Charge! + Kipling

[Revised 10-31-2020]

Charge! + Kipling is an adaptation of Charge! Or How to Play Wargames utilizing the dice mechanics for firing and melee from The Men Who Would Be Kings, with the goal of creating an easy, playful ruleset for use with 54mm, individually-based figures, but which still evokes mid-to-late 19th century tactics and the consequences thereof. 

1. MOVEMENT

(a) On Normal Terrain:
        Infantry: 2 squares (1 square if also firing)
        Cavalry: 5 squares
        Artillery: 1 square

(b) Woods: Cavalry or infantry moving through or into a wooded square do so at half movement.  Woods are impassable for artillery.

(c) Buildings: Infantry moving through or into a square with a building do so at half movement.  Building squares are impassable for cavalry and artillery.

(d) Rivers: Rivers are either impassable or can be crossed at half movement (depending on the game set up).

(e) No Diagonals:  Units may not move diagonally from one square to another.

(f) Friendly Units:  Units may pass through friendly units at no penalty.

2. FIRING

(a) Artillery:  Artillery receive 2 dice per crewman, hit on 4+.  Short range is 4 squares and long range is 7.  At close range, a figure is removed for every 2 hits caused. At long range, a figure for every 3 hits.

(b) Infantry: Infantry receive 1 dice per crewman, hit on 5+. Short range is 2 squares and long range is 4.  Figure removal as for Artillery at (a) above.  Infantry may opt to move 1 square and fire rather than moving two squares.

(c) Cover in Woods or Buildings: Infantry in woods or buildings receiving fire requires one extra hit to cause a casualty (so 3 at close range and 4 at long). Cavalry in woods receives no benefit of cover.  Cavalry and artillery may not enter buildings, and artillery may not enter woods. (see above)

(d) Artillery Fire on Buildings: Forthcoming.

(e) Under Strength Units: Can only hit on 6s. See 'Morale' below.

(f) No Diagonals:  When counting square for determining range, units may not count diagonally from one square to another.

(g) Line of Sight: Use a stick or tape measure from the middle of square being fired from to the middle of the square being fired upon - if the line crosses a square with blocking terrain in it (woods, buildings, hills), then there is no line of sight.

Line of Sight Example 1: No LoS because an obstacle is directly between both units.

Line of Sight Example 2: No Line of Sight because the stick from center of the shooting unit's square to the center of the target's square crosses the square.

Line of Sight Example 3: Still no line of sight.

3. CASUALTIES FROM FIRING

(a) Rates:  At close range, a figure is removed for every 2 hits caused, and at long range, a figure for every 3 hits.

(b) Cover: Infantry in buildings or woods need to take 3 hits at close range to remove a figure and 4 at long range.

4. MELEE

(a) Closing Fire: Infantry and artillery may offer closing fire to a charging enemy.  If charging infantry and chargers began charge at long range, dice off to decide whether infantry fires at long range or close range. Artillery always fires at close range.

(b) Infantry and Cavalry in Melee: After closing fire casualties have been resolved, infantry rolls one dice per figure and cavalry rolls two dice per figure.  Infantry hits on a 5+ and cavalry on a 4+.  Infantry fighting cavalry requires 2 hits to cause a casualty, otherwise 1 hit equals 1 casualty.

(c) Artillery in Melee: Artillery crews do not fight back - there are too few of them and they are not meant for combat, they are deemed to surrender or to flee. Artillery crews may spike a gun on a roll of 6 on 1d6. Roll for prisoners (see below).

(d) Resolution of Melee:  The side that causes more casualties has won the melee (do not include casualties from closing fire).  The defeated must roll for prisoners (see below). The loser must retreat away from the victor, one square for infantry or two for cavalry.  In the event of a tie, the combatants remain in the same square and another round of melee is fought the following turn. Cavalry may disengage from a tied melee and withdraw 2 squares away from the enemy.

(e) Prisoners: At the end of the melee, the defeated player throws a dice for each casualty.  On a 6 that casualty has in fact surrendered, and the victorious player may place that prisoner somewhere safe along his back line, and must choose 1 figure of his choice, from any unit of his still on the field, to be the guard for the prisoners and any additional prisoners taken thereafter.  Artillery crews will surrender on a 5 or 6, instead of a 6 like cavalry and infantry.

(f) Cavalry Follow-Ups:  If cavalry is victorious in a melee, it may opt to immediately charge the unit which it just defeated in melee, or to charge the nearest enemy unit available (the cavalry may choose a target unit if more than one is the same distance away).  No closing fire is granted to the defender for this charge.

(g) Capturing Guns: When a unit successfully chases off a gun crew, it may capture a gun if the capturing unit has four or more figures.  If so, it may attempt to operate the gun, but must dice off to determine if its troops can successfully fire the gun or not (they are not trained artillerymen, after all).  They may also "drag off" the gun - infantry at two squares per turn and cavalry also at two. Infantry may not opt to drag a gun one square and also fire. If opting to fire the gun, infantry may either fire the gun (after a dice off), or fire their rifles, but not both. Firing a captured gun is the only way cavalry may fire in a game. A unit which becomes under strength will abandon a capture gun where it lays.

(h) Under Strength Units: Can only hit on a 6.  See 'Morale' below.

5. MORALE

(a) Under Strength: When a unit is reduced to half its starting number of figures, it becomes "under strength," and will proceed to fall back.  Move it a full move towards its starting table edge for two of its turns in a row.  If the casualties immediately reducing it to under strength resulted from a melee, the unit will move the usual half move for a defeated unit in melee, then proceed to make the full moves on its next two turns.  Units falling back will do their best to move around terrain rather than through it. If a unit would retreat into a square occupied by a friendly unit, it will move into the square to the left or right of that unit, whichever is further from the nearest enemy, and regardless of movement penalties for terrain. 

(b) Still On Field: It is most likely that a unit will fall back off the table, in which case the figures retreating count towards that side's casualties.  If the unit is still on the board, they will be incapable of movement and their shooting and/or melee capability is reduced to only hitting on 6s (they are exhausted and in disarray). If the unit is attacked and loses a melee, figures will surrender on a 4, 5, or 6 instead of the usual 6.

6. MECHANICS OF THE GAME

(a) At the start of Player A's turn, the first action must be to resolve any melees which continued over from Player B's turn. 

(b) Then, Player A may, for each unit, move, move-and-fire (infantry only), fire, or charge into melee.  

(c) When Player A has taken one of these actions for each of his units, his turn is done, and Player B may proceed to the do the same. 

(d) Ending the Game:  Play ends when one side has has lost half or more of its starting figures.

(e) Determining Victory [OPTIONAL]:  Points are awarded as follows (per H.G. Wells),

        For each infantryman, cavalryman, or artilleryman still on the field: 1 point.
        For each unspiked gun in your possession: 10 points.
        For each prisoner you have taken: half a point.
        For each of your figures taken prisoner: half a point.

7. GENERALS

(a) Forthcoming.

8. FIELD HOSPITALS

(a) Forthcoming.