Units, Turns, Activations...a campaign design update

The above image is taken from https://www.cottonreeltank.org/cafelunar/gamecabinet/gridgame/ All credit for the image goes to the owner of that site, and to Bob Cordery for being the inspiration behind it.

I chose to lead off this post with the above image because it symbolizes what I am trying to achieve with my own project, the look and feel of The Portable Wargame, with some detail and grit from Black Powder, Hail Caesar, Pike & Shotte, and a myriad of systems borrow from board wargames.

As the tactical rules for my campaign are a combination or hybrid of these multiple systems, it is important to describe the basic structure, providing details to flesh out the intended outcomes.

Units, Turns, and Activations.

Each unit is represented by a single base of miniatures on the tabletop. Units will generally be of a standard size, but provision is made for tiny, small, and even large versions of a typical formation, with bonuses or penalties for each, including an adjustment to their point cost.

Base sizes will range from 20mm x 20mm (or 15mm x 30mm)  for Tiny, 30mm x30mm for small,  30mm x 60mm for standard, and 60mm x 60mm for large.

Units will be represented on the table by their base and also a numbered country showing the current SP. To assist with special rules and stats, either a roster or unit cards will be utilized.

Turns will be tracked with a with either a marker or a die. Each side’s commander will have a die to indicate the number of activations drawn. A turn ends once both sides have matched the number of activation draws they are entitled to.

Activations are determined by placing into a cup or hat (alternatively a deck of cards) one chit (token or counter) for each infantry battalion and cavalry squadron, one for each brigade (to which all battalions and squadrons must belong), one for each brigade commander, one for the army commander, one for all artillery batteries, with an additional marker for horse batteries, present in a side’s army.

The battalion, squadron, brigade, and brigadier chits will have unit names and/or numbers as designators for which units are being activated.

Random event chits are also placed into the cup, one for each hour the battle is intended to last (turns equate to approximately 30 minutes of time). (see listing and description of random events)

The players will then draw from the cup one activation at a time. It does not matter who actually draws from the cup as the activation can be for either side or a random event. All activation chits are returned to the cup at the end of the turn they are drawn, except for each side’s army commander, that is the only chit that returns to the cup immediately after use. Random event chits are removed from play after drawn and resolved.

When a player’s infantry or cavalry unit is activated, the chit is temporarily set aside and the player then determines how the unit will act, whether moving, shooting, or close combat (melee), or a combination of these.

Unlike in HC/BP, a charge is not declared, a unit is simply moved into contact by moving into a square adjacent to an enemy unit and then is placed on the line between the opposing units. Defending units do not need to be adjusted as they may face combat from more than one square.

Brigade activations allow all units comprising that brigade to activate at once. The owning player declares the intentions for each and then moves them accordingly. In order to move with the rest of the brigade a unit must be adjacent to or in the same square as another unit in the same brigade and the brigadier must be in command range of at least one of these activating units.

Brigade commander (brigadier) activations allow any one unit within that brigade to activate, as long as it is within command range of the brigadier.

Activations of army commanders allows the owning player to choose any one friendly unit and move activate it, regardless of distance from the army commander OR all friendly units within command range of the army commander may be activated.

Artillery activations allow all artillery units on a side to activate at once. Artillery may either move or bombard (see Bombardment) during an activation, but not both. If an artillery unit conducts bombardment during its activation, it must be marked in some manner (a cotton puff placed on it, for example) to indicate that it has fired that turn. Artillery units marked in this manner cannot provide support in shooting combat until activated again. Note, artillery units do not need to activate to provide support in shooting combat.

Once the number of activations drawn for a side equals or exceeds (by special rule or random events) the command rating of the army commander (CR), that side’s active portion of the turn ends. Any further activation chits for that side are ignore and set aside until the turn ends, when they are then returned to the cup.

When both sides have used all of their allowed activations, the turn ends. The turn die is adjusted to reflect the new turn and all activation chits are returned to the cup. Resolved random events are set aside and are out of play.

If the variable turn rule is being used, then the players now check to see if the battle ends. If it does, then the end of battle procedure is conducted. If not, the next turn begins with a player drawing a chit from the cup.

[example of play – pending. Photos also needed]