Still Want More? As each strategic turn represents one army’s activity for a whole month, the general may be able to squeeze more action out of his army if he has the ability. There will be a number of grand tactical turns equal to half the average of the two generals’ SA during each army’s strategic turn. Skirmishing At the beginning of each grand tactical round and before the generals decide upon their manoeuvres, the friendly general may commit as much of his cavalry as he sees fit to the scouting, screening and skirmishing. In addition, if the range between the armies is "close", then commanded musketeers may be employed (counting as half strength for ratio purposes except in hilly, mountainous or forested boxes). Before throwing in the lot, however, note that troops committed thus may not be available for any ensuing battle (1 on 1D6 per squadron (8 figs)). The enemy will commit so many men per 1000 men (based on initial datum). Roll 2D6 2 150/1000 3 175 4 75 5 150 6 100 7 125 8 100/1000 9 75 10 50 11 50 12 125 Having determined relative numbers now see how aggressive each side want to be. Roll 2D6 and modify by General's SA if desired: 2-3 Timid (1) 4-5 Cautious (2) 6-7 Deliberate (3) 8-9 Bold (4) 10-11 Aggressive (5) 12 Rash (6) Both generals roll one or more D6 against 3 x SA. Odds 3:1 or better 1D6 2:1 2D6 3:2 to 2:3 3D6 1:2 4D6 1:3 or worse 5D6 If more aggressive than opponent move up one row. If less aggressive move down one row. The difference in the amount by which each general makes or fails his roll determines the outcome. 0 - 2 Inconclusive 3 - 4 Marginal 5 - 8 Clear 9+ Decisive Consequences: Inconclusive - General gains 2D6 reports on enemy strength. No advantage either way so no effect on main body manoeuvres. Marginal - Winning General gains best 2 of 3D6 reports and +1 to die roll if trying to avoid an encounter battle or adjust ground. Loser gains worst 2 of 3D6 reports and -1 to die roll if trying to avoid an encounter battle or adjust ground. Clear - General gains best/worst 2 of 4D6 reports. +2/-2 to die roll to avoid an encounter battle or adjust ground. 1 Control Point to the winner. Decisive - General gains best/worst 2 of 5D6 reports. +3/-3 to die roll to avoid an encounter battle or adjust ground. 2 Control Points to the winner. The clash may cause casualties to both sides depending on how well they did (or didn't !) and on the intensity of the clash. The latter is an average of the aggression demonstrated by both sides (round up): Clash 1 2 3 4 5 6 Inconclusive 0/0 1/1 2/2 3/3 5/5 6/6 Marginal 0/1 1/2 1/2 2/3 4/5 5/6 Clear 0/2 1/3 1/3 2/4 3/5 4/6 Decisive 0/4 0/5 1/5 1/5 2/6 2/6 Each side rolls the number of D6 specified, losing 1 figure for each 1 thrown. The figure before the slash is the winners; the figure after the losers. If any additional reports of enemy strength are gained, then roll again for the reported strength. This may be different from the original reported strength, in which case average out the assessment using the number of reports for each strength as a weighting. In this way the assessed strength of the enemy will be refined as more reports come in and the picture slowly builds. Both Keilig and von Steindorf decided to hold initially and there were no Actions, but with SAs of 4 there will be 2nd grand tactical round during von Steindorf’s strategic turn. Keilig throws out his Dragoons (200) plus a Squadron of Harquebusiers (200). The force rolls 3, modified to 7 by Keilig’s SA, so adopts a Deliberate approach. Von Steindorf rolls a 5 so deploys 150 horse per 1,000 men, or 750. They roll a Timid approach. Keilig’s horse are outnumbered 1:2, but are more aggressive so roll 3D6 vs. 12 (Keilig’s SA x 3). He rolls 14 so fails by 2. Von Steindorf’s horse have 2:1 odds but are less aggressive so also roll 3D6 vs. 12. They roll 11 so succeed by 1. The difference is therefore 3 in von Steindorf’s favour, a marginal victory. As the loser, Keilig receives the worst 2 of 3D6 reports. He rolls 6, 5 & 1 so receives 6 reports, this time of 3,250 men (roll of 5 = 0.65 x 5,000). Averaged with his previous report ((1 x 2250 + 6 x 3250)/7) he now thinks faces 3,100 enemy. Keilig rolls 2D6 for casualties and von Steindorf 1D6. No 1s are rolled, so no losses. Based on the new assessments von Steindorf (rolls +2 & -4 equals perceived odds of 1:2) manoeuvres to better ground and Keilig holds again (and conducts an inquiry into the competence of his cavalry captains). Von Steindorf rolls for each of his battlefield sectors and the two flank sectors in no-man’s land getting 10(left flank), 6(centre), 8(right flank), 10(centre-left) and 2(centre-right). Von Steindorf now rolls 7, 9, 10, 7 & 3 to add terrain to each sector. As a result the wood on his left flank becomes a large wood and a farm is added to the centre-left). This is the end of manoeuvring for von Steindorf’s Strategic turn and as Keilig has already had his turn that is that for this month. Note that both armies remain in the same box at the end of the month. The following month Keilig’s strategic turn again came up first and off we go again. Keilig came off worst in the skirmishing again, but still gained 8 reports of 5,000 (average now 15 reports of 4,100). Von Steindorf digs in and looks set to stay. Keilig is now fairly confident the odds are about 3:2 in his favour and decides some sort of positive action might help the Burghers of Zell decide which way to vote. Keilig tries to manoeuvre von Steindorf out of his position. He rolls target numbers of 4 & 7 on for the large central marsh and 6 & 4 for the large wood on von Steindorf’s left (both features are 2 terrain items rolled to be placed in the same sector). Due to the results of the skirmish all Keilig’s die rolls against the terrain features are subject to +2 modifier. Rolls of 1, 7, 4 & 8 become 3, 9, 6 & 10, enough to remove one of the marshes and one of the woods. Keilig is assumed to be trying to maintain the same (Close) range, but a roll of 3 for closing/opening means, even allowing for the +2 for his SA, he ends up closing one band into Battle range. Fortunately he rolls a 5 for the encounter, modified to 3 by the skirmish result, so both sides spot each other and deploy. Actual Strength When the two armies meet roll 2D6 against the number of reports gathered. If the score is achieved then the enemy is as reported. If the score is missed the difference multiplied by 10 is the percentage of inaccuracy. Roll (yet another) 1D6, if the roll is even the scouts overestimated the enemy strength, if odd they underestimated. Accuracy of reported strength: Reports Score or less to be accurate 1 - 3 2 4 - 6 3 7 - 9 4 10 - 12 5 13 - 15 6 16 - 19 7 20 - 23 8 24 - 27 9 28 - 31 10 32+ 11 A score of 12 always means a complete cock-up. Roll 2D6 and compare the result without any modification to the reported strength table. Somewhere along the line the Scoutmaster has got completely the wrong end of the stick and the enemy strength may be considerably different to that expected. Keilig has 15 reports of 4100. He rolls an 8 and then a 4, meaning his scouts apparently overestimated by 20% and only 3,280 men deploy opposite him. Tactical Outflanking If, when both armies are deployed for battle, the enemy appears to be weaker than you expected it may be because the enemy commander has dispatched some men on a tactical outflanking manoeuvre. Take the amount of overestimation from “Actual Strength” above and modify as follows: Enemy General is Cautious -20% Anticipated force was smaller than own force -10% Visible force is equal to or larger than own force +10% Result of cavalry skirmish was Clear or better in own favour -10% Result of cavalry skirmish was Clear or better in enemy’s favour +10% The result is the overall chance of an outflanking force. Convert this figure using the table below to get the roll to be made on D100 on moves 3-7 until the force appears or the danger passes. If an outflanking force does appear, then it will be between 20 and 120% (10 x 2D6) of the difference between anticipated and visible enemy forces. Von Steindorf’s visible force is 20% smaller than expected, the anticipated force was still smaller than Keilig’s, but the skirmish was a Clear enemy victory so there is a 20% chance that an outflanking force has been dispatched. Converting this, there is a 4% chance per move in moves 3-7 inclusive that an enemy force will arrive on the flanks. If a flanking force does arrive it’s strength will 2D6 x 82 (((10x2D6)/100)x820). Encounter Battles If one or more forces are fighting straight from the line of march, then roll 1D6 per unit per move, needing a 6 to appear. Add one to the dice each move (i.e. +1 move 2, +2 move 3 etc.). Any unit which has not appeared after rolling to do so on move 5 will not appear at all. Epilogue Rolling for returnees and casualties from the skirmish Keilig found that one squadron was badly mauled and another failed to turn up at all. Against the odds it was von Steindorf who attacked first and this initially seemed to catch Keilig’s men off guard. Both wings were driven back and the first line of foot badly shaken. The reserve foot stabilised things in the centre, however, and the left wing of horse rallied and returned. With no reserves to commit, von Steindorf’s forces were steadily driven back and after a further hour withdrew in good order. Keilig held the field and claimed the victory, but his losses had been half as great again as von Steindorf’s and there was no chance of a pursuit. The next day Zell declared for the Gustavin cause and Keilig withdrew into its fortifications to lick his wounds. Von Steindorf pulled off a little way and then settled down to await reinforcements. Acknowledgements: Baggaley, Ken. “Carry on Campaigning” in The Gauntlet 12 for the actions and control points concepts. Grice, Chris. “Commanding Celtic Armies” in Lone Warrior 121 for the Caution/Impetuosity mechanism. O’Sullivan, Steffan. GURPS Swashbucklers for the skirmish combat mechanism. References: Mosey, V. A. “Light Cavalry on Campaign” in Miniature Wargames 132. Ray, P. M. “Scoutmasters and Scouting During the English Civil War” in ECW Notes and Queries 48. 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