For some time I have felt that scouting and pre-battle manoeuvres get fairly short shrift in most wargames rules. A great many sets go no further than counting up light troops on each side and making one side deploy first if their lights are outnumbered and they are therefore assessed to have been out scouted. This is probably fine if the campaign is designed to produce regular table top battles for two live players between roughly equal forces. To my mind, however, it misses out quite a large chunk of the general’s art and this is what I have tried to address in these rules. From my reading of C16 and C17 campaigns it seems that battles were fairly well spread out. In my own campaign (based loosely on the TYW) battles are generally the culmination of several months manoeuvre. The ideas below are a little long-winded and detailed, but with a hard battle able to destroy an army and make or break a campaign, I think some time and effort on a game-within-a-game is justified. The mechanisms also seek to address several other issues for me as a soloist, namely: a. Introduce an element of uncertainty as to the size of NPC force. b. Automate NPC decisions and manoeuvres to a large degree. c. Generally produce set-piece battles, but occasionally generate something unusual; the spectacular outflanking manoeuvre, encounter battles, unexpected or unwanted battles and armies caught on the march. I should add now that my campaign has been long in gestation, but short in playing and these rules have not been extensively play-tested. Any thoughts or feedback will be gratefully received via Forum. Background To help you adapt these ideas to other campaigns here are some notes on my own system to put things in context. a. The strategic system is based on Charles Vasey’s ECW boardgame “The King’s War”. My own (fictitious) campaign covers an area about the size of England and Wales. The map is divided into 42 counties, with each county made up 3 or 4 movement boxes. b. Strategic turns are monthly and armies move in order depending on the draw of an initiative card for their General. c. Armies are mostly 5,000 - 15,000 strong. Tactical figure ratio is 1:25. d. General’s abilities of relevance here are Strategic Ability (SA), Caution and Impetuosity, all on a scale of 1-6 and, from the latter 2 a Fighting Stance (FS) on the scale Rash/Bold/Average/Cautious/Timid. Scouts Dragoons and one Harquebusier in 20 is suitable for employment as a scout. More than this may be employed, but they are only half as effective, prone to desertion and may not return for battle. Croatians and similar light horse may also be employed in this role. Scouts are employed in patrols of 25 men (i.e. one figure) under the army's Scoutmaster General. The Scoutmaster's force is assessed as follows: 1 - 4 patrols - Very weak 5 - 9 - Weak 10 - 17 - Adequate 18 - 24 - Strong 25+ - Very strong If unreliable men are employed as scouts, then roll 1D6 per week for the number of patrols/figures that desert. General Keilig (SA 4) has been dispatched (by me) with 6,000 men to secure the support of the currently neutral city of Zell. His force of 2,000 horse includes 600 Harquebusiers and 200 Dragoons, giving 9 patrols (5% of 24 Harquebusier figs = 1 fig/patrol + 8 Dragoon patrols). Keilig’s scoutmaster’s force is therefore “weak.” Making Contact When an army moves into a box containing an enemy army or through a box adjacent to one containing an enemy army, calculate the number of patrols active and roll 2D6 to make contact as follows: Patrols Very Strong 9 or less Strong 8 or less Adequate 7 or less Weak 6 or less Very Weak 5 or less Die modifiers: -1 General's SA rating higher than opponent +1 General's SA rating lower than opponent If contact is made the difference, if any, between the required score and that thrown is the number of reports received (see later). For the opposition, the Margrave von Steindorf (an NPC)(SA 4) has also been dispatched to secure Zell. Keilig’s move comes up first and he enters the box adjacent to Zell, rolling a 6 to locate Steindorf’s force in an adjacent box. He receives reports of an enemy force in the area, but no indications of its strength. Intelligence of the area/population controlled by enemy forces suggests von Steindorf’s force will be about 5,000 men, so Keilig works on this basis for now. As von Steindorf’s mission is to secure Zell not seek battle, I decide that he will not attempt to intercept Keilig. Sticking to orders Keilig uses the remainder of his strategic movement to move into camp on the outskirts of Zell. As he remains adjacent to von Steindorf’s force, he gets another patrol roll to gain more intelligence. This time he rolls 5 on 2D6 so gains 1 report of enemy strength. Opponents Strength The starting point for determining the enemy strength is the intelligence assessment from the area/population controlled. This strength is the datum of 100. To determine the reported strength roll 2D6 on the table below: 12 200 11 180 10 160 9 140 8 120 7 100 6 85 5 65 4 45 3 25 2 15 This reported strength is likely to be only part of the picture. It is entirely possible that the reports are inaccurate, but the more reports a general gathers, the less likely this is and the smaller any error is likely to be. Rolls for reported strength always use the initial assessment as the datum. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Keilig rolls a 4 so his scouts report 0.45 x 5000 or 2250 men. This is the end of Keilig’s move, but later on (in the same month) von Steindorf’s strategic move comes round. He follows his orders and moves into the Zell box with Keilig’s force. Initial Range When two armies enter the same box both generals must decide on their initial reactions. The first step is to determine the range at which the two armies confront each other. Roll 2D6 and modify as follows: General is Rash or Aggressive -1 General is Cautious or Timid +1 Army has 0 - 11 patrols out -1 Army has 25 + patrols out -1 Result 2 or less Battle 3 - 4 Close (about 1 mile apart) 5 - 7 Short (2 - 4 miles) 8 - 9 Medium (5 - 7 miles) 10 - 15 Long (8 - 10 miles) 16+ Out of Contact If the two armies meet on the battlefield, then move straight to resolving the cavalry skirmish to determine what sort of battle develops. If the two armies end up still out of contact, then there will be no battle this month. Otherwise the general must assess the ground and decide what to do. As von Steindorf’s force enters the same box, Keilig rolls a 4 for the range the two armies notice each other. Neither General is Rash or Cautious, but Keilig only has 9 patrols out so the score is modified to 3; Close range. As von Steindorf’s force moves into the box, Keilig rolls again for reports of enemy strength, but only manages a 7, so receives nothing., Terrain At close or short range roll for and place terrain items. At longer ranges roll only for the terrain items present, giving a general impression of the sort of ground present. Random terrain generation gives both armies a good defensive position. Keilig has a hill on his left flank and can secure the right flank of his foot on a large farm. Von Steindorf’s army is to the left centre and has large wood and another farm to secure its flanks on. The real show stopper however is the large marsh smack bang between the two armies. Options The friendly General’s options for action are: Impetuous attack (advance 2 range bands) (counts as a forced march) Attack (advance one range band) Manoeuvre to force opponent out of his position Observe (endeavour to maintain current range) Manoeuvre to better ground Hold current position Withdraw Keilig apparently outnumbers his opponent 5:2, but he is in a strong position and, given the delicate negotiations with Zell, the risks of battle probably outweigh the benefits. He opts to Hold and dig in. Enemy Decision What of the enemy in all this? Establish the odds based on the initial intelligence assessment of enemy strength. Using this as the start point on the table below, roll one +ve and one -ve DAv and move up or down as appropriate to determine what he thinks the odds are, then adjust his Impetuosity and Caution: 4:1 +5 I 7:2 +4 I 3:1 +3 I 5:2 +2 I 2:1 +1 I 3:2 0 1:1 0 2:3 0 1:2 +1 C 2:5 +2 C 1:3 +3 C 2:7 +4 C 1:4 +5 C +1 I per victory this season +1 C per defeat this season -1 C SA 5-6 +1 C SA 1-2 +2 C enemy entrenched +1 C Hill/wood box and stronger than opponent -1 C Hill/wood box and weaker than opponent +2 C Forest/mountain box and stronger than opponent -2 C Forest/mountain box and weaker than opponent +1 I Clear or Decisive victory in this round’s skirmishing +1 C Clear defeat in this round’s skirmishing +2 C Decisive defeat in this round’s skirmishing +2 C Bad weather Next determine the enemy’s tactical approach based on his strategic activity this week: Moved : 1-2 Offensive, 3-5 Demonstrative, 6 Defensive Besieging town : 1 Offensive, 2-4 Demonstrative, 5-6 Defensive Attacking : 1-3 Offensive, 4-5 Demonstrative, 6 Defensive No move : 1 Offensive, 2-3 Demonstrative, 4-6 Defensive Not moved yet : 1-2 Offensive, 3-4 Demonstrative, 5-6 Defensive Resolve odds Impetuosity: Caution and cross reference with approach on table below Stance 3:1 2:1 3:2 1:1 2:3 1:2 1:3 Offensive A A B B C D E Demonstrative A B C D E F G Defensive B C D E F G G A Impetuous attack (advance 2 range bands) (counts as a forced march) B Attack (advance one range band) C Manoeuvre to force opponent out of his position D Observe (endeavour to maintain current range) E Manoeuvre to better ground F Hold current position and deploy for battle G Withdraw (not easy in the face of the enemy so may be SA/2 (round up) range bands) Von Steindorf (C = 5, I = 3) rolls +3 & -4 so moves down one from 1:1 (using 5,000 for his force, not the 2,250 Keilig thinks he has). Von Steindorf believes himself outnumbered 2:3, but this has no effect on his C&I. Enemy entrenched, however, means +2 C. Moving onto his strategic approach, von Steindorf moved into the box, but not with the specific intention of attacking Keilig so he rolls on the moved line. Rolling a 4 his approach is Demonstrative. Odds (I:C) are 3:7 or 1:2, which equals F on the Demonstrative line. Von Steindorf therefore decides to Hold also. Army Manoeuvres Advancing and withdrawing Having decided how much he wishes to close or open the range, the general rolls 2D6. Having made the roll the general may modify the score by up to half his SA rating (round up), or half SA rating +1 if his force is all cavalry and his opponents has a mixed or all foot force: 0 or less Closes 2 more than declared 1 - 5 Closes 1 more than declared 6 - 8 Achieves desired manoeuvre 9 - 12 Opens 1 more than desired 13+ Opens 2 more than desired This may mean that the armies end up closing or opening more than the generals want; even being sucked into a battle they don’t want or losing contact altogether. Of course the general may use his SA rating to exaggerate the "error" in order to achieve a particularly swift advance or retreat. If the armies move out of contact, then move one or both armies out of the box on the strategic map (it will generally be clear which army was pulling away. If not flip a coin or something). It may be that the total closure takes the two armies through the battle range. Each point over the closure required to get the two armies into battle is a chance on 1D6 that they will clash on the march and that an encounter battle will ensue. Both generals make this roll. If they fail their army enters the field in line of march. If on the other hand the general makes the roll, the enemy is spotted in time to deploy. The results of the cavalry skirmishing may modify the die roll (see Skirmishing later). In any event determine terrain from scratch and randomly. If an army attempting to withdraw is caught, then the attacking general rolls 1D6 - own SA + enemy’s SA. Each withdrawing regiment must now roll this number or less on 1D6 to be deployed for battle at game start. The remainder can come on as reinforcements or continue to run for it (e.g. Attacker rolls 3 - SA 4 + enemy SA of 3 = 2. Each enemy regiment must roll 3 or less on 1D6 to deploy) An Observing general decides how much he wishes to open or close and rolls for achievement after his opponent has completed his moving, thus giving him a better chance of maintaining the range he wishes to. Manoeuvring There are two reasons for manoeuvring; to move your own army to better ground or to force your opponent out of his position. In either case the procedure for trying to adjust the ground is the same. Having randomly determined the initial terrain, roll 2D6 per terrain piece and per battlefield sector and note the score. This is now the score the manoeuvring general must roll under with 2D6 to either move or remove the terrain item. The score for each sector is rolled against if the general wishes to add a terrain piece there. Moved pieces move to a randomly determined new sector (and may end up back where they started!) and new pieces are of a randomly determined nature. This reflects that there are only so many suitable battlefields in a given area or an outmanoeuvred army may find an equally good defensive position near by. If it is the enemy (NPC) manoeuvring against a friendly force (Player) the friendly general must roll above the terrain piece score to prevent it from being moved or removed. The enemy general will move pieces if he thinks he is weaker than the friendly force, or remove if he thinks he is stronger. Only a weaker enemy will try to add terrain pieces. The result of skirmishing will give a die roll modifier for this process. If one or both armies are manoeuvring to new positions (as opposed to trying to manoeuvre his opponent out of a defensive position) roll 1D6: 1-2 the desired ground means closing one range band; 3-4 the ground is at the same range; 5-6 the ground is further from the enemy. An army manoeuvring to a better position is assumed to achieve the opening or closure desired. Alternatively, an army outmanoeuvring an opponent is assumed to be aiming to hold about the same range, but may end up closing or opening the range as in Advancing & Withdrawing above. Now roll for any closure or opening desired by the opponent as above. If the manoeuvring results in the armies achieving Close or Battle range then the manoeuvring General rolls 1D6 modified by the skirmish outcome and +1 if the enemy was making an impetuous attack and -1 if he was withdrawing: 8+ Manoeuvre catches enemy completely by surprise. Deploy defender, then deploy manoeuvring army as desired on either flank. 6-7 Manoeuvre achieves partial surprise. Defender deploys 50%. Remainder enter as per encounter battles (see later). Manoeuvrer deploys as normal. 2-5 Both sides deploy as normal. 0-1 Manoeuvrer partially caught. Manoeuvrer deploys 50%. Remainder enter as per encounter battles (see later). Defender deploys as normal. -1- Manoeuvrer caught on the march. Manoeuvrer deploys force in line of march along length of table. Defender deploys at 90 degrees in battle order (i.e. as for normal game). If the armies are at Battle range, then proceed directly to the battle. If the range is Close, however, then some more rolls will be needed to see if a battle develops. If the manoeuverer achieves surprise or partial surprise, then he needs to roll 1D6+SA against the enemy’s SAx2 in order to convert the advantage into an immediate attack. If his score is more than twice his opponent’s SA, then set up as above. If he achieves less than twice SA, but more than his opponent’s SA, then move down one level (i.e. the enemy has time to make some adjustments and surprise becomes partial surprise and partial surprise becomes deployed). If the manoeuverer achieves his opponent’s SA or less, then no battle develops and the range remains Close. If both armies are deployed then the manoeuverer needs to roll under his own SA on 1D6 (+1 DRM if opponent has higher SA and is avoiding battle, -1 DRM if opponent attacking). If the manoeuverer is caught out then his opponent compares SA+1D6 against the manoeuverer’s SAx2 as above. What Next ? If all the running about has resulted in a battle or loss of contact, deliberate or otherwise, then all is well and good. If not there may still be interaction between the 2 armies. Actions Whilst the two main bodies are milling about deciding whether to have a battle or not, the scouts and screens, foraging parties, outposts and supply convoys of both sides will be getting stuck in gaining intelligence, taking or holding key ground, frustrating the enemy and generally getting in everyone's way. If the 2 armies are close enough, then sooner or later these groups will bump into each other. Roll 1D6 per grand tactical round (see later) in which a battle does not occur. Armies are: Close Actions on 4+ Short 5+ Medium 6 If an action does occur, roll a further 1D6 to determine how many: 1-4 = 1, 5-6 = 2. Each action will involve 2D6 x 3% of each army. A 6 on one final (for now) 1D6 means the affair escalates into a full scale battle as both sides feed in troops ad hoc. Actions that do not escalate can be fought out on the table top or resolved on paper as desired. They will inevitably slowly whittle away each army’s strength, but their main consequence is to impose a certain dominance over the area by one side or the other over a period of time. If one army gains sufficient dominance, then the enemy may even be forced out of the area without a battle being fought. This effect is measured through Control Points (CP). Control Points The first army to accumulate 20 CPs will force their opponents out of the Strategic Box. A battle will usually generate 20-30 CPs for the winner. Winning an Action is worth 4-6 CPs. Winning a skirmish (see later) may be worth 1 or 2 CPs. First Find Your Enemy Scouting and Grand Tactical Manoeuvre for C17th Campaigns Main Rules Additional Rules Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #140 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Solo Wargamers Association. 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