One of the main items missing from our representations of the battles of the Napoleonic period and one that is very much a part of the historical scene is smoke. It was caused by a variety of battlefield conditions suiting mainly from Musket Volleys, discharge of all types of artillery burning woods fields, brush and grass, plus houses and barns. In some cases the smoke acted as a screen,, behind which troops could be Positioned to good advantage. In others, smoke allowed troops to withdraw from a position and either regroup or be replaced. Of course, a big factor with smoke will, of necessity, mean that weather conditions must be brought into the game situations. These already exist as rule 1.8. Individual musket or rifle shots need not concern us here as twenty men firing, though definitely creating smoke would manufacture too many problems. However a single artillery figure representing three field guns, should be considered. Smoke rules can easily become complex and more of a pain than a pleasure. Perhaps the hardest problem will be to create a "Peakless" situation. Remember as players we seldom view the battlefield and surrounding areas from the stand point of the figures. Thus a unit that is effectively screened from view of the opposing unit, is in reality still observed by the opposing players, who can adjust their own unit to counter any move taken by the screened unit. This situation must be one of the first obstacles to be overcome. Smoke will take place at the end of the turn and depending upon the specific game weather conditions may increase or decrease as the action develops. Levels of smoke should also be considered. For example if there is no wind and the two opposing units don't move but instead stand and issue volley fire several times a much denser pall of smoke will exist as opposed to wind and troop movement situations. Smoke can be represented with strips of cotton or colored paper. Comments gentlemen? COMMENTS by Jean A. Lochet I always welcome rules ideas, changes and improvements, at the very least that force us to take a look at the rule(s) involved. The above proposed additional rules is no different with one exception it requests the addition of a very realistic fact of battlefields: SMOKE! We have tried once or twice and found that smoke is very difficult to handle and bring some interesting situations. go doubt that some rules modifications will be necessary especially in firing, C.I.C. etc. Our new campaign about to start will be using smokes rules. Our rule 1.8 is good enough to provide a good starting base. Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 1 No. 23 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1978 by Jean Lochet This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com