This document may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of Battles for Empire Publications. Copies of the command chips may be reproduced for the personal use of the purchaser of this set of rules. Tactical Rules By Buck Surdu Introduction Santa Anna Rules! (Tactical Set) is a set of rules designed to fight tactical engagements during the Mexican American War and the War of Texas Independence. While the tactics are essentially Napoleonic, the sizes of the battles are significantly smaller. For this reason the application of a set of Napoleonic rules to this period often produces a somewhat disappointing game. SAR (T) is designed for two scales, depending on the number of figures the players want to put on the table: Game Scale 1 infantry or cavalry figure = 30 men 1 cannon casting = 2 guns 1 artillerist figure= 10 men 1 inch= 15 yards Ground 1 turn = 15 minutes Most U.S. infantry regiments consist of between 18 and 22 castings, and most Mexican infantry regiments consist of between 8 and 16 castings. SAR (T) was written for 25mm figures. Each infantryman, dismounted cavalryman, and artillerist should be mounted on a 1"x1" base. Each mounted cavalryman should be mounted on a base I" wide and 2" deep. It is not necessary to mount cannons; however, they can be mounted on any suitably sized base. If you are using 15mm figures, all base sizes should be reduced to two thirds of those stated above. Rather than try to modify the charts, we recommend that you hotocopy a ruler so that an inch on the copied rules is two thirds of a real inch. SAR (T) was designed so that each player would control approximately a brigade of troops, either Mexican or American. In most of the battles of the War with Mexico, for instance, a Mexican brigade consisted of between three and six regiments or battalions. In the American Army, a brigade generally consisted of two to three regiments. This fact helps give the U.S. forces better command and control. Turn Sequence As shown on the chart card, each turn is divided into seven phases. Each of these phases must be executed in the order specified on the chart card. All actions within a phase are considered to be simultaneous; however, the results of actions in one phase must be applied before the next phase begins. 1. Give orders: During this phase, each player determines the number of orders that his leader(s) may issue. The leaders issue orders to their subordinate units. Leaders issue orders by placing order chips, face down, behind the unit. After all orders have been issued, units without orders roll randomly to determine their actions. Once all units have orders, the players turn all order chips face up. This process is discussed in greater detail in Command and Control. 2. Declare Charges: During this phase, units with Charge orders announce which units they are charging. 3. First Fire: All units with First Fire orders fire during this phase, and all losses are applied to units. 4. All Moves: All units, including charging units, which have movement orders, roll for the maximum distance they can move. Then players move all their units up to this maximum distance. 5. Hold Fire: All units with Hold Fire orders fire during this phase, and all losses are applied to units. 6. Melee: In this phase units that have charged the enemy roll to determine whether their unit closes. If the unit closes, the charged unit must roll to stand in place and receive the charge. If the charging unit closes and the charged unit stands, melee occurs. 7. Rally: Units with Rally orders may attempt to do so during this phase. After the rally phase, the turn is over. The next turn begins with the Give-Orders phase. Units Units conduct all movement, fire, and morale in SAR (T). Generally a unit is a regiment, battalion, or battery. A unit may also be a skirmish company, artillery section, separate cavalry squadron, etc. Units are designated at the beginning of the game. Experience Levels: Units may be one of four experience levels: untrained, green, regular, or veteran. Generally, U.S. Regulars (including all artillery) are rated as veterans - which in fact they were, having fought for years in various Indian campaigns. U.S. Volunteers are generally rated as regulars; however, certain volunteer units might only be rated as green. Most Mexican regulars should be rated as green; however, the more "elite" formations (e.g., the light regiments) might be rated as regulars in certain scenarios. Most Mexican Activo and militia regiments should be rated as untrained. Although there might be exceptions, Mexican artillery are generally rated as green. Breaking Units into Sub-Units: The owning player may break this unit into multiple separate units by issuing it more than one order during the Orders Phase. The player must commit to breaking the unit into sub- units during the Order Phase. Sub-units each keep a portion of the total unit's stragglers proportional to the sub-unit's size. If the sub-units are of equal size, they get an equal portion of the stragglers. If one sub-unit is a third the size of the original unit, it keeps a third of the unit's stragglers. Once broken into separate units, the sub-units may reform into a single unit. To do this the player issues each of the sub-units a Form order. The subunits must be touching when they receive the order. Larger Formations: The basic maneuver element in SAR (T) is the regiment/battalion. These regiments and battalions are grouped into brigades. SAR (T) was designed for each player to control a brigade. U.S. brigades in the Mexican-American War consisted of two or three regiments/battalions and Mexican brigades consisted of three to six regiments/battalions. When designing scenarios, players should attempt to maintain this relationship; the greater number of units in a Mexican brigade makes their command and control more difficult. Command and Control Were I made God, I should wish to be something more. -- Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna The Order Process: In SAR (T), all units must be under the command of a leader. Generally, all brigade, division, and Army leaders are represented as castings on the table. Leaders issue orders only to the units within their command. In SAR (T), all leaders have a leader rating (all). This (all). is used to determine how many orders a leader can give during a given turn. Each turn during the Give- Orders phase, players roll a 1d4 for each leader. This roll is added to the leader's (all). This sum (leader points) is the total number of orders that the leader can issue for the upcoming turn. Leaders who are attached to units may only issue one order, and that must be to the unit to which the leader is attached. All other units under that leader's command must roll randomly. Each leader then issues orders to the units under his command. Players do this by placing an order chip,face down, behind the unit. Regardless of how many orders a leader may issue, units may only receive one order per turn; excess orders are lost. It costs an additional leader point to issue an order to a unit that is greater than 24 inches from the leader Leaders do not need orders. They may move as cavalry in column, regardless of the number of orders they were able to issue during the Give-Orders phase. Orders: Orders that leaders may give their units are: Move: The unit may move between zero and the maximum inches rolled on movement dice by the owning player. Units may use their movement allowance to change facing. U.S. units may use a portion of their movement allowance to change formation. Charge: The unit charges toward the enemy, attempting to close into melee. The unit must move the maximum amount rolled on the movement dice or until it contacts the enemy, whichever is shorter. First Fire: The unit must fire during the First Fire phase or not at all. Hold Fire: The unit may fire during the Hold Fire phase, but it does not have to fire. Hold The unit may not move, and it may only fire if it is charged. The unit is engaged in reordering and recovering stragglers. Rally: The unit is broken and is attempting to regain control of itself Form: The unit may change formation, but it may not move in any other manner. Random Orders: Often leaders do not have enough orders to issue one to each unit. In this case, the player rolls 1d20 on the Random Orders table to determine what action the unordered unit will perform that turn. He then places an order chip representing the result of this roll behind the unordered units. A broken unit that is not issued an order does not roll for a random order. It continues to retreat during the Ali-Moves phase just as if it had failed an attempt to rally. Possible random orders are "move toward the enemy/fire if in range," "same as last turn," "same as peer unit halt," and "withdraw." A unit that randomly receives a "move toward enemy/fire if in range" order must move up to the maximum distance that is indicated by the die rolls (as described in Movement), if the nearest enemy unit is not in range. If there is an enemy unit in range and in the unit's front zone it must fire rather than move. "Same as last turn" is self-explanatory; however, if it does not make sense for the unit to do the same thing as last turn (e.g., Form), the game master may convert this order to Hall. "Same as peer," means that the unit should do the same as a like-sized unit to its left or right within its brigade. If the regiment has another regiment to both its left and right and they are performing different actions, the owning player should roll randomly to determine which of the two orders the regiment should be issued. "Halt," means that the unit may not move or fire that turn. "Withdraw," means that the unit must move a full move away from the enemy. This unit is not retreating, and it may move so that it continues to face the enemy (i.e., it may move backward). After Orders are Issued: Once all units have orders, whether intentional or random, players turn all order chips face up. Move and Charge orders have arrows on them, which must be oriented generally in the direction that the unit intends to move. Leader Ratings: LRs in SAR (T) range from zero to three. Most Mexican leaders should be rated as ones, with the exceptionally poor rated as zeros and the exceptionally good rated as twos. Most U.S. leaders should also be rated as ones; however, a larger percentage of leaders might be rated as twos. For example, Santa Anna and Sam Houston are only ones. Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott are twos. The assigning of a LR of three to a leader is largely a "religious argument;" however, one might rate Worth at Monterrey, Doniphan at Sacramento, Smith at Contreras, and Rincon at Churubusco as threes. Second Leader Ratings (Optional): The LRs in SAR (T) are meant to reflect the leader's administrative and command abilities. LRs are also used to reflect the personal affect the leader may have on a unit. For instance, when a leader is attached to a unit, he can add his leader rating to that unit's column in the Combat Resolution Table during melee. It is possible for a leader to be a poor commander (having a low LR) but have charismatic affect on soldiers. The game master might want to give such a leader two leader ratings, one he would use for command and one he would use for melee and rallying troops. Higher-Level Leaders and Missions: All leaders below the Army commander must have a Mission. This should be written on a piece of paper. A mission statement consists of two parts: a task and a purpose. Legal tasks are: attack, defend, pursue, delay, and move. The purpose can be anything that the commander desires. Mission statements must be oriented on terrain or units. For instance "Pillow's brigade attacks to seize hill 3" "Wool's brigade attacks to destroy the Third Mexican Division," "the First Dragoons will pursue the Mexican light cavalry," "Twigg's Brigade will move to that crossroads," "and "Worth's Brigade defends the center hill" are all examples of legal Missions. "Attack," "Defend," and "Move" are not. Also, the Missions issued to subordinate leaders must be consistent with the mission of the higher-level leader. If a division commander had an order to defend a hill, he cannot give attack Missions to the majority of his brigades. Higher-level leaders can use their orders to change the Missions of subordinate level leaders. There is a One-man delay at each level. When the Army commander changes the Mission for a division commander, he issues a Mission order and writes the new Mission on a piece of paper. During the Give Orders phase of the next turn, the division commander can read the new Mission. In the same turn that he reads his new Mission, he can issue Missions to his brigade commanders; however, they cannot read their new Missions until the next turn. Some regiments and batteries may not belong to subordinate leaders. For instance, a division might contain two infantry brigades and a division-level artillery battery. In addition to issuing Missions to his subordinate brigades, the division commander can also issue orders to the division-level artillery in the same manner that a brigade-level leader might. Finally higher-level leaders can issue orders to units in subordinate units. For example, a division commander could issue orders to a regiment within one of his brigades. Doing so costs double the number of leader points. Attaching Leaders: Leaders may attach themselves to one of their subordinate units. Brigade commanders may only attach themselves to units within their brigades, and division commanders may only attach themselves to units within their divisions; however, the army commander may attach himself to any of the units within his command. A leader attaches himself by moving into contact with a friendly unit during the movement phase. Once attached, leaders may only issue an order to the unit to which they are attached. During any subsequent movement phase the leader can freely detach himself from the unit by moving away. There is no penalty for doing this. Leaders may not detach themselves from units that are in melee. Poor Cavalry Coordination: The cavalry units which participated in this war, in particular the U.S. cavalry units, did not have much experience at working in large formations. When reading accounts of Mexican- American War battles one rarely comes across accounts of the coordinated use of cavalry. In SAR (T), the same player may control no more than one U.S. cavalry unit. This will make it difficult to mount massed cavalry attacks. The definition of a cavalry unit for purposes of this rule is generally a regiment. In many cases, the accounts of Mexican-American War battles describe actions by regiments that were in fact only two or three squadrons. (At Buena Vista, the U.S. I' Dragoons were in fact just two squadrons of the regiment. For purposes of this rule, the two squadrons of the 1st Dragoons together would be considered one unit.) Mexican cavalry regiments should be grouped into brigades of no fewer than four regiments. If a Mexican cavalry brigade has fewer than four regiments, the brigade commander's LR should automatically be zero. In most historical battles Mexican cavalry brigades have four or more regiments, but when players design hypothetical battles they should try to comply with this rule. Larger cavalry formations tend to be hard for Mexican leaders to control. This adds to Mexican command and control difficulties. Loss of Units (Optional): The way the rules are written, when a brigade loses a unit, this tends to lessen the command and control problems of the leader. This is counter-intuitive. Instead, for each unit a brigade loses, the LR of the brigade commander is reduced by one. The minimum LR is zero. Stragglers A key concept of SAR (T) is that of stragglers. In most rules systems, stragglers and casualties are combined abstractly. In SAR (T), however, stragglers are distinctly represented on the table. Units can accrue stragglers as a result of movement (men who have dropped out of formation due to fatigue), firing, and melee. All the stragglers from a given unit are bunched together six inches behind the parent unit. The soldiers those figures represent are not actually at that location. This is done as a convenient game mechanic. A given unit will have just one bunch of stragglers, which moves with the unit. Stragglers are not left six inches behind where they were accrued but are moved so that they are always six inches behind their unit's current location. Stragglers may not fire or melee. If enemy cavalry overrun a group of stragglers, half of the stragglers automatically become casualties. Enemy infantry ignore the mass of stragglers. Stragglers may not move independently of their parent unit. They must always be bunched together approximately six inches behind their parent unit; however, this bunch of stragglers can be repositioned to make room for formed units. Groups of stragglers do not block line of sight and they are not affected by fire. Losses to units are the sum of the stragglers from that unit and the casualties that unit has taken. While casualties are permanent, units with Hold orders may recover some number of stragglers. Recovering Stragglers: A unit with a Hold order may not move, and it may only fire if it is charged. If the unit with the Hold order does not fire or melee in that turn, it recovers 1d4 stragglers (untrained or green units) or 1d6 day stragglers (regular or veteran units). If the unit must fire or melee in a given turn the unit may only recover half (rounded down) of 1d4 (for untrained or green units) or 1d6 (for regular or veteran units) stragglers. Recovering of stragglers is done during the Rally phase. If a leader is attached to a unit that is trying to recover stragglers, the leader's LR may be added to the die roll (before the roll is halved). Also, if the recovering unit is behind friendly troops, walls, buildings, or fortifications, it may add two to the die roll (before the roll is halved). These last four conditions are not cumulative. Breaking : When a unit has more stragglers than effectives, the unit breaks and immediately moves a retreat move away from die enemy and assumes a "mob" formation (i.e., one that does not look like any of the legal formations described earlier), facing away from the enemy. For infantry this retreat move is 3d6, and for cavalry it is 5d6, regardless of the level of training of the unit. (This move may also accrue additional stragglers.) When a unit consists only of stragglers, the unit has been wiped out; all of the straggler castings are removed from the table. Stragglers and Skirmish Companies: This may seem a little confusing at first, but this rule is important in order to ensure results that make sense. First, losses to skirmish companies count against the regiment from which the companies were deployed. If losses on the skirmish company cause the regiment to break, the regiment and all detached skirmish companies break at the same time and form one mob. In addition, if the skirmish company itself has more stragglers than effectives, it breaks and retreats behind its regiment. Players may find that they spend quite a bit of time reforming their skirmish companies. Soaking Off Stragglers (Optional): When a unit takes losses through either musketry or cannon fire, the unit may "soak off" up to two of the stragglers by backing away from the enemy. Only stragglers can be soaked off, not casualties. For each straggler that the unit "soaks off," the unit must withdraw three inches (infantry) or six inches (cavalry) from the enemy that inflicted the casualties. Unlimbered artillery may not soak off stragglers. Stragglers are men who have decided to look out for themselves. If the entire unit is withdrawing in the face of enemy fire, fewer men may be enticed to flee the unit. Formations There are five basic formations in BAR (I): line, column, road column, skirmish, and square. A line formation is any formation other than column, road column, skirmish, and square. A column formation may be at most two companies wide. A column must be at most one company wide in order to be considered in road column. A unit must be in road column (or limbered artillery) to get the road bonus in movement. (In this period, U.S. regiments were composed of ten companies, and Mexican regiments were composed of eight companies. Divide the total number of figures in the regiment by this number to determine how many figures in a company.) Up to two companies may be detached from a regiment or battalion and used as skirmishers. These units in skirmish formation must be deployed so that no skirmishing casting is closer than three inches to any other casting or farther than five inches from any other casting. A unit, which has formed square, is arranged in a square shape with all castings facing outward. Regardless of formation, only the front rank of castings may fire. Up to three ranks of castings may melee. An infantry unit in square can only fire half of the front rank of each side of the square in a given turn. Movement Movement distances for units have both a fixed component and a random component. The more reliable the unit, the greater percentage of the unit's movement distance is fixed. The effects of terrain are also somewhat random. The ground on which most of Mexican-American War and War of Texas Independence battles were fought was generally rougher than battlefields in Europe or the Eastern part of the United States. This made it difficult for commanders to judge how long it would take their units to move certain distances. These rules were meant to reflect this uncertainty. To determine the maximum distance that a unit can move in a given turn, the player first determines the base movement distance. For instance, regular infantry's base movement distance is 5 inches plus the roll on 1D6 Then the player determines any modifiers (e.g., charge (1D6), column (+4 inches), etc.) At this point, the player rolls the required number of dice and determines the maximum movement distance. Except for changing facing (discussed below), all movement is measured from the center of the front of the unit. If the unit moves through woods, rough, or a strewn or over walls or hedges, the player rolls the appropriate number of dice and subtracts this distance from his unit's maximum distance. (The result of the terrain roll is subtracted from the result of the movement distance roll.) All movement modifiers are cumulative. Regardless of the results of the die rolls, a unit may always move up to two inches (one inch for unlimbered artillery) if the player wishes. When units move as a result of random orders, retreating, or charging, they must move the full distance indicated by the die rolls. (A charging unit stops when it contacts an enemy unit.) Otherwise units are not forced to move the entire distance indicated by the die rolls. Squares move at normal infantry (line) speeds. All leaders, regardless of nationality or LR move at Regular Cavalry column speeds. If a leader is attached to a unit, he moves at the same speed as the unit. All units of a given type retreat at the same speed, regardless of training. As indicated on the Movement Distances chart, all infantry retreats 3d6 inches, and all cavalry retreats 5d6 inches. Artillery retreats at its normal limbered movement speed. For infantry and cavalry (but not artillery), if the roll on any of the dice (movement, modifiers, or terrain) is a six, the unit accrues one straggler for each six rolled. Another effect of having less reliable units roll more dice for movement is that they are more likely to lose stragglers. A unit cannot break as a result of movement, so the number of stragglers is reduced to the point where the unit has exactly the same number of effectives (rounded up) as stragglers. All moves should be prorated, including the movements of charging units. It is possible for moving units to get in the way of a charging unit. The charging unit stops at the first formed, enemy unit with which it makes contact during the turn. Formation Changes: For Mexican units in the Mexican American War and for all units in the War of Texas Independence, it requires the entire turn and a Form order to change formation. For U.S. units, this requires five inches of the unit's movement distance. U.S. units put a move order on their units and spend the five inches to change formation as part of their move. If the unit has movement distance remaining, it can move also. The unit may change formation at any point during the movement. If the result of the die rolling for a U.S. unit is less than five inches, the unit may not change formation; it may only move. A unit that changes formation may not charge! U.S. units may also use Form orders if they do not also desire to move or if they want to ensure they will be able to change formation. Formation changes are made on the center, front of the unit. No facing changes are allowed as part of the formation change. Regardless of the movement allowance available, units may not conduct more than one formation change in a turn. Cavalry, which is issued a Form order, may mount or dismount or it may change formation in its current circumstance, but not both in the same turn. To detach one or two companies as skirmishers, the play follows the procedure described for splitting a unit into sub-units. During the AllMoves phase the skirmisher companies roll their dice. From that point until they reform with their parent unit, each skirmisher company is considered a separate unit for purposes of issuing orders; each skirmisher company must be issued a separate order. Skirmisher companies that are issued Form orders may either reform into their parent unit or they may form into an independent line. Skirmishers may not voluntarily move within close range of an enemy unit. Changing Facing: Units change facing by actually wheeling or turning the unit. No casting may move farther than the maximum distance allowed. Changing the facing of a unit 180 degrees costs 2 inches. Changing facing is a move function for an artillery unit. Oblique Moves: Units may conduct oblique movement (movement at an angle but in which facing remains the same). This may be done at no movement penalty. The oblique movement can be at most forty five degrees from straight-ahead. Passing Through Other Units: A unit may not pass through a formed, enemy unit. Units may pass through friendly units with several caveats. A formed unit that is not charging may pass through an unformed unit with no penalty. A formed unit that is charging may pass through an unformed unit, but the unformed unit accrues 1D4 casualties. Unformed units may pass through each other with no penalty. If any portion of a formed unit passes through any portion of a friendly, formed unit, both units accrue 1D4 stragglers (each unit rolls separately). If an unformed unit passes through a friendly, formed unit, the formed unit accrues 1d4 stragglers. Broken units (in mob formation) count as formed units (in mob formations) for purposes of this rule. These rules are summarized on the chart card. Firing "The infantry under General Taylor was armed with flint-lock muskets, and paper cartridges charged with powder, buck-shot and ball. At the distance of a few hundred yards a man might fire at you all day without your finding it out." -- Ulysses S. Grant, Memoirs Firing can be done in one of two phases, First Fire and Hold Fire, depending on the order that was issued to the unit. Regardless of when fire is conducted, the procedure is the same. The procedure is outlined on the chart card. All formed units have a thirty-degree arc of fire (fifteen degrees left and right of center). Artillery has a forty-five degree arc of fire (twenty-two-and-a-half degrees left and right of center). Skirmisher companies have a one-hundred-eighty-degree arc of fire (ninety degrees left and right of center). Skirmishers do not block line of sight. Units may fire through skirmishers (as discussed below). Stragglers do not block line of sight. They may not be fired at, but they may be freely fired through. Units may not fire at units that are engaged in melee. A unit conducts all fire at a single target unit. Any soldiers in the firing unit who cannot hit the target unit (e.g., out of firing arc or out of range) may not fire at all in the current turn. (The owning player may break this unit into multiple, separate units in order to fire at more than one target. This (along with the resultant command and control penalty) is described in the section, Units.) All weapons have designated short, medium, and long ranges. Weapon Ranges (in inches) Weapon Short Medium Long Ad hoc 0-2 2.1-4 4.1-7 Musket 0-4 4.1-8 8.1-14 Rifle none 0-12 12.1-19 Rifled Musket 0-6 6.1-15 15.1-24 Pistol none 0-1 1.1-2 3lb art. 0-4 4.1-8 8.1-16 6lb art. 0-5 5.1-11 11.1-22 12lb art. 0-7 7.1-13 13.1-26 24lb art. 0-8 8.1-16 16.1-32 Ad hoc weapons are collections of shotguns, muskets, worn-out flintlocks, pistols, etc. Many militia units, including many of the Texans at San Jacinto were armed with ad hoc weapons. The players can use tape measures to determine range, or they can mark the ranges from this chart onto sticks, with each range band a different color. We use sticks, because the wide color bands are easy to see from across the table. Range is measured from the center of all eligible firing castings to the center of all eligible target castings. Eligible castings must be within he legal firing arcs as described previously, not blocked by terrain, and within maximum range. 1. First, the player determines the starting column for the Combat Effects Chart. For infantry or cavalry units in short range, this is two times the number of castings firing. For units in medium range, this is the number of castings firing. For units at long range, this is one-fourth the number of castings firing. This range is measured from the center of the firing unit to the center of the target unit. If the firing unit is also mounted, the number of figures is multiplied by 1/4. For artillery, range and the poundage of the gun determine the initial column used. For artillery in short range, the column used is three times the gun's poundage. At medium range it is one times the poundage of the gun. At long range it is one third of the gun's poundage. Each cannon casting fires separately. The initial columns are numbered zero through sixteen. These numbers have no meaning except to help players apply modifiers. All fire and melee modifiers are read as column shifts. 2. Once this initial column is determined, this column may be modified as indicated in row 2 of the Firing Procedure chart. All modifiers are column shifts; a negative modifier shifts the column one to the left (e.g., from 4 to 3), and a positive modifier shifts the column one to the right. Any shifts left of column 0 are treated as column 0, and any shifts right of column 16 are treated as column 16. Units may fire at skirmishers (-4 modifier), or they may fire at the unit behind the skirmishers (-2 modifier), but not both. 2. Once the final column is determined, the player rolls 1d20, cross-indexing this roll with the final column. The resultant number is the total number of losses inflicted on the target unit. Allocating Losses: The general rule is that all the odd numbered losses (e.g., 1, 3, 5 ... ) are stragglers, and all the even numbered losses (e.g., 2, 4, 6 ... ) are casualties. This general rule is modified in three cases. If the target unit is in column or square, all losses after the first (e.g., 3, 4, 5 ... ) are casualties. If the firing unit is firing on the target unit's flank, all stragglers are doubled. If the firing unit is firing on the target unit's rear, all stragglers are tripled. These modifiers are cumulative. For instance a column fired on from the rear, receiving three losses would convert the second straggler to a casualty. Then it would triple the remaining straggler. U.S. artillery batteries only take one straggler per turn from fire, regardless of the results of fire. (If three losses were indicated on a U.S. battery, they would take one straggler and one casualty, ignoring the second straggler.) Texan and Mexican artillery batteries take stragglers normally. (They take stragglers normally as a result of melee.) Definition of Flank and Rear: Each unit has a front zone, a rear zone, and two flank zones. The flank zone for a unit is traced in a 30-degree angle outward from the front and back comers of the unit. If more than half (rounded up) of the firing castings are within the flank zone of the target unit, the firing unit gets credit for a flank attack: The rear zone of a unit is the area between the two flank zones behind the unit. If more than half (rounded up) of the firing castings are within the rear zone of the target unit, the firing unit gets credit for a rear attack. Initial Volley: The first time an infantry or a cavalry unit fires, it gets a +2 column shift. This is because after the first volley, a significant portion of the units' muskets will be fouled and/or misfire. A unit gets only one initial volley in a game. If a unit which has not used its initial volley is involved in a melee, its initial volley is wasted without the unit ever getting the modifier (i.e., the initial volley does not count in melee, but the unit has fired its muskets). Ammunition: If a unit rolls a 1 on the d20 when firing, the unit is low on ammunition for the remainder of the game. This means that the unit multiplies the number of firing castings by 1/2 for the remainder of the game. Breaking: If the target unit has more stragglers than effectives as a result of fire, the unit immediately breaks. The owning player rolls a retreat move away from the enemy, possibly accruing additional stragglers as a result of this move. All firing within a phase occurs simultaneously, so a unit with a fire order for that fire phase which breaks as a result of fire may still fire with all castings present at the beginning of the phase. If an artillery unit breaks as a result of fire, the gunners take the guns with them. Melee The melee procedure is very similar to that for firing. There are, however, extra steps that are involved in melee: rolling to close, rolling to stand, and possibly rolling to form square. (All of these steps occur during the Melee phase.) The only way for a melee to occur is for at least one of the units involved to have declared a charge; moving units may not move closer than one inch from an enemy unit without charge orders. Units in skirmish formation may only declare charges at other units that are also in skirmish formation. If the charging unit does not have enough movement allowance to close with an enemy unit, it moves the entire rolled distance. Then the charging unit takes an additional 1d4 stragglers. This rules is meant to simulate the disordering effects of charging and to discourage charges that are unlikely to close. Rolling to Close: If any portion of the charging unit contacts any portion of an enemy unit, the charging unit must roll to close. Very often units would stop short of the enemy and start a firefight rather than actually initiate a melee. To reflect this, after receiving defensive fire (if the target could fire), during the Melee phase the charging unit must roll to close. To do this, the charging player rolls 1d20 and subtracts the total losses from the charging unit from fire this turn. The player then adds all the modifiers shown on the chart. These modifiers are in pairs; the first one applies to rolling to close, and the second applies to rolling to stand. The player then looks up this modified die roll on the Roll to Close or Stand chart, following the results listed. A quarter volley is a volley with only one fourth of the eligible figures. If the unit has to take additional stragglers, and these straggles force the charging unit to break, the player immediately rolls a charge move away from the enemy, possibly accruing additional stragglers as a result of this move. Units automatically close with the rear of a retreating enemy or with skirmishers; no roll is necessary Rolling to Stand: If the charging unit successfully closes, the target unit must roll to stand and attempt to repel the charge. The procedure is exactly the same as for rolling to close; however, only total casualties are subtracted from the die roll, not total losses. If the unit breaks as a result of rolling for stragglers, the player immediately rolls a retreat move away from the enemy, possibly accruing additional stragglers as a result of this move. A result of retreat in this case is not the same as breaking. The unit must retreat straight away from the charging enemy unit (facing away from that unit), but it can be issued orders normally next turn, and it does not have to rally. If after the retreating moves, the charging unit still has enough movement to make contact, melee ensues. This melee is considered to be against the retreating unit's rear. Definition of Flank and Rear: Each unit has a front zone, a rear zone, and two flank zones. The flank zone for a unit is traced in a 30-degree angle outward from the front and back comers of the unit. If a charging unit spends its entire move in the flank zone of an enemy unit, it gets credit for a flank attack. The rear zone of a unit is the area between the two flank zones behind the unit. If a charging unit spends its entire move in the rear zone of an enemy unit, it gets credit for a rear attack. Charging Through Skirmishers: When a charging unit meets a line of enemy skuimishers, the skirmishers must fall back. To do this , the skirmishers roll a normal movement roll (even if they have already fired in the First Fire phase). They then withdraw the distance indicated by this roll. If the charging unit strikes the skirmishers anyway, all of the skirmishers become stragglers. If the charging unit has movement remaining after scattering the skirmishers, the unit may continue its charge, possibly contacting a formed enemy unit. Melee Procedure: If the charging unit closes and the charged unit stands, melee occurs. As for fire, the first step in melee is to determine the starting column on the Combat Effects Chart. In melee, all effectives in the units in contact count as participants. If a unit is attacked on the flank or rear, it only counts half of the effectives in contact. This initial column is modified in exactly the same manner as it was for firing; however, there are a few additional modifiers and two exceptions. The exceptions are for skirmisher units and artillery crews. Rather than applying the -4, fire modifier when attacking a unit in skirmish order or an artillery crew, the attacking unit applies a +4 modifier. lf both units, however, are in skirmish formation, neither unit applies a skirmish modifier. The cavalry vs. mounted rifles modifier should be used when saber-armed cavalry melees against cavalry with no melee weapons (like mounted rifles). Some units of mounted rifles are armed with sabers. In this case, the modifier should not apply. The smaller side in a melee uses the outnumbered modifier. The smaller side divides the difference in the size of the forces in contact (the A) by five, rounding down. This number is applied as a negative column shift. For instance a unit outnumbered by six castings would apply a -1 column shift, while a unit outnumbered by 3 castings would apply no column shift. The additional melee modifiers are selfexplanatory. Both players then roll 1d20 allocating losses in the same manner as for fire. The effect of column formation on loss allocation is not used for melee; melee losses are allocated against columns normally. If after both players have taken casualties, neither side has broken, immediately roll a second round of melee with the remaining participants. If after this second round, neither unit has broken, the two units are locked in melee for subsequent turns. This allows either (or both) player to add more units to the fray. If cavalry does not break an infantry square after the first turn of melee (two rolls), the cavalry rolls a retreat move away from the enemy, taking an additional 1d4 stragglers. Otherwise, the two units recalculate participants, modify the column, and re-roll their dice twice each turn until one side or the other breaks. Results of Melee: When one of the units in the melee breaks, the other unit may occupy the broken unit's position, continuing to face in the same direction. If the victorious unit is mounted cavalry, it must then roll on the Cavalry Breakthrough chart. Victorious dismounted cavalry is treated as infantry. Artillery that is victorious remains in its current position. Regardless of die rolls, cavalry units are only allowed one break through per turn. If a cavalry unit is victorious twice in the same turn, it does not roll for a breakthrough after the second victory. The green Mexican unit with 10 castings charged the regular U.S. unit with 14 castings. The US unit only inflicted one straggler as a result of fire. The Mexican unit rolled a 12 to close. Since 12 -2 (green) +3 (charging) =13 was greater than or equal to 12, the Mexican unit closed The US. unit rolled a 19 to hold. In melee, the Mexican unit has 9 effectives and the US unit has 14 effectives. The Mexican unit begins in column 3 of the Combat Effects Table -1 (green) +2 (charging) -I (outnumbered, since 14 - 9 = 5) -- ending in column 3. The US. unit begins in column 4 +1 (US Inf. Or Cav.) - column 5. The Mexican player rolled a 20, which in column 3 results in 4 losses (2 stragglers and 2 casualties). The US player rolled a 3, which in column 5 results in I loss (a straggler). At the end of this round of melee, the US unit has 10 effectives and 2 stragglers. The Mexican unit has 8 effectives and 2 stragglers. Since neither side has more stragglers than effectives, the melee continues for a second round. In this round the Mexican unit uses column 3 -1 (green) - the 2 column. Note that the Mexican unit no longer receives the charging bonus and is no longer outnumbered. The US. unit uses column 4 +1 (US Inf. Or Cav.) -- column 5. The Mexican player rolls a 12, resulting in 1 more US straggler. The US player rolls a 13, resulting in 2 stragglers and 1 casualty. Since they do not have more stragglers than effectives, neither unit breaks, and they remained locked in melee until next turn. The unit that broke in the melee immediately rolls a retreat move away from the enemy and assumes a "mob" formation (i.e., one that does not look like any of the legal formations described earlier), facing away from the enemy. If the broken unit is infantry and the victorious unit is cavalry, the broken unit takes additional 1d4 stragglers. The stragglers are placed behind the unit. Since it is now facing away from the enemy, the stragglers will actually be closer to the enemy than their parent unit is. It is possible for cavalry to breakthrough into the unit's stragglers. If this happens, half the stragglers become casualties. Adding Units to Melee: If one or more players would like to add units-to an existing melee (one in which neither side broke in a previous turn) they may do so in the following manner. New units may be added in either direct or indirect contact with the enemy. Units in indirect contact, supporting units, are those that touch friendly units in melee but do not directly contact enemy units. All units that wish to add their mass to the melee must have charge orders. These units roll their movement distances as if conducting any other charge. If these units do not have enough movement allowance to close, they take 1d4 stragglers as described earlier. Units that will be in indirect contact do not roll to close; if they have enough movement allowance, they automatically close on the friendly unit. Units in direct contact must roll to close as described earlier. The units already in melee do not roll to stand. During melee resolution, all effectives in supporting units are used to compute the outnumbered modifier. Only units in direct contact will actually roll on the Combat Effects Chart. Units in direct contact may apply the charge column shift only in their first die roll. Follow-Up Charges (Optional): A follow-up charge occurs when unit charges the turn immediately after it conducted a charge. When this happens, the charging unit rolls 1d4 stragglers before rolling movement dice. If these stragglers would cause the unit to break, the number of stragglers is reduced to one fewer than the number needed to break, and the unit that attempted to charge may not perform any actions that turn. Multiple-Unit Melees: Often more than two units will be involved in the melee. In this case, the total number of participants is calculated as described earlier. All castings in contact and up to three ranks deep of castings straight back from those in contact will participate in the melee. This total number of participants is used to determine the outnumbered modifier. Each unit then rolls separately (with only its participants as the initial column) and all losses are summed for each side. Once the number of losses for each side is calculated, the losses are randomly allocated to the units involved. In this way it is possible for one of two attacking units to take more casualties than the other. It is also possible for one unit to primarily lose stragglers and the other to primarily lose casualties. Forming Emergency Square: During the War with Mexico and the War of Texas Independence, it was still common practice for infantry to form a hollow square to repel enemy cavalry. While this tactic was not generally as important in these wars as it was in the Napoleonic Wars, it was used often. 'me modifier for cavalry versus infantry not in square is not as devastating in Santa Anna Rules as it would be in a set of Napoleonic rules, because often infantry chose to oppose cavalry from line. This was due to the rough nature of the terrain, which often prevented enemy cavalry sweeping around the flanks of the infantry or gaining empetus. When a cavalry unit declares a charge against an infantry unit, the charged player must decide at that point whether his unit will attempt to form square. If so, the player rolls 1d20 and applies the modifiers shown on the Forming Emergency Square chart. The result is the distance that the charging cavalry moves before the infantry forms square. If this role is smaller than the distance between the cavalry and the infantry, the infantry forms square. If the roll was greater than the distance between the two units, the cavalry strikes the infantry unit in disorder. Only 25% of the castings count as participants in the upcoming melee. If the infantry is in disorder, the cavalry does not have to roll to close. In the unlikely occurrence of a tie, the square forms. Artillery: The gun was prepared for their reception, being loaded with grape, and we waited with some anxiety to see its effects. On they came till near the bottom of the ravine, and within two or three hundred yards of us, when the howitzer sent its murderous contents among them. I never saw such sudden havoc and confusion caused by a single shot. It swept right into the head of the advancing column, killing and wounding a great number of those in advance. George Ballentine at Cerro Gordo This section defines rules that are unique to artillery units. Most of this information is found in other sections of the rules as well, but it is grouped here for easy reference. Artillery Functions: U.S. artillery (less than or equal to twelve pounders) may perform two functions in a turn. It costs the leader one point to give the U.S. artillery unit both orders, not two points. All other artillery may only perform one function. Functions for artillery are move, limber, unlimber, and fire. A battery may only fire once in a turn, regardless of how many functions it has. Functions that are not used in a given turn are lost; they may not be saved up and used in subsequent turns. Limbered artillery may not fire. Limbering and unlimbering occurs during the All-Moves phase. Miscellaneous Information: Artillery units do not get the bonus for initial volley. Artillery must be unlimbered to fire. Artillery batteries move as units; however, fire is conducted by individual gun casting. All guns within the unit must fire at the same target. If the player wishes his artillery to fire at separate targets, he must break the artillery into separate sub-units, as described in Units. If an artillery unit breaks as a result of fire, the gunners take the guns with them during their retreat. If an artillery unit breaks as a result of melee or failing to stand for melee, the gunners leave the guns behind. Artillery retreats at their normal, limbered speed, even if they leave the guns behind. All units apply a -4 column shift when firing at unlimbered artillerists. There is no modifier for fire against limbered artillerists. All units apply a +4 column shift when in melee against unlimbered artillerists. U.S. artillery batteries only take one straggler per turn from fire, regardless of the results of fire. (If three losses were indicated on a U.S. battery, they would take one straggler and one casualty, ignoring the second straggler.) Texan and Mexican artillery batteries take stragglers normally. (They take stragglers normally as a result of melee.) Keeping a Gun in Operation: A gun casting may continue to fire and move normally as long as two castings man it. At least one of the castings must be an artillerist casting. A leader may detach infantry castings from infantry regiments (with a Form order) and attach them to artillery castings in order to keep the guns manned. When a gun with a mixed crew takes losses, the player must determine randomly whether the loss was one of the artillerist castings or one of the infantry castings. Artillerymen may be detached from one gun crew and attached to another in order to keep guns in operation. This constitutes a move for the crewmen, even if the guns are collocated. A gun with only one casting manning it takes two functions to perform what is normally one function of activity; a crew that normally has two functions per turn gets only one, and a crew that normally gets one function per turn gets one every other turn. A Note on Canister: There is no explicit canister modifier in the Firing Procedure chart. Artillery fire at close range (x3) is considered to be canister fire. Artillery Ammunition (Optional: Artillery batteries run low on ammunition as described in Firing; however, unlike cavalry and infantry, it is possible for artillery units to get more ammunition. To replenish ammunition, the battery must move to the location of the army's wagon train. After spending a turn touching a wagon model, the battery has been replenished, and it may fire normally - until it rolls low on ammunition again! Damage to Artillery (Optional): When artillery receives losses from artillery fire, there is a chance that a gun will be damaged. For each casualty inflicted on the artillery, roll 1d2O. If the roll is 1, a gun was destroyed. Since each cannon casting represents two guns, mark this in some way. For the remainder of the game, fire from that casting is halved. (If the casting is also low on ammunition, its fire is quartered.) When a cannon is destroyed the unit must immediately roll to route on the Roll to Rally or Route chart. Cavalry Cavalry during the Mexican-American War and the War of Texas Independence was not the same powerfull arm as that of Napoleonic armies; however, there are aspects of cavalry that are unique. This section covers those rules that reflect these aspects. Unlike infantry, whole cavalry units may form skirmish order. They can do this either mounted or dismounted. Like infantry skirmishers, cavalry in skirmish order may not voluntarily move within close range of a formed unit. When firing, a mounted cavalry unit multiplies the number of castings firing by 1/4. This is in addition to any range modifiers used to determine the starting column in the Combat Effects Chart. Dismounted cavalry units do not apply this additional modifier. If enemy cavalry overrun a group of stragglers, half of the stragglers automatically become casualties. Cavalry Counter Charge (Optional): Under certain circumstances, mounted cavalry may change their order. If mounted cavalry is on a Hold order and an enemy unit (of any type) passes or moves within six inches, the cavalry may attempt to convert their order to a Charge order. If charging enemy cavalry passes or moves within ten inches of a mounted cavalry unit it may automatically convert its order to a Charge order. At any time that mounted cavalry is charged by other cavalry, they may convert their order to Charge. In all of the cases described in this section, the unit that triggers the change of order must be within the front zone as described in Firing. In the case of cavalry on a Hold order that must attempt to convert their order, the player must roll 11d20. Subtract the number of losses in the unit. Add or subtract the training modifiers from the left column of row (2) of the Firing Procedure chart. If the final result is greater than ten, the player may change the order. Cavalry Firearm : Most cavalry, including the Mexican lancers, were armed with some sort of firearm. The game master must determine before the game begins the weapons (usually carbines or ad hoc weapons) that a cavalry unit carries. For simplicity, all castings within a unit are armed identically. Mounting and Dismounting: Generally cavalry fought dismounted, && dragoons. This was particularly true of U.S. cavalry formations. U.S. cavalry units may mount or dismount as part of their move. As indicated on the Movement Distances chart, this costs U.S. cavalry five inches of its movement distance. If the total move for the unit was less than five inches, it may still dismount. For Mexican and Texan cavalry units, the unit must have a Form order to mount or dismount, and this takes the entire turn. One casting in four (rounded up) in the dismounted cavalry unit must be placed three inches behind the line of effectives. These are the horse holders for the unit. At the end of each turn, the owning player may readjust the number of horse holders in his dismounted cavalry unit to reflect losses. Cavalry Breakthrough: When a mounted cavalry unit breaks another unit (of any type) in melee, it must roll on the Cavalry Breakthrough chart in order to determine the results. While less so in the Mexican-American War and the War of Texas Independence, cavalry during this time period had a tendency to not return after a mounted charge or to be badly disorganized. This chart is meant to reflect this idea. Most of the results on this chart are selfexplanatory. All breakthroughs should generally be along the initial charge line; however, they may deviate up to thirty degrees from this line in order to strike an enemy unit. If the additional stragglers caused by a Breakthrough or Charge! result would cause the cavalry unit to break, it conducts the Breakthrough or Charge! and then breaks. If cavalry does not break an infantry square after the first turn of melee (two rolls), the cavalry rolls a retreat move away from the enemy, taking an additional Wit stragglers. If mounted cavalry breaks infantry, it inflicts additional Wit stragglers on the infantry. Victorious dismounted cavalry is treated as infantry, and it does not roll on the Cavalry Breakthrough chart. Regardless of the rolls, cavalry only gets one breakthrough in a turn. If cavalry wins a second melee, it does not roll on the Cavalry Breakthrough chart after the second victory. Infantry While most of the rules were written with infantry in mind, there are a few ideas that bear amplification and clarification in this section. Whole infantry units may not form skirmish order. One or two companies may be detached from the regiment to skirmish. Often one of these companies might be armed with rifles, while the second would not. Skirmishers may not voluntarily move within close range of a formed enemy unit. The first time that an infantry unit fires it applies a +2 initial volley modifier. This is meant to reflect the idea that after a first volley a certain percentage of muskets would be fouled or misfire during each volley. Infantry units may never charge mounted cavalry units. An infantry unit broken in melee by a mounted cavalry unit accrues 1d4 additional stragglers. Leader Casualties: If a leader is attached to a unit that takes any losses in a turn, there is a chance that the leader may be killed. Roll 1d2O for the leader. If the roll is less than or equal to the number of losses that the unit to which he is attached took this turn, the leader is hit. Roll on the Leader Casualty Table to determine the extent of the wounds. Leader Casualty Table 1-4: Minor wound. No orders next turn. Rol randomly for units. 5-8: Serious wound. No orders next two turns. Units roll randomly. 9-12: Serious wound. Leader must be replaced, but may issue orders for one more turn before being dragged away. If replacement leader does not arrive before this leader is dragged away, units roll randomly. 13-16: Incapacitating wound. Leader must be replaced. Unit received 1 straggler (accompany leader to hospital. 17-20: Dead. Leader must be replaced. Dead or incapcitated leaders are replaced in 1d4 turns for Mexicans and 1d4-2 turns for Texans. The replacement leader's LR is one less than that of the dead or incapacitated leader, but the minimum leader rating is zero. Until the replacement leader takes over, all units within the dead leader's command must roll randomly for orders. Leaders do not have to roll randomly while awaiting a replacement; they must continue to try to execute the last mission they received. Morale and Rallying If a unit has more stragglers than effectives as a result of fire or melee, the unit immediately breaks. The owning player rolls a retreat move away from the enemy, possibly accruing additional stragglers as a result of this move. The unit is placed in a mob formation (i.e., one other than the five legal formations), facing away from the enemy. All firing within a phase occurs simultaneously, so a unit with a fire order for that fire phase which breaks as a result of fire may still fire with all castings present at the beginning of the phase. If an artillery unit breaks as a result of fire, the gunners take the guns with them during their retreat. If an artillery unit breaks as a result of melee or as a result of failing to stand for melee, the gunners leave the guns behind. A unit may break during either fire phase or during the melee phase. It may not break as a result of movement. If a unit accrues stragglers as a result of movement, the number of stragglers is reduced to one fewer than the number needed to break. Rallying: A broken unit remains broken until it successfully rallies. During the Rally phase a unit with a Rally order my attempt to rally. The player rolls 1d20, and consults the Roll to Rally or Route chart, applying all appropriate modifiers. Then the player determines the result in the To Rally column of the chart. Untrained units may not rally. Once these units are broken, they move at retreat speeds each turn until they reach the edge of the table. Then they are removed from the game. If a unit runs off the edge of the table, record the number of off-table retreats before the unit rallies. Once rallied, it must wait that many turns before reentering the table. Once a unit rallies, it assumes one of the legal formations with just enough of its stragglers regained to not be broken (there are the same number of stragglers as effectives). Next turn the unit can once again be given any order. Leader Rallies (Optional): If a leader has leader points to bum during the Give-Orders phase, he can issue a Rally order to a group of stragglers within three inches of himself During the rally phase, a number of stragglers equal to the leader's LR return to their parent unit - even if that unit did not have a hold order. Routing: If a unit sees a friendly unit break, it must roll on the To Route column of the Roil to Rally or Route chart. A unit sees a friendly unit break if the breaking unit is to its front (ninety degrees left or right of center), within 24 inches, and not blocked by intervening terrain. Units that route may also cause other units to make route checks. A unit rolls once for each friendly unit that it sees route or break. This rule makes it possible for one broken unit to cause panic across a whole sector of the line. Fortifications and Buildings The Plaza in the centre [sic] of the city was a citadel, properly speaking. All the streets leading ftom it were swept with artillery, cannon being intrenched [sic] behind temporary parapets. The house-tops near the plaza were converted into infantry fortifications by the use of sand-bags for parapets. Ulysses Grant at Monterey Even a casual reading of Mexican-American War histories will reveal that a large proportion of battles centered around built up areas and fortifications (Monterrey, Veracruz, Churubusco, Chapultepec, and to a lesser extent Cerro Gordo). This small section is designed to give some guidance on war gaining battles involving fortifications and built-up areas. Fortifications (and buildings for that matter) may not be constructed in the course of a game; the must be present when the game begins. These take far longer to build than time involved in the battle. Building models in SAR (T) represent small clusters of buildings. For simplicity, a regiment may occupy a building model. The castings can be placed inside or placed, facing outward, around the edges of the building model. As many castings as will fit in the fortifications models are under cover. As indicated in the Firing Procedure and Melee Procedure charts, firing at or engaging in melee with units in buildings or fortifications is harder than with those in the open. All figures may fire out of fortifications; however, only one quarter of the regiment may fire out of each side of a building model. Reducing Fortifications: Artillery should be able to reduce fortifications and buildings. For purposes of this rule, divide the fortifications into four-inch segments. Each section has a set number of fortification points. As a rule of thumb, basic recommended fortification points are: Heavy fortifications 60 Light fortifications 30 Building 20 The artillery player must decide before rolling the die whether he will fire at the troops behind the fortifications or the fortifications themselves. If he is firing at the fortifications, he conducts fire normally; however, he does not subtract the cover or skirmish modifiers. Any losses indicated on the Combat Effects Chart are deducted from the fortification's fortification points. The units behind the fortifications are unaffected by the fire. When a section's fortification points are reduced to half their original value, that section is considered to be one level of fortification less (e.g., a heavy fortification section which has 28 points remaining would be considered light fortifications). When the number of fortification points is reduced to zero, that section is considered to be rough. No fortifications or buildings may be reduced below rough. Hidden Units (Optional) Hidden units played a significant role in several Mexican-American War battles, particularly Cerro Gordo and Contreras. To simulate this effect in a game, the game master should keep track of the movement of hidden units on a map of the battlefield. Once these hidden units are within line of sight of a unit that is on the table, the hidden unit too should be placed on the table. There may be times when the hidden unit is not clearly visible but may be spotted. For instance, if a hidden unit moves to the edge of a rough area, the edge of a ravine, or the edge of a wood line there should be some opportunity for a unit on the table within line of site to spot the hidden unit. To account for this, start with the number twenty-five. Subtract one from this for every five castings in the hidden unit, and subtract one for every five castings in all units that might potentially spot the hidden unit. Finally roll 1d20. If the roll is greater than the final number, the hidden unit is spotted, and it should be placed on the table. A roll of one is always a miss. The game master might want to apply some additional modifiers to this die roll depending on the type of terrain in which the hidden unit is concealed, weather, etc. Hidden units are still subject to all the same command rules as units that are visible. Hidden units that are not issued orders must roll randomly. Miscellany This section of the rules covers a couple of miscellaneous personal observations that do not fit anywhere else in the rules. They include suggestions for range sticks for weapons, order cubes, and dealing with troops who are mounted several to a base. Range Sticks: It seems to make the game go a little faster if the game master prepares range sticks. I make them out of small strips of balsa or bass wood cut to the maximum range of a weapon (e.g., a musket stick would be 14 inches long). Then I paint each of the range bands (short, medium, and long) different colors. Now, instead of measuring a range and then looking that range up in the Weapon Ranges chart (two steps), the range can be determined in one step. You might even mark the back side of the stick with marks every inch to use for movement. Order Cubes: This idea came from Doug Rockwell in Maryland. It can slow a game down looking for the correct order chip. What works well is to have the order chips copied onto gum labels. Cut them out and stick them in a random fashion to 3/4 inch wooden cubes (available at any craft store). Issue these cubes one per unit. During the Give-Orders phase, the players place their order cubes behind their units, with the order they desire face up. Use blank counters to cover the top face.Because the labels were placed on the cube in a random manner (each cube being different), opposing players can get no idea from the side faces what the order is. In SAR (T), there are seven orders, but you can leave the Rally order off the cube. Units that must rally should use the Form order. This will not be confusing, since broken units can only retreat or attempt to form. Figures Mounted Several to a Base: Many of you already have your figures mounted several to a base. This makes casualties and stragglers difficult. If this is your situation, use two different colors of casualty caps: one color for stragglers and one for casualties. When you fill a base with casualties, remove it from the table. When you fill a base with stragglers, move them behind the unit as described in the rules. Marking: We suggest that you place a one-inch piece of brown pipe cleaner on all units at the start of the game. This indicates that the unit has not fired its initial volley. When a unit uses its initial volley or loses it due to melee, remove this piece of pipe cleaner. We use one- inch sections of red and yellow pipe cleaner to mark broken units and units which are low on ammunition, respectively. Designer's Notes During the numerous play tests that players in Aberdeen, MD, Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, GA, Detroit, MI, and St. Louis, MO, conducted, the play testers posed some questions about design decisions that I would like to address here, apart from the rules themselves. Even the great battles of these two wars were very small by European standards or in comparison with the battles of the American Civil War just thirteen years later. As such, I wanted to design a system in which players could feel challenged by control of a brigade. In order to make a brigade challenging and fun, I needed to create some tactical dilemmas that are usually abstracted away at higher levels. The eventual system, while simple in concept, makes the management of units, skirmish companies, stragglers, and possibly artillery exciting - even for U.S. brigadiers with only two regiments. Stragglers: At first this may seem a little foreign to the players. While it is not my original idea (thanks to Ron Prillaman of Northern Virginia), it is quite unique. Players familiar with reenactments will recognize the phenomenon of men dropping out of formation during a simple movement across an open field - even when not under fire. In pushing the player closer to the troops, stragglers were an aspect of 19th Century warfare that I chose to "un-abstract." Command and Control: There are a number of aspects of SAR (T) that work together to make the experience of commanding a division or brigade interesting. Some of the aspects are subtler than others, and they are scattered throughout the rules. The first is the notion that U.S. brigades contained fewer units than did Mexican brigades. This simplifies the command and control problems for the U.S. players. More obvious command and control mechanisms are leaders' LRs and random orders for unordered units. The random orders are a key to the whole feel of SAR (T). Military formations behave according to Newton's laws. A body of men tends to remain stationary unless acted on by an external force, and a body of men tends to keep moving unless acted on by another external force. Units tend to do what other units near them are doing. But units without orders most often do something. Regiments have commanders, and in the absence of guidance, those commanders will probably do something, even if it is not what their commanders wanted. Morale: The use of stragglers allowed me to abstract away many of the messy morale mechanisms which clutter a game - and imply more precision than most game designers can honestly claim. While morale may be one of the most significant aspects of war in the 19th Century, this is handled subtly in SAR (T). Notice that there are no disordered states of units in these rules. It is up to the controlling player to determine when a unit is too disorganized (i.e., has too few effectives) and must be reorganized. A general maxim that is applicable even today is that when a unit reaches half strength it becomes ineffective. You will find that by the time they reach half strength, your units will have broken at least once. Casualties on Columns: From reading a number of memoirs, particularly of Napoleonic artillery officers, it seems clear that columns were not easier to hit than other formations. In fact as smaller targets, they were probably harder to hit. Rounds that struck the column, however, tended to be more effective due to the density of the formation. This is true of flanks as well. This is why there are no column shifts for columns, flanks, or squares, only modifiers to the losses the unit takes if it is hit. A byproduct of this method is that tighter formations tend to have fewer stragglers. Lancers: Some of the play testers argued that lancers should get a positive modifier during all rounds of melee, not just the initial impact. Most memoirs seem to agree that after the initial impact, the lance was in fact a handicap in melee as swordsmen could easily "get inside" of the lance. While the lance might be effective against infantry, Nosworthy concludes, "well-trained troopers armed only with swords would ultimately best well-trained lancers." References: Ballentine, George. Autobiography of an English Soldier in the United States Army. Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1986. Bauer, K. Jack. The Mexican War, 1846-1848. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. Eisenhower, John S. D. So Far From God: The U.S. War with Mexico, 1846-1848. New York: Doubleday, 1989. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs. New York: Da Capo Press, 1982. Henry, Robert Selph, The Story of the Mexican War. New York: Da Capo Press, 1950. McWhiney, Grady and Perry D. Jamieson. Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage University of Alabama Press, 1982. Nosworthy, Brent. With Musket, Cannon, and Sword: Battle Tactics of Napoleon and His Enemies. New York: Sharpedon, 1996. Selby, John. The Eagle and the Serpent: The Invasions of Mexico: 1519 and 1846. New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc. Acknowledgements: Just prior to beginning work on these rules for Old Glory, I moved from Aberdeen, Maryland, to College Station, Texas. In order to do any historical gaming I had to drive over an hour to Austin. Gaining groups across the country did a great deal of play testing for me. This actually proved to be a blessing in disguise, since the players had to test the rules based on what I wrote, not what I meant. If you like SAR (T) much of the credit goes to those who helped test the rules. If you dislike SAR (T), the blame is mine. I would like to acknowledge the advice and help I received from many people. Rob (if a period is worth gaming in one scale, it is worth gaming in several scales) Dean, Chris "McGyver, Palmer, Eric "Johnny Reb" Schlegel, and the Harford Area Weekly Kriegspielers (HAWKS) gave the rules a good workout in Maryland. Also thanks to Chris Palmer, Kurt Schlegel, Eric Schlegel, Rob Dean, Geoff Graff, Rich Shipley, Bob Suckling, Doug Rockwell, Andy Haag, and Jamie Davis of the HAWKS for offering to help paint some figures for me. Cory Ring provided much advice on the basic concepts of the rules, and he helped me get my demonstration army ready for convention games. Eric Burgess (and his Charlotte group) went through the rules with a fine-toothed comb. He really helped me clarify what I meant to say, and he suggested numerous additions to the rules booklet. He also conducted the bulk of the research that resulted in the army lists for the Mexican-American War. Thanks also to Bob Marshall and Al Slisinger in Detroit who provided useful feedback and early help on uniform information. Glossary: Ad Hoc Weapons: Some units, particularly Texan militia were armed with whatever weapons the volunteers brought with them. These often consisted of shotguns, beyond-useful-service flinflocks, horse pistols, etc. Units armed in such a way are considered to have ad hoc weapons. Break: A unit breaks when it has more stragglers than effectives. When a unit breaks, it immediately rolls a retreat move away from the enemy, possibly accruing additional stragglers as a result of this move. Units may break as a result of fire or melee but never as a result of movement. Casualties: Casualties are soldiers who are dead or wounded. Casualties may not be recovered during a game. Command: Those units under the command of a given leader. Generally a command is a brigade-sized unit. D4: a four-sided die having values of one to four. 1D4 means roll one four-sided die; 2d4 means roll two four-sided dice; and so on. D6: a six-sided die having values of one to six. 1d6 means roll one six-sided die; 2d6 means roll two six- sided dice; and so on. D20: a twenty-sided die having values of one to twenty. 1d20 means roll one twenty-sided die; 2d20 means roll two twenty-sided dice, and so on. Disorder: This is not an actual state in SAR (T). Units are only considered disordered as a result of failing to form hasty square against a cavalry charge. This is not a lasting effect, but it indicates that the failing infantry may not fire on die charging cavalry and that only 25% of its effectives may participate in the upcoming melee. Effectives: Effectives are soldiers of a unit who are neither stragglers nor casualties. Formed Unit: Infantry or cavalry units in line, column, or square. Also limbered artillery is considered a formed unit. Fortification Points: A measure of how difficult it is to reduce a given section of fortifications by artillery. In Direct Contact: Units in contact in melee are those that have castings touching an enemy unit. Units in contact use all their effectives and roll for damage against the enemy. (See Supporting.) Leader Rating (LR): Each leader in SAR (T) has a leader rating between 0 and 3. This is added to the roll on 1d4 at the start of each turn to determine how many orders the leader can issue. Losses: Losses are the sum of all casualties and all stragglers taken by a unit. Mission: A general task that commanders must attempt to accomplish. Higher-level leaders may change the Missions of their subordinate leaders. Mob Formation: A formation other than one of the five legal formations. Units who break or retreat are placed in a mob formation until they rally. Stragglers: Stragglers are men who have fled the unit or dropped out of the unit during movement. Stragglers may be recovered by issuing a Hold order to the unit. Supporting: Supporting units are those units involved in a melee but do not touch any enemy units. The number of effectives in supporting units is used to determine the magnitude of the outnumbered column modifier. (See In Direct Contact). Orders: Commands given to units by placing order chips behind the unit during the Give-Orders phase of each turn. Unformed Unit: An infantry or cavalry unit that is in skirmish formation. Unlimbered artillery is considered to be an unformed unit. Unit: A unit is the basic element of SAR (T). A unit is generally a regiment, battalion, or artillery battery, but a unit may also be a detached skirmish company, cavalry squadron, etc. Leader figures are not units. About the Author Buck Surdu holds a Bachelor of Science from West Point in Computer Science, a Master of Business Administration from Columbus State University, and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Florida State University. He was commissioned a lieutenant of infantry in 1985 and has served in airborne and mechanized infantry assignments. He is currently serving as an infantry major in the Army Acquisition Corps conducting research, development, and acquisition of automation tools for the U.S. Army. The Virtual Sand Table project he headed at the Army Research Laboratory was featured in the October 1997 issue of Popular Mechanics as well as a number of DoD and technical publications. He was the co-author of Battles for Empire (tactical Napoleonic rules) in 1990 and Napoleonic Scenarios in 1991. He has recently published Beer and Pretzels Skirmish for modem skirmish actions from WWI to the present. In addition to writing and publishing in the field of computer science, Buck has also written a chapter on the Mexican Punitive Expedition for the work-in-progress book, America's Low Intensity Conflict Battles and a number of articles for gaming magazines. Sample Scenario (Buena Vista, 23 February 1847): Order of Battle: The numbers in parenthesis behind leader's names are their leader ratings. The one- or two-digit number to the far right of each line is the number of castings in the unit. U.S. Forces: (All units rated veterans unless otherwise noted) Players may either create a third brigadier (by promoting McKee or Davis) or add one of the unbrigaded infantry regiments to each of the other two brigades. The unit shown on the map as Marshall was formed from four companies of the Indiana Regiments, three companies of Kentucky cavalry, and four dismounted companies from the Arkansas Cavalry. On the 23rd Wool had added two Illinois companies. The American player does not have to create this force ifhe does not desire. The American commander does not have to deploy his forces as depicted on the map. They may be deployed in any manner that does not bring them closer to the enemy. The American overall mission is to defeat the Mexican Army of the North. Taylor does not have to begin or remain on the defensive. Illinois Brigade (BG Wool) (2) 1st Illinois Inf. (COL Hardin) 580 20 2d Illinois Inf. (COL Bissell) 573 19 Indiana Brigade (BG Lane) (1) 2d Indiana Inf. (COL Bowles) 626 21 3d Indiana Inf. (COL Lane) 625 21 Unbrigaded (under Taylor's control) 2d Kentucky Inf. (COL McKee) 571 19 1st Mississippi Rifles (all armed with rifles) (COL Jeff. Davis) 368 13 1st Arkansas Cavalry (regular) (COL Yell) 479 16 1st Kentucky Cavalry (regular) (COL Marshall) 305 11 1st Dragoons (A&E Cos.) (CPT Steen) 133 5 2d Dragoons (D&E Cos.) (LTC May) 76 3 Texas Rangers (CPT Conner) 61 2 McCulloch's Spy Company (MAJ McCulloch) 27 1 Battery, 4th Artillery (CPT Washington) 117 4 guns 11 crew (4x 6lb., 2x 12lb. How., 2x 4lb.) Battery, 3d Artillery (CPT Braxton Bragg) 150 2 guns 15 crew (4x 6lb.) Battery, 3d Artillery (CPT Sherman) 150 2 guns 15 crew (4x 6lb.) MG Zachary Taylor (2) Mexican Forces: (All units rated untrained unless otherwise noted) Ortega and Androde arrive along the road any turn Santa Anna desires after turn two. Minon was historically invovled with attacks against Saltillo, but the game master may allow him to enter where indicated on the map after turn six. The Mexican forces must be deployed in the positions shown on the map. All Mexican units begin the game in attack column except the forces of Ortega and Androde which must enter on the road in road column. The overall mission of the Army of the North is to destroy the Taylor's army so that Santa Anna can turn his attention to Scoff at Veracruz. Controlling the field at the end of the game is unimportant; Santa Anna must destroy entirely the U.S. forces. Infantry "Division" (Colonel Blanco)(O) 14 (actually a reinforced engineer regiment) (2x 7-man battalions)Green) one 8lb. gun and 2 crewmen I Infantry Division (General Pacheco) (1) 3d BDE (Mejia) (1) 1st Guanajuato Auxiliaries (Green) 14 2d Guanajuato Auxiliaries (Green) 14 Calaya Activo Regt. (Untrained) 14 Leon Activo Regt. (Green) 14 5th BDE (Uraga) (1) San Luis Activo (Untrained) 14 Morelia Activo (Untrained) 14 Division Artillery (Green) 4x 8lb. Guns 2 guns 6 crew II Infantry Division (General Lombardini) (1) 1st BDE (Conde) (0) 1st Line Regt. (Green) 20 5th Line Regt. (Green) 20 3d Line Regt. (Green) 20 2d BDE (Perez) (1) 10th Line Regt. (Green) 20 11th Line Regt. (Green) 20 Hidalgo Battalion (Untrained) 13 Division Artillery (Green) 4x 12lb. Guns 2 guns 6 crew III Infantry Division (General Ortega) (1) 4th BDE (Guzman) (1) 1st Mexico Activo Regt. (Untrained) 6 2d Mexico Activo Regt. (Untrained) 6 Lagos Battalion (Green) 6 4th Line Regt. (Green) 14 5th BDE (Terres) (1) Mixed Santa Anna Battalion (Green) 14 Aguascalientes Battalion (Untrained) 6 Guadalajara Battalion (Untrained) 6 Queretaro Battalion (Untrained) 6 7th BDE (Parrodi) (1) Fijo de Mexico (Untrained) 6 12th Line Regt. (Green) 6 Tampico Guard (Regular) 6 Puebla Activo Battalion (Untrained) 6 Division Artillery (Green) 4x 8lb. Guns 2 guns 6 crew Light Infantry Bde. (General Ampudia) (2) 1st Light Regiment (Regular) 16 2d Light Regiment (Regular) 16 3d Light Regiment (Regular) 16 Unattached Troops (directly under Santa Anna) Guard Hussars (Regular) 15 Zappadores Battalion (Regular) (rifles) 10 Battery (Green) 4x.16lb. Guns 2 guns 6 crew San Patricio Battery (Green) 4x 24lb. 2 guns 6 crew 1st Cavalry Brigade (General Minon) (1) 4th Cavalry (Green) 8 Mounted Cazadores (Green) 8 Jalisco Lancers (Untrained) 8 Puebla Cavalry Squadron (Untrained) 4 Oaxaca Activo Cavalry (Untrained) 8 San Luis Activo Cavalry (Untrained) 4 2d Cavalry Brigade (General Juvera) (1) Cuirassiers (Green) 10 5th Cavalry (Green) 8 9th Cavalry (Green) 8 Morelia Activo Cavalry (Untrained) 8 3d Cavalry Brigade (General Torrejon) (1) 3d Cavalry (Green) 6 7th Cavalry (Green) 6 8th Cavalry (Green) 6 Guanajuato Activo Cav. (Untrained) 6 Hussar Brigade (General Andrade) (0) Presidals (Untrained) 4 Michoacan Activo Cav. (Untrained) 8 Generalissimo Santa Anna (1) Course of the Battle: Santa Anna began his attack on 22 February some time after 11:00 AM with a feint by Mejia against the American right. By around 3:00 PM, Santa Anna had massed his main effort against the American left. In response, Taylor ordered Colonel Marshall (with the forces listed previously) into the mountains on his left to block any Mexican attempts to turn his line. At 3:30 PM, Ampudia's light infantry began to skirmish against Marshall. The fight lasted all day, but Marshall was able to prevent his line from being turned. 'Me results of this fighting (and some nighttime redeployment) are the dispositions shown for the morning of 23 February. The battle began about 8:00 AM on 23 February with an attack by the engineers (Blanco) against the American right and an attack by Ampudia against Marshall. Marshall was slowly pushed back, but Washington's battery devastated the engineers. At about the time that Blanco's men were routing, Lombardini formed his units in column of brigades on the broad plain in front of the Americans. Pacheco followed Lombardini out of the ravine and formed on Lombardini's right. Ortega and Juvera formed behind the other two divisions. About 7,000 Mexicans crashed into the 2d Indiana and three cannon. While the combined fire from the 2nd Indiana, 2nd Illinois, and Sherman's battery tore gaping holes in the Mexican lines, they were unable to stop the advance. Misunderstanding orders from General Lane, Bowles ordered his men (2nd Indiana) to fall back. The withdrawal of the 2d Indiana allowed the weight of the Mexican attack to fall on the 2d Illinois. With a section of Sherman's batter (Churchill), Colonel Bissell fought a well-executed delaying action against nearly all of Lombardini's division. This retrograde left a hole in the American line and left Marshall without support. As a result, Marshall withdrew to the plain. Upon regaining their horses, much of Marshall's cavalry fled the field toward Buena Vista. This allowed Juvera's cavalry to turn the American left and race for the weakly-held hacienda. It was now about 09:00 AM and Taylor arrived on the field with May's dragoons and the Mississippi rifles. Taylor ordered Davis' Mississippians to block Mexican movement toward Buena Vista. He also moved the 3rd Indiana (previously in reserve), May, and the Arkansas cavalry to assist Davis. While Taylor was conducting these moves, Wool was busy rallying the 2nd Indiana and 2d Illinois. Their line now extended from the 2d Kentucky (still in their initial positions) and Bragg's and Sherman's batteries in a line toward the position of the Mississippi rifles shown on the map. As Juvera's men charged into Yell's cavalry and Steen's dragoons, most of the volunteer regiment fled, but a small group, including Yell, remained. While Yell was killed, Steen's flank attack cut Juvera's column into two. The advanced portion of his column moved past the Arkansas regiment where they were roughly handled by Sherman's battery. The routing Mexican cavalry, pursued by Steen's dragoons, crashed into the following cavalry, throwing it into confusion as well. Seeing the confusion among the Mexican cavalry, the 2nd Illinois moved to cut off their retreat. The combined pressure of Davis' advance, the American artillery, and the Illinois volunteers broke the advanced element of Juvera's brigade. The trailing element of Juvera's brigade after an unsuccessful attempt to take Buena Vista attacked the Mississippians and the 3d Indiana. The cavalry failed to close, and the riflemen cut them down. On the main part of the battlefield, Santa Anna regrouped the remnants of Lombardini's, Pacheco's, Ampudua's and Ortega's commands for a new attack. At about 05:00 PM the head of this new column (under General Perez) appeared on the plain in front of the Americans. The fire from American artillery broke this advanced element. Thinking that the Mexicans were in retreat, Hardin ordered the advance of both Illinois regiments and the Kentucky regiment. This attack ran headlong into the main body of Perez' column. In the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, the Mexicans took terrible losses but continued to advance. Finally, three salvos from Bragg's battery drove the Mexicans back in disorder. In a last attempt to break the American line, Torrejon's cavalry advanced against the remnants of Hardin's force, but Torrejon's men were shattered by accurate fire from Washington's battery. As Torrejon's men were broken, a rain storm swept in and blanketed the field, ending the fighting. American losses at Buena Vista were about 14% (272 killed, 387 wounded, and six missing). Santa Anna reported 591 killed, 1,048 wounded and 1,894 missing, Victory Conditions The actual battle on the 23d began some time after 08:00 AM and probably ended when the storm hit (around 6:00 PM). This is forty turns. There was a lot of idle time in the middle of the battle, so to make the game interesting, it should be 25 turns long. The American plays win if they have any formed infantry units on the table and a clear line of retreat off the North edge of the table at the end of the game. Otherwise the Mexicans win. These victory conditions are intentionally ambiguous. To be victorious, Santa Anna needed to destroy Taylor's army. Since Taylor was outnumbered 3: 1, he was able to claim Buena Vista as a victory when in fact it was something like a draw. If this system is unacceptable to the players in your group, an alternate system involves victory points. The Mexicans get two points for every American loss (including whole units that were removed from the table because it was reduced entirely to stragglers). The American players get one point for every Mexican loss. If the Mexicans choose to bring Minon onto the table, they lose twenty victory points. The side with more points wins. If the side with more points has twice as many as the loser, it is a smashing victory. Sources Bauer, K. Jack. The Mexican War, 1846-1848. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. Eisenhower, John S.D. So Far From God: The U.S. War with Mexico 1846-1848. (New York: Doubleday, 1989.) Esposito, Vincent J., ed. West Point Atlas of AmericanWars. (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959.) Katcher, Philip. The Mexican-American War: 1846-1848. London: Osprey Publishing, Ltd., 1992. "The Buena Vista Campaign," Ron Vaughn. The Courier (Vol IX, No. 4). At Buena Vista, crossing any of the contour lines accrues 1d4 stragglers in addition to the movement cost. The table should be six feet by twelve feet. (Minon may arrive after turn eighteen.) (Ortega and Androde may enter after turn 4 and 7 respectively) SAR: Historical Analysis SAR: Large Charts (slow: 267K) SAR: Jumbo Charts (extremely slow: 952K) Back to MWAN #94 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by 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