Get a group of Johnny Reb players together and the conversation will eventually turn to command control. Much has been written on the topic in the pages of The Zouave and other magazines. After studying the problem for some time, our local JR2 group has developed a system based on officer initiatives.
Before play begins, player(s) will need to assign an initiative rating to each officer on a scale of 1 through 6, with 1 being the worst and 6 being the best. The rating can be based historically using one's own knowledge of the officers' historical performance or can be randomly generated by rolling a six-sided die for each officer.
An excellent source for officer ratings is an article by Todd Fisher which appeared in The Zouave, Vol. 5, #2, Summer, 1991, where he rates the initiative and benefits for all generals in the American Civil War. You can purchase that back issue from the American Civil Wargaming Society, 20578 Alliance-Sebring Road, Alliance, Ohio, 44601.
This system is easy to learn and implement. We found that it gives the officers more personality which we felt was missing from the game. It provides for the replacement of brigade commanders but not division, corps or army commanders as it was felt that in a 12 to 18 hour battle, there would not be time for a new upper echelon officer to take effective command until after the battle. Of course, in a campaign you could replace upper echelon officers.
Not only will you find an increased level of tension and realism, but you'll breath new life into old scenarios. There will be some special situations which will require players to use their common sense, such as detached commands, etc. These situations are rare and shouldn't deter from the added realism of this system.
Phase One: Mark Orders Phases Two - Eight: Phase Nine: Procedures
Officer Initiative: This is checked every turn after marking orders. Consult scenario order of battle to determine where each officer is placed in the chain of command. Then consult General Ratings Chart and record each officer's initiative. If his name is not listed, he is assigned an initiative rating of 3. Each player will roll a 6-sided die for each officer starting at the top of the chain of command in the following order:
If a position is not present in the O.B. or the officer has been removed from play, skip it and proceed to the next position. Example: if there is not a wing commander, just skip it and roll for the corps commanders. If an officer is assuming more than one command (for example, division and brigade commander) the commander only has to roll once as a division commander and never as a brigade commander: a player only rolls once for each officer's initiative once a turn.
An officer is said to have initiative if the player rolls a number equal to or less than the officer's initiative rating. Example: if an officer has an initiative rating of 3, a roll of 1-3 gives that officer initiative. On a roll of 4-6, the officer will not have initiative. An officer with an initiative of 6 will always have initiative and no officer can ever have an initiative of less than 1.
As soon as an officer gets initiative, all officers subordinate to him (who are in his command) also have initiative and therefore are not rolled for.
Example 1: Braxton Bragg is present on the game table as commander of the Army of Tennessee. The Confederate player successfully rolls initiative for Bragg. All officers subordinate to Bragg are considered to have initiative and are not rolled for. In this instance, all officers in the Army of Tennessee wing, corps, division,and brigade officers have initiative without having to make their their own dice rolls.
If an officer rolls above his initiative rating, that officer does not have initiative. The next subordinate officer in the chain of command under him must roll. If the subordinate does get initiative, dice rolling stops. If the subordinate doesn't make his roll successfully, the players must then roll for the next positions in the chain of command, and if necessary, they must roll for each brigade commander. If an officer fails his initiative roll, he still may give one order to one unit in his command, either a single regiment or a single brigade order. This applies to all officers, army, corps, wing, division and brigade officers.
Example 2: The Union player rolls for his army commander, who is George McClellan.
He fails his initiative. The player will then have to make initiative rolls for all three of his corps commanders, Hooker, Sumner, and Mansfield. Hooker and Sumner pass, but Mansfield fails. Now the Union player must roll for each of Mansfield's division commanders (Sturgis, Rodman, and Cox.) Sturgis and Rodman pass, but Cox fails and now each of Cox's brigade commanders must make initiative rolls, two of whom pass and one of whom fails. Rolling for Union initiative ends for this turn.
Initiative Effect: In order for a unit to receive more than one order, the additional orders must be given by an officer who has initiative . An officer who has initiative may give orders to all the units in his command as per rule 1.1 and 1.2, one order per unit, to all units under the officer's command. An officer who does not have initiative may only give one command to only one unit under his command. Officers may not give orders to units not under their command.
Example 3: Brigade commander Smith fails his initiative roll. He may give a single order to a single brigade as a brigade order or to a single regiment under his command. Division commander Jones (who failed his initiative roll) may also give one single order to any brigade or regiment under his command as may a corps or army Commander. Every officer will always have at least one command to give. Single army, corps and division orders are not allowed.
Example 4: A division commander fails his initiative roll as does one of his brigade commanders. Yet the brigade commander, while not able to give every regiment an order, may give one order to one regiment or to his brigade. His division commander, even though he also failed his initiative roll, still has one order to give. Therefore, four regiments within this brigade could receive an order from their brigade, division, corps, and army commander.
Initiative does not affect an officer's movement. An officer may give an order to his unit no matter how far away he is. The range at which an officer may use his initiative is unlimited.
Field Promotions: The last phase of a turn is Field Promotions, which takes place immediately after officer casualties. Brigade commanders are the only officers which are replaced.
As brigade commanders become casualties and are removed from the game, they are replaced by a senior regimental commander within his brigade. The new brigade officer will be given a benefit and initiative rating one point lower than the rating of the previous brigade commander . If this new replacement officer is killed, he in turn will be replaced by another regimental commander who will have a benefit and initiative rating one less than the previous officer which he is replacing.
During a scenario, there is an indefinite number of replacements. Each time the benefit and initiative rating will drop by one until there is a benefit of 0 and an initiative of 1 (An officer's initiative can never drop below 1.) Replacement officers have a point value of zero. Upper echelon officers (division, corps, wing, army) are never replaced. Of course, in a campaign game one could replace higher echelon officers, but that subject is for another article.
Officer Casualty
Additions to officer casualty rule: In addition to the effects of officer casualties already stated in the rules, add the following:
Stunned: Initiative reduced by two for one turn. (Initiative can not drop to zero. Initiative can not drop below one.)
Light Wound: Results in a minus one modifier to the initiative roll for the rest of the game.
Severe Wound: Treat as dead if brigade commander replaces him.
Other Rules
Other rules: Initiative rules apply only to orders given to infantry and cavalry units. Orders may be given to artillery anytime without any restrictions or cost.
Any officer may give benefit to any unit within one inch of him as per Johnny Reb 2.
If a brigade commander fails his initiative, the player may pick up all orders given to that brigade and replace them with the correct number of orders (Either the same orders or different orders can be played.) This is done before unit orders are revealed. After orders are revealed, if there are not enough eligible officers to give all of the orders (even if short by only one officer), all units in the brigade in question are on automatic hold.
If an officer is acting as both a brigade commander and as a division commander (or as any other additional position), when he is replaced, the replacement assumes only the duty of the brigade commander. The other position(s) are left vacant. He assumes the lower echelon of the two.
Example: if an officer was both a corps commander and a division commander, his replacement would assume only the division commander position.
An officer will always have at least an initiative of one. An officer will always be able to give one order to one unit, a single regimental order, or a single brigade as long as these units are under his command.
Related
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.Modified Sequence of Play Johnny Reb 2
a. Place one order upside down beside each regiment, section, battery or brigade (1.1.2.)
b. Any unit not marked is given a hold order (1.1.1.)
c. Officer Initiative (after placing orders.). Roll for officer initiative as necessary.
As per rules.
Field Promotions. Take place after officer casualties, before the start of the next turn.
Army Commander(s)
Wing Commander(s)
Corps Commander(s)
Brigade Commander(s)
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© Copyright 1994 The American Civil War Society
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