UMPIRE RULES, NOTES, AND HINTS

MOVEMENT

Although players may have ordered a force to move, it may well not do so. To see if a force moves the umpire rolls 1D6 and ADDS the leaders STRATEGY RATING (see OOB). If a 6 or more is rolled the force moves as ordered. If less the force does not move this turn. Union supply depots move on a 6 (if moving with a force you may allow them to move with it). If ordered not to move (i.e. act as a supply source) no die roll is required.

MOUNTAIN PASSES

Union forces capture an enemy controlled Gap on a 6 (lD6), Confederate's on a 5-6. For each turn after the first attempt both sides add +1 (cumulative).

DIGGING IN

I think this should generally be discouraged as this was a campaign of manoeuvre. I suggest that forces can only attempt to dig in if there is a very valid reason. As to success I suggest you use the same mechanic as for resting and reorganising (or alternatively the force has to succeed with a movement die roll). Any fieldworks constructed should be light (+1) under Fire & Fury rules and whether they should cover the frontage of the entire force is debateable. Also bear in mind that for the forces involved the area is relatively large and it might be possible for forces to advance into an area and bypass any fieldworks constructed.

ORDERS

What detail you want players to go into is up to you (as is what weight you give to all the things they want to do!). I essentially merely asked for what forces was moving where although both commanders tended to elaborate on this. What I did do was ask both sides for a general plan of campaign and to give in orders for 3 -4 turns in advance. This had the following benefits - if neither side was in contact it got the game rolling along at a rapid rate as I could run through several turns at once. It had the added benefits that it encouraged the commanders to put together a strategic plan and stick to it, avoiding the 'go-stop-go' syndrome if you have a decision point every turn. It also meant that if a battle or event occurred I could rule that (if I wished) forces on the other side could not react immediately and would follow the plan aleady in existence. The multiple turns made it appear that Union forces simply moved very slowly rather than not moving most of the time and then lurching forward.

INTELLIGENCE

Confederate intellgence in the Valley (Kernstown and the area south of this between the two major mountain regions) is generally good. They will receive accurate and detailed information on Union forces in this area, such as - number of divisions, approximate strength of these and the leaders names.

Union intelligence gathering will be rather less effective - they will know if there are enemy toops in a surrounding area but other details will depend on the relative cavalyy strengths of the opposing forces. Note that Confederate cavalry will always neutralise Union cavalry for intelligence gathering purposes regardless of relative makeup. The Confederates have only a single cavalry unit and this may not be split. Confederate intelligence gathering outside the Valley is no better than the Union's.

This does require that players or the umpire keep a record of losses during the game. As I use Fire & Fury this is relatively painless as there are not too many units on the table and all losses are in stands. The system I used was that when a unit took losses the player would call out what they were (e.g. "Trimble, 2 losses from fire" or Scott "1 captured, 1 skedaddled") and I just marked these down on a pre drawn up roster sheet. You may wish to modify the above if the rules you use are in single figures. Post battle recovery is always slightly tricky, the above seemed to work well for me but feel free to substitute your own system.

You may wish to give an advantage to the winners for recovering skedaddled troops or further penalise the losers.

Guns which are lost cannot be replaced (you may wish to allow a trickle of replacements from Harpers Ferry/ Meechums Depot).

Captured guns cannot be used, but are deemed valuable to the Confederate war effort.

LOST LEADERS

Should a senior leader be lost assume that his senior brigade commander takes over. It is up to the umpire to decide his replacement's ratings.

RESTING and REORGANISING

In Fire & Fury, a brigade has 3 states, Fresh, Worn or Spent. For example an average brigade of 10 stands will have a rating of 10/8/5. It is Fresh until reduced by losses to 8 stands (it becomes Worn) and if it is further reduced to 5 stands it becomes Spent. Worn & Spent status progressively reduce the combat capability of the brigade.

In the campaign if a brigade which has taken losses rests and reorganises after a battle, it's Fresh. Worn and Spent levels are recalculated based on it's new strength. If it does not then they are calculated on its previous levels.

For example: A 10 stand (average) brigade takes 3 losses in a battle (after casualty recovery). If it reorganises before its next battle it will have the following rating 7/5/4. Thus, despite its losses it starts at Fresh status as it has reorganised. If it has not rested or reorganised its levels are calculated on the original strength (10). In this case its rating would be -/7/5 (because it's previous strength was 10 and it now only has 7 stands, it starts the battle at it's Worn status). It commences the action as Worn and if it takes 2 hits it becomes Spent. It is obviously far more brittle than it would have been if it had reorganised (when it would have started Fresh and required 3 hits to become Spent).

Note that units which rest and reorganise after a battle not only start in a better state but will also rally more losses as the unfit will return to the ranks.

Be aware that the above can have a significant effect on operations and the course of the game.

TO REST and REORGANISE

To do this successfully the force (or unit) can carry out no other action (that turn) and roll a 6 on 1D6.

Modifiers to this roll are:

+1: Exceptional Divisional commander.
+1: Holding the battlefield.
+1: In same area as supply depot.
+1: In town (buildings = hospitals).
-1: Out of supply.
-1: Being pressed or harassed by the enemy.

Success recovers unfit to duty and allows brigades to reorganise so that their Fresh, Worn, Spent status is calculated on their new, not their old strength.

Note that this option does not have to be taken immediately. A force can fight a battle and then move off before attempting to do this, taking it's unfit men with it for recovery later.

A force that fails to reorganise and rest may try again later with no penalty.

SUPPLY

For every 4 days (turns) a Union force is out of supply it suffers a minus 1 on it's manoeuvre die (both on the map and on the battlefield). If a force reaches a point where it is impossible for it to move (i.e. on the map a roll of 6 still results in failed movement) it must withdraw, avoiding the enemy until it is back in supply. - The Confederates follow the above rules but for them the penalty is assessed every 5 days.

If a unit fights a battle and then fights another in an out of supply situation it will go 'Ammo Low' (Fire & Fury) on a fire die roll of 9 -10 (normally a 10). You may wish to make this more severe for multiple battles, prolonged time out of supply or if the preceding battle had been especially explosive.

HARPERS FERRY

Every turn the Union player rolls 1D6. On a 6 a new supply depot arrives at Harpers Ferry.

REINFORCEMENTS

Both sides roll 1D6 each turn. On a 6 the Union receive 1D6 x 100 Green replacements at Harpers Ferry. If the Confederates roll a 6 they receive 1D6 x 10 Veteran replacements.

Replacements may remain in place or sent to join the field armies. Remember they play no part in the action until they are attached to a brigade which has then been reorganised. Note the above replacements are in men, NOT figures or stands! If the players receive cavalry or artillery replacements is up to you.

BATTLEFIELDS

If there is a battle the umpire will need to decide on the terrain. Either randomly generate them, set out something interesting or whatever. It is suggested that the terrain generated be influenced by that in the area of the battle and the surrounding regions. The campaign roads should definitely be placed on the table. If a battle occurs where a historical action took place you can always fight over the actual battlefield, although quite possibly with different forces and a different orientation.

The umpire may wish to give the side which is obviously defending some sort of terrain advantage or larger set up area etc.

Marching to the Sound of the Guns. I tended to give forces which had been ordered to an area where a battle was taking place an advantage on their movement die roll. If they arrived I then determined randomly when they would appear. How much information you give players on the possibility of additional forces arriving is up to you (as is how true such information is!).

BATTLEFIELD RULES AMENDMENTS (FIRE & FURY)

1. Dismounted Union cavalry fire with the same effect and ranges as Confederate Cavalry - they are a) Not very good and b) have not yet been issued with repeaters.
2. Confederate charging cavalry gets a plus 1 for Confederates charging AND plus 1 for cavalry (they were very good) - assuming they are mounted. Aside, this caused some angst amongst the Union players, you might prefer to give them both the above vs Union cavalry (which they completely outclassed) and only one of the above vs Union infantry.

BATTLE RESULTS

The umpire should decide who has won a battle (and who holds the ground, has to retreat etc.) if it is not obvious. To what extent units/leaders etc. rise in quality is up to you.

CAMPAIGN DIE ROLLING

Although the above refers to the players rolling the die, in actual fact the umpire should roll campaign dice when arbitrating on the turn's events. Note that in theory (unless they are cheating swine!) the players should not be aware of the above and will not know the chances of various events occurring.

VICTORY

I have not laid out definite victory conditions or set out a table of victory points etc. as these can often distort a game as players hunt for that winning point. I think it is better for the umpire to decide on an individual basis who has won or lost (if it hasn't become obvious) referring to the objectives set out at the start. As for a time limit, if you want one approx. 40-50 turns would seem about right.

OOB NOTES FOR THE UMPIRE

The Confederate OOB is accurate and historically well documented. The Union OOB is far more confused and not so well documented. The information on the forces that actually fought Jackson is pretty clear (Schenk, Shields, Banks) but the picture is rather murkier regarding other forces in the area. The Union OOB should to a degree be regarded as a pragmatic guess aimed at producing a good game as well as reflecting history.

Schenk's division was historically two large brigades (Milroy and Schenk with Schenk senior). Schenk is given the highest Strategic rating of the Union as his was the only force to attack Jackson (at Mcdowell where he went forward rather than sit back and take it).

Saxton's 'division' was actually a collection of regiments gathered together at Harpers Ferry to defend it.

All cavalry on both sides has been estimated and rounded to the nearest useable Fire & Fury figure (600 men is the minimum). Ashby's cavalry had a habit of disbanding itself as most of the men lived locally.

Finally I have amended the OOBs to fit the Fire & Fury command structure.With regard to the OOBs players should have their own (only) as above EXCEPT for the Strategy Ratings of the leaders which should be known only by the umpire.

When fighting battles using Fire & Fury you can use either the 1:150 or 1:200 scale. Simply round numbers of stands up or down. The same can be used for guns remember you can always use 'damaged' batteries for an odd number of pieces present.

I suggest that the Confederate commander should be one conversant with the war, the Union commander rather less so.

The way we played was that I had a CinC for each side who gave me the required orders. If there was a battle other club members would take on the roles of the various battlefield commanders. Generally the CinCs had no troops to move on the tabletop, acting in a command function only (unless they took personal command of a unit). Fortunately at the Exiles the membership splits pretty evenly between those who will only play Confederate and those who will only play Union.

Also, players are quite happy to command only a couple of units in a battle. Generally for each battle there were 3 to 5 players a side. Once a player had fought for one side he would always play on that side for the remainder of the campaign - in addition the Confederate players always tended to command the same units (this was more difficult on the Union side as different forces tended to be engaged).

Finally, you will no doubt have noticed that there are some grey areas in the above, and quite possibly some things which are not covered at all. I think it is impossible to cover everything with strict legalistic rules and it is far better for the umpire to rule on certain things depending on what he sees as important and to suit the style of his game and players. If in doubt you can always roll 2D6, a 12 being the best possible outcome, a 2 the worst and everything else to a greater or lesser extent 'in between'. I would advise that the umpire have some knowledge of the actual campaign as I think that this would be helpful for all of the above. You might also find it useful to read through the account of how the game went (below).

PLAYING WITHOUT AN UMPIRE

This is certainly possible, although not the preferred option. Players will need to make up markers to represent their forces together with some dummies (say about 6 to 9 for the Confederates and 3 for the Union?). Players will need to know all the rules (including the Strategy Rating of leaders to play). Forces could be moved by written orders, in turn or by an initiative system (highest die roll decided whether to go first or second etc.). Moves could either be by complete sides or by alternating forces etc.

WARNING!

If you will be playing this scenario, DO NOT look at the Umpire Rules or Orders of Battle for either side as the capabilities of various leaders and units should not be hidden from both sides! You probably shouldn't read the replay, either, as it will influence your own deployments and uses. You have been warned.

Shenadoah Order of Battle (Confederate and Union)
Shenadoah Introduction
Game Replay
Game Map

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