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PBI II (2000)

PBI is a game of company level combat in WW2. PBI is an infantry game with armor present as support. Artillery and the like is off table.

A set of WW2 company level rules. The game is played on a 4 foot by 4 foot grid, split into 6″ squares. A company would typically consist of 3 tanks and 25 bases of infantry.

The scale is 1 to 1. This means that a base of three figures represents three men. A tank model represents a real tank. The tabletop scale is 10m to the inch.

The Overall concept.

PBI is intended to provide a two hour wargame. All of the dice used are simple D6. All of the mechanisms are intuitive. PBI uses a gridded board. This means that all movement, range and areas are described in terms of squares. Because the player takes the role of the company commander, the squares of the grid allow him to get soldiers to “go over there and do that”, rather than measuring distances and engaging in single figure management. By using a grid it is very clear what scenery type the figures are in. There are three types of square. Closed (buildings and woods), Partial (hedges, walls and fences) and open (no significant cover).

The rules generate a scenario which both players have a fair chance of winning. The game is always of the attack/defense style.

PBI uses a lot of D6 (a typical section shooting would roll 10 dice). This helps give a feel for the massive amount of ammunition expended and allows the probabilities to even out (the more dice you roll, the more predictable the result).

The aim of PBI is to create company level engagements which players can win by use of better tactics. The game is focussed on the player being a company commander so those are the tasks given to the player.