Generic Rules

by Russell Parkin

How to use the generic rules

Fill out an attributes sheet for each unit involved. The rules give guidelines for choosing some of the attributes.

Create a marker for each unit, showing its identifier and facing. Home-made cardboard counters are fine for this. Write a unique number on each counter and add an arrow to show the facing and direction of travel.

Find a map to use as the playing area. This can be a commercial map, a home-made sketch, or something in between. The scale does not matter as long as the attributes of each unit match the chosen scale.

TURN SEQUENCE

For each side, in turn:

    1. Check the chain of command
    2. Move all units
    3. Carry out ranged fire (not against targets that are adjacent to friendly units). All targets must be declared before any firing calculations start.
    4. Carry out close combat (two rounds)
    5. Perform spotting checks.

1. CHAIN OF COMMAND

Any unit that is not a commander has to check whether its commanding unit is within the defined command range, at the start of every turn. If it is not, there is a 50% chance that the unit cannot move or act (1,2,3 on a D6).

2. MOVEMENT

Typical movement rates (1 MP = 3 mph)

    Foot: 6 MPs
    Mounted: 12
    Motorised: 12 - 30
    Sea/river : 6 - 12

Halve distance for:

  • Uphill
  • Woods (Only passable to foot and mounted)
  • Marsh (Only passable to foot)
  • If unit is damaged

Double distance for roads.

Crippled units cannot move (aircraft move their minimum distance).

Only one action is allowed per turn. An action is usually fire (see phase 3) but it can also cover reloading, embarking & disembarking, repair, etc. Close combat does not count as an action.

For ground-based units:

Crossing any obstacle uses up half of the available movement distance. Any action uses up the other half of the available movement distance. This includes firing, if it is allowed.

3. RANGED COMBAT

All units have a field of view of 90 degrees. Line of sight is blocked by hills, woods, buildings and also by units within 1 MP of the firer or the target.

RangePoint BlankShortMediumLong Very LongRange Level Roll on D6 to hit
Thrown <11-22-44-66-8AdjacentAuto hit
Handgun<22-44-88-1212-18Point Blank>=2
Rifle<33-66-12 12-1818-24Short>=3
Mortar<66-1212-18 18-2424-30Medium>=4
Artilleryn/a<1212-24 24-4040-60Long>=5
Missilen/a<1818-30 30-6060-90Very Long6

To-hit modifiers:

    Damaged +1 range level
    Crippled +2 range levels
    Firer has moved this turn +1 range level
    Target is vehicle or larger -1 range level
    Static target -1 range level
    Target's max. speed > 20 +1 range level
    Target's max. speed > 30 +2 range levels
    Target's max. speed > 50 +3 range levels

If the adjusted range is more than Very Long, no firing is possible.

If a weapon has an area of effect (AoE) > 0 and it misses, its detonation location is D6 units (but max. distance of range/2) in the following direction:

d6
.1,23,45,6
d61,3 NWNNE
3,4WDudE
5,6SWSSE

Damage to units in the AoE is half the normal damage.

DAMAGE

Damage modifiers:

    Target in soft cover -1
    Target in hard cover -3

Roll a D6 for every damage point. If roll is <= target's ranged defence value, that point is not applied. Otherwise, reduce the target's status by one level, so Undamaged becomes Superficial Damage, then Damaged etc.

4. CLOSE COMBAT

Units must be adjacent. Divide all combats into pairs of attackers and defenders. A unit can only initiate close combat once per turn but a unit can be attacked any number of times in a turn.

Each close combat consists of two rounds, with each unit taking turns as the attacker. The combat results from both rounds are applied simultaneously.

Apply an average die roll to the attacker's and defender's combat strengths:

D6:

    1 = +1
    2 = +2
    3 = +2
    4 = +3
    5 = +3
    6 = +4

The lowest score loses. If the defender is the loser, the attacker's close combat damage factor is subtracted from the defender's status.

5. SPOTTING

All enemy units are anonymous until they are:

    within medium range of any friendly unit, or
    within very long range of a unit if they fire.

Once a unit has been identified, it stays identified. Any number of fake units can be added. These are removed as soon as they have been identified.

Typical values:

ProjectileAoE Damage
Contact only0/1
Bullet0/1
Shrapnel1/2
Explosive3/3
High Explosive8/4
Nuclear12/6

Rangeddefence values
Foot0
Aircraft1
Vehicle3
Larger4

AUTOMATION

Movement:

Roll <= Probability of movement

Choose direction and type of movement...

Direction:

    Adv - Advance
    OfL - Outflank to the left
    OfR - Outflank to the right
    Ret - Retreat
    Rnd - Random (use chart for ranged fire)

Route to use:

    Dir - The most direct route
    Esy - The easiest route

d6123456
1Adv
Dir
Adv
Dir
Adv
Dir
Adv
Esy
Adv
Esy
Adv
Esy
2Adv
Esy
Adv
Esy
OfL
Dir
OfL
Dir
OfL
Dir
Ofl
Esy
3OfL
Esy
OfL
Esy
OfL
Esy
OfL
Esy
OfR
Dir
OfR
Dir
4OfR
Dir
OfR
Esy
OfR
Esy
OfR
Esy
OfR
Esy
OfR
Esy
5Ret
Dir
Ret
Dir
Ret
Dir
Ret
Esy
Ret
Esy
Ret
Esy
6Ret
Esy
Ret
Esy
Rnd
Dir
Rnd
Dir
Rnd
Esy
Rnd
Esy

Firing:
RangeProbability of firing
Point BlankAlways
ShortAlways
Medium1-5 on D6
Long1-3 on D6
Very Long1-3 on D6

NOTES

UNIT NAME: A short, unique identifier for each unit. This is the ID that is put on each counter to show which unit it represents. An alphanumeric code is suitable, such as M1..M6 for six mechanized units, I1..I20 for twenty infantry units. If using chains of command, it can be useful to represent this in the unit Ids, such as X2 is the commanding unit for X21, X22 and X23.

DESCRIPTION: A more verbose description of each unit.

STATUS: Draw a circle round the status of the unit. When a unit is damaged, cross out its current status and circle the new status. Units will usually start off Undamaged.

CHAIN OF COMMAND: Circle either Commander or Subordinate to show which type of unit this is. If several levels of command are being used, most units will be both commanders and subordinates.

Commander ID: For a unit that is a subordinate, put the commanding unit's ID here.

Unit ID: For a commanding unit, the units that are being commanded can be listed here. This is optional since all the subordinates will have the commanding unit's ID listed under their attributes.

Range: For a commanding unit, fill in the range of effect for its command. Units within this range are "within command range".

MOVEMENT

Movement type: Circle the type of unit. This can be used to determine default values for its movement attributes. Probability of movement: This is used for automating an opponent's actions, to decide whether or not the unit moves each turn.

Maximum speed: The maximum distance a unit can move in a single turn.

Minimum speed: Airborne units have a minimum movement distance. If they are able to hover, this minimum can be 0.

SPECIAL MOVEMENT RULES: Note any special rules here that apply to movement.

RANGED ATTACK:

Delivery type: Circle the most suitable type. This mainly affects the chance of hitting a chosen target.

Projectile type: Circle the most suitable type. This can be used to determine default values for the unit's area of effect and damage attributes.

Area of effect: This is only applicable to area effect weapons. Any units within this range of the impact point can suffer damage. Other types of weapons have an area of effect of 0 and only direct hits will cause damage.

Number of shots: If ammunition is limited, note the number of shots available here.

Maximum range: It is not possible to engage targets that are further away than the maximum range.

Minimum range: It is not possible to engage targets that are closer than the maximum range. This value is usually only appropriate for long-range artillery weapons that cannot bring their guns to bear on nearby targets.

Damage: Enter the amount of damage done by each shot.

CLOSE COMBAT ATTACK:

Strength: The attack strength of the unit in close combat.

Damage: The amount of damage that will be inflicted by a successful close combat attack.

CLOSE COMBAT DEFENCE:

Against ranged attack: The chance of deflecting some or all of the damage from a successful ranged attack.

Against close combat: The defence strength of the unit in close combat.

SPECIAL COMBAT RULES:

Note any special rules here that apply to combat.

OTHER RULES AND NOTES:

Any other relevant information.


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