Nick in Launceston

Played Battlegroup Kursk with D. last night.  It was a fun game.  I've cut and pasted the review D. wrote on TMP:

Played Battlegroup Kursk last night for the first time.
Forces were:
Russian: 6 x T-34, infantry platoon with Maksim, 2 off board 82mm mortars, forward observer
German: 4 x Panzer IVG, Panzergrenaider platoon, 2 off board 81mm mortars, forward observer.
Russians got thumped because of a bonehead Stal! Stal! Stal! got most of their T-34s killed (realistic enough).

Anyway impressions of the game:
1. Rules are relatively easy to pick up.
2. Rules could be written a little tighter. E.g. I wasn't sure whether unit applied to squad or platoon. By extrapolating from Russia Ura rule, I worked out a basic infantry unit is the squad.
Definitely not a tournament system but I'm not a tournament player so who cares.
3. Game plays relatively smoothly. The order system is nice and easy. Though it sucks when you role a 1 for your orders and you have only 1 officer (total of 2 orders)! C'est la vie.
4. It really captures the Kursk vibe well. This is a very important factor in my book.
5. I like the Battle Rating system which works as follows:
a. Your force has a numerical Battle Rating.
b. Every time a certain event occurs, you take a Battle Rating Counter from a bag. Counter has 1-5 points or mine strike or air strike or other special events.
c. Once your counters equal to over your Battle Rating you lose (though you can lose by having all your force pinned/wiped out or the opponents captures all objectives).
6. The lists are fun and extremely flexible and once again capture the essence of Kursk. Options for both onboard and offboard artillery are welcome. You can even get Off Board ATG shots.
7. It's firepower/morale based without much emphasis on close quarters combat.
8. Scale and troop density worked well at 15mm.
9. Finally rule book is absolutely gorgeous. One of the most beautiful rulebooks I've come across.
Overall a great game and I look forward to playing it more often.


I would agree with D's assesment.  The artillery rules seemed a little strange -- it actually works out to have fewer troops under the template.  But we were probably playing them wrong -- it was our first play.  And, as everyone keeps saying, the book is gorgeous -- on par with the Flames of War hardbound books.  It is definitely on my shopping list!