The SIEGE WARFARE RULES developed for these operations are home-grown from a variety of historical works by Terence Wise, William Urban, Charles Knightly, Joseph & Frances Gies, S.R. Turnbull and the wonderful book by George Gush with Andrew Finch "A Guide to Wargaming". A brief summary follows.
Movement Restrictions
1. Climbing ladders or steps is at half-speed.
2. Rope-climbing is at 2" per move and only by unarmored troops.
3. Missile troops cannot shoot when climbing.
Fire
1 . Fire burns through wood and other flammables and spreads in all directions (or optionally downwind) at the rate of 1" per turn.
2. Oil and similar combustables burn at the rate of 25 sq. in. per turn setting all flammable materials on fire before they burn out. One cask of oil may be said to contain 25 sq. in.
3. Troops caught in fire are lost.
4. One man can put out 1 sq. in. of fire per turn when water is available, except burning oil or similar materials; then fire continue, unchecked.
Breaching
1. Battering rams take 4 turns to batter through 1/4- thick wall and require a minimum crew of 8.
2. Catapults penetrate 1/8" per shot, but must hit the same spot repeatedly for thicker walls (1" takes 8 hits to breach, etc.).
3. Cannon penetrates 1" of wood, or 1/4" of stone wall, per shot (4 hits / 1 " stone).
Undermining
1. Underground tunneling (1" wide) is at the rate of 1/4 " per man per turn, when properly equipped.
2. Undermined walls tumble down in 2" gaps for each 1" of tunnel width under them.
3. Mining can only be prevented by sallying forth to melee the miners or by counter-mining to drive them out.
4. Mining must be carried out by notation on maps with troops assigned in advance on hidden rosters so as to make enemy discovery more difficult.
Attrition Within
1. Castle under siege for more than 6 days begins to suffer losses at the rate of 1 man per day to natural causes (very harsh, but it speeds up play).
2. A siege may be broken by:
- a. driving off the besiegers,
b. escape (off the table) of at least 1 member of the garrison to summon help if available,
c. capturing the besieging Army Commander,
d. surrender, or
e. a relieving force (summoned by the escapee?)
The time it takes for a relieving force to arrive should be specified in advance, dictated by strategic situation (in campaigning or determined by chance.
SIEGE ENGINES
Use Restrictions
1. Stakes, Ropes and Ladders may be carried (one per man) by all Infantry; those in full armor at half speed. Only unarmored troops can climb ropes.
2. Siege Towers require 1 man per 1" tower height (or 1 horse per 3") in order to be moved.
3. Siege Axes and Mining Tools may be carried by all Infantry, but only unarmored troops may do mining work.
4. Pavises, Battering Rams, Cats and all other engines require their normal crew to be moved (a horse may substitute for 3 crewmen).
5. Oil and similar materials can only be carried in wagons with their capacity specified in advance.
6. Barricades and similar structures must be built on the spot, cost no points and cannot be moved.
Note: Troops attempting to move any engine must be in physical contact with that engine.
Point System
If the optional point system for siege engines and other equipment is used, point values are as follows:
1. For Climbing:
- Rope and Grapple 1
Ladder 2
Siege Tower 2 pt/1" of ht
2. For Breaching:
- Siege Axe 1
Mining Tools (for 1) 1
Battering Ram (8 crew) 5
Roofed Cat (for 8) 5
3. Siege Artillery
- Ballista and Catapult (Mangonel or
Trebouchet) 5
Cannon (all types) 6
4. Other Equipment:
- Oil, Tar, Sulphur, etc. 3 pts/cask
Wheeled Pavise (for 2) 2
Stakes 1 pt ea.
5. Fortifications
- Round Stone Tower or Bastion (all types) 40
Square Stone Tower or Gatehouse 30
Stone Wall with Battlements 20
Stone Wall without Battlements 15
Rampart or Eather-filled Gabion 10
Moat (wet all around) 10
Wood - en Structure, Wall or Palisade 10
Gate, Postern or Sally-port 5
Low Wall or Trench 5
Example: A Castle is built of stone with 2 round towers (80) and 2 rectangular bastions (80) set in opposite corners of 4 walls- 2 with battlements (4), 2 without (30). Main gate (5) with 2 low Wall 5 (10) and a sally-port in the rear (5). Total point value is 250.
CONSTRUCTION
Manpower and time required for construction is 1 figure per turn, per point, squared. So, a 250-point castle would take 250 turns of play for 250 figures to build, working full time. Two men could make a ladder (2 points) in 2 turns, but it would take 4 turns for one man to do it. Whereas a catapult (5 points) can be built by 5 men in 5 turns or one man in 25 turns or 10 men in 2 and 1/2 turns, etc.
Those working cannot fight during the working turn and those in full armor cannot work.
Construction of certain items, such as cannon, is not possible in the field. Oil, tar and similar goods fall in this category, as well as things requiring large or special metal parts (siege axes, for example). Such items must be brought to the battle site and cost the designated point value to the army using them.
Anything constructed on the spot, however, costs only the investment of time and manpower.
Siege work at night is limited to mining or tunnelling. Artillery and missile fire is disallowed and all construction takes twice normal time.
DEFENSIVE ACTION
1. Defensive artillery and construction within castle walls is conducted in the normal way.
2. Chemical and biological weapons (boiling oil, molten lead, hot sand, lime, snakes, hornets, scorpions and similar unspeakable things) cause disorder when dropped from the walls on the besiegers or hurled at them by artillery and the target unit is considered unformed.
These weapons cause damage to personnel similar to a catapult impact area.
3. Ram catchers and the like disable offensive weapons each turn in which a 6 is rolled (1 die per weapon) while these weapons are in operation against the wall.
4. Ropes and ladders may be pushed off by rolling a 6 for each one, killing all those climbing them.
RANGE DETERMINATION
(for siege warfare)
Range for wall defender's fire = A Range for attacker's fire = A + B
Note: Defenders in partial cover (low wall, ditch, parapet, etc.) receive missile fire as if wearing the next higher level of armor.
APPENDIX
WEATHER
Weather conditions were determined using the system given in WRG's Rules, 6th edition, modified to reflect the climate of Marnon which is similar to that of Northern Europe. We use two 6-sided dice to enter the Weather Table once at the start of each day in the campaign. There are 6 basic varieties of weather with effects as follows:
Strong Winds - Missles cannot be used. Fire spreads twice normal rate. Sandstorms in Golden Dunes make movement impossible there. North winds prevail in winter; Westerlies in spring; Southerlies and Southeasters in summer and fall.
Rain - Gunpowder (in other historical periods) cannot be used. No fires are possible. After 3 days of rain, crosscountry movement at half speed, rivers unfordable and bridges washed out.
Snow - same as rain, except after 3 days all fresh water is frozen and fordable until the next rain. All movement at half speed- No movement at half speed. No movement in mountains.
| MARNON WEATHER TABLE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dice | Jan. Feb. Nov. Dec. | Mar. Apr. May. Oct. | Jun. Jul. Aug. Sept. |
| 11, 12 (8.3%) | Strong winds | Snow in mountains Rain elsewhere | Strong winds in the desert. Fine elsewhere |
| 9,10 (19.3%) | Fine | Rain and strong winds | Rain |
| 6, 7, 8, (44.6 %) | Snow in mountains | Rain | Fine |
| 4,5(19.3 %) | Snow | Fine | Fine |
| 2, 3(8.3 %) | Snow | Fine | Fine |
More Marnon Part II
Marnon
- Marnon Campaign Part I
Marnon Campaign Part II
Marnon Campaign Part III
Marnon Campaign Part IV
Marnon Campaign Part V
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