Fighting in Towns

PK House Rules

by Eric Burgess

We play a lot of Franco-Prussian (1870) War games - usually 2 to 3 town areas on the table. We treat towns as a special type of Class III terrain that does require a deployment card to "move" into the town area. My town areas are roughly 8"X8" (any size would work, I suppose). The Deployment card is necessary since a unit is considered to be deploying and positioning itself in defensive positions throughout the town area (not just a single building). The unit is then considered to be in skirmish formation, also suffering an "Inferior Position" modifier when firing out. (The unit is more fragmented - poorer fire control). The unit must also use a Deployment card to form up and leave the town.

You are certainly correct that it is difficult to damage a unit with firepower when it is deployed in a town area - the best tactic is to soften the defenders up with concentrated artillery fire and then dig them out with the bayonet. (From recent (BAD} experiences, plan on having about a 3:1 numerical advantage if you want to make sure of success!) We play that 2 friendly infantry battalions can be deployed in a town area.

Other rule conventions that we use: First round of melee has the defender with his class III (or whatever) cover. If the attacker wins, the defender is assumed to have fallen back inside the town. The attacker would then need a Deployment card, followed by a Move in Class III/IV Terrain card to follow up the defender and contact him again. Of course, in the meantime, the defender just may have used HIS Move in Class III /IV card to move back into his original positions. After the attacker has deployed into the town, the new melee conditions for both units would use the "Equal Terrain" modifier.

We play that deployed artillery batteries do not get the advantage of the town class (can't be dug into a building, etc...)

Units in column of route that are merely moving through the town ON A ROAD do not need any special card. Remember that road movement allows a unit to ignore any terrain penalties. Only if that unit decided to deploy into the town would a deployment card be necessary.

Some of the most memorable moments in our games have come from some fairly dramatic, back and forth scrums in town areas. Using these suggestions they should play cleanly and quickly.

Any comments?

We do not use the preferred formation morale modifiers when a unit is deployed into a town. This assumes that even the most poorly trained peasant is wise enough to see the advantages the cover gives him!

We haven't used the sapper card as such for town assaults - more so for engineering functions like destroying bridges, etc. For the normal scale (non-zoom) Piquet games, I suppose that you could play the card, pay the impetus and check for success for creating a breach in the defenses which would possibly allow the attacker to move into the defensive position with a Class III/ IV move card rather than waiting for a deployment card? Just a thought - any other ideas? For a zoom down scale (to a scale and game size similar to Chef de Battalion), I could see where the Sapper card could have a much more detailed application.

As far as the arc of fire for units deployed into towns, we play this fairly loosely. We allow the 360 degree arc, but once a unit fires we assume that they are deployed facing in that particular direction for all subsequent fires (following all the standard rules). This keeps a unit in a town from spinning like a top and showering all approaching units with firepower! A change of face would be accomplished on a Move in III/ IV card or on a maneuver card.

Eric asks:

Is it that the Inf/Cav in difficult terrain allows you to move *through* the town?

BJ: Yes, It is class III to move "through" other than on the main roads (you must be in column to use the roads)

while the deployment card actually allows you to *enter/leave* the buildings?

BJ: Yes this allows you to enter the town and acquire the cover of the various buildings and structures.

You deploy into the town and then if you choose once deployed in the town to change location within the perimeter you move in Class III. To leave a village you must deploy out of the structures and then move on a difficult terrain card to move out into the open. You must then assume an allowed formation.

This raises the topic of unit formations in towns. Do you have to be in column of rout to move *through* a town or can you be in any formation you desire?

BJ: You must be in column of route to move through on the main roads.

When you deploy into buildings what formation are you in? I would think Skirmish, but then on the fire table the enemy fire would be down 3! Two for the town and one for Skirmish formation.

BJ: Yes, you are in skirmish (or its equivalent as a target). Even if not allowed to assume this formation formally in the field, you would of necessity be scattered and variously located in the rooms, windows, and barricades of the village.

Note that the skirmishers firing out are given an inferior fire adjustment as they are not firing in a formed and controlled fashion.

Remember, you might have to melee them out rather than shooting them up.

We usually set a limit on the amount of infantry that may occupy a village. This related to the size of the village and is agreed upon by scenario or prior to the game's start. No set number.

We have also assigned "Morale Chip" values to villages that are awarded to the units that take them, or subtracted from the force evicted. This is an easy way to set a few objectives and also reward armies that attack an occupied village.

No set of rules can cover all of the vagaries of this type of combat. Use the general theme of the rules and logic, and if all else fails, the difficulty roll, to work out these strange situations.

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