Members of our club, Northern Conspiracy has been playing "Charge of the Light Brigade" for the last couple months. As these are new rules, and possible only a few of you have tried them I thought I would send in some of my impressions about the rules and how they play. If there is any interest I will also post a battle report of the last game we played with pictures. Again, these are my impressions. I will state right off I am a big fan of these rules. I like simple rules, but with a twist. I like big battalions. And it is important to me that that group of colorful led soldiers represents such and such a regiment. And I want a game I can play in a evening, gives a period "feel" for the time period played, have fun with and come to a conclusion. Command Points Here is something that sets this set of rules aside from all others. The author has taken the simple move/counter move system and twisted it. Every unit has a commander (i.e. Colonel). He has so many command points (CP). More if he and the regiment is good, less if mediocre or poor. Russians often get around 8, while British Guards might get as many of 16. OK, now it is your turn, and every unit on your side has done one free action. You may then spend a CP and do something else. Fire, remove a Morale marker or what ever. It gives you a chance to take advantage of something or react to what is happening on the table. BUT for every action there is a reaction and the enemy now gets to either "shoot or spin" against only the enemy that spent that CP. So, as in a past game a Russian battalion removed a Morale pip by paying a CP. The British reacted by firing at the unit and putting 2 morale pips right on back (darn good shooting with the Guards Phil!). So you spends your money and takes your chances. Folks that have played this game tend to talk a lot about this part. And rightly so. It is simple, innovative and fun. But I would recommend a GM to run the first few games you try to ensure you all stay on tract and not move ahead. Small Arms, Artillery fire and saving Firing is simple. You throw 1D6 per stand for Infantry and 2D6 per artillery stand. Cross refinance with the firing chart for weapon vs. target and this gives you the chances for a hit. Since there is a possible saving roll (unless you are a Turk, then too bad) you might not lose all those figures hit. Watch out for double 6's as they can cause a morale marker to drop onto your unit. To me, the neat thing about this system is that you forget about calculation, tables and charts. Hits, saves and morale are all tied into each other. The save chart also brings a little of the old "national modifiers" into the mix. With Russians, who get saved on a 5 or 6 no matter how many stands are left you have to beat each one with a stick until they are all dead. You get that steady, dogged feeling you read about. The British start with a high save chance, but wither away as they lose stands. A little fragile. Poor Johnny Turk never gets a save. Morale "Sounds... jolly simple' "Oh, it's jolly deadly old boy" This is a sneaky system that most folks don't think a lot about until it bites them! Since you subtract 1 pip from every die roll morale effects everything you do. Move, shot or fight it ties into morale. In a past game a Russia commander with three morale markers found out fast that he could not shoot, or save casualties. With morale markers, once you get into trouble it comes fast and furious. To me, this superior system then used in many rules. The unit is effected, and everything it can do is effected. Close Combats This takes a bit getting used to since it is very different from most rules. You do not charge like in other rules. You move within 2' of the enemy. THEN, you would have to pay a Command Point or wait till next turn to close and fight. This gives the defender a chance to do something. We have found that few units actually close into close combat due to small arms fire. Period feel to game To those of us who have play this, the game feels like the Crimean. Russians tend to form columns (or at least reinforced lines) and try and close with the British fast. One member of the club nicked named them "Zulu's in overcoats." British tend to want to shoot at things. And shoot a lot. Small numbers of cavalry will not damage infantry who can usually shoot them down before they close. All of our games have seen a single British battalion stopping ,massed charge like at Balaklva. Back to Dispatch February 2004 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com