The following are notes for my rules I use for the Russo-Japanese War. As I said before in my article, they are modified Great War rules meant for WWI. Since the following rules are charts and a summary, I thought I would explain the major points of the rules. Army Organization and Basing All infantry "units" are represented by twelve figures. I base three figures on a 40 X 20 mm base. The MG's have one machine gun and two crew members on a 40 X 20 mm base. All artillery crews are four figures mounted on a 40 mm square base. Cavalry units are six figures each with two figures mounted on a 40 mm square base. Base sizes are not critical as long as each army is mounted in the same way. I adjust what a unit means depending on the size of a battle. For a battle involving several divisions, a unit represents a cavalry or infantry regiment. For smaller battles, a unit represents an infantry battalion. Each artillery base represents about six guns for bigger battles. Dice All dice are ten sided dice. A zero is treated as a "ten". Two dice are rolled together for percentage dice with one die treated as the tens digit. For example, if the percentage to pass a morale check was 75%, if a 7 was rolled on the tens die and a four was rolled on the ones die, that would be read as 74%. The unit would pass the morale check. Action Deck The center concept of these rules is the action deck containing ten cards according to the ability of the commanding general. A card is drawn randomly for the number of actions. Each unit can move and a fire a total number of times equal to the number of the card drawn. It takes one action to set up a machine gun or unlimber/limber an artillery piece. For example, if a three card was drawn, a unit could move three times, fire three times or move once and fire twice. When the joker is drawn, each unit receives two actions and the deck is reshuffled. Combat Combat is semi-deterministic with a certain number of figures being killed. The formula for casualties due to fire is: Figures killed = (weapon factor) X (figures firing) X (modifiers) If 12 figures fire at 5 " at a target in the open, that would be: 12 X 10 = 120 which means that one figure is killed automatically with a 20% chance of killing a second figure. If the target was in a trench, the chance to kill ONE figure would be 60% (modifier is 1/2for target in trench). Artillery works about the same as fire combat except that the number of figures caught in the burst radius is used with the number of batteries firing. The burst radius is a 3" square for all on board artillery and a 6" square for all off board artillery. Put the square on the target trying to get as many figures in the square as possible. The number of crew firing doesn't affect the results except it takes at least two crew figures to fire a battery. Melee works much the same way. All units within I " of each other have to melee. Two units can melee one unit if all are within V of each other. Each unit has a melee value that can be modified. The modified factor is multiplied by the number of figures to calculate the casualties. For example, if ten infantry figures melee someone in column: Casualties = (25 +1 0) X 10 = 350 Which means three casualties and a 50% chance of a fourth casualty. 1 0 is added to the basic infantry factor of 25 for being in column. Artillery and machine gun crews have a lower melee value while cavalry have a higher factor. The +1 0 modifier to the melee factor for higher initial morale means if a unit has a higher starting morale than the opponent that 1 0 is added to the melee factor. Morale Each unit has a base morale factor expressed as a percentage. Japanese Infantry have from 80 to 90% while Russian Infantry have 60 to 80%. Japanese artillery have 80 to 90% and their cavalry varies from 70 to 80%. Russian artillery have 60 to 80% and the cavalry have 60 to 80%. Russian Cossacks normally have worst morale than regular cavalry. The morale factor is the chance to pass a morale check with a percentage die roll. This is modified by the casualties and the terrain that the unit is in. For example if an infantry unit at 70% morale has lost one figure and is in a trench, the morale factor would be: 70 - 5 (one casualty) + 20 (being in trench) = 85% chance to pass a morale check. If the unit fails, it routs 12" and loses an additional figure. To rally takes one action and an officer within one inch. Rally is automatic. If a unit fails a morale check at a morale of 50% or less, it is removed from the board. Melee Sequence First the defender takes a morale check. If they fail, they rout as above. If not, the defender fires on the attacker using three actions. The attacker then takes a moral check. If they fail, they don't go into melee. If the attacker goes into melee, calculate the results as above. The side that suffered the most casualties takes a morale check. If they pass, the other side checks. If both pass, the attacker withdraws one inch. If one side fails, the other side doesn't check. If each side suffers the same number of casualties, the morale check is simultaneous. Conclusion I have meant for these rules to be fun and playable and give a realistic result. I have attempted not to cover every single situation in the notes above. If a situation arises that isn't covered, judge it with a die roll. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to E-mail me at: Hansens@genrad.com On to Port Arthur Gaming the Russo-Japanese War 1905: Rules Back to MWAN #100 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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