0ne of the difficulties of historical miniatures and re-creating historical battles is that the sides are not always balanced, either due to the historical situation or the varying skill level of the gamers involved. One way to get around these difficulties is by playing hypothetical battles. But how do you insure that the opposing sides in such a battle are equal?

The idea of a point system for games is well known, especially with non-historical games such as Warhammer. Thus, if such a system can work well when creating a fight between Space Orcs and Turbo Marines, it can be used for the advantage of Civil War enthusiasts.

This system includes rules for the placement of terrain as well as the cost of creating a force of varying size. For a quick battle, players should purchase 400-500 points worth of forces. For corps-sized battles, 1500-1750 points works well, and for army-sized battle, players can select 3000-5000 points.

INFANTRY & CAVALRY POINTS
INFANTRY QUALITY	COST PER FIGURE	CAVALRY QUALITY	COST PER FIGURE
Militia	1	Militia	2
Raw	2	Raw	4
Veteran	3	Veteran	6
Elite	4	Elite	8

Finally, I would encourage players to modify this system or apply it to different scales of games. With some tweaking (mainly to the points used for purchasing commanders), this system can easily be applied to Johnny Reb and other regimental rules sets.

Players using this system purchase their force with a set number of points. Each figure they purchase, whether it is infantry, cavalry, artillery, or an officer, has a point cost. Players may also spend points (or save them) on other things such as fortifications, starting units off-table, or improving the forces level of supply.

ARTILLERY

Artillery costs are dependent on the quality of the unit and the size of the gun. First determine the quality of the crew and multiply that cost by the size of the gun. A force may never consist of more batteries than infantry or cavalry (whichever is greater) brigades.

ARTILLERY POINTS
QUALITY	COST PER CREW	GUN TYPE	CREW COST MULTIPLIED
Militia	10	Light	x1
Raw	30	Medium	x2
Veteran	40	Heavy	x2
Elite	60	Siege	x3

COMMANDERS

The cost of commanders depends on their rank and their ability level. To determine the cost, multiply their Leader Rating with their rank multiple. This also means that leaders with a negative rating provide a discount to the cost of your army. This assumes the leaders will be used properly and fairly. If this could present a problem, do not allow officers with negative ratings. Leadership ratings range from -10 to +30 (average is +5 or +10)

COMMANDERS

DIVISION: Multiply rating x2
CORPS: Multiply rating x3
ARMY. Multiply rating x5

SUPPLY

Units may choose to follow the normal game rules regarding running out of ammunition. If this is the case, no points need to be spent. A player may wish however to spend his points to create an improved supply line. An improved supply line means that units do not run out of ammunition the first time they roll doubles; instead, they only run out of ammunition the second time the unit rolls doubles.

EXCELLENT SUPPLY: 300 Points

DELAYED ENTRY>

Players may also receive a discount on the cost of some units by delaying their entry from the board. The number of turns units will be delayed MUST be determined when purchasing those units. It cannot be decided or altered once the game has begun. For each turn a unit is delayed beyond the first, the purchasing player may deduct 10% from its cost.

DELAY:
Multiply Unit Cost by: .1 x (# of turns until arrival - 1)

TERRAIN

Players may also lay any available terrain down. A good guid line is to place one piece of terrain for every two square feet of table space bein used. This does NOT mean the terrain must be evenly spaced; it simply tells th total number of terrain objects that will be on the table. A player may choose, rather than place a new terrain piece, to "upgrade" a piece of terrain on the boar Thus, if one side had previously placed, hill, a player can choose to make that hil a heights rather than place a new terrain feature.

If a player selects a Stream, he may place 24" of stream (no more than 1" wide) in a continuous line starting at on board edge. Any further purchases of streams must then be connected to what has already been placed. The stream is considered fordable and each player ma choose to place one bridge across the stream (this does not count as terrain placement).

As a rough guideline, each piece of terrain (hills, woods, towns) should b( roughly 2"x2", but never let that interfer with your enjoyment or the pieces of ter rain you have available.

FORTIFICATIONS

Players may also begin the game with fortifications and entrenchments in place. These may be placed on units after everything for the game is set up, but must be purchased before the game (i.e. when everything else is being purchased). Players may purchase up to 10 levels of fortifications, but the cost increases for each level purchased beyond 5. Fortifications are purchased by the inch. Remember that brigades usually contain four or more regiments (stands), and units not completely in works receive no benefit from them.

FORTIFICATION POINTS

LEVEL : COST PER LEVEL PER INCH

1-5 : 3 points
6-10 : 5 points

SETUP

Once units have been purchased and terrain has been placed, players may now place their armies. Starting with the Union player, each side alternates placing one unit on the board. For small battles, players should alternate placing brigades; for larger battles, players should alternate placement by division. Artillery should be placed when the final unit of its division is placed while officers are placed after all units have been setup. Officers may begin the game anywhere on the board, but not within 6" of any enemy forces. These armies may be setup anywhere along one table side as long as the units are within 18" of the map's edge. If this would put units less than 6" apart, the unit may NOT be placed in that location.

VICTORY

Players may choose the duration their battle will last. The standard battle length should be between 8-12 turns. Players may determine victory using mutually agreeable conditions or may use the system for determining victors listed in the A NATION ON TRIAL rules booklet.

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