The simulation of guerrilla warfare on the table-top has long been considered one of the most difficult challenges facing the wargamer. However, several recent developments have changed this. Several sets of rules for using individual figures have appeared of late, which are ideal for adaptation to guerrilla warfare scenarios. Coupled with this is the fact that wargamers seem to be growing more sophisticated with each year, and better able to handle complex and the sometimes abstract rules needed for guerrilla warfare rules. The wargamer who does attempt actions of this type, will find himself rewarded with an unusual and exciting table-top conflict.
Whole campaigns can be built around guerrilla operations and the encounter measures taken against them. Guerrillas, moving unseen and unknown across the map or table, can strike when they wish on ground or their own choosing, forcing the baffled regular forces to run from place to place trying to catch them. Two excellent such campaigns were conducted by the British army in Malaya from 1948 to 1954, and in Kenya from 1952 to 1955.
History is full of examples for the wargamer to study. The Franco-Tireurs of 1871 and the two world wars can tell tales that will inspire even the most unimaginative wargamer. The commandos of the 1st and 2nd Boer wars inflicted on England some of her most humiliating defeats until the British learned to respond in kind with flying columns and the like. The wars in Indo-China, from the French conflicts of the 1880’s and 1950’s to our own problems more recently, provide the wargamer with some truly fascinating examples of guerrilla conflicts. In fact, I doubt that there is one period of military history in which guerrilla warfare did not take place somewhere. But now, since this article is about wargames, here are some concrete suggestions for simulating guerrilla warfare on your tabletop.
2. On the table, guerrilla figures will not be physically set out until their presence is revealed to the regular forces.
3. Classically, guerrillas tend to strike early in the morning or late at night when regulars would be least alert. This could be represented by a reduction in the effectiveness of the regulars when the attack begins.
4. Guerrillas should be very mobile, both on the table and on the map. They carried little heavy equipment and were not tied down to long supply routes.
5. Guerrillas will not be allowed the use of regular cavalry. Horses, when they could get them, were used strictly for transportation, while the actual fighting was done on foot.
6. Guerrillas will nor have to announce where they are attacking, and may in some cases just jump from one part of the map to another as they have a tendency to spread their attacks around to keep the regulars off balance.
7. Guerrillas will always have the capability to act as engineers, though the number of men with proper equipment should be limited.
8. By maintaining a 2 to 1 superiority in a particular area, regular forces can force the guerrillas to cease all operations or else to come out into the open to confront them.
9. Generally the weapons used by guerrillas would be inferior to those of the regular forces unless they have the support of a major power, or capture large stores of weapons belonging to the regular forces.
In my own guerrilla games set in Indo-China of the 1950’s, the fast moving Viet Minh, more often than not, are better equipped - especially in heavy weapons - than are the French Union forces. Normally, unless the French receive prior intelligence concerning the movements of the Viet-Minh, they will almost certainly be taken unaware. One of the most effective weapons of the guerrilla is the ambush. Here are some rules for conducting ambushes on the wargame table.
2. Scouts sent ahead by the regular forces will need to roll a 5 or 6 on one die per man to discover guerrillas in hiding. They will then have to roll another 5 or 6 to get back to the main column with the information.
3. Before the game begins, orders will be written down for the guerrillas. The orders state the turns on which they will attack, and the part of the column which they will strike.
4. Once they have been discovered, they lose the element of surprise, but may choose to withdraw. Otherwise a regular melee will take place between the two forces.
5. If surprise is maintained and the guerrillas are able to spring their ambush, then the ambushers must roll a die to determine how well organized is the attack:
6. The ambush will go on until the guerrillas choose to call it off, or until the regulars succeed in breaking out. Any set of existing rules, home-made or commercial, can be easily adapted to guerrilla warfare by using these ideas as well as any other ideas which you might have. Guerrilla actions tend to work better when small numbers of individual figures are used, but there is nothing to prevent large battles from taking place as well. Try a guerrilla campaign; I’m sure that you will find it a fascinating variation from your normal wargame battles.
1. You’ll find that guerrilla actions work best when they are part of a campaign situation, where limited numbers of regular forces will have to patrol and try to dominate large area of hostile countryside.
1. Guerrillas will not be placed on the table unless they are discovered by scouts or decide to spring the ambush.
1, 2, 3 Attack is perfectly timed; the guerrillas will have a melee bonus for the entire game.
4, 5 Attack is slow; the guerrillas get a bonus in the first round only.
6 Attack is disorganized. Guerrillas will receive no bonus.
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