Oh Great! Just what we want, yet another set of skirmish wargame rules for World War II...
However, for those 'in the know', "Nuts!" has been in the pipeline for a couple of years, and has been eagerly (and somewhat impatiently) anticipated by members of the THW Yahoo! group for the last 12 months. Two Hour Wargames, have taken their successful "Chain Reaction 2" rules mechanics and adapted them into a WWII skirmish wargame.
But not just any WW2 skirmish wargame. CR2 is a great set of rules, and improving it is a tough order - but that's exactly what they have done...
THW's previous 'specialist' version of CR2, All Things Zombie, was a step in the right direction, but to my mind failed to deliver any sort major change from CR2 considering the trouble and expense of another rulebook.
Nuts! is a different story - it delivers...big time!
For those of you unfamiliar with the Two Hour Wargames family of rules, they all have a basic structure:
The rules are designed to be cinematic in feel. Characters are split into two types: "Stars" which represent players, and "Grunts" which represent everyone else.
Stars and Grunts usually have a single stat: Reputation (or Rep). Rep can be best described as experience, and controls the character's skill in combat, morale and reactions.
The Heart of the THW system are the "Reaction Tests". These are tests that are taken at various times in the game and control how characters react. These situations include sighting the enemy, being fired upon, being charged etc. Reaction Tests control how characters react - the results of a Reaction Test is dependent upon the Rep of the character. However, it does mean that troops do not always react how a player wants them to.
The only exception to this are "Stars" (The model representing the player), who can react in how the player wishes, given the choices in the reaction test.
The rest of the game mechanics are built around Reputation and Reaction Tests.
The rulebook weighs in at 60 pages, which makes it almost 50% bigger than CR2. What is more, THW seem to have finally laid to rest their problems with poor layouts. Nuts! is easy to read, clearly laid out and well indexed.
The rules are divided into four sections:
The Infantry section is more detailed than before. Attributes and Random Character Generation have been kept from All Things Zombie - indeed the number of Attributes has increased from 21 to 30.
The number of available types of weapons has been expanded to cover the large diversity of weapons used by infantry in WWII - from the humble pistol, through rifles and machine guns of all types, to anti-tank rifles and bazookas.
New rules are introduced for concealment (being hidden or obscured from sight in cover that provides no other form of physical protection, Hunkering Down (troops who are under intense fire) and Covering/Suppressive fire.
The vehicle rules have been given a complete overhaul. Vehicles, rather being treated as a single model, are now treated as having a crew, and are controlled as such. This means that reaction tests for driving are performed by the driver, and those for firing the main gun are done by the gunner. It seems obvious, but it starts to get interesting should the tank crew start taking casualties and jobs have to be doubled up. Other changes include the added realism that WWII tanks have to be stationary to fire, gunners may fire at the hull or turret of an opposing tank, and it is even possible to perform "Hands of Fate" shots in which 'miracle' shots may occur!
The third section is the campaign game - and this is where Nuts! really starts to come into it's own.
The basic concept is similar in many was to that of RAFM's Vietnam game, Charlie Company. You play the "character" of a squad leader in the army of one of four countries: Germany, Russia, Great Britain or America. The campaign follows your squad through the year of 1944, as they battle on the Eastern Front (Russia) or Western Front (Italy and France/Belgium/Holland). As the campaign progresses you may fight in either of two different type of actions: Squad Actions, which are typically patrols or small raids where you face opposition of approximatley squad size, or Large Actions, where your squad is involved as part of a larger offensive.
Either way, Nuts! has something up its sleeve to surprise most gamers: reinforcements.
The view is taken that any action in a war zone does not happen in a vaccuum, and even a small firefight can attract unwanted attention. Before the game begins, players determine what level of support is available in their area of operations - which will go some way to determining if the player can expect help during the game.
Without going into the mechanics, playing cards are used in conjunction with dice rolls to determine if any reinforcements are in the area each turn, and if they are, what exactly turns up. This could vary from another squad of Infantry, a Light Machine gun or even a Tank.
Whatever is generated is immediately available to the appropriate player.
This rule alone sets Nuts! apart from many of it's competitors.
Imagine it. Your squad is sent on a recon patrol to scout for the enemy. You soon "bump" into some enemy sentries, and all of a sudden all hell breaks loose as you discover that rather than being a quiet sector, the enemy has several tanks in the area. What do you do now?
The joy with this campaign system is that, although it caters well for multiplayer games, it excells in solo play. In solo play, your opposition is randomly generated using playing cards and the reinforcements system outlined above. Therefore, as a solo player, you will not know the composition of the force that you are facing - it could simply be a single enemy squad, or it could be an entire platoon with armoured support - as in real life, your troops will not know what they are walking into.
Once the battle is completed, there is an After Action phase which determines any follow-up missions, and also any replacements that your squad may have received.
Obviously, you can play Nuts! using normal scenarios, fixed and balanced opposing sides and without using reinforcements - but the extra rules add an extra unpredicability to games which keep players on their toes. Some would say that they may unbalance the game, but I imagine those that would say that would also complain about the lack of a points system in the game - which in itself is a departure from both CR2 and ATZ.
Let's face it - War isn't fair or balanced...
There are a few things that I don't like. Being a Western Front player, I would find it makes much more sense to start the campaign on D-Day, and have weekly game turns until the end of the Ardennes offensive, rather than starting at the start of January (which makes more sense if you are gaming Eastern Front).
I don't like the German and Brtish tank tables. To my thinking, the British Cromwel should be a common tank, and the German PZII shouldn't be listed, but rather replaced by a PZ IV. Also, when it comes to generating troops as opposition, anti-tank guns are conspicuous by their absence.
However, these are minor issues and are easliy fixed by minor customisation of the rules - something that is encouraged in the THW community.
Overall, these are a superb set of rules. Its apparent that a lot of work has gone into the campaign system, the OOBs and the Data tables. If you are looking for detailed realism however, then these are probably not the rules for you - go check out Arc of Fire. But if you fancy recreating "Band of Brothers" on your tabletop - look no further.
Simply, these are the best rules that Two Hour Wargames have yet produced. Treat yourself and get a set soon...
The rules are available, either in PDF format or as a hardcopy, from Two Hour Wargames. As a huge bonus, there is a massive online community on Yahoo, which provides excellent support and a contant stream of ideas - almost a reason for owning a set of the rules on it's own!