I read your editorial that you won't be putting in notifications that readers may submit articles. I believe this to be a mistake. If you had not put such a notice in. I wouldn't have known you accepted, and in fact seek submissions. You should continue to infonn new subscribers of this. Use this article as you choose. I have others, including scenarios, that I could easily write if you like. One of the problems our Arizona club faces with Johnny Reb is the seeming omnipotence of the players. Often players have knowledge not only of the numbers of troops facing tbem, but also the quality of those troops and their officers. When playing a scenario this is unavoidable. Howeva, most of our games are improvised meeting engagements. To avoid the problem of knowing the quality and even the numbers of the oppoition, we have devised simple charts to determine troop morale and weapons types. Another chart determines the morale point of officers. These charts wae designed with ease of play in mind. They are basic and eliminate a great many options, such as breechloaders and sharpshooting rifles since we found inclusion of those weapons to be cumbersome. Keeping it simple gets you in the field of battle faster. Roll up brigade sizes using a 10-sided die based on the following chart: 1 = 70 figures 2-3 = 80 figures 4-7 = 90 figures 8-9 = 100 figures 10 = 110 figures Next, choose your regiments and then determine morale using the following chart: REGIMENT MORALE CHART Regiment Charts: Roll two 6-sided dice 2 or anything less = militia 3-7 = green 9-11 = average 12+ = elite Modifications: Add 3 to the dice total when rolling for a 10-man or smaller regiment Add 2 for an 11 to 15-man regiment. No change for a 16 to 20 man regiment Subtract 2 for a 21 to 25 man reg ment Subtract 3 for anything larger than 25 man. Remember, if you roll a 2 or less with the modifiers, that unit is militia (5 BMP). Weapons: Roll a 6-sided die. On a roll of a 1 or 2 the regiment is armed with smoothbores; a 3 and they have foreign rifles; a 4, 5 or 6 and they have rifles. There are no sharpshooting rifles, breechloaders, etc. Brigade Officers: Roll a 10-sided die to determine morale benefit. 1-2=0 4-8 = 1 9-10=2 Obviously, thae are benefits to playing smaller regiments. However, if you play using the brigade integrity rules, these benefits are somewhat offset. A reminder, these charts are best used with the hidden movement rules. The charts can be modified simply by adjusting the numbers. For example, for an early war setting players might increase odds of obtaining green troops by changing the numbers an the Regiment Morale chart as follows: 2 or less = militia 3-8 = green 9-12 = avaage 13+ = elite We have found that even so slight a change has a huge impact on the percentage of green and average troops. A second option for troop morale is a simple "purchasing" system. We assign each figure a cost, with green troops costing 1 point each, average troops costing 2 points and elite figures costing 3 points each. Hence, a green 20 man regiment costs 20 points and an elite regiment of the same size costs 60 points. Based on this system, each player should be given between 350 and 450 points to select their forces. The beauty of this system is that, when used with hidden movement rula, you can fool your opponent. For example, you might buy large numbers of green troops and make a flank attack with an elite brigade. It may seem that elite troops are cheap at the 3 point price, but we have found that this is a good point system. Indeed, most of the troops purchased are either green or average. No one wants to be out-manned 3-1, and if your opponent purchases all green troops and you purchase all elite that will occur. We also assign a basic number of points to each side for the "purchase" of artillery. We have found, based on the 350 to 450 point range for infantry mentioned above, that about 24 points per player is a good number for artillery "purchases." To select artillery, use the 0-12 inch solid shot firing chart and base the cost of each gun on that firing strength. For example, a 12# Napolean would cost 6 points while a 3" rifle costs 4 points. We allow any guns to be selected on this chart, except seige artillery. This may seem unfair, but here again we've found that the realities of the battlefield maintain player sanity. If your opponent buys six 3" rifles and you greedily buy that battery of three 20# Parrots you've always wanted to play, we've found that at least some of the 3-inchers will usually survive, while the 20- pounders lie in ruins. Again, these charts and their modifiers are designed for quick play and admittedly fail in some areas. But they are easy to use and modify and offer flexibility so that you can surprise, or be surprised, by an opponent. Back to The Zouave Vol VII No. 2 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 The American Civil War Society 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