'B & C' stands for Bob and Cleo Liebl, who were previewing a set of rules for a presentation at COLD WARS. Bob's collection of 54mm figures was on the table, a huge assemblage of 54's from all eras... we had people in tricornes, and a couple of 1860 Austrians, and some bushyhatted Grenadier Guards, and Napoleonic cuirassiers, and Russian Cossacks, and so on. The field was composed of eight 2-feet-by-2-feet terrain boards, set up to give each side a baseline of 8- feet (4-boards wide). One brigade (?) was assigned to come on each of the boards... and on my 24-inch terrain board, I was cursed with a 9-inch ridge on the left, leaving a total of 15 inches of clear space for my troops to scrunch up and advance up the field. The sequence was a phased one... there were four phases per bound, called, appropriately, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, and on each phase, certain units could function. The terminology was rather confusing, since the units themselves were termed 1, and 2, and 3, and 4... and so we'd hear comments such as "It's Phase 2, and 3-type units can function on their own 1 st phase." The 4-phase sequence worked thusly: Phase 1 Only 4-type units could function, i.e., move or fire. Phase 2 4-type and 3-type units could function Phase 3 4-type and 3-type and 2-type units could function Phase 4 4-type and 3-type and 2-type and 1-type units could function You'll note that 4-type units were the best... indeed, they were killers. They could fire or move on all 4 phases. Each side had 2 such units, and opposing me on my terrain board, was such a killer unit, composed of 12 men, dressed in tricornes. We recommended to Bob that he change his terminology, and for purposes of this article, I shall refer to the types of units as 'A'... the best... down to 'D'... the worst. In a fairly recent issue of the REVIEW, during 1999, I examined a phased movement system of my own making, similar to the one used in the game, and decided that it presented a choppy and confusing sequence. I'll stick to my assessment. I had a single B-type unit (call it a regiment) of 14 men, which I put in the van, since they were the fastest moving (they moved on 3 of the 4 phases) of all my regiments. They marched up the field along a road in single column, followed by the remainder of my regiments, all of them C-type. I had about half of my force on the board, scrunched across the 15-inch terrain, when I noticed that my opponent, Bob Liebl, had already assembled his force in line and started to advance. Somehow he had moved up and deployed his regiments, unlimbered his cannon, and was all ready to go... and my troops weren't even all on the table. My own cannon, which was the third unit in my column of advancing troops, didn't show up until around the third bound. The gun was considered a C-type unit... it had 2 actions and could function on Phases 3 and 4 of the sequence. What saved me from instant death and destruction was the musket range... 12 inches. Bob's A-type killer regiment moved up and began firing. There were two ranges... a short range under 6 inches, wherein each man contributed 20 percent to the probability of hit, and then from 6 to 12 inches... wherein each man contributed 5 percent. With Bob's 12-man killer regiment at long range, and each man yielding 5 percent, the total probability of hit (POH) was 12 x 5, or 60 percent. A percentage dice throw of 60 or under and one of my men keeled over. Note that at short range, with each firing man contributing 20 percent, the total POH became 12 x 20, or 240, indicating that 2 men were automatically lost and there was a 40 percent chance of a third casualty. The second of my units was the Grey Regiment, a 24-man C-type unit. My thought was that if I could only get these boys in line, and shorten the range and fire away, the horrendous volley effect (24 x 20 gives a POH of 480) would blow away all opposing units. Alas! I couldn't bring up the 24-man Grey Regiment... first, because the scrunchy terrain didn't permit me to deploy properly to get every one in firing line, and second, since the Greys were a C- type unit, hence they only functioned on 2 out of the 4 phases per bound. And so, instead of firing, I ordered a charge. About 18 of the 24-man unit surged forward... the rest were still on the road, coming on the field in single column. Into Bob's killer regiment they plowed. Bob's unit was arranged in two ranks of 6-men each... only two ranks fight in melee, and so the third rank of the Greys stood there and watched. In melee, each man in combat contributes 10 percent to the POH, so the two opposing units, each with 12 men, each had 12 x 10, or a POH of 120... one automatic kill, and a 20 percent chance of a second. After a round of melee, the participating units take a morale test... Bob's killers tossed four 6sided dice (they were an A-type unit), while the Greys tossed two 6-sided dice, being a C-type unit. The unit has to total 6 or more to stand. With 4 dice, the killers stood fast, while the Greys, bolstered by a +2 from a nearby General, also totaled 6. And so we went into a second round. Bob threw another of his regiments into the combat... a C-type unit. The Greys were gradually being whittled down. After some 3 rounds of melee, there were only 3 Greys left (out of the original 24). These warriors had successfully passed all their morale tests, despite their huge losses. And now the denouement... the critical phase of the melee. My notes, taken during the din of battle, indicate that, somehow, Bob placed 10 men of one unit and 4 men of his other unit in contact with my 3 heroes. That's 14 men surrounding, and making contact with, 3 men... how did he do this? Did he violate any of the natural laws of physics? Was there a rift in the fabric of space and time permitting him to do so? The answer is, of course, the sleazy move! This concept is discussed in a seminal, erudite and thought provoking article (I forget the name of the author) in the REVIEW of November, 1999. The dreaded sleazy move is, in effect, no more than a "gotcha". One side simply gangs up on the other, scrunching in every available figure, having the men's bases overlapping, having the men leaning on each other to get a wee bit of stability so that they don't all fall down in a heap. Digression Speaking of falling down, I must report that the game fell into the Class B Abomination category. Not all the 54mm figures were mounted on wide bases ... about 20 percent were still on their original bases, and they just couldn't hack it on the rough terrain boards. This meant that some 20 percent of the men on the field lay on their sides during the battle. End of digression. Back to the battle. My Greys were soon but a memory. But finally, the last of my units, a bold regiment of Cuirassiers, 7-men strong, appeared on the road in single column formation. They had taken their time in arriving... they were a C-type unit, moving in 2 of the 4 phases, and they had to wait while the other C-type units, moving up the road, made room for them. But, at last, help was on its way! Bob had arranged one of his own C-type units (we'll call them the Greens) in line, on top of the ridge which so restricted my movement, to fire down on the Greys during the previous bound. Somehow, my Cuirassiers climbed the ridge and charged directly into the flank of Bob's Greens. Now what more could a cavalry commander call for! A flank charge into a line of unprepared infantry! When I made contact, I had 6 Cuirassiers in the combat (2 lines of 3 men each). Of the Greens, 4 men were permitted to fight back. Each of my Cuirassiers contributed 25 percent to the fight... 6 x 25 is 150... one automatic kills and a 50 percent chance of a second. I managed to toss low, and scored 2 hits on the Greens. The 4 men of the Greens each yielded 10 percent, giving them a 40 percent chance to cause a casualty to the Cuirassiers... they knocked off one Cuirassier. I was wondering about my 'flank bonus'... surely I deserved something for my brilliant flanking tactic? The flank bonus never materialized. Now each unit took a morale test... the Cuirassiers passed, but the Greens failed! Surely, these were superior rules! Now here was a unit, charged on the flank by heavy cavalry, taking losses, failing a morale check... surely they'd break and flee the field. Did the Greens rout from the field? Did they run back in disorder? Did they suffer additional casualties? The answers: no, no, and no. What they did was to move back some 6 inches in perfect order, forming firing line, ready for their next activation phase, ready to fire on the Cuirassiers. And fire they did. My Cuirassiers, attempting to follow up, couldn't pass their own "will you continue to charge forward" test (they needed a total of 6 on two 6-sided dice). In fact, they failed twice in a row, permitting the Greens to knock off 5 of the remaining 6 Cuirassiers. Alas! Of my 3-regiments-plus-one-gun brigade, only the General remained... a lonely, broken man. He is probably still wandering around on the Liebl's terrain boards. Back to PW Review January 2000 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Wally Simon This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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