The Civil War Brigade Series (CWB) has now visited seven different battlefields. The popularity of the series has risen steadily since its inauguration some five years ago. With the possible exception of ASL, no other system that has been around this long still enjoys support by its original design house.

That having been said, the suggestion of optional rules might appear to be a foolhardy exercise in "gilding the lily". The main focus of the rules is to cover the unique command and control aspects of the CWB series. Consequently, Dean has intentionally kept the chrome to a minimum to allow players an opportunity to concentrate on the system presented.

I am going to assume that anyone reading this article might well be a veteran of the system and therefore be interested in layering on some optional rules. Many of us have assimilated the sequence of play through repetition and the fluidity of the game is now second nature. The extra 'work' required by these proposed changes win not detract from the elegance of the system. A system that is fast being considered the premier pre-20th century tactical game system.

It is for those intrepid souls that want to flesh out the CWB that I present the following optional rules.

1. If in the act of entering close combat the unit passes through the ZOC of an enemy unit other than the intended target, the following adjustment applies. If the close combat procedure advances to the Resolutions and Odds Table, roll one die. If the result is even, reduce the attacker's unit strength by one fire level. This adjustment is for this resolution only and reverts to its true level immediately thereafter. We must guard our tactical flanks, now, mustn't we?

2. Limbered artillery and mounted cavalry brigades that are part of a division or corps with no orders or orders having a D1 or D2 status must change formation after one turn of inactivity.

Let's face it. Keeping guns and caissons tied to horse teams and riders getting saddle-sore for hours to avoid the movement point cost of a formation change is a subtle bending of the tactical intent. Every time I see an opponent do this, and the boys suddenly take off for their destinations once their orders are accepted, in my minds eye I see the beginning of the LeMans. "Gentlemen, start your engines ... !"

3. When playing either the campaign scenario or the first short scenario chronologically of any of the games, adjust the low ammo rules as follows. During the first two hours, low ammo occurs only on a roll of 12; during the next two hours low ammo only occurs on a roll of 11. Thereafter all normal low ammo rules apply. The rationale for this is that the men were fully equipped and ready for combat at the outset.

4. On a leader wound roll of 11, the side causing the wound secretly rolls one die. Count ahead that many turns. At the beginning of the Movement and Close Combat phase of that turn, he informs his opponent that the wounded commander is now available for duty. Return him to his command in a hex of the owner's choosing given the limit of his command radius. Ignore this rule for leaders that have returned from wounds previously in the game. They've suffered enough and deserve to have the rest of the battle off to convalesce! All orders not yet received are done so with the leader (receiver) rating of the leader present at the time of acceptance.

Why the opponent control? This prevents the army commander from delaying a non-urgent order to avoid dealing with the oft-times inferior replacement leader. If you are aware of your commander's time of return, you will be more likely to wait until he's patched up to issue an order to that corp/division.

I have a friend who says that every Civil War game ever designed has too many leader casualties. The CWB is unfortunately not immune to this phenomenon, in my opinion. The subtle changes in the revised second edition of the rules notwithstanding (picking off leaders alone in a hex with a long range artillery cannonade), I would tend to agree. I'm not much of a one for leading from the trenches, either.

In one August Fury campaign game, by mid-afternoon of 29 August, there was a cumulative total of nine leaders carried off the field. Unfortunately for my Union opponent, Franz Sigel was not one of them! These rules are an attempt to dilute this somewhat while making the leader loss rule more dynamic at the same time.

5. AH units must be inactive (only in line/dismounted formation without moving) for six consecutive hours between the last twilight turn and the first dawn turn inclusive. Recovering stragglers is allowed.

If this requirement is not fulfilled, the morale level of all affected units is reduced by one letter for the following day. Designate these units with an appropriate marker. Units thus affected must rest the aforementioned six hours the following night-two consecutive 'all nighters' are not allowed.

The addition of the optional rules for breastworks and hidden movement (as well as the dreaded Hood Addiction Table in EAW!) increases the likelihood of activity during the night. Consequently a fatigue rule would be appropriate.

6a. After three turns of orders languishing in delay status (D1 or D2), apply a +1 die roll modifier to all subsequent delay reduction die rolls. Even the most mentally apoplectic leader would get his butt in gear after a time. This rule aids those unlucky players who can never seem to roll a one when they need to--present company included!

6b. After six turns of orders in delay status, assume the order is lost or distorted and consider the command to be in no order status. If the army commander reissues different orders (due to arrive later than the 6-turn limit) on or before the sixth turn, still use the acceptance table column shift modifier upon their arrival.

If the six turn period has elapsed, the army commander may issue the same orders in hopes of a better die roll on the acceptance table this time.

7. The Boog-a-loo down Broadway rule or "Excuse me, could you kindly tell me where I might find the General?" Apply the following adjustments to the arrival times of all orders that are either aide-written or aide-oral due to the difficulty of finding the recipient on the field of battle:

7a. If it is a night turn, roll a die. If the result is even, add one turn/hour to the arrival time.

7b. During a night turn, automatically add one turn/hour to the arrival time of the order if the route ventures from a pike, road (primary or secondary), trail, or railroad hex. This is besides the roll mentioned in 7a.

7c. If it is a day turn and the path traced from the army commander traverses a woods hex without the benefit of a pike, road (primary or secondary), trail, or railroad hex, apply 7a.

7d. If the provisions of 7c are present during a night turn, add two turns to the arrival time of the order. Ignore the roll in 7a if these conditions apply.

Go ahead. Hike through 200 yards of dense woods, in the dark, with no Coleman lantern to guide you. See how long it takes you to end up where you want to be. I dare ya. Think this is too harsh? Don't ignore it. Just keep your leaders on the roads and trace the path over them even if it is more circuitous. In other words, keep your leaders where the aides can find them more readily.

I present the following play aid ideas as an addendum to Rod Miller's fine article in Operations #1. He provided tips to facilitate a reduction in counter handling needed to check unit/supply strengths. These work especially well for players who own several, if not all, of the games in the CWB series. Otherwise, one can easily substitute counters from other games.

Collect all the counters not specific to a particular game into a counter tray or similar plastic compartment organizer for use with all games. This eliminates the possibility of running out of the necessary fire level markers, et a], and creates the following possibilities:

Write specific strengths on the detached artillery markers of from "l" to "3" (the maximum detachable strength). Leave some blank, but a good half dozen of each should do the trick. This eliminates the need for separate strength markers under the detachments.

Several of the older games in the series used white-on blackA/B fire level markers. Use these with the new Green A/Yellow B markers, much as Rod has pointed out, for not only artillery and supply levels but for the fire levels as well. With the old and the new markers available, the following strict usage renders the letter on the counter redundant. It is therefore unnecessary to pick up the piece or look it up on the roster in order to know the fire level.

Use the old AA/AB markers to denote all AA levels;
Use the new AA/AB markers to denote all AB levels;
Use the old A/B markers to denote all A levels;
and lastly, use the new A/B markers to denote all B levels.

Consequently, you now have 'edge of the counter codes' if you will, allowing a glance at the edges in all cases to give you the information of the fire level. Using the above, the colors are the strength:

White =AA, Green=AB, Black =A, Yellow =B

Since this method renders reading the letters unimportant, the fire level markers can now serve double duty as artillery or supply wagon strength markers as well. I agree with Rod that a gradual I paling out' of color to show further reduction is a logical choice. Thus:

Black=4 pts., Green--3 pts., Yellow=2 pts., White=1 pt.

While none of this is obviously earth shattering, it keeps those of us who are 'dexterously challenged' from having to fumble unnecessarily with stacks of counters on the game board. Besides there's only one person I know with worse thumbs than myself...