Some eight years ago, I 'borrowed' the format of a unique-looking data sheet from I know not whom, for use in skirmish gaming. As finally perfected, each man's data sheet looked like a pyramid of 10 boxes, thusly:
| Over 100 76 to 100 51 to 75 26 to 50 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
When fired upon, the firer would add up his points... -5 for hasty fire, +10 for a marksman, -5 for long range, etc., etc., and to the total, add a percentage dice throw.
If the total, for example, was 32, one box (owning player's choice) in the lowest range would be crossed out as in Figure A. If the total was 76, then one box at the "76 to 100" level would be crossed out (owner's choice), together with all the boxes in the pyramid below it, as shown in Figure B.
| Over 100 76 to 100 51 to 75 26 to 50 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 0 Figure A |
0 X 0 X X 0 X X X 0 Figure B |
Note that with a total below 25, the target wasn't harmed, but also note that with a lucky shot, bolstered by lots of positive modifiers and a high percentage die roll, the total could be above 100, and the poor target would immediately cross out all his boxes, and fall on his face, mortally wounded. The melee calculations were quite similar; each wound resulting in a number of pyramidal boxes crossed out.
Sometime ago, I tried to carry the procedure over to the Napoleonic era, and presented a game at one of the PW meetings. The data sheet now applied to an entire battalion, and instead of a single pyramid of boxes, each unit had four such structures, the result looking like:
| Over 100 76 to 100 51 to 75 26 to 50 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
The reason for the multi-pyramid structure was that I didn't want an entire battalion to disintegrate as the result of a single lucky hit... now it took a number of hits to totally incapacitate the battalion.
For some reason, the game wasn't a vast success, and I dropped the procedure and forgot about it. Recently, however, in reading through some old REVIEWS, I was reminded of the technique and decided to try again. This time, the data sheet for a unit looked like:
| Over 100 76 to 100 26 to 75 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 Set #1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 Set #2 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 Set #3 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 Set #4 |
I tried out a 'quicky' game with my 30mm Napoleonics, and the procedures seemed to run much better than previously. One of the reasons, perhaps, was the abbreviated data sheet... abbreviated in the sense that now there were only three levels in each pyramid compared to the former four, i.e., with fewer boxes, it took fewer hits to destroy a unit.
If it worked with Napoleonics, it should work with ancients. Out came my 25mm ancients figures, and we set up a table-size battle. Along with the new data sheets, there was a new command/control procedure, utilizing single-mounted officer figures.
Every unit on a side was assigned to a specific group called a troop, with 4 to six units per troop. Each side had about 6 such troops, some 36 units in all. When a troop was called upon to move or fire or melee, the number of officers assigned the troop determined how well the troop obeyed.
If the percentage chance of the troop carrying out its orders is called PR, then
- PR% = 40 + 20x (Number of Officers)
Note that with 3 Officers assigned to a troop, then PR equals 100%, i.e., it functions as desired. At the start of the battle I gave each side a total number of Officers equal to twice the number of troops in the force. If evenly distributed amongst the troops, therefore, each troop had an 80 percent chance of functioning as required.
A sketch of the field is shown on the map. I commanded the left flank of the forces of Sardar the Great. Note that about one-third (two full troops, some 8 units in all) of the forces of Jax, the opposing commander, were on the wrong side of the river, their only means of crossing being three bridges, since the river itself was uncrossable. Obviously, it was my job to keep these forces bottled up. And opposing me, controlling Jax's right flank force, was that intrepid warrior, Leam the Bold.
The types of units in the battle, and their unit melee Combat Values (CV), were:
Elephants Heavy Cavalry Medium Cavalry Light Cavalry |
CV 50 40 20 10 |
Heavy Infantry Medium Infantry Light Infantry |
CV 30 20 10 |
For some reason, Jax and company did not assign a full complement of officers to the troops on their right flank. I would have thought that they would have wanted to ensure that the isolated troops would move up as fast as possible and storm the bridges. What they did at the beginning, however, was to assign poor Leam only one Officer for each of his troops. Leam was the forgotten man.
One assigned Officer to a troop gives that troop a PR% of only 60 percent. And for the first couple of turns, Leam's two troops didn't pass their coordination test, failing to toss under the requisite 60%. If, during the movement phase, a troop doesn't pass its control test, the units in the troop can each move only 5 inches. Regular movement distances are 20 inches for cavalry, and 12 for infantry... hence the isolated troops slowed to a virtual crawl.
My troops behaved much better than those of Leam's, the result of years of training. My lower dice throws enabled me to shuffle a couple of units to the bridgeheads, and deploy them, getting ready to greet Leam's units when they arrived.
Around Turn #4, the first of Leam's units to attempt to charge across a bridge was his dreaded Fibulan Heavy Cavalry: But before they could make contact, my archers let loose. Three stands fired, each contributing 15% to the fire factor, 45% in all.
To this total unit fire factor of 45%, I now added a percentage dice throw, which turned out to be a 64. The sum of 45 and 64 is 109, and on the Fibulan Cavalry's data sheet, since the result was over 100, one entire Set of pyramids was crossed out, leaving the Fibulans with 3 remaining Sets.
Having been hard hit, the Fibulan Cavalry now took a morale test. The morale level of a unit is a function of three factors:
- (a) All units start out with a basic level of +20%, plus
(b) +10% for every Set of pyramids remaining uncrossed out. Here, the Fibulans had 3 remaining Sets, hence they added 30%, plus
(c) +10% for every Officer assigned the unit's troop. Here, the single Officer assigned provided another 10% augmentation.
Adding the three above factors, the Fibulan's morale level was 60 percent. Alas for the Fibulans... they failed their 60% dice throw, fell back, and never even got a chance to close.
But now it was the turn of Leam's 2-stand elephant unit to rumble across one of the bridges. The elephant brigade also took a couple of hits as they crossed, but managed to pass their requisite morale test, and so smashed into my defending medium infantry.
Here, too, the procedures in melee closely followed those used in missile firing. From the chart of Combat Values (CV) previously given, the elephants started out with 50 CV. To this they added:
- (a) +10 for every stand in the unit. Here, the elephants added +20 for their 2 stands
(b) +10 because a supporting unit was nearby to shout encouraging things (to provide support, a unit had to be within 6 inches and pass its own morale test)
(c) +10 for the single Officer assigned the troop in which the elephants were located.
Add all the above, and the total CV for the elephants was, therefore, 90. To this, Learn added a percentage dice throw... which turned out to be around 25. The sum of 90 and 25 is 115, over 100, and so my defending medium infantry unit crossed out an entire Set of pyramids on their data sheet.
Note in the listing of CV values that medium infantry start out with a CV of 20, as compared with the elephant's 50. When I added all my relevant factors to the basic 20, and then tossed in a percentage dice throw, my total was somewhere around 90, hence Leam's elephant unit didn't even cross out a full Set; instead, they lost a total of 3 boxes.
The above describes the casualty phase. To determine the actual winner of the combat, add (a) the basic CV value of the unit, (b) a couple of points for every stand in the unit, (c) 10 points for each full Set of pyramids crossed out on the opposing unit's data sheet, and (d) a percentage dice toss.
My mediums didn't stand a chance... off they ran. Leam's elephant brigade had secured a bridgehead!
One or two turns later, however, my boys just about wiped out the units in Leam's contingent. The Fibulan Heavy Cavalry had recovered from their morale failure, and, seeking to regain their honor, once again charged across a bridge. In the ensuing melee, both sides scored heavily, crossing out a full pyramidal Set of boxes, but, unfortunately for the Fibulans, they lost the melee and ran back. The Fibulan Heavy Cavalry will definitely not be mentioned in dispatches.
I should note that in several melees, when a unit added up its CV factors, it totaled over 100, say 110. This guaranteed that it crossed out a full Set of enemy boxes, and also permitted it to have a second bite at the apple for the excess over 100. Thus in the example given, it tossed the dice a second time, adding the excess, +10, to the percentage dice throw.
My left flank was holding, but it was on our right flank that we were in trouble. Brian Dewitt commanded the troops in that sector, and he was having problems with the enemy light infantry. The source of the problem area was that the rules maker, whose name shall not be mentioned, had made light infantry far too strong in the CV listings.
Note in the CV list that light infantry have a basic unit CV value of 10, to which they add all the other normal augmenting melee modifiers. This meant that the lights could put up a good showing... even against heavy infantry! The result of this was that Brian's right flank units of medium and heavy infantry were being decimated by the enemy lights.
I have to admit that, here, I completely flubbed-de-dub. In most of my rules, regardless of era, formed units go right through the lights... "brushing them aside" is the proper phraseology. The lights will evade, they will suffer a box loss or two, they may even fire while evading, but they will not engage in hand-to-hand combat with heavier units.
In this set of rules, I had tried to give the lights a wee bit of combat capability, and overdid it by an order of magnitude or more! All those at tableside agreed that the 'old way' was the 'best way'... and so in the second edition of these rules (soon to hit the presses), lights will revert to their inability to face up to the heavier units. So shall it be written; so shall it be done.
Light infantry aside, I am pleased to report that, in this battle, the forces of Sardar the Great triumphed on the field. The victory conditions are based on the point values of the units concerned, and state that each side obtains a total, T, by adding the following:
- First, add 1 point for every stand in the force.
Second, add 4 points for every heavy cavalry, heavy infantry and elephant stand.
This total T is now used to compute a Loss Number, equal to 40 percent of T. When a side loses a number of pyramidal Sets on its data sheets equal to its Loss Number, it loses the battle.
On our side, we had some 60 stands, each giving 1 point. Then we added the 4-points-per-stand for the heavier units, which brought us up to a T of 130. Taking 40 percent of the total 130, we get a Loss Number of 52. Thus if we crossed out 52 full Sets of pyramids, we'd lose the battle.
A similar calculation was performed for the opposing side. At the end of each half-bound, both sides would count up... tallying all their crossed-out Sets. Some 10 or 11 bonds into the battle, and the forces of Jax gave up the ghost.
One further word on the control system. I mentioned previously that if a troop of units failed their control test, their movement rate was impaired... the units in the troop could move only 5 inches as contrasted with the regular movement rates. of 20 inches for cavalry, 12 inches for infantry.
The test was also made when a unit was ordered to fire. Normally, each stand in the firing unit added a fire factor of +15 to the percentage dice throw to determine the level of hit, i.e., the number of boxes crossed out on the enemy target's data sheet.
If the test was failed, the fire factor per stand was reduced by -5%, hence each stand fired with a resultant fire factor of +10 percent. A 3-stand unit, therefore, instead of adding +45 to the dice throw, added only +30. Not enough to take it out of the picture, but enough to reduce its fire effect.
A third use of the control factor was to determine if the active side's units could close to contact for melee. Remember that the control percentage, PR, was:
- PR% = 40 + 20x(Number of Officers)
Units that failed the closing test, would simply stand there, nonplused, halted in their tracks. I noted that when the center wings of the two sides smashed into each other, most of the troops involved had been assigned 3 Officer figures, thus guaranteeing that the units wouldn't fail their closing test.
It was due to the heavy concentration of Officer assignments on the units in the center of the field that the troops on the flanks suffered. There weren't enough Officers to go around. And the situation was made even worse by the loss of Officers:
- (a) A side lost one Officer when one of its units failed a morale test
(b)A side gave an Officer, i.e., he deserted, to the opposing side when it lost a melee.
Back to PW Review July 1996 Table of Contents
Back to PW Review List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1996 Wally Simon
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