Idea for a rule mechanic (shaken/broken units), interested to hear thoughts

[Charlie_]

I've been slowly designing my own ruleset for my own private use - some elements of it are based on the Black Powder / Pike & Shotte / Hail Caesar systems, whereas other elements are intentionally different. It's to be used for late medieval warfare, but is really quite generic and could be easily adapted for any ancient / medieval warfare, and what I'm talking about in this thread is equally relevant for pike & shotte and horse & musket warfare I think.

Sometimes I ponder certain elements of the rules for a long time, and suddenly have an idea to make a drastic change. Here's one I've got running though my head, to do with casualties, units being shaken, broken etc..... I'd be interested in your thoughts!

So like in Hail Caesar etc, units have a stamina value - when they have taken this number of casualties they become shaken. They fight at full capacity until that point, and once shaken they are hindered in various ways. The same as in many other rulesets no doubt.

The question is what happens after they are shaken? I have been having it so that they can take the same number of casualties again until they are destroyed. But I think that means too much book-keeping. I think it will be quite nice if once they have reached that shaken point you don't need to track casualties anymore. Especially as units might have as much as 8 or 10 stamina points - we don't want to be still tracking them beyond that number, especially if we know it's probably unlikely that they will ever reach the double-stamina destruction point.

If locked in combat, it is even more unnecessary - they will be weakened and likely to lose the next round, and if they do they are much more likely to break and be destroyed (once shaken, they are destroyed on any failed break tests, rather than a progressive driven back > disordered > broken scale depending on what you roll). So once shaken in combat, chances are they will be breaking (i.e. destroyed) next turn unless they can get some assistance or roll some really lucky dice.

Shaken units being shot at is what's being giving me a little headache. I've recently warmed to the idea that once shaken, further casualties from shooting cause break/morale tests, which could see the unit destroyed, and no need to track casualties once the unit is shaken. Hail Caesar uses this sort of thing, but for various reasons it wouldn't quite work with my rules.....

So Instead, I'm thinking that instead of further casualties triggering tests, a shaken unit (if not engaged in combat) simply takes a morale test at the start of each turn, which could see them retreat disordered, or simply rout (i.e. destroyed). It will also require discipline tests to do anything other than retreat, and will shoot and fight with penalties. So the unit could possibly still do what you want, at a reduced effectiveness, but could very well not do anything for the rest of the game, or retreat (with the possibility of rallying them), or just completely rout. Whether they are taking further casualties from shooting or not doesn't matter.

How does this idea sit with you? Basically, that once a unit is shaken, it can't be relied on. You might be able to get it to do things if you're lucky, but chances are it will either remain inactive or simply disappear at some point. It might stick around for a few turns and then suddenly rout for no apparent reason. Any actions you do get it to perform likely won't be very effective. If charged, it will likely break very quickly.

This also means a unit cannot be wiped out completely with shooting - it can just be shaken, and perhaps that is good enough so you don't need to pay them any more attention?

[Codsticker]

So Instead, I'm thinking that instead of further casualties triggering tests, a shaken unit (if not engaged in combat) simply takes a morale test at the start of each turn, which could see them retreat disordered, or simply rout (i.e. destroyed). It will also require discipline tests to do anything other than retreat, and will shoot and fight with penalties. So the unit could possibly still do what you want, at a reduced effectiveness, but could very well not do anything for the rest of the game, or retreat (with the possibility of rallying them), or just completely rout. Whether they are taking further casualties from shooting or not doesn't matter.

I think you have worked out a good solution there; or, possibly, further casualties automatically drive them back 3" or so as well as the Discipline Test to maneuver effectively.

[Silent Invader]

I did something similar to this in my By Arrow Bill or Sword rules. 

So Instead, I'm thinking that instead of further casualties triggering tests, a shaken unit (if not engaged in combat) simply takes a morale test at the start of each turn, which could see them retreat disordered, or simply rout (i.e. destroyed). It will also require discipline tests to do anything other than retreat, and will shoot and fight with penalties. So the unit could possibly still do what you want, at a reduced effectiveness, but could very well not do anything for the rest of the game, or retreat (with the possibility of rallying them), or just completely rout. Whether they are taking further casualties from shooting or not doesn't matter.

I’ve attached the extract from my rules below. In mine, the player often had a number of activations less than the number of units/characters presently in play, but any move of a continuing rout was always carried out in addition to the number of available activations  with the test at the beginning of the turn. I liked the way it worked.

[Polkovnik]

Do you mean that further shooting would have no more effect on the unit, and would not increase the chance of it routing ? This would seem strange, and it would mean there is no point shooting at a shaken unit.