These rules are designed as a "Top Down" implementation of Naploeonic
warfare and as such much of the operational detail has been generalised.
The overall design is based on operations with a division or corps size
army,the smallest unit involved will be a single artillery battery,cavalry
regiment,or infantry battalion.
Reserve Area
============
Each army must designate an area as reserve,where units on reserve orders will
retire.If the reserve area is threatened or attacked then a new area will be
designated and all reserve units moved accordingly.
The Program
===========
The program,written in basic,controls the game mechanics and means that notes
and dice are not required.The program is self explanatory and menu driven.
Please read and take note of any information the program presents to you as
action may well be needed in the form of formation changes,inactivity,forced
moves etc.Figure removal is unnecessary.
Menus are active only when the prompt appears.
Arranging Files
===============
On the disk as supplied there is one default army and battle both under the name "ashley",the program
will sort out which is which.
Who Does What
=============
The computer will keep track of casualties,ammunition expenditure and
other game mechanics.YOU are responsible for moving units,deciding when morale
tests are made,and notifying the computer of changes in formations or orders.
Timescales
==========
These rules do not adhere to any fixed timescale but are driven by
battlefield events,allowing results of say, a melee to be resolved in one move
or a superior officer to launch an attack before a less competent adversary has
a chance to move.
Groundscales
============
These rules are written for a 1:50 ground scale wher 1cm=20m.
Figurescales
============
Any desired figurescale of your models is immaterial as the program is
set up to accept and calculate the actual number of men on a 1:1 ratio.
Creating an Army
================
The first act prior to starting an engagement is to create the order of battle,
the limits on the order of battle are:
Maximum of 100 units per side,including officers
All corps/divisions/brigade must have a unit number
ie: 30 corps
4 division
5 Brigade
This is used to transfer units and to create the command structure
lists,unilike many similar programs you will refer to units or generals by name.
Each army has a name.
Only two armies may be entered,although the armies may be made up of a variety
of nations if required,if a nation does not appear in the options choose the
one that is closest in ability.
The different nations have differing abilities in various arms or morale tests.
To enter a unit answer the qustions presented in the program,if you make an
error you can re-input the unit.Duplicated unit names are prohibited within
the same army.Save this file under the 'SAVE FORCES' option before proceeding.
If you load an army you will be required to allocate artillery ammunition
and type for each battery,once this is done save the file under the
'SAVE BATTLE' option.
You may save/load a battle/force at any time the menu is active.
Game Sequence
=============
1. At Start Of Game Decide Nominal Intitiative and Designate Reserve Areas.
2. Both Sides Move Officers
3. Activate Officer/Steal Initiative On Computer
Activated Officer
4. Activate Orders On Computer
5. Change Formation On Computer
6. Chargers Close to 4cms
6. Melee On Computer
7. Move Other Troops
8. Shooting On Computer
9. Request Morale Tests
10. Goto 3 Until No More Officers Competing For Activation
Activate Any Unactivated Officers
11. Rally Any Desired Units.(Rallied Units may Not Move Next Turn.
12. Morale Tests On Any Eligible Units Not Already Tested
Morale
======
There are 5 levels of morale in these rule:
Battlemad Must Charge The Nearest Enemy Formation
--------- Will Not Change Formation
Steady Stands And Obeys Orders
----- Will Fire At Chargers At Short Range
Will Readily Change Formation
Unsteady Will Fire At Charges When In Medium Range
-------- Will Normally Change Formation
Shaken Likely To Rout If Charged
------ Will Not Normally Change Formation
Will Rout Directly Away From Nearest Enemy
Routing Must Move Directly Away From Nearest Enemy
-------
To recover a units morale the situation must be improved.Factors are:
Rank of General within 5cm
Current Casualty as %
Current Morale
Charging/Being Charged
In Cover
Formation
Troop Class
Troop Type
Nationality
Combat
======
When fighting an enemy unit the factors considered are:
Formations
Size Of Units
Type Of Units
Type Of Weapons
Speed Of Movement
Range
Cover
Morale
Troop Class
Fatigue
Nationality
When fighting hand to hand the melee will be continued to its conclusion
in the same round,although the winner at each stage may elect to try and rally
his troops and break off the melee.
Command
=======
For a general to be in command he must be within 20cm of his superior
For an infantry or artillery unit to be in command it must be within 15cm
of its officer
For an cavalry unit to be in command it must be within 30cm of its officer
For a unit to be supported it must be within 15cm of another friendly unit.
A general will try to activate orders for the brigade,and the sucess is
dependant upon his ability.A replacement officer is always of a lower ability
than the original officer.
The scope of orders are:
Assault
-------
The only order under which infantry charges may be initiated.
The units affected must close and charge home against the desired enemy.
Only one formation change is allowed before the charge is made.Artillery
never charge.
Deploy
------
The units affected will close to within musketry range but unless cavalry
will not charge.
Once within range the units may not retire out of range.
Formations are changed as required.
Break Off
---------
The units operating under these orders will retire out of musketry and/or
charge distance and will maintain seperation at all times.
Formations are changed as required.
Manouveur
---------
These units will allow units to travel at evade rate.No firing will be
allowed.
Only one formation change will be allowed
Reserve
-------
Units under reserve orders will assemble at the rear in the area
designated prior to game start.
No firing will be allowed.Units will form column on arrival at reserve
area.
Units in reserve may rebuild some of their original strength each turn.
Reserve units will recover fatigue faster than normal.
Units remain in the reserve area until the orders are changed.
Hold
These units will defend an area but will not fire or charge unless first
fired upon or charged.
Formations are changed as required.Units may not move further than 15cm
from the area to hold.
Fatigue
-------
Units accrue fatigue each turn unless in reserve.Units will accrue fatigue
faster if they fire or melee.
Fatigue affects the units firing or melee efficiency.
Movement Rates
==============
Unit Type Normal Charge Evade Rout
Infantry Skirmish 10 14 16 16
Column 10 14 14 16
Line 7 10 10 16
Square 4 N/A N/A N/A
Unformed N/A N/A N/A 16
Light/Line Cavalry 24 30 35 35
Heavy Cavalry 16 20 24 32
Horse Artillery Limbered 16 N/A 24 32
Light/Medium Foot Artillery 8 N/A N/A 16
Heavy Foot Artillery 5 N/A N/A 16
Artillery Deployed 4 N/A 16(Crew 16(Crew
Only) Only)
Officers 24 30 35 35
Terrain Modifiers
-----------------
Affect Formation
Roads +50% Column
Steep Hills -50% Unchanged
Gentle Hills -25% Unchanged
Woods -25% Unformed
Built Up Areas -50% Column
Linear Obstacles -50% Unformed
Ammount Of Move to Change Formation
===================================
To Column Line Square Skirm Limber
/Unlimber
From
Column Nil 50% 50% 50% XX
Line 50% Nil 100% 50% XX
Square 50% 100% Nil XX XX
Skirm 100% 100% XX Nil XX
Unformed 100% 100% 100% 100% XX
Limber/
Unlimber XX XX XX XX 25%
Any unit which does not sucessfully change formation may become unformed.
Version 2 Enhancements
=======================
In version 2 the following was added:
When an artillery ball was fired it could bounce several times before
coming to rest,I have allowed this to be duplicated by response to the
question,range check is performed as normal but effect is reduced for each
bounce.Up to 3 bounces are allowed.
Your generals are allowed to show initiative and insubbordination,(you show initiative if your ideas works,but its insubordination when they dont!.This is used to overide a superiors orders and is based on the ability of the junior
general.
All distances are now entered in metres,although for game purposes no
difference would be noticed if both sides used yards (real measurements!)
Version 3 Changes
==================
No serious operational changes here just the addition of IFF
picture,and sound to the program.
The last change was to allow full file spec,excluding the .oob or .battle
extension to be entered for loading/saving files (eg: dh0:wardata/ashley).
Version 4 Changes
=================
Minor bug fix,(You really had to be unlucky to find it.)
Max Units in an army increased to 200.
Disk made auto-boot.
Clarifications
==============
I have included two hypothetical armies for the start of your games playing they are in a drawer "data"...
1. ashley.oob (Order Of Battle)
2. ashley.battle (Start Of Battle)
"Forces" is the army creation menu
"Combat" is the game menu itself
A force is an army without artillery ammunition defined while a battle is any
force with artillery ammunition defined.
You are limited to 15 rounds of artillery ammunition because it stops the unrealistic long-range artillery duels common in some games.
