DS House Rules

OK, some houserules we've been trying out and finding interesting. Cut and
paste from the word file I'm going to be printing up and handing out at next
game.

Company Commanders: May activate any platoon for a second time. Second
activation
allows 1/2 move, and one action.  Moving more than 1/4 base movement
rate shift fire dice down one as normal. This is in lieu of normal activation.
Commander must roll his quality dice vs. target unit's
leadership.  Commander may make 1/2 move and activate a platoon.

This came about because a fellow who'd been playing DSII with modern vehicles
showed up Monday with nothing but Russians and Brits. I uprated his stuff to
HKPs etc, but we started discussing effects of chain of command. This
resulted, and I kinda like it. I've never been
too comfortable with dropping company commanders--reminds me too much
of 1950s experiments with the Penatomic Division (Shudder).

Morale Checks: A unit takes all morale checks applicable. A platoon which
breaks or routs causes the company commander to take morale check at the
threat level of the morale check which broke the platoon. If a company
commander fails a morale check, all platoons loose a level of confidence. A
company commander's death causes a morale check for loss of leader for all
platoons. The platoon leader with the best leadership is designated new
company commander.

I've mentioned the first half of this before. The rest is the logical result
of adding another link in the chain of command.

Artillery: Organic artillery does not require a roll to come down. Attached
artillery in direct support of the echelon on the table (IOW, if you've got a
BN HQ on the board and the artillery is in direct support of this
BN) rolls quality dice vs. 2.  General Support artillery requires a 4+
to come in.  Pre-plotted fire missions would come in on schedule all
the time, and TRPs and/or FISTs give a +1 to die roll.  If  you make it
exactally, then it comes in, but not in next activation, but activation after
(thus giving your opponent 2 chances to move out of beaten zone).

My Arty rules, which I've posted before, refined. I'm strongly
considering making it leadership/LD+2 instead of flat 2/4.

And comments on someone else's house rules: Someone posted a addy for a very
nice site (quotes of Chinese philosophers all over the place) recently, and I
like the house rules he's got there. Some I won't use,
as they are genre specific.  One I think is wrong--the overrun followup
rules.  He limits it to one follow-up.  I point out that pursuit of a
defeated enemy could be carried out for miles during the Middle Ages or
Napoleonic time periods--if a commander wanted to chase down fleeing
troops he could. I also was wondering about price and range of Nuclear
Dampers--to simulate Slammers or other background where nukes are
really verboten, I'd drop it to 250 points (vis 500) and extend range to
'tabletop' vis 36".