Number of players: 5 plus an umpire if desired. Length of game: 36 turns maximum Victory Conditions: These vary but are based upon points awarded for various objectives. The single participant with the highest victory points wins. Note that some participants, for example the Dundee Light Infantry, must comply with certain conditions that override all others. 10 points for each soldier or 'Tan' killed by the IRA 10 points for each IRA man killed by the soldiers or 'Tans'. 50 points for having Patrick Ward [see below] in your control at the end of the game. The Cartwright Jones factor [see below]. Terrain The area around Lispole is typical Irish rural country. Fields are green and lush with the occasional animal grazing upon them. The lanes are narrow and unsealed with waist high solid stone walls crowding in upon the verges. The stream running the length of the table can be forded but at quarter speed only. The banks are steep and muddy. The bridge across the stream is of solid stone construction. Buildings are solid structures with thatch or tile roofs. Woods make difficult going with thick undergrowth. (see map below) INFORMATION FOR PLAYERS There are five main participants in this scenario, one of whom controls both the Kilpatrick Brigade and the Lispole Crowd. Participants must adhere as closely as possible to their own individual guidelines. THE KILPATRICK BRIGADE Despite the British bans on any political demonstrations/meetings, the population of Lispole continues to agitate for Self-Rule. Your local intelligence informs you that the 'Tans' intend to break up today's rally and arrest the leaders. As the local area commander you are expected to do something about that. You have the following choices: Ambush the 'Tans' before they get into town. The consequences of this are that you can be accused of an unprovoked attack [politically dangerous] and give the authorities an excuse for reprisals against the civilian population. Let the 'Tans' arrest the ringleaders of the demonstration and then you attack the town. Consequences are that the townspeople may become casualties. If civilians are harmed in any fighting you initiate then this will not go well for you amongst the local community. Ambush the 'Tans' as they leave the town. This may mean that you could be caught in the open. Use your initiative to embarrass the 'Tans' in some manner. You have ten men. Only half your men have rifles and the others have revolvers, one carries a shotgun. You are short of ammunition. If during any turn when you fire and you roll a '1' the firing figure is out of ammunition for the remainder of the game - you will need to mark this in some way. Your men are all 'C' class. You enter the table at any point at any time after turn one. THE LISPOLE CROWD In addition to your own Brigade you also control the Lispole crowd. You may do with them as you wish provided that you adhere to the following guidelines: The crowd may not use firearms or any form of explosive device. They may however throw rocks, bottles and lumps of wood. They may use wooden clubs. Father McGuinness, the local priest, must be given a prominent place in the crowd. While he lives no one in the crowd will initiate any unprovoked physical violence against the soldiers or the 'Tans'. If provoked by physical attack from the Crown's forces the crowd can act in any way you wish, until then the only resistance can be vocal and passive obstruction. Your own men will not harm Father McGuinness. Patrick Ward, the local nationalist firebrand, is wanted man. His words have raised a storm in recent months and his presence in Lispole is a direct challenge to the Crown's authority. It is obvious that there will be soon be some move by the authorities to arrest Ward - he cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the Crown. He is, however, a proud and determined man and will not leave Lispole or stop addressing the crowd while they remain in the streets. If the crowd are dispersed your Brigade will have to protect Ward. The crowd are angry but they are not fools. If firing begins they will flee away from the shooting and are removed from play after two game turns. There is no set number to the crowd but you should use as many civilian type figures as you can muster. THE O'MERA BRIGADE What a bitter and twisted soul you are! After four years on the Western Front you have returned to a broken and divided Ireland. You and your men are all veterans of the cause who loathe and despise the British. Slightly less galling are the so-called 'Sons of Erin' the local Kilpatrick Brigade. These farmers playing at soldiers have achieved virtually nothing in the last year and you have been sent into their area to stir things up. You have arranged to operate with the Kilpatricks in this operation at Lispole, a miserable little town whose population is at best lukewarm to the cause. You need to create an incident and are not too worried how this is done, or who is hurt in the process, provided that the Tans are blamed for anything that happens! You have ten men, all of who are hard core veterans. They are armed with rifles and revolvers. You do suffer ammunition shortages and if a firing figure rolls a '1' it is considered out of ammunition for the weapon it was using for the rest of the game. Your men are all 'B' class. You enter the table at any time during the game after the number of turns indicated by rolling one D6 [keep this secret from everyone]. DUNDEE LIGHT INFANTRY After surviving the Western Front for four years you find yourself in Ireland with your men. As professional soldiers you have nothing but contempt for your current colleagues, one a Public School dandy and the other a mindless thug. You also have little sympathy for the locals but you and your men are determined to apply the rules of war at all times. You will obey whatever orders you are given. You must, however, comply with the following directives: You will not fire unless fired upon. You will never fire at unarmed civilians. You will not summarily execute or mistreat prisoners. You must suffer no casualties. All your men are 'A' class. Your men are armed with rifles and you have a revolver. Each of your men carry two Mills Bombs. You enter the table on turn one at point 'A' on foot. ‘Father McGuinness’ answers a few questions All figures, scenery and photography are courtesy of Greg Blake of Cannon Fodder Miniatures and the authorities of the Crown should be aware that the ‘Lispole Affair’ wargame was aided and abetted by one John O’Connell of the Darwin Wargamers - both of ’em desperate fellows to be sure! SOUTH SUSSEX REGIMENT Commissioned to late too join the "Great Adventure" in France you find yourself in Ireland with your section of conscripts 'aiding the civil power'. The men of the section are surly and disgruntled and counting the days before they are de-mobbed. Your own future is bleak, there is little chance of promotion in the army and you have just heard that your older brother has squandered the family fortune in a series of ill-considered business ventures. Therefore you aspire to join the 'Tans'. You figure that by doing so you can at least squeeze the locals and emerge from this whole shambles with some loot. As such you have decided that you must ingratiate yourself with the local 'Tan' commander. Therefore you will agree with everything he says, even if you know it to be silly or illegal. You will obey every order he gives. You will never contradict or offer your own opinion. The 'Tan' commander is notoriously paranoid and vindictive. He will take any comments from you as criticism, thus ruining your chances to join the 'Tans'. Your men are all 'C' class. You enter the table at point 'A' mounted in lorries on turn one. THE BLACK AND TANS Continued political activity by rebel elements has unsettled the district and you are tasked with keeping the peace, prosecuting the rebels by any means and upholding the authority of the Crown. You are to attend the town hall of Lispole and arrest the rabble-rouser Patrick Ward who you will find there. The successful arrest of Ward and his removal, alive, will earn you 50 Victory points. Official orders stress that the local civilians are not to be treated harshly but you received the usual wink and nod from your District Inspector when you set out from the barracks, therefore how you treat the locals is entirely up to your discretion. There has been some rumour that an American journalist has been lurking about the district but you discount this as rubbish spread by weak-kneed the milk-sops and rebel appeasers of the gutter Press. Speed in this task is essential. The operation must be completed before local armed rebel gangs can respond. In support you have one section from the South Sussex Regiment but you don't expect much from them and truly despise the chinless wonder who commands them. Your men are all hardened fighters [B class] and can be relied on to carry out any order you give. Your men are all rifle and pistol armed. You have one Lewis gun and have the use of two motor lorries. You enter the table at point 'A' mounted in the lorries. CARTWRIGHT JONES OF THE BOSTON POST At the beginning of the game the Umpire or another disinterested party should roll a D10. If the score is greater than five Cartwright Jones, a reporter working for the U.S. Boston Post is present in Lispole. The same disinterested party must secretly nominate one male figure within the civilian crowd as Jones. The identity of Jones cannot be revealed during the game. If Jones is present every civilian casualty removes 5 victory points from the Crown. This minus score is doubled if the casualty is a Priest, woman or child. If Jones is killed the Crown suffers minus 30 victory points. RULES Of course you are at liberty to use any rules that you wish but the following rules have been used to play the scenario detailed above and work well. They are written to allow a quick moving game and capture the personal nature of small unit warfare quite accurately. There is a little bit of preparation to be undertaken before the game if these rules are to be used as players will need to make the order cards described. A template has been provided to assist making order cards. The most important thing to remember when using these rules is that when in doubt common sense should prevail. Enjoy! Wargaming the Anglo-Irish War 1919-1921 Back to Table of Contents -- Kriegspieler #10 To Kriegspieler List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Kriegspieler 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