Napoleonic Skirmish Playtest - 8/13/10

Just a few photos of the forces prior to starting a playtest today:

It will be based loosely on Fuentes de Onoro; fought between Wellington and Massena. Here's a little map of the battle.

Well, my buddy Adrian and I hashed out some very decent fast-play rules today during our playtest for a quasi-skirmish Napoleonic game. Basically all hits and kills (for both firing and melee) are made with 6's using D6's. No saving throws (although this can be incorporated later if needed). Modifications are done by adding or subtracting die; either actual die or by percentages. For instance, for a veteran unit firing into hard cover, all figures in the unit get a D6 each if firing in line (8 figures minimum, and two ranks) - then lose 50% of dice for the hard cover, but get back a die for being veterans. Roll, and any 6's are kills - outright. Cannon get 2 dice per crewman up to 48" - starting out with 5 crew. For canister up to 12" they get 50% added to the roll - 10 + 5. They lose die according to number of crewman killed, until no crew left. Cavalry can fire carbines up to 18" if they have them, but lose 50% of their dice if they moved in the same turn. They can move up to 18". Infantry move 8" in the open in column or skirmish order, and 4" in rough. In line formation they move 4" in the open and 2" in the rough. Changing from line, column or square is free. Cannon firing into squares get 50% more dice. Incidentally, adding or subtracting percentages is done consecutively; for instance if you lose 50% for firing into hard cover and also 50% for moving - you could start with 10 dice, lose 5 for the hard cover, and then 2 more (always rounding up) for the movement; then if you had a plus die modifier (as veterans) you'd then add the die - ending up with 4 dice. It worked well and we'll see how well the old codger Truants will take to it next Friday. Here are some pictures of the figures we used - we didn't use half of the forces - two other French cavalry and infantry units, and two British infantry units.

Melee is decided by who ever has more kills - losers fall back automatically; infantry 4" and in a semi-column formation (not line), and cavalry 8". No morale tests, and able to continue in the next turn basically unchecked. A morale test could be added later if wanted; but since we want to keep this fast-paced, we'll see what happens next Friday with the Truants.