A while back, Mike Frank got me started thinking about the Liberal Move and Assault again - since then I've started to realize that it or some other "big move" mechanism really can improve a game. Anyhow, with the Liberal Move & Assault, one player (on a given turn) can really move out and make huge advances (or not, if things don't go as planned) - this got me thinking about both players making sweeping moves during the same turn...

How could this be done? Well, I remembered the Free Move game - it seemed to me that with a bit of structure we could add this to most games. Over the weekend, I continued to think about the Free Move wargame - specifically, the Timed Free Move game...

An example of a Timed Free Move game could look something like this: Take your "standard" game with a sequence something like this: (from our SYW game)

1. Dice for initiative - high die moves first in the turn
2. Side A (initiative) rolls one d6 for each general, and assigns a die per general.
3. Side A moves any single elements or groups of elements, halts fleeing units and/or removes endurance markers.
4. Side A moves any of his generals.
5. Side B (non-initiative) may fire artillery and infantry in range. Side A's elements react to fire received (destroyed recoil or flee).
6. Side A may now fire any infantry elements which did not move and are still in range.
7. Any and all close combats are fought with results applied immediately (destroyed, recoil, flee, follow-up and pursuit).
8. Repeat sequence 2 through 8 substituting Side B for A.

A fairly typical sequence, one side moves, Then some combats, then the other side moves and more combats (repeat for each game turn)... When doing a Time Free Move game you could several things, but I'll just cover two options.

A) Change all movement so it is simultaneous- the above sequence becomes something like:

1. Dice for initiative - high die fights first in the turn
2. Both sides roll one d6 for each general, and assigns a die per general.
3. Both sides move any single elements or groups any number of moves - all movement stops when time limit is reached.
4. Both sides move any of their generals.
5. Side A (non-initiative) may fire artillery and infantry in range. Side B's elements react to fire received (destroyed recoil or flee).
6. Side B may now fire any infantry elements which did not move and are still in range.
7. Any and all close combats are fought with results applied immediately (destroyed, recoil, flee, follow-up and pursuit). Repeat for each game turn - not a perfect sequence, but an outline or general idea of how that option works.

B) The option I'm playing around with follows the "Standard" sequence as above until the conditions for a Time Free Move are met. These could be almost anything, but for now lets just keep it simple - must win initiative and have a roll of 7 or better (7 or better on the initiative roll). Player announces that the turn will be a Timed Free Move turn. Sequence switches to that shown in option A above - for this turn only.

OK, now we have the turn sequence outlined.

So, what is a Timed Free Move?

The timed part is easy - all movement takes place under a given time limit - 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes - whatever is appropriate for your game. The actual moves must be made according to the games legal limits - As a simple example: Infantry moves 4" per turn (assume good going). Your Infantry elements or groups can make as many 4" moves as they can during the time limit. Units must stop if they meet "Stopping Conditions" - these conditions would be specific to your game, it might be when they are within X" if an enemy unit or when they enter melee with an enemy or anything else that makes sense for your given game. The unit must pause after each move. So to make two moves, a unit must move 4" then pause - then move 4" more - you can't just move it 8" and say that was two moves. I like to place a marker after each move - this forces a pause if nothing else. So there you have the basic idea for the Free Timed Move - this can make for some real challenges on the table-top - I charge to your Left as you charge to my Left - we pass right by one another or I attack your Right as you attack my Left - We meet in the center!

To sum up, success of a Free Timed Move game will depend upon several factors. The time allowed to move units must be of an appropriate length - not too long and not too short. A good starting point is to allow about 1/4 the time it takes to move all units one "normal" movement. As forces are reduced, this time should be further reduced.

• Only units which are moved during the timed move may be moved during the given turn - you only have a single movement phase during these turns.
• All Free moves must be "measured" moves. In other words you cannot simply pick up a unit and move it to a new position - you must move them move-by-move. If standard movement is 4" per turn then your units can make a 4" move then stop/pause and then move another 4" move.
• Lastly, all players must make moves simultaneously.

Your entire game could be a timed move game or as in my game you might have the Free Timed Move as an option each game turn. In our SYW game we allow three types of movement: Normal, Liberal and Free Timed. The initiative winner decides the type of movement for any given turn for that turn following given guidelines.

Give this a try in your next game (Musket Era or Ancients work well) - A game with the free move allows for the action to be broken up a bit. You can still have your regimented moves - but you get much more the way maneuver and flanking moves. Cavalry can be deadly, but can just as easily become over extended.