Theodosius at Rutupiae (c. 368)

In the spring of 368, the Roman general Flavius Theodosius, at the order of Emperor Valentinian, crossed the English Channel from Gaul and landed parts of four auxilia palatina (Late Roman era infantry units) at Rutupiae (today Richborough).  Britian at this time was reeling from multiple invasions (from Picts in the north, from Ireland from the west, from Franks and Saxons from Gaul)  relating to the barbarica conspiratio.  Theodosius succeeded to re-securing Britain, and did not fight any pitched or set-piece battles, the invaders probably being more interested in looting and leaving than conquering and staying.  

Frankish warriors.

However, since I had just painted up five units of Frankish foot warriors (and already had five units of Saxons) an invasion of Roman Britain by a combined Frankish-Saxon force was too tempting to pass up.  Theodosius landed at Rutupiae and proceeded to Londinium.  For the purpose of having a game of it, we shall suppose that he found a Frankish-Saxon army blocking his way.  This game was the first of three remote games (via Google Meets) that I ran/played in three days as part of the the fifth annual (Virtual) Ambuscade! game event.  I have organized and ran games at Ambuscade for the last four years, and although a social gathering with 30+ people was clearly out of the question this year, I didn't want to lose 2020 altogether.  Besides, its' Ambuscade V and "V" is for virtual, so there you go.

Starting positions, Romans on left.

With forest to his left and marshes to his right, Theodosius puts his scholae (armored Roman cavalry with javelins) on his left flank and his heavy cavalry cataphractii on his right.  His center is four units of auxilia with a unit of archers (sagitarii) in support of each flank of the infantry.  The barbarian right was held by the saxons and the left by the Franks. 

At end of first moves.

Both sides advanced towards each other in line.  The barbarians massed warriors in the center in two waves.  Progress was slow on the barbarian left as movement was slowed by plowed fields from a nearby hamlet.

Frankish warriors.

The Roman scholae then began harassing the Saxon flank with javelins. 

Roman scholae engaging the Saxons.

Meanwhile, in the center, the barbarians had advanced close enough to start exchaning small missile fire such as javelins, hand-axes, and rocks. 

End of turn 2.

Franks on the barbarian left.

Barbarian center - Frankish warlord out front.

Barbarians approach the Roman shieldwall.

Roman shieldwall awaits the rush.

Franks massing for the attack.

At this moment, a throwing axe struck and killed Theodosius!

The throw that slew Theodosius!

In this variant of the Lion Rampant rules, an army general not only adds +1 to morale checks but also adds 3 dice to any melee his unit is involved in. Any sub-leaders only add 2 dice.  Given the relative same-sameness of Roman and barbarian infantry in melee (barbarians will attack on a 4+ with Romans defending on a 4+, and Romans attack on 5+ against barbarians who defend at 5+) these two or three extra dice have the potential to make or break combat.  Although the units to each side of Theodosius held their position, his personal bodyguard unit fell back in disorder, creating a gap in the Roman line. 

Gap in center of Roman line after death of Theodosius.

Battle lines after death of Theodosius.

Saxons routed by Roman scholae can be see at upper right.

Keeping their cool, the Romans simply shifted the entire right flank to the left, plugging the gap left by Theodosius' bodyguard.

A shorter Roman line with the gap plugged. 

The came the moment of impact, with multiple barbarian units attacking along the line. Attacks on Roman archers were particularly fruitful, causing the cataphracts to charge in and send a Frankish unit running.

Roman archers have fallen back with four casualties, while cataphracts counter-attack on the Frankish flank.

On the opposite flank, the Roman scholae were preventing the barbarian sub-leader from attacking the Roman infantry line, which in in turn allowed archers on the Roman left flank to continue to fire with impunity.

View from Roman left.

Franks attack the Roman lines.

Cataphracts attack the Frankish flank.

Frankish warriors seen here pushing through middle of Roman line. 

End of turn 5.

Then several things happened very fast over the next two or so turns: first, the Saxon sub-leader advanced on some of the Roman scholae, who countercharged.  With the sub-leader's +2 dice for combat, the Saxons drove the scholae off.  Secondly, after successfully attacking one unit, the Roman cataphracts failed to charge a second unit.  And lastly, a Roman auxilia failed its morale check to form shieldwall, and it was driven back disordered.  

The result was that the barbarians had taken more casualties, but managed to have one more unit on the Roman side of the table than the Romans had on the Barbarian side.  Theodosius had been slain but the Frankish warlord had also fled, so the entire game was judged a tie - to give it a historical spin, the Roman broke the barbarian raiders' army and scattered them, but the death of the Roman general stalled the advance on Londinium.

This was the best run of my 'Barbarian West' mods for Lion Rampant to date.  As with other recent games, I tossed activation rolls altogether, except for a Morale test to determine if a unit charged or not, and also a Morale test for maintaining the shieldwall advantage of 3 armor vs. 2 armor.  Additionally, all the little rerolls or +1s for combat were removed, and pretty much every unit had a ranged skirmish attack, because being able to move half speed and make a ranged attack at -1 seems to greatly encourage players to attempt tactical moves, and avoids a situation where the player who moves into range first is at a total disadvantage as they will have to take a shooting attack before they can shoot.

LATE ROMANS

CATAPHRACTII (HEAVY CAVALRY)

Attack 3+ / Defend 5+

Move 3 squares

Courage 4+

Armor 4

Special Rules: Counter-charge. Evade Infantry.

SCHOLAE (CAVALRY)

Attack 4+ / Defend 5+

Move: 5 Squares

Courage 5+

Armor 3

Special Rules: Counter-charge; Javelins (range 2; hit 5+ (-1 if more than 1 square); Skirmish; Evade Infantry.

AUXILIA PALATINA (INFANTRY)

Attack 5+ / Defend 4+

Move: 2 Squares

Courage 4+

Armor 2

Special Rules: Shieldwall (+1 Armor from shooting and melee attacks if Courage test passed); Javelins (range 2; hit 5+ (-1 if more than 1 square)

SAGITTARII (ARCHERS)

Attack 6+ / Defend 5+

Shoot: 5+ / 4 squares

Move: 2 Squares

Courage 5+

Armor 2

Special Rules: Bows (if target over 2 square, 6+ to hit)

GERMANICS

GEOGUTH (“Doo-guth”) or FRANCI (WARRIORS)

Attack 4+ / Defend 5+

Move: 2 Squares

Courage 4+

Armor 2

Special Rules: Ferocious; Counter-charge vs. foot; Javelins (range 2; hit 5+ (-1 if more than 1 square);  Impetuous Charge (test if start turn adjacent to enemy unit)

LEADERS: 

Each army will have one general and one or two sub-leaders.  A leader is attached to a single unit for the entirety of the game - this is his personal retinue/bodyguard.  A leader grants a +1 bonus to Courage tests to his unit and to any friendly unit in an adjacent square (not including diagonal squares).  Additionally, the general will add 3 dice to melee rolls for his personal unit, and sub-leaders will add 2.  Accordingly, the risk to leaders in personal combat is elevated: a general will be killed in melee on a lucky blow roll of 2 or 3 instead of the usual 2 (for shooting attacks the usual 2 still applies). If a leader is killed all adjacent friendly units must take a courage test immediately. This can trigger “cascading” courage tests as described in Rule 11 below.

SHIELDWALL:   Any unit with this rule is automatically assumed to form Shieldwall, as long as it has  6 or more models, is not in rough terrain, and is not Attacking another unit, and not Disordered/Battered.    Shieldwall increases a unit’s Armor by 1 point against both Attacks and Shooting.  However, when a Shieldwall unit is the target of an enemy Attack or Shooting action, it must make a Courage check (usual modifiers apply) – if the test is successful the Shieldwall holds – if the test fails, the Shieldwall breaks for some reason and the +1 Armor is not counted.   If an Attack ends with both units still in contact (i.e. tied for casualties and both sides passed their Courage check), the enemy must retreat. 

SKIRMISH: This unit may choose to make half move and shoot at -1 before or after this movement takes place. 

EVADE INFANTRY:  Unless is it is disordered, if this cavalry unit is charged by an infantry unit, it may automatically move 2 sqaures towards its back table edge - it will not leave the table because of this rule. 

EVADE: Unless is it is disordered, if this cavalry unit is charged by another cavalry unit, it may attempt to make a full move towards its back table edge - it will not leave the table because of this rule. Test in the form a standard courage check (usual modifiers apply), and evade if successful.

IMPETUOUS CHARGE: If, at the beginning of this player’s turn, a unit with this rule is adjacent to an enemy unit, it must make a standard courage check (usual modifiers apply).  If it passes it will attack the nearest enemy unit as their activation for this turn (if more than one, dice to determine target of attack). If it fails, the unit may be activated normally.  Do not test if unit is disordered/ battered.

ADDITIONAL RULES FOR GRIDS, etc:

A. MOVEMENT

1. Diagonal moves are not allowed.

2. Cavalry move 5 squares (Cataphracts move 3)

3. Infantry moves 2 squares

B. RANGES

4. Bows: 4 squares (over 2 squares is -1 to hit)
   Javelins: 2 squares (over 1 square is -1 to hit)
   Line of sight is calculated from center of originating square to center of target square (use a stick).  If the line passes over a square that contains another unit, or obstructing terrain such a building or woods, then there is no LOS.  If the line touches the corner but does not cross the square, there is LOS (this is possible at direct 45 degree angles).

C. SKIRMISH ORDERS

5. All units armed with ranged weapons, may make a half move and shoot at -1 to hit.  This can be move/shoot or shoot/move.

D. ORDERED ACTIVATIONS/REACTIONS.

6. Move, Shoot, Skirmish actions are considered automatic, and no activation roll is required.

7. If attacking an enemy unit, the attacker must pass a Courage test. Usual modifiers apply.

8. A Countercharge and Closing Fire action requires a Courage test.

E. COMBAT

9. An attacking unit can attack an enemy unit in an adjacent (but not diagonal) square. IF the defending unit is in a building, or woods, or behind an obstacle, and loses the melee, the attacking unit will “carry the position” and move into the square vacated by the enemy.

F. RETREATS

10. A unit retreats half a move after losing a melee or failing a Rally test. Retreat moves are always towards controlling the player's starting edge. If the retreat is into a square occupied by another friendly unit, the retreating unit will pass through that unit (and any others) until it reaches an empty square.  Units passed through must pass a Morale test or become Disordered (although they are not required to retreat from failing this test).  If the retreating unit is retreating because it lost a melee, but did not become disordered, it too must pass a Morale test or become disordered due to it retreating through friendly troops.

G. MORALE TESTS

11. If a unit is defeated in combat and fails its morale test and routs off the table, then any friendly units adjacent to that unit (when it lost the melee) must also make a morale test.  If those units fail their tests and route off table, the effect will be “cascading” and initiate another round of morale checks for adjacent  friendly units.

Nantwich (1644)

Royalist right, looking towards the center of the board.

Last Saturday morning I hosted a remote game of  the battle of Nantwich using The Pikeman's Lament, with Gabe as the Royalists and myself as Parliament.  The Pikeman's Lament rules were heavily modded to allow for movement and range measurement on a grid and to eliminate activation rolls for movement and shooting.  They also used a morale check in place of a attack activation roll, and all shotte units could skirmish with a half move and -1 to shoot. 

Starting positions, with Royalists on left and Parliament to right.

The scenario was based on the battle of Nantwich in 1644, which was a victory for the great Parliament general Sir Thomas Fairfax.  I used a scenario I found in Miniature Wargames #75.  I built the little Acton church specifically for this game the day before. The scenario called for a lot of hedgerows, more than I possessed.  But as it so happened there were lavender clippings left out to dry in the basement, so those were conscripted to table use! I rather like the look!

Turn 2? Parliament reiters advance and are fired upon by Royalist artillery.  

I had to have a hard think about how to treat the hedges for the game. Under Pikeman's Lament they might be obstacles and cover, which would require units to move up to them and stop, and the continue moving past them the subsequent turn.  As cover they might increase Stamina by 1. They might also obstruct line of sight which would make shooting attacks worthless.  Instead I decided a hedge simply cost a double move to cross, and if they obstructed LOS it was simply -1 to hit.  They had no influence on melee other than it cost extra movement for the attacker to contact its target. 

Looking down the road towards Acton church from the Royalist right.

The written scenario called for half of the Parliament cavalry to be "Dutch style."  For Pikeman's Lament this would mean to use the Trotter profile (which I call Reiters), who can use the Caracole rule of riding close, firing pistols, and closing for melee if they disorder their opponent.  I think 1644 is a little late for Parliament armies to still be using this tactic, especially for an army with Sir Thomas Fairfax in it.  Fairfax was an excellent cavalry commander, and it was his cavalry combined with Cromwell's which made up the core of the New Model cavalry a year later. I have an unit profile for "Fairfax" or "Northern" horse which is simply a high-morale Galloper profile (no wild charge), but opted to follow the scenario and use Reiters instead (superior Parliament horse plus numerical superiority for Parliament infantry seemed a little unfair, too).

Infantry in the Parliament center advances on Acton church.

The game was played in about 2 hours, 15 minutes. On the Royalist left, Parliament Reiters advanced and were engaged by Royalist harquebusiers (a "generic" cavalry), with support from Royalist trained band infantry, and took the worse of it.  On the Royalist right, Royalist harquebusiers engaged Parliament harquebusiers, and although the Parliament horse was dispatched, the Royalists were beat up enough to not take further action in the game.

View from Parliament right, looking towards the advance on Acton church.

In the center, the Parliament infantry trundled along up to the hedgerows lining the road to Nantwich, where they began to pepper the Royalists in the churchyard with musket fire.

View from Royalist left, earlier in the game, when Royalist harqueusiers had not attacked yet. Unit labels are actually from the previous Aylesbury ECW game. 

Parliament Trained Band pikes attacking by the Acton churchyard.

As the Parliament player, things were getting dire for me: my cavalry had been routed, and although the Royalist cavalry had taken casualties they were still on board, disadvantaging me on victory points. My best shot was to press forward in the center and get a bunch of units across the road, which could gain me victory points to force a tie.  The Parliament trained band pikes did well, besting the Royalist seasoned pike.

On Parliament left, Royalist cavalry finishes off last of Parliament reiters.

Parliament pressing forward in the center across the Nantwich road.

Parliament shot and pike crossed hedge at the road. They were not met with a fierce volley as some decent shooting by Parliament the turn before had disordered the demiculverin in the churchyard. The Parliament shotte were then able to loose some volleys without the -1 for shooting through obstructing hedges (5+ to hit!) and starting piling up casualties on Royalist shot units.

The Parliament assault on Acton!

Here you can see the Parliament infantry having crossed the road hedgerow, and the pikes pressing into the open field beyond.

As is often the case, however, the furious comeback late the in game came up short.  We were playing until nine units had been removed from the table (about 40% of the starting units, not including artillery), and then would count up victory points.  When the 9th unit was removed, only a Parliament pike unit stood on the Royalist side of the road, and a single Royalist cavalry unit was on the Parliament side.  This meant that no victory points were assigned for having more units on the opposing players side of table, and that the Royalists' receiving 2 victory points for loosing fewer units was enough to win the game 2-0.

End game, with Parliament forces that could have forced the tie, and possibly even the win if they had taken the gun in the churchyard, stalled on the road.

It's only now, looking at the pictures, that I realize how close Parliament was to actually winning the game - if one or two additional Parliament units had crossed the road, and if Parliament could have seized the Royalist gun in the churchyard for 1 VP, they could have won 3-2.  But I think I was too conservative with my reiters early on, and took too long trying to soften up the Royalist center with shooting (at 6 to hit), with little effect, when sending the infantry over the hedge a turn or three earlier would have made their superior numbers more effective. 

This remote game went faster than the previous Dornach 1499 game, almost certainly because there were no morale rerolls.  This was tempered by the hedges dampening the effectiveness of musketfire which extended pay a bit.  I think if the game had been relatively open terrain, it would have been closer to my two hour goal.  Again, it was great to push my 28mm armies around with another player.

Dornach (1499)

Based on the success of previous remote games using a Lion Rampant-type game with no activation rolls and with movement/distances changed over to a grid, I figured it was time to try out larger 28mm using the same format.  My 54mm medieval game on a grid only took about 80 minutes to play, with more than 10 units per side, so a Dornach scenario with 10 units of Swiss (plus 3 light guns) against a 12-unit Swabian League army (plus 2 heavy guns) seems like a reasonable 2 hour task.

Starting Imperial positions. Pikes in the middle, with men at arms and crossbows and some handgunners at the wings. Heavy guns are granted a single two-square "deployment move" before the game starts, which they used to deploy in front of some zweihander infantry.

The scenario from Sides' book had an unremarkable, terrainless table, but the woodcut had hills, trees, a river, and a castle in the background, so I used that as inspriration to spruce things up.  I played the Swiss and Jamie remotely controlled the Swabian League.

Looking towards the Swiss positions, who have a sort of van/middle/rear medieval deployment going on. The Swiss are mainly pikes with some crossbows and halberds.

The effects of no activations rolls was felt immediately and was visually striking as well, with both players moving their armies forward according to their own strategies. With activation rolls these early phases would have seen one or both sides become strung out or scattered.

After first League move. With no movement activation rolls required, they are able to move forward in a strategic way.

Swiss advance in a nice line.

Swiss center surges forward.

The Swiss had a custom-rule called "Terrible" which is the "Venomous" rule from Dragon Rampant, with any "6" rolled on a Attack roll counting as two hits instead of 1. With 6 out of 10 Swiss units being these pike "murder blocks," I felt that my best and strongest move was to simply plunge a bunch of pikes right into the core of the League's line, being their Landsknecht pikes.  

League landsknechts brace for the attack.

Although activation rolls for moving and shooting were removed, a still unit had to pass a Morale test to charge an enemy.  At some point in running these large Renaissance games for convention-style play, I had added a rule called "Tough."  Tough allows the subject unit, if it fails a Morale test, to reroll one or both of the dice (so if you rolled a 5 and 1, you can keep the 5).  The idea was that this rule would keep elite units on the table and not have them rout because of a fluke dice roll.

Swiss attack draws closer.

However, in this game, where all the Swiss pikes, Landsknecht pikes, and Swabian men at arms had the "Tough" rule, it meant that the majority of units were constantly rerolling Morale tests and passing. This caused the game, planned to last an hour or two, to stretch out to three hours over two sessions (we were playing late in the evenings with a 9:00 p.m. start time).

After the first clash. 

So the Swiss pikes attacked in the center and not only rolled well, but rolled exceptionally well, amplified by their Terrible nature, while the Landsknechts rolled exceptionally poorly.  The Swabian line was pushed back.  On the Swabian left, men at arms, zweihanders, and crossbows hamstringed a unit of halberds but the men at arms ended up masking the concentration of crossbows.  On the League right, Swiss and League crossbows exchanged long range fire but generally kept their distance.  A Swiss commander was slain in battle.

Swiss left flank.

Action in the center.

Swiss pikes on the attack. 

Swabian counter-attack underway.

The League then countered by allowing the crossbow/aquebuses and artillery on the flanks to fire into the flanks of the Swiss attack.  Again, the "Tough" rule caused Swiss pike units to pile up casualty markers but to still pass Morale checks, causing them not retreat or rout. Additionally, because of the "Terrible" rule, the Swiss were consistently scoring an extra casualty in each melee than their opponents, so it was roughly costing 1.5 to 2 landsknechts to kill every Swiss pikeman.

You an see the Swiss pike practically surrounded in the center-left of the above, being fired on at close range by heavy artillery.

By this point 8 units had been removed from play.  When 11 units (half the starting 22 not including artillery) were removed, the game would stop and victory points would be tallied.  The Swiss decided to launch another around of aggressive attacks, and started by peppering a weakened zweihander unit with light artillery fire, and subsequently routing it. 

The remainder of the game was a tense grind to the finish. The Swiss were the clear leaders in victory points, seeing as they had pushed into the Swabian half of the board and had lost few units.  The last few units to get us to 11 were caused by failed Rally rolls.

Close to endgame.

This was the first table outing for 3 units of Swiss pikemen (decked out in the red pajamas) by Essex miniatures that I painted early on in quarantine.  I got these (and many more) at the last Enfilade convention.  They came with halberds, but I made pikes for them instead.  This boosts my total pike units available to 14, which can make the dominance of pikes in this era easier on the tabletop because you can just make over half the units be pikes.  This may make some of the many rules I've tacked onto pike units to try and make them more dominant less important.

So, for future reference: the Tough rule should be stricken entirely. I'm not even really sure what the impetus for creating it in the first place was. Possibly to make Landsknecht exception in comparison to "regular" pike?  It would probably be good to be rid of the "Terrible" rule as well, as 6s-as-two-hits can yield some devastating results.  The better morale of Swiss Pikes will give them an edge in continuing to attack later in the game, but I would like for them to have an offensive "boost" over other troops. 

It has been great reconnecting with other wargamers whom I have not seen in many months. I have an English Civil War remote game (Nantwich in 1644) scheduled for tomorrow morning, in fact!

Unit stat blocks and grid rules below.

SWISS ARMY

SWISS PIKES
Att To Hit 4+ (5+) / Def to Hit 3+ (4+)
Move Rate: 2 squares
Morale: 3+ / Stamina: 3
Special Rules: Pike Block (use first To Hits unless in rough terrain or until unit suffers 50% casualties; always use 4+ Defense To Hit vs other pike units) Veteran (Defense value is 3+ instead of 4+); Tough; Terrible

SWISS HALBERDS
Att To Hit 4+ / Def to Hit 5+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Morale: 3+ / Stamina: 3
Special Rules: Fleet-footed; Counter-charge (vs. infantry only); Tough; Double-Pay (pikes defend at 4+ not 3+)

CROSSBOWS
Att To Hit 6+ / Def to Hit 5+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Shoot Rng: 3 / Shoot To Hit 5+
Morale: 3+ / Stamina: 3
Special Rules: Skirmish (move half and -1 to hit);-1 to hit if target more than 2 squares

LIGHT ARTILLERY
Att To Hit -- / Def to Hit 6+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Shoot Rng / Shoot To Hit:

Short Rng (0”-6”): 12 dice @ 5+

Med. Rng (6”-12”): 8 dice @ 5+

Long Rng: (12”-24”): 8 dice @ 6+

Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 1
Special Rules: May offer closing fire with successful Morale check. May share a square with another friendly unit.

SWABIAN LEAGUE ARMY

MEN AT ARMS
Att To Hit 4+ / Def to Hit 5+
Move Rate: 4 squares
Morale: 3+ / Stamina: 4
Special Rules: Tough. Counter-charge on successful Morale check..

LANDSKNECHT PIKES
Att To Hit 4+ (5+) / Def to Hit 3+ (4+)
Move Rate: 2 squares
Morale: 4+ / Stamina: 3
Special Rules: Pike Block (use first To Hits unless in rough terrain or until unit suffers 50% casualties; always use 4+ Defense To Hit vs other pike units); Tough; Bad War

LANDSKNECHT ZWEIHANDERS
Att To Hit 4+ / Def to Hit 5+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Morale: 3+ / Stamina: 3
Special Rules: Fleet-footed; Counter-charge (vs. infantry only); Tough; Double-Pay (pikes defend at 4+ not 3+); Bad War

CROSSBOWS
Att To Hit 6+ / Def to Hit 5+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Shoot Rng: 3 / Shoot To Hit 5+
Morale: 4+ / Stamina: 2
Special Rules: Skirmish (move half and -1 to hit);-1 to hit if target more than 2 squares

ARQUEBUSIERS
Att To Hit 6+ / Def to Hit 5+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Shoot Rng: / Shoot To Hit:
Close Rng (1 square): 12 dice @ 4+;
Long Rng (2 sqaures): 8 dice at 6+
Morale: 4+ / Stamina: 2
Special Rules: Skirmish (move half and -1 to hit); May offer closing fire with successful Morale check.

CULVERIN
Att To Hit -- / Def to Hit 6+
Move Rate: 0
Shoot Rng / Shoot To Hit:

Short Rng (1-2 squares): 12 dice @ 4+.

Med. Rng (3-4 squares): 9 dice @ 5+ (4 dice if ½ strength)

Long Rng (5+ squares): 6 dice @ 5+

Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 1
Special Rules: May offer closing fire with successful Morale check. May share a square with another friendly unit. Cannot move during game, but receives one move of 2 squares before first players regular turn.

SPECIAL RULES:

TERRIBLE: Anytime this unit uses its Attack dice in a melee, all results of 6 will count as two hits.
TOUGH: When this unit fails a Morale test, the player must reroll one or both of the dice. The new results stands, even if it is of worse result than the initial roll.
BAD WAR: When this landsknecht fights another landsknecht unit in melee, reroll all missed to-hit rolls once.
FLEET FLOOTED: Ignore terrain movement penalties.
PIKE BLOCK: A unit of 6 or more models which is not in rough terrain or Wavering with this rule has both Attack and Move at 6+ and the unit Attacks and Defends with +1 to their dice scores. Pike Block units do not receive the +1 to Defense Value if attacked by another pike unit. If an Attack ends with both units still in contact, the enemy must retreat (unless the enemy is also has Pike Block). If a unit with Pike Block enters rough going, no longer contains at least 6 models or is Wavering, it does not receive the Pike Block bonuses.
COUNTER-CHARGE: When enemy unit has successfully diced to attack this unit, but before it moves, this unit may test for a counter-charge at 7+. If successful, both units meet halfway between their start positions and both count at Attacking. If test fails, stand in place for enemy charge. May not be used if Wavering.
SKIRMISH: As an Ordered activation (leader reroll may apply), successful on a 7+, the unit may choose to make a full move and execute a ranged attack either before or after this movement takes place.
DOUBLE-PAY MEN: When attacking an enemy unit with the Pike Block rule, the target enemy unit will defend on a 4+ and not a 3+.

RULES FOR GRIDS:
A. MOVEMENT

1. Diagonal moves are not allowed.
2. Mounted Men At Arms move 4 squares
3. Infantry moves 2 squares
4. Light artillery moves 2 squares
5. Culverins and other heavy artillery cannot move at all, but receive one free move of two squares into a “forward position” at the beginning of the game.
6. Artillery units may share a square with another friendly unit, including another artillery unit. Dice for shooting and melee attacks by a single units against two units sharing a square must allocate 2 of 12 (or 1 of 6 if halfstrength) dice towards the non-artillery target. If both units in the square are artillery pieces, divide the dice evenly.

B. RANGES

1. Crossbows: 3 squares
2. Arquebusiers: Short 1 square, Long 2 squares
3. Light Artillery: short range 1-2 squares, medium 3 squares, long 4-5 squares
4. Culverins: short 1-2 squares, medium 3-4 squares, long 5+ squares
5. Line of sight is calculated from center of originating square to center of target square (use a stick). If the line passes over a square that contains another unit, or obstructing terrain such a a building or woods, then there is no LOS. If the line touches the corner but does not cross the square, there is LOS (this is possible at direct 45 degree angles).

C. SKIRMISH ORDERS

1. All units armed with ranged weapons, and light artillery, may make a half move and shoot at -1 to hit. This can be move/shoot or shoot/move.

D. ORDERED ACTIVATIONS/REACTIONS.

1. Move, Shoot, Skirmish actions are considered automatic, and no activation roll is required.
2. If attacking an enemy unit, the attacker must pass a Courage test. Usual modifiers apply.
3. A Countercharge and Closing Fire action requires a Courage test.

E. COMBAT

1. An attacking unit can attack an enemy unit in an adjacent (but not diagonal) square. IF the defending unit is in a building, or woods, or behind an obstacle, and loses the melee, the attacking unit will “carry the position” and move into the square vacated by the enemy.

VICTORY OR DEFEAT:
Scenario is played until half the total units on the table have been removed. Then award points as follows:

• +2 to the side that has had less units removed from the table.
• +2 to the side that has more units on the opposite half of the table than it started on.
• +1 to the side that has lost fewer command stands
• +1 for every duel won
• +1 for every captured artillery piece (see separate note below)