© Alberto Giorgi
Battlefield
Our ideal gaming table is about 1.5 x 1 meter (even more if desired), with long sides used by players as the basis. When preparing, it is necessary to carefully consider the appropriate scales from 1 mm to 1 m, especially if we intend to reconstruct historical events. The sceneries, taken from the modeling represent the morphological elements, natural and artificial of the soil. Trees, houses, hills, rivers, ploughed fields, etc. have features that make them useful or harmful from a tactical and strategic point of view. Our model on the table often does not represent a single element; two or three trees represent a forest and a house a set of appliances in addition to the main building such as stables, barns, etc. The same applies to walls or bales of hay often representative light roofs, ruins, hedges, stacked wooden structures, small walls and anything else suitable for improvised protection. Several buildings placed at an adequate distance, to allow the passage of our Columns, will represent a village. The roads and bridges will often be off-scale in width, but from our point of view this will be indifferent, and we can take the measure that we consider efficient and pleasant in our game plan. If you do not have a large game plan, we could arrange quick skirmishes or small clashes even in a normal kitchen table. The recommendation is to use a few cannons (two or three) from 4 or 6 pounds maximum per deployment and avoid using too much cavalry. Six/twelve riders per side will be more than enough. Strategic rules can be inserted to add the strategic element that in a small battlefield could be hindered. Contrary to what you might think, it is good to use some morphological elements choosing between groves, hills, hollows, cemeteries, small buildings, streams, short stretches of rivers and bridges. Not excessive to harness the game but enough to allow you to make interesting the clash. A small, completely empty table offers few possibilities for large maneuvers and so you might as well play on the landscape and move to a more tactical level. I would however avoid lakes, impassable terrain and great fortifications. The streets can be inserted for aesthetics but will be of little use for the purpose of the game.
Natural and artificial elements
Woods Saving throw 3 melee 1 for each company involved
Cardboard shapes or skinny plywood painted differently from the main table can represent a woods. Inside there will be inserted trees available in model maker shops. Their number will be adequate to recreate a beautiful effect, but small enough to make our army's movement easy. Under no circumstances woods are passable by the artillery, and they interrupt any units en route, eliminating them. They are crossable only by the infantry (Line or Light) and Light cavalry that must move in open formation at 50% of the usual movement. Only light infantry can fire inside the woods (at 50% of the usual range) and no unit inside can be shot by any other firing from the outside. The groups in the margin can fire outside but undergo fire as if they had a light cover. The forest constitutes an interruption to the artillery firing line. Once out of the woods, the Line infantry needs half move to return to tactical formation.
Hills if defender raised to the enemy: Saving trow 1 melee 0,5
Plywood shapes on various levels represent hills, bumps or depressions. The upper level prevents the possibility of being reached by the battery that shoots to raise 0. The artillery can only strike with an arched shot. In melee gives the bonus of 0.5 per base for the upper unit, both in attack and defense. Steep ledges or slopes can prevent the transit of any body. The hills are traversable at 50% of the standard movement. Bumps or slight depressions are not considered hills. They do not affect the speed of movement but can affect the shooting levels of the artillery.
Rivers or streams Movement 1/4
A unit can only pass the rivers by bridges and, if en route and forced to cross the riverbed, is eliminated. Concerning the streams, any formation can wade it at 25% of the movement. Army en route, must test each unit that crosses the stream: Player rolls one six-sided dice for each base and compare the outcome with the usual Reactivity list. To pass the stream, it has to win the test. The player removes from the table the Bases that lose it.
Bridges Movement 1/2
A bridge can be stone, wooden or improvised (boat bridges). It allows the crossing of units in the Column of companies. To be shot down, they require artillery fire. It takes 100, 50 or 25 loss points respectively to be destroyed by artillery fire.
Lakes impassable
Lakes interrupt artillery fire and eliminate the units en route forced to cross. The frozen lakes can only be crossed by infantry and stop the rebound of the artillery.
Deep snow impassable
Deep snow interrupts the artillery rebound, and Units cannot cross.
Sandy or muddy soils, plowed or tricky to transit fields. Movement 1/2
These terrains are passable by any unit but at 50% of normal movement. If more than 50% of the shooting sector, the muddy or sandy soils stop the artillery's rebound, causing the range to be interrupted.
Sunken streets and embankments Saving throw 2 Melee 0,5
They stop charging the units that pass through them. Units protected from the embankment benefit from the light cover (1, 2 protection test and + 0,5 melee points for each base protected).
Cemeteries, orchards Saving throw 3 melee 1 for each company inside
Cemeteries and orchards follow the rules of the forest. Infantry breaks order and moves at 50% speed. They prevent cavalry and artillery from crossing them. Only light infantry can fire (at 50%) and as in the woods, line infantry can only fight in melee.
Low walls Saving trow 3 Melee 0,5
They are not passable by artillery. The cavalry and infantry go over him but lose the charge. The low walls (below the height of a soldier) count as heavy cover and give a Rescue Throw of 1, 2, and 3. In melee gives + 0.5 for each protected base. They have 100 resistance points.
High walls, fortified Saving trow 4 Melee + 1
The walls shall prevent any unit from being traversed except by an access door if so provided. The garrison on defense can only fire from the wall if prepared or fortified with loopholes or structures such as walkways to shoot from above. Units behind the fortified walls if fired are open to fire. They have a rescue shot of 1, 2, 3, and 4. In melee they have + 1 for each protected base. They have 200 resistance points.
Buildings Melee x2 of the Unit Melee Value
1/72 scale models can represent buildings, but their toponymy scale will remain 1 to 1000. Each model will represent a group of houses since one millimeter of the game plan corresponds to a building's real meter, and we cannot create a group of homes with an equal number of models. Only light infantry can fire from the inside out by rolling one dice for each company. No units (except artillery) can fire at troops inside the building. The garrison acts in the open formation and needs to move outside the building to reform. The attacking units must have the bases brought close to the walls to carry out the melee. Only infantry can fight against the troops in the building and cannot use the charge bonus. The buildings can be small and standard, respectively with a resistance of 200 or 400 points.
Ruins of buildings and low walls Saving Trow 3 Melee 0,5
They are not passable by artillery and cavalry. The infantry bears the cost of rough terrain every inch requires 4 centimeters of movement. The infantry can climb over the walls and the ruins being shaken and losing 4 cm of movement.
The hedges, and barricades Saving throw 2 Melee 0,5
Hedges and barricades are considered light covers in the fire for the shooter, and in the melee, they give + 0.5 for each protected company (base). They prevent crossing the artillery and cavalry. The player can build Barricades only near buildings because he uses recycled materials from farms or houses such as wooden planks, doors, furniture, etc. Players cannot build trenches, fortifications, or protections of any kind during the battle. Knights, foot soldiers or gunners create the passage by moving or destroying the impediment by stopping a move. The infantry can climb over the hedges being shaken losing 4 cm of movement.
Cheval de frise
Cheval de frise prevents the instantaneous from crossing to the artillery and cavalry that cannot charge the troops behind them. Units that intend to pass them lose the cost of broken terrain (4 cm). (Knights or artillerymen create the passage by moving or destroying cheval de frise).
Buildings and village
A building in our game does not represent a single house but a grouping of houses. Depending on its size, it can contain a different number of toy soldiers. However, the maximum size of a single building is 10 cm x 10 cm, representing 10000 real Square meters. Beyond this measure, multiple buildings represent a farm or set of farms. The garrison will need an area of about twice its size. For a battalion of 4 bases that occupies 24 square centimeters, the garrison must be at least 48 square centimeters.
If you need to create a village, leave at least 5 cm of space between buildings. Inside the town, infantry, cavalry, and artillery can move in column by company (even when a road crosses the village). Light infantry can fire with one dice every company, the line infantry, grenadiers or militia cannot fire and all can fight hand-to-hand. To assault a building in close combat, the attackers have to put the bases adjacent to the walls. The infantry does not adopt a real tactical formation like the Line or the Column but tends to crush and expand against the attacked side. Once the attack is over, they must lose a move to get on tactical formation. Each unit can attack only one side, and four battalions at most can attack a building. When the battalion leaves the facility, it is in loose order and needs half a move to form (except for the Light infantry for which the open formation is itself a tactical one). Units inside can fire during their fire phase and at the moment of the first contact. They can make one shot for each company contained in the building. They can fire to any units within their range and not only at the ones besieging. During the melee phase, they cannot use reaction fire when the enemy units are massed. The melee phase of defending units in a building is not carried out unless they decide to come out in the open by giving up the bonus. In case of garrisons of different value inside the same building will count the one chosen by the player who will be the one who will receive the first losses.
© Alberto Giorgi