Simple Napoleonic Wargame Rules

These rules are my own 'tweaked' adaption of Neil Thomas' 'Simplicity in Practice' rule system for the horse & musket era and are excellent for those who prefer to 'game' rather than re-create Napoleonic warfare on their tabletop battlefields.

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Basing:

There is no fixed basing system in SIP, so long as both players forces are based in the same manner then the rules will play just fine. Each unit on the battlefield represents just that, 'a unit'. Call them battalions or brigades it makes no difference to the actual playing of the game.

For my own games I use the following:

Line Infantry  : 12 x Infantry figures arranged in two ranks of 6 figures
Elite Infantry  : 16 x Infantry figures arranged in two ranks of 8 figures (Elite)
Cavalry  : 4 x Cavalry figures in a single rank (heavy & Light)
Artillery Battery  : 1 x Model gun & crew on a single base.
Command  : 1 x Mounted officer on a single base.

An Austrian force comprising of  2 x Gun Batteries, 4 x Line infantry units, 1 x Elite  Grenadier unit  and two Light cavalry units commanded by a single Command base.

A Brief Summary of the Rules:

Players take turns in rolling Action Points (AP) for their coming move. With these AP he will attempt to move, fire, charge or rally the units under his command.

AP's will vary from turn to turn and so should be used wisely and in the appropriate part of the battlefield.

Unit formations are not represented on the tabletop. All units are presumed to be in the most appropriate formation dependent upon it's current situation. Likewise there is no separate morale test as units acquire Disruption Points (DP) through combat which gradually wear units down until such time that they break and flee the field!

DP's will affect a units ability to function as a fighting force during the game but Commanders can attempt to 'rally' DP's from a unit during a players turn.

Units reaching the maximum allowable number of DP's will rout and possibly leave the field.

                                                                                                                                                                 

Suggested Force Composition

For my own games I divide units into Brigades (or Divisions if you prefer!)  For each 5 x infantry units I field 1 x cavalry unit, 1 x artillery battery and 1 x Commander. This is obviously only a rough guide and players should set up dependent upon their own take on Napoleonic organisation and / or figures available to them.

                                                                                                                                                                  

Starting the game : Initiative & Action Points:

After players have set up the terrain both roll 1d6, the higher scorer decides on which table edge his forces will deploy.

Players should deploy their units alternately starting with his Command stands before moving on to his artillery, cavalry and infantry units.

Once deployment is complete both players once again roll 1d6 (re-roll and drawn scores) The highest scorer then chooses to act first or pass the initiative to his opponent. This process is only carried out once. The game then proceeds in a turn by turn (I-GO-U-GO) manner.

Once initiative has been established the active player now determines the amount of AP's (Action Point) he has available to use during his turn.

To calculate available AP's  a player simply rolls 1d6 and adds the total number of Command stands he currently has on the tabletop.

Example: Player A has won the initiative and has decided to act first. His tabletop force currently contains 3 x Command bases. He rolls 1d6 and scores a 4 to which he adds 3 (his total number of Command Stands) giving him 7 AP's to use this turn.

                                                                                                                                                                

Note: The original rules are a simple I-GO-U-GO system whereby players are not limited to the number of units they get to move or fire etc. I preferred to add a system that limits players actions during their turn and forces them to prioritise the order in which units act.

                                                                                                                                                                 


Using Action Points

Once the player with the initiative has ascertained how many AP's he has to use during his move he can use them to perform the following actions: (all actions cost 1 AP)

Order any unit of cavalry, infantry, artillery or Command base to move or charge.

Order an infantry unit to move/fire.

Attempt to Rally DP's from a cavalry or infantry unit (artillery may never rally and are destroyed on reaching the 4th DP)

Order an infantry unit to fire.

Order an artillery battery to fire.

A Command base may attempt a re-roll to rally existing Disruption Points from a unit (Testing unit must be within Command radius)

A Command base may attempt to rally DP's from a routed unit. (Testing unit must be in base to base contact with Command base)

                                                                                                                                                                  

Movement

A player can expend 1 AP to move any unit under his command.

If a player wishes to move* any unit which is currently carrying DP's he must roll 1d6 and consult the following chart::

No of DP's       Score required to successfully activate

1                       3 - 6
2                       4 - 6
3                       5 - 6

* A unit unit currently carrying DP's does NOT need to roll for activation to fire.

* Any unit may voluntarily retire straight back without rolling for activation.

* A unit that intends to charge but fails it's activation roll is deemed 'confused' and must remain in its current position.

All Elite units +1 to their roll.

All Raw units -1 to their roll.

Command stand within 10cms of unit +1

All activation attempts cost 1 AP whether they are successful or not.

                                                                                                                                                                  

Movement of routing units

Any routing units which fail to rally (or the player chooses not to spend an AP to attempt to rally) continue to rout at 1.5 x their usual movement rate. All routing units who do not attempt to rally continue to rout during the players current turn. These 'moves' do not cost any of the players AP's

Any units which rout off the table edge are lost and can not be returned to the game at any point.

                                                                                                                                                                  


Movement Distances

Close order infantry                  10cms   ( or 5cm and fire )

Light infantry                            12cms   ( may full distance and fire)

Foot artillery                             10cms

Heavy Cavalry                         20cms

Light Cavalry                           25cms

Horse artillery                          20cms     (may move full distance and fire)

Command Base                       25cms

Further Movement Rules:

Infantry and artillery may 'turn to face' (up to 90 degrees) an enemy unit before firing. This manoeuvre is considered as a 'half move and fire' (see Firing Hits below)

Light infantry and Horse artillery units may move full distance and fire in the same turn. This manoeuvre is considers as a 'half move and fire' (see Firing Hits below) 

Infantry may perform a half move of 5cm and fire. (or vice/versa)

Charging units may make one turn at the start of their move, which may never be greater than 45º.

Light infantry may pass through other friendly units at no cost.

Command bases may attempt to rally any units within their Command range at the beginning or at the end of their movement.

Any other unit forced to pass through a friendly unit (through losing a melee) may take further DP's as a result of doing so.

                                                                                                                                                                   


Firing Ranges

Close order Infantry            10cms

Foot Artillery                       40cms (effective)             60cms (long)

Horse Artillery                     20cms (effective)             40cms (long)

To fire from any infantry unit or artillery battery costs 1AP . No unit/battery may fire more than once per turn.

Firing Procedure

Each firing unit / battery rolls 4 x d6 minus the number of current DP's the unit is carrying. (so for example an infantry unit that is currently carrying 2 Disruption Points will roll 4d6-2d6= 2d6)

                                                                                                                                                                  

NOTE:

In the original rule set DP'S do not affect a units combat ability in any way, they simply mount up until the unit breaks. This seems a little too simplistic for my own games so I have 'tweaked' this rule causing mounting DP's to affect the number of d6 rolled during combat and hence it's ability to cause Hits / DP's upon enemy units

                                                                                                                                                                   

Firing 'Hits'

Each Die will register a hit on the following scores:

Firing unit                               Score reqd. to hit

Close order infantry                     4-6  (5 or 6 if the unit has performed a half move)
                                                   5-6  (Target is light infantry or deployed artillery)
Light infantry in open order          4-6  (5 or 6 if the unit has, or is about to move)
                                                   5-6  (Target is light infantry or deployed artillery)
Foot / Horse Artillery                  5-6   (6 reqd. at long range)

Example: A close order infantry unit currently at full strength fires a volley at an enemy cavalry unit during it's activation. The player rolls 4d6 and scores 3,6,1,5. As a close order infantry unit requires a score of 4 - 6 to register a hit the 3 and the 1 are discarded resulting in 2 'Hits' 

Units in cover / Saving throws

Units in cover may roll 1d6 per hit scored against them. As a result, any score of 4 - 6 removes 1 hit.

Note: These inflicted 'Hits' are not yet considered as Disruption Points. This is determined in the next stage of the firing procedure.

                                                                                                                                                                  

Converting hits to Disruption

Dependent upon the number of hits scored, the class of the target and the result of a d6 roll a unit may inflict Disruption points upon it's target.

No of hits scored                         Score reqd. to inflict 1 DP
                    (Raw)                          (Regular)                   (Elite)

1                   4 - 6                               5 - 6                          6
2                   3 - 6                               4 - 6                       5 - 6
3                   2 - 6                               3 - 6                       4 - 6
4                   Automatic                       2 - 6                       3 - 6

Note that regardless of the number of hits a unit receives from any single combat it will only receive 1DP per combat.

Example: The close order infantry unit has scored 2 hits against an enemy Regular classed cavalry unit through musket fire.  Cross referencing the above chart we see that a Regular unit receiving 2  hits will gain 1 Disruption Point on a score of 4 - 6. The attacking player rolls 1d6 and scores a 5. The enemy cavalry unit receives 1 DP.

As soon as a unit accumulates 4 DP's it immediately breaks and starts to rout back at 1.5 times it's normal movement rate towards the owning players table edge.

                                                                                                                                                                 

Charging and Melee

Charge restrictions:

Close order infantry may never charge cavalry.

Light infantry and Artillery may never charge any other unit.

Cavalry may not charge any unit in a built up area.


General rules:

Any unit in good order and within it's movement range may move into contact with any enemy unit within 180 degrees of it's front (subject to charge restrictions above)

Any unit which is currently carrying DP's must roll a successful activation (see 'Movement' ). If the testing unit fails its activation roll it is deemed 'confused' and remains in its current position. It should be noted that the unit is NOT allowed to fire after failing an activation to charge.

to be continued....