Selection of a proper battlefield is one of the primary duties of a general. This set of rules for setting up a battlefield is intended to at least somewhat simulate the prebattle maneuver of armies. Remember that this system is a guideline that allows one to obtain a terrain layout. In order for it to work then players will need to use common sense & will have to cooperate! If there are any disputes then roll a D6 to settle it or scream & yell till someone gives in. These are written as generic rules so a little thought will be required when adapting them to your rule set. General Terrain Type Terrain types will fall into one of nine different categories based on two different characteristics. All terrain will have a rating for its hilliness & for its degree of forestation. It may be Flat, have Low Hills, or have High Hills. In addition it may be Open, have Light Woods, or have Heavy Woods. If one is playing from a campaign map then the general type of terrain may be taken from the location of the battle. In addition any cities or rivers on the campaign map will be included on the battlefield. If one is not using a campaign map then the general type of terrain should be obtained by rolling 2D6 on the General Terrain Chart: GENERAL TERRAIN CHART Die Roll Terrain 2 River + Swamp, Roll again 3 High Hills, Light Woods 4 Flat, Heavy Woods 5 Flat, Open 6 Low Hills, Light Woods 7 Flat, Light Woods 8 Low Hills, Open 9 High Hills, Open 10 Low Hills, Heavy Woods 11 High Hills, Heavy Woods 12 River + Swamp, Roll again If a 2 or 12 is obtained then the tabletop will contain a river & may contain swamps. To get the general terrain type one must then roll again. If another 2 or 12 is obtained then the river will contain a branch. Roll again to determine the terrain type. If you get yet another 2 or 12 then switch dice!  River & Swamp Placement The tabletop should be divided into 2'x 2' zones & each zone should be assigned a number (1, 2, 3, etc.) Players should now pick the tabletop side that they will set up their forces on. Any rivers that are present should be placed on the tabletop. Roll a die that has at least as many sides as the number of zones on the tabletop. One should roll the die until one has obtained numbers corresponding to 2 different zones that are located along the table's edge. If the tabletop has more than 4 zones then these 2 zones should not be adjacent to each other. The river should now be placed onto the tabletop. It will enter the tabletop through one the selected zones & it will exit the tabletop through the other zone that was selected by the die rolls. Each player will be responsible for placing the part of the river that is on his side of the table. It should generally be placed so as to run directly between the zone of entry & the zone of exit & it should be at least 1 foot away from the edge of the tabletop where possible. For a branching river one should then roll again to obtain a third zone located along the edge of the table. The branch will run through this zone & connect with the main river at the nearest possible point. One should now place swamps on the tabletop. Roll 1D6 for each zone on the tabletop that contains a river. If the die result is a 6 then the zone being rolled for will contain a swamp. The swamp should be placed so that it is adjacent to the river. Players may alternate placing swamps. Woods & Hills Placement For each zone on the table both players will roll 1D6. The player with the high roll will place the terrain in that zone. In general terrain pieces should not be set up adjacent to the edge of the tabletop & a at least couple of inches of space should be left between terrain pieces. It is permissible for less than half of a given terrain feature to lap over into adjacent zones. Terrain pieces consist of hills & woods. They should be of varying sizes & shapes. If players agree then they may vary this further by substitution of terrain types to accommodate whatever they have available. As an example, players may choose to substitute a cornfield or brushy area for a wood or a field of boulders or a rocky outcropping for a hill. If ones campaign map has mountainous zones then all hills should generally be a little larger & most should be two contours high. The number of terrain pieces of each type that may be placed into each zone will depend on the general terrain type. Flat- No hills Low Hills- One hill per zone High Hills- Two hills per zone, one of which may be two contours high. Open- No forests. Light Woods- One woods per zone. Heavy Woods- Two woods per zone, one of which may be a Heavy Forest. Heavy forests may not be entered by any troop types except perhaps infantry skirmishers. Villages If your campaign map does not dictate the presence of towns & you would like to have some then follow this procedure. Total up the number of 2' x 2' zones on the table top. A 6' by 4' table top will have 6 zones. Roll this many D6. Each die result of a 1 or 2 will allow for 1 small village. These may be placed on to the table top as part of the army deployment. See below. Command, Scouting, & Surprise Advantages We have now placed the basic terrain onto the table top. Next we will begin to place the troops onto the table top & modify the basic terrain. Before we can do this then each side must first be rated for superiority in Command, Scouting, & Surprise. To determine which side will have a Command advantage each side will roll 1D6 & add the result to their army commander's leadership rating. Assign a leadership rating as appropriate. A 1 to 10 scale is suggested. The player with the highest total will have a Command advantage. If the sides are tied then roll again ignoring the commander's leadership rating. Roll until one side has a higher result. Next determine which side will have a Scouting advantage. Each army will receive scouting points for its troops as follows: Light Infantry 1 point Light Cavalry 2 points If the battle is being fought in a player's home country then he will receive a bonus of 4 scouting points. Players may dispatch troops on a scouting mission. If this is done then they will count for double the usual number of scouting points. The troops will not begin the battle on the table top but they will arrive later as reinforcements (see below.) The side with the higher point total will have a Scouting advantage. If there is a tie then neither side will have an advantage. Finally it needs to be determined if either side will have a Surprise advantage. In order to be eligible for a Surprise advantage the player must already have both a Command advantage & a Scouting advantage. To determine whether a player has surprise both sides should roll 1D6. Subtract the die result of the player not eligible for Surprise from the die result of the player eligible for Surprise. If the difference is +3 or more then the eligible player will have Surprise. If a battle is being fought in a player's home country then he may modify this die roll by +1. Command Placement & Terrain Modification Each player must divide up their troops into 5 commands. Each command should have the same number of units if possible. The commands will be represented by 3x5" cards. The units that compose the command should be written onto the card & should be kept secret. When a command is deployed onto the table top then the appropriate card is placed face down into the proper zone. Leaders are not assigned to commands, but instead are placed on the board later. Players will alternate taking actions. An action may be one of the following: ACTIONS  Place a friendly command onto the table top Move a friendly command to a different table top zone Move an enemy command to an adjacent table top zone Move a terrain piece within its zone or to an adjacent zone Remove a terrain piece from the table top Place a terrain piece on the table top Place a ford Place fortifications Place a friendly command onto the table top: The player may place any of his commands into any zone that is adjacent to his side of the table top. Move a friendly command to a different table top zone: Same restriction as above. Move an enemy command to a different table top zone: An enemy command may only be moved to zones that are adjacent to the enemy's side of the table top. An enemy command that is in a village or fortress may not be moved. Move a terrain piece within its zone or to a new zone: Swamps, rivers, villages, roads, fortifications, & special terrain pieces called for by a campaign map may not be moved. A zone may never contain more that 4 different terrain pieces (roads do not count against this total.) Remove a terrain piece from the table top: Swamps, rivers, villages, roads, fortifications, & special terrain pieces called for by a campaign map may not be removed. Place a terrain piece on the table top: A zone may never contain more that 4 different terrain pieces. Villages may be placed as a terrain piece. Place a ford Place fortifications: If a player has purchased fortifications then they may all be placed as a single action or as multiple actions. The player that has a Scouting advantage will take the first action. The next action will be taken by the player that has a Command advantage. Players then each roll 1D6 with the high roll taking the next action. Players then alternate taking actions till each player has taken 6 actions. The Scouting, Command, & Surprise advantage actions are not counted toward this total but are bonuses. If a player has a Surprise advantage then at any time he may elect to take an extra action. In addition to the usual actions he may also choose from the following: Surprise River Crossing: shift the course of a river by up to 1 foot, & place a ford in the shifted portion Early Attack: delay one enemy command Flanking Attack: He may hold 1 or 2 of his commands (plus up to one leader) off board to make a flanking attack. See Reinforcements. Road Placement Any roads that are required by a campaign map should be placed whenever it is convenient. Once one has completed all of the terrain modifications then all of the villages on the table top should be linked by roads & a single road should run off of the table top along each player's side. Each player may place the road so as to exit form his side of table top as he wishes. Bridges will be placed wherever a road crosses a river. Reinforcements Any troops that were not placed on the board, dispatched on a scouting mission, or delayed will arrive as reinforcements. The troops will remain organized into their original group (command or scouting mission.) At the beginning of each player's turn, starting with turn two, the player will roll 1D6 for each off board group to see if it arrives. On the first turn of rolling it will arrive on a 1 or 2, on the next turn on a 1, 2 or 3, on the next a 1, 2, 3, or 4 and so forth. Reinforcements will never arrive on a die roll of 6. Troops must arrive along a road if a road is available & not blocked by enemy forces. Otherwise they will arrive anywhere along the player's edge of the tabletop at least 6 inches away from enemy troops. Reinforcements may not melee with or shoot at enemy troops on the turn that they move on to the table top. Units that are making a flanking attack will may enter the table top along any edge of the table. The player must secretly record where they will enter & all flanking troops must have the same entry point. They will enter somewhere along the table's edge within 6 inches of the recorded point. Once units have been committed to a flanking attack & their entry point recorded then the player will roll 1D6, divide the result by 2, & round up. This is the turn that he may begin rolling for their entry. Beginning with this turn the player will roll 1D6. On a 1 or 2 then the flanking troops will enter. Units that are making a flanking attack may melee with & shoot at enemy troops on the turn that they arrive on to the table top. Troop Deployment The miniatures should now be set out onto the table top along with any characters. Leaders may be placed with any group of troops. Troops must be placed within 6" of their 3x5" command card. That's it! The battle is ready to begin. Web Site: www.greatbasin.net/~johnkelly/ Back to MWAN # 123 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com