Hello again from your Florida correspondent. Once again, I'm writing from aboard ship as we are underway on another Law Enforcement patrol. Tonight we're running with "deceptive lighting", which means we're trying to look like a different kind of vessel than a lurking Coast Guard cutter. Sometimes it even works. Once last patrol another CG cutter intercepted us - we were both surprised. This patrol, we were intercepted by one of the USN hydrofoil gunboats - talk about a scary feeling to hear the whine of turbines close aboard and not be able to see anything (they were running darken ship with no lights on!!). All in all this patrol has been rather slow; hope it picks up soon. I've enclosed an article on the Texas War of Independence rules. They were inspired by an article in Wargames Illustrated on rules for the American War of Independence. I can't find the article right now (they're still with my household goods in storage), or I would give credit to the author for "borrowing" his ideas. I especially like the idea about stragglers and their effect on play. It's the first time you actually get to see the wounded and frightened actually stream away from combat. Several playtest games have proven that the mechanism is workable - and gives a Napoleonic, seesaw flow to the game. I would be interested in hearing what others think of the idea. I'm also polishing up a set of very simple rules for individual skirmish in the Old West 1850-1900 (working title: WILD WEST). Only tested them once, on the PW group just before I left the D.C. area, but they seemed to enjoy. All except for the player whose cavalrymen were run down by the stampeding longhorns (better luck next time, Chris). As I've said before, while being on Florida's Space Coast has its advantages (I watched DISCOVERY'S launch from the beach near my house!), it also means a dearth of gamers. However, I'm happy to report that I may have discovered a haven. I recently drove to Orlando to recon a hobby shop called ENTERPRISE 1701. What did I see in a prominent display case near the front door? A lone platoon of British infantry valiantly fighting off a horde of Zulus bent on their destruction. One thing led to another, and Troy Pope the manager, revealed the existence of gamers in the area. A meeting is scheduled for the last Saturday in October - the ship should be in port then. A report on the event will be forwarded. Wish me luck. A consumer report for you. I recently had a few Connoisseur Pony Wars figures painted by the Miniature Service Center (Doug Carroccio) in New Port Richey, Florida. Doug maintains a stock of Connoisseur and Wargames Foundry figures, although I'm not sure how extensive. Anyway, my figures were completed very quickly. They were done to what I consider a high wargame standard - they're not collector figures, but they look good! He primes and puts on a protective coat, either dull or gloss. At $2.25 per 25mm figure (15o for basing), it's a solid deal for the price. One last item. Have you seen GDW's new edition of JOHNNY REB and the scenario book "TO THE SOUND OF THE GUNS"? Both covers are original paintings by Rich Hasenauer, who was responsible for the Alamo scenery and other gaming delights. Just another MWAN reader making good! RULES FOR GAMING THE TEXAS WAR OF INDEPENDENCE WITH MINIATURES In the 1830's, Americans hungry for new land and promised wealth packed up their belongings and told their neighbors that they were Gone To Texas! Suspicious of this flood of Yanqui Settlers, the Mexican governments passed new laws to restrict their rights and freedoms. As the regime of the Dictator, Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana grew more repressive, these independent-minded Texicans became increasingly restive. By late 1835, isolated incidents of resistance flared into a full scale rebellion. Santa Ana formed an Army of Invasion while concerned Texicans began to, organize for war and call for independence. The short, bloody conflict that followed severed the huge territory of Texas from Mexico, and fostered a new set of American legends. GONE TO TEXAS! is a set of rules for the period of the Texas War of Independence. They allow you to take command of a rowdy band of Texan volunteers and strive against tyranny for God and Texas! Or you can lead a squadron of Mexican Presidial lancers for Santa Ana, and settle affairs on a dusty field of battle under the hot Texas sun! The rules are designed to be simple and fun, but also to reflect this unique period suspended between two eras of warfare, when Napoleonic tactics and strategy first began to clash with the technology of rifled guns. Have fun!! 1. SCALE. 1 FIGURE = ABOUT 10 MEN 1 GUN = I ARTILLERY PIECE 1 INCH = 10-15 YARDS 1 TURN = ABOUT 5 MINUTES 2. ORGANIZATION The Mexican Army was organized along classic Napoleonic lines. The two main components were the Permanentes and the Activos. The Permanente formations made up the regular Mexican army, and had some degree of uniformity, equipment and training. The Activos were the militia or irregular units, called up for the emergency. Except for a few units, they were not very good troops. The Texan forces which defeated Santa Ana were as ragtag a collection of regulars, volunteers and militia as could be found in the 19th century. Some units, such as the companies of New Orleans Greys and the regulars on leave from the U. S. Army, were reasonably well-equipped and disciplined. Others were just groups of farmers, townspeople or adventurers from the U. S. armed with their own rifles or muskets, and wearing little in the way of a uniform. INFANTRY Mexican battalions were understrength, averaging only 300-400 men. Grenadier and light companies had been stripped off into semi-permanent units of Grenaderos and Cacadores. A battalion of Zapadores (sappers) was the very elite of the Army. Both the Permanente and Activos should be mounted with 3 figures on a 2" x 1" base. Grenaderos, Cacadores and Zapadores should be mounted individually on 3/4" single bases. Texan battalions had no standard organization, but also averaged about 300400 men. U. S. regulars and U. S. volunteer units should be mounted with 3 figures on a 2" x 1" base. Texan Militia, Volunteers and Rangers should be mounted individually on 3/4" single bases. CAVALRY Greatly feared by the Texans, Mexican cavalry regiments were seriously undermanned averaging 200 sabres, with some as low as 50-60. There were 6 Permanente regiments and 5 Activos regiments in Santa Ana's Army. several of the regiments were armed with the lance while the rest were armed as dragoons. Mexican cavalry should be mounted with two figures on 3" x 2" base. The Texan army had no real cavalry. Its mounted arm consisted of a kind of mounted infantry (Crockett's Tennessee Boys were of this type) and the famous "Spy" companies, which were really loosely organized scouts. They did a superb job of scouting the Mexican advance, could fight reasonably well when dismounted, but were at a severe disadvantage in a mounted fight against the conventional Mexican cavalry. Texan cavalry should be mounted individually on a 1" x 2" base. ARTILLERY Artillery was not well served during the conflict on either side. Guns were generally old, mounted on poor field carriages (or even siege carriages), and dependent on their ox-drawn ammunition wagons. The Mexicans were better trained and served reasonably well when employed against stationary targets, as at Alamo and against Fannin's square at Coleto River. The Texans lacked trained artillerymen and had to rely on enthusiastic volunteers. As long as the fighting was at close quarters, as at Alamo, homemade canister could take the place of the artillerist's skill. Additionally, since they had no real supply system, Texan artillery was always handicapped by a shortage of shot. For both armies, each model gun should be mounted singly, with crews on individual bases. Light guns have 3 crew; field guns have 4; heavy guns have 5 crew. 3. ELAN RATING Each unit is assigned an ELAN RATING. The following is a guide to the different units involved in the campaign: ELITE: MEXICAN: Grenadiers, Zapadores, Cacadores and Lance Cavalry. TEXAN: U. S. Regular Volunteers and Mounted Scouts. VETERAN: MEXICAN: Regulars (Infantry and Cavalry). TEXAN: Texan Regulars and U. S. Volunteer Infantry. MILITIA: MEXICAN: Presidial Cavalry and Activo Infantry. TEXAN: Militia 4. SEQUENCE OF PLAY. ORDER PHASE. FIRST FIRE PHASE. MOVEMENT PHASE. REGULAR FIRE PHASE. CLOSE COMBAT PHASE. RECOVERY PHASE 5. LEADERS In GTT, officers help lead units in combat and assist units in maintaining their morale. See the rules pertaining to these actions for effects of officers. Each unit will have one or more leaders depending on their rating. The following Officer Table lists the ratings and officers assigned: OFFICER TABLE ELITE: 3 Officers VETERAN: 2 Officers MILITIA: 1 Officer 6. ORDERS Units move and fight according to orders assigned by the players. A unit must have at least one officer to be given an order. Units without an officer may only hold in place or withdraw away from the enemy. The following orders can be given: MOVE (M): Move unit, taking terrain penalties and disorder loss. May not fire unless skirmishers. CHANGE FORMATION (FM): Unit may change formation in pace, but must make as little movement from initial position as possible. CHARGE (C): As a MOVE order, but Player must designate target unit and pass Morale Check to carry out charge.. FIRST FIRE (FF): May fire before Movement, and fires before taking Morale Check to hold in face of a charge. REGULAR FIRE (RF): Fires after Movement, and must pass Morale Check to hold in face of a charge. HOLD (H): Unit holds in place. May recover stragglers. 7. DISORDER AND STRAGGLERS. As a unit maneuvered under fire, it became disorganized. This resulted not only from men and officers being wounded or killed, but also from men dropping out of formation to help their comrades, seek water, or just to get away from the fighting. If the unit did not periodically take time to halt and dress ranks, its combat power could become seriously reduced. In GTT, this disorder is represented by figures straggling away from the unit during movement and as a result of fire and combat. This is termed a DISORDER Loss (DL). When a DL is received the player rolls 1D6; the result is the number of figures that straggle. Elite troops subtract 2 from the die roll; Veteran troops subtract 1. A DL will always cause at least 1 figure to straggle.  Stragglers are turned away from the enemy and placed about 4-6" behind the unit. Stragglers from a unit in a square or in a fort should be placed to show their condition in a way agreeable to both sides. Units may recover stragglers during the RECOVERY PHASE. In order to recover stragglers, the unit must have HOLD orders, and not be involved in close combat. 1D6 is rolled, and 1/2 of the result is recovered. Elite units add 1 to the die roll. Recovered stragglers are picked up and placed back in the unit. The stragglers farthest from the present position of the parent unit should be recovered first. A recovery attempt will always recover at least 1 straggler. Leaders can also help recover stragglers if they are attached to a Unit. The number of stragglers recovered is equal to the number of leaders attached. At the end of the RECOVERY PHASE, if there are any stragglers left, 1 straggler is removed from the game, and counts as a figure killed. And finally, if all a unit's figure/stands are either, eliminated or straggling, the unit has lost all combat effectiveness and should be removed from the game table (unless the opponent insists on carrying out the Prillaman maneuver and bayonets the fleeing survivors). 8. MOVEMENT Movement is by die roll. Basic infantry and artillery movement is 2D6 (inches), plus Elite troops add 3 and Veteran add 2 to each die roll. Cavalry may move up to 3D6, but may not change speeds by more than 1D6 per turn. Troop quality bonus is as for infantry. Mounted officers move as cavalry except they ignore speed change rule. Units in column roll an extra 1D6. Units in column do not roll for DL due to movement. Units fired on in road column suffer double Du s from fire. Units moving through woods/rough terrain or uphill subtract 2 from each die rolled. Militia and veteran units take 1 DL for each unmodified 5 or 6 rolled in movement. In woods take 1 DL on unmodified 4-6. Skirmishers suffer a DL loss on a roll of unmodified 6 only. Elite units do not take stragglers from movement. 9. MANEUVER The following table lists costs and penalties for maneuvering on the battlefield: Wheeling: As uphill move. 1 DL. Change Formation: Full move. 1 DL. Limber/Unlimber: Full move. 1 DL. Cross stream/gully: Full move. 1 DL. Cross major obstacle: Umpire decision. Cross fence or low wall: 1/2 move. 1 DL if cavalry or under fire. Units that collide or move through one another each take 1 DL. Retreating or routing units may move around units that are better formed (less DL) but will collide with units equal or worse. Units call adopt one of the following formations: Line, Column, Skirmish, or Square. Mexican regular and Activo infantry and Mexican cavalry may not adopt skirmish formation. 10. FIRING Firing is carried out during either FIRST FIRE PHASE or the REGULAR FIRE PHASE. Fire is simultaneous during each phase. ARTILLERY. Artillery has two ranges: canister range (10" and less) and roundshot range (over 10" to 36"). See ARTILLERY FIRE TABLE. INFANTRY. Infantry may fire up to 2 ranks deep. Many Texans were armed with pistols, short "blunderblusses" or shotguns in addition to their musket/rifle. Once during a game, each Texan unit may fire twice but only at close range. This fire can be taken as two shots in one fire phase or in two fire phases in one turn (if the unit had HOLD orders). 11. CHARGE Units may charge an enemy unit instead of normal movement. A unit with CHARGE orders must designate a target unit when orders are revealed. During movement, the charging unit must check Charge morale (see MORALE TABLE). If the unit fails its Morale Check, it may not move that turn and must roll 1 DL. A unit that passes Charge morale moves straight to the target, paying appropriate terrain penalties, and taking applicable DL: s. A unit with MOVE orders that is the target of a charge may not move until the charging unit checks morale. If the charging unit fails its Charge morale, the unit may move normally. If the charging unit carries out the charge, the unit being charged may not move. Its order may be converted to a REGULAR FIRE order if it passes its own Charge morale check. If it fails, it may not fire and suffers 1 DL. 12. CLOSE COMBAT Units that are within 2 inches or an enemy must resolve close combat. Each side throws 2D6, and uses the COMBAT TABLE. Higher die wins, with results determined by comparing the difference. For example, if the Mexican's modified result is +4 and the Texan's modified result is -2, the Mexicans have won the combat. The die difference is 6: the Mexican result would be an EASY VICTORY and the Texan result would be DEFEATED. For more than one attacking unit, total each one's modifiers, then divide by the number of attackers. Use the highest class for elan comparison. 13. LEADER LOSSES Leaders may be killed as a result of fire or combat. Units that take a DL from fire, or a casualty for any reason, must roll on the LEADER Loss TABLE. DESIGN: MIKE PIERCE DEVELOPMENT: RON PRILLAMAN, RICH HASENAUER, MICHAEL MONTEMARANO, AND THE REST OF THE GANG AT POTOMAC WARGAMERS WHO HELPED TINKER. SPECIAL THANKS TO RON PRILLAMAN FOR THE GENEROUS LOAN OF FIGURES AND TERRAIN DURING PLAYTESTING.  GONE TO TEXAS! PLAY CHARTS ARTILLERY FIRE TABLE To determine if target is hit, roll 1 D6: 1 - 3 Miss 4-6 HIT. Roll on Casualty Table. An unmodified 1 means that a MIS-FIRE has occurred. Roll 1 D6: another 6 means that the barrel has exploded and 1/2 of crew is killed. DIE ROLL MODIFIERS -2 Target in hard cover -2 Target is skirmisher -1 Firing at new target +1 Target in column or limbered guns +1 Firing at same target as last turn +2 Canister fire ARTILLERY CASUALTY TABLE - ROLL 1 D6 1: 1 DL 2-3 1 Casualty and 1 DL 4-5 2 Casualties and 1 DL 6 3 Casualties and 1 DL Double all casualties for Canister fire. LEADER LOSS TABLE Roll 1D6 1 - 2 Miss 3 - 4 1 Officer Killed 5 - 6 2 Officers Killed MORALE TABLE Roll 1D6. Result must be less than or equal to elan number. 1 - 5 Elite 1 - 4 Veteran 1 - 3 Militia DIE ROLL MODIFIERS +1 Brigade Officer or CINC attached. -1 Each stand of 3 figs elim. or stragglers. INFANTRY FIRE TABLE Musket Range: 0 - 12 inches Rifle Range: 0 - 15 inches The following range table is used: 0" - 5" Roll 1 D6 for each figure firing. 5" - 10" Roll 1D6 for every 2 figures firing. Round remainders down. 10" - 15" Roll 1 D6 for every 3 figures firing. Round remainders down. DIE ROLL MODIFIERS -2 Target in hard cover +1 Target in Col. or limbered guns -1 Skirmishers firing -2 Target is skirmisher +1 Firing at same target as last turn +1 Canister fire -1 Firing in soft cover COMBAT TABLE +4 or more EASY VICTORY. Suffer 1/2 DL stragglers. Militia/Green troops must pursue. +2 to +3 SUCCESSFUL ACTION. Suffer 1 DL stragglers and (if infantry or artillery not in fort or fieldwork) 1 casualty. Halt for 1 turn. +1/0/-1 STAND OFF. Both sides halt and suffer 1 DL stragglers and 1 casualty. Infantry facing Cavalry and units in fort of fieldworks ignore casualty losses. In Infantry vs. Cavalry fight, Cavalry is DRIVEN BACK. Action continues next turn if within combat range. -2 to -4 DRIVEN BACK. Suffer 1 DL+2 stragglers and 1 casualties. Infantry retreat 1D6, Cavalry retreat 2D6. -5 to -8 DEFEATED. Suffer 3DL stragglers and 2 casualties. Infantry retreat 2D6, Cavalry retreat 3D6. Continue retreat until behind next line of friendly troops or next cover if no support. -9 or more ROUTED. Suffer 4DL stragglers and 2 casualties. Retreat 4D6. Continue retreat until brigadier officer or CINC attaches to unit or until off the table. MODIFIERS -3 Outnumbered 3:1 or greater -1 Each casualty on unit +2 Defending soft cover -3 Attacked in Flank/Rear +3 Defending hardcover +2 Making Bayonet Charge -3 Skirmishers defending +? Leaders with unit +1 Terrain advantage -2 Outnumbered at least 2:1 +3 Each Class higher Typed by Dave Latz Back to MWAN # 41 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1989 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com