FREDDY AND THE PIRATES CHARACTER SHEETS Since this is a wargame and not a role player, these sheets allow each player to participate by adding some role playing to the multifaction scenario, where every one has slightly different victory conditions,and no one can be completely trusted! Frederick Townsend Ward An American mercenary, you will soon marry the daughter of a rich Chinese Shanghai merchant, and are well on the way to being recognized as an Imperial Manchu General. Your troops are superior to those of your two allies, and you are expected to lead the way in and do most of the hard fighting. If you waver, your allies may decide to discontinue the campaign and blame you for the failure, or come to an arrangement with the rebels! As long as you are successful, they will probably fight behind, er, alongside you. The Taiping Rebels are allied with local pirates, and have a treasure hoard estimated at 100,000 English pounds. Your initial deal with your allies is to split this three ways. In addition, The Provincial Governor (Ah-Chi) will gain political control over the pirate island and the Imperial Prince (Hi-Lo) will be given surrendering prisoners to recruit for his own army (such change to occur after the game, so they cannot be turned against you). If you take 50% casualties, your officers (fellow American and European mercenaries) will insist you give up the expedition! Only your own troops, the Ever Victorious Army, are reliable under these officers, who are also your friends. If your allies take 50% casualties, they will probably withdraw by themselves. As the side Commander (sort of), you should come up with an attack plan that satisfies your two allies and puts your own force in the forefront. However, should your force get beat up and theirs not, you might find yourself tossed aside and the victory deal renegotiated. Since the enemy is also divided into several groups, you might be able to convince them individually to surrender, sail away, or even join you. Your enemies include a Taiping Wang (King and side Commander), a Taiping General, a Taiping Colonel, and a Pirate Admiral (operating the enemy ships). The pirates are the least fanatically loyal to the rebel cause. Manchu Provincial Governor (Ah-Chi) You have no problem with Ward, who is rather civilized for a foreign barbarian warrior captain, as long as he wins and hands over the promised 1/3 of the rebel treasury (a rumored total of 100,000 Pounds Sterling). However, you distrust your other ally, the younger Imperial Prince, who is a court favorite at Peking and may be scheming to replace you. Your goal is to do the best you can for yourself in this campaign against the rebel stronghold, taking as few casualties as possible to your private army. Since this fight will end your comfortable kickback arrangement where the pirates give you one fifth of their plunder, you will not continue with it if it seems to be failing, or if the pirates offer you even more than 33,000 pounds Ward has promised, and desert the cause of the rebel Taiping Wang (King) and his General and Colonel, who run the island garrison. You would be happy to convert the pirates to your own forces or see the Imperial Prince come to harm or take over his troops. You do wish to help Ward vanquish the rebels themselves, who are muscling in on your own territory. You must preserve your own personal warjunk, the Green Castle. Should you take 50% casualties, Your own troops loyalty would be questionable. Manchu Imperial Prince (Hi-Lo) As a young Prince of the Imperial Dynasty, you thirst for military glory. You would not mind replacing the Provincial Governor if he proves to be a coward. You admire Ward for his advanced military techniques, but want to share the credit for the victory with him. He also promised you 1/3 of the rebel treasury, reputedly valued at 100.000 English Pounds Sterling! There is no need to fight to the finish if you can negotiate any of the enemy players over to your own side. This is often possible after dealing them a blow through combat. Therefore negotiation between phases of a battle is always desirable, especially if an enemy leader wants to ransom his way out of trouble. Only the Rebel "King" himself must be brought before the Emperor to be executed, or killed in battle; any of his minions are unimportant and may even be subverted or taken into your own private army. You must preserve your own personal war junk, the Red Dragon. It would not be acceptable to take more than 50% casualties, unless complete victory was in sight. At that point, your troops would become unreliable. Tai Piny, Wan (King) Hong Jong "The Reliable King of the Coast" As the side Commander of the Rebel Alliance, you have a garrisoned courtyard with your own troops. Your allies are the Tai Ping General (your cousin) in the other courtyard, the Tai Ping Colonel (an upstart with twice as many troops as you--as many as you and the General put together), who you have sent to hold the wharf area, where his forces will be heavily engaged and hopefully he will be killed; then you and the General can split his troops among you. Your other ally is the Pirate Admiral, who is politically less loyal but a great local sea fighter. Your recent invasion of his territory has allowed him to fight with you against the central government. You currently hold a treasury in your courtyard of 33,000 English Pounds, your General the same, and the Pirate Admiral holds an equal sum aboard his flagship. The Colonel is currently cut out of the arrangement, since he is not a member of' your family, that of f long Shi Quan, the Tai Ping Emperor, who is also the Younger Brother of Jesus Christ. You hate the Manchus, and wish all Europeans would join you against the foreign Manchu Dynasty in Peking. You would love to cause dissention between the American (Ward) and his Manchu allies, and get him to come over to your side! If you could cause a loss of face to the Manchus in battle without harming Ward's forces, this might be accomplished with a suitable large bribe, perhaps... Your own forces might become unreliable if they were to take 50% casualties! Tai Ping General (Hong Han) You have your own small army in your courtyard, where you keep a treasury of 33,000 Pounds Sterling. In the next courtyard is the army of your favorite cousin and Commander, the Tai Ping Wang (King) Hong Jong. Below you defending the wharf is the miserable Tai Ping Colonel, who should take your orders, but has twice as many troops as you and no treasury. Since he has as many troops as your and your cousin combined, you must keep an eye on him. Also working for your Commander is the Pirate Admiral, politically less reliable but also currently opposed to the evil Manchu Dynasty in Peking. lie commands the ships defending the island's harbor. Prolonged fighting tends to weaken your own army, so you like to talk after each round of fighting, to see if diplomacy can delay the game or bring you offers of wealth or advancement. You would like to get a Western officer to train your troops to a higher standard, say from Ward's force which is coming against you. You could offer such a one wine, women, and money. Your own forces might become unreliable if they were to take 50% casualties! The Tai Ping Colonel (Hu He) Although you have been faithful to the rebellion for many years, your lack of family connections to the rebel royal family keeps you under the likes of your Commander, the Rebel King, and his cousin the Tai Ping General. While you have as many personal troops as both combined, they leave you at the island's wharf on defense duty while they revel above in their comfortable courtyards. They keep the large treasury gained from the pirate adventures and other conquests you and they have won, while you sleep in a tent. The more independent ally, the Pirate Admiral, commands the th -,c fighting ships in the harbor. He is cut into the wealth but you are not. You are looking f6i a, %,,y to change the balence of power on your side. Now the foreign mercenary Ward and his evil Manchu allies are coming. Why fight them unless you can get a better deal from the King and the General? Or perhaps the Manchus or Ward can offer you a better deal. There is no sense in taking large casualties for the Cause alone, without equal personal benefit. Should you fight until you take 50% casualties, your own troops would become unreliable! You want money, power, or transport away from the fighting back to the mainland where you could march back to the south and try to carve out your own little area of influence. Or perhaps take over the island itself in the name of the Rebellion, or even the Manchus. Who will offer a better deal than you have now? Under what circumstances? Perhaps the King and the General would behave better if they were besieged themselves and needed your help. Hmmm... The Pirate Admiral (Bwa-Ha) Your are caught between your rebel Tai Ping Allies (The King and The General) and the Manchu powers (The Provincial Governor and the Imperial Prince). You have ships to defend the harbor, but the Western barbarian Ward has a better ship. Your own sailors/soldiers are loyal to you (until they take perhaps 50% casualties). You have a treasury of 33,000 English Pounds Sterling aboard your flagship. If you cannot beat the enemy, you would just as soon dash for a breakout past them and escape, leaving your allies in the lurch! However, if the enemy proves able to prevent this, you must fight on! Your former arrangement with the Provincial Governor was for 20,.000 Sterling a year as a bribe to keep him away from your island. Then the Tai Ping rebels came, you allied with them, and they took two thirds of your 100,000 Sterling for themselves! In an ever changing situation, you want to do the best for yourself. The Tai Ping Colonel, with most of the rebel troops, is also unsatisfied, since he is dealt out of the split. Can you rearrange the factions on either side to your benefit? GAME BRIEFINGS The players get three briefings before the battle, in this order: 1. Side Briefing: The two sides are briefed seperately, since they know different things, and can then make their plans for attack and defense. Each side is given an "Intelligence Report." 2. Personal Briefing: Each player gets a Character Sheet, which is his/hers alone to see! 3. Rules Briefing: basic intro or update to the rules being used. In this case, since my local gang knows my own rules, I talked to them about the ACW naval rules basics, such as ship handling. FREDDY AND THE PIRATES INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: IMPERIAL ALLIES SIDE 1 . The Tai Pings For seven years, the rebels who follow an odd version of Christianity have been expanding their territory at the expense of the Manchu Dynasty in Peking until now they hold the entire southern half of China (equivalent to half the continental USA). Although they do not have the modern (1862) weapons of Western trained Imperial troops, they have good or better morale, and some flintlock weapons. Their leaders can be expected to be cunning and dangerous. 2. The Pirates The Pirates are currently in alliance with the other rebels. Their fleet of ships may include primitive ship fighting heavy weapons. Their usual tactic is to board and fight hand to hand, as they wish to capture enemy vessels and add them to their own fleet, rather than destroy or sink them. They have no firearms, but their bows are often deadly at close range. They currently share their island baseup the river from Shanghai in central China, but are less loyal to the rebel cause than to their own gain. The chief Pirate, Bwa-Ha, goes by the title of Admiral. 3. Victory The objectives of the combined expedition are: 1. Defeat the Tai Ping rebels and kill or capture their leaders (King, General, and Colonel). 2. Suppress the pirates and seize their island base. 3. Capture the treasury of the enemy, estimated at 100,000 English Pounds Sterling. Currently you have agreed to split it aniong the three of you, with the island becoming part of the Governor's territory and the pi isoners of the defeated enemy being allowed to enlist in the Prince's army. 4. Each of the three allied columns (Ward, Governor, Prince) must avoid taking 50% casualties, after which your troops will become unreliable. FREDDY AND THE PIRATES INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: REBEL ALLIANCE SIDE 1. The Foreign Devil Frederick Townsend Ward and his second Henry Burgevine are American mercenaries leading the Ever Victorious Army, a Western trained force of Chinese, Filipinos, and others who have a steamboat and modern weapons. They are the most dangerous part of any Imperial Manchu force that may come against you. While you would prefer to hire him yourself, he has remained loyal to the evil Emperor in Peking who is keeping your people in thrall to the Westerners and blocking technological modernisation. If his EVA is beaten, the other Imperialists would probably flee like the running dogs they are. They are organized ~n battalions (20 figures or 400 men each). 2. The Manchu Imperialists The Provincial Governor and the Imperial Prince both lead Western trained forces. While not as good as the EVA, they do have modern rifled muskets, which you would love to get your hands on after defeating them. if you were able to close and melee with them, their morale would probably prove inferior to that of your own soldiers or pirates. Each of the two columns is organized like the EVA into three battalions of 20 figures/400 men each. 3. Victory The objectives of your alliance are to: 1. Cripple the large enemy fleet vessels so that they cannot support an invasion of your island base. 2. Crush the invasion causing over 50% casualties on the enemy, who is far inferior in numbers to your own forces. 3. Keep your treasury, valued at 100,000 English Pounds Sterling, out of their hands. 4. Further Information If your secrets are kept hidden from the enemy The outcome will be auspicious Should the gods favor you The nightingale will recover Ask the Most Honorable Game Master for the location of the treasury, the exact strength of your forces, and the types of ship fighting weapons aboard the pirate ships! OTHER UNUSUAL GAME MATERIALS NEEDED Besides choosing and modifying your own rules, you will need tables of weapons from various periods handy. I had them ready from my cross-era Boxer game: bows, smoothbore muskets, rifled muskets, and artillery from various periods. My own rules make artillery very powerful, the hitch is a very limited supply of ammo, which also must be split into different ammo types if available (the FIREFLY bow gun, for example). To get you started, her is the basic comparative data for the various heavy weapons in the scenario, many of which are totally customized new items for this scenario. Small arms ranges are given for comparison; remember that all ranges are for 54mm action. FREDDY AND THE PIRATES HEAVY WEAPONS LIST Type Range Ammo/Damage A. Imperial Alliance: FIREFLY Bow Gun 72" 2D6+20 (Double supply) Cannister 20" Solid Shot 48" Shell 72" ACW period damage tables FIREFLY Mortar 48" Solid Shot (anti-wall) Carcase (Incindiary bomb) ACW period damage tables 2D6+12 Manchu Stone Guns (2) 12" Cannister only; ARW period damage tables 2D6+12 Rifled Musket 18" - B. Rebel Alliance ("You are part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor! "--D. Vader) SEA SERPENT Boulder Gun 36" 1 D6+6 (Hits on 1-6; major naval structural hit) d10: 1-2-3 Critical Hit, 4-6=2CH, 7-10=3 CH WHALE Grapple Gun (also SEA SERPENT ship's boat) 18" Successful ship to ship D 10 (3 -10) DOLPHIN Rocket Batteries (1 Port,1 Starboard) 3 shots each) 48" Make target unit check morale first time Set target boat afire on 8- 10 (D 10) Tai Ping Dragon Gun (2 each pavillion) 24" 2d6+12 Solid Shot ACW damage tables WHALE ship's boat Spar Torpedo Bow Contact 12" See Naval Table: Torpedo - Flintlock Musket 8" -- DESIGN SUMMARY and TACTICAL APPRECIATION On The Sea Since the Allies only have one really superior class ship (Steamer FIREFLY), the best rebel hope for victory is a naval battle, with the pirates grappeling and boarding hand to hand. The Spar Torpedo is the most potent weapon, next is the Stone Cannon. The towships full of Allied troops are especially vulnerable; even more so the Manchu small ships packed three to a towline. The two Allied steam tugs must be protected and survive in order to support all nine towed boats and get them to shore! Players have been warned about ramming. None of the scenario ships or boats are purpose built rams. Therefore ramming will effect both rammer and rammee; in other words this tactic should be generally avoided as in peacetime! (With a purpose built ship such as an ironclad ram, only the ships ram prow is usually affected by the shock of contact). On Land The land battle will hinge upon attrition The Allies cannot afford mass casualties; the Rebels can. Historical Tai Ping tactics include harassing fire from smoothbore muskets followed by massed charges. Clouds of skirmishers with sword and shield ("tigermen") mixed with a few musketeers should be used to rush in and cut off any isolated groups of the enemy. The Dragon Guns should be hidden and saved until a suitable target comes within range, especially if FIREFLY survives to provide offshore gunfire support to a landing. On land and sea, the Allies should use their superior long range fire, as in most Imperial/Colonial games, to blast the rebels before they can close. Superior EVA troops should be used when it is absolutely necessary to rush a position. Note to Ship names: Other small boat names include the EVA surf boats KARLA GAYLE (towed by FIREFLY), LEE ANNE (towed by 0RPHAN ANNIE) and RAY LING KING (towed by SHANGHAI LIL). The Governor's sampans were HORSE, ELEPHANT, and CRANE. NAVAL BIBLIOGRAPHY For a Complete China bibliography see my article from MWAN #100. For ACW era ships and naval technology, +he following. The two Gibbons volumes are absolutely priceless; a naval artist, he constructs close up views of everything from gun decks to torpedoes Books Gibbons, Tony Warships and Naval Battles of the Civil War, (Gallery Books, 1989). Gibbons, Tony & Drury, Ian The Civil War Military Machine: Weapons and Tactics of The Union and Confederate Armed Forces Smithmark, 1993). Gosnell, H. A. Guns On The Western Waters; The Story of River Gunboats In The Civil War, Louisiana State University Press. Heath, Ian Armies of the Nineteenth Century:Asia; Volume 2:China, (Foundry Books, 1998). Silverstone, Paul Warships of the Civil War Navies, (Naval Institute Press, 1989). Van Doren Stern, Philip The Confederate Navy: A Pictorial History (Da Capo Press, 1992). Board Games: Bohrer, J. Damn The Torpedoes (Winsome Games, 1995). Fuseler, J. W. lronclads: A Tactical Game of Naval Combat in the American Civil War 1861-1865 (Second Edition), Wxcai,bre Games, 1993). More Fightin' 54s Introduction: China Tai Ping Rebellion Game Briefings The Game: After Action Report Back to MWAN #107 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2000 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