Skirmish rules - Part 4 - Initiative and unit activation; Morale

Initiative and unit activation

When I started developing my rules, it seemed to me that the key to a realistic, dynamic skirmish war game should consist in a realistic way to deal with initiative.

I thought that the rules should favor those players that show higher tactical sense and act consistently according to their goals, allowing them to snatch and keep the initiative to the detriment of more lethargic, or casual, opponents. 

In practical terms:

• I wanted an attacking player to be rewarded if he succeeded in keeping his opponent under constant pressure (inflicting fire casualties to enemy units and/or engaging them in hand-to-hand combat); 

• I wanted a defending player to be rewarded if he was able to frustrate the attacker’s aggressiveness (protecting his own units from enemy fire and/or anchoring or supporting them to discourage enemy charges); 

• and I wanted the more consistent player to have a higher chance of keeping the initiative for himself, denying it to his opponent so as to effectively hinder the latter’s ability to pursue his own plan. This would add significantly to the realism of the game, hopefully allowing for fast, decisive actions.

In order to transfer these principles into the mechanics of the game in a simple enough way, I linked the concept of initiative to that of unit activation, and made each player’s tactical choices have a direct influence on the activation of his opponent’s units. 

Only a player’s units that are not subjected to enemy pressure (that is, units that are not taking fire casualties and are not charged by enemy units) are automatically activated and can be used during the player’s turn.

Conversely, all units that are attacked (suffering fire casualties, or being charged by enemy units) are considered under stress and temporarily out-of-control. They are marked with one or more stress markers (red squares),  and must pass an activation test before they can perform any active action.

The French unit takes three fire casualties this turn, and is marked with one red square

The activation test is carried out at the beginning of a player’s turn for all his stress-marked units, and consists of rolling dice corresponding to the unit’s Command / Discipline skill coefficient for each red square. Depending on the dice roll score, the unit may become in-control again, and thus be employed in the turn; or remain out-of-control and pass the turn; or get routed altogether.

Morale

Units that endure a very critical situation (for example: reduced to less than 50% of their initial strength; charged from the back or flanks) must undergo a morale or reaction test.

The reaction test is carried out in a way similar to the activation test, however immediately as the critical situation occurs (hence during the opponent’s turn), and may result in the unit being put, or left, temporally out-of-control (the red square is not removed and the unit must test for activation in its next turn); or getting routed.

The same French unit, now charged on its right flank, is marked with an additional red square.
A reaction test must be carried out immediately

When a unit is routed, its figures are each marked with a red triangle and must run away from the enemy at full speed. In a simpler version of the rules, routed figures are  removed from the table altogether.

Farm girl

 

I had always wished to add some civilians to my range of toy soldiers, and thinking that a female figure might be a welcome exception among the usual martial subjects, I decided to sculpt a farm girl.

To start with, I sculpted an all-purpose, naked female mannequin that I could dress-up as required, but also use as the base for future female figures. Understandably enough, I wanted a good-looking young woman, slender and well-proportioned, yet by no means a pin-up. About 52-mm high, the figure represents a woman 1.66-m tall, a quite handsome female specimen if a bit tall for 18^th Century standards…

Sculpting the face was a bit of a challenge. I wanted it to look feminine, of course, but also realistic. It took some times, but all in all I am quite satisfied with the result… 

I sculpted the young woman’s hair gathered in a knot at the back of her head, by far the prevailing hairstyle in 18^th-Century Europe, and one also common in the 17^th and most of the 19^th Century. Leaving the ears and neck free, this hair arrangement also increases the figure’s conversion potential.

The woman’s hands and feet were also a bit difficult to sculpt, on account of their much smaller dimensions when compared to those of a male figure…

Having completed my naked figure and made a rubber mold, I cast one resin mannequin and proceeded to dress it up. As usual, I first gathered some pictorial information from art books and the Internet, and duly read up on the subject in order to familiarize with 18^th-Century working-class woman’s costume.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I found that the general appearance of the common people in 18^th-Century Europe was strikingly similar throughout the Continent, with the exception perhaps of the more isolated and remote areas (the Highlands of Scotland, the Alps, the Pyrenees), or outlying regions much exposed to non-European influence (the Balkans, Russia).

Thus, the look of a peasant girl in her everyday attire would have been much the same in, say, France, Flanders, Alsace, Bohemia, Bavaria, Britain or Italy (or, for that matter, in the European colonies overseas).

Our farm girl would have worn a linen shirt reaching down to about her mid-thighs (the only piece of underwear worn by 18^th-Century people, both men and women) with sleeves sewn to it, sometimes in such a way as to leave the shoulders exposed; a sleeveless bodice designed to support and push up her breasts rather than to cover them (sleeves could be attached to the bodice in cold weather, or in formal occasions); a petticoat, or skirt, reaching down to her mid-calves or ankles, tied at the waist by means of a cord or ribbon, fitted with side slits for reaching detached pockets hanging under it from a narrow belt or waist string (additional skirts could be worn one on top of the other, the outermost one sometimes gathered at the hips by means of special loops); an apron, equally tied at the waist. Most likely, she would also have worn a cap or bonnet, and maybe a shawl. In fair weather, she would have worn no stockings, and would have gone bare-footed, or perhaps have worn wooden shoes.

****

The following pictures provide some size comparison between my farm girl and a few male figures, as well as with a wild turkey and a goose.

My farm girl next to a tallish sergeant of a Swiss regiment in French service

Here, and in the following pictures, the stocky, soft-shod French-Canadian men are about the same height as the slender young woman  

Populating my farmstead model - Geese

Wishing to add some character to my Flemish farmstead model, I set off sculpting the masters of a farm servant girl (who has casually appeared in some previous posts and will be featured in a future one) and of a couple of geese. 

Sculpting the beautiful, elegant waterfowl has been quite easy, and painting them a simple enough task.  

The first epoxy putty master and a painted resin casting

A simple conversion yielded a second pose

The European domestic goose is derived from the wild Eurasian grey, or graylag, goose (Anser anser), which was domesticated back in the Bronze Age, or perhaps earlier. 

Occasionally, stranded wild geese may be adopted in a domestic flock, so I painted one of my geese as a graylag…

 

Skirmish rules - Part 3 - Terrain

Tabletop terrain is instrumental to the course of the game. Its general conformation, as well as the presence of additional, specific terrain features, is never simply decorative, but involves precise restrictions on movement, fire, and melée.

Every terrain feature on the tabletop not only makes the game more aesthetically pleasing, but also contributes significantly to making it more interesting and compelling. 

In general, the gaming table is divided into well-defined, clearly recognizable areas or zones, corresponding to one of the following terrain types:

• Normal terrain;
• Rough terrain;
• Water meadows;
• Woods and forests;
• Rivers, canals, ponds and lakes.

Normal terrain

Normal terrain consists of flat, dry soil, such as:

• Meadows;
• Sown fields;
• Dirt or paved courtyards;
• Roads and tracks.

It does not entail any penalty for movement, which can be carried out in any formation and at any speed by all types of troops.

The gray-green felt mat covering the table represents plain meadows, and counts as normal terrain

The courtyard of the farmstead, represented by a piece of light-brown felt, counts as normal terrain

And so does the field at the back of the longhouse

Roads and tracks also count as normal terrain.
As they are not interrupted by obstacles and other terrain features but instead run around them, they constitute the fastest way to connect highlights of the gaming table.
Advancing on roads and tracks, regular troops adopt the marching column formation, whereas irregulars proceed in open order or single file

The sporadic presence on normal terrain of additional features (obstacles, screens, protections) may, however, result in restrictions on movement, as well as on fire and hand-to-hand combat.

Some terrain pieces afford partial protection against enemy fire

Both figures on this terrain piece and the one behind it may be considered  partially protected by the large boulders

Although hedgerows are not bulletproof and do not afford solid protection, they nonetheless partially conceal the figures behind them and are an effective screen against enemy fire

Fences may count as solid protections or just as screens, depending on the score of one d4 rolled before firing (1, 2: screen; 3, 4: protection)

Rough terrain

Rough terrain consists of soil that is on average flat, but  locally uneven and burdensome to negotiate:

• Land mainly covered with tall grass, bushes, reeds, rocks, etc.;
• Plowed fields;
• Trails and paths within forests.

It is  represented by patches of felt in contrasting color (here I used pale mauve, but any other color may do).

Rough terrain restricts the movement of some troop types, who can only cross it at low speed. 

Here too, as on normal terrain, the possible presence of additional terrain pieces can lead to further restrictions on movement, as well as fire and melée.

Rough terrain is represented by patches of felt.
Additional terrain pieces may be found on some of the patches

Different troop types behave differently on rough terrain.
In this picture:
Line infantry must adopt the open-order formation and move at low speed only;
Light cavalry may move at normal speed;
Specialist on foot may move at normal speed

Water meadows

Water meadows are made up of soil that is walk-able but marshy and waterlogged. They are generally found next to ponds and lakes.

They are represented by patches of felt in contrasting color (here a darker shade of green than normal terrain).

They limit the movement of some troop types, who can only cross them at low speed.

Water meadows affect the movement of most troop types.
Here the French are trying to clear a wood from Austrian irregulars. The outnumbered Pandours make good use of the boggy terrain that compels the French line infantry to adopt the open-order formation and slow down their advance.

Woods and forests

Woods are stretches of land characterized by the prevalent presence of trees and dense and intricate undergrowth. 

A small wood in a meadow

Woods can stand on normal terrain (right), or on stretches of rough terrain (left)

A wood can be crossed exclusively by infantry units deployed in open order. Movement within woods, where permitted, is carried out at low speed, except for particular types of troops.

Within a wood line infantry must proceed in open-order formation and at low speed

Forests consist of groups of two or more woods separated by trails or paths. The latter count as rough terrain and allow the passage of infantry and light cavalry units deployed in marching columns or open order formations.

Rivers, canals, ponds and lakes

Waterways and bodies of water that can not be waded constitute a class of terrain in their own right, which can only be traveled or crossed by small vessels, such as whaleboats and canoes.

Narrow, fordable streams simply count as obstacles on normal or rough terrain.