Do you game several 19th century European conflicts? Do you aIso like to wargame 19th century colonial wars? Are you tired of finding suitable rules for every new wargame period you do? If you're like me, Principles of War (PoW) rules might be your answer.

Being a rule book junkie, I order almost every rule book I see. I love to order stuff from England. I had seen an ad in one of those British wargame glossies for PoW stating: Quick Play! No Long List of Factors! Easy to Use!. I would agree with all of these statements.

PoW is published by the Victorian Military Study and is available from On Military Matters ( 55 Taylor Terrace, Hopewell, NJ 08525) for $18.00 plus $3.50 for postage handling. PoW, designed by Tom Penn is a nicely printed 8.5,, by 11', 88 page booklet with card covers plus a quick reference card.

Though the rule's length might seem excessive, only about twenty pages are actual rules. These pages have examples and illustrations. The mechanics are simple. The basic unit is a infantry battalion or a cavalry regiment though the designer suggests that units can represent companies for smaller actions. For the bigger multi-corps battles of the 1859 Franco- Austrian War, I let each unit represent a brigade or a regiment.

Basing

Basing is suggested for 25, 15 and 6 mm figures but isn't critical. For example, a 15 mm infantry battalion has nine to twelve figures while a 6 mm infantry unit has up to 36. The number of figures is not critical because every unit has a strength from one to eighteen which is tracked on a roster. There is no figure removal for casualties. This one strength value is used to resolve fire and melee oombat plus any morale checks.

There is a pre-game setup phase before the actual game begins. This involves locating units on a map of the battle and deciding which side has the initiative. Then, orders for each brigade are written. These involve attacking an objective, holding or retiring. Disliking written orders, we used order counters for the first game we played. We dropped the orders finding out they didn't affect the game.

Units are then assigned to an army's "movement bases." An army of about thirty units has from three to six movement bases. These movement bases are moved around until the enemy is sighted. Personally, I skip them feeling they wouldn't add that much to the game.

Turn Sequence

The turn sequence is rolling for officer command points, unit movement, charge reaction, fire combat and melee combat. Each side altemately completes this turm sequence each game turn. For some strange reason, rolling for officer command points is step four in the rules. The rules then state start the turn with step four. However, I have created my own reference card for each conflict I game, reordering the turn sequence more logically. I list only the weapons in the combat charts that were used during the conflict unlike that every weapon is listed on the game reference card.

To begin the turn, each officer rolls a die for the number of command points. A four sided die is used for a poor officer, a six sided die for an average officer and an average die for a good officer. It takes one command point to move a single unit or group of units, change a unit's formation, for a unit to enter melee combat or to rally a shaken unit.

Each side's army leader can spend his points to command units or to change an officer's orders. The poor quality armies like Russia have one leader per eight units compared to a Prussian officer that commands six units. A poor leader commanding a large number of units will quickly run out of command points unless he maneuvers them as a group.

Next, all units move. Instead of normal wargame formation terms, column and line, the terms formed and deployed are used. Movement for infantry varies from six inches for formed to four inches for deployed. Cavalry move ten inches.

Terrain effects are rolled for on various tables. A woods for example could impede movement except at the edges or allow movement at half speed. Combat effects vary from none or shifls on the combat table. Units that move or change formation can not fire during the fire phase.

Some of my friends have complained about this rule feeling that a moving unit should be able to fire a reduced effect. I feel the rules make the assumption that each unit is throwing out skirmishers and the fire affect from these would be ineffectual until the unit remains stationary to fire. This rule forces players to think, too.

During the next phase, enemy units that are contacted take a charge reaction test. This involves rolling a twenty sided die equal to or under a unit's strength taking in account modifiers due to being charged in the flank and so on. A unit that passes can change facing, fire at the charger or counter-charge. A unit rolling over its strength but not double is shaken. A shaken unit can't react or move closer to the enemy but instead remains in melee combat with negative effects. A unit rolling over double its strength retreats shaken. A unit rolling over triple its strength is removed from the board. To rally a shaken unit, the officer spends a command point. Rally is automatic.

Fire Combat

After charge reaction, units that did not move may fire. Fire combat involves taking a multiplier based on weapon type and range, multiplying by the unit's strength and rolling on the combat chart. All infantry weapons have the same range multiples: 0-4", 4-8" and 8-12". Multipliers vary from a one for an irregular smooth bore musket at close range to a three for a Prussian needle gun at close range. Artillery from smooth bore to Prussian Krupp guns have longer ranges and higher multipliers. Colonial weapons for native tribes are catered for too.

The final strength is calculated and cross referenced on a column with a six die roll on the combat chart. The result is the number of strength points lost. A unit losing strength points rolls equal to or under its strength on a twenty die roll to pass a morale check. The results of not passing are the same as for failing the charge reaction test.

A group of units can fire at a group of enemy units with the same die roll by totaling up all the strength points, rolling on the combat chart and equally dividing the losses. There are strict rules where a group of units can not gain up on a lone unit when facing a line but I ignore them. We have had fun trying to wipe out individual units.

After fire combat, melee combat is then resolved much the same way. All infantry have a multiplier of one but cavalry types have a multiplier of two or higher. The strength of each side is calculated and the result is rolled on the same combat chart. Both sides resolve their morale checks the same way.

I have played the game about five times but had one bad game. My first game was a French-Austrian meeting engagement during the 1859 Franco-Austrian war. We then re-fought the battle of Magenta from the same war too. This time, we let units represent regiments instead of battalions because Magenta was a big battle.

We re-fought the Danish counter-attack at Kjaer during the 1864 Prusso-Danish war. The Danes were mowed down attacking the needlegun armed Prussians. We moved on to the 1866 Austro-Prussian war fighting the battle of Skalitz. However, this game was a bore.

We had a long Austrian line trade fire with a long Prussian line for three hours with no effect. The latest action was an ambush during the 1898 Spanish-American War.

Easy to Teach

I have found the game easy to teach and explain at game conventions and playing with friends. We have re-fought battles with thirty units on each side in less than four hours. Everybody has fun. My only complaint is that the average strength of infantry unit should be twelve with fourteen for a guard unit. Otherwise, the game takes a lot longer due to units passing morale checks more often. A fun version is playing with the variable strength unit nule.

Some of you might not like to use rosters to track strength points but it's easy to set up one using an Excel spreadsheet on computer plus the rule book has blank rosters you can copy. A nice feature is the rulebook features about thirty European and colonial army lists from Prussians to Russians. The army lists are already laid out roster style with special nules for each army. The authors carry laminated army list for tournament games.

Newest Additions

The newest addition is army list books. The first is colonial: 1838 1914 and the second is European: 1827-1869. The standard foes Pnussia, Russia and Austria are featured plus army lists for obscure campaigns like the 1848 rebellion in Rome and the 1848 SchliezwigHolstein revolt. Both of these booklets cost $12.00 each and are available from On Mllitary Mattars. Projects in the pipeline are an European army list book for 1870 to 1914 and campaign books covering the Prusso-Austrian and Russo-Turkish wars.

The author also publishes a quarterly newsletter for about five dollars a year that features rules questions, tips and a scenario with pregenerated rosters in each issue. The latest issue features the 1904 Russo-Japanese war. This article got my wargame blood boiling again and might be my next period after I finish up my Garibaldi. If you are like me and game several wars and are tired of searching for rules and want an easy to play system, try this set out. You won't be disappointed.

-Finis-