I did a little more thinking about the quick battle rules while I should have been working today. I think the system is chiefly lacking rules for three things:
1. Surprise
2. Weather
3. Skill of the general
So I propose the following additions:
Surprise
Before the battle assuming both sides are marching, each side rolls a d6. On a roll of 1 or 2, that side is surprised. It suffers -2 to its first battle round roll, and -1 thereafter. If one side is static, it is only surprised on a 1. It is possible for both sides to be surprised, in which case the modifier may be disregarded.
Weather
The weather modifies battle rolls as follows:
Very hot and dry - if one side is static it is never surprised. If both sides are marching, each side is surprised only on a 1.
Rain or snow - the ordinary bonus for mounted troops does not apply.
Heavy rain or snow - the ordinary bonuses for mounted troops and archers do not apply.
Fog - if one side is static and the other is marching, the marching side is surprised on a 1-4. Either side may flee at any time and automatically evade pursuit.
Skill of the general
A particularly skilful general gives a +1 bonus.
I think an element of the War Machine rules you could easily add is the Rock, Paper, Scissors like array. Each general picks a tactic, "All out attack", "Dig In", "Feint", etc... and then you consult a little chart that gives adjustments.
ReplyDeleteI wrote up the chart here.
I know very little about this subject, but I had the idea that morale was hugely important in pre-modern battles, and armies could often take more casualties as they were hunted down after running than in the actual battle.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's true. Battle systems never model that well. I'd like to change that, but don't have time to think about it at the moment.
DeleteI remember having a Civil War tabletop game years ago with a set of rules for weather conditions that was at least 4 pages long. There were obviously rules for movement and surprise, but also morale and tactics. I wish I still owned it, but I loaned to a local gaming group and it strangely vanished from their shelves. Shame.
ReplyDelete