Designer Notes: OpFire in the Age of Madness

THE KILL ZONE
Many games include rules or incentives for what is commonly and generically known as "opportunity fire" or OpFire. The idea is that a unit covering an area of terrain will usually get the first shot against an enemy unit moving into that area. For example, an MG team might cover the street running through the middle of a town. When enemy troops try to dash across the road the MG takes the opportunity to fire at the troops, potentially pinning or killing them. Or as tanks approach a treeline concealing enemy troops, the stationary, concealed troops have the advantage of clear targets while the advancing troops struggle to identify and engage the concealed troops.

This dynamic is central to modern warfare since the late 19th and early 20th century. As individual firepower increased with the widespread introduction of bolt-action, semi-automatic, and fully automatic small arms, movement across "kill zones" covered by enemy infantry became suicidal. This in turn gave rise to tactics such as "overwatch", "suppressive fire", and "fire and maneuver". AFVs were then introduced to allow forces to cross ground covered by rifle and MG fire.

Overwatch tactics entail one element advancing while another element prepares to fire on enemies that might reveal themselves by engaging the advancing element. Fire and maneuver tactics are a little more "pro-active" and assume that the general area containing enemy troops has been identified. That area is subjected to heavy fire in the hopes of suppressing the enemy while another element closes in with the intention of assaulting them while still disrupted by the suppressive fire. Suppressive fire can also be used simply to allow a friendly element to cross ground otherwise covered by enemy troops. It's the antidote to enemy troops camping out and covering terrain.

SITZKRIEG AND WALTZKRIEG GAMING
Not all games include OpFire and some games employ completely unrestricted OpFire. This can result in two extreme and somewhat unsatisfying game experiences: Sitzkrieg and Waltzkrieg.

Unrestricted OpFire allows a unit to interrupt any enemy movement at any time without any prerequisite and to then shoot the moving enemy unit. When OpFire is so powerful and unrestricted it usually results in Sitzkrieg as neither side is willing to risk his troops by moving. This approach is also terribly unrealistic since troops engaging in opportunity shots must generally prepare themselves to do so by limiting their own activity. And enemy troops dashing across small gaps in terrain can present too fleeting a target to engage effectively. Sitzkrieg is also really boring...

On the other hand, a complete lack of an OpFire mechanic allows troops to maneuver without fear of being engaged by the enemy. This is completely contrary to the experience of battle since at least WWI and, arguably, the Boer Wars of the late 19th century. Allowing troops to Waltzkrieg across our miniature battlefields without ANY chance of being engaged gets modern warfare all wrong. When you combine a lack of OpFire with the lethality of modern weapons you allow attackers to easily overwhelm defenders without first establishing local superiority through proper fire and maneuver tactics. Waltzkrieg just ain't modern warfare...

LIMITED OP-FIRE
To encourage and reward proper modern tactics and to provide a more interesting and entertaining gaming experience many rules seek a happy medium. They allow OpFire but with some sort of limitations and/or requirements. And so it is with Warfare in the Age of Madness. Our game requires units to give up the chance to attack in their own turn for the opportunity to shoot in the enemy turn and limits opportunities to shoot targets may be too fleeting to effectively engage.

In Warfare in the Age of Madness, each element (a base of 2-5 infantry figures or an individual vehicle model) has 2 to 3 Action Points (AP). Action Points are expended to move, shoot, assault, etc. It costs 1 AP to perform a move action and infantry move distances generally mean that a single move action is insufficient to cross most gaps between terrain. It costs 2 AP to shoot, assault, or assume Alert status. So there's no special "OpFire" rule in the game. Instead, the costs and opportunity to engage enemy troops while the maneuver is cleverly and elegantly built into the basic rules.

For example, if an infantry element exists one building to cross a street and enter another building it will, due to the move distance allowed, end that first move action in the street. At the end of that first move action, if an enemy element is Alert and has line of sight on the moving element, it may shoot at the moving element.

THE COST OF EATING YOUR CAKE
However, putting an element on Alert status costs 2 AP. Since shooting and assaulting also cost 2 AP this means, by definition, that the Alert element gave up its chance to attack during its previous own turn. It held its fire in the hope that a target of opportunity would present itself in the enemy turn. This simple mechanic requires no special rules or exceptions and works the same way as any other action. Either you spend 2 AP to shoot in your own turn or 2 AP to assume Alert status and hope for a shot in the enemy turn.

Furthermore, Alert status is lost when a unit shoots and, since some gaps may be small enough to cross before being engaged, one must carefully choose a field of fire. So drawing enemy fire is a viable tactic and effective OpFire is predicated on real-world concerns such as good fields of fire.

PLAYABILITY: GAPPY VS REAL-TIME INTERRUPT
Many games allow troops taking opportunity shots to interrupt enemy movement at any point, even if they place other limits or requirements on OpFire. There is certainly a case to be made for this approach, especially if other requirements are imposed such as a minimum amount of distance that a target must be visible to the shooter. This prevents unrealistic, instantaneous shots through tiny gaps at targets visible for a mere instant.

However, real-time interruption of movement introduces practical problems for players. First, it can cause disagreements over precisely how much movement a unit has remaining after being interrupted unless players laboriously mark starting and end points. It's also not all that realistic for a unit engaging in OpFire to know a target's destination before taking a shot. Most importantly, it can slow a game to a crawl if multiple units take shots at different points on a unit's path. This also raises the complexity of shot sequence and commitment since, if a unit is pinned at a point not visible to a potential later shooter, one must decide how to handle shot commitment.

Warfare in the Age of Madness allows Alert units to react to enemy movement (and other actions!) only at the end of the action. This keeps the game moving along faster with fewer interruptions and eliminates the need to worry about marking potential move distances and potential shooters. It's all "binary" and therefore faster and easier to resolve. At the same time it represents both the risks and rewards of opportunity fire. Move distances are also carefully designed around typical gaps between miniature terrain. You can gun the engine on your Humvee to avoid enemy fire as you flit across a gap between buildings. But you won't be able to Waltzkrieg your Humvee into the field of fire of an Alert ATGM team and hose it with your 50 before it can shoot.

SUPPRESSIVE FIRE
So, you're faced with an enemy MG element on Alert and hunkered down in a stout building. What's a modern soldier to do?  Suppressive fire!

To negate or at least mitigate an enemy unit that has decided to camp out in a protected position you need to apply some serious firepower before maneuvering in his field of fire. The best solution is a mortar stonk on his head. A concealed, Alert unit is harder to hit since it's assumed to be taking maximum advantage of the concealment. A concealed, Alert forward observer is extremely dangerous since he's harder to hit and can unleash hell without giving away his position. And mortars, while not very lethal against infantry in buildings, tend to make enemies keep their heads down.

Warfare in the Age of Madness uses a game mechanic called "Friction Points" which represents fear, confusion, loss of control, light wounds, damaged weapons, etc. Friction Points (FP) are usually inflicted by weapons but have other causes too. Even if an infantry unit is well protected in a stout building you can still inflict enough FP to effectively pin and suppress it.

Another excellent source of FP is an MG element. Their high firepower allows them to inflict lots of FP on even well protected infantry targets. You probably won't kill an infantry target in a stout building with small arms fire alone, but with 4 FP on it (the max allowed), it won't be able to shoot your guys maneuvering in the open.

FIND, FIX, FINISH
Your mortars and machineguns have rained down a storm of steel on that Alert enemy element in the stout building. Now's the time to finish it off!

In Warfare in the Age of Madness close assaulting an enemy element that has 4 FP on it pretty much guarantees victory. After hitting the target with suppressive fire, hit it with a close assault. The best elements for this mission are CQB and Assault Rifle elements. Add stun grenades to the equation and elements geared towards close assault will easily overwhelm most enemy elements with 4 FP.


You'll probably need to use a Motivation Point or have your company CO nearby to ensure each assaulter has 3 AP. The first AP will be needed to begin moving towards the enemy. The next 2 AP will be used for the charge move and actual assault. Therefore, if the jump off point for the assault is some sort of cover, the assaulting elements will need to be within 3 bounds (12" or 30cm) of the target unit. Otherwise the assault might still be crossing open ground while the target tries to recover from the Friction Points or supporting units are brought up. You need to move strike hard and move fast and keep pouring on the fire! For assaults covering more ground than 3 bounds smoke is another valuable to option to provide some concealment for the assault troops.

COMBINED ARMS
Another nut-cracking option is a bigger nutcracker: big HE rounds. Use mortar and machinegun fire to first inflict FP on that protected infantry target. This ensures it can't hurt your AFVs even if armed with an ATGM or ATRL. Then roll up with an AFV mounting some serious HE firepower such as a 105mm or 120mm tank gun.

 Even autocannons and ATGMs mounted on many IFVs are useful for engaging infantry in full cover. And vehicles such as the BMP-3 and Stryker MGS were purpose built to dig infantry out of hard cover. Just make sure you've fist suppressed the enemy infantry as AFVs are expensive and RPGs are not.

CONCLUSION
Our goal for Warfare in the Age of Madness was to balance a desire for historical tactics with playability. The rules actually originated in games with our 15mm WWII collection and we've used them for moderns and sci-fi too. So it was very important to us to represent tactics such as overwatch, fire and maneuver, and suppressive fire as simply as possible. Our solution might not satisfy grognards who insist on unrestricted, real-time interrupt OpFire. Nor will it totally satisfy those who hate the thought of their joy-riding Bradley IFV being taken out by an ATGM skulking in a rubbled factory.

But we feel that we've attained a balanced, reasonable compromise that represents the central challenges of modern warfare, provides interesting tactical gaming choices for players, and results in an easy to learn, fast playing entertainment experience.

We've found that players really enjoy having the fate of their troops in their own hands rather than having crucial tactical decisions absent through no OpFire mechanic or an OpFire mechanic so overwhelming maneuvering is simply not an option. You, the player, must balance aggressive movement (not using Alert status to cover your movements) with being overly cautious (always sitting on Alert while the enemy isolates your forces and concentrates his fire on them).

For more information about the game and to purchase Warfare in the Age of Madness please visit our website.