How to play 1918: Spring Offensive: Part 2 - Basic units and force organisation

Last week, we explained the basics of how to play 1918: Spring Offensive. A platoon-level simulation of the final months of the First World War, the game - at present! - brings four historically accurate forces to the tabletop: the British Empire, the German Empire, the French Republic and the freshly arrived American Expeditionary Force.

This is no power fantasy: every man is roughly as physically capable as another, while your officers aren’t mighty heroes defeating a dozen ordinary soldiers in combat. Instead, your men are at the mercy of enemy machine guns and artillery, dashing towards cover and firing hastily from the relative safety of the trenchline. Of course, there are differences - better troops have a higher Veterancy stat, which makes them tougher, braver and more able to take fresh orders, while keywords such as Bold, Die Hard and Stubborn truly differentiate green recruits from the elite.

And while the advanced rules bring in tanks, cavalry and armoured cars, 1918 is at its core a struggle between small squads of frightened young men who only barely understand why they’re even fighting. 

Basic units

The core rulebook brings comprehensive army lists for four of the major protagonists at this stage of the war, allowing you to build up forces roughly the size of a company - alongside divisional support such as field guns, sniper teams and mortar sections. Each list is as accurate as possible, though believe it or not certain logistical details are disputed to this day. 

Each force has its own arsenal with its own quirks; the supremacy of the British Lewis Gun, for instance, is represented by a higher rate of fire on the tabletop. Each list can build two types of platoon, as follows:

• British: Rifle and Machine Gun Platoons

• French: Infantry and Veteran Infantry Platoons

• United States: Rifle Platoon and Marine Rifle Platoon

• German Rifle Platoon and Storm Platoon

The German Intervention Division force list. These lists provide you with your core platoons and what additional units you can take within your list.

In a full-sized game of 300 points, you’ll be fielding several of these platoons working in concert to take and hold a trench or storm through enemy lines, while a far-off artillery battery softens them up and a hulking Mark IV tank provides fire support.

Unit profiles

The basic infantry profile looks something like this:

The Type section determines how far a unit can move. Firing Skill (FS) shows the D6 roll a unit must make to successfully shoot at an enemy, while Combat Skill (CS) shows the same for melee. Veterancy (VET) governs rolls for surviving hits, morale tests, recovering from being pinned down, and battlefield tasks such as donning gas masks. Keywords work as discussed.

Each model is equipped with a standard-issue weapon, which look something like this:

Weapons work as they did at the time, with a few tabletop abstractions - a Lee Enfield rifle would have fired a little further than 24” upscaled. Nevertheless, Range (RNG) shows how far you can fire, Attacks (ATT) shows how many shots (and therefore hit rolls) each model can make. Strike (STR) is a modifier to a target’s Veterancy Save or Armour Save roll - usually from particularly explosive weapons, while Pins is a measure of how effectively shots from this weapon can force the targets’ heads down.

Officers

A British Lieutenant and his loyal batsman and sergeant lead the British counteroffensive.

Unlike many tabletop miniatures games, officers are not stronger units. Instead, they dash around your backline issuing Orders to your units. This allows them to move, shoot, and brace for assault. Without orders, a unit may only make snapshots from cover or regroup, so officers are vital. Each force has its own officers, and the highest rank you’ll see is the Major - though most engagements are commanded by Captains and Lieutenants. 

Known as Senior Leaders in game (as Sergeants and other senior NCOs also count), they can operate as their own little units, bringing Signallers, Bodyguards, Orderlies and even their Batmen. They’re generally poorly armed and should not be in the thick of the fighting, though you may also attach them to an individual Section. 

Junior leaders - corporals and the like - may also issue orders, though only to the section they are in.

The better the leader, the further their orders may be issued and the better chance they have of being obeyed. Unattached officers can run quickly between engagements - and they can also activate special actions called Gambits, which we’ll talk about next week.