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FROM SEOUL TO THE YALU during the first stage of the Korean War 1950 1. Introduction 2. Special Rules Skill Levels - Green troops - "Bug-out Fever" - Armoured Personnel Carriers - Bazookas - Hull-down AFV:s - Fortifications - Support- Air Strikes - Napalm - Human Wave Attacks - Rice paddies. AFV Capability Table AT Gun Table 1. INTRODUCTION From Seoul to the Yalu is designed to supplement the Storm of Steel set, and contain a number of rules and tables that will help any gamers wanting to refight the early battles of the Korean war, before the Chinese intervention. 2. SPECIAL RULES A. Skill Levels. North Korean armies are regular. In the period June-July 1950, U.S. armies are green (see below), in August-September raw, and then regular until the end of the year. This is not a strict rule, as there were some U.S. formations that were above this abysmal average: the Marines should be rated as veteran already in september, at the Inchon landings. B. Green troops. The U.S. forces in Korea at the start of the conflict, were "one of the least professional, least motivated armies America has ever put to the field" (Max Hastings). Lack of proper communication equipment etc made the situation even worse. To simulate this, a fourth Skill Level is introduced: Green. When determining the Cpts for a green army, 1d6 is rolled and then checked against this table:
Green armies may not employ mines. For purposes of rallying and demoralization green troops are counted as raw. C. "Bug-out Fever". The first U.S. troops were poorly equipped, and they lacked weapons to fight the North Korean T34:s. So in the opening stages of the war - and sometimes later - routs and retreats without orders were common when NKA armour was approaching (or when the U.S. soldiers tought they were approaching), the americans abandoning equipment, vehicles and even their own wounded. To simulate this, in battles set in June- July 1950, the first time in the game a U.S. unit is knocked out or assault attacked by a North Korean T34 or SU76, roll 1d6 for every U.S. unit within a radius of 30cm. If "1" the unit runs away: it is simply removed from play. D. Armoured Personnel Carriers. APC:s have two types of assault attack dice: the lower is used if the APC is empty, the higher if loaded with infantry. Both the M3 and the LTV-3 may transport 3 foot units. E. Bazookas. Infantry equipped with M18 bazookas are treated as infantry in movement, when firing against soft targets and in assault, but against armored targets they fire with 1d6 and a maximum range of 15 cm. Infantry equipped with M20 bazookas are treated as infantry in movement, fire against soft targets and assault, but against armored targets they fire with 1d10 and a max range of 15 cm. Note that M20 bazookas was not used in Korea until late July 1950. (They were airlifted in when the M18 had proved itself useless against the NKA:s T34/85:s.) F. Hull-down AFV:s. When firing upon AFV:s in a hull-down position (i.e. situated behind cover, with only a small part of the vehicle exposed) the die roll is modified with -1. G. Fortifications. Green troops may not employ mines. H. Support. The composition of the players support decks, depends on the phase of the war. In battles set in June-July 1950 the US Players support deck contains 1 x "One air strike", 5 x "One artillery bombardment" and 4 x "No support this turn" and the North Korean Players support deck contains 1 x "One air strike", 4 x "One artillery bombardment" and 5 x "No support this turn". During the rest of 1950 the US Players support deck contains 2 x "One air strike", 5 x "One artillery bombardment" and 3 x "No support this turn" and the North Korean Players support deck contains 4 x "One artillery bombardment" and 6 x "No support this turn". The US artillery is classified as Flexible, with a High Volume of Fire, North Korean artillery is classified as Rigid, with a Normal Volume of Fire. I. Air Strikes. The skilled and powerful american forces in the air soon overwhelmed their opponents, and were for the rest of the war one of the most important factors in favour of the allies. To simulate this the North Korean player modifies his die roll when determining what type of aircraft that will attack with -1, the US player with +1. J. Napalm. The use of napalm greatly increased the ground-attack capability of many U.S. aircraft. To simulate this, U.S. Fighters use 1d12 when performing air strikes. K. Human Wave Attacks. The North Korean player may use his infantry units in human wave attacks, sending the troops forward in massive, suicidal charges. Any assault made by his infantry unit may be declared to be a Human Wave Attack. The assault roll for that unit is then doubled, but the infantry unit in question is automatically eliminated, regardless of the outcome. (If the attack is made against a supressed unit, the die roll is not doubled twice, but simply tripled.) L. Rice paddies. A new type of terrain is introduced: rice paddies. Rice paddies are treated as open terrain for LOS purposes, and have the same terrain protection value (i.e. 4). For movement purposes they are treated as woods: foot units, light guns, tracked and half-tracked vehicles may all enter rice paddies, but must halt and take a difficulty test when moving the next turn. M. Force Composition. At least half of both the U.S. and the North Korean Players units must be foot units. 3. NEW RANDOM EVENTS CARDS The following Random Events cards are added to the Standard Random Events Deck. Note that the procedure for preparing and using this deck is still the same. 1 x "When you hear the patter of little
feet&ldots; 1 x Look, planes! 1. AFV CAPABILITY TABLE
Range modifications: If range is short +1 on die roll, if range is long -1. Note: When two soft target dies values are given with a slash, e.g. d6/HMG, the owning player may use either; it represents the Tank commander choosing between using the Artillery piece or the Machine gun. When two assault attack values are given the lower is used if the APC is empty, the higher if loaded with infantry.
2. AT GUN TABLE Die used Gun type Range modifications: If range is short +1 on die roll, if range is long -1.
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