dice rolling.

There are two modifiers considered for such an attack. These modifiers are counted in
after the “to-hit” value has been reduced to the maximum of 5. (So an attack with a -1
modifier will have a maximum “to-hit” value of 4). One is the standard -1 modifier if the
defender is in defensible terrain. The other is a special modifier known as the flanking
bonus. If the total number of attacking tanks outnumbers the number of combat units
(infantry or armor) in the hex, then a +1 modifier is achieved for each such outnumbering
unit. After the attacker fires, the defender then follows the same procedure using his
surviving armor, nominating targets and making attack rolls. There is never a modifier for
the defender’s Anti-Tank roll. After the firing has been resolved, the attacker may choose
to either cease his attack, or proceed to the Anti-Personal Phase. If the hex is completely
cleared of units, then the attacker can choose to advance into it with however many units
he wishes.

Anti-Personal Phase
Anti-Personal combat is used to target and destroy infantry units, and may be conducted
by either armored or infantry combat units. As in the Anti-Tank Phase, the attacker makes
his attack rolls first, followed by the defender. Both sides roll one die per unit, with base
value needed to score a hit being equal to the single lowest AP value of all the units firing.
The attacker adjusts this value with modifiers from the AP Combat Chart, while the
defender does not. For the Tank Outnumbering Bonus, the attacker receives an addition
of +1 for each tank over the defenders number of tanks in the hex. The “to-hit” value can
never be greater then 5. Any hits scored result in the removal of one opposing infantry
unit, which that owning player chooses. If all defending units are destroyed, then the
attacker must advance into the hex with at least one unit.

A lone infantry unit an a hex can never make an attack or defense AP roll. It is considered
that one individual infantry unit simply does not have the firepower to take out an entire
regiment.

Tank Assault
A Tank Assault is a special type of combat that can be performed in lieu of a side’s Anti-
Personal phase. It can be used by either the attacker or the defender, or both if so desired.
What it represents, is a determined effort by a side’s infantry and their attached anti-tank
assets to single out and destroy armored units. For every three infantry (or two
mechanized infantry) participating in the assault, one attack roll is made. (Friendly armor
is considered to be supporting from a distance and thus takes no part in the assault). In
order to achieve a hit, the infantry units must roll a number equal to or lower then their
Anti-Tank Factor. If the units are of a mixed type, then use the single lowest Anti-Tank
Factor. The only modifier to this roll is -1 if the targeted unit is a Heavy Tank. Just as in
a normal Anti-Personal phase, any surviving defenders (tanks or otherwise) may fire back
their standard Anti-Personal fire.

Entrenching
Any unit which does not move or attack during a turn, may instead decide to entrench.
Only units that are not adjacent to enemy combat units may do so. The effect of an
entrenchment is that the first hit applied to any unit(s) in such a hex, is considered to be
absorbed instead by the entrenchment. Upon doing so, however, the entrenchment marker
is removed. There can only be one entrenchment per hex, and once a hex is abandoned,
its entrenchment is negated. For those who have Axis and Allies Europe, the plastic
tokens work great for this.

Artillery
Artillery is used to support both attacking and defending units, however, it itself can never
directly participate in an attack. Each artillery unit can be used to support up to one
attack and/or defense per Player Turn. Note that once an artillery unit has delivered
defensive fire support into a hex, all subsequent attacks into that hex are also penalized for
that fire. All artillery units have a range of 3 and can thus be used to support hexes from
up to 3 hexes away. To receive the +1 bonus for supporting Infantry, one artillery unit
must be available for every 3 attacking infantry. To receive the -1 bonus for Defensive fire
support, artillery need only to have range up to the actual hex being attacked. American
units, because of their great artillery coordination, have the special ability of being able to
use more then one artillery unit for Defensive Fire Support in an individual attack. Each
such unit adds an additional -1 modifier to the attack in the hex. No other nation,
however, may use this special ability.

Towed Artillery= 3MP Self Propelled Artillery= 6MP Motorized Artillery= 8MP
Attacker Anti-Personal Chart

Single Lowest Attacking AP Factor...

+1 For each Outnumbering Attacking Tank

-1 If Defenders are in Rough Terrain
+1 If all Infantry are supported by Artillery or attack is solely conducted by
armored units*
-1 For Defensive Artillery Support*

*Note that these two modifiers will almost always cancel each other out and thus
rarely have to be considered

Unit Type AT Factor Armor AP Factor Move

Ind. Sherman 8* 4 2 5

Sherman 8* 4 3 5

Imp. Sherman 9* 5 3 5
Stug III 8 4 3 5
Pzkw. IV 8 4 3 5

Panther 10 6 3 6

SS Panther 10 6 4 6
SS Tiger I+ 9 6 4 5

SS Tiger II+ 12 8 4 5
* Attached Tank-Destroyers
+ Heavy Tanks

Unit Type AP Factor AT Factor Move

US Infantry 2 1 8*
Volks Grenadiers 2 1 3
Panzer Grenadiers 3 1 6
Motorized Grenadiers 3 1 8*
SS Panzer Grenadiers 4 2 6
* Truck Movement

Tank/Foot/Towed MP
Terrain Type Motorized MP Cost Combat Modifier
Cost
Clear 1 2 0
Town 1 2 -1
Forest 2 4 -1
River +2 +2 -1
Road 1/2 1/2 0
Scenario: Assault ‘44
This represents an attack somewhere along the Western Front during late 1944. Either
the Allied or the German player can be selected to be the attacker in the scenario. The
attacking player always goes first.

German Attack: 2 Volks Grenadier Divisions, 2 Independent Panzer Brigades vs.

2 Infantry Divisions (1 Armored Division arrives on Turn 2)

American Attack: 2 Infantry Divisions, 1 Armored Division vs.

3 Volks Grenadier Divisions, 2 Panzer Brigades

Volks Grenadier Division

3x Volks Grenadiers 1x Towed Artillery
Panther Brigade
1x Panther Tank
Infantry Division
3x US Infantry 1x Independent Sherman Tank 1x Motorized Artillery
Armored Division
3x Sherman Tanks

Setup
The defending player sets up his forces anywhere on the map board in or south of the
large forest. The attacking player sets up his forces North of this zone. American
Reinforcements can arrive any where in their Deployment Zone.

Victory
If the attacking player can capture and hold Leville by the end of turn 4 then he is
considered the winner. Otherwise the opposing player wins.

Notes
This scenario is assumed to take place during bad weather, thus there is no Allied air
support. Players are obviously encouraged to come up with their own scenarios. An
example might be a Russian armored assault on the Eastern Front. You should treat
Russian Infantry Divisions as having the same stats and composition as a Volks
Grenadier Division, while a Russian Tank Corps should be treated as an American
Armored Division. Here are stats for some Russian tanks in 1944.

Type AT Factor Armor AP Factor Move

T-34c 8* 5 3 6
T-34/85 9* 6 3 6
IS-2+ 12* 8 3 5
Historical Scenario: St. Vith
This represents the first 3 days of the German Ardennes offensive in the St. Vith Sector.
The green 106th Infantry Division faces an enveloping attack by the 18th and 62nd Volks
Grenadier Divisions. Combat Commands from the American 7th and 9th Armored
Division quickly arrive to help.

(A regiment or brigade is considered to be a single unit)

American Deployment: 3 Entrenched US Infantry Regiments and 1 Artillery

Regiment in each of the 4 “106” deployment hexes.

German Deployment: 2 Volks Grenadier Divisions, one each in the “18” and
“62” Deployment Zones. Artillery can be kept off map and still used for support.

American Reinforcements: The American player receives one Sherman Tank

Brigade on the western map edge on each of turns 1 and 2 and 3.

German Reinforcements: The German player receives a Panther Tank Brigade

on the eastern map edge on turn 3.

Victory
The German player wins if he can capture St. Vith by turn 3. Otherwise the American
player wins.

Deployment Map
Losheim

St. Vith
Roth

106 18
106
106
Wintersbelt

106 18
62
62
Grafort

Huegen

Starvelot

Leville
 Losheim

St. Vith Roth

Wintersbelt
Author’s Notes
My sole purpose in designing this game was to create a fully universal, highly realistic
system for simulating Operational Warfare during World War 2. My biggest influence
was Panzer General 2, as I had long wanted to capture both the excitement and visual
appeal of this game, except in a board game format. Also, I wanted to fix the unrealistic
aspects of the game, especially the complete uselessness of infantry. The game started
out very simplistically, with all combats (armored or otherwise) being won by the player
who simply rolled the highest number on the dice. As I began to experiment, I saw that
these rules quickly became inadequate and unrealistic, and thus started experimenting
with others. The Anti-Tank rules, (which I consider to be the most effective part of this
game) actually took the littlest amount of thought and play testing. Many times I tried to
modify them and make them more complex, but every time I found my self going back to
the same tried and true system I had started with. The Anti-Personal rules are probably
the second-most effective part of the game. After many long sessions of brainstorming
and experimentation, I was finally able to discover the Armor attack bonus system, which
I feel greatly reflects the concept “If you concentrate enough tanks in the line, your bound
to achieve a breakthrough.” The other rules aren’t as innovative, but I still feel they are
likely in the most refined state I can possibly get them.

Numerous times before I have attempted to create wargames, however, this one I feel is
my first truly effective design. Often I would spend days or weeks drawing up the maps,
creating the counters, and thinking up the rules, only to be completely disappointed when
I actually sat down and played the game. This time, however, things were different.
Almost from the moment I began designing, I found myself having a blast. I actually
looked forward to each game and designing session, knowing that even if I didn’t
significantly improve my game on that day, I would at least have fun doing so. Im not
entirely sure, but I think I have finally achieved the title, of a “veteran” game-designer.

The Game’s Future

Right now I’m kind of in a state of confusion. One part of me tells me that this truly is an
effective game design, while the other says its just another bundle of rules that will only
briefly hold a place in the wargaming timeline. My play tester says the system is
excellent, however, I wonder how much of this is brute honesty, or just simply friendly
encouragement. The question is, what do you guys think? Any sort of comment would
be greatly appreciated and you can email at pard13@mchsi.com. My greatest hope is to
one day develop the system into a series of boxed games, each one representing a specific
battle during World War 2. However whether I ever even come close to this lofty goal
remains to be seen....