Ostfront

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Ostfront (after the German name for the Eastern Front) is the tactical tabletop game set in WWII and using cheap 1/72 and 1/76 Scale models. It boasts fast play rules and historical accuracy, and also fun. The rules can be used with almost any scale of historical miniature, from 1/100 to 1/32.

Simple Combined Arms[edit]

Ostfront puts field commanders in charge of a combined army, usually consisting of Infantry, Tanks, Artillery, Air Support, Light Vehicles and Field guns. Each player writes a list from their chosen faction, and both players agree on a points limit. In the campaign, the points for each side are determined by the map.

For example: Tom attacks Eugene with 170 points worth of forces on the campaign map, and so writes up a 170 point list. The square Tom is attacking has 150 points in it, and so Eugene writes a 150 point list. Tom will have a slight advantage of numbers in this battle.

Ostfront army lists are limited only by your available models, and different combinations are encouraged. There are no real restrictions on writing army lists. Air support and Preliminary Bombardments are the only regulated items, with players being able to take 2 of each for every 100 points of army.

Mechanics[edit]

Ostfront is D6 based, and uses very few rolls. As such, the fate of a tank can often rest on the roll of a D6, and this makes for huge swings in forces during the game. Players used to 40k or other tabletops may give up halfway through an Ostfront battle, as odds may seem stacked against them, but players are encouraged to roleplay a field commander and never give up. This rewards the most determined commander, and combined with the campaign map, makes for situations where one player is heavily outnumbered, but must do the best he can, inflicting maximum casualties before withdrawing.

Design and History[edit]

Ostfront was originally written by Tom Jensen in 2011 for two small armies of German and Russian tanks. The original armies consisted of 6 different vehicles each, and the entire rules fit on 2 pages. Since then the system has been extensively playtested and expanded by Tom Jensen and Eugene Gielen. Eugene was instrumental in creating points for each unit, allowing players to have even armies no matter the composition. Over the years more and more units and factions were added, with Tom and Eugene doing the research for all the vehicles, and drafting out stats and points costs for each one. Infantry were added, as well as support like artillery and air support.

After much polishing, Ostfront was finally released for purchase in printed form in 2016. There's also a starter rule set available on a pay-what-you-want basis.

Tactics[edit]

Links to Rules[edit]

Since 2016, Ostfront has a proper home page which also features some other wargames: [1]