The intention of these rules is to provide a fast and decisive game where the emphasis is on leadership and morale rather than the usual technical details of the weapons. The aim is also to remove from the player much of the unreal influence he normally possesses and here you will see troops who act in their own interest more often than not and therefore leaders who can keep their men moving and firing will do bettor than those who attempt complex manoeuvres or rely on the unnatural heroics of their men. The sort of battles we are about here are dirty scraps involving predominantly second-line, militia or police formations or their irregular opponents. When regulars appear they too are not necessarily skilled in this irregular warfare hence their equal treatment here. Any player who deploys types such as the Moors who may be considered more skilled in this sort of action might disagree with this but there you are. There are no long list of factors in these rules; morale, command and movement are all linked together in a rather neat fashion, as I see it, what we need to represent on the tabletop is merely the troops behaviour and we should not be too concerned with the reasons for it. All figures are organised in groups of between 5 and 12 figures under the command of a leader figure known as a "Cabos". All non-leaders are known as "Soldados". All figures are given an "experience" rating between 1 and 3 which represents an amalgam of factors - weapon skills, morale, enthusiasm and dicipline. This could be broken into different factors for different skills if a more involved game is acceptable. * Cabos = Sp. Corporal Game sequence. Each Cabos rolls 1x d6 to see the order of play each move, highest first etc. Cabos can state they are using their experience level to add or subtract from the score to try and move at a more advantageous time. Re-roll any ties. Command and Control. When in positions of no danger, such as out of sight of the enemy all figures may move at will the following distances ; 6" per move on foot or 10" if mounted. Once they are aware that they are at risk then they become - shall we say less enthusiastic, therefore: Movement. Soldados roll 1xd6 as plus and 1xd6 as minus. If the result is positive they move that distance. (Note this needs to be rolled even if the figure is not going to move - simply ignore any positive result, if troops are hiding in ambush for example then treat a tied result as the figure starting to shoot without orders.) If the result is equal then they go to ground with no offensive action. If it is minus they move towards "safety" (either cover or their table edge, if in hiding or trenches ets then make them cower instead.) Cabos (Leaders) roll in a similar fashion except that they must use 1xd6 as movement and the other represents their efforts to issue orders or encourage their men. If their influence die is less than the plus they cannot use any influence and are subject to the same rules as cabos. Modifiers of the "plus" die, minus 1 for each of:- Under automatic fire/wounded/dead friend within 4". Add the figures experience level (1 -3), plus 1 if a Cabo or in cover/out of sight of enemy. Cabos Influence Cabos (Leaders) may use their influence points to try to alter the behaviour of their underlings as above, using the points on individuals or a group. A group must all be within 6" of the Cabos and be of his own group. Points used on a group are half his total, rounded up. Shooting Ranges are unlimited for rifles and machine guns, SMG's 16", pistols and shotguns 9". Grenades can be thrown up to 9". To shoot roll 2d6 modified by the following: Under fire -3 target under cover -3 shooter moving -3 wounded -2. Add the shooters experience level. +2 if an MG or SMG or shotgun at 6" or less. Any die rolls of double 6 is an automatic hit, any of double 1 is a misfire or if a grenade = oops, it's been fumbled and dropped. Otherwise score 8+ for a hit. Hits. Roll for each hit, 1xd6 needing 5 or 6 for a kill, all other positive scores results in a wound. Deduct 1 if using a shotgun. Roll 1xd6 for each wound after the first a 6= killed. Add 1 per wound. Grenades These land on target on a roll of 8+ and can cause hits on any within 3". If the total is less than 8 then roll 1xd6 and use this to see the deviation- 1 is short, 2 or 3 is left, 4 or 5 is right and 6 is over thrown. The distance is half the original dice to hit score. A dropped grenade lands next to the thrower. Roll 1xd6 + exp. if 6+ "dropper" kicks it away before it explodes, for direction etc see above. This procedure might make our butter-fingered friend very unpopular indeed.* Melee Roll 1xd6 per figure in hand to hand combat adding the figures experience level, add 1 if equipped with a melee weapon (bayonet / knife or dagger). Treat wounds as for shooting but add 1 if using a melee weapon. Spotting Hidden troops who do not move can be seen only if the enemy successfully spends a move attempting to spot them. Roll 1xd6 per Cabos adding his experience level, +1 if using binoculars to assist. Spot if 8+. Each Cabos can only attempt to spot one target per move. Troop Quality If a random force is needed, then roll for each figure using 1xd3 (ie 1/2 a d6 rounded up) to give the experience level of the troops. * With this rule in mind it would be a bad idea to issue grenades to any International soldados of your favourite nationality. Quick and Dirty Wargaming Spanish Civil Wargaming Back to The Gauntlet No. 16 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