I have been spending some time recently putting together a set of solo rules for fighting battles in mid 17th century Britain in 1/300th scale. I have set out below the rules as they stand at the moment; I would be grateful if any other soloists interested in the same period would give them a try and feed back any suggestions, comments, rude remarks, etc. Hopefully, these rules achieve the desired effect of producing two, largely unprofessional, armies which clump unsteadily towards each other, exchange a few volleys until one becomes shaken, then proceed to push of pike until one side breaks. (By the way, apologies to the aficionados of any other civil war - I don't say ENGLISH Civil War 'cos most of my figures for this period are Scots!)
Unit Composition
Figures are mounted in blocks as follows:
- Cavalry squadron: 4-6 figures in one rank.
Unit of shot: 8-12 figures in two ranks.
Pike block: 8-12 figures in two ranks.
Troop of dragoons: Mounted: 4-6 figures in one rank.
Dismounted: 4-6 figures in one rank.
Forlorn hope: 4-6 figures in one rank.
Irregulars (Highlanders, clubmen, etc): 4-6 figures in one rank.
The frontage of the blocks is not that important, so long as they are all the same. Gun bases are half the frontage of the others.
Troop classes are:
- A class: Gentlemen
B class: Trained veterans
C class: Trained
D class: Trained but raw.
E class: Untrained.
Each block is given a points value according to its type and class.
| Class | Pike | Shot | Cavalry | Dragoon | Forlorn Hope | Irregulars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | - | - | 9 | - | - | - |
| B | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 4 | - |
| C | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | - |
| D | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| E | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Class | Class | Light Gun | Medium Gun | Heavy Gun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| C | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| D | 3 | 5 | 6 | |
| E | 3 | 3 | 5 |
Cavalry is also graded by its preferred method of fighting, melee or shooting; gentlemen and lancers will always melee, most Scots preferred shooting.
Units of horse and foot are made up of a number of blocks; for instance a regiment of foot may be made up of one pike block and two shot, a cavalry regiment by three squadrons of horse. A unit's strength is arrived at by totalling the points values of its component parts, up to a maximum of 20 points. If the foot regiment above is C class, its strength would be 16 ( 1 pike block x 4, 2 shot x 6). If the cavalry regiment is C class, strength is 20 ( 3 x 7 = 21, but maximum strength is 20).
The points reflect the units' ability to absorb punishment. A note should be kept of the starting strength of each unit and the number of points remaining as damage is inflicted.
Light guns may be assigned to a particular unit and remain with it throughout the battle, moving as it moves and firing at the same targets. Light artillery assigned in this manner does not increase the parent unit's points strength. Medium and heavy guns must, and light guns may, form a unit in their own right and their points strength is treated as above; in this case the guns are positioned at the start and may not be moved during the battle. They must fire at nearest enemy unit to their front.
Army Composition
Both your army and the opposing one are organised into a centre and two wings and possibly a reserve. You can divide up your own troops as you wish; the enemy units are assigned by throwing a D10:
| Cavalry and Dragoons | Infantry |
|---|---|
| 1,2,3 and 4, Right wing | 1, Left wing |
| 5,6,7,and 8, Left wing | 2, Right wing |
| 9, Reserve | 3,4, Reserve |
| 0, Throw again | 5,6,7,8,9,0 Centre |
| Artillery is in the centre | |
The centre, reserve and the wings of both armies are each commanded by generals who are given a simple personality rating: rash, bold, average, or cautious. In large armies, the wings and centre can be split down further into commands, consisting of, say, four to six units. There is a great deal of reference material available to enable you to grade real historical commanders in this way. As C-in-c, you could command one part of your army in person, trusting your subordinates to do their bit.
To Battle
Dice for which side has the initiative. (Say 1,2,3 you, 4,5,6 the enemy.) If the enemy army gets "off the mark" first, dice for which of their generals leads their attack. (Add two to dice for rash generals, one for bold, deduct one for cautious.)
If you win the initiative, you may decide which of your commanders leads the attack.
For any general, other than yourself, who has the initiative, refer to the following flow chart to determine their action. The score is that of a D6, modified as above. (+2 for rash, +1 for bold, etc.)
The general who first wins the initiative can move his command 8".
Go through this procedure again and move the next general's command up to 5", then again and move the next command up to 3".
Remaining commands can now move up to 2".
Note that all three generals who get the initiative could be on the same side.
Resolve firing, melee and morale. (Both sides simultaneously).
A Score 2 or more: ATTACK
Score 1 or less: ADVANCE
B Score 5 or more: ATTACK
Score 2,3, or 4: ADVANCE
Score 1 or less: DEFEND
C Score 7 or more: ATTACK
Score 5, 6: ADVANCE
Score 4 or less: DEFEND
D Score 7 or more: ADVANCE
Score 6 or less: DEFEND
ATTACK: Move towards nearest enemy and attempt to bring to hand-to-hand combat. (may fire before contact).
ADVANCE: Move to musket/pistol range of nearest enemy and engage in fire combat.
DEFEND: Hold present position. May turn to face threat.
Dice again for initiatives as above for each new move.
Firing
Ranges:
- Musket: Short 1", Long 4"
Pistol, carbine 1"
Light gun 10", Hail shot 2"
Field gun 20", Hail shot 2"
Heavy gun 24" Hail shot 2"
Improvised missiles 1"
Infantry and cavalry in two ranks throw 2 D6 per move.
Infantry and cavalry in one rank and artillery throw 1 D6 per move.
B class infantry can fire by salvee - two dice for each of first two ranks but can only fire in alternate moves.
Score on D6 required to deduct strength points from target:
| Fire Type | One Pt. | Two Pts. |
|---|---|---|
| Musket: long range | 5 | - |
| Musket: short range | 3 | 5 |
| Pistol, Carbine | 4 | - |
| Gun | 4 | 6 |
| Hailshot | 3 | 5 |
| Improvised missiles | 6 | - |
If firing at dense target (more than one block in line of fire and range) and for first time firing, double number of throws.
Soft cover -1
Target dispersed -2
Firer uncertain -1
Hard cover -2
Firelock +1
Firer shaken -2
Morale Levels
As strength points are deducted from a unit, their morale level is reduced. When a third of a unit's points are lost, they become uncertain. When two-thirds are lost, they become shaken and disordered. When there are no points remaining, the unit will break and run.
A unit with advance orders will change to attack if their nearest enemy's morale level is lower than their own.
A unit with defend orders whose nearest enemy's morale level is lower will move to attack on a throw of 5 or 6 (modified as above for commander)
A unit with attack orders will halt if their morale level is lower than their enemy's.
Push of Pike
Formed pike can only be charged by other pike. If charged, musketeers and shooting cavalry can fire before contact. Forlorn hope will evade 1/2 D6 inches if charged and are destroyed if caught.
Melee will only occur between units with the same morale level. If their morale is of a lower level than their opponents, chargers will halt before contact, charged units will break.
Artillery contacted by enemy foot or horse will be overrun.
Overlapping blocks do not count in first round of melee. If the melee continues into a second round, any overlapping blocks may wheel round into their enemy's exposed flank.
Melee
Throw one D6 for each of your blocks in contact, modified as follows:
- +2 cavalry vs. infantry
+2 pike vs. shot.
-2 shot vs. pike.
+3 enemy routing.
-2 infantry v cavalry.
-1 crossing obstacle
-1 poorly mounted cavalry/mtd dragoon
+1 facing poorly mounted cav./mtd dragoon
-1 facing lancers
+1 lancers
Result:
- 7 or more: enemy loses three strength points.
6 enemy loses two strength points.
5 enemy loses two strength points, you lose one
3 and 4 no result
2 your unit loses two strength points, enemy lose one
1 your unit loses two strength points
0 your unit loses three strength points
The first unit to fall to the next morale level will break. If there is no result in a cavalry melee after three rounds, the two sides will break off and reform.
Army and command morale works on the 50% rule; any command with half its units broken will retire off the table. An army with half its command retiring will retire off the table.
To prevent pursuit of a broken enemy, throw D6 (+2 rash general, -2 cautious general):
- A class +6pts
B class +1pt
C class +3pts
D class +5pts
E class +7pts
If result 8 or more, pursue broken enemy for two moves then test again.
Additional Ideas
Generals:
If a general is with a unit which takes casualties, throw a D10. 0 indicates he has been hit. Then D6: 6= dead. 5 = severely wounded, must be carried off field. 4 = wounded, must leave field, may return on 5 or 6. 3= slightly wounded, must leave field for D6 moves to have wound dressed. 2= scratch. 1= horse killed, no movement for one move while he gets another.
Ammo supply:
Throw an ammo dice with each volley. If this dice comes up 1, mark off a point of ammunition. Each unit should have no more than 3 or 4 ammo points to expend, then they are out of shot. (This way you don't know exactly how long each unit will be able to keep firing.)
OK, so far, so good. In Part Two we'll look at some applications of these rules, including a solo campaign based on Montrose's campaigns.
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