Spring 1741: Deadlines

All Players have submitted their initial dispositions.

They have been gleaning information from travellers crossing the border from adjacent provinces and they are aware of any significant military movement nearby. They have not heard about less significant movements.

This is a time for diplomacy.

The deadline for movement orders is 24:00  on July 13th.

Naval Matters

Although only two nations start with a naval contingent, any nation can build a fleet and, following a query from a naval power, it is necessary to lay down the ground rules (sea rules?) now. There may be one detail I've changed since an initial informal discussion with one player. These rules below stand. They further clarify comment on sea travel in Campaign Map

Combat Fleets and Transport Fleets may be built in the build phase
Combat Fleets can fight but not transport
Transport Fleets can transport up to 3 units but not fight

Fleet movement is along the defined routes as shown in the insert below from  the SoK NE Map

Fleets move one sea zone a move.
There is no limit to the number of fleets in a zone
More than one nation may be present in a zone but there may be random generated combat

Land units may 
    a) embark and sail one zone or
    b) sail one zone and disembark

There is no limit to the number of units that can disembark in a province held by the fleets nation
Only up to 3 infantry units may make an amphibious invasion and these may only be in the provinces shown in the sea route inset  (i.e. those not in bold)

To be in supply disembarked units must have a chain of fleets back to land province that is in supply except that an amphibious landing may be in supply for one move after the landing.

Poor Quality Irregular Units with no, or few firearms.

Some nations may have poor quality irregular units with few or no firearms.

These may be raised as two units for the cost of one from Spring 1741 onwards BUT they cannot garrison a province on their own.

BLACK POWDER: LAOK VARIATIONS  AND HOUSE RULES

These are as used in Ian's running of the previous campaign                                                        

a) Variations from basic Black Powder as detailed in LAOK

  

1.Infantry columns may only form line by turning to the left or right flank . Only Prussians may form column to the front.

2. A unit interpenetrating/interpenetrated loses ½ its move. If there is insufficient move the unit is placed to the rear of the unit to be interpenetrated.

3. No unit that has moved more than twice may fire.

4. Dragoons may fire mounted with a -1 modifier.

b) House Rules

1. Units may no longer move sideways. They may wheel or echelon up to 45 degrees or move forward or backwards.

2. A unit or group blundering and being forced to move sideways becomes disordered instead 

3. Artillery making any move including unlimbering or pivoting may not fire.

4. A general attempting to join a unit to rally it but failing the test still joins the unit.

5. Evading.

If a charge is declared on skirmishers it must declare if it intends to evade before the charging unit   tests. The charging unit then tests If it fails the skirmisher needs not evade If the charger succeeds the evader is moved 1 move and if the charger has sufficient move it contacts the skirmisher in its rear.

6. Additions to the break test.

            Contacted in flank by a charge that started behind the flank -2

            Contacted in rear by a charge that started behind rear  -3

            Skirmishers contacted  by close order in melee  -1

            Each difference in melee winning test -1

Militia and Fortresses

Militia and Fortresses: Evolving Rules

Militia
Can be raised in the capital and certain other provinces (as advised in each player's spreadsheet) if the province is invaded. They represent the local population press ganged into military service. They are not going to be paid so they come free. They go back to being civilians the moment enemy forces move out of the province. They cannot move into any other province.

There are 2 + D3 militia units that can be raised in a capital province and 1 + D3 that can be raised in any other province which can raise a militia.

Irrespective of any definitions of militia in any army list the following stats will apply

Militia H2H 5 Shooting  3 Morale 4+ Stamina 3. (Unless randominsed by special rule.
Special rules. Roll D6 for each unit On 1 Unreliable, On 2 Wavering. On 3  Untested On 4 Freshly Raised

Fortresses: Initial situation. 

For free at the start Capitals have a Large Fort. Any other Militia Raising Province has a Small Fort. 

Forts can by bought at the Build Phase from the first move on. Large Forts 10 eco units. Small Forts or upgrading Small to Large: 5 eco units

The Opening Bundle of Information

The Initial Bundle of Information

This may take a couple of days to prepare. I'm juggling between charts in WITAOR and BP(LAOK). 

In the opening bundle, which will be in Excel format, a participant will be told his, Nation, Capital Province, Militia Raising Provinces and Other Provinces together with their economic value in Economic Units

There will be an initial treasury of strength points to be spent on units for his forces. At this stage they will cost 1 economic unit each. In any subsequent move economic units can be converted to military units at a cost of 5 economic units (plus purchasing any optional extra quality rules in the Spring build from the second full move onwards.)

Units may be purchased within given limits according to the BP (LAOK) army lists. The types and their BP stats are listed. The units come with the special rules given in the lists.

Many of these units may also have optional special rules which players may use to upgrade the quality of units. These may be purchased per unit at a cost of 2 economic units in the Spring move of any year after the first only. (The campaign will start in Spring 1741., so the first upgrade will be Spring 1742.)

Note also, that England and France begin with a free naval allocation.

Participants

Allocation has been done randomly but the results are:

Austria:

The Empress Maria Theresa

played by

Paul Newton

England

George III

played by

Simon Brooks

France

Louis XV

played by

Ian Etchells

Prussia

Frederick II

played by

Derek Fairfax

Russia 

The Empress Elizabeth 

played by

Alan Lumley

Sweden

Frederick I

played by

Mike Kisil

Turkey

Sultan Ali I

played by

Steve Gudmunsen

Winter

 WINTER

Moves will be designated by year and season, opening in Spring 1740. the seasons are Spring, Summer, Winter.

Only Winter, every third move, has specific rules 

a)      Although revenues are collected as normal no builds may be made.

b)      Only seaborne invasions in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean are allowed

c)      Assaults on fortresses are not allowed

d)     If a battle is fought weather conditions are determined and this may affect shooting and movement. SoK provides some interesting random elements.

MOVE SEQUENCE 3 BATTLE PHASE

MOVE SEQUENCE 3 BATTLE RESOLUTION PHASE

Land Battles

Any medium to large battle arising from the consequences of movement will be played on the tabletop according to BP with LAOK. While small encounters are to be determined by die roll, medium sized battles may be scaled up for playability.

Terrain will be randomly generated for the battle.

There are two types of  land battle.

a)      An encounter battle. The direction of play will be randomly decided and both sides will do a map for deployment. The exception to this is if the King of Prussia is present and his force will then deploy second.

b)      A defensive battle. The defending player will chose the direction of the battlefield he wishes to defend. He will also be allowed a limited amount of temporary earthworks. The defender will deploy first. 

NB The presence of a fortress in a province affects a defensive battle as follows

a)      The attacker may elect to lay siege to the fortress rather than attack it. Neither the attacker or defender gets any economic value from the territory. The territory for supply line purposes belongs to the attacker. If the attacker lays siege the defender can elect to fight a battle by coming out of the fortress.

b)      The attacker may elect to attack the fortress in which case the defender is allowed to place a number of earthworks/redoubts on the table depending on the fortress size.

Results of Battle

a)      The results of the battle will be decided by conventional black powder rules. If a player once deployed elects not to fight the retreat before combat rule applies.

b)      Any unit that is removed during play is lost.

c)      For any leader removed from play throw a die 1-2 dead/ 3-6 survives. If he survives and his force lost the battle he is captured. If his force wins throw a die 3 and that is the number of moves he spends recovering from his wounds.

d)     In the case of an uncompleted battle e.g. not all troops retreated of table the Campaign master will decide on any  additional losses.

e)      The losing forces are deemed to have retreated from combat and if unable to do so are destroyed.

Naval Battles 

If two or more sides both have fleets in the same sea area they must decide if they want to fight a battle. If both sides want to fight a battle is fought. If one side wants to fight and the other does not  there is a 50% chance that a battle will take place. This will be determined by a crude die rolling procedure for the battle with only battle fleets having an effect and transport fleets are in danger of being sunk/captured.

Move Sequence 2 Movement Phase

Move Sequence 2 Movement Phase

After the build phase the players may move the units they have. Movement is very simple in that a unit or group of units  may move to an adjacent territory. A group of units may split up or combine as the player wishes. Fleets move in the same way as land forces except that transport fleets may carry up to 3 units.

Movement is reported to the Campaign Master discretely by the deadline given.

Consequences of Movement

A)    If an entered territory does not contain any forces, the territory is captured and the economic value goes to the capturing player. (Remember to retain the territory at least 1 unit must remain in it.)

B)    The entered territory contains enemy or neutral units. Initially all neutral territories contain a number of units equal to their economic value. The enemy units have the option of retreating . Neutrals do not and a die throw is made to decide whether they remain neutral, are destroyed by the invader at a cost to the invader not exceeding the number of neutral units +1 randomly determined, or whether they disband and slink into the countryside. If both forces remain in the territory and there is no fortress present (see fortresses below) a battle is fought. However the battle has only a small number of units it may be determined by the Campaign Master making a die roll that will give a result. NB if the strength in units is 50/50 there is a 50% chance of failure.  If a battle is fought on table see section on tabletop battles below.

C)    If two forces from a major power enter the same territory a battle is fought unless one of the forces opts to retreat. If any neutral forces are in the territory a die throw is made to decide if they remain neutral or side with one force or another.

D)    If 2 forces in an adjacent provinces each move to the other province (eg for example if a force from Warsaw moves to Poland and a force from Poland moves to Warsaw) a die roll is made to see which province the battle is fought in

E)     Troops can invade a territory from transport ships. No more than 3 units may invade a territory per move. The seaborne invasions take place after any naval battles. The defending player gets additional benefits if facing a naval invasion.

F)     Retreat before combat..If a force elects to retreat before combat the cavalry strength of both the offensive and retreating forces are determined. If the offensive player has cavalry superiority a die throw is made depending on the superiority and the retreating force may take casualties. A retreating force can only move to a friendly or allied controlled area, if it is unable to do this it is destroyed

The Campaign Master will advise each player of the consequences of his movement and any options available to him.  

Move Sequence 1 Build Phase

Move Sequence 1 Build Phase

The Campaign Master will  advise each player whether there are any rumours of troop movement in any adjacent territories.. SoK includes a random events generator for 10% of the territories each move. Some are helpful. Some are not. The consequences will be revealed to affected players at this stage.

The players will receive income from provinces where they are in sole control and are in supply subject to any random events.

To be in sole control the player must have a least 1 unit in the territory and no other player may be in it.

To be in supply an area must be able to trace a line back to its home base which not blocked by enemy controlled area. However neutral and allied controlled areas do not block supply. An area is also in supply if there is a friendly transport fleet in an adjoining sea area.

NB Specific exceptions to supply rule

French and English overseas possessions in India and America are always in supply

Hanover is always supplied if British owned. Other British areas on the continent can trace supply to it.

When the economic value has been determined it can be used  in a number of ways.

1. It can be used to purchase additional units at the rate on the player sheet..

2. It can be used to purchase fleets.

3. It can be used to build fortifications.

4. It can be used to bribe other players (transfer of money is automatic)

5. It can be held in reserve.

6. In certain circumstances it can be used to recruit local forces.

Any purchased units can be placed in any controlled area in supply with the restriction that the number in each area can be only twice the economic value of the area. E.g. if the area has an economic value of 2 then only 4 units a turn can be built there. Fleets may be placed in a sea area adjacent to a controlled area.

The Opening Phase: Pre Move Set up

Each player will be allocated an initial number of core units for his force including his Commander in Chief (Normally the King but in the case of  an Empress, a named historical General) and Sub Generals.

Each player will then be told the number of units he may purchase from his individual army list. 

Once purchased the player will indicate to the Campaign Master where he wishes to deploy his generals and his units but at least one unit must be deployed in each province under his control.  

Diplomacy with other players is allowed during this phase.  

The player will also be advised which of his provinces may raise militia units. These units are only raised in the event of a battle in the territory and are discharged after the battle. Militia units are infantry and generally with  inferior statistics.

After this opening phase the campaign will move into its normal game sequence.

Europe in 1739

Europe in 1739

The maps have needed a little bit of revising mainly to prevent colour leakage and to ensure a better north/south overlap. This requires India to be shown on a separate map.

These now show the provinces held by each participating state in 1739 before the campaign opens.

Austria:       Orange
England      Red
France:       Light Blue
Prussia:       Dark Blue
Russia:        Green
Sweden      Purple
Turkey        Yellow
Impassable:  Grey

1739 North West and the Americas

1739 North East

1739 Soth East 

1739 South East

1739 Central Europe

1739 India