Another 3x3 Portable Wargame

 I tried the minimal version of WWII Portable Wargame again, making it a touch even more minimal. I also tried taking photos outside, and marking the squares more clearly with tape, which seems to have helped. I ran the same basic scenario as last - this time around the Americans were defenders and had a forest and river in their deployment zone. The effect of rivers isn't in the rules I had, so I had to ignore it, but it adds to the atmosphere. I am thinking of including more trees, for a Hurtgen Forest or jungle feel.

Taking lessons from last game, firing and close combat in adjacent squares became synonymous, while just one die was rolled for each side. I also left out the choice between loss of an SP and retreat, simply rolling for it.

Deployment. The river is a preproduction element by Wofun, the producers of plexi Paperboys, while the 54mm-scale tree comes from an Australian firm via a tip from Man of Tin.

Turn 1. The Germans have advanced, and both sides
have sustained casualties (elements with one soldier left)
or been pushed back.

American rifles flank the German "point." Unable to
retreat owing to the filled square behind them,
they take more casualties.

The American flankers are themselves flanked, and
eliminated.

When units in the rear square are forced off the board,
they become reinforcements who may return on a 5+.

Fired on by the rifles before him and the
machine-gunners in the woods, the German gunner
bites the dust.

But the Germans advance again on the US center
and left, wiping out another American unit.

That left two US units on the board, with three others in "reserve." Most Portable Wargame rulesets declare a side defeated that has lost a third of its SPs or units, so (discounting the HQ) I decided the Germans had won. Only those in the forest remained, mostly because the Germans hadn't tried to attack them in their cover.

A simple but fun game. I keep the figures and dice in a small bin so the game can be set up quickly, but a playsheet would be useful too. It took longer to set up the folding table than to ready the game.