In looking over the rules sets currently on the market, the majority of officers figures don't really "do" anything. They act as a reference point for a 'command area', a region in which units act as desired, and outside of which, don't act as desired. If the officer's 'command radius' is, say, 12 inches, then all units within the 12 inch distance hear and immediately obey, while the units beyond his 12 inch range either (a) don't move at all, (b) move at half-speed, (c) have only a 50 percent chance of moving, (d) can not advance, but can only retrograde, and so on. I've always thought this sort of silly... on Turn #4, the 5th Regiment, under Colonel Globb, located 7 inches from its Commander, General Weeb, gets its orders to advance on the town of Zlett, and moves out. For some reason, as the 5th moves north, General Weeb moves south, so that on Turn #5, the distance between the two is 15 inches. Globb is instantly in panic... chaos immediately ensues... Colonel Globb finds himself more than 12 inches from his boss... he has no idea of what his orders were... what to do? Poor Globb has completely forgotten what General Weeb told him some 20 minutes ago, and he halts the 5th Regiment, and starts to cry, hoping that on the next turn, Weeb will ride out to the 5th, and repeat his orders. What is of interest to me is that the rules book zeroes in on specific unit tactics and strengths, and the fact that the Bavarian infantry move 8 inches, while French infantry can move 10 inches, and French guns are exactly 20 percent more effective than Moldavian guns, and Cossacks fight with a +2 while French Hussars get a +5... and so on. And then, having focused on all this nitty-gritty, the rules book tosses in this crappola about a 'command radius', and how a unit officer must remain within 12 inches of its Commanding General... cross the 12 inch line, and he's fallen into a black hole...he's in another universe. Simon System of Sensible Officer Rules All of which brings me to the Simon System of Sensible Officer Rules. Perhaps 'sensible' is not the right term... perhaps 'reasonable' is more apropos. For example, in most of my systems, when Colonel Globb gets his orders from Weeb, off goes Globb and his Fighting 5th Regiment. And he goes and goes. The distance to General Weeb plays no part until Globb gets into trouble. Suddenly, the enemy fires at the 5th, and the regiment takes two casualties, and it's required to take a morale test. The 5th's basic Morale Level (ML) is 80 percent. Deduct 5 percent for each of the 2 casualties, and the current ML is 70 percent, not too bad a number. But now Colonel Globb has some doubts and thinks: "Geez! And Criminetlies! General Weeb entrusted me with this highly important mission, and Oh Shukky Gee!... I'm taking casualties and meeting an unexpectedly stiff resistance. What'll I do? What's to become of my career?" Globb's doubts are reflected in a negative modifier to the 5th's current ML... perhaps he should pull back, perhaps he should push on despite his casualties. And the further Globb is from Weeb, the more negative the modifier. Here, the negative modifier to the 5th's ML is simply the distance between Weeb and Globb... if Globb is 25 inches away, deduct 25 from the 5th's 70 percent ML... the 5th's adjusted ML is now 45 percent. The further Globb has moved off, the more his doubts. Note that the commanding officer, General Weeb, can't be everywhere at once, and it's up to him to make himself available to the units in the most critical situations. But also note there's none of this horse-puckey about Colonel Globb needing to stay in Weeb's 12-inch shadow for the entire battle. Of late, I've been tossing in another ploy. Assume Globb's Fighting 5th fails its morale test. We give it another casualty figure (representing the flight of several of its men), and now give Globb an option. Two choices: (a) he can retire a set distance with his three casualties, or (b) despite the temporary morale failure, he can hold the 5th in place, with a 70 percent chance of receiving yet another casualty figure (more people fleeing, and shouting: "Colonel Globb has gone mad!"). Note that this ploy provides some 'local initiative' for Globb... he has the choice of retreating or holding. But there's nothing fixed here. All commanding officers on the field have some leeway concerning the actions of their units. In my Renaissance rules, I've another ploy. there are three divisions of units, each under a leader. During the bound, units will take casualties, represented by a number of beads placed on the staff of a pennant bearer. This gives a visual presentation of the current status of a unit. At the end of the bound, there are several casualty assessment phases, in which the division officers play a role. (a) First, there's a "Transfer Phase". The dreaded Killer Beads can be removed from a unit and transferred to its division general, say, Count Linguini. Since 3 beads collected by a unit will result in the removal of one stand (that's why they are called 'Killer Beads'), one would like to preserve unit strength and reduce losses, and have less than 3 beads on a unit. (b) Second, there's a "Kill The Officer Phase". Having transferred all the Killer Beads one desires to Linguini, we test to see how Count Linguini feels about this. There's a chance that Linguini, burdened by the beads placed on his shoulders by his troops, will fall off his horse and expire. The chance to do so is 5 percent per bead. With 7 beads, there's a 35 percent chance he gave his all. If he expires, there will be no officer around on the next bound to absorb the division's casualties. But if, miraculously, Linguini lives, then all his beads are removed, and he will enter the next bound, completely refreshed. (c) Third, there's a "Unit Loss Phase". Having transferred the Killer Beads to the division officers, we now look to all units on the field still retaining beads. First, units with 3 beads automatically remove a stand. Then each Killer Bead remaining on a unit contributes 20 percent chance to the possibility of losing one stand. If the unit loses a stand, its beads are removed... if the unit survives intact, it keeps its beads, carrying them into the next bound. (d) Later in the bound is an "Officer Replacement Phase". Here, there's a 70 percent chance that a replacement arrives to take over a division for a dead officer. What does all the above hanky-panky do? It provides the player with a series of decision points. He can overburden his officers with beads, gambling that the officer stays on the field and will be available, next bound, to help out. If the officer dies, however, then his units, on the next bound, will accumulate Killer Beads themselves with no chance to get rid of them, and losses will rise. Back to PW Review October 1999 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 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