Introduction The following rules system is heavily influenced by both the DBA and Shieldbearer rule sets. The basic philosophy links morale and orders. Units with good morale will follow orders and/or act aggressively towards the enemy. Units that take enough casualties will start to withdraw from the field of battle. Orders Write orders for each unit at the beginning of the game - Skirmish/Attack; Defend; Withdraw. Think carefully about what you want to achieve on the tabletop. These orders may NOT be changed during the game. Sample order sheet Warband 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Withdraw Attack Attack Warband 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 - - Withdraw Defend Attack Archers 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - - Withdraw Skirmish Skirmish Morale Orders and morale are linked. All units start with 6 morale points plus the score on a six sided die (all dice used in these rules are the normal six sided variety). 1-4 must be withdraw; 5+ are at the discretion of the general. All personal retinue (i.e. general’s bodyguard) automatically have 12 points. Command and Control Throw one die per side. The lowest score stands fast. Highest score throws again - this score being the number of points available to the general. Any unit more than 900 mm away from the general costs another point to move. Movement per 1 pip All infantry 150 mm Mounted knights 300 mm Chariots 300 mm Elephant 300 mm Other horse 450 mm Camels 450 mm Combat Distant shooting ranges All bows, except longbows 150 mm Hand held powder weapons 150 mm Longbow 300 mm Bolt throwing engine 300 mm All combat, distant shooting and melee are resolved on the following table. Only the defender dices. Dice (7) 6 5 4 3 2 1 (0) Points 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 Modifiers Each flank overlapped 1 column right Attacked in rear 2 column right Attacked in flank 1 column right Friendly troops breaking within 300 mm 2 columns right First hand to hand combat 1 column right No armour or shield 1 column right Opposing berserkers 2 columns right Opposing elephants 2 columns right Opposing camels 1 column right Infantry v. horse 1 column right Defending from cover 1 column left Uphill of enemy 1 column left General with formation 2 columns left Throw a die and modify as per the table. Remove that number of morale points from the losing side. The losing side pulls back 150 mm. As the points diminish so the orders for the unit will change. (See the sample order sheet). Pursuit A unit with Skirmish/Attack orders may pursue a withdrawing enemy. Roll less than or equal to current morale score on one die. Other orders will not allow pursuit. Recovery Once a unit is withdrawing and out of contact with the enemy there is a chance to restore morale points. Each turn that the unit is out of contact/combat throw a die. (N.B. If you are being shot at you are not out of contact). Roll a die and score equal to or less than current morale to add one more morale point up to a maximum of half the original score. Berserk Throw a die for each warband. On a score of 6 the warband is berserk. Automatic attack orders - no withdrawal. Once defeating an enemy unit it will go on and attack the next nearest enemy unit until the warband or the enemy are destroyed. Berserk units move towards the enemy regardless of who wins the die roll for movement. (e.g. Roman Legions versus Gallic Warbands. One of the Warbands is berserk; Roman is the highest score and will dice again for movement. The berserk Warband will also move, but no other Gallic forces. Well, there it is. I hope that you try this set up and enjoy it. If anyone has any comments or queries send them in to the Forum. 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