INTRODUCTION
In the summer of 1960, after much trial and error, George Clark and I finally devised a combination war game featuring both Strategy and Tactics which could be fought on a table top. This we called the Strategy-Tactical Wargame for want of something better.
Like most war game generals, we had been dissatisfied with straight tactical war games where one is limited to almost straight frontal attacks because of the necessity of scaling the battleground to the model soldiers used. Yet, our objection to map board games was that the terrain never varied, and we were not happy because we could not use model soldiers, which we dearly loved.
We also had an "internal problem" to fight, for we both were fanatics on scaling the table top to our soldiers and had gone to much trouble to design terrain features to enable us to have a truly realistic appearing battlefield.
Finally, we tossed war game "traditions" aside, threw out the "scaling" of terrain to the model soldiers, threw off our basic traditions of having lead soldiers represent individual men, and got down to the business of working out a Strategy game- combined with the tactical battles that we wanted to keep in the game.
The result of these ideas is contained in this Rule Book. No claim is made to any originality in this game, for there are certain to be others who have worked out such a war game. There will be many "traditionalists"' who will not like this type of game, nor its rules or ideas. 'Still others may use it merely to start a campaign, and then fight out the various actions that occur therefrom on "scaled" battlefields.
So, no matter how you use it, it at least is a start, and no doubt those who are interested in the Strategy-Tactical type of game will come up with better ideas and rules for themselves. This game, as outlined here, has been played successfully for over a year, and there have been only very minor changes made from the original rules. With the addition of Concealed Forces rules and rules for Naval Actions, we feel we have finally reached a very satisfactory solution to our desire for the "big war game" on a strategy level, combined with the use of model soldiers to fight out the tactical actions that arise.
I am sure of one thing.... if you ever try this game you'll thoroughly enjoy it, and although you may never play the Strategy-Tactical Game too often, it still should take its place as a type of war game along with the scaled battle with model soldiers, and the map board games. (Jack Scruby, September, 1961)
BASIC CONCEPTION
In a STRATEGY-TACTICAL War Game the theory that the scale of the battleground and terrain must be in scale with the actual size of the model soldier is eliminated, and the model soldier itself is used only as a "marker" or "counter", rather than representing an individual man. By breaking away from this "war game tradition" and ignoring the size of the lead soldier, one can enlarge a war game table to represent as much as 10 miles of battlefield front, rather than the few hundred yards front usually played on in "scaled" miniature warfare.
By doing this, the player will find he has a strategical "board game", similar to Gettysburg or Tactics, which he can then combine with his regular tactical game which he has been fighting when playing a "scaled" game. We thus eliminate the need for the battleground being scaled to the lead soldier, which gives us a chance to draw "maps"" on the war game table, and fight small type campaigns, in which each action in a local area results in a tactical battle similar to a regular "scaled" war game.
In the Strategy-Tactical game, one uses colored pieces of cardboard to represent town areas, forests, etc., and boards, books or plaster of Paris hills to represent the terrain Features. On a war game played to scale with the model soldiers, one represents a town with scaled buildings in an area on the table of perhaps two square feet. In this Strategy-Tactical Game, a town would be no larger than 6 inches square. In the "scaled" game, roads would be chalked in perhaps as wide as five to six inches - in the Strategy Game roads are represented by chalk marks one-half an inch wide. This will give you some idea of the area available to the player in the Strategy Game. (For further ideas on terrain pieces, see Figure 2-3-4)
The BASIC SCALE of the Strategy-Tactical game is represented by a "moving tray" (See Fig. 1) built to accommodate four 20= (3/4 inch) model soldiers. These are set in clay on the tray so that they are easily removed when they become casualties in the tactical game. This "moving tray" represents a full size Regiment (or Company if you so desire- but for the sake of this article we will refer to the "Regiment") of infantry, 1000 strong. The moving tray is 1/2 inch wide by 1 1/2 inches long, and assuming that a Regiment in three ranks on a "line" basis would fill 100 yards by 50 feet, we use this scale for the "map" when laying out the war game table.
Thus, if 1 1/2 " inches equals 100 yards, an 8 foot long table top represents almost a five mile area. The 1/2 inch road would be about 35-40 feet wide, while a village 6 inches square would represent about 400 yards of front. Such a town could hold three Regiments of men along one of its walls in defending it. Thus, we have established a scale based on the size of the moving tray, and not the lead soldiers that are placed on it. The soldiers- as you will see- have a definite use to represent "casualties" suffered during the battle, as well as the "type" of men involved. (Line infantry, Light Infantry, Grenadiers, etc.). The moving tray shown in Figure 1 is one that I have developed for this game, and the flag standard is used to denote the number of the Regiment (let Line, 2nd Line, etc.) and makes moving the trays easier since you can use the flag to move this stand.
Having established the scale, we now come to the Terrain.
TERRAIN
The terrain is setup on the battleground the same as in a tactical war game, with the exception no individual houses, trees or other things of this nature are used. Our "map of the battleground" for Strategy games need not be as realistic in appearance, and with the exception of hills (Fig. 4) most pieces are two dimensional. Roads are chalked in, the villages or towns added at the crossroads where necessary, rivers can be chalked in, forests of green cardboard (Fig. 3) stuck on the table top, and any other necessary terrain feature that is required is added. Most war gamers will soon develop other items for this type game such as we have I am sure. (Farms with walls around the fields, etc.). You will find that on an 8ft by 6ft table top there is an "immensity" of space available that you've never had before in Tactical games, and that a complete "army" will leave wide and vital gaps when placed on the table ready for battle. (See Figure 14)
One now will have to worry about flanks, about holding key terrain positions, bridges, villages and such things that in the regular war game he never had to worry much about. isolated pockets of resistance will become the commonplace, and woe betide the table top general who has not prepared his army with some kind of strategy for battles such as these.
THE TROOPS
We have found from experience in playing the Strategy Game that the beat organization is the DIVISION. We form each Division to consist of six Regiments of Infantry (6 moving trays of lead soldiers, consisting of 24 models). Each Division is basically broken down into 4 regiments of Line troops, 1 light infantry regiment, and 1 grenadier regiment.
Light Infantry and Grenadier Regiments are the "elite" troops of a Division, and have special powers as we shall see later on. We often combine these regiments into Divisions of Light Infantry or Grenadiers, for assault teams, leaving the 4 Line Regiments as basic defense units. All these modifications are up to the commanding general of course, but you will find a basic organization of 4 Line regiments, 1 Light and 1 Grenadier, plus 1 cannon makes a good Division.
CAVALRY is organized into squadrons or troops. Three 20mm cavalry (heavy cavalry mounted on a moving tray; light cavalry not mounted on a tray) represent a squadron, and two squadrons represent a regiment of cavalry. The differences in "combat value" of heavy and light cavalry are pointed out elsewhere, but in general the light cavalry are used for scouting purposes, and the heavy cavalry for shock tactics.
ARTILLERY is represented by a single 20mm scale cannon, with no artillery crew figures necessary. Each cannon represents a Divisional battery of cannons, complete with its supplies, crews, limbers, etc. Since the 20mm cannon is about 3/4 of an inch wide at the Axle, this means a Divisional Battery covers an area of about 70 yards.
The ARMY GROUP or CORP is the basic total force each player will use to fight the Strategy-Tactical game with. In our case, we use an Army Corp consisting of 6 Infantry Divisions, 2 heavy cavalry regiments, 2 light cavalry regiments and 6 cannons- one for each division. Basically each Division is capable of defending itself within a given area on the "map" battleground, yet is flexible enough so that special attack forces can be "brigaded" together at the assault point if desired, or divisional cannons can be massed if required. About half the fun of fighting these battles is the pre-game planning necessary, and the organizing of your forces into defensive and offensive units. Thus, in actual numbers of lead soldiers, such an Army Group as outlined above requires 36 moving trays loaded with 144 infantry figures, 24 horse figures and 6 cannons. Actually this is a "small" army as far as numbers are concerned, for tactical games played to scale often have 3 to 500 figures on each side.
THE BATTLE
We have found it essential in a game of this type that a "plan of action" must be thought out before the game ever begins. Without some kind of a plan the table top general is almost helpless, for we are dealing here with large areas, and often from four to 6 different scenes or areas of combat. For you will find in dealing with an area of this size that there are many "key" positions that must be watched or guarded. And in order to keep each general from too much concentration of his troops, we establish from two to three "headquarters" for each force. These become the OBJECTIVES of the game, and defending or attacking them or nullifying them by cutting them off are as important as destroying the opposing army.
MOVEMENT AND RANGES
Movement is keyed to the scale of the moving trays. INFANTRY may move cross country "in line" 3 inches per game move. This is the Basic Infantry Move. (Fig 5) . Infantry may form COLUMNS in two manners. 1-when moving on roads (Fig 6) and the trays must fit inside the chalk marks that mark the roads. A Regiment in this position may fire from its forward ranks (see fire-tables). 2-When 3 or more Regiments are placed stand to stand (Fig. 7) this forms a Cross Country Column.
In ROAD COLUMN troops may be moved 5 inches when on roads. In CROSS COUNTRY COLUMN, troops may be moved 4 inches.
To break up a CROSS COUNTRY COLUMN and deploy it into "line" no forward movement is allowed, and the deployment is made as shown in Figure 8.
FIGURE 8. Deploying from Cross Country Column (left) to Line (right)
If more than three Regiments are in Cross Country Column, the deployment of the Regiments into Line follows this same basic procedure, so that you would wind up with 2 lines of 3 Regiments spaced somewhat apart. It may seem trivial to proceed like this, but you may find it is of great importance when to deploy, and when not to deploy during a Strategy game.
A unit that is marching in Cross Country Column may be attacked, and if so, its firepower from front or flank is the same as if one Regiment were firing (see fire tables). A melee from front or flank is fought out on a one Regiment basis also, for we consider only the front rank of the column, and the outside men of the column on the flanks, to be in position to fight.
These then are the BASIC INFANTRY MOVES:
- Cross Country in Line....... 3"
Cross Country in Column..4"
Columns on Roads............5"
GRENADIER REGIMENTS move and deploy exactly as LINE REGIMENTS above.
LIGHT INFANTRY REGIMENTS are elite, fast moving troops, and whether in Column (Cross Country) or Line, move 4 inches. They are allowed a 5 inch move if marching in Road Column formation. (on roads).
ARTILLERY moves at the same speed as Line Infantry. Horse Artillery would move at the same speed as Cavalry. Artillery may move OR fire, but cannot do both, and Lanes of Fire must be left between infantry in order for the guns to fire.
HEAVY CAVALRY These move 4 inches cross country, and 6 inches when on Roads. They move three abreast at all times, even if the road is somewhat smaller than the three models moving side by side. No deployment is necessary for cavalry.
LIGHT CAVALRY. Move 6 inches at all times, cross country or on Roads. They should stay three abreast at all times, and no deployment rule is necessary.
SPECIAL MOVEMENT RULES
Towns - Movement through towns is at ROAD MOVE speed for all troops.
Forests - These areas are divided up into approximately 2 inch squares (except for the outer fringe area - see Figure 3), and the Inside area grids can be numbered so that troops may be "concealed" within these squares if desired. Only Infantry may penetrate the interior of the Forests (Light cavalry may "hide" in the outer area), and all infantry proceed ONE SQUARE PER GAME MOVE (this includes Light Infantry). RIFLE FIRE inside of forests is limited to the square directly in front of the Regiment, and cannot be fired diagonally. No flanking fire is allowed either, but troops can be flanked in a forest and be fired on. ONLY ONE REGIMENT MAY ENTER A SQUARE AT ONE TIME, unless an opposing regiment forces a melee. (If you have your troops in Cross Country Column, the Column must be broken up when they enter the Forest, since only one Regiment is allowed in one square). If an empty square is between your regiment and an opposing regiment, there will be no rifle fire, for opposing forces must be in adjacent squares (frontally) in order to exchange rifle fire. CANNON FIRE cannot penetrate beyond the outer line of squares, and Heavy Cavalry and Guns cannot enter any Forest area at all..
Hills - All movement uphill is cut in half, and a unit must reach within one inch of the base of the hill before it can begin its march uphill. It can only take one "slope" of the hill per game move. All units move at regulation speed downhill. (See Figure 5.)
The Charge Move - This move is only made when the "charge" ends in melee. Infantry are allowed a 4 inch charge move, Light Infantry a 5 inch charge move, and Light and Heavy Cavalry a 6 inch charge move. The Charge Move cannot be made by any troops uphill. It can be used when charging downhill.
COMBAT
At the end of this article is a COMBAT FIRE TABLE so that you don't have to dig through this section, but here we will take up each item individually to attempt to explain the Combat action of a Strategy-Tactical Game. Actually, the Combat of this type of game is almost identical to a regular Tactical war game, with the exception that the casualty rates are based on the number of model soldiers on a "regimental stand", rather than on a count of individual soldiers as one does in a Tactical war game..
The SEQUENCE OF COMBAT is:
- 1) Cannons are fired and casualties removed immediately -
2) Rifle fire on a simultaneous basis , with casualties immediately removed from both sides -
3) the Melee is fought with consequent loss and morale factor being invoked.
Since the Strategy-Tactical Game is generally played as a simultaneous Move war game (i.e. each player rolls a die at the beginning of the move- high dice winner then chooses which flank he will move, and his opponent will start moving from the opposite flank. In the "center", the high dice winner receives the counter-move if he desires, the high dice winner of the game move gets first artillery fire with an immediate result from this fire. If he destroys an enemy cannon for example, the cannon is immediately removed and it cannot have return fire.
INFANTRY REGIMENTS and CAVALRY SQUADRONS are designated as 4 Unit, 3 Unit, 2 Unit or 1 Unit forces, depending on how many model soldiers are on the Moving Tray at the time of combat. Upon the strength of a unit will depend upon its firepower or combat value in melee.
The FORMATION the Regiment is in at the moment of combat is also important., There are two basic infantry formations, and combat value is rated from these: Figure 9 shows COMBAT IN LINE FORMATION, and Figure 10 shows COMBAT FROM ROAD COLUMN FORMATION. Combat from Cross Country Column has already been explained.
Obviously the troops in Figure 9 will receive more firepower than the troops in Figure 10 (see Fire tables)
DEFENSIVE POSITIONS assume great importance in the Strategy-Tactical Game, and troops that are fighting from villages, forests, or are holding hills, have a firing advantage over troops that are attacking them. The exceptions to this statement are your Grenadiers and Light Infantrymen, who because of their fighting ability, usually are your assault type troops.
BASIC COMBAT FACTOR FOR RIFLE FIRE - The fire tables for Rifle fire has been carefully calculated on a mathematical basis concerned with the fighting ability of the troops. 'in rifle firing, most killing in open country is an automatic thing - i.e. one Regiment will always kill 1 opposing figure on a Regimental Stand. However, defensive factors, and strength enter into the picture, and here we turn to dice rolling to determine casualties. Many players object to "automatic killing", and of course solo players cannot use it to advantage. Therefore the players who don't like this will undoubtably change the fire tables to suit themselves- usually ending up with about the same results.
RIFLE RANGE In Napoleonic and earlier musket period games we use a 6 inch basic musket range. We suggest you go to a 9 inch musket range for later period war games. You will find this extra range will make a lot of difference in the game, changing the role of cavalry especially.
CASUALTY RATES
See Fire table)
1-A 4-3-2 Unit Infantry Regiment, firing from LINE, automatically kills 1 enemy soldier in the open.
2-A 1 Unit Regiment, firing from LINE, kills 1 enemy soldier if a 1-3-6 thrown on dice (open country)
3-A 4-3-2 Unit Regiment, in ROAD COLUMN, kills 1 enemy soldier with throw of 1-3-6 (open country)
4-A 1 Unit Regiment, in ROAD COLUMN, kills 1 enemy soldier if throw of 6 is made (open country)
5-Any 4-3-2-1 Unit Regiment inside a town, forest or from a hill, kills 1 enemy soldier automatically unless the enemy regiment is firing from the s-e. In this case both units must roll dice (1-3-6) to determine if a hit is made.
6-Any 4-3-2 Unit Regiment, ATTACKING from the open against a village, hill or forest, must throw a 1-3-6 on the dice in order to kill 1 opposing soldier. A 1-Unit force must throw a 6.
7-LIGHT INFANTRY and GRENADIERS never have to resort to dice throwing, always make an automatic kill no matter where they are fighting (attacking, in forests, in or out of villages, etc.), and a 1 man unit is an effective (except in Melee as we shall see) as when at full strength. This is true whether the Unit is in LINE or ROAD COLUMN.
Thus, the reader will note the definite advantage to a good defensive position, as well as the fact that the elite Grenadiers and Light Infantry can attack these defenses and still have firepower in doing so. Your Line Infantry, having to roll dice, thus take a "chance" that their bullets will kill enemy troops as they move in on the attack.
The reader too should especially note that a ROAD COLUMN position is only possible when troops are marching on roads, and that in all other positions there is no such thing an a Road Colt-m. This means that troops that are fired an and caught on the "flank" of the moving tray, are NOT in Road Column position, but are outflanked and do not got return fire. This is true of all infantry- whether Line, Grenadiers or Light Infantry.
8- RIFLE FIRE AGAINST ARTILLERY CREWS. When infantry are able to reach the axle of the cannon with rifle fire, the gunners are automatically within range and can be shot. This is not an automatic killing, and the artillery, being able to fire cannister, will get an automatic kill BEFORE the infantry rifles are fired. (See Artillery fire). If the infantry then is capable of firing, here is the way this works:
- A-A 4-3-2 man regiment of LINE INFANTRY must roll a 3-6-on the dice, which kills the crew.
-A 1 man regiment of LINE INFANTRY must roll a 6.
C-Light Infantry or Grenadier (no matter what their strength) must roll a 1-3-6 to kill the crew.
When the crew of the gun is killed in this manner, the gun cannot be fired nor moved. Which ever force holds the gun at the end of 3 moves is then entitled to use the gun, for we assume fresh reserve gunners have arrived and re-man the gun again. If the gun is in "no-man"a land, and has not been taken by either side, it remains where it is until one side or the other has captured it and held it for three game moves.
ARTILLERY FIRE
1-Artillery firing on flat ground has a 16 inch range. If artillery is firing from a hill, increase the range to 18 inches. Cannons firing upon one another from hill to hill have 18 inch ranges. Cannons firing from fortress walls will receive 18 inch range, but this is not true if firing from villages.
2-Each cannon can fire one time on each game move, provided it has not been moved. You are allowed one dice roll for each cannon you fire, as follows:
- A roll of 1-3-6 kills one enemy soldier
A roll of 2 drives an enemy unit (one regimental stand only, or one squadron of cavalry) back in confusion three moves (infantry or cavalry depending on which is "hit"). This is a "morale factor". and no one is killed. Only Grenadiers are not affected by this morale type of artillery fire.
3-Counter Battery fire is figured on a cumulative basis. it takes three "hits" to destroy a gun (a roll of 2 has no effect on gun or crew). on the third hit, the cannon is immediately removed from the table and cannot have return fire.
CANNISTER FIRE works a little differently from other fire. Cannister can be used only against personnel, and is the same range as musket fire ( 6 or 9 inches depending on what period the game in). Whenever infantry or cavalry come within cannister range, one figure is automatically killed by the gun, BUT, the regiment that suffered this loss is given a SIMULTANEOUS RETURN FIRE against the gun crew. If the player does not wish to take advantage of this, he need not do so, but this is the only time that rifle fire and cannon fire are simultaneous.
4-Players should pre-determine before a battle how many artillery "hits" cause d-Age to walls, fortresses, ships, etc. This can be determined by the strength of the object that is the target.
5-In general such things are villages, forests, etc. cannot be d-Aged by artillery fire, but stone walls around farms could be damaged by artillery fire.
6-ARTILLERY FIRE INTO VILLAGES AND FORESTS. Only the OUTER AREAS are affected by artillery fire. A enemy soldier can be killed with a roll of 3-6 in these areas, and the morale factor (roll of 2) has no effect. No artillery fire can be effective in the INSIDE AREAS of forests or villages. (See Fig. 2 and 3)
Since most of the terrain pieces on the table top are "flat", the player assumes that they are three dimensional, and guns therefore cannot fire at troops that are behind hills, forests, villages, even if they can be "seen" because of their size. It is easy to judge this if you use a measuring stick, and if the stick is placed on the muzzle of the gun and the target, and hits a section of wall or forest, the men are "hidden" from the gun and cannot be fired upon.
7-HORSE ARTILLERY. If you use horse artillery in your games, the rule of thumb concerning them is that you make a half-move, unlimber and fire the gun on one game move. You may limber up and move half a move on game move, but cannot fire if you do.
THE MELEE
All troops have a COMBAT VALUE as follows:
- Each Line and Light Infantryman on a Regimental stand is valued at 4 Combat Points.
Each Light cavalryman is valued at 5 Combat Points
Each Grenadier and Heavy Cavalryman is valued at 6 Combat Points.
Melees in the Strategy-Tactical games are fought a little differently than in Tactical games, in that it is more "orderly" when the combat is judged. Basically only one unit may melee another unit, although it is legal to reinforce a melee by placing another stand of soldiers to the flank or rear of the engaged troops. However, no matter how many troops are massed into the Melee, the melee is fought only between troops directly opposing each other. Thus in most cases it becomes a "stand to stand" fight, rather than a mass of individuals fighting.
Whether the melee involves infantry versus infantry, infantry versus cavalry, or cavalry versus cavalry, the combat killing power below is used against all opposing types of troops:
LINE AND LIGHT INFANTRY
- A 4-3-2 unit stand kills 1 opposing soldier automatically
A 1 Unit stand must throw a 6 on the dice to kill anyone.
GRENADIERS
- A 4 unit stand kills 2 opposing soldiers automatically
A 3-2-1 unit stand kills 1 enemy soldier automatically
HEAVY CAVALRY
- A 3 unit Squadron kills 2 opposing soldiers automatically
A 2 Unit Squadron kills 1 opposing soldier automatically
A 1 Unit Squadron must throw a 1-3-6 to kill an enemy soldier
LIGHT CAVALRY
- A 3 unit Squadron kills 1 opposing player automatically
A 2 Unit Squadron kills 1 opposing soldier if a 1-3-6 thrown on dice
A 1 Unit Squadron kills 1 opposing soldier if a 3-6 thrown on dice.
MORALE FACTOR AFTER A MELEE
As soon as casualties have been removed, each player counts the total number of COMBAT POINTS he has left. He rolls one dice, and multiplies this by the total Combat Points he has. The High total wins the melee and holds his ground. The Low Total must retire three moves.
REINFORCED MELEES
Sometimes, the man who is attacked, may he able to reinforce his troop with another regimental unit or cavalry squadron. He may NEVER use the Charge Move for this, but must use regulation movement in order to reinforce. It does no good to send reinforcing troops to the REAR of his unit that is fighting, and he must be able to get his troops to the flank or rear of the ENEMY troops to count.
In the event this occurs, the melee is first fought out between the ORIGINAL melee. Then the reinforcing troops may fight the remnants of the attacker. Once the casualties are removed for this second melee, both sides again total their combat values (including the reinforcing troops), and the morale is determined as above.
If the Attacker attacks with more than one regimental unit, he also is required to reach the flank or rear of the defending unit, and the combat is fought out like that described above. MELEEs can be fought in Forests or Villages with certain limitations. For example if infantry hold the Outside Areas of a village, they cannot be attacked by cavalry, but can be attacked by infantry. We assume the troops are in buildings and therefore horsemen cannot get at them. However, if the infantry are in the INSIDE AREA they can be attacked by cavalry, PROVIDED the cavalry charge through the GATE of the village.
In Forests, infantry must move to the same grid or square the defenders are in to force a melee.
MELEEING CANNON CREWS
The attacking force must be able to reach the axle of the cannon. If they attack from front or flanks, the gun crew is allowed to fire their weapon. If a 1-3-6 is thrown, the attackers are hurled back three moves and the gun is saved. If the gunners cannot throw 1-3-6 on the dice, they are killed, and the gun is captured. This gun may be re-manned by a fresh crew at the end of three game moves. During this time it cannot be moved or fired, and must be "held" by one side or the other.
When melees are made, no troops or guns may fire into the melee without killing as many of their own men as they do of the opposing force.
If you reinforce a gun crew that is in melee, the reinforcing troops enter the combat after the original melee has been determined, and not before that.
In all cases, Cavalry must be kept in squadrons, and you cannot build up a 1 Unit Cavalry Squadron by adding more men from another squadron to it. Thus, if two 1 Unit Cavalry squadrons attacked an enemy force, you would be entitled to a roll of the dice for each such squadron, rather than counting the two squadrons as a 2 unit Squadron and being allowed an automatic kill.
In Melees, it does not matter what the formation of the troops are in when they are attacked, for we are assuming that all troops are fighting for their lives whether attacked in flank or front or rear. If a melee is forced upon a CROSS COUNTRY COLUMN, the defending column has only the fighting power of a single regimental unit, since these are the only ones in direct stand to stand contact with the attacking force. .
THE CONCEALED FORCES IN STRATEGY-TACTICAL GAMES
For the more advanced war game player, we suggest that they use rules for Concealed Forces, rather than having both armies laid out for the "enemy" to see and counter-move against. These rules complicate the game a lot, but are worth it, for we reason that any general in command of the large area these Games are played upon, would not be able to see too clearly what forces the enemy has until they came within visual range, or until his cavalry scouts had "exposed" the opposing forces
The Concealed Rules make the game doubly interesting, and actually speeds the game up considerably, for at the beginning of the game, when maneuvering is taking place, not many troops appear on the table, and as a consequence are quickly moved. At the same time, by using these rules, the pre-game planning is doubly important, and the correct use of the light cavalry scouts in exposing enemy columns makes it possible to get the "Jump" on your opponent, and thus be able to put your plans into effect.
Before we started using Concealed Forces rules, the average Strategy game took up to five hours to play, but by using these rules we have shortened them down to 3 to 4 hours, simply because you don't need to move large masses of troops. As you can well imagine, a game of this "site" played in 3 hours is quite an achievement, but we found out that often combat was not fought "to the last man" when all troops were exposed and one found himself outnumbered at key positions.
FIGURE 11 and FIGURE 12 diagram the only TWO ways Concealed Troops may be marched when on too table top while they are still concealed from the enemy force. FIG. 11 shows the CROSS COUNTRY COLUMN formation in which only the Concealment Stand is visible. When troops in this position are "exposed", they will be placed upon the table in the Column as shown by dotted lines. Whenever the player deploys his troops into LINE he exposes a minimum of 3 Regiments-as shown in FIG. 12. These troops may act as a"'screen" behind which the Concealment Stand may be placed. Such a formation would denote to the opponent that troops, in Column Formation, were still concealed behind the protecting front line of infantry. However he would not know if the Concealment Stand represented one Regiment or several Regiments still concealed from his vision by the screen of infantry between him and the infantry in Line.
FIGURE 13 shows how to screen a Concealed Column from enemy cavalry or "vision". The screening cavalry must be between the Concealment Stand and the enemy troops, and must be within an inch of the Concealment Stand. In protecting the Flank of the Concealed Column, you need only to screen the Concealment Stand itself, not the theoretical position of the concealed troops. It requires a Squadron of Light Cavalry (or a minimum of 2 cavalry figures) to properly screen the front, or one flank of a Concealed Column. Thus, an attack by two enemy light cavalry regiments, preferably from two sides, is impossible to defend against with one squadron of screening light cavalry.
CONCEALMENT STAND - The same type of stand as shown in Figure 1 can be used for the Concealment Stand. (A piece of cardboard cut to the same size is okay). Each Stand is numbered on the flag, and can be painted red and blue to identify the two opposing sides. The player will list the number of troops that each Concealment Stand is concealing, and until the men within this concealed force is exposed, he needs only to move the Stand itself.
There are ONLY TWO POSSIBLE FORMATIONS in which concealed troops may be moved on the table top. These are illustrated and explained in Figures 11 and 12. Deployment of a Line is made exactly as when the troops are exposed in that you get no forward movement as the Regiments deploy from Column into Line. By deploying troops into Line, as shown in Figure 12, the player receives not only a screen to conceal the rest of the troops of the Concealed Column, but also will receive firepower from the three regiments thus exposed.
Concealed Troops in Cross Country Column formation would be able to move 4 inches, but the formation shown in Figure 12 would slow the column down to a 3 inch cross country move, and you could not use the Road Column under any circumstances for concealed troops.
IN ALL CASES WHERE A PLAYER DEPLOYS TROOPS INTO LINE FROM THE CONCEALED COLUMN, HE MUST EXPOSE ALL REGIMENTS THAT ARE PLACED INTO LINE POSITION.
Rules for Concealed Troops
1-A Player may conceal as many or as few troops as he wishes, and the concealment of these troops must be made at the start of the game.
2-Each Concealment Stand used must represent at least ONE Regiment of infantry, cavalry or a cannon. The maximum it can represent would be a Brigade of 12 Regiments, plus cannons and cavalry.
3-Under normal marching conditions the Concealed Column would have Light Infantry in front, the cannons in the center of the column and heavy cavalry in the rear. Upon exposing a concealed column, the troops will be placed in this position on the table. Deployment of this column would commence on the next following gam move.
4-The minute the Concealed Column is attacked- by rifle fire or melee- it must be exposed completely.
How Concealed Troops are Exposed
5-Whenever enemy troops come within 16 inches of a Concealment Stand, and provided the Stand is not screened correctly, this is VISION RANGE and the column must be completely exposed.
6-Whenever a Concealed Stand comes within cannon range and is fired on, it must be exposed.
7-Whenever a column is attacked by enemy troops in melee or by rifle fire - provided that it is not correctly screened - it must be exposed.
How Concealed Troops may be Hidden
8-Concealed troops may be screened by light cavalry, infantry or heavy cavalry as shown in Figures 12 and 13.
9-Troops may be kept concealed if left behind forests, villages and hills, provided enemy troops cannot somehow get within Vision Range of them.
10-In cities or villages they can be kept concealed until attacked directly in melee, or until the table top general deploys them to defend the city or village.
11-Concealed Troops may be marched through villages and over hills in formation, but would be dispersed if marched through Forests. However, in forests, the column could be dispersed and kept in concealment.
12-If Light cavalry are properly screening a Concealed column, the column may remain concealed so long as the cavalry take any rifle or cannon fire shot at it. That is, the cavalry must be between the troops and the enemy firing their weapons for this to be legal.
13-Under no circumstances can a Concealed Column return fire if covered by screening cavalry or infantry, and in order to fight, the player will have to expose his column to get firepower from it.
THE USE OF LIGHT CAVALRY WHERE CONCEALMENT RULES ARE USED.
14-If you use Concealment Rules, the Light Cavalry are used and fight differently than in the ordinary Strategy-Tactical Game. In Concealment Games Light Cavalry are used strictly for screening and scouting and are not used as combat troops. Furthermore, Light Cavalry cannot be concealed, but must always be shown on the table top during their activity on the table.
15-Light Cavalry move always at the 6 inch speed, and can move through Woods at the regulation one grid per game move.
16-Light Cavalry can be killed by enemy artillery fire, in melee with enemy heavy cavalry, or by rifle fire from Light Infantry or Grenadiers.
17-In "fighting" enemy Line Infantry or Light Cavalry, a "morale combat rule" is used, as follows:
- A-Whenever Light Cavalry approach enemy forces within 9 inches, the players count the combat points of the two forces (Light Cavalry are valued at 5 Combat Points each), then roll one dice. This throw is multiplied by the number of Combat Points, and high man total holds his ground, and the low man total retires 3 moves.
B-if Light Cavalry oppose Light Infantry or Grenadiers, they first must take their casualties, then make the Morale Throw to see if they throw the screening troops back.
C-In this manner only, can Light Cavalry Scouts drive off screening troops and expose the Concealed column that is being screened.
D-If Light Cavalry are meleed by Heavy Cavalry, the Moral Throw determines if the concealed column is exposed or not.
18. At no time can Light Cavalry be used to attack a cannon.
19. In order to expose troops in a village that are concealed, or in a Forest, the Light Cavalry must melee the unit and again the Morale Throw will effect the combat.
20. Light Cavalry may be used to seize important terrain features and hold them if they can, using the rules for Light Cavalry combat as outlined above if any fighting occurs.
21. Horse Artillery may be used with Light Cavalry. In fact, any troops may be used as scouts in conjunction with Light Cavalry, but naturally any combat that occurs between regular troops would be as per the combat rules.
22. Once Light Cavalry have exposed enemy columns completely, they are removed from the table, for they cannot be used as regular combat troops at any time, except for the purpose which they are intended- i.e. scouting and exposing enemy concealed columns.
FIRE TABLES
FIGURE 14 shows a layout for a Strategy-Tactical Game on an 8ft by 6ft table. Scale is one inch equals one foot. Thus, the villages for Blue and Red Headquarters are about six inches square, and the River is about 9 inches wide. Farms can be pieces of cardboard around which stone walls may be drawn to depict the limits of the fields, and behind which troops could take cover from artillery fire or could put up fierce defenses.
The Commander of RED forces has some interesting possibilities. A small holding force based on defending Bridge Z from Hills 5 and 6 could be used, while a strong column moves to capture the VILLAGE and thus control Bridge Y. The attack continues towards Bridge X in order that the entire left flank of BLUE might be cut off behind the river. At the same time RED Left flank could feint towards BLUE Right HQ and protect the flank of a column moving towards Hill 3 to split BLUE in two.
BLUE Commander might make a strong attack across Bridge Y and beating RED to the VILLAGE would have a strong salient in RED's position. This force could possibly hold the VILLAGE against attacks while BLUE center and BLUE right converge on RED's Left Flank H.Q.. For this attack, WOODS A is of extreme importance, for if BLUE can gain it, they have a "Jump-off position against the Left RED Headquarters. At the same, BLUE will have to maintain a couple of units at Bridge Z to keep RED from crossing the River and gaining their own H.Q. on their left flank. As the reader can see, the possibilities for military strategy within this area are endless, and before this battle is fought out there will be half a dozen scenes of tactical actions, each one a complete war game within itself. Only in a Strategy-Tactical war game, where "scale" is forgotten, is it possible to have an area large enough to fight a campaign on a table top. Yet, by using the rules in this article, each action between opposing forces is also a complete, small scale war game exactly as one would fight a tactical game with "scaled" terrain.
TERRAIN PIECES FOR STRATEGY-TACTICAL WAR GAMES
FIGURE ONE: This is the "Regimental" Moving Tray. A coat of clay is smeared on the base, and four 20mm model soldiers are placed thereon. The "flag pole" can be added, making it easy to identify the regiment, and also makes it easy to move the Tray without knocking over the soldiers.
FIGURE TWO: A piece of cardboard, marked as shown in the diagram, can be used to represent VILLAGES. In order to fire out of the outer area (which can be considered as houses, or a defensive wall), the Regimental Tray would have to be placed in this area. When within this area, only opposing infantry may enter it and melee the defenders. Opposing cannon fire could kill defending troops with a roll of 3-6 on the dice. Defending cannons may only fire outwards if placed in the gates where the roads lead into the Inner Area. Defending troops who are placed within the Inner Area are immune to enemy fire or cannon fire, but can be meleed by enemy cavalry.
FIGURE THREE: A green cardboard, cut in various shapes, can represent FORESTS or WOODS. These may be stuck in place with scotch tape. Each forest has an OUTSIDE AREA, and an INSIDE AREA, as shown in the diagram. Only infantry can enter the Forests, but Light Cavalry may hide in the Outer Area. Defending troops in the outer area can be killed by cannon fire with a roll of 3-6 on the dice. Cannon fire cannot penetrate into the Inner Area. Movement through the Forest is one grid per game move, and such moves may be made in any direction. However, fighting between opposing units is from adjoining grids, and you cannot fire at each other if a grid separates the two units. Firing is done on a "straight ahead" basis, or on the flank of an opposing unit, but is not done on an oblique basis.
FIGURE FOUR: A "two-step" plaster of paris hilll is easy to make. Or boards, laid in pyramid fashion can be used. All troops must advance to within one inch of a "step" before they can move "uphill". Then they can only move one "step" per game move. You may move downhill at normal moves. Cavalry may charge "uphill", but must follow this procedure, which makes a cavalry charge almost suicidal against troops defending a hill.
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© Copyright 1998 Hal Thinglum
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