Many wargame rules (including our own) divide the maximum range of artillery into bands long range, Medium range, canister range, etc., in order to calculate the effect of fire. It is annoying and unnatural to find that a single inch of range may make the difference between being in one or the other of two bands which have a marked difference in effect. In working out rules for 5mm figures I struck upon the following possible method of avoiding this.
Let us look at the possible effect of a real 6-gun 8- or 9-pdr battery. This will depend on the nature of the tarrget and the number of guns which actually hit it. The range will determine the odds against any particular number of guns hitting the target, but it will not have much effect on the number Of Casualties caused by these hits, except at extreme range. Thus from extreme canister range (Bay 400 yards to (say) 800 yards) it will be possible to think of a single 'maximum effect with ball', representing all 6 guns hitting the target. For the sake of argument let us call this figure 48 casualties when firing on a column or square. What we want is a system which will make it just possible, but highly unlikely, to get maximum effect at 800 yards, but never possible to :,at more then maximum effect at shorter ranges. It must also provide for all possible effects which are less than maximum.
What I suggest is to throw a suitable number of average dice and then deduct the range from the total. (The range can be calculated in inches or centimetres according to the scale being used.) Of course at short ranges this will sometimes produce an effect that is more than maximum, but these would automatically be reduced to maximum. The easiest way to illustrate this is to show how it would work in our projected game for 5mm figures.
In this game the scales are 1 inch = 30 yards and 1 figure - 4 men. When firing on a target (infantry in column or square or enfiladed in line) I propose to throw 6 average dice and deduct the range in inches, but to limit maximum effect to 12 figures. The maximum possible dice throw is 40, so it is just possible to cause one casualty at 39 inches range and just possible to cause the maximum of 12 Casualties at 28 inches range. But an average throw of 28 will only cause maximum casualties at 16 inches range. All casualty effects which work out at more than 12 are automatically reduced to 12.
What about firing at less vulnerable targets? We call infantry in line and all cavalry and horse teams B targets. For these I propose to throw 7 average dice and fix the ma ximum effect at 6 figures. As the maximum possible throw is 35, it is just possible to cause maximum casualties at 29 inches range - almost the same as against A targets. We call infantry behind walls or in houses, gun crews, and skirmishers taken in enfilade C targets. (Skirmishers not taken in enfilade are also C targets, but may only be fired on with canister.) For these I propose to throw 6 average dice and fix the maximum effect at 3 figures. As the maximum possible throw is 30, it is just possible to cause maximum casualties at 27 inches range -- almost the same as against A or B targets.
What about 4- or 6-pdr horse artillery batteries? For these I propose to reduce the throws to 7, 6 and 5 dice against A, B and C targets respectively, but not to reduce the maximum effects. Thus it is just possible to cause maximum casualties at ranges of 23 inches, 24 inches and 22 inches respectively. This seems a suitable reduction in comparison with the corresponding ranges of 28 inches, 29 inches and 27 inches for the heavier guns. For 12-pdr batteries an increase of the throws to 9, 6 and 7 will give a suitable increase in effective range for the heavier guns.
There remains the question of how to determine the effect of canister. I propose to throw one dice less than the corresponding throw for ball, but to double the maximum possible effect. How does this work out with 8- or 9-pdrs firing against an A target? The throw is 7 dice and the maximum effect is 24 casualties. It takes an over-average throw of 28 to cause maximum effect at 4 inches range. At 13 inches range an average throw of about 25 causes 12 casualties (the maximum if you were firing with ball). But firing with ball at the some range would produce the same casualties with a throw well under average, so it ceases to be worth while to fire canister at any greater range. However, if a plays; misjudges his distances and fires with canister at too great a range, he will still get some effect, but almost certainly less then if he had fired with bell.
This would seem to provide an easily worked, realistic and flexible system. A simple table can be drawn up from which to read off the throw and the maximum effect according to the type of gun and target. Admittedly it would be more difficult to .apply the system to a game with 20/25mm figures because the minimum casualty of one figure represents a larger number of men and-the ranges are much longer. For a game where 1-inch - 30 yards and 1 figure = 20 men the only way would seem to be to deduct a third of the range in inches and divide the result by 5 with maxima of 3, 2 and 1. A bit complicated!
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© Copyright 1973 by Donald Featherstone.
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