In past articles, I've mentioned the Dreaded Divisor (DD) and how it is used in fire and melee procedures. To review, we must first generate a fraction, F, which has, as is common to all good fractions, a top and a bottom, i.e., a numerator and a denominator.
- F = Numerator / Denominator
Now the trick is to play with one, or both, of these factors.
The DD method is used in the rules set AGE OF REASON (AOR), wherein the author has you toss a number of 6-sided dice for melee. This number depends upon the quality and type of troops. In AOR, heavy cavalry, for example, receive more dice than infantry. Having tossed your dice, you add them up. This total constitutes the numerator of the fraction, F.
Then, says the author, divide the total by 6 to obtain the casualties on the target unit. The number '6' thus becomes the divisor, the denominator of the fraction.
Here, therefore, in AOR, the author varies the numerator and keeps the denominator fixed at 6. The Simon DD method approaches the issue differently. Essentially, both the numerator and denominator are varied.
- First, to get the numerator, you toss a 10-sided die, double it, and add +10. This gives a random result varying from 12 to 30.
Next, to get the denominator, we look at the different types of troops. In an ancients battle, for example, heavy cavalry might have a divisor, a factor of 3, while light infantry might have a factor of 10.
Dividing numerator by denominator, and looking at the possibilities generated by the above two factors:
| Unit | When Numerator is the minimum of 12 |
When Numerator is the maximum of 30 |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy cavalry (Denominator of 3) | F = 12/3 = 4 | F = 30/3 = 10 |
| Light infantry (Denominator of 10) | F = 12/10 = 2 (rounded up) | F =30/10 = 3 |
If we let F equal the number of hits on the opposing unit, we see that heavy cavalry can strike with an impact which ranges from +4 to +10, while light infantry has a much more restricted range, and can strike with an impact ranging only from +2 to +3. Which means that the more powerful the unit, the smaller should be the denominator, i.e., the divisor.
The intent of playing with the DD procedure was to develop a set of quicky rules for setting up a solo campaign wherein battles could be fought just as rapidly as the campaign movements could be made. The entire affair would be fought in a single afternoon.
I have a very short term 'patience factor', especially when doing things on a solo basis, and if any complicated, time consuming procedures are required, I will throw up my hands and toss the entire system into the garbage.
I envisioned that the campaign set-up would give each side 5 to 7 units in a battle, a small enough number so that if data recording was required, the paperwork wouldn't become excessive. In the following battle descriptions, there turned out to be a minimum of necessary paperwork.
Test Battle
Tom Elsworth and I set up a test battle in the renaissance era. We each had 6 units, with each unit represented by 3 stands. A loss in melee or a morale test failure would knock off a stand, hence each unit had a finite life.
I had a single, fairly unwieldy large gun, which had an ammunition supply of 5 'bullets'... it could fire 5 times. Tom's firearm unit of musket troops could fire indefinitely, twice per bound, but their range was one-third that of the cannon.
I started off the battle by firing my cannon at Tom's armored cavalry. The DD of the cannon, as described above, was 3, and I did the following:
- I tossed my die, doubled it and, to get the numerator, added 10. The result was 28, rounded up to 30.
I divided the 30 by the DD of the cannon, 3, to get a total of 10 hits on the cavalry. Tom's cavalry took a morale test. Its morale level started at 80%, and it subtracted 10 (1 point per hit) for the hits it just received, for a net of 70%.
The cavalry failed the test, removed one stand, and fell back.
My gun had used one of its 5 bullets.
Each unit type had its own DD as follows:
- Armored cavalry 3
Heavy infantry 4
Medium cavalry 5
Medium infantry 6
Cannon (unlimbered) 3
Cannon (limbered) 10
In another encounter, my medium infantry charged an enemy heavy infantry unit. After the requisite dice tossing, I, using the DD of 6 for my infantry, had inflicted 4 hits on the heavies, while they had given my mediums a total of 10 hits. Since I had a support unit nearby, the 4 hits on the heavies were increased by one to 5. Then, to determine the winner, we each computed the product, P, wherein the parameters of importance were:
-
S Your survivors, i.e., number of your stands
H Number of hits inflicted on the enemy
P = 10-sided die x (S + H)
For my mediums: P = Die x (3 stands + 5 hits)
For the heavies: P = Die x (3 stands + 10 hits)
I tossed low and lost... one of my medium stands was removed, and the remaining stands fell back. But of much greater importance was the effect on my 'Army Efficiency' (AE). Here, I recorded an AF efficiency loss of 10 points. The AE record of both sides determined the length and scope of the battle, because it affected the activity of the sides.
At the start of each turn of the battle, we diced for the total number of actions to be assigned to the active side, where each action could be used for firing or for movement. As our losses increased, and our AE decreased, the number of actions we were allowed also decreased, and it was decreed that a battle was over when a side was finally down to 2 actions.
At this point, the side was deemed to be too inefficient to carry on, and it gave up the field.
The total number of unit actions available to an entire side, per turn, was determined from the following table:
-
01 to 33 8 actions
34 to 66 7 actions
67 to 100 6 actions
A maximum of 2 actions could be assigned to a unit. Thus a musket unit could advance and fire, or fire twice. Similarly, my gun could fire twice... but here, since I had only 5 bullets for the entire game, I declined to do so.
When a unit failed a morale test, or lost a melee, two 'bad things' happened
- First, when the side tossed its dice on the above action table, it added to the dice throw the cumulative loss in AE points. This increase in the net dice throw tended to decrease the available actions, and the side 'slowed down'.
Second, the action table as given above was itself altered as follows. Each time a force lost AE points, we used a different action table:
| Dice Throw | No Loss | Loss of AE Points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -10 | -20 | -30 | -40 | -50 | ||
| 01 to 33 | 8 actions | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 34 to 66 | 7 actions | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 67 to 100 | 6 actions | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Over 100 | 5 actions | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
The battle was declared to be over whenever a side, in dicing for the available actions on the above table for its units, was down to 2 actions. Looking at the above listings, note that at least a 30 point loss in the side's AE must have occurred.
I lost the first battle in 5 bounds, after my troops had incurred a total loss of 40 AE points. When I next tossed my action dice, adding 40 points to the throw, my net toss totalled 76, giving me only 2 actions... end of battle.
We tried another encounter, and this one, too, lasted some 5 bounds... quick and dirty.
Tom suggested a couple of modifications to the rules structure for example, the use of light infantry and their 'harassing' role.
In the original listing of DD values, you'll note that cannon are doubled-valued... when firing, their DD is 3, yet when limbered, their DD is 10. Musket bearing units were also 2-valued... these were classed as medium infantry, giving them a 6 as a DD in melee, but a 4 when firing, which means their 'fire power' was slightly greater than their 'melee power'.
It appears that my 'afternoon campaign' can be carried out with a number of 6-unit forces on the campaign map. The forces would not be equal... below is a table which might be used to generate the size of each 6-unit ancients army:
| Dice Throw | Hay Cave | Hay If | MEd Cave | MEd If |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 to 33 | 2 units | 1 unit | 1 unit | 2 unit |
| 34 to 66 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 67 to 100 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
For variation, I'd probably toss in one additional archer or musket unit for each force to supply fire power.
You'll note that my armies are very generic in nature. They are quite unlike those specified, for example, in the DBE Army List booklets. There are three of these Army List booklets... and there is also the set of DBE rules themselves. The WRY organisational staff members require that you purchase all four booklets to keep on their good side.
Having done so, you now have a complete listing of all forces on the planet, both hemispheres, that were in existence during the period ranging from 1500 to 1700.
I looked over these army lists and decided they were not for me. There's too much nitty-gritty and preciseness which is presented in the name of historical accuracy. For example, in Army List Booklet #3, on page 16, is listed the army of the Fun Empire. These Funjites(?) (Funjicals?) could have Abdallabi Bedouin troops, or Dinka Mercenaries, or, after 1650, a cannon.
In Booklet #1, for the Wallachian army (page 24), you can have Szecklers, or Dorobanti, or Haiduks.
Best of all, back to Booklet #1, page 15, and we come to the army of the Alwa kingdom. According to the notes, this kingdom lasted all of ten years... 1494 AD to 1504 AD... and for the cost of only 2 points, when you "purchase" your army, you can have a genuine 'Thorn Boma' behind which to cower.
This stuff is too rich for my blood. I'll stick to generic heavy cavalry... 'big guys', and medium cavalry... 'not so big guys', and so on for my army listings.
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© Copyright 1998 Wally Simon
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