A third gaming scenario followed a new set of my own rules. A Napoleonics game with yet another card-governed sequence. Here, I tried something from the past... a sequence that Tom Elsworth and I had toyed with about 15 years ago. Each side received 4 cards; these were drawn alternately at random, and designated the type of unit that could move. In simplified fashion, the 4-card deck consisted of: . Units That Can Move/Fire Lt Cav Hvy Cav Infantry Limb Art Unlimb Art Card #1 Yes Yes Yes Yes No Card #2 Yes Yes No No Yes Card #3 Yes No Yes Yes Yes Card #4 Yes Yes No Yes No Note that light cavalry is activated on all 4 cards; infantry is activated only on 2 of the 4 cards, and so on. For the most part, units, when they were activated, had 2 actions. Each action entitled a unit, regardless of type, to move 6 inches. Thus light cavalry, on a card, could go a distance of 12 inches. Moving at 12 inches per card, by the end of the bound, the light cavalry have moved 4x12, or 48 inches. The heavy cavalry have moved 3x12, or 36 inches, and so on. With 2 actions, infantry, when they were activated, could fire twice, or move and fire, etc. There were a few other nuances built into the deck, but the above essentially describes the sequence. I set up a French attack on a Russian redoubt, a la Borodino. For one reason or another, I seem to be focussing on attacks on redoubts these days. The French outnumbered the Russians... 19 units to 13. Since this was the first play-test, I had no idea of whether the game was balanced or not. It turned out to be fairly close. The other ploy I wished to try out used what I termed the Combat Deck of cards. During the regular movement routines, units were not allowed to come closer to enemy units than 2 inches. They had to stop at the 2 inch distance, at which time the combat mode began. I then gave each side 5 cards of a 20 card Combat Deck. Each card had one of the following noted on it: Advance 2 inches Enemy unit falls back 2 inches Fire if deployed Deploy and 50 percent chance to fire Deploy Cards were played simultaneously, and the objective of the attacking player was to advance and close the 2 inch gap between him and the enemy. The attacker, therefore, wanted to play his "Advance" cards, while the opposition wanted to play his "Enemy fall back" cards. If one side fired, that was followed by an immediate morale test, and if the test was failed, the unit fell back 2 inches, widening the gap. If the attacker was driven back further than 6 inches, the combat was over. If he closed to contact despite enemy fire et al, then a quick summation of unit strength points of each side (infantry stands worth 4 points, cavalry worth 6 points, etc,), all multiplied by a 10-sided die roll, decided who won the combat. In the game, the French got an "almost" in attacking and capturing the redoubt. Several units charged during the movement phases, stopping the requisite 2 inch distance away from the defending guns. I then dealt out the cards of the Combat Deck, 5 to each side. Cards were then played simultaneously, and at the end of play, the French had survived both defending cannon fire and assorted mandates to fall back, and had actually closed the 2 inch gap and unlimbered into the redoubt. In the melee that followed, the calculations showed they severely out-weighed the defending gunners. The French made short work of the Russian artillerists manning the batteries in the redoubt, who took to their heels. But now that they were in the redoubt, there followed a rather bolluxed up melee, one that really shouldn't have taken place at all, if it hadn't been for the umpire (no names, please) who was asleep at the switch. Nothing new, here. This second round melee occurred after the following sequence of events: a.Prior to the French troops closing to the 2 inches, there was a round, in fact, several rounds, of fire at the occupants of the redoubt. One of the Russian infantry units stationed there, Trotsky's Own, was hit, failed a morale test, and fell back some 12 inches... way, way back, about a mile behind the redoubt. b.Now the French moved up, closed to 2 inches and the combat phase began. As a first step in the combat phase, both sides are required to declare which units will support the lead unit in the attack. The Russian lead unit, of course, had to be the defending battery; the French lead unit was the 32nd Infantry Battalion. C.The French called on the sister battalion of the 32nd, the Fighting 41st, as a support. To join in, all that was required was that the designated support unit (a) be in the same regiment as the lead unit and (b) pass a simple 80 percent morale test. The 41st did so. d.The defending Russian gunners now called on their sister unit, which happened to be Trotsky's Own - a mile down the road - the unit which had, if you remember, a moment before, failed a morale test and fled over the horizon. Alas... the rules said nothing about distance between the lead unit and its support; as long as (a) and (b) above were satisfied, Trotsky's Own could be transported over space and time and zip back into the redoubt as a support! Which they did. e.Which meant that after the attacking French 32nd Infantry Battalion beat off the Russian gunners, and the gunners fled, the 32nd was suddenly faced with the miraculous reappearance of Trotsky's own! This was just too much for the 32nd... Sacre bleu! ... they were driven out of the redoubt. To tell you the truth, even the umpire (no names, please) wasn't too happy about the turn of events... but I am happy to report that the lad is resolved to gin up a slightly more logical set of rules for drawing in supporting units during a melee. He who keeps his subscription to the REVIEW current will, undoubtedly, read of this in a later issue. Back to PW Review January 1992 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1992 Wally Simon This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com