CAPTAIN'S PHLOG Ye Day of the Foole, 2020 ____________________________________________________________ NOW: Greening in "Zone 3". The Chives are up. If I had Ramps (wild scallions) nearby I could pick them too. Tiger Lilly shoots are ~4" tall and large enough to harvest. Dandelions greens are well on their way and I'm about a week away from wild violets. Three weeks from my first radishes and wild parsnips. I've been a week without "fresh" (via grocers) greens at this point but NOT FOR LONG!. Thus Commences the Post: A year ago I wrote these rules. They are based on the 'Horse & Musket' chapter from Neil Thomas' book "One Hour Wargames"[1]. H.G. Wells' created the first set of miniature wargame rules, called "Little Wars"[2]. It was of course primitive. It was also DICE-LESS... HELLO? WHAT? You're reading that correctly. There was no imposed randomization. Player choices created the variation. He felt, quite rightly, that it was pretty much evident what would happen in different engagements. I give an example: If a cat encounters a mouse we have a good idea of the potential outcomes - escape or a meal for the cat. Whereas in a fight between two similar cats the result is mostly up to their individual tenacities. Look at these and look at my inspirations. You can play them solo EASILY and you can use anything from fancy painted and based 6mm units to cardboard rectangles for your forces. Enjoy! [ I fear some of my formatting is Wonky but I am too lazy to adjust it :-) ] "6+ Rules" Revised 29 April 2018 6mm Horse and Musket Wargames Rules La Variante Sans Chance SPECIAL NOTES No Dice. This OHW variant dispenses with randomization. Vest Pocket. Basic games may be played on a 36cm square map. UNIT TYPES & BASING This game features the unit types of Infantry, Cavalry, Skirmishers, and Artillery. Base dimensions and number of models per base are irrelevant and left to the players discretion though both forces should use identical basing. SEQUENCE OF PLAY Turns are conducted in Igo-Ugo format. Each player follows the sequence listed below in their player turn: Movement or Loading Shooting Hand-to-Hand Combat Eliminating Units 1. MOVEMENT or LOADING Loading. Infantry, Skirmishers, and Artillery may choose to reload instead of moving. All weapons are considered loaded at the beginning of the game. Movement Allowances. Units may move up to the distances listed below during their turn: Unit Type Movement Distance Infantry and Artillery 6cm Skirmishers 8cm Cavalry 12cm Turning. Units turn by pivoting on their central point. They may do so at the start and/or the end of their move. Formation changes. Units may change formation instead of moving. Terrain. Units are affected by terrain as follows: Woods. Only Skirmishers may enter. Towns. Only Infantry and Skirmishers may end their move in a town. Marshland and Lakes. These are impassable to all units. Rivers. These may only be crossed via bridges and fords. Roads. Units moving by road increase their movement distance by one half if their entire move is spent on the road. This bonus may not be received if charging. Moving and Shooting. Only skirmishers may shoot if they have moved during the same turn. Interpenetration. Only Skirmishers may pass through other units (and vice versa). Charge Moves. Cavalry are the only unit type that may enter Hand-to-Hand Combat. Charges are resolved by moving the attacking unit into contact with their victim. They are subject to the following restrictions: Half Way. Charging Cavalry units only move a maximum of 6cm before engagement. They conclude their movement after Hand-to-hand combat. (see Retreat) Turning. A charging Cavalry unit may turn once, at the start of its move. This evolution may not exceed 45º. Limited Engagement. Only one charging unit may engage any given defending unit. Fighting. Combat is resolved during the Hand-to-Hand Combat phase. Poor target. Units involved in Hand-to-Hand combat may not be the target of Shooting due to the equal risk of causing friendly casualties. 2. SHOOTING The procedure for Shooting is as follows (note that cavalry units do not shoot; all other units can). Adjudge Field of Fire. Infantry and Artillery may only shoot at a single target within 45º of their frontal facing. Skirmishers have a field of fire of 360º. Units in Towns. These have a field of fire of 360º, and may therefore engage any single target in any direction. Measure Range. Infantry and Skirmishers have a range of 6cm; Artillery has a range of 24cm. Line of Sight. A unit may only shoot at a target they can see. Intervening woods, hills, and towns block Line of Sight. Overhead. Artillery may target units behind other friendly or enemy units. Infantry and Skirmishers may not. Assess Casualties. A unit declares its target. Infantry inflict four potential hits; Skirmishers and Artillery inflict two potential hits. Potential hits are modified by the following: Cover. Units in woods or towns only suffer half the potential number of hits. 3. HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT The procedure for Hand-to-Hand Combat is as follows: One Sided Combat. Only the attacking unit inflicts casualties. Assess Casualties. The attacking cavalry unit inflicts six potential hits which is modified by the following: Terrain. If the defending unit occupies a hilltop, it only suffers half the indicated number of hits. Cavalry Targets. Defending Cavalry units only acquire half the registered number of hits (rounding fractions in favor of the attacker). Flank or Rear Attacks. Units engaged in their flank or rear suffer double the normal amount of hits. Retreat. If failing to destroy the enemy, attacking Cavalry units retreat 6cm along any clear path after the combat is resolved, ending the move facing their erstwhile target. 4. ELIMINATING UNITS Units are eliminated upon the acquisition of 12 hits. 5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OHW6+ is a variant of Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames Horse & Musket Rules - a stellar set of rules and a wonderful book. My hope is that you find inspiration and merit in my alterations. I welcome your correspondence. Cheers! [TheNumberSixtyTwo]connolly[CircleA][GoogleMail] Addenda 6. OPTIONAL RULES Square Formation. Infantry units may move to or from Square has the following effects: * No Movement. Units in Square may not move. * No Shooting. Units in Square may not shoot. * Protection from Cavalry. Enemy Cavalry units may not charge an Infantry unit in Square formation. General. Each player fields a General and his retinue on a separate base. * Rally. Following the Movement phase, a general can rally his own unit or one friendly unit in base contact. Subtract up to six hits from the target unit's hit tally. This ability may only be used once to rally any unit. * Movement. The General moves as does Cavalry. * Shooting. The General's small retinue is ineffective at Shooting. * Hits. The General has 12 hits. Rout. If, at the end of any player turn, that player has lost half-plus-one units of their initial force, the entire army routs and is immediately removed from play. Command Unit. If playing with the General Optional Rule, count the General's Unit as two units for purposes of Rout checks. Special Events. While relying on randomization is anathema to these rules, we recognize the place of chance events in the complex chaos of battle. A system for simulating this chaos is a viable option in extending these rules. Chance Cards. Page 182 of One Hour Wargames describes a system for injecting random occurrences into play and the adaptation of a similar mechanism may have merit. Tide of Battle. When a unit is eliminated, all neighboring friendly units within 3cm immediately suffer two hits. If this puts a neighboring unit over 12 hits it is eliminated. A Tide of Battle check must then be made for this newly eliminated unit. Thus Ends This Tale. May you and all you love be Safe and Well. [1] https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1446437787255.pdf [2] http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3691