1. Scales: Stand of four castings 1 1/2" wide = 100 infantry in two ranks. Stand therefore equals 25-33 yds, or 1"= 20 yds. A gun stand is a section, and a cavalry stand is 40-50 cavalry.
2. Rally. Routed units rally on a die cast of 5-6, subtracting one for poorly-trained and adding one for elites or for the presence of a general officer. Routed units rallying may not move or shoot until the next turn.
3. Movement. Infantry in line move 6"/turn; in column 9", and in road column 12". Cavalry in line move 9", and 18" in road column. Charging in line doubles movement. Changes of formation/face cost 1/2 movement. Artillery moves 6" limbered across country, and 12" limbered on road. Unlimbered artillery may pivot, or retreat by prolong 4"/turn. (In the absence of limbers, guns may not move in excess of 4" and fire.)
4. Fire. Infantry roll one die for each 4 castings, hitting on a 5,6. Artillery roll 1 die per stand, hitting on a 5,6. Fire effect is halved--hit on 6 only--beyond 1/2 range, or against hard cover. Against cover and range, double firing groups and hit on 6 only. When firing at units charging them, smoothbore artillery rolls double dice, and smoothbore muskets hit on a 4-6. Each hit removes one stand or infantry or cavalry. Artillery stands have a saving throw of 4-6. Ranges: Rifled artillery 72", canister 15": Smoothbore artillery 36" canister 15". Rifled musket 18". Rifled carbine 12". Smoothbore musket 6".
5. Melee. Only the front rank of stands participates in melee. Roll 1 die per stand, hitting on a 5,6. Charging units add one to their die cast, but may not fire and charge. Subtract one vs. troops in cover. Units hit flank or rear cast only one die. At the conclusion of one round of melee, the side which takes the most losses casts for morale. If they stand, the winner casts for morale. If both stand, the units remain locked in melee for another turn. Artillery never rolls more than one melee die per battery.
6. Morale. Units cast morale when taking casualties from fire, when charged, when routed past (within 6" ) be friendly infantry or cavalry, or on the death of an attached brigade commander. Units stand on a 3-6, adding one for veteran infantry or any artillery, subtracting one for green troops and for each stand removed from and infantry or cavalry unit. A friendly gun section touching, a green infantry regiment raises its morale one point, but this is not cumulative with the bonus for a general. A commander attached to a unit raises morale by one. Units failing morale rout back one road move, and must be rallied. Artillery routing when charged abandons its guns and is removed from play.
7. Commanders. Single commanders represent brigade commanders. Two-casting command bases represent division commanders. Commanders may attach themselves to regiments of their command to raise morale or improve chances of rallying. Commanders not so attached may not come within 18" of the enemy. Commanders attached when the regiment takes casualties roll 2D6, and are killed on a roll of 12.
BY WAY OF AN EXPLANATION
We've tried and use the John Stafford "elementary school" ACW rules previously published in MWAN for larger battles, but we wanted something to represent smaller battles and a little simpler than, say "Johnny Reb." Well, these are simpler, anyway. They were written to go with an ACW army I put together out of pieces-from ACW box games which use 25mm figures. This is why the "no limber" provision for the artillery. Neither Hasbro nor Eagles Games uses a limber piece.
The game: We use alternate movement and simultaneous fire, melee and morale, but whether one side or the other should always move first, or be diced for, probably depends on the scenario. As far as the change of face/formation movement penalty, we did not apply it to a simple "Column Right, March" or "Column Left, March." We did apply it to right facing a line to form a column, or left facing a column to form a line, but I'm not sure we should have.
The pieces. Judicious begging and pleading with the Hasbro replacement parts people yielded enough "Battle Cry" figures for two 300 casting armies, with lots of cavalry and artillery left over. I can put them all with foam hills and rivers, felt roads, golf tee and pom-pom trees and scratch-built fences and works into a standard footlocker, with a 4' X 6' mat for a very portable wargame force. I probably have less than $150 in the whole project, and that's because I paid too much for the footlocker. Everyone's mounted on 1 1/2" square stands. Those with more normal ACW armies can use the same rules by using the common 1" frontage stands, and reducing all distances to 2/3. Amazingly enough, all distances are given in multiples of 3. How about that?
Word of warning. ACW tactics are pretty simple. If you form up two armies and blaze away, you'll have a very dull game, and deserve it. Flanking movements, delaying actions, reinforcements in defense and uncertain arrival times do a lot to perk up an ACW battle. Good luck and good gaming.
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© Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum
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