Napoleonic Wargame By Ashley Sear Placed in The Public Domain 24/11/90.(Revised V2 12/01/91,V3 11/03/91, V4 20/05/91).Programmed in HiSoft Basic and Hisoft Extend) The author retains copyright and will allow the program to be freely distributed. The cost of copying/distribution should be all you have paid for this program. Based On The Shoeburyness Wargames Group Rules. The Shoeburyness Wargames Group is located in Shoeburyness,Near Southend,Essex, England. The program assumes a very elementary knowledge of wargaming as it applies to physical formations,unit sizes,weapon types and scales. If you have any queries about the program I will try to help or clarify any query put in writing.I will reply only to those queries/comments which include return postage.As this reply service is otherwise free of charge,if you send a query please be patient when waiting for a reply. Ashley Sear 26 Denham Road Canvey Island Essex SS8 9HB England The Concept Of These Rules ========================== These rules are designed as a "Top Down" implementation of Napoleonic warfare and as such much of the operational detail has been generalised. The overall design is based on operations with a division or corps size army,the smallest unit involved will be a single artillery battery,cavalry regiment,or infantry battalion. Reserve Area ============ Each army must designate an area as reserve,where units on reserve orders will retire.If the reserve area is threatened or attacked then a new area will be designated and all reserve units moved accordingly. The Program =========== The program,written in basic,controls the game mechanics and means that notes and dice are not required.The program is self explanatory and menu driven. Please read and take note of any information the program presents to you as action may well be needed in the form of formation changes,inactivity,forced moves etc.Figure removal is unnecessary. Menus are active only when the prompt appears. Arranging Files =============== On the disk as supplied there is one default army and battle both under the name "ashley",the program will sort out which is which. Who Does What ============= The computer will keep track of casualties,ammunition expenditure and other game mechanics.YOU are responsible for moving units,deciding when morale tests are made,and notifying the computer of changes in formations or orders. Timescales ========== These rules do not adhere to any fixed timescale but are driven by battlefield events,allowing results of say, a melee to be resolved in one move or a superior officer to launch an attack before a less competent adversary has a chance to move. Groundscales ============ These rules are written for a 1:50 ground scale where 1cm=20m. Figurescales ============ Any desired figurescale of your models is immaterial as the program is set up to accept and calculate the actual number of men on a 1:1 ratio. Creating an Army ================ The first act prior to starting an engagement is to create the order of battle, the limits on the order of battle are: Maximum of 100 units per side,including officers All corps/divisions/brigade must have a unit number ie: 30 corps 4 division 5 Brigade This is used to transfer units and to create the command structure lists,unlike many similar programs you will refer to units or generals by name. Each army has a name. Only two armies may be entered,although the armies may be made up of a variety of nations if required,if a nation does not appear in the options choose the one that is closest in ability. The different nations have differing abilities in various arms or morale tests. To enter a unit answer the questions presented in the program,if you make an error you can re-input the unit.Duplicated unit names are prohibited within the same army.Save this file under the 'SAVE FORCES' option before proceeding. If you load an army you will be required to allocate artillery ammunition and type for each battery,once this is done save the file under the 'SAVE BATTLE' option. You may save/load a battle/force at any time the menu is active. Game Sequence ============= 1. At Start Of Game Decide Nominal Intitiative and Designate Reserve Areas. 2. Both Sides Move Officers 3. Activate Officer/Steal Initiative On Computer Activated Officer 4. Activate Orders On Computer 5. Change Formation On Computer 6. Chargers Close to 4cms 6. Melee On Computer 7. Move Other Troops 8. Shooting On Computer 9. Request Morale Tests 10. Goto 3 Until No More Officers Competing For Activation Activate Any Unactivated Officers 11. Rally Any Desired Units.(Rallied Units may Not Move Next Turn. 12. Morale Tests On Any Eligible Units Not Already Tested Morale ====== There are 5 levels of morale in these rule: Battlemad Must Charge The Nearest Enemy Formation --------- Will Not Change Formation Steady Stands And Obeys Orders ----- Will Fire At Chargers At Short Range Will Readily Change Formation Unsteady Will Fire At Charges When In Medium Range -------- Will Normally Change Formation Shaken Likely To Rout If Charged ------ Will Not Normally Change Formation Will Rout Directly Away From Nearest Enemy Routing Must Move Directly Away From Nearest Enemy ------- To recover a units morale the situation must be improved.Factors are: Rank of General within 5cm Current Casualty as % Current Morale Charging/Being Charged In Cover Formation Troop Class Troop Type Nationality Combat ====== When fighting an enemy unit the factors considered are: Formations Size Of Units Type Of Units Type Of Weapons Speed Of Movement Range Cover Morale Troop Class Fatigue Nationality When fighting hand to hand the melee will be continued to its conclusion in the same round,although the winner at each stage may elect to try and rally his troops and break off the melee. Command ======= For a general to be in command he must be within 20cm of his superior For an infantry or artillery unit to be in command it must be within 15cm of its officer For an cavalry unit to be in command it must be within 30cm of its officer For a unit to be supported it must be within 15cm of another friendly unit. A general will try to activate orders for the brigade,and the success is dependent upon his ability.A replacement officer is always of a lower ability than the original officer. The scope of orders are: Assault ------- The only order under which infantry charges may be initiated. The units affected must close and charge home against the desired enemy. Only one formation change is allowed before the charge is made.Artillery never charge. Deploy ------ The units affected will close to within musketry range but unless cavalry will not charge. Once within range the units may not retire out of range. Formations are changed as required. Break Off --------- The units operating under these orders will retire out of musketry and/or charge distance and will maintain seperation at all times. Formations are changed as required. Manouveure --------- These units will allow units to travel at evade rate.No firing will be allowed. Only one formation change will be allowed Reserve ------- Units under reserve orders will assemble at the rear in the area designated prior to game start. No firing will be allowed.Units will form column on arrival at reserve area. Units in reserve may rebuild some of their original strength each turn. Reserve units will recover fatigue faster than normal. Units remain in the reserve area until the orders are changed. Hold These units will defend an area but will not fire or charge unless first fired upon or charged. Formations are changed as required.Units may not move further than 15cm from the area to hold. Fatigue ------- Units accrue fatigue each turn unless in reserve.Units will accrue fatigue faster if they fire or melee. Fatigue affects the units firing or melee efficiency. Movement Rates ============== Unit Type Normal Charge Evade Rout Infantry Skirmish 10 14 16 16 Column 10 14 14 16 Line 7 10 10 16 Square 4 N/A N/A N/A Unformed N/A N/A N/A 16 Light/Line Cavalry 24 30 35 35 Heavy Cavalry 16 20 24 32 Horse Artillery Limbered 16 N/A 24 32 Light/Medium Foot Artillery 8 N/A N/A 16 Heavy Foot Artillery 5 N/A N/A 16 Artillery Deployed 4 N/A 16(Crew 16(Crew Only) Only) Officers 24 30 35 35 Terrain Modifiers ----------------- Affect Formation Roads +50% Column Steep Hills -50% Unchanged Gentle Hills -25% Unchanged Woods -25% Unformed Built Up Areas -50% Column Linear Obstacles -50% Unformed Amount Of Move to Change Formation =================================== To Column Line Square Skirm Limber /Unlimber From Column Nil 50% 50% 50% XX Line 50% Nil 100% 50% XX Square 50% 100% Nil XX XX Skirm 100% 100% XX Nil XX Unformed 100% 100% 100% 100% XX Limber/ Unlimber XX XX XX XX 25% Any unit which does not successfully change formation may become unformed. Version 2 Enhancements ======================= In version 2 the following was added: When an artillery ball was fired it could bounce several times before coming to rest,I have allowed this to be duplicated by response to the question,range check is performed as normal but effect is reduced for each bounce.Up to 3 bounces are allowed. Your generals are allowed to show initiative and insubordination,(you show initiative if your ideas works,but its insubordination when they don't!.This is used to override a superiors orders and is based on the ability of the junior general. All distances are now entered in metres,although for game purposes no difference would be noticed if both sides used yards (real measurements!) Version 3 Changes ================== No serious operational changes here just the addition of IFF picture,and sound to the program. The last change was to allow full file spec,excluding the .oob or .battle extension to be entered for loading/saving files (eg: dh0:wardata/ashley). Version 4 Changes ================= Minor bug fix,(You really had to be unlucky to find it.) Max Units in an army increased to 200. Disk made auto-boot. Version 5 Changes ================= Final bug fix (hopefully) - thanks to Andy Hartley for finding it. Better menu operation under Workbench 2 by fixing menu colors within the program. Clarifications ============== I have included two hypothetical armies for the start of your games playing they are in a drawer "data"... 1. ashley.oob (Order Of Battle) 2. ashley.battle (Start Of Battle) "Forces" is the army creation menu "Combat" is the game menu itself A force is an army without artillery ammunition defined while a battle is any force with artillery ammunition defined. You are limited to 15 rounds of artillery ammunition because it stops the unrealistic long-range artillery duels common in some games. If know about Napoleonic armies you will notice that the forces in the supplied army lists are actually all part of Victors' 9th Corps of August 1812,Kellermans' 3rd Cavalry Corps of 1815 plus a few odds & ends,split into two approximately equal armies but reflecting actual historical field strengths at this time..These Units were all French Allies so would never have met in the field as enemies-but they're all the troops I have. Ashley Sear 28.12.91