Great Battles Rules

13th December 2011 While this rulebook has been provided as a free download the exclusive rights to reproduce it remain with Mark Sims. Please do not post this file on any web site, forum or group or distribute in any other way but by all means post links to the files on the Crusader web site or tell folks where they can get the rules. Basically please dont copy these files anywhere else so that I can keep control of updating versions and make sure everyone is working with and downloading the most up to date files. With that in mind the rules are dated so that you can see which version you are using and make sure its the most recent. Why bother with yet more rules? I have always enjoyed board wargaming as much as tabletop and combining aspects of the two seems to make perfect sense to me. These rules use a hex grid to regulate movement, firing and so on but they also use tabletop mechanics and figures. Both of these aspects have their advantages and disadvantages, a few obvious examples include the ease and accuracy of measuring movement, firing or facings with hexes but the problem with an inability to stack units in a hex when using figures. With the above in mind there are some abstractions that players are just going to have to live with (or find another set of rules to play, obviously). The game is designed for large battles where lots of battalions of infantry, regiments of cavalry or batteries of artillery is being represented, The idea being that players represent higher level commanders and are not really interested in whether the 2nd battalion of the 27th Line has skirmishers deployed or not. The local, lower level, commands are assumed to be doing the best thing at the right time, you can even say that the die rolls for firing, melee and so on reflect how well they are actually commanding. What do the rules aim to achieve? Well, if you are anything like me you have fought your fair share of battles that start with both sides lined up within artillery range, each player has their troops to command and on the first turn one side or the other begins to attack. This isnt because an all out attack is the plan but simply so that players get something to do and so that a game has a chance of being finished in a day or evening. As often as not there is little or no manoeuvre, no time for preparatory bombardment and the idea of keeping a reserve is laughable - after all, theyll never have time to get into the fight if you do that so why bother? The rules that you choose obviously affect this to one degree or another but I decided that I wanted a game where there were lots of units on the table and where both sides actually had time to develop plans and fight battles as they were actually fought. Turn 1 - charge! gets a bit dull after a while. How did I try to do this? The obvious option is to make each unit on the table represent a larger formation. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only. Instead of your block of troops being a battalion make it a regiment or a brigade, this is what a lot of large scale rules do. Unfortunately a battle with 25 units on the table where each is a battalion is not far removed from a battle with 25 units on the table where each unit is a brigade. Whatever you call them - you have 25 units. Once again the rules you choose determine to what degree this applies. I wanted a game where I could command a Corps and have it comprise enough battalions, regiments and batteries so that there are lots of tactical possibilities. The game then becomes about how you deploy and use that mass of troops. You have the scope to detach troops, keep reserves, attack multiple objective and so on, and while you are doing this the other commanders (players) are doing the same thing. Does it work? Pretty well I think, so long as you accept the fact that the rules are streamlined (its all factored in conveniently glosses over a lot of things) to allow players to manage a large number of units in a playable time frame. If you want detail you wont find it here, if you want the spectacle of a mass battle and a realistic time frame for playing it in youll ignore the more obvious factoring in. Think like a Corps or Army commander and not like a Regiment or Battalion commander and you wont go too far wrong. If its a grand tactical set of rules where is the Command & Control? Basically, in a nutshell - its the players. I have yet to find two wargamers that fight or think the same way. Where one is ordered to attack theyll go all out with every unit as fast as they can while another will carefully creep forward covering every flank and terrain feature. I guarantee a multi player battle will have at least one player tearing their hair out in frustration - That wasnt the plan!. Finally, these rules are still in the playtest stage, the examples may not be complete, there are some sections that still need to be updated and there are no doubt a fair few typos and possibly some contradictions where one rule has been updated but another has not. Im always open to suggestions about how to improve things but one thing I am not going to do is add stuff. To my mind the trick to writing rules is to see what you can take out and still have a realistic, playable game - anyone can add rules to cover situations or fill gaps where the basic rules dont quite work. So, if you can streamline these rules let me know, if you just want to add cavalry feint charges, reverse slope bombardment or overhead fire from howitzers by all means do so for yourself but its not what these rules are about. Nothing much else to say - try the rules, if you like them, great. If not then you cant complain - theyre free Mark

1.Game Mechanics
Each unit on the table represents a certain number of infantry, cavalry or artillery. Movement and firing ranges as well as arcs of fire, front, flank and rear zones are all regulated by a hex grid. Each turn represents 30 minutes of real time and each hex is 250 yards across, therefore 7 hexes equals a mile. Each hex is 2 wide, on a 6 foot by 4 foot mat this gives you something like 35 hexes by 25 hexes give or take a few. A 5 mile by 4 mile battlefield on a 6 by 4 table gives plenty of scope for large battles. Each hex can only contain one combat unit though commanders can stack with other commanders and/or friendly units. Combat units (artillery, infantry or cavalry) are faced towards a hex spine and have 2 front, 2 flank and 2 rear hexes. Command stands, infantry in square and limbered artillery do not have facings and can be positioned anywhere within a hex. A unit that exerts a ZOC is considered a Combat Unit for game purposes. Youll find this description pops up in various rules throughout this set. Commanders and limbered artillery do not exert a ZOC and so they are not considered Combat Units for those rule purposes.

artillery, cavalry brigades or detached formations. How formations and troops fit into the order of battle, who they are subordinate to and whether they may be attached to other commands will be dealt with as part of the scenario specific rules. For example a force consists of an infantry corps of two divisions, 4 batteries of corps reserve artillery and an attached cavalry division with 2 brigades of light cavalry. For game purposes the two infantry divisions would be MajFs, the corps artillery would be a MinF and each of the two cavalry brigades would be MinFs.

Combat Value
The ability of a unit to withstand losses, its chance of winning a melee or the amount of damage that it can inflict in a fire fight is based on its Combat Value (CV). The CV of a unit is its most important statistic and is used extensively throughout the rules. CV is calculated according to a units historical quality. Artillery batteries use the number of guns present to calculate their starting CV while infantry and cavalry use the number of troops present. Each infantry stand represents 1000 men, each cavalry 500 and each artillery stand 12 guns. Troop quality is based on how the unit in question performed historically. Specific scenarios will already have these values calculated but if you are designing your own youll need to decide on the quality of any particular unit. Simply cross reference the type of unit with its quality, this will give you the starting CV for that unit. It is probable that the number of troops or guns will not fit neatly into groups of 1000, 500 or 12. In this case the formations should be rounded to the nearest value and that will determine the number of stands that are present. For example an infantry unit that is rated as Veteran would have a CV of 5. A battery that is rated as Regular would have a CV of 4 and so on.

Front Flank Rear

Front Flank Rear

Army Organisation
In brief an army can be made up of multiple corps, divisions or wings. A corps or wing can be made up of multiple divisions or brigades. The various parts of the army can be called different things according to period or nationality but for the sake of these rules the terms used are Army, Corps, Division and Brigade. The game mechanics have two different levels of formation within an army, Major Formations (MajF) and Minor Formations (MinF). A MajF must have a commander represented on table and they will be used as the focal point for that formations cohecsion(more on this later). In addition MajF suffer the effects of formation morale when they have suffered 50% or more losses in units, MinF do not suffer in this way. A MajF is a formation of division size that contains only infantry and artillery units or a mix of infantry, artillery and cavalry. These represent the mainstay of most armies. A MinF is a formation that represents corps or army Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Combat Value Calculator

Infantry (1000) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Untrained Militia Conscript Regular Veteran Elite Guard Old Guard 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Cavalry (500)

Artillery (12) N/A N/A 3 4 4 5 5 6

Troop Statistics
As well as the Combat Value players will need to know some other information about the units. Some units are counted as fully skirmish capable, this simply differentiates between units that were trained to break down fully into skirmish order and could actually be expected to do so as opposed to units that simply had a proportion of their troops trained as skirmishers. The benefit of skirmish troops is that they will fire at full effectiveness when operating in bad going whereas those that are not will fire at half effectiveness, see firing rules on page 17. In this case bad going is any hex that has a MP cost of 2MP for infantry - woods, marsh, swamp, rough, BUA and so on. Troops that are classed as skirmish capable will have an (s) after their CV value. Artillery weight is dealt with in the different ranges that the battery will have but whether that battery is horse or foot artillery needs to be indicated. A horse artillery battery will have a H after its range, by default foot batteries will have no letter. Cavalry can be classed as either light, medium or heavy and each will be indicated by L, M or H after its CV. The morale class of the unit is not needed during combat and is only relevant for calculating the unit CV and for Major Formation morale purposes. The range that a unit can fire is given in brackets after the CV. This applies to artillery as well as infantry that are armed with rifles. Musket armed troops have a range of 1 hex if there is no other range indicated.

as soon as it leaves that hex. You can move from one hex that is in an enemy ZOC into another hex that is in an enemy ZOC, even a ZOC hex belonging to the same enemy unit. A unit may change facing while inside an enemy ZOC. A unit may never retire into an enemy ZOC hex. Artillery batteries may not deploy in an enemy ZOC though they may enter or leave them as per the usual movement rules while limbered. A battery that starts its movement within an enemy ZOC may limber and move out of that ZOC, this would use all of its remaining MP as usual. Combat Units that exert a ZOC restrict the movement options of enemy troops. No enemy unit may use strategic movement if it begins within or enters a 2 hex radius around these units. This is dealt with more fully in the movement section.

Movement in ZOC Example

Z1 Z4 Z8

Z2 A Z5 C

Z3 Z6 D Z7

Z9

Zones of Control
Infantry, cavalry and deployed artillery units exert a Zone of Control (ZOC) into their six adjacent hexes. Commanders and limbered artillery do not exert any ZOC.

Z 10 Z 11
It is worth pointing out that this example makes far more sense once you have read the movement rules! Unit A can move into any of the hexes Z1, Z2, Z4, Z5 or Z8. How it moves into these hexes is important as it will determine the units facing. Even though it pays no actual MP cost to change facing it is still assumed to carry out these facing changes when it moves. A could simply advance into Z4 or Z8, it would retain its current facing and this would be its entire move. A could retire into Z2 keeping its current facing but it could not retire into Z5 as a unit may never retire into an enemy ZOC hex. A can freely change face by any amount and can still move afterwards, this allows it access to all of the hexes around it. However, once it has moved into the new hex it would keep that facing as leaving an enemy ZOC ends movement for that unit.

ZOC ZOC ZOC

ZOC ZOC ZOC

A unit may enter an enemy ZOC but it must stop moving as soon as it enters that hex. A unit may leave an enemy ZOC but it must stop moving Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Taking just one example from those open to it A could change face to the hex spine between C and Z5 and then move forward into hex Z5. This would end its movement so it could not then change facing to put C into its front arc. Just because facing changes are free of MP cost it does not mean that they do not happen. Rather than moving forward into hex Z5 it could retire into either Z1 or Z4, again it would maintain its facing and end its movement. Unit B could enter Z5 or Z6 moving directly forward, this would end its movement and it would have the same facing as it does at the moment. Suppose it wanted to enter Z7 but be able to shoot at enemy unit D, it could change facing to its left (0 MP) move to Z3 (1 MP) change facing to its right (0 MP) and then move ahead into Z7 (1 MP) this would end its movement. The player controlling unit B would not physically need to show the facing changes except the one just before it enters the enemy ZOC as that is the facing it must keep. Unit C has pretty much the same options open to it as A. To illlustrate why a unit may not retire into an enemy ZOC its worth pointing out that C could not change face to the spine between Z8 and Z10 and then retire into Z5 so that it is behind unit A! Unit D wants to move into Z3 and also be able to fire at target B. To do this it must first enter Z7 and then it has to turn to face B before it moves into Z3. If it simply moved directly ahead it would not be facing B and could not change its facing to do so as entering the ZOC of B ended its movement. You will find that facing changes during movement only really come into play when entering or leaving an enemy ZOC. It is also much simpler in practice than I make it sound here!

Battery E is horse artillery and is currently deployed. It could limber and move into Z4, Z5, Z6 or Z7 any of which would end its movement. Battery E could choose to remain deployed and change its facing by any amount for no MP cost as usual, being in an enemy ZOC does not stop it from doing this. Suppose E were limbered, it could move into any of the four hexes as mentioned above but even though Z7 is not an enemy ZOC hex the battery would not be able to deploy there. Deployiong costs no MP but leaving an enemy ZOC hex ends movement for that unit, including movement that does not cost any MP.

Cavalry Threat Zone

The two front and the two flank hexes of mounted cavalry regiments represent the cavalry threat zone. No infantry or limbered artillery unit may move into or pass through these 4 hexes unless it is into terrain that the cavalry could not charge into. This applies to normal, charge, retreat or advance after combat movement. Cav Cav Threat Threat Cav Threat Cav Threat

Artillery in ZOC Example Z1 A B Z3 Z4

Limb

Z2 C D Z6 Z7

E F Z5

In the example above unit B is horse artillery and is currently limbered. If it moves into hexes Z1, Z2, Z3 or Z4 it would end its movement as soon as it entered one of those hexes. It could not deploy in its current hex as artillery may not deploy in an enemy ZOC. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

2. Turn Order
Initiative is determined by the scenario specific rules at the start of the battle. Play then alternates between sides, there are no initiative rolls required throughout the battle. Each turn is split into 2 sections. During the first section one side will be active while the other is inactive. When the first side has completed their part of the turn the active and inactive roles swap. Once the two sides have been both active and inactive the turn is over and time is advanced 30 minutes.

sides have been both active and inactive this turn then the time marker is advanced 30 minutes.

Turn Order (page ##)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Active leader casualty rolls if within 7 hexes. Active check for MajF out of command units. Active morale for MajF within 7 hexes. Active charges, inactive form square reactions. Active remaining movement. Fire phase, both sides simultaneously. Apply effects at the end of the phase. Melee - active decides which order, apply results immediately as they occur Swap active and inactive. If both sides have been active this turn advance time 30 minutes

Phase 1. The active player rolls 2D6 for each of his command stands that is within 7 hexes of any enemy combat unit. If the roll is a 2 then there is a chance of a leader casualty. Phase 2. The active side checks all of the units within their MajF to see if any are out of command. Units that are OOC are marked as such. Phase 3. Any of the active sides Major Formations that have a combat unit within 7 hexes of any enemy combat unit and has a Shaken Morale counter with it must take a formation morale test. Phase 4. The active player declares and conducts charges one at a time with any of his eligible units. The inactive player reacts by declaring form square attempts. Phase 5. All of the remaining units on the active side can conduct tactical movement or, if they begin and remain outside 2 hexes of any enemy combat unit they may carry out strategic movement. Phase 6. Both sides conduct simultaneous fire, after all fire is carried out CV loss is applied and any units that have been reduced to 0CV are removed. Phase 7. Each melee is conducted one by one with all effects applied before moving on to the next. The active side determines the order that melees are calculated. Phase 8. The active and inactive roles swap, if both Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

3. Movement
Movement is split into two types, tactical and strategic. Tactical movement is carried out when a unit is close to the enemy while strategic can only be used when there are no enemy combat units nearby. A unit will be able to move faster using strategic movement than it would using tactical. The amount of Movement Points (MP) a unit has is determined by its troop type and the mode of movement it is using, either strategic or tactical. Strategic and tactical movement may not be combined, a unit must be using one or the other. A unit must be able to pay the full MP cost to enter a new hex and unused movement points may not be carried over from one turn to the next. A unit moves forward by retaining its current facing and entering one of its two front hexes. It retires by retaining its facing and moving into one of its two rear hexes. A unit may not sidestep into an adjacent hex. During movement units are assumed to be changing facing so that they can move into their destination hex though they do not actually pay any MP cost for this facing change. Generals and limbered artillery have no facing and may move in any direction they like. Squares may not move except as a result of losing a melee and if they retreat they will deploy out of square and retreat following the usual rules (see page 16). Commanders have 12 MP available, each hex they pass through costs them 1 MP regardless of terrain. If they pass from one continuous road hex to another then this only costs them 1/2 MP. Commanders have specific rules with regard to enemy ZOC, full details of commander movement are found on page 17. Movement is designed to be fast when there are no enemy around. When you decide to commit troops youll find they dont crawl accross the battlefield but can move at a realistic rate. Movement rules and restrictions have also been kept to a minimum, while tactical movement is more complicated the emphasis of the rules is still on where your troops are headed rather than how they get there.

The fact that units can change facing for no MP cost mostly negates the need to retire as such but when entering or leaving an enemy ZOC the ability to retire becomes important.

Retire Movement Example

R1 A

R2 B

R3 R5

D R6

R4

C R7 R8 R9

In the example above the stream is crossable, the light brown hexes are level one hills and the dark green are woods. All units have to use tactical movement speeds as they start their movement within 2 hexes of an enemy combat unit. Unit A could move into hex R1 for 1 MP cost and could face in any direction it chooses after it has entered that hex. Using tactical movement the cost to pass over the stream is 1 MP and it does not matter whether the unit changes face, moves over the stream and changes face back or if it simply retires, the effect is the same. Unit B is cavalry with 6MP available. It could keep its current facing and retire into R2 and this would end its movement. It could not retire into R3 because a unit is not allowed to retire into an enemy ZOC regardless of the respective types. It could change facing to face the R5/R7 hex spine and then retire into R2, again this would ends its movement so it would not be able to change facing again once in R2. In its current facing C could retire into R9 but not R7, firstly because it could not retire into an enemy ZOC but also because hex R7 is in the threat zone of cavalry unit B (see page 4). C could change facing to the right in its current hex and then retire into R8 or R9, this would end its movement. Finally unit D could retire into R6. It could not retire into R5 even though the cavalry could not attack it here (their cavalry threat zone does not extend into this woods hex). The cavalry ZOC stops D retiring into R5, not the cavalry threat zone. As an aside unit D could change facing and then advance into the woods hex R5 or the cavalry rear hex R3, neither of which is affected by the cavalry threat zone rule.

Retire Movement
A unit may change facing or formation before or after retiring. It moves directly back into one of its two rear hexes maintaining its current facing. A unit may not retire into an enemy ZOC. A unit may retire using strategic or tactical movement. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Strategic Movement
Any unit that begins its movement further than 2 hexes away from all enemy combat units and does not come within 2 hexes of them during its movement may use its strategic movement speed. Units may never combine tactical and strategic movement during the same turn. Command stands and limbered artillery batteries do not exert any ZOC and so do not prohibit enemy strategic movement. Only infantry, deployed artillery and cavalry stands count as combat units. All formation change rules, their MP costs and restrictions apply to a unit using strategic movement in the same way as they do during tactical movement. Terrain MP costs are determined by using the strategic movement column of the terrain and movement table. While using strategic movement a unit does not need to pay any facing change costs, it can simply be moved from one hex to another paying the appropriate terrain costs. A unit must end its movement with a valid facing. Artillery that use strategic movement may deploy but may not fire in their next fire phase (see rules below). No artillery unit may limber and deploy during the same movement phase regardless of whether it is using strategic or tactical movement. Units that move strategically may not fire in their very next fire phase. If they have a target within range after movement and you think youll forget they have moved strategically then place an SM marker with then to remind yourself. If they have no targets within range then you dont need to bother with a marker. As soon as the fire phase is complete any SM markers are removed and the unit can then fire as usual. A unit that enters the table as a reinforcement may use strategic movement so long as the entry hex and all other hexes it passes through follow the usual strategic movement restrictions.

Note that limbered artillery do not stop enemy strategic movement but they themselves are still prohibited from using strategic movement within 2 hexes of any enemy unit that exerts a ZOC.

Strategic movement example A F S1 S2 D B C

Limb

S5

S3 S4 S6 S8

S7

S9

In the example above black is active and about to move. The white dots represent the hexes where a black unit would have to use tactical movement if it wanted to enter that hex. The light brown hexes are level one hills, the dark green hexes are woods. Both units D and E can reach any of the hexes indicated by a black s and number, they would not need to pay any change face costs and could simply move where they wanted paying 1MP per clear hex and 2MP for each bad going. Note that hexes S3, S4 and S5 do not have white dots even though they are within 2 hexes of artillery unit C. This is because limbered artillery do not count as combat units, do not exert any ZOC and therefore do not prohibit enemy strategic movement. Unit F begins its movement within 2 hexes of an enemy combat unit so must use tactical movement, even if it wants to move farther away from the enemy.

Movement Page (##)

Wood, marsh or BUA Road River Clear
2 1

Tactical Inf / Cav & Art 1 MP / 2 MP 1 MP / 2 MP 1 MP / 2 MP 1 MP / 1 MP Impassable 1 MP / 1 MP End Movement 3 MP / NA +1 MP / +1 MP

Strategic Inf / Cav & Art 2 MP / 3 MP 2 MP / 3 MP 2 MP / 3 MP MP / MP Impassable 1 MP / 1 MP NA 3 MP / NA +0 MP / +0 MP

Movement Points Foot tactical Foot strategic Mounted tactical Commanders 3 3 MP 7 MP 6 MP 12 MP

Cross stream, gully, up steep hill Rough, cultivated, bad going

Mounted strategic 12 MP
3. Commander use 1MP per hex or MP per road hex regardless of the other terrain in that hex.

Enter or leave enemy ZOC Form square Passage of Lines

1. Cavalry cannot charge into, through or out of this terrain type. 2. Ignore other terrain in hex if moving along road.

Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Terrain & Movement

River is impassable to all except at a bridge or ford. The ford itself may be classed as bad going. Crossing a steep hill contour costs counts a bad going, crossing a gentle hill contour does not. Roads ignore the other terrain cost of the hex if passing along a road from one continuous road hex to another. This includes steep hills, streams, gullies, woods, BUA etc. NA means that the unit is not able to enter or pass through that terrain type or that the table column does not apply. Bad going and hex MP costs do not stack up. The cost to enter the hex is the highest of those listed according to the troop type and the mode of movement being used. For example infantry crossing a shallow stream into a clear hex on the other side would cost them 1 MP using tactical movement or 2 MP using strategic movement. Crossing the same stream into a woods hex on the other side would still cost them 1 MP using tactical or 2 MP using strategic movement.

MP are used to enter the next woods hex. Both units have made multiple facing changes during their movement. So long as they have not entered or left an enemy ZOC these facing changes, wheels, about face (or whatever the actual manouveres may have been) are all factored into the units tactical movement speed.

Road Movement
Road movement has 2 speeds listed on the movement table, the first is 1MP per hex and this is the cost if the unit in question is using tactical movement. If the unit is using strategic movement or is a command stand then they will only pay 1/2 MP per hex travelled by road. In addition to these movement cost rules a unit that is passing from one continuous road hex to another can ignore bad going in that hex. This rule applies whether the unit is using tactical or strategic movement. While conducting strategic movement a unit does not need to pay any facing change MP costs. It may make as many facing changes as it likes while moving but must still end its movement with a valid facing (see page 16).

Movement example
M1 5 MP 3 MP 1 MP 1 MP
In the above example two cavalry units are moving tactically and so have 6 MP available. The stream is crossable and the dark green hexes are woods. The white unit moves over a hex of clear ground for 1 MP. It then crosses the stream which counts as bad going so uses another 2 MP, finally it moves into the woods for 2 MP and this is as far as it can move, it cannot pay the full 2 MP cost to enter the next woods hex M1 so remains where it is. The black cavalry unit moves 2 hexes up to the stream. It costs 2 MP to cross the stream and enter the woods. Note that the woods cost is not added to the crossing stream cost, only the highest MP cost is used. Another 2 Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Road movement example R 10 R6 R4 R5 R7

6 MP 4 MP 2 MP

R9

R3 R2 A R1 R8 B

In the example above both black units A & B are able to use strategic movement. Unit A is moving to R10, the total MP used is MP to R1, 1 MP to R2, 1 MP to R3, 2 MP to R9 and finally 3 MP to R10. Unit B moves to R8 for 1MP cost, to R2 for another MP cost then uses road movement through R3, R4, R5, R6 and into R7 for another 2 MP cost. In total unit B has expended 4 MP moving to R7. Note that there were no MP costs for either unit changing facing throughout this movement and both units can end their move in any facing after entering their destination hex. During movement a units facing really only needs to be taken into account when entering or leaving an enemy ZOC.

In a turn a foot unit can move 14 hexes by road which is 2 miles which means a unit moves 4 miles in an hour. While this is fast for campaign march speeds Ive assumed that while on the battlefield troops are not dawdling and are actively trying to get from point A to point B as fast as possible.

A unit using tactical or strategic movement may change facing by any amount for no MP cost. This does not mean that the unit does not have to change facing to move into a new hex, it can still only advance into its 2 front hexes or retire into its 2 rear. This only really becomes important when a unit is moving into or out of an enemy ZOC. A unit moves into a new hex before any facing change is allowed in that new hex. This means that when a unit enters an enemy ZOC it will have to retain its current facing until its next movement phase because entering an enemy ZOC ends movement for that unit. Likewise when a unit leaves an enemy ZOC this ends movement for that unit so it will have to keep the same facing as it did when it left the enemy ZOC hex. While the facing and movement rules sound overly complicated they are actually far easier to play than to explain. To put it simply you can effectively ignore facing changes during movement except when you enter or leave an enemy ZOC. When this happens you have to stop moving and youll keep the facing that you had as you entered that hex. Deployed artillery may change facing within their hex by any amount during their movement phase for no MP cost. Limbered artillery do not have facings and can face in any direction they like at any time, the same applies to squares and command stands. A unit may change facing while in an enemy ZOC and this costs no MP, it does not end the movement for the unit that has changed face as it has not left an enemy ZOC. An infantry unit that is charging may not change facing before or during its charge. A cavalry unit that is charging is allowed to change facing by 1 hex spine to the left or right before it charges. If a unit wins the combat and elects to advance after combat it may change facing as part of this advance (see page 23).

Change Formation
Infantry and cavalry units are assumed to be in the most appropriate formation of either line or column according to their situation and this is factored into the movement, firing and melee rules. Infantry units in square formation need to be distinguished on table and they are marked by use of a Square counter. Changing formation into or from square costs 3MP and may be carried out during tactical or strategic movement. When troops change formation from square they may face into any direction as part of the change formation cost. As the formation change cost is 3MP changing from or to square will be the only movement a unit can make using tactical movement. With strategic movement a unit may change into square before or after it moves. Artillery batteries may limber or deploy at no MP cost whether they are using strategic or tactical movement. Artillery may not limber and unlimber during the same movement phase, they may limber while in an enemy ZOC. Artillery batteries may not deploy in an enemy ZOC, woods, marsh or built up areas. Artillery batteries that are limbered do not exert any ZOC and do not count as combat units for purposes of enemy strategic movement, leader casualties or MajF morale tests. An artillery battery that moves strategically and deploys may not fire in its next fire phase, it should be marked as SM to show that it cannot fire. See page 7. Some folks are going to hate the fact that the units are not in lines or columns. The scale of the games and the shear number of units on the table means that a lot of the tactical decisions are assumed to be happening. In fact you could say that the die rolls you make during firing and combat are as much a reflection of how well your battalion commanders are controlling their troops as they are a measure of how well those troops are actually performing.

Passage of Lines
Passing through a hex that contains a friendly unit is allowed. A unit may pass through as many friendly units as it likes and is only restricted by its available MP. Passage of lines may be carried out during strategic or tactical movement. It costs no additional MP to pass through any friendly unit of any kind during strategic movement. It costs one additional MP to pass through any friendly unit (except commanders) of any kind during tactical movement. Passage of lines may not be carried out as part of a charge.

Change Facing
Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Passage of lines may not be carried out if the hex to be passed through is in an enemy ZOC. A passage of lines may be performed through a friendly unit into an enemy ZOC hex. A unit may not carry out a passage of lines when leaving an enemy ZOC. A unit ends its movement when it leaves an enemy ZOC so this means that it would have to stop on top of the unit it was passing through, obviously it cant do this. A unit carrying out the passage of lines may change facing while it is passing through a hex. While the passage of lines rules may seem overly generous it is worth reminding players of the time and ground scale. By necessity the figure stands are far deeper than they would be historically and at 250 yards per hex there is a fair bit of space, even if it doesnt look like iit!

Unit D could not pass through G or E. A unit must end its movement as soon as it leaves an enemy ZOC and it could not end that movement in the same hex as another unit.

Reinforcements
Reinforcements arrive in a column of units unless stated otherwise by scenario specific rules. Each unit after the first must add 1 MP to the cost of entering the table. A unit may alter its entry hex by one hex to the left or right for each additional MP expended before entry. Exactly what time troops arrive on table is determined by the scenario specific rules. No unit may charge from off table. Reinforcements may use strategic movement when they enter the table so long as they follow all of the usual restrictions. If the entry hex is a road hex then each unit behind the first would only add 1/2 MP to its entry cost rather than the 1MP stated above. The column is assumed to be using road movement off table so long as it enters by a road hex. Reinforcements are always assumed to be in command when they enter the table regardless of the position of the entry hex, the MajF commander or any other units within that MajF. Once a unit is on the table it follows the usual out of command rules in subsequent turns. Once iits moved - leave it! Once you have moved a unit and started to move another one you may not go back to units you have already moved and shuffle them about, take them back to where they were or try again to get into a better position. The firing, melee and morale mechanics are fast but by necessity the tactical movement rules are more detailed and can slow the whole game down if you let them. So once youve moved a unit leave it where it is and concentrate on what your division or corps is trying to achieve.

Passage of Lines Example P3 P1 A D G P7 P2 E P6 P8 C H P4 P5 F B

In the above example the dark green hexes represent woods, all units will be using tactical movement speed and so have 3 MP available. Unit G could not pass through D into hex P1 or P2 because unit D is in an enemy ZOC. Unit G could pass through E into P2 and this would cost it 3 MP, one point for entry into Es hex, one point for the passage of lines and one point for entry into hex P2.. G could not pass through any of the other units shown here as it would not have the MP available to do so. Unit E could pass through G, H or C and each would cost it 3 MP to do so, 1 MP for the hex that the unit occupies and 1 MP for the passage of lines and finally 1 MP to enter the hex at the other side. Suppose E decided to pass through C into P4 or P5 this would end its movement as soon as it entered one of those 2 hexes, it would not have the chance to change facing after it had entered. However, it is allowed to change facing during a passage of lines so it still has the option to choose its facing before entering either of those hexes. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

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4. Charge Movement
Any unit that wishes to charge during the movement phase must have a valid target within range and LOS before it carries out any charge movement. The charger needs to be able to move adjacent to the target. Infantry charging cannot change facing or formation before, after or during its charge movement. Cavalry charging are allowed to change face by 1 hex spine to the left or right before charging. They are not allowed to change facing during a charge. The charger needs to end its charge movement with that target within one of its two front hexes. The charger may not charge from, into or through terrain that prohibits a charge and the target may not be occupying terrain that prohibits a charge. The charger may not perform a passage of lines as part of its charge.

(such as cavalry into woods). Where the charger contacts the target determines whether it is deemed to contact the target in the front, flank or rear. The actual aspect that the charger was in at the start of the charge does not affect these melee modifiers. Cavalry and infantry may not charge the same target in the same phase. The active player must choose to charge that target with either infantry or cavalry but not both. Infantry may not charge cavalry. Squares and artillery may not charge. A unit in a BUA may declare a charge but only at a target that they are adjacent to. All other charge rules and restrictions apply as usual.

Charge Examples B A C1 E C2 C C4 G F
In the above example unit C can declare a charge against either E or G, it cannot charge F because it would have to halt as soon as it enters C2 or C4. C also has the option to change facing by one hex spine to its left and would then be able to charge unit H by charging into C5. C actually charges against E and is moved into C2, at this point E would declare and roll for any form square attempts. The white side then continues by declaring unit B is charging against G. While B did not have a valid charge at the start of this phase it now has a LOS to unit G and so it can declare a charge. Units A and D have no valid charges, D cannot charge into C5 because that hex is in a cavalry threat zone which cannot be entered by the infantry unit. A does not have enemy unit E in its charge arc and unlike cavalry it cannot change face before charging.

A charge may only use tactical movement regardless of the target or the distance away from enemy combat units. A unit may not use road movement when charging and it will not benefit from the road ability to ignore other terrain in a hex. For charge purposes assume that the road does not exist and follow the standard rules for the terrain to be charged over. A unit does not need to declare a charge if all it is doing is passing through and displacing an enemy command stand. A player chooses one unit at a time, declares its target and then this charge movement is carried out in full, including forming square reactions, before moving onto the next charging unit. This means that a charging unit can open up a valid LOS for units that were previously blocked from charging or it can block a LOS for units that previously had a valid charge. Once the charge has been made a charge marker should be placed behind the charging unit, to the left or right depending on which of their 2 front hexes they are charging at. This is a handy way to make sure both players know which units are charging and who their target is. When a unit charges it must move the least amount of hexes possible, other than this restriction it can choose which route to take. Charging units must have enough MP to bring them adjacent to the target, they do not need to have the MP to enter the target hex. However the target hex cannot be impassable and must not be a prohibited charge hex Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

D C5 H

C3

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Suppose black is the active side, unit E could charge against unit A into C1 but not C2. Units F has no valid charges to declare. For cavalry unit H to charge it would have to change face to the right first and then could charge unit D. Charge movement is more restricted than normal or strategic movement. A charger must take the shortest route in hexes to their target and for cavalry there are some terrain types that cannot be charged into or through.

The player starts with unit C declaring that it is charging against target A. As the die roll required to form square is less than the number of MP the charger expends during its charge there is no chance to form square so this counts as a failed attempt. Unit A will not be able to attempt to form square again later in this turn, even if it were charged by other enemy cavalry units. The cavalry commander would like to have D or E charge against B. It makes sense for him to charge with the closest unit, this has the advantage of making the form square roll more difficult to pass. Cavalry unit E only has to expend 1 MP for its charge and so B cannot possibly roll less than 1 on its D6 and therefore its form square attempt is a failure. D could now charge at either unit A or B, neither of which have another chance to try to form square because both targets have already failed a form square chance. For the sake of this example suppose C and E were not present or did not want to charge. If D charged against A or B then their chance to form square would be 1-2 on a D6 as D has to expend 3 MP on either charge. It is the number of MP expended that counts, not the number of hexes away. Once the charging unit has declared its target it may not stop the charge or alter its target regardless of the form square result. As with alomst all of the rules in this system there are a lot more modifiers that could be applied to the form square test. For the sake of simplicity and speed of game play it has been reduced to the number of MP that the charging cavalry expend during their charge. The longer the charge takes, the more chance of forming square in time.

Form Square Charge Reaction

When infantry are charged by cavalry they may try to form square. The number of MP that the charging unit expends determines the chance that the target will form square in time. The further a charge has to go the more chance that the target will have time to form square. The form square option must be taken as soon as the enemy declares the unit as the target of its charge. A target only gets one chance to react no matter how many enemy it is being charged by, it must make the choice immediately the first unit declares it as a target. If it declines or fails its attempt it does not get another chance to form square this turn no matter how many other units charge against it. To form square the target rolls 1D6 and must score less than the amount of MP that the charger expended in its charge move. This means that if the charge begins adjacent to or 1 hex away from the target then there is no chance to form square and the form square attempt counts as a failure.

Form Square Example B A C E

D
In the above example the side with the cavalry (units C, D and E) is active and wishes to charge. He declares charges and carries them out one by one, he does not have to predeclare charge targets or even whether a unit is charging or not. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

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5. Visibility & Line of Sight

For game purposes the terrain that occupies a hex covers the entire hex from edge to edge regardless of its actual physical representation. The same applies to friendly and enemy combat units but not to command stands, this is important for LOS considerations. Visibility into or inside any terrain that blocks LOS (such as woods) is one hex. A unit must have line of sight to its target to fire at it and to declare it as the target of a charge. Line of sight is measured from the centre of one hex to the centre of the other, a straight line drawn from these two points will show which hexes are along that LOS. If the line of sight to a target is directly along a hex spine then an obstruction on one side of that line will not block LOS, obstructions on both sides will block LOS.

on higher levels may be able to see over obstructions and in turn be seen themselves. Each hill contour counts as one level, all building and woods count as one level. Ground level is level 0. For example a wood on a level one hill would count as a level 2 obstruction while a village on top of a level 3 hill would count as a level 4 obstruction. Units do not add to the level of the terrain that they are standing on and when checking for line of sight count as being at the same height as the ground level that they are standing on. For example a unit on a level one hill will count as being at level one for sighting purposes and the hill will still count as level one for obstruction purposes. The level that the units occupy and the height of the obstruction determines whether a LOS exists between units. CASE 1: If an obstruction is at a lower level than both units or equal in height to both units then LOS is not blocked.

Line of Sight Example A B

CASE 2: If an obstruction is at a higher level than both units or equal to one unit but higher than the other then LOS is blocked. CASE 3: If one unit is on higher ground than the obstruction while the other is on the same or lower level than the obstruction then there is an area of dead ground. For LOS to be blocked the obstruction must be closer to the low unit than it is to the high one. This means that if the obstruction is equidistant then LOS is not blocked.

Elevation example C D E A C F B D

In the example above the dark green hexes are woods. C does not have line of sight to A because a direct line drawn from the centre of Cs hex to the centre of As hex passes partly over a hex that has obstructing terrain. C does have LOS to unit B. Unit D has LOS to unit A because the line is drawn down a hex spine and there is only an obstruction on one side of that line. Unit B does not have LOS to unit E, this is because the line drawn down the hex spine has obstructions to both left and right, these obstructions do not have to be adjacent to each other.

Elevation & Dead Ground

The battlefield is made up of several different levels, units Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

In the example above only the LOS from units G, H and J are dealt with. The light brown hexes are level 1 hills, dark brown level 2 and the dark green is a woods hex.

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Unit J cannot see F or A because there is intervening terrain that is equal level to one unit but also higher level than the other unit. J has LOS to all of the other four white units. Unit G can see F, A and D. For a LOS to be blocked the intervening terrain needs to be closer to the lower unit than it is to the higher one. In the case of A the level 1 hill hex is one hex away from G but 3 hexes away from A. With F the intervening terrain is one hex away from both, so not closer to the lower level unit. The same applies to unit D, the woods hex is 2 hexes away from G but also 2 hexes away from D. The other two white units B & C both have the intervening terrain closer to them than G does so LOS is blocked. G cannot see E because there is an intervening hex higher than one of them but equal to the other. Finally unit H has LOS to F, A, B and D but not C or E. It is worth reiterating that units do not add to the height of the terrain they are on. Effectively you are spotting from terrain height to terrain height regardless of what the massively over scale figures on the table look like they should be able to see. If it helps, at this scale a 6 foot tall man would be less than a millimetre high.

E D

A B C

In the example above the white artillery units D and E can both fire at enemy unit A. If battery E wanted to fire at unit C it would be allowed to do so even though a direct line drawn from the centre of Es hex to the centre of Cs hex goes through part of As hex. So long as E can see part of the hex that C is occupying it can fire at it. Note that the same would not apply if A happened to be a white unit. Unit D can fire at B for the same reason that E could fire at C. Unit D cannot see any part of the hex that C occupies without passing through an enemy occupied hex so it could not fire at unit C. This may seem like a strange rule - why not just say you have to fire or charge at the enemy unit in the way? In some situations it is possible to have a chain of enemy units blocking each other and you cant attack at any of them! Overhead fire is where a unit fires over the heads of units in front of it. Only artillery and rockets can conduct overhead fire, small arms cannot no matter what its range or the relative heights of the units. To conduct overhead fire either the firing unit or the target must be higher than the unit being fired over and they must have a valid LOS to each other. Regardless of height a friendly unit always causes one hex of dead ground for overhead artillery fire. This has more to do with the proximity of friendly troops to the target than it does Line of Sight.

Units, LOS & Overhead Fire

Regardless of the terrain LOS rules a friendly unit in a hex will block LOS if it is on the same level as the sighting unit and the target. This only applies to infantry, cavalry and artillery. Command stands do not block LOS for friendly or enemy stands and can be ignored for LOS rule purposes. Enemy units in a hex are slightly different. If the firing or charging unit can see part of the target hex then an intervening enemy unit will not block LOS. It is important to note that this only applies if part of the target hex can be seen, you cannot shoot through an enemy unit at a target directly behind it if you cannot see any of that target.

Units blocking LOS example

Overhead fire example

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H K G D A B E

J L

F N C

In the example above batteries M, B and C have the chance to conduct overhead fire. The brown hexes are level 1 hills, all of the others are ground level 0. Note that none of the units shown here would count as intervening terrain for LOS purposes, units themselves do not add to the level of the terrain that they are standing on. Unit A cannot conduct overhead fire, firstly because it must fire at an adjacent target in preference to one not adjacent and secondly because friendly and enemy units on the same level as the firer and the target will block LOS regardless of how far away they are. A could not fire through unit D against target H for example. Unit B has LOS to all of the enemy units in this example but is restricted to firing at H or J because L and M are out of arc while K & G are adjacent to friendly units that the battery would have to fire over. Effectively these friendly units create one hex of dead ground and this rule would apply regardless of the height of the terrain that K & G were occupying. Unit C would be able to fire at H, J or M while M would only be able to fire at unit C. Suppose for the sake of this example unit N belonged to the white side, this would mean that the artillery battery M would not be able to fire at C. The one hex of dead ground beyond a friendly unit has nothing to do with the relative heights of the firer or the target. It is designed to represent artillery not shooting at targets they could not confidently hit without also hitting friendly units by mistake.

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6. Firing
Artillery and infantry may fire into their forward arc up to their maximum range in hexes. Cavalry may not fire while mounted, artillery may not fire while limbered.

A unit only determines its target priorities at the start of the firing phase. This means that a unit would not be forced to change facing during its movement phase so that it could fire at an adjacent target if it did not wish to.

Firing Modifiers Fire Arc

A firing units chance to inflict damage on an opponent depends on the firers current CV which gives the starting amount of fire points. This value can be modified multiple times by halving the starting fire points of the firing unit. The table below shows the modifiers that apply, these may be different for artillery fire or small arms fire.

Long range (over half max) Small arms at charging cavalry Small arms at cavalry Non skirmish troops in bad going The range that a unit can fire is determined by the type of weapon that it is armed with, each weapon has a listed range in hexes. Musket 1 hex, Rifled musket 2 hexes. Artillery are classed as Heavy 8 hexes, Medium 6 hexes, Light 4 hexes. Fire is never combined, all units will fire individually. The target must be within range, fire arc and line of sight. The target of a charge may not be fired at. A unit may not split its fire amongst multiple targets. A charging unit may not fire. A square cannot fire. Units armed with rifles have a range of 2 hexes, they follow all of the usual rules for firing and will half their fire points at long range (2 hexes). A unit will begin with a number of fire points equal to its current CV, this can be modified up or down and then a D6 is added to the total. For every full 5 points obtained the target will lose 1 point of CV. Target in Light Cover Target in BUA Target in Hvy Cover / fortified BUA Target is Deployed Artillery Any fire vs square OR into rear OR artillery at adjacent hex OR Fresh unit firing.

Firing (D6) Page (##)

S. Arms 1/2 None 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 None 1/2

Artillery 1/2 N/A N/A N/A x1 1/2 1/2 1/2

Plus 1D6 per situation - choose highest roll

Any fractions are always rounded down for all firing. A unit may halve its fire points as many times as is necessary. The modifers above affect the current starting fire points of the unit, the D6 die roll is added after the modifiers are applied, not before. For example a unit with a current CV of 6 firing at long range would halve its fire point to 3 and then add a D6 roll. Long range fire is any fire at half or more the maximum range of the unit. A weapon that only has a range of 1 hex does not apply any range modifier. For example an artillery battery that currently has 5CV and a range of 8 hexes would fire with 5 fire points at 1-4 hex range and 2 fire points at 5-8 hex range. Small arms fire at any cavalry is halved. This assumes that cavalry will not stand within effective musketry range of infantry long enough to suffer the full effect of sustained volley fire. Small arms fire at charging cavalry has no effect regardless of the CV of the firing unit. This applies to the target of the charge as well as any other units that may be firing at the charger. Small arms against targets in light cover or built up areas

Target Priorities
A unit must fire at certain targets in preference to others, these are listed in order of priority. 1. An enemy unit that is charging it. 2. An enemy unit that is adjacent to it. 3. Any other target within range, LOS and fire arc. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

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is halved, against heavy cover or fortified built up areas small arms fire will have no effect. Artillery fire is not modified against light cover but is halved against heavy cover or any kind of built up area. Fire at deployed artillery batteries is halved. Any fire that is modified down to 0 or less will have no effect on the target, there is no D6 die roll and the target cannot take any CV loss. Once you have calculated the modified fire points and determined that they are greater than 0 you add a D6 score and this result is used to determine the amount of damage that is applied to the target. For example an infantry battalion with current CV of 5 is firing at a deployed artillery battery. Fire at deployed artillery is halved so its starting value of 5 fire points is halved to 2.5 and rounded down to 2. The player will roll a D6 and add 2 to the score. If he rolled a 3, 4, 5 or 6 (for a total of 5, 6, 7or 8 fire points) he would cause 1 point of CV loss to the target. A unit with CV 3 and no skirmish ability is in woods and firing at an enemy infantry battalion which is also in the woods. The starting CV of 3 is halved for disordered fire in woods to 1.5, rounded down to 1. The fire is then halved again because the fire is small arms against a target in light cover to 0.5 rounded down to 0. This means that the fire will have no effect, there is no D6 added to the starting score of 0.

loss or they do not. For example a unit with a current CV of 3 fires at an enemy unit, there are no modifiers so this gives them a basic 3 fire points. They would then add a D6 to this and if they scored 2 or more they would cause a hit on the target as they have achieved 5 or more fire points. If they rolled a 1 (for a total of just 4 fire points) they would not cause any damage to the enemy unit and these 4 points would be ignored. Suppose this unit had a CV of 4 instread of 3. It would add a D6 roll to this score and is guaranteed to cause 1 hit as the minimum it could score is 5. If it rolled a 6 on the D6 this would give it a total of 10 fire points and would cause 2 hits on the target instead. A unit that has its starting fire points reduced to 0 by modifiers cannot damage that target. There is no D6 roll made, the fire simply has no effect. Damage effects are applied after all firing is complete. This means that a unit will calculate its starting fire points using its current CV and only apply any CV loss after both sides have fired. This also means that a unit that is routed by fire is not actually removed until the end of the phase so it still counts as an obstruction for other friendly or enemy firing units.

Fire Example

Plus 1D6 Fire Modifier

In certain circumstances the firing unit may roll extra D6 and choose the highest result, they do not add the scores together, only one of the die scores applies. Each advantage that the firer has will add a D6. For example an artillery battery is firing into the rear of an enemy unit in an adjacent hex. Two advantages apply (firing into rear and adjacent target) so the battery will roll 3D6 and choose the best result.

B A F

C D H G E

Damage Effects
Damage from enemy fire is represented by a reduction in the targets CV. For each hit that a unit takes it loses 1 point of CV, when it is reduced to 0CV the unit is routed and removed from the table. All fire from both sides is simultaneous. The effects of this fire are applied after all fire from both sides has been carried out. Each 5 full fire points obtained results in a hit on the target, 10 points would give 2 hits, 15 points 3 hits and so on. Any excess points that are not multiples of 5 are ignored as are any scores of less than 5. A target never accumulates fire points in any way, they either inflict CV Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

In the example above all of the infantry units have a CV of 4 and are armed with muskets, unit A is a skirmish unit. The Artillery is a light battery with a range of 4 hexes and a CV of 3. Fire from both sides is simultaneous so none of the effects of this fire are applied until the end of the phase. Unit E fires directly ahead at H, it rolls a D6, scores 5 and adds the score to its current CV of 4. The resulting 9 fire points are enough to cause one hit on unit H. H decides to fire at the cavalry unit in front of it, Hs current CV is 4 which is halved for firing small arms at cavalry

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so it rolls a D6, scores 1 and then adds 2. The resulting three fire points are not enough to cause any CV loss to the cavalry. Battery G fires at enemy unit C in the BUA. Its fire points are halved from 3 to 1.5 rounded down to 1 and then a D6 roll of 6 is added. The resulting 7 fire points mean that the target takes 1CV loss. Unit A fires at F, because A is skirmish capable it does not halve its CV for being in bad going and it is also firing at the rear if unit F. This means that A will roll 2D6 and can choose the highest result, the actual rolls are 3 and 5. Choosing to add the 5 (not surprisingly) to it scurrent CV of 4 results in 9 fire points and one CV loss on F. Unit B is also firing at F, its CV is modified to 2 and then it adds a D6 roll of 2 giivng 4 fire points, not enough to cause any damage. Note that these 4 fire points are not combined with the 9 from unit As fire. Each units fire is taken separately and fire points are not accumulated or carried forward in any way. Unit F has no enemy in range and fire arc so cannot fire.

Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

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7. Combat
Units that have not been routed by fire and are charging must now engage in combat with their target. The order in which these melee combats are calculated is decided by the active side. Retreat options, multiple melees, ZOC and so on may mean that it can be advantageous to fight melees in a certain order. The active side chooses a target hex and that melee is calculated in total including rout, retreat and advance after combat before moving on to the next target hex. Both sides start with the current CV of the unit(s) involved and then apply any melee modifiers. They then both add 1D6 to this, calculate their total melee score and compare the results. The side that has the highest score has won. I have decided to call this chapter Combat as opposed to Melee because I dont want to give the impression that every charge results in swords or bayonnets being crossed. It is far more likely that the charge will result in one side or the other fleeing or recoiling, perhaps involving a close range firefight before one side gives way, perhaps not. Closing with the enemy in an attempt to force them to give groud pretty much sums up the intent of the rules in this chapter but isnt such a catchy chapter title.

enemy units, one of which is charging over a stream while the other unit is not but iit s adjacent to its +1 commander. All 3 units have current CVs of 4. The chargers would gain +1 for the command bonus giving them a total melee value of 9 (4+4+1). The defender would gain +1 for defending an obstacle (the stream) giving it a melee value of 5 (4+1). Where there are multiple values on a line only the highest is used. For example a melee involves two cavalry units on one side, one of which is heavy and the other medium. The cavalry weight modifier would be +2 for the heavy cavalry, you would not add another +1 for the medium unit.

Melee Starting Combat Value 0

Artillery in melee that are contacted out of their fire arc fight with a starting CV of 0 regardless of their current CV. This rule applies to both deployed artillery that are contacted in the flank or rear and limbered artillery who cannot fire and so have no fire arc. Cavalry that have contacted a square fight with a starting value of 0 CV. Any unit that has been charged and contacted in the rear (except for one that is occupying a BUA or enclosed fortification) will fight with a starting value of 0 CV. Infantry that are currently in square and in combat with enemy infantry fight with a starting CV of 0. Other combat modifiers still apply as usual and these units reduced to a starting CV of 0 will still add their D6 score to their total. For example a medium cavalry unit with CV 5 has charged against an infantry battalion with CV 4 that managed to form square. The cavalry will calculate their starting CV as 0, they have their +1 commander adjacent so can add the +1 command bonus to their D6 roll, they are medium cavalry which will add a further +1. They score a 6 on the D6 giving them a total of 8 points. The square begins with a CV of 4 and gains +4 for the infantry in square vs cavalry modifier, their D6 score is just 1 but this still gives them 9 points as opposed to the cavalry score of 8. The infantry battalion wins the melee, causes 2 points of CV loss to the cavalry and forces them to retreat.

Melee Combat Modifiers

Both sides calculate their melee combat modifiers and add it to the CV of the units involved in the melee. The final line (CV 0) is explained in the next section.

Melee (D6) Page (##)

Command bonus

Infantry in square vs cavalry Cavalry weight medium / heavy Infantry defending BUA / fortified BUA Inf or art defending obstacle / fortification Each defensive support unit Artillery contacted outside fire arc Cavalry vs square Infantry in square vs infantry Attacking enemy in rear (not in BUA)

+4 +1 / +2 + 0 / +1 / +2 +2 / +3 +1 / +2 + unit CV CV 0

These combat modifiers are applied once per melee, not once per unit. A modifier that applies to any of the units involved in the charge (but not those only giving defensive support) should be used, t does not need to apply to all of the units on one side or the other. For example an infantry unit is defending against two Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Drawn Melee
If a melee results in a draw both sides will roll 1D6, the highest score wins the melee by 1 point. Both sides should keep on rolling until you have a winner, a melee cannot end in a draw. The modifers are not applied again, it has already been determined that the melee is a draw so simply roll off using a D6.

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Defensive Support
A cavalry or infantry unit of the inactive side that is not currently being charged and has not been charged this turn may support friendly units in melee. A unt that is the target of a charge or has been charged and fought a melee this turn, win or lose, may not give defensive support. If the supporting unit is adjacent to the target of the charge and has the enemy unit is in either of its two front hexes then it can grant support. The supporting unit grants the target of the charge a melee modifier of + 1/2 the supporting units CV (rounded down). The unit being charged can be supported by more than one friendly unit. Likewise a unit can give support into both of its front hexes and may support multiple combats. A unit can give defensive support if it has fired in the fire phase, it does not have to choose one or the other, it can do both. No unit can give support against a target that it could not charge. This may be because of terrain restrictions, target restrictions or movement restrictions. For example a cavalry unit could not give support against a charging enemy unit that is in a woods hex because cavalry cannot charge into woods. An infantry unit in square could not give defensive support because it cannot move and therefore cannot charge. A limbered or deployed artillery battery could not give defensive support because they cannot charge. Infantry cannot give defensive support against cavalry because infantry may not charge cavalry. A unit that has given defensive support does not get the option to advance after combat. If the inactive side loses the melee the supporting units do not suffer any CV loss and do not have to retreat. The unit giving defensive support does not apply any of its own melee modifiers, they just add half their CV as a modifier for the defender. Units giving defensive support do not impart any of their abilities to the unit that is the target of the charge. For example an infantry battalion is charging enemy infantry that have a cavalry unit able to give them defensive support. Should the attacker lose they will not automatically be routed as would happen if infantry had lost a melee to enemy cavalry. In a second example 2 medium cavalry units (A & B) are charging against a light cavalry unit (C) that has a CV 4 heavy cavalry unit (D) giving support. C will gain +2 to its melee value from unit D, however the light cavalry (C) would not gain the +2 heavy cavalry weight modifier.
CHG

A
CHG

B F

CHG

CHG

In the example above the white side (units A to D) are active and have all declared charges. Units A and B against E while cavalry units C and D have charged the battery G. All of the units have current CV of 5, the white side has heavy cavalry while the black are medium. As an aside unit B would not have been able to charge into its current hex from outside because it could not enter the cavalry threat zone of enemy unit F. However for the sake of this example we can assume that unit B started its turn here and so is allowed to charge E. B is charging and is in one of Fs two front hexes but F is not adjacent to the traget unit E so cannot give support. Fis adjacent to G and would add 2 points (5 halved to 2.5 rounded down) to unit G because unit C is in its front hex and is charging against target G. H would not be able to add its +2 modifier to unit G as the attacker D is within one of its two front hexes and H is adjacent to G but H is infantry and could not charge cavalry so cannot give support in this case. Unit G is beaten by cavalry units C and D but the unit (F) that gave defensive support suffers no ill effects. The melee results only apply to the actual target of the charge. Either unit C or D would be able to advance after combat into the hex that artillery G has just vacated. Note that the units giving defensive support do not actually count as charging even though they must be able to do so to give support. This is a game mechanic that restricts who can give support based on the relevant troop types and formations rather than assuming the nearby troops are physically charging the attackers. The support rules take into account the position, threat, defensive fire, opportunity fire and morale effects of nearby units.

Combat Results
The losing side in a melee suffers 1 point of CV loss plus one more point for each multiple of its total score that the

Defensive support example

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winner gets. Units that gave defensive support do not suffer any CV loss. For example, one side scores 4 the other scores 3 so the loser would suffer 2 CV loss (1 point for losing the melee plus 1 point for the multiple of the losers score). If one side scores a total of 3 in melee while the other scores 6 then the loser would take 3 CV loss. If the scores were 2 vs 8 the loser would take 5 CV loss and so on. There are three exceptions to this rule. Cavalry units that are defeated by infantry or artillery may only ever lose an additional 1CV on top of the basic 1CV loss regardless of the actual scores. They may still lose double CV as usual if they cannot retreat after combat (see later). Cavalry that beat infantry or artillery will automatically rout those units. The units are immediately reduced to 0 CV and removed from play, there is no need to calculate the exact CV loss and no retreat movement required. Artillery that are defeated by infantry are automatically routed, reduced to 0 CV and removed from the table. In addition to the CV loss a unit suffers the losing side must retreat one hex away from the winners.

Unit E has charged against D and wins the melee by 7 points to 6. Unit D would lose 2CV and retreat to either R1, R3 or R4. Unit D can retreat to hex R1 so long as it turned to bring E into its front facing afterwards and assuming that hex R1 is not occupied or impassable. If it helps imagine that units D and E are actually facing each other accross the hex line, in that case there is no difference between going back to R1 or R3. It is only the false restriction of the hexes that makes it look as though D is retreating sideways into R1. Retreat and facing is dealt with more fully in the next section. Cavaly unit F has charged infantry G who managed to form square. The cavalry are medium, their starting CV becomes 0 rather than their actual CV of 4. They add a D6 score of 2 and then +1 for being medium cavalry giving them a total of 3. The square starts at CV 4, adds +4 for square versus cavalry and then scores 5 on its D6 die roll for a total of 13. The result is that the cavalry have lost the melee by 3 points to 13, this would normally result in a CV loss of 5 points, 1 point for losing the melee and then 4 more for the winner scoring 4 times more than the loser. As the melee result is infantry defeating cavalry unit F will actually only lose 2CV and be forced to retreat one hex. F can retreat into hex R5 but if it could not retreat for any reason the unit would instead lose 4CV taking it to 0CV and routing it.

Combat results example R3 D R4 R5 F

SQ

G
CH G

R1 A

R2
G

Retreat After Combat C

In addition to the CV loss caused all of the losing units in a melee must retreat one hex. Units that gave defensive support do not have to retreat. A unit may not retreat into or over impassable terrain, into a hex containing another combat unit or into an enemy ZOC. Units that lose in melee to a limbered artillery battery do not retreat, they remain in place.

B
CHG

CH

CHG

In this example all units have a CV of 4 each. Units B and C have charged against unit A. There are no modifiers to the combat, the combined CV of units B and C is 8 which is added to a D6 die roll of 5. Unit A rolls a 2 which gives them a melee total of 6, this results in B and C winning the melee by 13 points to 6. The score of B and C is double or more that of A (13 vs 6), this means that unit A will lose 3 CV and is forced to retreat one hex. Unit A can only retreat into hex R1, it cannot retreat into R2 because that is an enemy ZOC. Supposing R1 was an impassable hex unit A would not be able to retreat at all and would lose double CV from the melee, this would take it to 0 CV or less and it would be routed and removed from the table. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

A unit may retreat into a hex containing only a friendly or enemy commander. The enemy commander would be displaced as per the rules on page 24. A unit may retreat so that it is adjacent to an enemy unit but only if that enemy is limbered artillery (because they have no ZOC). A retreating unit chooses a victorious enemy unit as its opponent, where there is more than one enemy unit the loser may choose which to use. The loser must end its retreat with the chosen opponent in its front facing. Other than this restriction a unit is free to choose its own facing. Effectively this means a unit charged in the flank or rear will turn to face as it retreats. A square that retreats leaves square formation.

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If a unit does not have a valid retreat hex it remains where it is but suffers double the CV loss that was incurred in the melee. This does not apply to units that have lost against a limbered battery.

would lose double the amount of CV from this melee and remain in place. Note in the example above unit D does not retreat directly back to its rear (hexes R3 or R4) but in fact looks like it is retreating sideways to hex R5. However, after changing facing to keep G in its front arc the end result is perfectly acceptable.

Retreat after combat example R1 A

CHG CHG

H B R3 C
CHG CHG

Multiple Unit Melee R4 D R5

As has already been mentioned cavalry and infantry may never charge the same target at the same time though this does not stop both cavalry and infantry giving defensive support where possible (see page 20). There cannot be a melee that has multiple units from both sides at the same time, only the active side will have multiple units in a melee though the defender may have units giving defensive support in addition to the target of the charge. To conduct a multiple unit melee the charger totals the current CV of all units involved and then applies any modifiers and the usual 1D6 to obtain his final score. Each modifier can only be applied once no matter how many instances there are of that situation and there is only 1D6 added, not 1D6 per unit. The target of the charge simply calculates their melee total as usual including any modifiers for defensive support. The highest total wins, casualties are distributed amongst all losing units involved in the melee (but not those that gave defensive support). If more than one unit has charged the target all of those units are eligible to conduct advance after melee but only one unit may be chosen.

E F G

In the example above the white side has made charges with 4 units, A and B against E and C & D against G. The top left hex is inaccessible because of an impassable river. The active player decides which melee to conduct first and picks target unit E. White loses the melee combat and units A and B are forced to retreat or lose double CV. The owning player gets to choose which order to retreat and to which hexes. B could retreat to either R1 or R3 as both are valid, If it retreated to R1 it would have to change its facing so that it kept unit E in its front arc. If it retreated to R3 it would have to maintain its current facing as this is the only way it can keep unit E in its front arc. Suppose for the sake of this example unit H was not there, B could retreat into that hex and either keep its current facing along the hex spine to unit A or it could change to face the hex spine towards C. Either is valid as both choices keep its opponent (E) in its front arc. As it stands the player chooses to retreat to R3 so that unit A has a valid retreat hex. Unit A can only retreat to R1 as it cannot pass over the river which is impassable terrain. A must keep its current facing so that E remains in its front arc. Next the player moves on to the melee between C, D and G, once again white loses. Unit D can retreat into R4 or R5 (remember that Unit B has already retreated into hex R3), whichever it chooses it must end its retreat movement with unit G in its front arc. For this example it chooses hex R5 and turns to face G. Unit C has no retreat options open to it, R3 is occupied by unit B and it cannot retreat into the hex that D has just vacated because it is in an enemy ZOC. Instead unit C Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Multiple Melee Combat Results

Each unit on the losing side will automatically take 1 point of CV loss. In addition to this the CV loss as calculated from the relative scores must also be applied amongst the losing units. For example 3 units have charged against a target and lost the melee by 9 points to 11. Each of the three losing units takes 1 point of CV loss and then the owning player must allocate 1 more point of CV loss (for the combat result of 11 v 9) to one of the attacking units. All attackers must then retreat, any unit that cannot do so would lose double their CV loss (so, either 2 points or 4 points) from this melee. Where there are multiple units on the losing side the CV loss must be split as evenly as possible between those units and no unit may take more points of loss than it has CV remaining.

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Infantry or artillery that defeat cavalry in melee will cause the basic 1 point of CV loss to each enemy unit and then, regardless of the actual melee scores, another point is added to one of the cavalry units in the usual manner. It may be possible for some units to retreat while others cannot, if this is the case only those units that cannot retreat will suffer double CV loss. It is entirely up to the owning player in which order they retreat their units and it is perfectly possible to block a retreat path which can force another unit to hold its ground and take double CV loss.

bonus to multiples melees so long as he is adjacent to one of the participating units. This time the D6 roll is a 2 which makes the black final score 11. A has a CV of 6 but because it is defending an obstacle against unit D it gains a +1 combat modifier. Note that it only has to have this advanatge against one of its attackers for the modifier to apply and if C were attacking accross the stream as well A would still only gain a +1, not +1 for each attacking unit. A rolls a 3 on its D6 and its final score of 10 loses to the 11 that C and D scored. A loses 1CV for losing the melee plus one more CV for the multiple of its score that the winner gained (10 vs 11). Unfortunately now that B has retreated into R1 there is nowhere for A to retreat to. This means that instead of losing 2 CV from this melee it actually loses 4 CV and remains where it is.

Multiple melee example R2 R1 C A

CHG CHG

B E

Advance After Combat

CHG

One charging unit from the winning side may advance into the hex just vacated by the losing unit. It advances straight forward into the target hex and may then change its facing as much as it likes. If a victorious unit did not advance after combat it may not change facing at this time. Enemy ZOC does not affect advance after combat, the advancing unit may enter the hex and then change facing, even if this is in an enemy ZOC. An infantry unit may not advance into the threat zone of an enemy cavalry unit. If multiple units charged into melee then the owning player may choose which occupies the ground. A player need not advance any units into the hex vacated by the loser if they choose not to. A unit that advances after combat does not initiate any new combats, it is simply occupying the ground. As no troops may charge into prohibited terrain there will be no option to advance into prohibited terrain. Note that to be able to advance after combat a unit must have charged into melee, this means that only units from the active side will be able to advance after winning a melee.

CHG

In the example above both of the white units A&B have CV6 while the black units have CV4. Commander G is superior to all of the black units and has a command rating of 1. Units E and F have charged into B and this is the combat that the black player chooses to carry out first. As B is being charged in the rear it will fight with a CV of 0 instead of its current value of 6, only one of the charging units needs to be a position for the modifier to apply. E and F add their CVs together and then add 1 because of the command modifier that G imparts. Note that even if G were adjacent to both E and F he would still only add 1 to their score, each modifier is only applied once per melee, not once per unit. A single D6 is added to the modified combined CV of E and F and the result is 4 (D6 roll) + 4 (CV of unit E) + 4 (CV of unit F) +1 (command rating of G) for a total of 13. B adds a D6 roll of 4 to its CV of 0 which means that B has lost the melee, it takes 1 point of CV loss for losing and then 3 more because the black score is 3 times more than its own (4 vs 13). B must now retreat into either R1 or R2, it chooses R1 and must also turn so that it has either E or F (or both) in its front facing. Either E or F can ddvance into the hex that B has just vacated. The active side now chooses to fight the melee against unit A. The black modifiers are exactly the same as they were for E & F, the commander G can add his command Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Advance after combat example

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R2 C
CHG CHG

CHG

CHG

CHG

J F R1 G H

In the example above white unit A beats F which retreats to R1. A can then choose to remain where it is in its current facing or occupy the hex that F has left and change facing by as much as it likes. B defeats G and routs it as artillery that lose to infantry are routed regardless of the actual melee scores. B cannot move to occupy the hex that G was in because of enemy cavalry unit H. Infantry cannot enter a cavalry threat zone and this applies to advance after combat movement as well as normal movement and charges. C and D have combined to beat J which cannot retreat and therefore loses enough CV to rout it. Either unit C or unit D (or neither of them if the player chooses) can advance into the woods hex that J was occupying. The cavalry threat zone from H does not extend into terrain that it cannot charge into. Whichever unit chose to advance may change facing by as much as it likes but the one that remains behind must maintain its current facing. Unit K defeats unit E which retreats to R2, K cannot advance into the hex that E has just vacated. Only units of the active side can advance after combat regardless of the type or level of victory.

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8. Commanders
Command stands are used to represent the leaders of formations or higher level commanders within the army. For example a force consists of an infantry corps of two divisions of infantry, 4 batteries of corps reserve artillery and an attached cavalry division with 2 brigades of light cavalry. The two infantry divisions would be MajFs, the corps artillery and each of the two cavalry brigades would be classed as MinFs. The corps commander, cavalry division commander and the two infantry division commanders would be represented on table by command stands. The two cavalry brigades are MinFs and do not have formation commanders on table. However, the cavalry division commander and the corps commander would both count as their superiors. The units within these cavalry brigades could use the command bonus of either of these two commanders in combat. For a unit to benefit from a commanders bonus they must be subordinate to that commander. The level of the commander within the army is not important so long as the unit is within its chain of command. Most units on table will have more than one superior commander that can influence them. Again using our infantry corps as an example the units within the first division would be subordinate to the first division commander and also the corps commander. They would not be subordinate to the second division commander or the cavalry division commander.

Command bonus in melee example

Leader Casualties
Any of the active sides commanders within 7 hexes (1 mile) of any enemy combat unit must roll at the start of their sides turn to see if they have become a casualty. A roll of 2 on 2D6 means that a leader casualty may occur. A second 2D6 die roll is then made, if the score is less than the distance between the nearest enemy combat unit and the commander then that commander is unharmed, otherwise he becomes a casualty. For example the active side has a commander 6 hexes away from the nearest enemy combat unit at the leader casualty stage of the turn. He rolls 2D6 and scores 2, he must then roll 2D6 again and if he gets a score of 6 or more that leader becomes a casualty, if the score is 5 or less there is no effect. The command stand represents staff and subordinates as well as the commander himself so it is not simply removed when a casualty occurs. Instead the Command Ability of that stand is immediately reduced to 0 but the stand will remain on table. Command casualties do not necessarily mean the death of that commander, simply that they have suffered some sort of wound that will remove them from the battle for the remainder of the day. A lone commander that has its hex entered by any enemy unit (not enemy commander) must immediately displace to the hex of the nearest friendly (not necessarily subordinate) unit. In addition there is an immediate leader casualty roll, on a score of 2 on 2D6 the commander has become a casualty, there is no additional roll for distance. The CA of the commander is reduced as above and then the stand is moved to the hex of the nearest friendly unit.

Command Ability
All commanders will have a Command Ability (CA), this is a numeric value representing their quality, 0 is poor, 1 is average, 2 is good. A commander can add his command bonus in melee to any subordinate unit that is in the same or an adjacent hex. For example a Commander that has a CA of 2 could influence an adjacent unit in melee by adding a +2 command modifier. Regardless of the CA of the commander they can only influence troops in their own or an adjacent hex but they can influence multiple melees in the same turn. Command ability is also used to influence MajF morale tests (see MajF morale on page 26). As has already been mentioned in the combat chapter each modifier is only applied once in any particular melee. This means that even if there were multiple commanders adjacent to multiple units in the same melee only one bonus (the highest) would be applied. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Moving Commanders
A commander can only be moved once during the

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movement phase though it can be forced to move at other times during the turn. There is no commander attachment or detachment to specific units, a commander is simply occupying the same hex as a unit. If, during the movement phase, a leader is moved along with a unit then that is his movement for this phase. It is up to players to keep track of commander movement and ensure that they are only moved once in each movement phase. Command figures may stack with any friendly unit and any number of other commanders. Commanders in the same hex as a friendly unit do not have to move with that unit if it retreats after combat or advances after combat though they may do so if they wish. A commander in the same hex as a unit that is routed and removed from the table remains in that hex. Commanders do not use strategic or tactical movement, instead they follow the rules given here. A commander can leave an enemy ZOC for no penalty, this does not end their movement. If they enter an enemy ZOC this does end their movement, just like other units. Commanders only pay 1 MP per hex that they enter regardless of the terrain in the hex or the obstructions that they must cross. Commanders may not enter impassable terrain. If moving from one continuous road hex to another they will only pay 1/2 MP for that hex. Commanders pay no extra MP cost for entering, leaving or passing through friendly units. Note that a commander has no ZOC and therefore will not stop enemy units from using strategic movement when within 2 hexes of that commander.

Command Example

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9. Formation Cohesion
The units within Major Formations will suffer penalties if they are isolated from the main body and become out of command. During phase 2 of the turn a unit that is part of a MajF needs to check whether it is in command or not. To remain in command a unit must either be within 2 hexes of its MajF commander or be within 2 hexes of another unit from their MajF that is itself in command. This means that a MajF can form a chain of units and they would all remain within command. For purposes of this rule unit type, terrain, line of sight or the presence of enemy units have no effect. The distance for the command radius and the 2 hexes distance for friendly units can cross any obstacle. It is important to note that if there are no units within 2 hexes of the MajF commander then there will be no units in command. The chain of command starts with the MajF commander, just because a bunch of units are close to each other it does not make them in command by default. It is also worth noting that only the Major Formation commander affects whether a unit is out of command or not. Just because a unit is within 2 hexes of another commander, even one that is its superior, this does not make it in command. The Cohesion rules assume that the MajF commander is directing the brigades, regiments and battaliosn within his division. Corsp or army commanders may be nearby but they are likely to have more to do than take command of a few nearby battalions.

Units B, C, E and F are all within the 2 hex command radius of their Major Formation commander A. Unit D is with 2 hexes of a friendly unit (E) that is itself in command, the proximity of the two enemy (white) units has no effect on whether a unit is in command or not. Note that unit E could be limbered or deployed, it would not mattter which. Units G, H and J are likewise in command because of the same reason as D. Unit G does not have a LOS to either C or F but this does not stop them from allowing G to be in command. Note that unit J is in command because it is within 2 hexes of H. H is in command because it is within 2 hexes of C (or E), C or E are in command because they are within 2 hexes of commander A. A chain of units can mean that a unit is in command even when the MajF commander is nowhere near.

Out of Command Effects

An infantry or artillery unit that is OoC cannot enter an enemy ZOC or declare a charge. A cavalry unit that is OoC is still allowed to enter enemy ZOC and declare charges. If a MajF has taken a morale test any unit that is OoC will not benefit from the command modifiers that apply to that test, they will have to use the basic, unmodified, roll to calculate any CV loss.

Major formation cohesion example

B A F C H G E

In the example above all of the black units belong to the same MajF, the dark green hexes represent woods. All of the units within this MajF are in command. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

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10. Major Formation Morale

Morale at the unit level is factored into the units CV, at higher levels morale only applies to Major Formations (MajF) not Minor Formations (MinF). Each MajF needs to have its average morale calculated at the start of the battle. Each troop quality has a numerical morale value associated with it and these are used to work out MajF morale levels. The infantry CV number for that quality level is also its morale value. For example, regardless whether it is infantry, cavalry or artillery a conscript unit would have a morale value of 3 while an elite unit would have a morale value of 6. To calculate the MajF morale add up the morale values of all of the units in the formation. Then divide this total by the number of units and round to the nearest whole number (.5 rounds down). This gives you the MajF morale level. For example an infantry division has 9 infantry units, 3 of which are Conscript, 4 Regular and 2 Veteran, it also has 3 artillery batteries attached that are rated Regular. Each Conscript unit has a morale value of 3, each Regular 4 and each Veteran 5. This gives 3 conscript (9 points), 4 regular infantry (16 points), 3 regular artillery (12 points) and 2 Veteran (10 points) for a total of 47 points. This is then divided by 12 to give the formation an average morale value of regular (3.91 rounded up to 4).

Units that are routed as a result of failed MajF morale tests do not themselves cause the formation to take a test.

Morale trigger example

Taking Morale Tests

Major formation morale only affects units from that MajF if those units are within 7 hexes (1 mile) of an enemy combat unit. It is perfectly possible for a formation to suffer unit losses that would place a Shaken Morale marker but for that test to have no effect because there are no enemy combat units within 7 hexes. If this is the case the Shaken Morale marker is flipped to its Shaken side as though the test had been taken and passed, no roll is required. Commanders are not affected by MajF morale results and they do not count as combat units so they will not affect enemy units within 7 hexes of their position. Units outside of 7 hexes of all enemy combat units will not lose any CV as a result of a MajF test regadless of the reult or the amount of losses sustained by the formation. Limbered artillery do not count as combat units and they will not affect enemy units within 7 hexes of their position. They do still sufffer the effects of MajF morale if they themselves are within 7 hexes of an enemy combat unit. The 7 hex range was chosen as this is a mile and enemy units within this distance are close enough to be considered a threat. It also means that detached formations miles away from a parent body or not yet arrived on table will not break as a result of something happening nowhere near them. So, while some situations are going to seem a little all or nothing, youll have to bear in mind that there needs to be a cut off point somewhere and 7 hexes seemed like a good compromise. The morale test is based upon the average morale of

Morale Test Triggers

The total number of units in the Major Formation, including cavalry and artillery, is used as the basis for MajF morale tests. As soon as a MajF loses 50% or more units it will have a Shaken Morale marker placed with the MajF commander. In phase 3 of the turn the active side must test for all MajF that have one of these morale markers. For example the division in the previous example is made up of 9 infantry units and 3 artillery batteries. When calculating whether it has reached 50% losses all of these are taken into account therefore the division has 12 units and suffers from MajF morale when it has lost 6 or more. Regardless of the result (or even if the test does not need to be taken, see below) the marker is flipped to its Shaken side. This indicates that the MajF is still shaken (has lost 50% or more units) but that it does not currently need to take a test. Once it has become shaken a MajF will be forced to test when it loses another unit to enemy action. As soon as a shaken MajF loses a unit flip the Shaken counter to its Shaken Morale side to show that it needs to take a test in phase 3 next time it is active. Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

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MajF Morale Tests (2D6) Page (##)

2 3 4 5 6 7 Untrained Militia Conscript Regular Veteran Elite Guard Old Guard 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 P

(Number indicates amount of CV loss, P = pass) 8 3 3 2 2 1 1 P P 9 3 2 2 1 1 P P P 10 2 2 1 1 P P P P 11 2 1 1 P P P P P 12 1 1 P P P P P P The MajF commander and one superior that is in the same or adjacent hex to the MajF commander can add their CA bonus to the 2D6 roll. Units OoC use the unmodified 2D6 roll to calculate their CV loss.

the formation in question. The player rolls 2D6 and consults the MajF morale table, the roll is modified by the command ability of the MajF commander. The command modifier may also be influenced by a superior of the MajF commander. A superior that is in the same or an adjacent hex to the MajF commander can add their CA to the roll as well. Only one superior may influence the roll in this way. For example a division commader has a CA of +1, if he had his +2 corps commander in an adjacent hex that MajF morale roll would be modified by +3 rather than +1. Units that are in command use the modified result on the table, units that are out of command use the unmodified roll as the basis for calculating their CV loss. See cohesion rules on page 27. Each unit within that MajF that is within 7 hexes of an enemy combat unit will lose the indicated amount of CV. A result of P indicates that the test is passed and that unit will not suffer any CV loss. Any units that are reduced to 0CV by this morale loss are routed and removed from table. For example a Major Formation started the battle with 11 units. It has just lost its 6th unit so it is now at 50% or more losses and will take an MF morale test in phase 3 next time it is the active side. The average quality of the MajF is Regular so the player rolls on the Regular line of the table. The actual roll is a 4 which is modified by +1 because their MajF commander has a CA of +1. The final result is a 5 so each unit of that MajF that is within 7 hexes of an enemy combat unit and currently in command will immediately lose 3CV. Any units that are out of command and within 7 hexes of an enemy combat unit would use the unmodified roll of 4 so they would lose 4CV instead of 3. The Shaken Morale marker is now flipped to its Shaken side to show that the test has been taken by that MajF.. When a formation is only partially on table with more units to arrive you should use the full strength of that formation, Great Battles rules Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

including the units off table, as the basis for determining its 50% loss level and if it needs to take a test.

Morale effects example

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11. Built Up Areas

A built up area (BUA) has a few special rules that apply to the defender and the attacker, some of these may have already been covered in previous sections but for the sake of convenience they are all given here. Only an infantry unit defending in a BUA gains the relevant melee combat bonus, cavalry and artillery do not. The attackers do not gain this melee bonus, even if they are attacking from a BUA hex themselves. A unit in a BUA retains its facing as usual and can only fire or charge into its 2 front hexes. If charged in the rear the unit does not have to fight with a starting CV of 0, it can use its current CV as usual. Troops may use roads through BUA and will be able to do so for 1/2 MP if they are using strategic movement. LOS into a BUA is one hex and inside a multi-hex BUA is one hex. A unit may move or charge from one BUA to another and will pay the standard movement costs. Artillery may not deploy in a BUA hex and cavalry may not charge into or through a BUA hex. All ZOC rules apply into or from BUA as usual. A unit may charge from a BUA hex but it can only declare a charge against a target that is adjacent to it. All other charge rules and restrictions apply.

BUA example

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Great Battles Rules

13th December 2011

Turn Order (page ##)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Active leader casualty rolls if within 7 hexes. Active check for MajF out of command units. Active morale for MajF within 7 hexes. Active charges, inactive form square reactions. Active remaining movement. Fire phase, both sides simultaneously. Apply effects at the end of the phase. Melee - active decides which order, apply results immediately as they occur Swap active and inactive. If both sides have been active this turn advance time 30 minutes

Limbered artillery have no ZoC

Handy Stuff to Know

Page # # # # # # # # # # Artillery 1/2 N/A N/A N/A x1 1/2 1/2 1/2

Each losing unit in melee loses the basic 1CV Form square D6 score less than MP spent If lose vs limbered art do not need to retreat Cohesion range is 2 hexes. Units cannot retire into an enemy ZoC Cav change face 1 hex spine before charge OoC infantry cannot charge or enter ZoC Defensive support only if unit could charge Halt move immediately enter or leave ZoC Long range (over half max)

Firing (D6) Page (##)

Small arms at cavalry

S. Arms 1/2 None 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 None 1/2

Melee (D6) Page (##)

Command bonus

Infantry in square vs cavalry Cavalry weight medium / heavy Infantry defending BUA / fortified BUA Inf or art defending obstacle / fortification Each defensive support unit Artillery contacted outside fire arc Cavalry vs square Infantry in square vs infantry Attacking enemy in rear (not in BUA)

+4 +1 / +2 + 0 / +1 / +2 +2 / +3 +1 / +2 + unit CV CV 0

Small arms at charging cavalry Non skirmish troops in bad going Target in Light Cover Target in BUA Target in Hvy Cover / fortified BUA Target is Deployed Artillery Any fire vs square OR into rear OR artillery at adjacent hex OR Fresh unit firing. Strategic Inf / Cav & Art 2 MP / 3 MP 2 MP / 3 MP 2 MP / 3 MP MP / MP Impassable 1 MP / 1 MP NA 3 MP / NA +0 MP / +0 MP

Plus 1D6 per situation - choose highest roll Movement Points

Movement Page (##)

Wood, marsh or BUA Road River Clear
2 1

Tactical Inf / Cav & Art 1 MP / 2 MP 1 MP / 2 MP 1 MP / 2 MP 1 MP / 1 MP Impassable 1 MP / 1 MP End Movement 3 MP / NA +1 MP / +1 MP

Cross stream, gully, up steep hill Rough, cultivated, bad going

Foot tactical Foot strategic Mounted tactical Commanders 3

3 MP 7 MP 6 MP 12 MP

Mounted strategic 12 MP
3. Commander use 1MP per hex or MP per road hex regardless of the other terrain in that hex.

Enter or leave enemy ZOC Form square Passage of Lines

1. Cavalry cannot charge into, through or out of this terrain type. 2. Ignore other terrain in hex if moving along road.

MajF Morale Tests (2D6) Page (##)

2 3 4 5 6 7 Untrained Militia Conscript Regular Veteran Elite Guard Old Guard 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 P

(Number indicates amount of CV loss, P = pass) 8 3 3 2 2 1 1 P P 9 3 2 2 1 1 P P P 10 2 2 1 1 P P P P 11 2 1 1 P P P P P 12 1 1 P P P P P P The MajF commander and one superior that is in the same or adjacent hex to the MajF commander can add their CR bonus to the 2D6 roll. Units OoC use the unmodified 2D6 roll to calculate their CV loss.

Great Battles Rules Fast Play Sheet Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Squ Squ Squ Squ Chg Chg Chg Chg

Squ Squ Squ Squ Chg Chg Chg Chg

Squ Squ Squ Squ Chg Chg Chg Chg

Limb Limb Limb Limb Limb Limb Limb Limb Limb Limb Limb Limb SM SM SM SM SM SM SM SM SM SM SM SM

SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN

SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN

SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN

SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN SHAKEN MORALE SHAKEN

The game scale is 7 hexes to a mile. Each stand on the table represents approximately 1000 infantry, 500 cavalry or 12 artillery pieces. Musket fire is into adjacent hexes only, artillery fire is light guns 4 hexes, medium 6 hexes and heavy 8 hexes. During each turn both sides will be active and inactive. The active side charges, moves, carries out leader casualty rolls. Once they have completed their movement both sides will have a chance to fire, melee is carried out after firing. The active and inactive sides then swap roles and once both sides have completed their actions the turn ends. Each turn is 30 mins. There are two types of movement, strategic and tactical. Strategic is used when more than 2 hexes away from any enemy units, tactical is used if you start or intend to come within 2 hexes of any enemy units. Strategic movement is about twice as fast as tactical. A unit can only use one or the other during its turn. Units pay a movement point (MP) cost to enter a hex. For clear hexes this is 1MP per hex, for bad going this is 2MP for infantry or 3MP for cavalry or artillery. The MP costs for bad going are reduced by 1MP when you use tactical movement. Units do not pay MP to change face. Each unit has a Zone of Control (ZoC). As soon as you enter an enemy ZOC you must stop moving, if you are already in an enemy ZoC and you leave it you immediately stop moving. Each unit has a Combat Value - this is a combination of the number of troops in the unit and its quality. The lowest CV is 1, the highest is 8. CV is used in melee and firing, as a unit takes losses its CV will reduce, when it reaches 0 CV the unit is routed and removed from the table. There is no individual unit morale or rallying when a unit is taken off table it will not return. To fire a unit starts with its current CV, it can then modify this for range or cover etc. It then adds a D6 roll to this value. For each 5 points that it scores it causes 1 point of CV loss on the target. Each unit fires individually, artillery fire phase comes before musket fire phase, both sides fire at the same time within each phase and effects applied at the end of that phase. Units in close combat start with their basic CV, they add modifiers to this and then they add a D6 die roll. The side that has the highest total has won the melee, how much they win by determines the amount of damage that the loser will take. The losing units must retreat one hex away, if they cannot then they will take even more damage. Your infantry divisions are called Major Formations. These can suffer morale loss if they lose too many units. When they have lost 50% or more of their units and any turn after that when they lose another unit they will have to take a morale test. If they fail this test all of the units within that formation can lose points from their combat value. The units within a Major Formation need to stay close together to remain in command. A unit that is out of command cannot charge or enter an enemy ZoC. To be in command a unit must be within 2 hexes of its Major Formation commander OR within 2 hexes of another unit from the same formation that is itself in command. In this way you can form chains of units, they do not all have to be in a clump around your commander. Commanders can add modifiers to the melee combat of their subordinate units. To do so they must be in the same or an adjacent hex. Commanders will also influence the Major Formation morale roll described above. Great Battles Rules Counter Sheet Mark Sims 2011 Permission granted to copy for personal use only.

Great Battles - A Beginners Guide.