Reply To: Battlegroup Northag – Questions & Answers

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@bloodmoonorc Debatable if the Challenger 1s would have been technically “in service” AND operational in the front lines in 1983. The 105mm Abrams would have been around in some US units (with the bulk of the REFORGER units still with M60s for the US), and the first 300 Leopards 2s entered service for the German army in 83 as well (so depending on the month, the number would vary greatly). The problem with using Challangers, Abrams, and Leopard 2 in game is this was when “modern gaming” (usually with micro tanks) basically died as a popular period (as these new tanks were leaps and bounds ahead of the previous NATO frontline tanks AND what the Pact forces had available. NATO players bought all these new toys and expected the PACT players to go out and buy armies that were 4 or 5 times as large (just look at the starter armies here just using the Chieftain tanks and the difference in price). If you start fielding these, then you’ll have a hard time finding Pact players with large enough armies to face them (and the will to play against them). There’s a reason why Team Yankee and now NORTHAG picked the mid 80’s as a period, and that’s probably from the experiences of gamers who were around at the time all this happened and saw the “Modern” game just evaporate in popularity. So sticking to Chieftains, M60s and Leopard 1s would give a nearer match up (and be more accurate to what was in the field in NUMBERS (rather than theoretical forces as “in service” usually denoted another 1 to 2 years before these vehicles are in the field in great numbers.

@piers Thermal Imaging making an appearance in NORTHAG (gawd I hope not, as this was the breaking point for modern games and when Pact gamers started to disappear). Although “technically” used, it wasn’t available in great numbers (the early M1s with the 105mm gun were equipped with image intensifiers due to the fact there weren’t enough TI units available (although the ToE stated they should all have been equipped with TI scopes)?

Does infantry have a core purpose for the game? As we have seen with Team Yankee infantry are usually not fielded and even artillery units are all SPGs (as you still don’t have to use infantry for the towed guns), so that everything is in a nice self contained vehicle that basically plays like a tank.

Smoke et al, seen a few playthoughs starting to appear, but none have used smoke missions to mask an advance. Is smoke used in game?

Any chance we might see scenarios (like in the Battlegroup rules), with a map and ORBATS (where it’s a fixed list). It’s one of my favorite parts in the Battlegroup rules (and stop silly “tourney” list shenanigans and unhistorical formations)?