6 mm Napoleonics - Modified Lion Rampant

[jon_1066]

I have been fiddling around with a homebrew set of rules based off the Lion Rampant basic game engine.  I have always been attracted to the 6 mm look for Napoleonics.  My thinking is as follows:

Basic base is a Company 50 mm by 10 mm that is 10 figures by 1.  Basic ground scale is 720:1 so 1" equals 20 yards

Basic unit is a Battalion so a typical unit will have 4-6 bases.  These can then be moved to give the different formations.  A close column or line can therefore occupy the correct amount of room on the battlefield.

The Lion Rampant activation mechanic will prevent micro management of the formations (since it is harder to change them all the time - you have to focus on what really needs to be done).  Changing formation can also bring disorder which is a disaster in close combat.

Movement is based upon the pace chosen (eg ordinary step, double time, etc) with the chance of disorder increasing with speed and  formation type.  

The Lion Rampant combat is kept but armour is related to Formation (for shooting skirmish - 4, Line -3, Square - 2, Close Column - 1 and opposite for melee)

Close combat is based upon the activation roll to give Attacker Impetus.  The Defender rolls 2D as well to give Resolve.  Modifiers change these values.  Lower retreats taking the difference in casualties.  This may cause them to rout or become battered.  Only fight a melee if the scores are equal (so about 10% chance depending upon the modifiers) or if the Attacking unit has sufficient Impetus to catch a retreating Defender

Minimal markers to be used.  Different troop types should hopefully be apparent from their uniforms and colours.  Regulars, Guard, Light should be distinctive enough.  Drummers on a separate base represent well drilled troops.  Well led troops have leader vignettes on a separate base (more figures = higher level).  

There is no removal of bases so casualties are tracked using casualty figures.

I have had a few test battles with bits of card for the bases and it seems to work well.  A highlight so far was a squadron of Dragoons catching two Russian battalions in the flank one after the other sending them routing from the board closely followed by the dragoons themselves being routed by a Russian cavalry brigade.

I will use this thread to document my steps along the way.  So next thing to do is order some 6 mm figures to see how practical the company bases are with actual figures rather than pieces of card (which worked fine).  I am going for Baccus to minimise the snipping and basing.

[fred]

Lots of interesting ideas.

The Lion Rampant combat is kept but armour is related to Formation (for shooting skirmish - 4, Line -3, Square - 2, Close Column - 1 and opposite for melee)

I particularly like this bit, simple, but representative.

I do wonder if you will find having lots of fairly small bases to move a bit fiddly. I've played lots of Warmaster where units are three 40x20mm bases with 10mm figures. And when in column its not so bad as you can slide the whole unit. But in lines they can be quite slow to move. And with only 10mm deep bases I think they will be harder to pick up.

I'd maybe try a mix of casualty markers and base removal - just to reduce the number of markers a unit can accumulate. I've done this with various of the rampant series and it works fine. You decide how many hits a base can take, I've used between 2 and 4, track those then remove a base.

Looking forward to seeing more.

[Battle Brush Sigur]

Close combat is based upon the activation roll to give Attacker Impetus.  The Defender rolls 2D as well to give Resolve.  Modifiers change these values.  Lower retreats taking the difference in casualties.  This may cause them to rout or become battered.  Only fight a melee if the scores are equal (so about 10% chance depending upon the modifiers) or if the Attacking unit has sufficient Impetus to catch a retreating Defender

If I understood this correctly I like it a lot. Very rarely in rules sets we see the fact that most charges ended with one side fleeing directly. Good stuff.

[jon_1066]

Thanks for the comments.

Re base removal I didn't really want to go down that road because my understanding was that if a battalion had sustained sufficient casualties that it would in effect reduce its line length in a battle it was pretty much spent anyway.  eg morale would be so shot at say 25% casualties that it would be combat ineffective (ie would have become battered or routed by that point)

For the combat that is hopefully how it will work.  Again my understanding is that a minority of combats actually ended in people crossing bayonets or some sort of scrum and that either the defender would run away or the charge would simply peter out.  The casualties then represent the loss of morale that occurs in that unit.  eg one that has petered out would be difficult to rouse to another charge.  It also allows the defender (if charged from the front) to shoot at the attacker if their Resolve is high enough.  The accuracy of this fire depending upon when the troops release it - again linked to the resolve.  So a lower result means firing at a longer range.  A high result means firing at point blank.  Casualties from this fire can then reduce the attacker Impetus sufficient for them to peter out their attack.  This then allows the British to "see them off in the same old fashion" but still allow French assault columns to blow away Austrian lines. 

[Battle Brush Sigur]

oooooh, I'm starting to like that Resolve system. So it's basically "defensive fire yes/no" [or effective/ineffective] AND "stand or run" rolled into one. That sounds very good to me.

[vtsaogames]

Most interesting.

[jon_1066]

Got a couple of test games in on Saturday night (Saturday night's for fighting after all).  The first was a clash between a French and an Austrian infantry regiment.  The French side cocked up deployment of their skirmishers, lost the battle of the skirmishers and was then shot off the table by some particularly well controlled Austrian skirmishers.  Once one battalion broke the French took enfiladed fire from the skirmishers and it was over pretty quickly.

I have a Wild Fire mechanic where if a battalion fails its activation test and an enemy unit is in line of sight and in range it will open fire.  The Wild Firing units are marked with smoke and roll half dice.  The French in the battle suffered from a lot of failures with Wild Firing against Skirmishers resulting in a very one sided contest.

The second battle was a cavalry action.  Two squadrons of French Chevaliers were trying to hold up an Austrian cavalry regiment with three squadrons.  The Austrians approached en echelon attempting to flank the French.  The French went for a charge first.  They decided to charge with a single squadron with the second squadron providing cover.

I have a mechanic where units in a regiment can be deployed in Column and all activate together as a single large unit.  The units then share casualties and get a bonus to their Impetus and Resolve in combat.  In this instance the bonus to combat was outweighed by the fact that they can only attack one of the Austrian squadrons so then leave themselves exposed to an attack in the flank.  By leaving one Squadron uncommitted it can counter charge an Austrian squadron that attempts to take the French squadron in the flank.  Cavalry can counter charge a unit that launches an attack if it is to their front and within 24".  Cavalry have quite large movement rates and can charge up to 30" depending upon their Impetus.

I'll break down the French attack.  They rolled to activate and got a result of 8.  This was modified with +1 for cavalry charging giving a total of 9.  This is above the attack rating of chevaliers so the cavalry can then charge up to 18" (the result times two).  The Austrians are only 10" away so the colours of the French squadron are moved into contact.  Each unit has a separate small base (1 p piece) with their colours/eagle on.  This is used to mark the front of a unit and also to save moving all the bases during combat and to make moving easier (only have to measure from the colours then re-position the remaining bases relative to the colours)

The Austrian squadron attempts to counter charge.  It rolled 7 +1 for charging giving 8.  This is above its attack rating so the counter charge would be successful but is one lower than the French Impetus.  The squadron therefore loses its nerve and withdraws one ordinary move back from the contact point (8" for cavalry) becoming disordered and taking 1 casualty (the difference between the scores)

Unfortunately for the Austrians the French Impetus is sufficient to carry it to this point so a Melee occurs.  The French colours are advanced.  The French have two advantages over the Austrians (Good Order and Advancing) so hit on a 4.  12 dice are rolled with a rubbish roll giving four hits.  The Austrians are in line so every 2 hits gives one casualty resulting in three casualties total for the Austrian unit.

The Austrians get to fight back rolling 12 dice hitting on a six.  Two hits results in one casualty for the French.  Both sides now have to make a courage test as they took casualties form the melee.  The French roll 8 (minus one for the one casualty) giving an easy pass (courage is 4 which they have to equal or exceed).  The Austrians are not so bold rolling a four - minus 3 for a result of 1.  This is below their courage but still above 0 so they become battered and withdraw a further move (8").  The French move their bases up to the position of the colours.  The combat is over and the French become disordered from the melee.

The next activation the French move their second squadron forward to be in charge range to protect their disordered colleagues.  The next turn the Austrians pass their rally test.  Quick turnovers occur with both sides failing their activation rolls until eventually the Austrians manage to activate a squadron to charge the flank of the disordered French squadron.  The second French squadron counter charge to protect them but come off worse.  Eventually the French lost a combat badly and a squadron routed from the field.  One squadron facing three couldn't protect its flanks and was again routed by a flank attack.

[jon_1066]

I ordered figures on Friday but there is a three week delay with delivery from Baccus at the moment so the appearance of any actual miniatures will have to wait.  I'll continue to test the mechanics with cardboard.

[vtsaogames]

Question: two cavalry units charge/counter-charge. One scores 10, the other scores 5. The loser is disorganized and loses 5 casualties?

[jon_1066]

Yes, that is the idea.  Casualties actually reflects morale effects as much as actual dead.  So in that instance the losers didn't even come to blows with the winners but turned and fled before contact.

To have casualties on both sides you would need a melee which only occurs if the scores are equal OR the winners have enough Impetus to carry them into the back of the losers.

[Battle Brush Sigur]

I ordered figures on Friday but there is a three week delay with delivery from Baccus at the moment so the appearance of any actual miniatures will have to wait.  I'll continue to test the mechanics with cardboard.

Hey, if you need some 6mm Napoleonics you can drop by. I could do with a little lead mountain reduction. How are you planning to base them?

[jon_1066]

I was hoping to base a single company 50 by 10 mm but am not sure how unwieldy that will be, particularly is it deep enough?  How easy will it be to handle them?  Currently I can easily pick up and move the thick pieces of card I am using but am not sure how that will change with figures and terrain.

One good thing about Lion Rampant as a game engine is that you rarely move all your units each turn, many turns have one or two units move then a turn over so I am not too concerned about the quantity of bases. 

Vienna is a bit far to pick up some figures  I can see how easy it is to end up with a huge 6 mm lead pile - each unit is so cheap!

[jon_1066]

Another test game last night.  I have to say commanding a Napoleonic army is hard!  I always seemed to have a unit in the way of the one I wanted to activate or they would start shooting when I wanted them to move.

I played defending the indefensible - a Battalion of Austrian infantry defend a village (the brown cardboard) waiting for the cavalry to arrive (literally) whilst a Bavarian force attempt to take it.



I forgot to turn the Bavarians to the brown side but basically Bavarians are to the left and Austrians to the right.  A Bavarian light battalion has deployed as skirmishers to soften up the village whilst the line units attempt to close.  The Austrian Skirmishers have hurried forward to help defend and the Austrians have bought on their cavalry regiment.  



The end of the battle.  You can see the Austrian cavalry deep in Bavarian territory having demolished the Bavarian cavalry in a series of charges, counter charges and melees.  Losing their entire regiment was enough to bring the Bavarian force morale to 0 and lose them the game.  You can see that Skirmishers had relieved the battered battalion in the village.  The Skirmishers are the largest bases 100 by 20 mm with three to a unit.

The whole thing took an hour and a half with set up and take down.  I used teddy bear stuffing to form hills under the cloth (which needs an iron to get the creases out).  Will have to wait and see how effective it is with lead on top of it.

[vtsaogames]

Interesting. Do the skirmishers (3 companies?) fire with the same effectiveness as a full battalion?

[jon_1066]

That is one of the things I have been toying with.  Should they?  In terms of amount of lead sent downwind they obviously shoot a lot less - but relative to their volume they are more usually sharp shooters and pick out officers so their morale effect could be nearly as much.  Also the way things work out it is designed that if two wild firing battalions come to a firefight at 200 yards they don't inflict many casualties as it is.  So if you downgrade skirmishers much below a normal battalion they will do precious little.  So you end up with a lot of dice rolling for no effect (and no one wants that!).  If you downgrade them they will also have to get to close range to have any effect - which doesn't feel very historical to me.

Short answer - for this battle they rolled 12 dice like a normal battalion.

For the next one I might try this - Skirmishers count the range as one closer but only ever roll 6 dice.

This links into a problem with showing different shooting ability between eg a 10 company British unit and a 4 Company Russian one with half the frontage and no practice.  Likewise shooting in line or column by division.  What advantage is their in a column by division compared to a single company column?  I am toying with a sliding scale of dice from 6 up to 12.  But did the Austrians out shoot the Bavarians (6 cos vs 4)?  Logic would say that 900 Austrians should be able to out shoot 600 Bavarians if they both line up and let fly at each other at 100 yards.