Introduction
Matchlocks on the Warpath is written specifically with an eye towards the myriad of small conflicts during the settling of America. The colony of Virginia teetered on the brink of extinction for about thirty years before finally gaining the upper hand on the local Indians. The Indians killed nearly a third of the population during the war of 1622. Other colonies faced similar difficulties with the Pequot war of 1637, the King Philips war of 1675, and the Deerfield massacre in 1703. Even the French in Canada, although having generally better relations with the Algonquins, had to fight for their survival against the Iroquois nations. No place in America was truly safe from Indian raids during the seventeenth century
You can also use these rules to simulate actions in Europe from the Dutch rebellion at the dawn of the seventeenth century through both the Thirty Years War and English Civil War, to the Anglo-Dutch Wars and Expansionism under Louis XIV. This period also saw the full blossom of the European Pirates that ranged the globe and terrorized shipping on the watery frontier. There are also other conflicts between the Europeans and indigenous peoples. The Sugar Wars in Africa, the original Dutch settlers against the Bushmen outside of Capetown. You can even simulate the sporadic fighting between the more settled Poles and the Cossacks. (I have always wanted to run a game based the movie Taras Bulba).
The heart of the rules is the command and control. One of the critical functions of small unit leadership is to get the troops to actually fight. Fear in combat is about more than running away. Panicky troops are liable to forget recent training in the heat of battle. The process of loading an early firearm had to be stylized in order to make it repeatable. Troops under fire are liable to forget or repeat steps unless the platoon sergeant is barking out the commands. Thousands of muskets were found on civil war battlefields with ball after ball loaded on top of each other. Formed troops stayed bunched tightly both for density of combat power and to limit skulking and freezing.
NCO and Junior Officer leadership is critical to keeping that smallest organization moving and fighting. The leadership role becomes less critical for more experienced troops. A veteran unit will need less prodding and be more independent than a horde of farmers. The activation points reflect this.
The Game
Matchlocks on the Warpath is for skirmish combat between opposing forces of up to 80 figures per side. A figure represents one character, man or woman. Each player will command one or two units of five to ten characters. More figures than this will slow the game down unless all players are familiar with the rules.
The rules are written to play on terrain with a one-to-one scale. A hill is as high as the hill model. Buildings should preferably have roofs that lift off to place the miniatures within the building. Trees and bushes need to be common and scaKered all over the playing area. All of these objects will block movement and line of sight if you cannot trace a clear line of sight between miniatures. The best way to resolve any disputes concerning terrain is through amicable agreement among the players.
Each turn's order and initiative is determined by card draw. Since only one player is moving at a time, you need to stick to a fairly strict adherence to a reasonable time standard. A player should only be given about one minute after his card is pulled to start his turn. During large battle with multiple, independent areas of combat, you can split the cards into multiple decks to keep the game moving along.
Time, movement and firepower have been adjusted in the appropriate tables for playability. Because of this, the time scale is flexible within each turn and should be viewed as an arbitrary passage of time.
Definitions
The armor shown on the figure should be what the character is equipped with. In some cases, you can modify this for miniatures that would logically have armor that would be hidden under a hat or beneath a coat. Leather armor will be any sort of stiff leather armor. Pure buckskin should not count as armor, but some combinations of wooden armor may count as leather armor. Metal armor should be purely iron or steel armor. Some characters will have a combination of armor types. A heavy cavalryman from the early to mid seventeenth century could have a metal breastplate and Lobster pot, leather buffcoat, and stiff leather thigh-high boots.
A Unit is a set of characters that are loyal to a given leader.
A Leader is the character that directs the actions of the characters within the unit. The leader may have a formal military rank, or may be in the position of moral authority form social position, military experience, or personal charisma.
Facing is important for determination of aimed shot and aiming cannons. A character may only take an aimed shot if the target is within a 90-degree arc in front of the firing character. A cannon fires along the line of the barrel and must be moved in order to bear in another direction.
A line of sight between characters should be judged either by eye or by using a ruler. Peer over the character's shoulder to determine whether or not the character has a clear line of sight to his enemy. You may also use a laser pointer, although you must be careful not to shine any laser pointer at another person.
Hits are to a specific body part. Hits may be caused by missile weapons or in melee. After a hit is caused, the attacking player rolls to see where the hit was and what the effect will be.
Firing is any form of missile weapon. This may be a musket, cannon, bow, javelin or other thrown weapon.
Related
For More Information
- E-mail: drumlund@aol.com
Web site: http://members.aol.com/hisentco/
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