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Signups for France in 1915 are now open. IF YOU ARE UNSURE WHICH SIDE YOU WANT TO PLAY ON, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. READING ANY FURTHER IRREVOCABLY COMMITS YOU TO SPECTATING OR TO PLAYING ON THE FRENCH SIDE FOR THIS FIRST BATTLE OF 1915. You are still allowed to read the observer thread until otherwise informed. Madames et Messieurs, It is March 1915. The perfidious German advance has been halted, at great cost. The Western Front has settled into sullen, unhappy stasis. Both sides struggle for local victories, arm-wrestling over every yard of ground. General Joffre has now decided upon a major offensive to begin the process of liberating the occupied national territory. The French IV Corps has been out of the line since late 1914, resting and re-training. Its new order of battle is as follows: quote:The assault will be led by the 6th Division, which consists of Here is an example of a brigade.  To begin the game, we will require six Infantry Brigade commanders, three Artillery Regiment commanders, a Colonel of Engineers, one Divisional commander, and the Corps Commander. This means we need a minimum of twelve players, and I urge you to settle on a Corps Commander within 24 hours so I can give you your orders for this battle. All other players in the thread will serve as staff officers at the beginning of the battle; you may nominate yourselves now to serve in units which will be arriving after the battle starts. (More on those once you have your orders.) The Corps Commander sets the overall strategy for the battle. The Divisional Commander(s) take that strategy and make it into sets of actions to be completed by the various Brigade commanders. Brigade commanders are responsible for actually moving the chits around the battlefield, but this comes at the cost of being at the bottom of the chain of command. Timetable: I hope to begin the game in no more than 10 days, and ideally no more than 7. Each in-game day will take about 7 days to play, and I don't see this battle lasting more than 3 in-game days. If you don't have one of the starting commands and there are no drop-outs, then just FYI, it will take about two weeks before your men will arrive at the battle. Get some popcorn in, why not? Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Nov 21, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 21:56
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The Map: or, What Am I Looking At? We begin with terrain. Green space is simple open ground. Grey lines are roads. These offer a movement benefit in certain situations; if you're new for 1915, they are for the moment irrelevant. There are several hills on the map, which offer excellent vantage points for spotting. There are a few farms on the map, the occasional snot blobs. These offer cover from being seen (Spotting Cover) but do not offer cover from being attacked (Protective Cover). There are several woods on the map. Again, these offer Spotting Cover, but not Protective Cover. Woods affect movement and firing within them. Grey squares are towns. There are a lot of special rules about what happens when you go into or out of them; most interestingly, they offer total concealment to anything inside, and only howitzers are capable of shooting into a town from outside. Woods, towns, and each level of a hill all block line of sight. LOS is blocked regardless of the height difference between the company and the blocking feature. There is no water on this map. Well, I think that's everything. Except for, oh yes... Trenches Trenches are marked in brown. There are two types of trenches. Trenches with a white outline are deeper and more protective to their occupants than trenches without an outline. As this is the French Army in early 1915, you are currently only permitted to dig shallow trenches. It is unnecessary to design trench systems that zig-zag; this game is on a far larger scale than individual firebays. When you see a brown line on the map with a chit inside, you should imagine an entire trench system with 250 men in it, not a single rifleman alone in a hole. You may supplement your trenches with redoubts and MG nests. Both are hardened erections which offer the men inside extra protection. Redoubts A redoubt is a large erection that looks like this, and which takes a little explaining. Unless otherwise noted, a chit in a redoubt behaves as though it were a chit in a trench. A company may only enter a redoubt through an edge which is touching a trench.  The hatched squares can hold rifle companies or MG chits. Units in the hatched squares can fire out of the redoubt on a side that the hatching touches. They may also fire back into the redoubt to protect themselves. The black square is a hardened emplacement. Its walls block LOS. Any chit may be stationed there and fire out of the redoubt in any direction regardless of LOS. The emplaced chit may not fire into the redoubt. If a chit marked "Gun" or "Howitzer" is to be used in the redoubt, it must be emplaced there during the pre-battle phase, and it may not then be removed, nor defend itself from enemies who attack from inside the redoubt. For all other purposes, a chit in the emplacement behaves as any other chit in the redoubt. MG Nests An MG nest is a 60px square, and it can hold one MG chit or one infantry chit, which may fire out in any direction. Both redoubts and MG nests must be placed before the game begins, and they must be placed so that one edge is touching a trench. They may be deployed at any angle and shall rotate so that its nominated edge fits against the edge of the trench it is placed on. More on how to do that later. Barbed Wire Barbed wire entanglements are represented by black rectangles with diagonal cross-hatching. It comes in 3" increments and will put a serious crimp in your day. Gaps between individual entanglements will either be obviously too narrow for a company to pass through without interference, or obviously wide enough to allow it. A company may always move through friendly barbed wire, unless that wire is in a trench. A company that attempts to move through enemy barbed wire obeys the following rules. When it comes into contact with the wire, it stops and loses any remaining movement for that turn. On the next turn, it uses all its movement to cross to the other side of the wire, and may not fire. The turn after that, the company may proceed without interference and may fire again. Barbed wire may be explicitly targeted by indirect fire, but it requires multiple hits before being cleared. Barbed wire forms a Barricade when placed in a trench. Barricades do not block line of sight, but they totally block movement for both sides. They may not be targeted by artillery and may only be removed by an engineer. Barricades must be placed at right angles to the trench. A Quick Guide to Chits A chit with a cross in it is a standard infantry company, consisting of about 250 men. All other chits are marked with descriptive lettering. As mentioned above, there is a difference between types of artillery. A field gun is marked "Gun" or "FK" (for Feldkanone), is not heavy enough, and its angle of fire is too shallow, to effectively fire into towns. Only guns marked HOW for "howitzer" are capable of firing into a town. Returning players should be aware that there are no Division or Corps Commander chits to worry about; those HQs are located safely off-board. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Nov 22, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 23:11
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Giving Orders (or, How Do I Make Things Happen?) Right then. Let's talk about orders, how they're going to work, and how to make sure I know what your orders mean. This is how you get your blokes to move around, so pay attention, 007. The first thing of all that I want to say is that while this is a rules-heavy grognard wargame, please don't be intimidated by that. Other players can help you understand enough rules to give effective orders if you're a brigade commander. Alternatively, you could opt for Division or Corps command and not be charged with shuffling chits around! Corps Commander: Pre-Battle Your job is to devise the overall strategy for the battle and to give tasks to the Divisional commander(s) to carry out. You may give advice to your subordinates and offer the odd correction, but I stress that your job is not, repeat not, to micromanage the positioning of individual companies. Your job is to keep an eye on the big picture (and to make sure that Corporal Barthas's coffee and croissant ration arrives on time). Division Commander: Pre-Battle Your job is to tell your brigade commanders where to go in order to best carry out the orders of the Corps Commander. Like the Corps Commander, you should not attempt to micromanage the positioning of individual companies, but you should intervene if a brigade commander's dispositions are poor or ineffective. Brigade Commander: Pre-Battle You will first place your brigade's chits on the board by drawing a map and showing me where you would like each individual company to be positioned. You will then write a series of orders governing how your brigade should react once the battle begins. I encourage you to be as comprehensive as possible here. Once the battle begins, any orders you give are subject to the possibility that the orders will not reach them. Furthermore, if your HQ chit is killed, you will be totally unable to change your existing orders. Brigade commanders may certainly contribute to discussion of overall strategy, but this must never come at the expense of looking to your front. Your primary job is to look after your allocated area of the battlefield. You should ensure that this is done before you weigh in on what's happening on the other side of the map. During the battle During a turn, a brigade is in one of two stances: Attack or Defend. If you want your blokes to move, they must be set to Attack. When a Brigade is set to Attack, all companies must move their maximum speed, except that units who need to be stationary to fire will come to a stop on sighting an enemy and (if necessary) begin unlimbering. (This is part of the reason why I must have an arrow with your orders, described below; your brigade moves according to the direction of its arrow.) By the same token, if you want your blokes to hold in place (and the rules about how firing resolves give an advantage to stationary units over moving ones), their Brigade must be set to Defend; they will then come to a stop. This is the other part of why the orders you give me must have an arrow on them; the end of the arrow indicates where the brigade is to stop. You can also give me orders that say things like "move to point X, Defend for 4 turns, return to Attack, move to point Y." A Change of Orders is when you attempt to alter what your men are doing. This is not a game where I come back to you after every turn to ask if you're sure you still want to keep advancing towards the town. Those men are going to advance until there's a good reason for them not to. Likewise, if they're stopped, they're going to stay stopped until there's a reason to move. You deal with immediate tactical concerns by setting Standing Orders, automatic responses to common situations. How To Write Orders Before the battle begins, Brigade Commanders will place their chits on the map. You must also write in any contingency plans. For instance, "If we are attacked from the south, Break Off and retire to the trench in the Bois d'Example." If your contingency plans involve any kind of movement at all, you must draw an arrow showing me, at minimum, how Brigade HQ should move and where it should move to. That is absolutely critical. The rules require you to draw an arrow. Movement orders without an arrow included are invalid and will not take effect. When a brigade arrives at the finishing point of its orders it will automatically switch to Defend, and entrench itself if possible. Once the battle begins, you will probably want to change your orders at some point and move your men around. That's fine, as long as you obey the movement rules and include an arrow. If you want to move your men into a particular formation, include a picture of the formation. If you want to move them into precise positions, draw a picture showing me where everyone should go. However, if you want to be less precise, you can simply write a description of what you want to do, draw me a basic map with an arrow and the finishing position of Brigade HQ, and I will move your companies for you. One final note. It's impossible to plan for every contingency and sometimes people make mistakes. I will, wherever possible, interpret your orders in your favour, and will make common-sense adjustments to them as the battle unfolds. For instance, if you order your brigade to advance to the Gooneville Road and then stop, but then when they arrive they discover there's an unoccupied trench that they didn't know about, 1 inch in front of their finishing position, I will put your men in the trench. (This principle only goes so far, mind you; if there is barbed wire, or some other obstruction in front of your brigade which you did not know about when you wrote their orders, then they will walk straight into the wire and get caught in it.) Conditional orders It is allowed to include in your orders a condition for your brigade to follow: for instance "If an enemy is sighted, retreat in direction X; otherwise, continue to [TOWN_NAME]." However, please remember that I have a lot of brigades to move around the board. The more complicated your orders, the more conditions they include, the more likely I am to misunderstand something, forget a particular permutation, or implement the orders in a way other than you intended. I will not re-adjudicate turns if this happens; you are responsible for giving clear orders. You may not use conditionals to vary the Standing Orders or override game rules, such as the firing Order of Priority. It is invalid to, for instance, order infantry companies to "Fire first on artillery, then on machine guns"; they will always obey the rules. There is one exception: I will in certain situations accept "Hold your fire unless..." orders if, for instance, you want to fully bait the enemy into a trap before firing on them. It is permissible to give orders for "Break Off and then move as follows:" you will switch to Attack at the end of the break-off and move accordingly. If you Break Off due to a Standing Order (or if they retreat suppressed), your men lose their orders, automatically switch to Defend stance, and must receive a Change of Orders to move again. (Breaking off is explained below, with the rest of the movement rules.) Change of Orders Changing your orders is not always easy and is never guaranteed to succeed on any one turn. Even if you roll perfectly, there may still be delays before your orders take effect. Before the Order Change Roll Brigades who are on your side of the battle's starting line are eligible to attempt to change orders immediately. Their HQ must either be in a trench that was dug before the battle, in a town, or within 8" of a road, otherwise there will be a delay. The following delays automatically apply to a HQ which is on the enemy's side of the starting line. quote HQs in No Man's Land: 1 turn In the enemy's first-line trenches: 2 turns Between the enemy's first and second lines: 3 turns In the enemy's second lines: 4 turns Beyond the second lines: 5 turns The Order Change Roll Changing orders becomes more or less difficult depending on what the brigade is doing at the time. A brigade chilling in the rear will find it a lot easier to change orders than a brigade with its companies in close combat. A brigade that advances while leaving its HQ behind takes a penalty. A brigade that can attempt to change orders must roll and there is always the chance it will fail. After the Order Change Roll A HQ which is in a trench that was dug before the battle began may, once it passes its order change roll always exercise immediate control over all its companies which are in the same continuous trench. It may exercise control over companies outside that trench as if it were in cover (not in an original trench or town). A HQ which is in a town may attempt exercise immediate control over all its companies which are within 24" of HQ. A company outside 24" is out of command and does not recieve the orders unless it returns within 24". A HQ which is in cover (but not in an original trench, or a town) may exercise immediate control over all its companies within 16" of HQ. Companies within 24" react one turn later. A HQ which is in the open may exercise immediate control over all its companies within 8" of HQ. Companies within 16" react one turn later; within 24", two turns. In-Character Orders, or, Fluff vs Crunch I like people who roleplay a bit and give their orders in character. This is Cool and Good and I approve of it. However, it is absolutely critical to not allow your fluff to make your crunch unclear. By all means give orders in character, but please make sure you write in gameplay and rules terms when appropriate - again, I'm adjudicating a lot of brigades every turn and if I can't understand quickly where I'm physically supposed to move your chits, I'll take a best guess and get on with it. Standing Orders Standing Orders cover a number of common situations. When the condition is triggered, the brigade automatically reacts as specified without the need for intervention by you. If you've played isometric RPGs like Baldur's Gate, think of them as being kind of like auto-pause settings. Please note that you may not add extra Standing Orders, or change the options available to you. If what you want to do is not listed below, you are not setting a Standing Order, you're adding a conditional to your orders. They're at risk of being disregarded or misinterpreted if you've put them in with your Standing Orders. Infantry Brigade Standing Orders The list of Standing Orders is as follows. If you do not explicitly set a Standing Order, it automatically is set to the default. It is always best to use the wording that I give here. Default order Optional order quote:When sighting an enemy 12" or less away on Attack stance: If you select "turn and move", a new arrow will be drawn pointing directly at the enemy and your formation turns to face its new direction. Once no enemy companies remain in spotting range, your brigade will move back towards the path of its original movement arrow, re-adopt my closest approximation of your original formation, and continue moving towards its destination. (This, and all procedures, assumes that you have not in the meantime made a Change of Orders.) quote:When attacking the enemy: Brigades default to seeking close combat when possible, but may advance cautiously using rifle fire if you want. Brigades on Defend stance must remain stationary and use rifle fire to defend themselves. Only rifle companies charge; support companies will remain stationary and support the charge as long as they have targets. quote:When an enemy company Breaks Off or Retreats Suppressed: The brigade suspends its original orders and chases after the retreating companies until they're no longer spottable. The same rule for returning to its original arrow applies to automatic pursuit as it does for "turn and move" up above - the pursuit continues until the enemy is gone and then you return to your original orders. The Senlac Hill Rule says that Brigades on Defend stance do not pursue retreats regardless of this setting; to do that you need a Change of Orders and a switch to Attack stance. You cannot tempt a defender out of good defensive positions by attacking and immediately breaking off to trigger a Standing Order; if a brigade is going to do that, it needs a human to order it. quote:Break Off automatically when: This is to allow Brigades to set how aggressive they want to be. As mentioned above, Brigades which Break Off due to a Standing Order switch to Defend and require a Change of Orders before they can move again. quote:When Breaking Off while in a trench: This lets you decide whether you want to quit a trench or remain in it. This option is only available if your companies can escape down the trench; if they can see that it would mean running into the enemy from the other side, they will quit the trench. Artillery Standing Orders These orders come in two parts. The following options govern when a brigade will react to a changing situation by overriding its existing orders to use Supporting Fire. quote:Override Ordered Fire to use Supporting Fire? By default, a brigade cancels any orders to use Ordered Fire on a turn when it is able to use Supporting Fire instead. quote:Minimum number of fire missions remaining to use Supporting Fire This allows you to control whether the artillery should use Supporting Fire until it runs out of ammunition, or conserve a certain number of fire missions for use during the remainder of the day. quote:Override Ordered Fire to use Direct Fire when enemy companies are Spotted within This allows you to set a limit at which your guns will fire in self-preservation instead of bombarding the enemy rear. quote:Break off automatically when enemy companies are Spotted within This allows you to control when the guns should break off to avoid being overrun by another lunatic brigadier on a horse. An artillery brigade that breaks off or retreats suppressed cannot then use Ordered Fire until it gets new orders, but it will attempt to unlimber after breaking off, and then continues using Supporting or Direct Fire until the end of the update. When guns break off or retreat suppressed, they may limber and move immediately, on the same turn. The following options all relate to when and how Supporting Fire is to be used. quote:When multiple brigades need support, favour requests from This helps me clarify who should get support if multiple brigades require it. Along the same lines... quote:When more than one brigade needs support And also... quote:When there is a choice between targeting enemy infantry and artillery These options should hopefully avoid the need for you to write big long lists of conditionals for every possible combination of circumstances when you might need to support a brigade. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Nov 25, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 23:14
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Time and Movement Having discussed the rules for giving orders, let us now consider how units move when they are ordered. Time and Turns The battle begins at 0000, midnight, and continues until the victory conditions are met or the time limit (if any) expires. Each turn is 30 minutes long; the time of day can be worked out by dividing turn numbers by 2. Day 1, Turn 1 is 0030; Day 1, Turn 4 is 0200; Day 1 Turn 42 is 2100; Day 2, Turn 4 is 0200 again. You should refer to turns, not time of day, wherever possible. Time of day is fluff; turns are crunch. The first update will be a special irregular update. The game will then advance 8 turns at a time before pausing to allow you to give new orders, if you want to. Each pause will be approximately 48 hours of real time; you will be told the deadline for orders. Deadlines are soft; I will accept orders given after the deadline, but before I begin adjudicating the turn. You will be told when no further orders will be accepted. Light and Weather The battle begins in darkness. Darkness is followed by twilight, which is followed by daylight, then another twilight period, then night. Spotting ranges change as the light changes. Every 4 hours/8 turns, the weather may change. It is currently Clear. There are five other states; Cloudy, Overcast, Light Rain, Steady Rain, and Heavy Rain. Spotting, movement, and aviation will be affected if the weather deteriorates. Phases Each turn consists of a series of phases. First, all units on Team A move, then all units on Team B move. Next, anyone who is eligible gets to open fire according to a detailed priority list. Then I clean up the board, and finally, another turn starts. Who moves and fires first in any one phase is determined by initiative, a die roll before each turn. Basic Movement The unmodified movement for all units is as follows: quote:Infantry, Engineers, Machine Guns, Mortars, Artillery, and anything else I haven't thought of: 8" Units which move more than half their speed during a turn may not fire; MGs, Mortars, and Artillery may not fire if they have moved at all during a turn. In order to move, a company's brigade must adopt Attack stance. There are three very important rules about moving, and one about not moving. When one company moves, every company in the brigade must move. All companies that move must move their full movement on each turn. When a Brigade moves, all its companies must move to an appreciably different position. When a Brigade switches to Defend stance, none of its companies may move. There are a few exceptions to these general principles. A common one is that supporting weapons like MGs and mortars may stop moving to fire, as they are required to do, while their supported infantry advances. Another one involves brigades who are reaching the end of their orders. Commanders don't have to finesse it so that their men only advance in 8" jumps, nor do they all have to arrive in position on the same turn. If a brigade is coming to a stop at the end of its orders, it's allowed to spread the movement over more than one turn, and in this situation it's allowed to have companies stationary while their fellows are taking up their final positions. "Appreciably different position" is a deliberately vague catchall designed to stop people exploiting the rules by giving orders like "company 1 takes up the position of company 2, company 2 takes up the position of company 3, company 3 takes up the position of company 1" in order to set up repeated ambushes from the same piece of cover. Don't try to take the piss, and you'll be fine. Activity While Defending A company that is on Defend stance, not in a trench, and which cannot see any enemies within 12" will dig a shallow trench for itself, which takes 8 turns. This can be accelerated with the presence of an Engineer company. Artillery Artillery larger than 75mm must be limbered and towed in order to move. Artillery batteries 75mm or smaller can be carried for up to 4 turns in succession before it must be either limbered or put down for a turn. So, a a French 75mm gun can be carried; a 7.7cm FK cannot be. In order to unlimber, a gun must remain stationary for one full turn. If it finishes its movement on turn 6, it spends the whole of turn 7 unlimbering and cannot fire until turn 8. Likewise, an unlimbered gun takes one full turn to limber before it can move off. Battle Order and Marching Order All units onboard at the start of the game begin in Battle Order, the default state. The Marching Order rule is irrelevant to players until after the battle starts. New players may ignore these rules for the time being! When a Brigade is in Attack stance, it may be in one of two states: Battle Order and Marching Order. A unit's default state is Battle Order, ready for combat. Brigades in Defend stance must be in Battle Order. However, when an Attack brigade is put in Marching Order and its HQ is on a road, it halts for one full turn, adopts a tight, fixed formation, and everyone in the Brigade is considered to be on the road. The Brigade then gains a movement bonus equal to half its speed. You may bring a unit onto the map in Marching Order, and it immediately gains the speed bonus. A Company in Marching Order is not allowed to fire even if it is eligible to fire; it must first go into Battle Order. The brigade spends its next available movement phase leaving its Marching Order formation and taking up its Battle Order formation. Next time: Spotting Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Nov 21, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 23:16
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SPOTTING: OR, HOW NOT TO BE SEEN Right, pay attention to this bit; it is absolutely critical that you understand it, because it's what the spotting rules are based on. Spotting is not a thing that you do; spotting is a thing that is done to you. These rules are not written in terms of "infantry can see this far away, cavalry can see further because of their magic binoculars". They are in terms of "if you are doing X, any enemy chit can see you from Y inches away". There's a few exceptions, but in the main, spotting is not something you do; spotting is something that is done to you. The base spotting ranges are as follows: quote:If the following applies to YOUR CHIT, an enemy unit may spot it at the stated distance: Spotting occurs during any phase when a Company is within the unobstructed Spotting Range of an enemy company; each company determines spotting individually, but informs the entire brigade of what it has seen. Erections that are not visible when the battle begins are spotted during the battle as though they were stationary infantry companies in the open. Marching Order This rule is only relevant when Marching Order (see above) is being used. Regardless of how Brigades in Marching Order appear on the map, all spotting distances (and only spotting distances) are reckoned as if all its companies are located on the road, within the boundaries of the formation. Hills This is the exception to "spotting is something that is done to you". Units located on a hill have a considerable amount of extra vision. A company that is on a hill and in the open may spot other units, and be spotted if it moves or fires, at 24" away if it is on level 1 of a hill, 32" if it is on level 2 of a hill, and 40" at level 3. A stationary, non-firing company sees at extended range, but is only spottable at base range. A unit in Cover may see out at extended range, but is only spottable at 4". A unit's Firing range is not affected by being on a hill, except that anyone who is entirely on one level of a hill may fire over the head of friendly units who are entirely 1 or more levels below where this would otherwise not be possible. Units on hills CANNOT see over Terrain that blocks line of sight. Yes, it's a big hill, but those are tall trees. Cover These rules do not apply to towns; towns are a special case, dealt with in a moment. A company is in Cover when it is stationary in a Farm, or is in a Wood or Trench. Only Trenches offer Protective Cover from enemy fire as well as Spotting Cover from enemy sight. Any company which is in in Cover and did not move at all on the turn lays an Ambush for its opponents, and may not be fired on until the turn after it is spotted. A company inside a Wood can only see out of the Wood if it is within 4" of the relevant edge. A company may not lay an Ambush if it is in a Trench whose position is known by the enemy, or if it is inside a Town. Towns A company in a Town is invisible to anyone not in the Town and cannot see out of the Town. It has both Spotting and Protective Cover at all times while in the Town, and uses the Cover spotting rules. All Towns have Outskirts, which extend 50px from the marked borders of the town. A company in the Outskirts has Spotting and Protective Cover and has an unobstructed view out of the Town, but cannot see into the Town, or be seen by any company inside the Town. The Outskirts are unmarked and do not exist until and unless a Company specifically declares that it is in them. You may dig trenches in the Outskirts, but not inside Towns. A company which travels through the Town is assumed to be using the main road and its movement is not affected; a company which intends or is forced to stay must move at combat speed while it is in the town. Time of Day The above rules apply during daylight hours. Spotting is severely restricted at night. The spotting range for a company which fires remains unchanged. A company which does not fire is spottable at 4". A company in Cover is only spottable by companies in the same piece of Cover. There is a period of twilight between full night and full daylight. A company which does not fire is spottable at 12". A company in Cover is only spottable by companies in the same piece of Cover. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Nov 25, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 23:17
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Firing rules, or, PEW PEW BANG BANG rAttATaTTarAttATaTTa BOOOOOOOOOM Here is how to shoot at things. Most of these rules are about direct fire. Artillery that is part of an artillery brigade may use either direct or indirect fire. Artillery that is integral to an infantry brigade may only use direct fire. Firing Range Firing Range The firing ranges for Direct Fire are as follows. quote:Rifle Companies (infantry/cavalry): 8" When eligible to do so, any company may fire in any direction at any enemy company which it has Spotted on the current turn, subject to the order of priority (see below). Firing occurs after all movement by both sides has been resolved. If a Rifle Company is in Cover and firing at an enemy inside the same piece of Cover, firing range is limited to 4". Pass-Through Fire If a friendly company is spotted by an enemy company within firing range, and then moves out of firing range, the enemy company may use Pass-Through Fire if the friendly company is otherwise eligible to be targeted. The enemy company attacks, and if it hits, the friendly company is deemed to have been hit immediately before it moved out of range. If not, the friendly company completes its movement. Fire and Friendly Units Direct Fire cannot be friendly fire. Rifle Companies cannot fire through friendly units (although they may move through a friendly company's space, so long as it does not finish foul of that company). Artillery may only use Direct Fire through a friendly company if it fulfils the requirements for Overhead Fire. Machine-Gun Fire Machine Guns may fire through friendly units. If they are in a Wood or Trench and in base-to-base contact with a Rifle Company; or in a Town and in base-to-base contact with a company in the Outskirts, their firing range is calculated from the company they are in contact with. These MGs both get what I ended up calling the Billy Bonus: http://i.imgur.com/oqNrYth.png Only the bottom MG gets the Billy Bonus: http://i.imgur.com/f6Fpwoe.png Overhead Fire A unit's Firing range is not affected by being on a hill. Artillery may use Direct Fire over the heads of friendly companies on the same elevation, provided that the company is at least 2" away from the guns and 2" from the target. Mortars may use Direct Fire over the heads of friendly companies who are within 2" of the target. Any company which is is entirely on one level of a hill may fire over the head of friendly units who are entirely 1 or more levels below where this would otherwise not be possible. Other Restrictions on Direct Fire Artillery Artillery may only fire out of a wood if its edge is touching the edge of the wood; it may only fire out of a town if in the Outskirts; no artillery in a wood may fire into the wood; no artillery in the Outskirts may fire into a town; no artillery in a town may fire at all; only howitzers may fire into a town from outside. Mortars may not fire into a town, but that is the only one of the above restrictions that they observe. The Order of Combat Combat proceeds in the following phases: quote:Indirect Fire Artillery (in descending order of calibre) Combat is not resolved like movement. In combat, Team A's artillery fires, then Team B's artillery fires; then Team A's MGs, then Team B's MGs, etc. The Order of Priority A company which uses Direct Fire always attacks the closest company it is allowed to fire at, subject to the Order of Priority, which is based on a "like to like" principle. Artillery must fire at artillery if available, then machine-guns, then any other target Machine Guns are the exception: they target Rifle Companies first, then any other target Rifle Companies must target other Rifle Companies, then Machine Guns, then Artillery. HQ units, Engineers, and other special units are always last in the Order of Priority and must only be attacked by Direct Fire when there is no other valid target. Close Combat Rifle Companies which, during their movement, would move into base-to-base contact with an enemy company which it Spotted on a previous turn, initiate Close Combat. Infantry companies perform a Bayonet Charge; Cavalry performs a Cavalry Charge. Units who are being charged suspend the Order of Priority rules and instead fire on the charging company. A unit may be charged by multiple opponents at once. Any other unit that would move into base-to-base contact with an enemy stops 1" short, as does any company which would move into base-to-base contact on the same turn that an enemy company is Spotted, and any company which is Suppressed (see below) while charging. Close combat is depicted as follows: the charging companies all stop their movement 1" away from their target until the Close Combat phase. If they are still alive and unsuppressed in the Close Combat phase, they then complete the charge. A charge which scores a hit (which is more likely than a hit with rifle fire) either kills the charged company or forces it to retreat suppressed. A successful Bayonet Charge allows the company to attack one more enemy within range; a successful Cavalry Charge may attack up to three more enemies. Charging is more likely to succeed when in a friendly trench, and less likely to succeed in an enemy trench. FIBUA, FISH, and FIPAC (or, Special Rules for Towns) In a town, all firing ranges are restricted to 3", and a unit may enter Close Combat without first Spotting its enemy. (Fighting In Built Up Areas, Fighting In Someone's House, and Fighting In Pubs And Clubs. Guess which the British Army does the most?) Firing Mechanics I roll dice and determine who gets hit. There will be no discussion of the exact mechanics. Results of Fire, Suppression Firing results in one of three outcomes: Miss, Suppression, Kill. A company that is missed is unaffected; a company that is killed is removed; a company that is suppressed remains on the board and may not move or fire. If a company is hit while suppressed, it is killed. In the Rally phase, all surviving Suppressed companies attempt to remove their suppression; if successful they continue trying to carry out their orders. A brigade whose HQ is suppressed is not immobilised, but it cannot attempt to change orders until its HQ rallies. A brigade whose HQ is killed will attempt to continue carrying out its existing orders, but cannot receive new ones. Other brigades will, if they come across HQ-less companies, attempt to incorporate them into the brigade. Morale There are two Morale phases, immediately before and immediately after close combat. On the turn that it occurs, if a Regular brigade is reduced to 1/2 or 1/3 of its original strength, it makes a Morale Check. (They don't keep making checks on every turn; only on the turn on which they are reduced.) There are two possible results: Retreat Suppressed, and Unaffected. If the Brigade Retreats Suppressed, on its next turn all its companies (including suppressed companies) Break Off; when the brigade finishes breaking off, all units are suppressed. (This never causes a double-suppression kill.) Any orders the Brigade was trying to carry out are disregarded; any units that Rally go into Defend stance and await fresh orders. If the Brigade is unable to conduct a valid Break Off, it will Surrender and all its companies will be removed from the board. Indirect Fire Artillery Brigades may use an Indirect Fire Mission when directed to do so. Indirect fire range is 40". All guns in an artillery brigade must fire at once, and target an area equivalent to the number of chits in the brigade. So, a brigade with one gun targets a 50px single-chit sized square; a brigade with four guns can arrange four 50px target squares however it likes; a brigade with eight guns can arrange eight squares, and so on. All guns in a brigade must fire at once. Mortars cannot use Indirect Fire. Friendly Fire Friendly fire is possible when using Indirect Fire. If units from opposing sides are within 2" of the target, I will determine who, if anyone, gets hit by the fire. Guns using Indirect Fire must still have 2" of clearance in order to fire over the head of friendly units who are right in front of the guns. Ordered Fire An artillery brigade may use Ordered Fire on any turn when it is unlimbered. The relevant Artillery Commander selects a point to be targeted (subject to a Change of Orders roll) and the turn on which the guns should fire, and as long as the orders get through, the guns will open fire on that point. Supporting Fire An artillery brigade may be set to Supporting Fire by its commander. The artillery will then fire in support any infantry companies who are observed to be under threat from the enemy. As long as a battery's Observation Post can spot the enemy, the guns can directly target them. Observation Posts Each artillery regiment has a number of associated Observation Posts. The OP is a stand that moves/is spotted as infantry. It is not a fighting stand and it is very hard to hit. The OP can only communicate with its guns if it is stationary, unsuppressed, and in a trench or town. It may see out of a town if positioned on the edge. The OP's requests for support are subject to the same time delay and dice roll as a Brigade that attempts to change orders. An OP which is stationary and not in a trench or town will self-entrench at the speed of an engineer. An OP which is killed may only be replaced by converting a Rifle Company into an OP stand. Limited Ammunition There is no limit on the number of Direct Fire missions that may be used. However, your guns are limited in the number of Indirect Fire Missions per day. You will be informed of the limit in your orders. Fresh ammunition arrives from the rear once per day. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Nov 21, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 23:19
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Miscellaneous: Or, Stuff That You Need To Know Which Doesn't Fit Anywhere Else There are a few things you need to know which don't comfortably fit under any of the other headings. Autonomous Brigades Artillery and Engineers are organised into Autonomous Brigades. They have no HQ chit, do not make morale checks, and are not subject to the restrictions on Marching/Battle Order or Attack/Defend stance. Engineers An Engineer is a fighting stand which can also annoy the poo poo out of the enemy by constructing various erections. Engineers are organised into Autonomous Brigades. They can dig shallow trenches, and when they entrench they produce 3" of trench on each side; alternatively, they can speed up the digging for infantry companies that are self-entrenching. They can also place barbed wire entanglements and demolish enemy erections. Engineers entrench themselves and place barbed wire in 4 turns. Fatigue As your infantry brigades fight, they will become tired. This is tracked using Fatigue Points. The performance of a brigade which is carrying 2 or more Fatigue Points will begin to deteriorate. A brigade surrenders if it has 6 Fatigue Points. A brigade that is forced to retreat suppressed gains an immediate fatigue point. There is no limit on the number of immediate fatigue points a brigade can gain. A brigade that uses or is targeted by Direct Fire gains a suspended fatigue point. Suspended fatigue points do not come into effect until the next day begins. A brigade can only gain one suspended fatigue point per day. A brigade that is targeted by Indirect Fire does not gain a suspended fatigue point, but cannot lose a fatigue point when the next day begins. When a brigade goes one full day without using Direct Fire, or being targeted by Direct or Indirect Fire, it loses one Fatigue Point. Suspended fatigue points take effect from Turn 1 each day; brigades lose fatigue, if eligible, on Turn 1 of each day Aeroplanes Ground attack tactics are just beginning to be developed, but you do not have access to them at the moment. You do have access to spotter planes during the battle. Their mechanics are very abstracted; when deployed, they appear at a nominated point, attempt to spot any enemy units or erections within 24 inches of that point, and then disappear. These spotter planes may be restricted by the current state of air superiority and the weather conditions. Roll20 and similar It has been found useful in the past to use a chat room with an interactive map for strategic discussions and to help with drawing up orders. This is fine. However, please remember two things. First, it's no fun for the spectators if all your discussions occur off the forums. Second, it has been found in previous rounds that unless you write things down in a forums post after they are agreed in Roll20, they are very easily forgotten. Post ITT. You're doing everyone a favour. How To Avoid Missing The Deadline I am on GMT. Deadlines will usually be at around 5pm; I operate a "soft deadline" system, which allows me to accept orders issued after the deadline but before I actually sit down to begin adjudicating. However, if you are in an American timezone, you will miss the deadline unless you post your orders on the evening before the deadline. It is the responsibility of each team to organise their poo poo so that American brigade commanders can get their orders drawn up appropriately. I strongly suggest that Corps and Division commanders spend no more than 24 hours digesting the result of an update, which leaves another 24 hours for brigade commanders to finalise and post their orders. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Nov 21, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 23:20
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Changelog and Super-Miscellaneous This post should only be read by players who played in previous rounds. I've been tinkering with the rules, as usual; for those players, here's what's changed since 1914. Terrain Mobile warfare is ended, and the battle will be preceded by the placing of trench lines. You may, before the start of the battle, place redoubts and machine-gun nests in your trenches. Orders The size of a HQ's command area has been altered depending on whether it is in a trench, and where it is on a map. These factors also affect how difficult it is to change orders, and there are now built-in predictable delays before a change-of-orders roll can be made. Telephone lines have been removed; the difficulty of communication is now abstracted into the order change rules. Time and Movement The game begins at 0000 and the attacking Corps Commander gets to select exactly when his offensive is to begin. The rules about when daylight begins and ends have been altered, and rules about weather introduced. The first update will be a special irregular update, and the game will then advance 8 turns at a time. Spotting The ranges for hill spotting have been reduced slightly. Firing Rules Morale checks will usually only result in no effect or Retreat Suppressed. A brigade will only be taken off the board on a morale check if it cannot conduct a valid Break Off. Brigades that retreat suppressed will gain a fatigue point. Artillery using indirect fire will now spot targets of opportunity using an Observation Post stand. Fatigue points Brigades will surrender if they accumulate 6 fatigue points. The system has been tweaked and includes a differentiation between fatigue points that take effect immediately and fatigue points that only take effect at the start of a new day. This is the final reserved post. Carry on. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Nov 21, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 23:21
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I would like to throw in my hat for the position of one the Entente Brigade Commanders. I promise to only enjoy the finest of meals and sherry while the lads deal with this little kerfuffle. The Bosche will roll over as soon as they see the mettle of our men!
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Nov 20, 2017 23:32
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Vive la France! Brigade or Corps of Engineers would be fine with me.
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Nov 20, 2017 23:32
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Salut mes amies, Francois Blanc Fromage Comte de Boursin signing up as commander of the artillery. I like cheese, opaque distillates and blowing poo poo up.
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Nov 20, 2017 23:33
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Signing up for a brigade slot!
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Nov 20, 2017 23:35
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I hope that the 55th brigade is still in theater, there is not a finer bunch of lads that I would happily send to their deaths! If not, I suppose I will take a lesser brigade.
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Nov 20, 2017 23:39
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I would like a brigade slot.
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Nov 20, 2017 23:46
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Give me a brigade slot I can't wait to get little pixelmen horribly killed!
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Nov 20, 2017 23:48
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The swing of the main thread seemed to show a lot of German support, so let's join up here! I can take the corps slot if no one else wants it--if anyone does, arty command is good for me.
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Nov 20, 2017 23:52
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Not sure what is available but willing to take a more supportive role if people who didn't play last time want to enjoy the game at the front.
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Nov 20, 2017 23:55
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I'm not sure I have the time to dedicate to this right now so I plan to sit on the sidelines for now
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Nov 20, 2017 23:59
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Viva la France! Give me whatever slot needs a person still, I don't care!
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Nov 20, 2017 23:59
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I can do some poo poo, I guess. How about Artillery or Brigade?
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Nov 21, 2017 00:01
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Davin Valkri posted:The swing of the main thread seemed to show a lot of German support, so let's join up here! I can take the corps slot if no one else wants it--if anyone does, arty command is good for me. We need to decide other positions as well. Right now we have 6 brigade corps, 2 artillery, one engineer but no divisional commanders. EDIT: I'll take the 3rd Howitzer Regiment, with 4 155mm howitzer batteries. Cause 155 is more than 75 and that's all the calculus this artillery commander needs. Commissar Kip fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Nov 21, 2017 |
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Nov 21, 2017 00:07
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Commissar Kip posted:I'd be ok with you taking corps. I guess that makes me a division commander.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:10
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Honestly the most important thing right now is to figure out our high command.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:12
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Yeah, that sounds about right. Who are our candidates?
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Nov 21, 2017 00:13
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Right now we have: Davin Valkri on Corps chin up everything sucks on Divisional ... on Divisional Phrosphor on Brigade Fray on Brigade sullat on Brigade wokow6 on Brigade unwantedplatypus on Brigade ... on Brigade Comrade Gorbash on Engineers Vincent Van Goatse on Artillery CommissarKip on Artillery ... on Artillery Some of you said you would be ok with one of two possible positions so I kinda put you there. Sorry if this is not what you want. If you guys disagree with this lineup we can always change. Am I missing anyone? Commissar Kip fucked around with this message at 00:20 on Nov 21, 2017 |
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Nov 21, 2017 00:17
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Davin Valkri is. I'd like to hear his positions regarding victory or death before I commit to supporting his candidacy.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:19
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Compiling a quick list: Infantry Brigade Command Candidates: Phrosphor (Myself) Fray Sullat wokow6 unwantedplatypus VincentVanGoatse (Infantry or Arty) Artillery Regiment Command Candidates Commisar Kip VincentVanGoatse(Infantry or Arty) Davin Valkri (or corps command) Colonel Of Engineers Candidates ComradeGorbash Divisional Command Candidates ChinUpEverythingSucks xthetenth (or corps) Dance Officer Corps Command Candidates DavinValkri (or arty) xthetenth (or division) No preference so far but willing Hunt11 FirstScion - Infantry Staff Officer Shark Sandwich - Staff Slim Jim Pickins I will try and keep this up to date, let me know if I have missed you and you have already posted. Phrosphor fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Nov 21, 2017 |
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Nov 21, 2017 00:20
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Phrosphor posted:Compiling a quick list: You missed Comrade Gorbash. But the rest looks ok.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:21
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Commissar Kip posted:You missed Comrade Gorbash. But the rest looks ok. Updated.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:22
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I am not so sure we are going to have an individual engineer commander. Due to being on the attack I feel like the setup will mirror the first game where divisions are given engineers and then are divided up between the brigades.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:29
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I would also like to hear what the proposed commander has to say. Talk us into supporting you.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:31
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I'll throw my hat (jaunty, cavalry, for charging gallantly in) into the ring for corps command or a division. If not, I'm probably a good pick for any brittle commands or an xo staff observer.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:36
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Phrosphor posted:I would also like to hear what the proposed commander has to say. Talk us into supporting you. What? His aristocratic heritage should be more than enough evidence of his competence and good genes!
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Nov 21, 2017 00:36
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Can the Corps candidates please tell me who of you can get me the best produce at HQ? I'm tired of this peasant stuff. My support depends on the best answer. p.s. I also like rare bird dishes.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:38
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sullat posted:Davin Valkri is. I'd like to hear his positions regarding victory or death before I commit to supporting his candidacy. What do you mean, "or"? Surely the proper way of the next battle is French victory AND Boche death!
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Nov 21, 2017 00:43
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Commissar Kip posted:Can the Corps candidates please tell me who of you can get me the best produce at HQ? I'm tired of this peasant stuff. My support depends on the best answer. What is the drinks situation on the front line as well? Am I assured a well stocked bar? How many batmen can my command structure support? Thanks,
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Nov 21, 2017 00:43
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Phrosphor posted:What is the drinks situation on the front line as well? Am I assured a well stocked bar? How many batmen can my command structure support? This is also a question I'd like answered. I second Brigade General Phrosphor.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:44
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Davin Valkri posted:What do you mean, "or"? Surely the proper way of the next battle is French victory AND Boche death! That's the kind of elan I like to hear!
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Nov 21, 2017 00:47
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sullat posted:That's the kind of elan I like to hear! *psst* Ask him about the drink and food.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:47
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I'll join in, I'd like to be a division commander.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:49
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