A fair amount of attention has been given to "free Kriegspeil" wargames in THE NUGGET, publication for WARGAMES DEVELOPMENT in England. This refers to a system of wargaming in which there are no written rules regarding how to handle situations on the tabletop. Players might be provided with movement rates of the various types of units, but an umpire, or team of umpires, who are well versed on the period being played, would make rulings/judgements as to all other factors, including number of casualties caused, melee outcomes, the need for and outcome of morale checks, etc.
This system sounds most interesting to me and although I have never seen such a game, nor have I read much about it, I would like to someday attempt it and would like, at this time, to pass on some thoughts as to how I would attempt it. Suppose we will be playing the American Civil War. The team of umpires would have to come up with a movement rate per minute for units which could rather easily be done. Research would show that a unit could move so far in line, column, etc. As regards firing, they would have to hit the books again to find out the approximate rate of fire of a regiment per minute during the ACW and attempt to determine the number of casualties which would be inflicted by such a rate of fire.
Suppose the average soldier could load and fire his musket three times per minute and we are talking about a 400 man regiment. Three rounds multiplied by 400 men equals 1200 rounds per minute that the regiment is putting out. I recall reading somewhere that at the battle of Stone's River, it was somehow determined that it required about 285 musket rounds to inflict a single casualty (don't hold me to this figure as I am resorting to my memory to serve me correctly which is a dangerous thing to do).
Thus, over a one minute period, a regiment of 400 men would inflict 4.21 casualties on the enemy at say, an average range (medium). The math behind this is simple; 400 men times three rounds per minute equals 1200 rounds per minute divided by 285 rounds to inflict a single casualty equals 4.21 casualties per minutes ("take that, Wally Simon!"). Modifications could be made for long and/or short range if required. The same could be done for artillery. Again my memory tells me that it required 35 cannon balls in inflict a single casualty at Stone's River and one would just have to find the number of discharges from an artillery battery per minute to determine how many casualties per minute a battery could inflict. A joint decision could be made by the umpires that if the target is in skirmish order or soft cover, for example, only half of the casualties would be inflicted. All that is needed is that the team of umpires generally concur on how the system should be developed dnd -utilized. ;,
Morale and melee are, I would think, more difficult situations to handle as they require more individual interpretation and less reliance upon a formula as that used for firing. However, regarding melee, if it can be remembered that very few melee possibilities came to the point where individuals were engaged in direct hand to hand combat, we may indeed be talking only about morale the majority of the time. When a tabletop situation required the assistance of the umpires, they would study it briefly, come to an individual decision, and then settle it amongst themselves. For instance, suppose a brigade of Confederate infantry consisting of five veteran regiments is attacking a Union position behind a line of fences defended by two Union regiments.
The attack could be broken down into one, two or three, or more minute segments during which the Confederates would be allowed to move their alotted one, two or three, or more minute distances forward and casualties would be determined for that period of time for them. The umpires could agree that a unit could absorb, in this individual situation, 10% casualties without having to check for morale. Once that percentage is exceeded, action would be stopped, the umpires would discuss the situation as regards how morale should be handled, and perhaps umpire A feels that the unit should be able to move on 80% of the time; umpire B thinks only 70% of the time; while Umpire C feels 75% would be appropriate. The three opinions are averaged out to 75%; the umpires throw percentage dice and if the roll falls under 75%, the unit is allowed to continue it's advance until such time as the umpires feel another check is required for either the attackers or defenders. Perhaps they feel at medium range the defenders would stay put at 90% of the time while at short range, they would only stay put 30% of the time. Each time percentage dice are rolled to determine what the unit does. Using such a system, it is unlikely that units are going to enter into a melee situation as one or the other is going to "break". The umpires would rule on the percentage of whether the breaking unit routs, falls back in disorder or order, etc., and they also rule on the chances of the other unit pursuing, etc.
Using such a system would require knowledgeable umpires, players who are willing to gracefully accept the rulings laid forth by the umpires, and as stated previously, a little research. I suspect that provided the players are reasonable, the umpires would probably have a very good time as their responsibilities would be greatly increased and they would be called upon to use their knowledge of the period. The players might even enjoy the experience of playing without formal rules for once.
I feel compelled to state that none of the ideas presented above can be said to be original in nature. Readers who are interested in this sort of thing should subscribe to THE NUGGET. They have also reported on games in which there were no rules and no umpires ("GASP!"), but rather, the players involved discussed each situation and determined the percentage of success/failure on their own. An outcome of this was that players felt the exchange of information which took place at these times was very valuable as regards learning more about the period. Some interesting ideas!!
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© Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum
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