Prillaman's Penny Rules for Obtaining Large Areas of Southwestern Real Estate Through Direct Methods Manifest Destiny (MD) is intended to be a fun. fast wargaming system for use with individually mounted 25mm figures. It is played mostly on 6'x8' tables by gamers in the Washington DC Metro area. Most of our figures are mounted on pennies which keeps basing costs fairly easy to calculate. I personally glue 1/4" fender washers on the pennies for added weight and so I can use magnet-lined boxes for storage. These rules have been completely mastered by eight brand new players in less than 15 minutes, or about three turns. Things proceed quickly early in our games, and due to the rapid flow of events we are able to play large games of four to six players with 1,000 or more figures and 30 or more units in four to six hours. Described simply, unit orders are on !abels stuck on the backs of pennies. (Yes. life is cheap on the wargame table.) We lay these orders face down beside each unit and when both sides are committed we begin play. First First, any First Fire orders are executed before movement. Casualties are knocked over (ever so gently!) and DLS (or runaways) assessed. DLS are ineffective troops which are usually placed in small groups behind the lines with their backs fumed. Most people place the units musician with the DL troops and keep the standard with the troops in good order. All other orders are then turned over and all movement is executed, including charges, formation changes etc. Any DLs resulting from movement are assessed at this time. Regular fire is then conducted which is fire after movement. DLs are removed for this phase. DLs What really is a DL? It is a Disorder loss. Having participated in many large Civil War reenactments with as many as 12,000 soldiers (and a large unit command once) I noticed things that are not normally reflected on a wargames table. Combining this experience with being an infantry squad leader in the real army in my distant past and from several paint gun wars in more recent times I have tried to put these factors on the table while still keeping the rules simple and entertaining. It should first be noted that under actual conditions one does not double time (forced march) a 300 man unit in battle line across even the smoothest field for any distance and arrive with 300 men; Even without hostile fue. The "Floatums" behind the line are immense. At the recent Gettysburg reenactment we lost over 50 men out of 300 before we closed to approximately 300 yards and began to fire. A previous several mile march, rock out crops, cedar trees, hidden holes, briar bushes, and a couple of sprained ankles thinned us down. and this was only the first day, across a fairly level field, with good food and plenty of water, without enemy fire! In Manifest Destiny, more men become ineffective through random non-violent causes than from hostile fire, just as in most battles in the horse and musket period. In reading about the ACW, whole armies are torn apart, destroyed yet two days later when dead, wounded and missing are finally counted, 20% or less are absent in most cases. most of the rest ran away, hid in the weeds, or helped friends with flesh wounds to the rear -- 6 or 8 men to every casualty. Add to this troops firing in the air, not loading their guns properly, or lying on the ground in fear and you have a true picture of battle. In MD our units suffer DLs from small arms fire, cannon fire, movement, melee, and sometimes even when changing formation. Of you can get your effectiveness back, but to do so, just like on the real baulefield. you have to "Hold" for a little while out of danger. This generally means pulling back or being relieved by a friendly unit which shields your front. The DL system uses the depth of your table more efficiently than most games and gives the commanders another set of conditions to consider. I feel gaming should be about decisions, choices, thinking on your feet and by the seat of your pants. Did any leader ever win a battle by knowing a set of conditions (rules) better than his opponent or is it because he made the correct decisions at the right time and better utilized his knowledge of his and the enemies' strengths and weaknesses? In MD these are the keys. Manifest Destiny plays fast, fun, and clean with few quesions that cannot be answered by an application of logic. Most importantly they are very easy to learn. Just lay your pennies down and take your chances. Try em, you'll like em. Rules 1. SCALE 1 Figure = 1 to l0 (Your Choice) 1 Gun = 1 Gun 1 Inch = 10 Yards 1 Turn= 30 Seconds of acions interspersed with non-depicted acivity (such as loading weapons and relaying orders). 2. UNIT ORGANIZATION Infantry 30 Soldiers plus Officers, Standard, Drummer. (Green units 1 officer, Veteran 2 officers, Elite 3 officers.) Cavalry 16 Troopers plus Officer, Standard, Trumpeter. Gun Crew Minimum of 4 crewmen per gun. A gun may fire with 2+ gunners. The musician and standard bearer are not used in combat. They are used to indicate the position of the unit and to keep DLs separate from other casualties. 3. MORALE AND TRAINING . MEXICAN AMERICAN ELITE Almost none. Zapadores and some Regular Army cavalry. All Mexican arillerymen. About 25% of Army. Regular U.S. Infantry. Some State Volunteers, late in the war. 50% of U. S. Dragoons when mounted. All U.S. artillerymen. VETERAN 20% of Regular Army infantry. 50% of Regular Army cavalry. State Volunteers late in war. U.S. Dragoons dismounted. GREEN All Activo units. All troops not covered above. Early State troops. 4. SEQUENCE OF PLAY Order phase. All orders are laid down. First fire phase. Any units with FIRST FIRE orders may fire. (Assess fire DLs if any.) Movement phase. All units with MOVE, CHANGE FORMATION, CHARGE, or WHEEL orders may move. (Assess movement DLs, if any.) Regular fire phase. All units with FIRE orders may fire. (Assess firc DLs, if any.) Melee phase. Determine melee results. (DLs, fall back, etc.) Recovery phase. (Roll to recover DL on units with hold orders.) 5. ORDERS Each turn every infantry or cavalry unit, and each gun, must have an order placed next to it. These orders are symbols or colors marked on one side of a chit. (We use pennies, couldn't find anything cheaper.) You may use the following colors, although any mutually agreeable symbol may be used: MOVE Green spot-arrow pointed the direction you wish to go. CHANGE FORMATION Black spot, or "CF". FIRST FIRE Yellow spot, or "FF". FIRE Blue spot, or "F". HOLD Blank or no order issued. CHARGE Red spot, or "C". WHEEL Gold spot, or "W". OTHER ORDERS AS THE PLAYERS MAY AGREE TO USE. 6. MOVEMENT INFANTRY AMERICAN MEXICAN Line 1d6+4" 2d6" Line charge 1d6+8" 2d6+4" Column 1d6+9" (NO DL) 2d6+6" Road column 1d6+12" (NO DL) 2d6+9" Skirmish 9" (NO DL) 1d6+6" U.S. Green troops require a die roll of 3 or better in order to change formation. Anything less, and they do not move or fire that turn. Mexican troops must consume a full turn in changing formation or wheeling. Skirmish formadon is one rank deep, figures separated by at least 2". Mexican troops may suffer DLs when wheeling, changing formation, or crossing difficult ground. CAVALRY AMERICAN MEXICAN Move Charge Move Charge Walk 1d6+4" - 1d6+4" - Line 2d6+6" 2d6+9" 2d6+6" 2d6+12" Column 2d6+9" 2d6+15" 2d6+9" 2d6+18" Road Column 2d6+12" 2d6+21" 3d6+9" 2d6+18" If charging from halt, subtract 1d6. Maximum DL is 1 per unit per turn. Cavalry may dismount. It takes a full turn to do so (no DL). One fourth of the unit must remain behind as horse holders. (Round up). Unridden horse may move 1d6" per turn. ARTILLERY AMERICAN MEXICAN Move Forced March Move Foot 2d6+4" 2d6+8" 2d6 Horse 2d6+9" 2d6+15" - U.S. Artillery may perform two actions per turn: move and unlimber, unlimber and fire; fire and limber; or forced march and limber or unlimber. Mexican Artillery may perform one action per tum. No movement DLs for artillery. (Except a maximum of one if forced marching). GENERAL Unformed troops may reform if they hold for one turn. Formed units may freely interpenetrate. If one or both of the units seeking to interpenetrate is unformed, the movement is not allowed. 7. Fire SMALL ARMS SHORT MED LONG To Hit Reroll American Muskets 0-6" 6-12" 12-24" 6 4 or 5 American Carbines 0-6" 6-12" - 6 4 or 5 Mississippi Rifles 0-10" 10-20" 20-30" 5,6 4 Mexican Muskets 0-5" 5-10" 10-20" 6 None Mexican Carbines 0-3" 3-7" - 6 None Roll 1d6 per x men firing 1 2 3 - Officers, Musicians, and Standard Bearers do not participate in small arms fire. Officers may be casualties. Mexicans round all numbers down, Americans round up. (Thus 28 Americans at long range roll 10 dice, 28 Mexicans roll 9). Roll indicated number of dice, each 6 inflicts one casualty. (5 or 6 for rifles.). U.S. only: Reroll any 4 or 5 (Rifles 4 as indicated above.). Perform this step only on the first die roll. It requires one full turn without movement to reload Mississippi Rifles. Breech loading carbines may fire twice or may move 1/2 and fire. Mexican carbines require 2 turns at the halt to reload. Infantry may fire two ranks deep in line or column; one rank if cavalry, artillery, skirmishers, or unformed. Horses are counted as a cavalry target. They get no benefit of cover. ARTILLERY SHORT MED LONG To Hit Reroll American Horse Guns 0-8" 8-16" 16-30" 6 4 or 5 American Foot Guns 0-10" 10-20" 20-40" 6 4 or 5 Mexican Guns 0-10" 10-20" 20-30" 6 - Dice Thrown American 13 7 5 - Mexican 9 5 2 - Plus 1d6 for each rank over 2 within 4 inches of the target ranks and within range. Versus limbered artillery or cavalry add: Short range 3d6 Medium and long range: Roll indicated number of dice, each 6 inflicts one casualty. Short Range: (U.S.) Roll indicated number of dice. (Mexican) Roll one die. On a roll of 5 or 6, canister ammunition has been depleted. This and all subsequent short range fire is conducted as medium range for this gun. If desired the Mexican commander may elect to fire as at medium range rather than short and not risk the short rank die roll. Rapid fire (U.S. only) At any time, the American commander may elect to attempt to conduct rapid fire using the following procedure: a. Roll 1d6. On a roll of 1 through 4, throw twice the normal number of dice. b. On a roll of 5 or 6, rapid fire fails. The gun fires normally and may not attempt rapid fire for the duration of the game. c. Cannot use Rapid Fire against any given target two turns in a row. U.S. Only: Reroll any 4 or 5. Perform this step only on the first die roll. GENERAL Cover: Roll one die per casualty, figure is saved as below: Target is Save on In tall grass, trees, brush 6 In skirmish order 4, 5, 6 Artillerists 5, 6 Behind wooden fence 5, 6 Behind low stone wall 5, 6 Behind high stone wall 4, 5, 6 In buildings 3, 4, 5, 6 8. THE CHARGE Roll one die per unit attempting to charge. If a charge results, roll one die per target unit. Unit Morale Class To Charge To Stand Elite Automatic 2-6 Veteran 2-6 3-6 Green 3-6 4-6 -1 to die roll ff charging enemy flank or rear. If a unit fails to charge, its order is converted to First Fire. If the target of a charge fails to stand, retire 2d6 away from the charge. If the result is odd, unformed. If the target had First Fire orders, these are executed before the retirement, if Last Fire, the fire is lost. Charging troops may halt at the previous position of any who fail to Stand if desired. If attackers wish they may follow and still attempt to melee the retiring enemy. Mounted cavalry may evade a dismounted attack unless unformed. The cavalry may retire 2d6" but is then unformed. Skirmishers may not charge, if charged they must attempt to evade 2d6" and stand unformed. Units charging and failing to make contact are unformed on an odd die roll. 9. MELEE Procedure is to match figures 1:1 roll one die per figure and modify as below: +1 Charging. (First round only) +1 Engaging enemy flank or rear. (First round only) +1 Mounted +1 Each morale grade better. +1 Infantry defended behind wall or other hard cover. +1 American Cavalry vs. Mexican Cavalry. (Except first round) +1 Officer +1 Line vs. Column -1 Unformed. (First round only) Texas Rangers fire pistols just before melee, kills on a six. Lancers get a first strike, kill on a six. A natural (unmodified) roll of six kills. Beat enemy by 4 or more kills. Beat enemy by less than 4, pushes him back. When one side has all figures either killed or pushed back the melee is over. The winner recovers all pushed back troops the next turn prior to the melee phase. (They may not fire.) If one side has killed or pushed back all opponents, he wins. The Loser falls back 4d6 unformed and loses 2d6 DLs. Winner takes position. Roll 1d6, unformed if roll is odd. Winner loses 1d6 DL. Mounted cavalry vs. infantry may break off and retire 4d6". Held horses are automatically elbilinated if contacted by formed troops. 10. MORALE Morale is handled by a system referred to as DL or Disordered Losses. Upon certain occasions a unit will roll one or more d6, with the number rolled removed. DL losses are gathered, by unit, separately from casualties and may be recovered as long as one or more figures remain in good order (not dead or in the DL group and not including musicians and standards.) l he musician is placed next to the DL troops and the standard next to the controlled, effective troops. Roll DL: 1d6 Movement order. (Except U.S. in column or road column, or any artillery) Cavalry suffers a maximum of 1. If a "6" is rolled in movement. 1d6 Receive one or more casualty from artillery fire. 1d6 Infantry winner of melee. 1d6 Cavalry loser of melee. 2d6 Infantry loser of melee. 1d6 Mexicans changing formation. 1d6 Mexicans wheeling. 1d6 Mexicans crossing stream or gully. May cross at 1/2 speed and not incur this added loss. 1d6 Charge order. Green troops add one to each die. (Roll a 3, and 4 DLs result.) Elite troops subtract one from each die. (Roll a 3, and 2 DLs.) Units which split their fire among more than one target, or which are operating in more than one body do not inflict DL's upon target units. This does not apply to artillery as each may fire with full DL effect upon its own target. RECOVERY Each turn a unit has a hold order, roll one die, modify as below, and recover the resulting number of figures. Green 1d6-1 Veteran 1d6 Elite 1d6+1 The presence of a general with the unit doubles the dice rolled. CAVALRY Cavalry units which are entirely eliminated by DL's may be reconstituted once. The procedure is the same as RECOVERY, except the standard is placed at least 12" from the nearest enemy troops and within 6" of a friendly general. The first recovery dice roll is then made in the recovery phase. Subsequent recovery rolls do not require the presence of a general. Each cavalry unit may be reconstituted once during a game. OFFICER CASUALTIES Each officer lost or a DL reduces the morale grade of a unit by one step. If no officers remain, the unit is entirely removed and counted as lost. 11. GENERAL "d6" refers to 6-sided dice. DL represents troops becoming ineffective due to any number of causes not directly related to wounds. Such as fatigue, straggling, and other causes. Formations: Line Figures in base to base Contact, one or two deep. Column Figures in base to base contact, more than two deep. Skirmish Figures separated by one inch or more. Back to MWAN #53 Table of Contents © Copyright 1991 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