One of the things that most Miniatures Gamers should want to do is introduce the general public to the hobby. The problem with most of the miniatures gamers is that they seem unwilling to stoop to using anything less than the high-tech fifty page rules that represent the state of the art in miniatures. Most of them forget that they were introduced to gaming with a simplistic system of a generation ago. And outside of a few fanatics, few of us would have the patience to sit through some of the more realistic rules on the market. Napoleon on the Rocks is an attempt to interest new people in the hobby of miniatures. Although some of you will find the mechanics simplistic and the methods used unrealistic, and they are in comparison with the more sophisticated rules for Napoleonics on the market today, they are at least short and to the point. These rules are specifically designed for introducing the uninformed ina manner that will keep the confusion to a minimum and interest to the maximum. The rules are only two pages long and easily demonstrated. Formations are not listed or described but before the demonstration they are demonstrated. The movement distances are listed as sides of a card. The cards are standard 5x7 cards. The same cards that are made for each player/commander are used for movement and fire ranges. I first used this method with my kids in a civil war game and if, at ages five and seven, they can understand the concept, then there is a good chance that adults may grasp them as well. I first used these rules with a community college Western Civilization course I was teaching. I thought that the miniatures would add a lot to my lectures on the Napoleonic period. I was right. I passed out the rules the class before and asked my fourteen students to read them for the next class. Most did and when they came in at the next class the terrain was ready as were the units and the command cards. Each student drew a command card unseen and this established the two teams. Each player received a map, each map was slightly different and each map also included an intelligence estimate. The estimates likely were also different. Both sides attempted to sort out the situation and establish a plan of action that would lead to a complete and total victory. Both sides had conflicting orders or objectives that would lead them to a tactical battle immediately. Because this was a History class exercise the un-historical nature of the events taking place was stressed. The class had eight females and eight males and although some of the females did lose interest the majority played with great zest and thoroughly enjoyed wiping out the other side's units and crushing the opposing males. Despite the attempt at balancing the mix, the French ended up with five female players and the allies got two. The French out played the allies but were too weak to gain a total victory because they were supposed to be on the defensive but the females proved too aggressive for such behavior. The Dean of the College attended as did others as observers to the battle. Photographs were taken and newspaper stories written for the benefit of the student body as a whole. The battle provided a great deal of entertainment for those involved. The class was supposed to end at 9:45 p.m. but although some students did leave, the majority continued to play until well after 11:30 p.m. and only closed down when the maintenance people asked us to leave so they could lock up. The battle ended in a draw. The interest in the contest was extensive in the class the subject of weeks of conversation afterwards. Two new gamers were recruited and are still interested. THE RULES Napoleonic warfare offers a colorful and interesting period for simulation. The range of units and colorful uniforms offer a fast paced and visually stimulating form of military history gaming. SEQUENCE Orders: Commanders give and receive orders. Movement and Charges Fire, Artillery Fire, Infantry Morale Melee Morale recovery Orders Commanders give orders and check initiative, commanders roll a six-sided die and if that number rolled is less than his initiative value he may move on his own. If not, the major commander may elect to assign command points from his pool. These command points may be used to activate units under their charge at a cost depending on the activity. Attack/Charge 2 Defend/Stand 1 Retreat 1 Advance 2 Rally routed units 3 If the unit has an inertia value, add it to the charge of advance costs for that unit. A commander also must be within his span of command to direct a unit's activity. Units outside the command span may not be influenced, rallied, or given orders. The major commander on each side needs only to activate commanders, not units. Movement A card system is used to designate which units may move and when. Cards are shuffled and turned over one at a time; each commander will move those units under his command up to his available initiative points and command points assigned to him. Units may elect to pass movement on that turn and postpone orders to the next turn. Infantry moves short side card length per turn.* Infantry charges the long side card length per turn. Cavalry moves the long side card length per turn. Cavalry charges two long side lengths per turn. Artillery moves one short side card length per turn. *Infantry units in line formation move one half normal. NOTE: Charges are the only movement that may make contact. Fire Fire is simultaneous although conducted unit by unit. Only infantry and artillery can issue fire. The target must be in direct line of sight and in front of the firing units. RANGES Close range musket one half short card side Long range musket one short card side Canister one short card side Artillery fire precedes infantry/musket fire with casualties taken before infantry fire. Canister produces hits equal to one six sided dice roll. Ball fire forces a morale check on a roll of 3-5 and a morale check with a hit on a roll of six. Infantry fire produces hits equal to one six sided die roll plus the unit's quality value for every 12 figures. if there are less than 12 figures, subtract one hit for every two figures short of twelve. At long range subtract three from the die roll. HIT RESULTS Units in square lose three figures per hit Units in line lose one figure per hit Units in column lose two figures per hit Units in skirmish lost one half figure per hit Morale Units are assigned a morale value which reflects their relative "courage" in the battle at hand. A unit checks morale if any of the following takes place during the proceeding turn. Units with a positive quality value may ignore a number of events that require a morale check equal to its quality points. MORALE CHECKS Suffers a hit or number of hits in this turn. Suffers a required check long range artillery fire. Charges to contact. Receives charge to contact. Sees a unit with an equal or higher quality value rout within eight inches. The player rolls a 20-sided die and must roll equal to or below the unit's morale grade value to pass. If it rolls higher it fails and must roll a six-sided die and apply the results as below: ROLL : RESULT 1 stand 2-3 rout moves one charge to the rear, back to the enemy 4-6 retreat one column move to the rear Morale checks are modified as follows: Commander present subtract one half commander's initiative value Unit in square subtract 3 from 20 die roll Unit in column subtract 1 from 20 die roll Unit in cover subtract 2 from 20 die roll Unit's back to enemy add 3 to 20 die roll Unit's flank to enemy add 2 to 20 die roll Losses Add 1 to the 20 die for each figure lost Melee Units in contact add their quality grades to current morale value and the result of a six-sided die roll. if the infantry is charged by cavalry and is not in square, then the cavalry adds 6to its total; if the infantry is in square, the infantry adds 6. The higher total wins and the loser retreats. If the difference is 4-6 then the loser routs; if the difference is more than 6, the unit surrenders or collapses and disintegrates; it is then removed from play. Commanders may attempt to rally routed units. The unit recovers if the commander makes contact and the unit passes a second morale check. Formations: Units must be in one of the following formations: line column square (Infantry only) limbered or unlimbered (Artillery only) Changes in formation can only be made during the order-giving phase. The one exception is that infantry may attempt to form square if charged by cavalry. A six sided die is rolled and the unit quality factor is added. If the sum is 3 or more, the unit forms square; if not, the unit may not form square and also may not fire. If the unit does not attempt to form square, it can fire. Initiative Values: These values assigned to commanders reflect their personal skills and to some extent, the abilities of their personal staffs. The initiative value assigned should be from 6 to 3, the better the commander, the higher the number. The Span of Control: This value reflects the commander's ability to control units within a certain range in inches. Assign a value from 6 to 14 inches. Morale Grade: This reflects the unit's morale, or courage in battle. Assign a value from 9 to 19, with the better units receiving a higher grade. Guard and other elite units should range from 16 to 19. Levees should range from 9 to 12; line units from 12 to 16. Quality Value: This reflects a unit's skill and training. It can be a positive or negative number or zero. High quality units should be given a value of +1 or +2, average units a zero, and poor units -1 or -2. The quality may be assigned to a particular activity such as Russian melee, or can vary for each particular activity of a unit. Inertia: This reflects the difficulty some units presented a commander who attempted to stimulate them to perform an attack or advance. This can be a value of 1, 2 or zero. The higher the number, the harder a unit is to manage. A command card should be made upon a 5x7** card for each commander; it should include the following: His Name; Nationality; Initiative Value; Span of Control; Command Points, if any (only division, corps and army commanders receive these points); Units under his control/command, if any; Unit Quality; Morale; # of Figures; Inertia. "The card referred to in the movement section is the 5x7 card above. The distances and fire ranges discussed are also 5x7 card lengths. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VIII No. 2 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com