Snow, fog, failing light & the French rear guard try to stay alive as Russian forces appear like ghosts in an all to real nightmare. Can you stay alive just one more day? This game is a rewrite of a game I came across years ago. Our club plays it once a year. A bitterly cold winter day adds to the atmosphere. The French have yet to win. I keep warning them "Don't get strung out!" but they never listen. Set Up: A single road down the length of the table. A white sheet is good for snow. French start in column, 3 wide, with the rearmost unit 12" backs to board edge. 1" between units. French at Start: Chips are used to pass morale. 3 mtd officers 1 unit of cav no firearms 1/6d are wounded. 10 chips 1 unit of 12 inf, 1/6d are wounded, 10 chips 1 unit of 12 inf, 1/6d are wounded, 10 chips 1 unit of 12 inf, 1/6d are wounded, 10 chips 1 hand pulled light gun 8 men 12 chips, needs 5 to pull & 3 to fire, 1 turn to load 3 rnds canister, 3 rnds ball, all gunners have muskets. 1 hand pulled medium gun 8 men 12 chips, needs 5 to pull & 3 to fire, 1 turn to load 3 rnds canister, 3 rnds ball, all gunners have muskets. 3 groups of 6 wounded, 6 chips each. Sequence: Pull a card. French moves or fires a unit, then Russians. Alternate until all units have moved or fired = 1 turn. A unit may elect to do nothing if it wishes. Only 1 French unit may stop & search per turn. See search table. Movement: Inf = 12" on road, charge = x1.5, off road = 6" Cav = 18 on road, charge = x1.5, off road =8" Art = same as inf, no off road, every man less than required number = minus 4" of movement. Each French unit may only charge once per game & must have an Officer present. Wounded may not charge. Changing formation takes 1 turn. Fire Combat: Roll 1/6d & to hit #'s Musket range to 6"=4,5,6 over 6" under 12"=5,6 Pistol to 6"=5,6 (all Officers have a pistol) Light Gun canister to 8"=4,5,6 on any figure in arc (45) of fire. ball up to 24" 1/6d = 1,2 (1 hit), 3,4,5(2 hits), 6(3 hits) Med Gun canister to 12"=4,5,6 on anyfigure in arc (45) of fire. ball up to36" 1/6d = 1,2 (2 hit), 3,4,5(3 hits), 6(4 hits) Remember 1 hit is a wound 2 wounds are a kill & count horses. All fire is line of sight. Art may not fire over or through units. Cav have no firearms. Wounded firing get a minus 1 to die roll. Visibility in woods is 6". A figure hit is wounded; 2 wounds = dead. Horses count as targets so figure them in. Pass through fire is allowed. All officers have a pistol. It takes a turn to load a cannon, or two turns for double shot or canister. How to figure who's hit: 10 figures fire at a unit & score 4 hits. Start at one end of the enemy unit that gets the hits and roll1/6d for each hit relieved. Let's say you roll a 2,3,3,6. Starting at one end count 1, 2 that figure is hit, then 1, 2, 3 and that figure is hit. Continue down the line until all hits are placed. If you've reached the end of the unit and all hits haven't been placed, just count back in the other direction. Keep doing this until all hits are placed. Some figures may be hit more than once. Don't forget to count horses. Melee: 1 round of melee = 1 turn. Survivors may flee or fight on the following turn. All base figures in base contact fight. High die wins, ties reroll. Cumulative modifiers: -1 wounded -1 if figure is in a unit with no chips left -1 for every extra figure against you (max 3) -2 inf vs cav +1 Officer +1 charging first round only Morale: Only French check morale. No unit may have more than 12 chips. You may not give chips to other units. To pass morale a unit must roll less than it's remaining morale chips on 2/6d. A unit that fails morale will fall back 6". Non French units may not combine into larger units. A non-French unit that gets over half its number in casualties is removed from play. A non-French gun crew is exempt. French units check morale when charging, being charged or receiving it's first fire hit from a new enemy force. An Officer within 12" adds 3 to one units morale. Artillery that fall back will abandon their gun. A unit loses 1 chip for every 2 figures killed. Any unit without any chips will combine with the closest unit with chips. Once combined the may not split. If no morale chips remain the French will only move & fight as long as an Officer remains. If no Officers remain a French must pass morale to move & willtry like hell to just get off the board. Random Morale Penalties & Bonuses: During a card pull the French might gain or lose a chip. The French player/s may pick which unit/s gain or lose a chip. A die determines which soldier from which unit is effected by a card event. Other stuff: As long as one Officer stays alive the entire force must try to stay together. Victory Conditions: French Victory - At least 1 Officer alive, ratio of 1 chip per 5 men & 5 rounds per man. French Marginal Victory - At least i Officer alive, 1 chip per 10 men & less than 3 rounds per man. French Marginal loss - No Officer, less than 10 total chips, less than 1 round per man. French Loss - No Officer, No chips, No Ammo (Any two). CLUBS 2 You encounter a unit of French soldiers standing around a fire. They vow to surrender to Russian regulars. Roll1-6d odd they go with you, even 1 10d of wounded stay with them. 3 a wounded figure dies -1 chip 4 Cav & Mntd figures find cart of fodder 16d turns feeding horses +1 chip 5 Officer & 1 Cav scout ahead will not stop until enemy sighted if they exit table edge they will not return 6 16d of wounded fall out by side of road & refuse to move -1 chip 7 3 wounded French w/ no ammo appear 1 turn to the flank 8 Your lead man finds a frozen officer clutching an eagle 16d to pry it free +2chips 9 you find a broken cart 16d 1 -3 = empty, 4 = 3 rnds solid shot, 5 = 2 rnds canister, 6 = loaf of bread per man + add 2 chips 10 Officer falls to wounded status -2 chips J You find a dead horse unit spends 16d cutting it up +1 chip Q Smallest unit waits + merges with artillery for protection K Your lead unit spot a Russian barricade on the road ahead 1 10d + 10" away. 1 unit of inf + 1 med gun 4 solid shot 2 canister A Musket shot out of the fog roll to see which unit is hit + which figure in the unit Diamonds 2 16d of old guard Grenadier 2 10d + 10" away off flank wait for them 3 a healthy soldier falls to wounded status -1 chip 4 lead unit finds a wounded officer on a wounded horse 16d odd they help him even they spend 16d butchering the horse +1 chip 5 all artillery rests 16d turns, roll for each 6 Russian unit appears 2 10d off the flank of your rear unit 7 Quicken the pace no stopping or searching 2 turns 8 Close ranks - lead unit stops rear units move twice this turn 9 Courier arrives with orders. 16d odd a mntd officer + smallest unit marches off to the flank until the leave the board if combat occurs while moving to the edge they may return 10 Officer + 6 cav arrive with orders odd they stay with you even all your cav leave with them ( remove figures Immediately) -1 chip per unit J 1 10d Russians appear 2 10d off flank of lead unit Q 16d Russians + lt gun 4 solid shot appear off flank of center unit K 2 10d Russian cav appear to your rear at charge range A rear unit rests 2 turns Hearts 2 2 10d Russian cav 2 10d + 5" to your rear 3 2 wounded fall dead -1 chip 4 a horse dies odd rider wounded -1 chip 5 wounded rider dies -1 chip 6 officer + cav move 1 turn to flank to investigate noise 7 unit stops 16d to start fire +1 chip 8 a wounded falls dead -1 chip 9 unit jumpy fires moves double speed 10 healthy man runs screaming into the fog 16d men try to catch him (remove from play) -1 chip J 1 10d of wounded French appear 2 10D away at any French placement. Q your 2 rear men disappear -1 chip K Your lead man disappears -1 chip A 26d enemy cav appear 3 6d away Spades 2 1 of your men shoots himself -1 chip 3 Hoarding food - fight breaks out - see fight rules 4 lead unit comes across a light gun w/dbl rnd canister 5 artillery wheel falls off 16d turns to repair 6 = unrepairable -1 chip 6 16d healthy + 16d wounded French appear 26d ahead with no chips 7 find frozen dog spend 2 turns to cut it up =1 chip 8 1 10d enemy in column 26d ahead walking away from you 9 unit gets spooked + fires into fog until officer arrives to stop them. column halts 10 2 Russian units + 1 med gun appear 12 solid shot, 3 6d + 6" away J artillery spooked a gun fires off whatever is loaded Q a Russian artillery shot falls into a random unit K Courier arrives no movement 16d turns may close up or change formation A 2 French officers argue one is shot odd = wounded, even = dead -2 chips Fight Table 1 6d 1 fight stops 2 fight expands add 2 figures +1 to all further die rolls 3 man wounded fight continues 4 man killed man wounded fight stops -1 chip 5 2 men killed fight stops -1 chip 6 fight stops men make up +1 chip Search 1 10d 1-2 nothing 3-4 some food +1 chip 5 frozen Frenchy -1 chip 6 loot! unit stops 2 turns (may be ignored if enemy or Officer present) 7 food + 2 chips 8 stray horse, eat it or ride it +1 chip 9 bottle of vodka - fight breaks out 10 Rattler! 1 6d 6 = man bit becomes wounded Victory Conditions: You'll know, believe me. 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. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com