You've got questions? John Hill's Got Answers!

Q - What happens when a charging regiment breaks his opponent and, before it ends its move, has new possible targets? Can it change direction to attack a new target? And what if it impacts an enemy regiment? A unit was behind the one broken, directly on its forward path. Can the new defender now fire?

A - The charging unit cannot change its direction. If the original target is broken and is fleeing, the charging unit will attempt to chase it. If that move brings it into contact with another regiment, resolve it as if it was any other charge. The "new" defender would roll for defensive fire, and there could be a new dice down for impact.

Q - My opponent has ordered an infantry charge against my mounted cavalry. Can I break away even though I have not ordered any movement? Or do I have to stand and take the charge?

A - Historically, unless the mounted cavalry was trapped -- along a road, in a gully, or something - they would see the formed infantry moving towards them and simply chuckle and ride away. To reflect this, I suggest using the following "house rule." Once orders are revealed, mounted cavalry may change their order to DISENGAGE. This is not that drastic a tweak as we already allow units to change their order to CONDITIONAL HOLD.

Q - Mounted cavalry as a target suffers a +2 fire modifier. Whit if my mounted cavalry is moving when fired upon by a Hold fire?

A - I feel that in most (but not all) situations, the modifier should be applied whether or not the unit is moving. For example, if the firer is infantry armed with rifles, tracking a moving body of cavalry is not harder than tracking a stationary unit mainly because the size of the target area represented up by a mounted moving cavalry unit would more than negate the problem of tracking the move. I might suggest that the +2 DRM (+4 DRM for double line) target modifier for mounted cavalry be maintained except in the case of charging cavalry and then simply have none.

Q - What about the effect of buildings on command and control?

A - I do concur with that logic that they would not block overall visibility for the purposes of command and control -- or order marking - as only the regimental or brigade commander himself has to actually see the target for an order to be placed. And we usually assume that he would place himself in position where he could see the enemy units so he could, at least, make an informed decision as to what to do.

Q- Can a unit move front-to-fank more than once in a single movement?

A - As long as a unit has sufficient movement points, it may do so. Remember that it takes a +2 movement penalty for each time that it chooses to make a front-to-flank move. Note the wording in the original Johnny Reb (version 1) rules. " If a unit is doing a front-to-flank type of formation changes either at the beginning and / or the end of the turn, this order will still be used to indicate the direction of movement." Note the and / or in the above statement.

Q -In Johnny Reb II, can a unit that is prone receive a Charge order? If so, is there any penalty? We find rules saying that prone units that receive charges suffer a charged-while-forming penalty, but there is nothing about units that get up and charge

A - To get up and charge from the prone position - in either JRII or JR III -- would be unusual, and could be done by experienced troops, but it would almost certainly result in a disordered charge. Hence, I would require a successful tactical competence roll (TCR) in order make the charge -- if the unit fails the TCR, it would fall into disorder, though it could still be prone (unit's choice) - however, if it passes then the charge itself would be made in disorder. While it may seem that this ruling is making this inordinately difficult, it is ...as this is hardly a standard battle tactic and hence, would not be something that was continuously practiced on the drill field. Remember, that what may seem very simple to do on the wargame table would often be very difficult to execute on a noisy, smoke-filled battlefield.

Q- If a unit's fire total is more than +24 on the CRT, what happens?

A - If a unit has more than +24 on the CRT, it fires at the 24 level ...as that is meant to mean 24 or higher. The reason there is no longer any more "notches" is the effect of diminishing returns, in that more lead--after a point--does not necessarily mean more people are killed or wounded. In simply terms, once a soldier is hit, it makes little difference if that same poor soldier is hit by an additional two or three Mini balls ... he is already out of the battle line.

Q - If a unit is marked `move,' is there any minimum movement distance it must make?

A - No, if cannot move at all ... however ... since the unit was marked "MOVE" it does indeed suffer the fire penalty for movement. Basically, if the regimental commander ordered a move and then -­de facto -- changed his mind ... the resulting confusion would screw up the firing rhythm as much as actually moving. In reality, the probable result would be that some elements of the unit would have heard the first order, and then not the semi-abort which could have the entire regiment scrambled.

Q - Where is range measured from if a unit spans more than one range band?

A -If the split is roughly equal between the two range bands, roll a die ... if it is unequal, go with the range that represents most of the unit. Another option would be to roll the two parts separately; however, if the unit chooses to do that and either element rolls "out of ammo," I would rule that the whole unit is out of ammo.

As always, thank you for your interest in Johnny Reb III.