Introduction TARTAR RAID (T-RAID) is a very short mini-campaign game originally designed to generate tabletop battles. It simulates the rugged frontier of an early 16th century Russia or Balkan State, bordering Tartar lands. The scope is a single short campaign season. T-RAID can be played as a vodka and pretzels mini-board game, even if no tabletop battles are generated. The object of the game is for the Tartar player (the Aga) to raid his opponent's lands, achieve his objectives, and get back before being brought into battle. The other player (the Prince of a feudal domain) must intercept the raid and force a winning battle. This game can be played with nothing more than a few sheets of paper, pencils, dice and a pack of cards! First, create the map. If you already have a hex map you wish to use, see the notes under 'using Hex Maps' at the end of these rules. 1. Map The map is created in four stages - layout, villages, town, and terrain. 1.1 Layout To create a map, take a large sheet of paper - but any size will do - and divide it into a grid, with seven columns and six rows. This produces 42 boxes. Draw a thick line separating the leftmost column from the rest. This is the 'border' of the Prince's feudal domain with the Tartars. The single column to the left of the border is Tartar territory. The six columns to the right are the Prince's feudal domain. Thus 36 boxes are the Prince's domain, and 6 boxes are Tartar territory. 1.2 Villages Now let's add the villages. Number each column 1 through 6 moving away from the border. Then number each row 1 through 6 going down. You can now identify each box in the Prince's domain by cross- referencing the two numbers (box 34, for example, is in the third column, fourth row). One village (actually representing a group of clustered villages and hamlets) each will be placed in columns 2,3,4,5 and 6. Roll a die for each of these columns - the number indicates the row where the village appears. This gives you a nice random spread for the five villages (there is no village in column 1, of course, because it's too close to the Tartar border). 1.3 Town Now the Prince gets to place his town. This is the largest walled collection of shacks that can serve as the frontier capital, of sorts. The town can only be placed on the map in columns 3,4,5, or 6. It must be placed where it is NOT TOUCHING a box containing a village, either horizontally or diagonally. In other words, clear boxes must surround the town. Due to the placement of the villages, the Prince will usually only have 1 or 2 possible locations for the town, and it will usually border on a map edge. If NO location meets the criteria for placing the town, no town is placed. It is assumed to be off map away from the Tartar border. Instead, the Prince may place one additional village anywhere in columns 5 or 6. 1.4 Terrain The prince now rolls twice (a 6=none, otherwise record the numbers rolled). The first number is the number of 'blocked' sides he can add to the map. The second roll is the number of 'rough' sides he can add. These are now drawn on the map, on any one side of any box. Blocked sides are just drawn as a THICK line, and rough sides are drawn as a WAVY line. Terrain must be placed with the following restrictions: No terrain can be placed touching the Tartar column. No terrain can be placed on the border. Every box must have at least two open sides. Only one terrain item can exist along any single line on the map, down or across. Thus the line between columns 2 and 3, or rows 4 and 5, can have only one terrain item across them. This prevents a 'Rocky mountains' or 'Great Wall of China' kind of terrain placement. Any terrain that cannot be placed within these restrictions is not allowed. These restrictions ensure a distribution of terrain within the domain. You could alternately allow for a random distribution of terrain. It may seem odd to do terrain AFTER the villages, but you'll find it places villages in clusters or isolated defensive niches (or exposed!) with an enjoyable randomness. 2. Scale Each turn represents either 3 days or one week, depending on your sense of grandeur. Map distances are abstracted and therefor irrelevant. Each unit represents about 300-1,000 men. Units can be Tartars, Feudals, peasants, or Cossacks. All but the peasants are usually considered cavalry, or mounted infantry. See notes in The Warriors for additional ideas. 3. Commanders One player takes the role of Tartar Aga. The other player takes the roll of the Feudal Prince. Roll one die each for the skill level of the opposing commanders. 1,2 = poor 3,4 = average 5,6 = good You do not need to reveal the skill level of a commander or sub commander until it is needed to effect part of the game. At that point, you write it on the 'counter' for that army. You will find your commander's skill level effecting your options, for better or worse, throughout the game. 4. Forces/Setup 4.1 Size of Forces Each player starts with 10 units. Ordinary playing cards are then drawn to add to this basic strength. In certain cases, additional forces may also be called up as the game progresses. Separate out all the clubs from the deck (including face cards). The Tartar Aga is dealt two cards from this suit. The Prince is dealt one. This represents the number of additional units available at the start of the raid. (Aces and face cards count 3 units for Tartars and 1 unit for the Feudals). Tartars will therefor start with 15-29 units, and the Feudals will start with 11-19 units. Thus, the Tartars could be outnumbered, or start with an advantage of almost 3:1, or any combination in between! These units will all be grouped into armies, noted below. 4.2 Action Cards Next, both sides are dealt six cards each from the remaining deck. These cards will either help define the scenario, or can be played for advantage during the game. Refer to the chart below to read the cards: 4.2.1 For the Tartar Aga: Ace = Intelligence! This card can be played at any time during the raid. When played, the Prince must disclose the size of any ONE army then on the map. The card can also be used to nullify an Intelligence card played by the Prince (thus stopping him from discovering the size of one of your armies). King, Queen, Jack = an independent sub commander exists, graded as good, average or poor, respectively. No more than two sub commanders are allowed. Ignore any additional face cards, though if you have more than two, you can choose which two cards to use (you are lucky to have so many able commanders to choose from!). Note that if face cards turn up, even two jacks, you CANNOT refuse to field them as independent commands! Each commander must be given one complete 'army' - sub division of your forces (either the 10 units or one of the two cards - or you can distribute as you please, with the Aga getting the largest force). After all commanders have an army, any remaining forces may be assigned as you please. 10,9,8 = Objectives. This helps determine what the Aga's objectives are this campaign. A ten of hearts or diamonds means he must make a Rush at the Town! If neither of these cards are drawn, any other 10, 9 or 8 means he must seek slaves/loot to capture and return to Tartar lands (the number of villages he needs to raid is determined elsewhere). If no 10, 9 or 8 are drawn, the Aga can simply Burn villages. This means he will not have serious booty or prisoners to lug back with him. 7,6 = Fast Move! This card, when played, allows any ONE tartar force to move three boxes, or any two boxes in a straight diagonal line (note this is the only time a unit can move diagonally). This card is a very powerful Surprise card to play, and indicates the occasional lightning speed of the raiders. Note: a force burdened with booty or slaves cannot Fast Move. A Fast Move cannot be used consecutively, before or after, with a Forced March. An army which has just enslaved or burned a village cannot Fast Move that turn. 5 = Join! This card allows an emergency combination of forces in the event of a battle. Playing the Join card allows any single force to Join with any other force within two boxes of it (a normal mounted move). The join cannot be through a Rough or Blocked side. It is up to the scenario designer to decide if the joining force arrives in time for, or during, the battle. The Join card can also be used to intercept any feudal force moving in an adjacent non-diagonal box. 4,3,2 = indicates the number of villages you must attempt to hit. The single highest number drawn counts; ignore all other cards. Combined with 10,9,8 above, this gives the Aga his overall objective for the campaign - enslave/loot 3 villages, burn 4 villages, etc. Note that if the Tartar objective is 'Rush the Town' and it fails, the lowest number present of the 4,3,2 indicates the number of villages the Aga must pillage on the return journey, to soothe "The Wrath of Khan" back home. 4.2.2 For the Feudal Prince: Ace = Intelligence! This card can be played at any time during the raid. When played, the Aga must disclose the size of any ONE army then on the map. The card can also be used to nullify an Intelligence card played by the Aga (thus stopping him from discovering the size of one of your armies). King, Queen, Jack = an independent sub commander exists, graded as good, average or poor, respectively. No more than one sub commander is allowed. Ignore any additional face cards, though if you have more than one, you can choose which card to use (you are lucky to have so many able commanders to choose from!). Note that if face cards turn up, even a jack, you CANNOT refuse to field him as an independent command! This second commander must be given a number of units within 2 of the club card drawn by the prince (if the prince drew the six of clubs, for example, the sub commander must have 4 to 8 units under him). Any remaining force would be assigned to the prince. 10 = Cherta defenses! A Cherta is a crude border defense fortification. It consists of a wooden palisade of sharpened timbers, pointing outward, and a ditch, with log towers at set intervals. While no match for Western troops or artillery, it was sufficient to stop, or at least delay, nomadic raiders. The Cherta is represented by drawing a solid line on a single box side at the border. Although three 10s could be drawn from the deck, only a Good commander can use all three. An Average commander can only use two, and a Poor commander only one. Other 10s are wasted (this represents the readiness and preparation of better commanders). See the Cherta rules for effects. 9 = Cossacks for Hire! For each 9 drawn, one die's worth of Cossacks will be available at some point to the Prince. See Cossack rules for effects. 8 = Heroic Villagers! For each 8 drawn, one die's worth of peasants is available to the Prince whenever the card is played. See Heroic Villagers rules for effects. 7 = Fast Move! This card, when played, allows any ONE feudal force to move three boxes. This card is a very powerful Surprise card to play, and indicates an inspired drive to catch the vile Tartars. Note: Peasants cannot use Fast Move, and a combined force using Fast Move must leave all peasants behind. A Fast Move cannot be used consecutively, before or after, with a Forced March. 6 = Join! This card allows an emergency combination of forces in the event of a battle. Playing the Join card allows any single mounted force to Join with any other force within two boxes of it (a normal mounted move) or any peasant force to join within one box. The join cannot be through a Rough or blocked side. It is up to the scenario designer to decide if the joining force arrives in time for, or during, the battle. The Join card can also be used to intercept any Tartar force moving in an adjacent non-diagonal box 5,4,3,2, = No effect. 5. Building Armies 5.1 Build the Armies - Tartar Start The Aga assigns his troops to himself and any sub commander(s), creating his armies. These armies may be broken up in any manner the player pleases, though logic would dictate the Aga must lead the largest force. The Aga then places his 1 to 3 armies in any box on his side of the border. In addition, the Tartars gets up to THREE dummy armies to place across the border as well (see Dummy Armies). Thus a Tartar raid can start with 1 to 6 armies on their own side of the border, of which 3 could be real! Each Army is represented by a numbered slip of paper (counter) with an ID number on it. The Aga writes the composition and commander skill level of each army on a sheet he keeps to himself. These are only revealed to the Feudal player as events dictate during the game. 5.2 Build the Armies - Feudal Start The Prince must assign a set number of units to himself and to his sub commander (if present). The Prince is assumed to use the town as his mustering place for his own army. However, a Good commander may select ANY village if he so desires instead - or even off map, if he's quite mad! The Prince must now select where his other armies will be mustered. If he has a sub commander, he can select any village on the map, or any side of the map (except across the border in Tartar lands!), as the place where the sub commander will appear. He writes this choice down. Next, the Prince must select a side of the map where any Cossacks will appear. Finally, the Price may select the village(s) where any Heroic Villagers may appear. (OPTIONAL: you may let the Prince declare any village he wants during the game. Alternately, you can make the Prince dice to randomly select a village when he plays the card). There are advantages and dangers to mustering in either villages or map edges. Armies mustered in villages or the town will appear as soon as the die roll is made. However, if they are mustering in a village that is overrun by the Tartars, they will instead appear 2 TURNS LATER off the nearest map edge (roll for where on that edge)! This represents the Tartars' messing up the Muster. Musters off the map will appear on the NEXT turn after a card or a successful roll, and must be diced for location - roll a die, and see which box they appear in. If the Tartars have an army in the box where an off-map feudal army was going to appear, the feudal army must instead appear in any adjacent box on the map edge, at the Tartar player's choice. This represents the Tartar forces herding the feudal army away with harassing skirmishing. 5.3 Dummy Armies Only the Tartar Aga gets up to three dummy armies (but see Cossacks and Heroic Villagers below). These represent the wild early 'rumors' flying about that the dreaded Tartars are everywhere at once! He places these in his own lands just like his real armies. They move like real cavalry armies. They are assumed to have ANY commander skill level the Aga desires; but once he assigns one, it must stay that for the rest of the game (until turn 5, that is). This can work as an excellent ruse (rating a dummy army as 'Poor' may mislead the Feudal player, who would not expect it!). At the start of turn 5, before rolling for movement, the Dummy armies are revealed and removed from the map. By this time, it is assumed the Feudal player has a reasonable idea of the real locations of the Tartar forces (alternately, let a die roll decide when the ruse is over). 6. General Course of Play The game starts as the Tartar hordes sweep mercilessly across the border. On each turn, weather permitting, all mounted troops can move two boxes - peasants and loot/slaves move one box. All moves are through box sides - no diagonal movement is allowed, except for Fast Move as noted above. Each turn, the Tartar player moves first until the Prince's forces have been activated. Once activated, the players dice to see who moves first. The action cards in the player's hands can be played at ANY TIME during the turn; however, only ONE card can be played per player per turn. This makes for hard choices at times for the players! (Note that Cherta, Objective and Commander cards are never 'played' but instead help define game parameters). A player may thus keep a full hand of useless cards in front of him, to frighten his opponent! The Tartars fly forward to their objectives. The Prince raises his armies. Once the Aga has met his objectives, he begins to withdraw. The Prince must either foil the Aga in completing his objectives, or catch the Tartars retreating home. Neither side knows the numbers of the other side's armies to start. The Prince does not know the Tartar objectives nor which armies are mere rumor. The Tartar Aga does not know where additional troop support might come from for the Prince. After 10 turns, objectives complete or not, the Aga must begin to withdraw. On turn 10, reinforcements appear from the far side of the feudal domain. The Tartars will not hang around. The game ends when the Tartars have a.) Been destroyed, or b.) Safely retreated back to their side of the border. A good Prince might pursue them across the border if he can catch them, thereby prolonging the game an additional turn. 7. Movement 7.1 General Movement All mounted troops move two boxes per turn. No movement can be done diagonally, except as noted under Fast Move. All peasants and loot/slaves move one box per turn. Movement can be increased by Fast Move!(see action cards) or Forced March. Movement is reduced in Bad Weather. Movement cannot be made through a Blocked side. Movement through a Rough side can be attempted in the following conditions: Only an army with a commander or sub commander can try it. The move, if successful, will be only one box. No movement can go through a Rough side in Bad Weather. Subtract 1 from the roll if an enemy unit is in the box you are trying to enter. Roll based on commander skill level: Good 5,6=pass, 4 = pass, lose 1 unit, 3,2,1 = fail, lose 1 unit Average 6 = pass, 5 = pass, lose 1 unit, 4,3,2 = fail, lose 1 unit, 1 = fail, lose 2 units Poor 6 = pass, lose 1 unit, 5,4 = fail, lose 1 unit, 3,2,1 = fail, lose 2 units For movement through a Cherta, see the Cherta rules. Villages and the town have no effect on movement. However, see Peasant rules for possible combat situations! At first, only the Tartar units move. Once the Feudal player's units are activated, each turn begins with a roll for movement: Both sides roll one die, adding or subtracting the overall commander's skill rating: Good +1, Poor -1. Winner has the choice to move first. On a tie, the Tartars move first. If the two dice were identical, roll again for Bad Weather. 7.2 Forced March An army with a commander can attempt to force march. If successful, mounted troops move 3 boxes. Foot troops move two boxes. Slaves/loot cannot force march. A force march cannot be made through a Cherta or a Rough side. A force march into contact with the enemy should be treated on the table top as a staggered arrival. See Combat rules for other effects. A Tartar army which burned or enslaved a village at the start of that turn cannot perform forced marches on that turn. To force march, check the commander skill level and roll a die: Good 6,4,5 = OK. 3 = OK, lose 1 unit. 2 = Fail. 1 = Fail, lose 1 unit. Average 6 = OK. 5 = OK, lose 1 unit. 4,3 = Fail. 2,1 = Fail, lose 1 unit. Poor 6 = OK, lose 1 unit. 5,4 = Fail. 3 = Fail, lose 1 unit. 2,1 = Fail, lose 2 units. Forced marches cannot be done consecutively, either with another forced march or a Fast Move. Essentially, you can't get extra speed for two turns in a row. EXCEPTION: if the force march failed, you can try again next turn. Hey, if you want to grind your army into powder by pushing to hard, go right ahead! 7.3 Bad Weather When dicing for moves, both sides roll a die. If the two dice were equal, roll one die again. On a 4,5, or 6, that turn has Bad Weather. If the weather is bad: All units normal move is 1 box. If a Fast Move or Forced March is successful, cavalry may move only two boxes, not three. There is no movement through Rough sides in Bad Weather. 8. Play Sequence Turn one - both roll (for weather determination only). Tartar player moves none, some or all his armies. Alarm bells ring throughout the Domain! Either player may play a card. Turn two and following (until Feudal activation) - Roll for weather. Tartar player moves. Either player may play one card at any time. Feudal player attempts Activation. Turns following the activation, up to turn 10 - Roll to see who moves first. Winning player has choice to move first. Any player may play a card. Turn 10 and following - Roll to see who moves first. Tartar player must begin retreat toward home at the end of this turn. Reinforcements appear for the Feudal player. Any player may play a card they have left. 9. Activation 9.1 Activate Feudal Armies This is the nail-biting experience for the Feudal player! Starting on turn 2, prior to movement, the Prince rolls to Activate his feudal host in response to the nefarious raiders. The following chart indicates the activation table based on commander skill level: Roll of 1 = any skill level commander activates his forces. Turn 2: Good needs 1,2 - Ave/Poor need 1 Turn 3: Good needs 1,2,3 - Ave needs 1,2 - Poor needs 1 Turn 4: Good needs 1,2,3,4 - Ave needs 1,2,3 - Poor needs 1,2 Turn 5: Good activates - Ave needs 1,2,3,4,5 - Poor needs 1,2,3 Turn 6: Average activates - Poor needs 1,2,3,4,5 Turn 7: Poor activates Note this applies to the activation of any Feudal troops under a commander or sub commander. It does not apply to Cossacks or Heroic Villagers. These are activated by playing the appropriate action card. 9.2 Cossacks for Hire! These hardy if unreliable fighters can augment the Feudal forces. Whenever a 9 is played from the Prince's hand, a band of Cossacks can be brought on any edge of the map selected by the Prince. The Cossacks will appear on the turn AFTER the card is played. Roll to see where along the edge they appear. Place a counter to represent them when they show up. Neither the Prince nor the Aga know the STRENGTH of this unit until it needs to be known (combat, Intelligence, loss, etc.). When tested, roll a die: 1-5, that number of units, 6 = none. On a 6, either the Cossacks were merely a rumor, or they decided not to stick it out and fight this time. The Cossack force can be moved like any unit, with a few exceptions: Cossacks can always move to join a Feudal army, either by normal moves or a Join! card. Cossacks can always move to a village or town, unless occupied by Tartars. Cossacks cannot move into contact with a Tartar army by themselves. They can block movement by occupying a box, but they will not move into a box containing Tartars unless in the company of a Feudal commander. In other words, they fight in defense or for gold only. Cossacks are very brave fighters, but can lose heart quickly. If a Cossack force is involved in a defeat, roll a die. On a 6, roll again, and that number of Cossack units disappear from the map! 9.3 Heroic Villagers! Most serfs have enough common sense to flee to the caves or forests when Tartars appear. However, sometimes, a few villages, stirred by religion, revenge, desperation or vodka, stand their ground. While this is usually more annoying that dangerous to the Tartars, it can occasionally screw up the raid planning considerably. Whenever the Prince plays an 8, a counter for Heroic Villagers may be immediately placed in any village not yet overrun by the Tartars. Heroic Villagers will stay put in their village and fight any Tartars attacking it. They will NOT interfere with Tartars crossing through their box, unless the army also contains prisoners or loot. They will attack any Tartar army escorting prisoners and loot the moment it enters their box. When challenged to a fight, the Prince rolls one die. 1-5, that number of units of peasants will fight. On a 6, no peasants appear, as the heroism apparently vanished at the sound of hoof-beats. If Tartars and Heroic villagers fight, double the value of the villagers for combat purposes only. They will fight to the last old man/woman/child. Thus the village can never count as taken until all peasant units are eliminated. A feudal commander may summon these peasants to join him, by playing a Join! card or passing through the village. A Good commander can also get the peasants to march to him if he is within one box of the village (thus no Join! card is needed). 10. Chertas Chertas are placed on the border before the Aga sets up his armies and before the first move of the game. Each Cherta covers one side. Chertas MAY be placed in a contiguous line - a Great Wall approach is allowed here. The Prince may place as many Chertas as he has 10s, except that a Poor commander can only place one, an Average commander only two, and a Good commander three if he has them. Once a Cherta is placed, it is a permanent feature in this campaign. A Cherta is crude and sparsely defended; thus it slows down but rarely stops a nomadic army. However, it does give a chance for sentries to warn of the impending attack. If one of the Tartar armies decides to try and cross a Cherta defense, check the skill level of the Tartar commander for that army, roll and consult the chart below: Good 6,5,4 = Pass OK; 3,2 = Pass Revealed; 1 = Stopped Average 6,5 = Pass OK; 4,3 = Pass Revealed; 2,1 = Stopped Poor 6 = Pass OK, 5,4 = Pass Revealed; 3,2 = Stopped; 1 = Stopped Revealed Pass OK means the army moves only one box through the Cherta, but remains secret. Pass Revealed means the army moves only one box through the Cherta, its strength revealed to the Prince. Stopped means the army cannot pass and must go around. Its strength is not revealed. Stopped Revealed means the army must go around AND its strength is revealed to the Prince. A Cherta cannot be crossed in Bad Weather. 11. Combat Hopefully, the game above leads to tabletop actions. However, if you do not wish to play out every combat, you can use the simple system below. Combat occurs whenever two opposing forces occupy the same box (but see Heroic Villagers). This stops that unit's movement for this turn. Take the number of units, add +1 for a Good commander or -1 for a Poor commander, and roll one die for each army. Add the points up. The army with fewer points loses the difference in their scores, and must retreat one box. The winning army loses one unit as well (unless only 1 unit strong). On a tie, both sides lose one unit, but the Tartar player loses the battle and must retreat. Armies can't retreat into contact with another enemy force. Armies which must retreat and can't are destroyed. If both sides roll a 6, calculate win/loss as above but roll again; lower roll has his commander killed. NOTE: if an army force-marched into combat, and you don't play it on the tabletop, roll one die. 1-5 = the number of units that straggled behind; fight the first combat only with the non-straggled units. Then add in the stragglers into any survivors and fight a second round of combat. This represents the hazards of arriving piecemeal. If a 6 is rolled, all units are available at the start of the action. A Tartar army escorting slaves/loot and forced to retreat from a combat must abandon its prizes. It is then free to move at cavalry speeds again. Of course, we'd never settle such an important battle off the tabletop! Remember that Heroic Villagers will double their value in their village for combat calculation only. They will lose casualties per their real number of units. Heroic Villagers also never retreat, but man their barricaded huts to the bitter end. (OPTIONAL: other village defenders get calculated at 150% of units for combat purposes. We don't play this rule because it led to the Feudal player setting up garrisons rather than fighting battles. You may feel differently). Armies that had no commanders to start with make no commander die roll adjustments. However, an army that lost a commander fights at -1. Note this system doesn't account for delaying actions, regroupings, pyrric victories, etc. It is hoped players will game most of the juicier conflicts on the tabletop, rather than just roll dice here. 12. Joining Up Armies This is a rule we play with, because we found it leads to more fun mini-campaigns. It is not so much enforced as played within the spirit of the rules - thus rules lawyers be warned accordingly! Each of the Tartar and Feudal armies works as a separate entity throughout most of the campaign. Armies only tend to amalgamate for a climactic battle, or perhaps in retreat. Thus we play that armies with different commanders don't amalgamate unless a.) A climactic battle is at hand, b.) If Tartars attacking the town, c.) If Feudals attacking the Tartar army escorting captives/loot, d.) A Join! card is played, or e.) Any battle on the Tartar side of the border. This allows for a more fluid and enjoyable mini-campaign, in our experience. Remember that picking up Cossacks, Heroic Villagers, or Turn 10 Reinforcements are not restricted by these guidelines. Conversely, players should not be allowed to detach units and clutter the board like caltrops - this is against the spirit of the rules. Generally, armies as originally built stay intact. 13. Losing Commanders Losing a commander, especially the Aga or Prince, can be catastrophic. If a commander or sub commander is killed: The army he was leading loses all command modifiers. If forced into combat, it fights at an automatic -1. The army cannot Fast Move or Force March. It cannot attempt to cross Rough sides or Chertas. The army cannot initiate contact with the enemy. It can still enter and burn or enslave undefended villages. It can still enter and defend the town. It can Join another army with a commander. On the loss of the Aga or Prince, roll. On a 6, the Tartar armies begin their retreat; or the Feudal armies fall back into villages and the town until Reinforcements arrive. 14. Fulfilling Tartar Objectives The Aga always has one of three objectives. In order of ascending difficulty, they are Burning, Enslaving/looting, and Rush the Town. The Aga's objective is indicated by the action cards drawn. If Enslaving/looting or Rush the Town are not drawn, the Aga is simply ordered to burn away. The number of villages to victimize is indicated by the action cards drawn. If no 2,3, or 4 is drawn, only 2 are needed. See Rush the Town for other details. The Tartar Aga is compelled to make every attempt to complete his objectives, or face 'The Wrath of Khan' back home. This is true even if he has insufficient forces (or strong enemy concentrations)! Sometimes life just isn't fair. At the start of turn 10, the Tartar commander must begin his return home. Sticking around too long can have serious consequences. 14.1 Burning or Enslaving/looting Burning and Enslaving/looting are basically similar. The difference is when burning, the Tartar armies are not burdened with captives or loot that they must slowly escort home in caravans. When enslaving/looting, getting these caravans safely back across the border can be quite a challenge. To Burn or Enslave/loot, the Tartar player must place at least one unit in an undefended village at the end of a turn. At the start of the next turn, the Aga declares "This village is overrun" (he doesn't need to say which!). If burned, the Aga need not bother himself with removing his loot or prisoners. If enslaved, the Aga must either a.) Take the loot/slaves with him, which slows that army to one box per turn, b.) Leave one unit to guard the loot/slaves in that village until he returns to pick them up, or c.) Start the loot/slaves back toward the border under the escort of 1 or 2 units. Any caravan back will move at one box per turn. If such a caravan has only a 1 unit escort, any attack on it will free the slaves/loot, as the escort will flee (removed from the map). A 2 unit escort will fight with 1 unit - if it loses, both units will flee, freeing the slaves/loot. Thus, the logical and proper thing to do is to caravan back the slaves/loot with one of the armies. This allows the army to properly defend its prizes during the retreat. The total caravan escort during the retreat must equal the number of villages captured (5 villages enslaved, 5 units in escort). Any reduction of the escorts below this number allows that many slaves to escape (or wagons of loot to be lost). So again, small retreating forces are often a false economy. After burning or enslaving/looting a village, that army cannot force march or Fast move on that same turn - being barbaric takes a little out of you! 14.2 Rush the Town This is a mad gamble ordered directly from the Khan. The Aga must make a dash at the town in an attempt to take it and ravish it, which would be a MAJOR blow to the Prince and the Domain. Note that if no town is placed on the map, the Aga need merely burn 4 villages. The town can be taken one of three ways - Surprise, 'Big Opportunity', or Panic. 14.2.1 Surprise The town must be approached by a Tartar army at least 8 units strong. The army must either force march or Fast move on its final move into the box containing the town (it can move normally when advancing toward it at first). The Prince must not yet have successfully mustered his army in the town for this to work. If the above conditions are met, the sudden appearance of the dreaded horsemen might get through the defenses before they can react. Check commander skill levels and check below: Good Prince -2 Ave Prince -1 Good Aga +1 Poor Aga -1 6 = Town is taken! 5,4 = Town holds just in time! 3,2,1 = Town holds, Tartars lose 1 unit Thus a Poor Aga cannot take a town by Surprise, and a Good Prince cannot be caught by Surprise. Surprise can only be attempted once in the campaign. 14.2.2 'Big Opportunity' After the arrival of the Tartars before the town, they look for anything - treachery, an unmended wall, a mistake by the defenders - to gain access. This requires two steps; a 'Big Opportunity' for the Tartars, and a victory in battle. Tartars won't dismount to storm a fortification, or perform formal siege efforts (at least not in this Raid game), so the 'Big Opportunity' must be another way of access. For ever turn the Tartar army sits around the town (no movement), Adjust + or - for the Prince/Aga as above and roll a die: 6,5 = Big Opportunity! 4,3,2,1 = nothing If a 'Big Opportunity' occurs, a combat will result. You can creatively fight it out on the table, or use the combat system here. Roll two dice (6=0) for the number of ready defenders of the town. These count double for defending the walls/gaps (7 units fight like 14). Tartars count normal. Add the following commander modifiers: Good Prince +5 Ave Prince +2 Good Aga +1 Poor Aga - 2 Roll one die each and add the die to the numbers above. If the Tartar's total is greater, they take the town, losing 1 unit! If there is a tie, the Feudals win, losing 1 unit, and the Tartars lose 2 units. If the Feudal's total is greater, the Feudals win, they lose 1 unit, and the Tartars lose 1 die roll of units plus 1 (1=2, 6=7, etc.). Once the Tartars miss the Big Opportunity, they will lose heart. The Aga (or other commander) may remain around the town if he chooses until turn 10, but he will no longer have a chance to take the town unless he defeats a Feudal commander in battle. More than likely, he will slink off and burn a few villages, hoping 'The Wrath of Khan' will be appeased. 14.2.3 Panic! If Surprise and the Big Opportunity fail, the Aga's only chance to take the town depends upon defeating a Feudal commander leading an army (not Cossacks or Peasants) in an open field battle. The Prince and his forces need not comply, of course. If the Aga should manage to inflict such a defeat, it is assumed blood-drenched banners are dragged around the town, prisoners tortured before the gates, and severed heads thrown over the walls. Roll a die. Adjust for Commander skill level as in Surprise above and roll: 6 = town pays tribute and slaves, is spared burning 5 = town pays tribute, is spared burning 4,3,2,1 = town thumbs its nose from behind its walls This isn't exactly what the Khan wanted, but it is satisfactory enough. If tribute and/or slaves are given, a caravan back home must be formed. 14.3 If the Town is Taken If the town is taken, considerable pillage, looting and horror are assumed to occur. Roll to see if the Prince escapes: Good escapes on a 6, Average on a 4,5,6, Poor on a 3,4,5,6. This reflects better commanders fighting to the end, even in a hopeless cause. The Tartar army remains pillaging and setting the place alight for one turn, stationary. Afterwards, loaded with slaves and booty (2 dice worth!), they begin a triumphant caravan home on the next turn, illuminated by the blazing structures behind them. If the Prince died in the defense, any feudal army originally assigned to muster under him never gets formed. Reinforcements arrive on turn 10 with an additional 1 die worth of units (6=6). If the Prince escapes, he returns on the far map edge, 2 turns later, with 1 die worth of units (6=1). This is all he could muster of his original army. 14.4 Back Home The Aga needs to get safely home. Once his armies cross the border, he is usually safe. A Feudal commander can only pursue him into Tartar lands by passing a Pursuit roll: Good +2 Poor -1 Pursuers beaten by Tartars -1 Roll: 6 = pursue 5= pursue, but some stay behind 4,3,2,1 = stop at the border, game over. If some choose to stay behind, roll a die. That many Cossacks will not cross. Then roll another die. On a 1,2,or 3, that number of Feudal units will not cross. If the Feudals pursue and bring the Tartars to battle inside Tartary, the Aga can summon possible reinforcements for himself. Roll a die (6=0). This equals the number of (admittedly very poor) Tartar infantry units that come to the Aga's defense. If you prefer cavalry only, use one half the die roll, and make sure they are poorer quality cavalry. A victory in Tartar lands can still lead to the rescue/recovery of slaves/loot, so it can be worth the attempt. 15. Reinforcements On turn 10, the Feudal player gets reinforcements (alternately, you could start dicing on turn 10, with at least a 50% starting chance of success). These represent the belated response to the Prince's call to arms from other parts of the domain. The Prince draws 3 cards from the club deck. Face cards count for 3 units. The total of these three cards equals the number of units in the reinforcing army. In addition, one die worth of peasants is following along as well. The actual number of these peasants is not rolled for until (or rather if) they are involved in any combat. The Feudal units can leave the peasants behind if they speed off mounted in pursuit of the Tartars. (See the Town is Taken rules for additional forces). The reinforcements have a commander. If a face card was drawn among the three club cards, it will indicate the commander's skill level, in addition to 3 units. If no face card was drawn, the commander is automatically Poor. The reinforcements will appear on the far edge of the map. Roll to see in which box they first appear. These reinforcements will chase any Tartars, usually ineffectively, all the way back to the Tartar border. Reinforcements can be joined, etc., like any other Feudal force. 16. Other Gaming Stuff 16.1 Victory Point System There is none. This is strictly for fun, and for generating tabletop battles. War, like Life, is unfair. You want a point system, go play darts or something. If you must have one, I'd suggest any Tartar commander who joins battle is penalized, unless his way back home was blocked. Tartar armies of this period were not interested in combat, just booty - even if they could easily whup their opponents! A Tartar leader could get +1 for each objective made and -1 for each missed (make the town +/-5, +2 for slaves/loot, +1 for loot only). Add +1 for Good and -1 for Poor and roll on a 'Wrath of Khan' table. On an 8 or better = richly rewarded, 7=Praised, 6-4 =OK, 3-2 = silence, 1=disgraced, 0= banished, -1or less = beheaded! I prefer no point system at all, however; Tartar leaders didn't 'calculate' raids so neatly, and neither should you! 16.2 Rules for Hex Maps It should be obvious how these rules can convert into hex map campaigns. Rough and Blocked sides become difficult and impassable terrain hexes. Assuming many more hexes than boxes, a zone of control should be established for cavalry forces, allowing them to automatically move and intercept enemy within one hex. We've used 5 hex movement for cavalry, 2 hex for infantry; again it depends on the scale of your map and turn. You can also introduce the subtlety of roads, rivers, bridges/fords, flanking moves, and so on. 16.3 Tabletop Armies The rules generically talk in terms of units. This indicates the general size of each army. Consider them real numbers rather than 'strength points'. Thus, 2 units of Tartars against 2 units of, say, Wallachians would be a pair of 2,000 man armies - NOT 200 'points' from a list. Arm and equip each soldier according to the recommended percentages in your rules set of choice. See The Warriors below. 'Units' need not be taken literally though. The above 2,000 man army could be gamed with 7 tactical units per side at about 300 men in each unit. Don't feel restricted by the T-RAID campaign convention of units. In the period modeled here, tactical combat generally did not favor the light horse archers of the Tartars. They could be deadly at times, but the Tartars are typically a bit disadvantaged (but not much) against a better-equipped Renaissance force. The army sizes used in these rules reflect that. If you plan to adapt these rules to other periods or campaigns, you may need to tweak that balance. 16.4 The Warriors For this period, the Tartar raiders are 75% or more light horse archers, fierce, fast but not fond of melee. A fraction are padded Medium Cavalry, still with bow but with some lances, and perhaps a few mailed lancers. Infantry if raised back home will be levy bowmen, with very few levy spearmen, both of utterly abysmal quality. If you want to liven up the Town scenario, throw in two extra club cards for the Tartars, the smaller one cavalry and the larger one doubled (!) of infantry. Now they can surround and besiege, though that's really outside the scope of this game. Two opponents we've used are Russ and Balkan States. Russ are 50-66% or more cavalry. They have Dvorani, the Prince's bow-armed mailed paid troopers, plus lots of Boyars. Boyars are armed with the bow and have mostly padded protection. Town infantry (not peasants) consist of bows, spears and arquebusiers, often on horseback to keep up. Cossacks, unarmored, were both lance armed light cavalry and arquebus infantry. They occasionally had axemen. Peasants were a mix of 25-50% Town infantry (few if any arquebusiers) and motley serfs. Balkan States are types like Wallachia and Moldavia. These had a small core (10-25%) of medium cavalry Boyars armed with light lances, and light horse armed either with spears, or occasionally bows. They had some paid spear and bow infantry (often with horses), maybe a unit of halbardiers, then lots of archers, and lots of raw serfs. Some of this infantry was mounted, but a Balkan opponent will have a tougher decision to leave his infantry behind for a faster pursuit, as it's a larger share of his force. Instead of Cossacks, a Balkan State substitutes Mercenaries, raised and acting the same as Cossacks in the game. These are handgunners, crossbowmen or arquebusiers, with some armor but without cavalry. A Transylvanian army could have 50% or so cavalry, a mix similar to the Tartars, with horse archer Hussars backed by a smaller percentage of mailed lancers. Later Hungarians could add peasant arquebus infantry, and possible Western Imperial mercenaries on horse and foot. Polish armies are too complex to detail here. So far we've gamed Russ and Wallachians under these rules. When using Balkans, remember to slow down the pursuers unless they abandon a share of their infantry force. You might let Balkans use ditch and abattis defenses, or stiffen the resolve of their serfs. Balkans are a tougher side to game than Russ, though the Tartars can give a good game to both. It's a lot of fun either way. 16.5 Other Campaigns I hope you'll modify the heck out of these rules to suit your taste. As a framework, these rules could do for any number of periods and situations. Buccaneers vs. Spanish colonies, Indians vs. settlers, you name it. You'd change the rules for holding out in forts, make traveling through rough terrain easier, whatever. Also, you might need to rebalance the forces from the current 'club card' distribution. Experiment, and do what feels best. The only key rule is to remember you are modeling a raid, not a conquest. The unpredictable timing of the switch from hunter to hunted, plus the unknown committal of uncertain forces, is one of the best aspects of these rules. 16.6 Designer's Notes We all wargame for fun. This little campaign system is intended to be a colorful and enjoyable scenario generator for Tartar Raiding type warfare. It's not meant to be an ironclad rigid test of your cleverness in winning word interpretation arguments. If you're going to be a rules lawyer and gloat over successfully abusing a nuance in paragraph 17 to your advantage, do everyone a favor and don't play this game, okay? Put it aside, and consider it usable only for mere social occasions - which is what most of us consider a wargame to be. For the rest of you, which is most of you...enjoy! Field of Gold: Battle Report on a Tartar Raid Back to The Gauntlet No. 15 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Craig Martelle Publications 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