Soldier King Campaign

1.1 This game is based on the GDW board game "Soldier King" written by Frank Chadwick. The original game used card counters to resolve battles. The present rule set converts the board game framework to allow battles to be resolved by miniatures, on the gaming table, using Frank Chadwick’s "Volley & Bayonet".

1.2 The game covers the struggle between the claimants for the vacant throne of the Estavian Empire. Each player assumes the role of a Soldier King of one of four rival kingdoms and makes the strategic military and political decisions that determine the outcome of the war – at the end of which one of their number will be crowned Emperor, and is the winner.

1.3 Other player positions are available – an Umpire is preferable to undertake administrative work plus enhance the game by thickening the fog of war. The Imperial States, known as Duchies, may also optionally be active under player control. For active Imperial States, see Rule 18: Optional Imperial Duchies below.

1.4 These rules use the term ‘player’ to indicate all players. The four Soldier King players will be specifically referred to as Principal Players, or Kings. The nine Ducal players are referred to as Dukes.

1.5 The game is set is the 18^th century, or ‘Lace Wars’ period. Players who prefer a historical style of background may choose which real-world era they wish to represent – the Age of Marlborough and Charles XII (1700-1720), the Age of Marshal Saxe (1740s) or the Age of Frederick the Great (1750s-1760s) (V&B has different rules for each sub-era of the Ancien Regime period). The Lace Wars period could be extended up to the late 1780’s in Western Europe and still retain the political flavour of the formalised age of warfare Soldier King recreates. Beyond 1789, the real-world French Revolution makes the game less adaptable to historical armies, although if you choose to play the game in a completely fictitious universe, you can have any period of calendar you wish.

1.5.1 The period chosen to illustrate the rules is the equivalent to our real-world War of the Austrian Succession (WAS): the 1740’s. The troop types available in the pool of army units reflect the V&B equivalents of 1740’s armies and the details of the troops are (very broadly) taken from Frank Chadwick’s Army Lists supplement which accompanies V&B. I say ‘very broadly’ since these armies were never intended to be historical copies and indeed fictional regiment, kings’ and generals’ names should be encouraged to add flavour and fun to the game. I also found that the map (deliberately) does not give equal opportunities to the four principal players: to maintain game balance light cavalry in particular requires a little more ‘punch’ or staying power than it’s historical equivalent in V&B. In the 1740’s light cavalry was almost exclusively irregular or Freikorps types who would be classed as pure skirmishers: in V&B, 1740s skirmish cavalry are not battle cavalry. In order to allow light cavalry greater influence on the battlefield I have given them a campaign ability to operate as 1 strength point linear regiments which are formed in close order and charge knee to knee (stands of 3" frontage and 1½" depth). They may also skirmish.

1.5.2 If the game were set in the early 1700s with Marlburian armies, then light cavalry would disappear altogether, making game balance short on this essential troop type: I suggest for this period dragoons become the equivalent of light cavalry, with some re-working of the army structures. If it were set in the 1760’s light cavalry would (more or less) by that period be true formed battle cavalry mounted on massed stands and would not present a problem. Take your pick.

Note: At this stage I don't have the map available for electronic distribution. It uses the original "Soldier King" map.

2.1 The map depicts the fictitious island continent on which the war takes place.

2.1.1 On the map are a number of white boxes, each representing a city, town, or important location. These are hereinafter referred to as city boxes (or just boxes). The boxes are grouped in twenty provinces, the borders of which are represented by dashed lines. Those boxes containing major population centres are denoted with two numbers. These indicate the recruiting values of the cities in the box. See Rule 13: Recruiting.

2.1.2 Each province has, in addition to its white city boxes, a single province box which is not connected to any other box by transportation lines. The province box contains the name of the province and a number indicating its recruiting value (explained in Rule 13: Recruiting), and is colour coded to indicate its initial ruler. The two green provinces belong to Argozia, the two gold provinces belong to Arcadia, the two blue provinces to Bravance, and the two red to Hrvatska. The remaining twelve grey provinces are the territory of the Estavian Empire, and in the basic game are initially unowned by the players. In the optional Active Duchies game, some or all of these states may have active players.

2.1.3 City boxes are connected by transportation lines. These represent rivers (blue), roads (brown), and paved highways (red).

3.1 Each player has a national army. The game colour-codes these green (for Argozia), gold (for Arcadia), red (for Hrvatska) and blue (for Bravance). While fictional armies with this theme incorporated into their uniforms are recommended and a good deal of entertainment can be had from inventing uniforms and flags; unit and general’s names, it is not necessary to model fictional armies. Historical 18^th century armies that match the national colours can be used, such as Britain and Hanover (red), Prussia, Bavaria, Sweden, Dutch Republican or Imperial (blue), Russia (green) and France, Saxony or Austria (white – in place of gold). Turks or Asian Indians might be an interesting substitute for the gold Arcadian state. Alternatively players are free to disregard the game’s colour coding system and use any Ancien Regime armies they wish.

3.2 Each Principal player begins the game with an army of 12 commands. These commands are V&B divisions, each led by a Divisional Commander figure (DC). In this context the Lace Wars period did not use the term ‘division’. To enhance period flavour I have used the term ‘column’. Ducal players will begin the game with fewer columns (between 9 and 4 depending on the Duchy). Columns are chosen from a pool of available standard units and may be freely selected within certain guidelines (see Rules 20-21: Army Composition and Standard Column Composition). There are three general types of column: infantry, heavy cavalry and light cavalry. Within the different columns there are three main qualities of troops: Raw, Experienced and Veteran. The army with which each player begins the game represents the national standing army of peacetime. This is made up of long serving professional soldiers some of whom are assumed to have combat experience in previous wars. Therefore the initial army for each Principal player is generally of Experienced quality. Ducal armies (for reasons of small state economics and petty priorities) are generally of Raw quality. Troop quality is explained below in Rule 4: Troop Quality. Two columns of each Principal player (of infantry, heavy cavalry or one of each) may be rated as the King’s Guards, or converged grenadiers (or any other elitist label that takes your fancy) and begin the game as Veteran. Ducal armies have a single Veteran-rated ‘Guards’ column (either infantry or heavy cavalry).

3.3 The column is the basic unit of map movement. It is commanded by a Major General or Lieutenant General (V&B DC). Each Principal player has in addition two Generals or Marshals (V&B CCs) and of course the person of the Soldier King himself (AC, Monarch). Each Ducal player has a single General (CC) and a Duke (AC), except those Ducal states with fewer than 6 columns: these possess only the Duke (AC). All these commanders are referred to as Officers. Should a column or columns that have no Officer higher than a DC present be engaged in battle, then the senior Officer is assumed to take command of the whole force and is temporarily promoted to a CC (thus a force of at least column strength will always fight with a commander of sufficient status to rally the troops on the battlefield). This person is demoted to DC as soon as a senior Officer (CC, AC or Monarch) arrives in the box.

3.3.2 Column size: An infantry column may contain a maximum of 8 units, a cavalry column 5. Minimum size for columns is 2 units, excluding Officers.

3.4 Garrisons: Columns may detach units as Garrisons subject to the minimum permitted size of the column (2 combat units). Garrisons may not move unless an Officer arrives to lead them, or another column ends it’s move in the same box and the Garrison is then reorganized to join the column. If a Garrison is attacked it may fight and for the purposes of the table top battle a DC is promoted to command it from a Colonel or Brigadier-General of one of the garrison regiments. This commander is demoted again as soon as an Officer arrives in the same box as the Garrison. He is never of sufficient status to move the Garrison on the map: Garrisons are always fixed unless they are reorganised to join an arriving Column.

4.1 The game recognizes four troop qualities: Raw, Experienced, Veteran and Elite. Veteran is the highest level of efficiency most troops will attain. Elite status is reserved for individual regiments and then only after extremely gallant actions. Elite status may only be awarded to a unit by a consensus of agreement between players or Umpire decision. Likewise shock status, other than that conferred on some Guard units of the standing armies, is a status which may only be attained by exemplary offensive battlefield conduct. Conversely, if a unit performs abysmally, it may drop a level in quality. Such shaming is only inflicted by the Umpire or agreement of the players.

4.2 As the game progresses further troops are recruited, trained and enter the war. These are initially raw recruits. With training and battle experience (and some luck) these will achieve the same peak of efficiency as the professional soldiers.

4.2.1 The variations in troop quality results in the following characteristics matrix:

Unit	Raw(Ex=40%)	Experienced	Veteran(Ex=60%)	Elite
Infantry Regiment	M4	M5	M6	M7
Light Infantry Battalion	M3	M4	M5	n/a
Heavy Cavalry Brigade	M4	M5	M6	M7
Light Cavalry Regiment	M3	M4	M5	n/a
Artillery Battery	M4 PPA*	M4 PT	M5 PT	n/a

Note that by virtue of the sort of people attracted to light infantry and cavalry units, and the civilian nature of teamsters in artillery, these units may never attain elite status.

5.1 After selecting his columns, each player places them in any city box or combination of city boxes in his home province(s) (those with the correct colour code in their province box). He also places his CCs and AC/Monarch.

5.2 Prior to the first turn of the game there is a diplomacy phase (winter 1739) to permit the players to form alliances, sign Treaties and discuss strategy. Further diplomacy may occur at any time, although the Umpire may regulate it (e.g. require written notes only).

6.1 Players may form and dissolve verbal alliances or agreements at any time (informal diplomatic arrangements). Informal agreements are never binding. Informal agreements may be ratified in writing by means of Treaties if the players so wish. This is a Formal Agreement. Once a Treaty has been signed it is binding. If it is broken the party in default suffers a loss of honour among his people and army officers. In this period a King or Duke was a gentleman, bound by his word.

6.2 Treaties may be fairly simple documents ("We the undersigned promise not to attack one another…", "We the undersigned promise to ally to make war upon the King of Bravance…", "We the undersigned promise not to move any troops into the Imperial Duchy of Cleves before Summer 1741…", and so on). Or they can be as complex as the parties desire with the sole limitation that they may not exceed a single side of A4 paper in length, using Times New Roman font set to 12 point size. Treaties MUST contain an inception date and bear the (legible) signatures of at least two parties. An expiry date is desirable but not compulsory. Be aware, however, that the more complex the Treaty, the more pitfalls it may contain and the more likely it is that one side or the other might break it inadvertently. Furthermore the more complex a Treaty becomes, the less easy it might be to enforce. Treaties may be drawn up for a fixed period (see the ‘Duchy of Cleves Neutrality Treaty’ above) or not.

6.2.1 To be enforceable a copy of a Treaty must be lodged with the Imperial Court. This is a file, retained by the Umpire, or kept in a secure place in view of all players.

6.2.2 A Treaty may never contain a clause which places it outside the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court (e.g. "We the undersigned agree not to be bound by the Imperial Court."). A Treaty may contain clauses which give it precedence over other Treaties but such clauses may later give a party problems in Court.

6.2.3 A Treaty may be terminated at any time by mutual written consent of the parties (normally a copy is submitted to the Umpire with ‘mutually terminated’ written on, with a date of termination and the signatures of the parties).

6.2.4 A Treaty may be broken between 6 and 10 seasons after its inception date regardless, depending on the ruling of the Imperial Court. What this last sentence means is that a Treaty is always enforceable for 18 months, and never enforceable after 30 months. The Imperial Court has complete discretion to judge, on the basis of the severity of the alleged breach, and the submissions of the Plaintiff and Defence, as to whether, within the 18 to 30 month period, a Treaty has been broken.

6.2.5 A Treaty may be drawn up for less than 18 months, but if it is drawn up for a longer period, it might not be enforceable beyond 18 months.

6.3 If a Treaty is thought to have been broken, the Plaintiff may call an Imperial Court to session. The Court consists of all the players, excluding the parties to the treaty. The Umpire is Lord Chief Justice or the Court may elect a Chief Justice from among their own number. In the event of a hung court, the Chief Justice has the casting vote. The Imperial Court is convened and the parties submit their evidence in writing. The Court may call upon the parties or witnesses to give verbal evidence and it has powers to examine any documents. The Court will then go into recess to debate the case, announcing it’s judgement before the next season. The decision of the Imperial Court is binding and there is no appeal.

6.3.1 If the terms of a Treaty are broken, the party in default must be punished. Punishments are deliberately intended to be severe enough to make the Treaty system work. For example one column of the party in default is reduced one training level (the officers and men are disheartened by the prospect of fighting for a dishonourable King or Duke). Other penalties may be inflicted at the Court’s or Umpire’s discretion. These may vary from mild punishments such as one regiment permanently changing sides to fight for the wronged party, to a complete column doing so (Guards never change sides) or a city or province being forcibly ceded to the wronged party or being declared neutral or independent.

6.4 The Court must exercise restraint when wielding its power: it is a Court of Peers and if it is too severe, one of the Court Judges may find himself on the receiving end of his erstwhile opponents wrath if a later case goes against him.

7.1 Soldier King is played in a series of turns, each representing one season of a year.

7.1.1 Each seasonal game turn consists of one strategic turn per player. If the optional Imperial Dukes rule is in use, a turn may consist of many player strategic turns.

7.1.2 The players each roll a die and the highest moves first. After the first player has completed all actions in his turn, the next player clockwise around the map conducts his turn. For example the four Principal players roll their dice with the following scores: Argozia (3) Arcadia (2) Hrvatska (5) Bravance (3). Therefore the King of Hrvatska moves first, conducting his spring turn. When he has resolved all movement, combat and promotion/recovery, play passes to his left to the King of Argozia who then conducts his spring turn. When all players have completed their player turns, the passage of one season is noted and play proceeds (in our example above) with the King of Hrvatska’s summer turn. Ducal players also roll a die. The game may begin with a Ducal player turn. The first turn of the game is spring 1740. (For games set outside the War of the Austrian Succession era, the first turn of the game could be Spring 1700 (with winter 1699 being the pre-game diplomacy season) or Spring 1760).

7.1.4 All actions in one phase must be completed before the next phase can begin. For instance, the Hrvatska player may not move any of his pieces after he has begun a battle; movement comes before combat.

8.1 The Umpire will record the location of all units for each player, and provide intelligence reports for all players at the start of each player turn. After the active player is given his intelligence reports, the operations for his turn will be written down and executed. Note that this section of the rules requires an Umpire.

8.2 Types of Reports: There are three types of intelligence reports that can be issued, depending on the sources of information that a side has available to it. They are: Inaccurate, Accurate, and Comprehensive.

8.2.1 Inaccurate Reports: These will tell whether or not there are enemy or neutral troops present in the box and may or may not correctly state their nationality. Details on their strength, commander and type will not be included. Example Inaccurate Report: Troops present, possibly Bravacians, numbers unknown.

8.2.2 Accurate Report: An Accurate Report includes the number and type of columns present, and names the commander of the overall force. Example Accurate Report: Army of West Argozia: 3 infantry and 1 cavalry columns, Marshal-General von Korbel.

8.2.3 Comprehensive Report: A comprehensive report includes the names of the army commander as well as those of the column commanders, the total number of regiments, brigades and batteries present, and whether entrenchments have been built. Example Comprehensive Report: Army of West Argozia: 3 infantry and 1 cavalry columns, totalling 10 infantry regiments, 3 cavalry brigades, 2 artillery batteries, Marshal-General von Korbel commanding. Lieutenant Generals von Pusch, von Kablinski and Lieutenant General of Cavalry Graf Witternbach; Major General Comte du Naard. No entrenchments.

8.3 Sources of Scouting: The following three sources provide intelligence reports. In the event that more than one report can be given on a box, the most detailed report will be issued. The three sources are:

8.3.1 Infantry column: This unit gets an Accurate Report on all adjacent boxes unless the box has any enemy cavalry located in it. In that case an Inaccurate Report is issued in its place.

8.3.2 Cavalry column: This unit gets a Comprehensive Report on all adjacent boxes unless the box has an enemy light cavalry column located in it. In that case an Accurate Report is issued in its place. In addition, an Accurate Report is issued for all boxes two spaces away, unless the box in between has an enemy unit in it. In that case an Inaccurate Report is received in its place. If the box in between has an enemy cavalry column in it, no report is received. Only enemy troops inhibit scouting – neutrals do not unless the player controlling the neutrals specifically states otherwise.

8.3.3 Civilian Sympathisers: A side always gets an Inaccurate Report on any box containing civilian sympathisers. All boxes which were ruled by the player at the start of the game, all boxes of a province newly ruled (but not captured cities in an unruled province), and all recruiting cities in the provinces adjacent to the players home provinces contain civilian sympathisers. If a province is newly ruled and then lost again, it’s boxes still provide Inaccurate reports.

9.1 An army has to eat and receive supplies of clothing and ammunition, and generals must take this fact into account. While an army not on campaign or one on a reasonably uncontested march on friendly soil can generally live off the land, an army massed for battle or one in hostile lands must be fed from accumulated stocks of food stored in supply dumps, referred to as magazines.

9.2 At the beginning of each spring game turn, each player receives a number of magazines. One magazine is received in each province ruled by the player, and may be placed in any city box in that province. The number of magazines that a player has on the board at any one time is the absolute limit to the number of attacks that the player may conduct per turn.

9.2.1 Once placed, a magazine may only move by river, and does so at the same rate as a column. That is, it may move one box up stream per march or two boxes down stream. Unlike army columns, however, it requires one march to move just the magazine, and columns in the same box as the magazine may not use that same march for movement.

9.2.2 If at the conclusion of any player turn there are troops belonging to another player in the same box as a player's magazine, the opposing player may (but need not) destroy the magazine. If the magazine is not destroyed, it remains in place. It may be used by the enemy player in which case the magazine is lost to the original player. The enemy player may, at his option, allow the original owning player to use the magazine. This would only arise if the two players had formed an alliance.

9.2.3 If there is a Revolt (see Rule 17: Random Events) in a city box containing a magazine but no troops, the Rebels immediately loot and eat the magazine. Remove it (and one Rebel column) from the map (the Rebels, satiated with their plunder, return to their homes).

9.2.4 All magazines are removed from the board at the conclusion of each winter game turn. Note that new magazines are then added immediately after this at the start of the spring game turn.

9.3 Supply Lines: A supply line is traced from a unit back to a magazine. The supply line may be of any length by road or water. A supply line may be traced through neutral boxes. A supply line cannot be traced through enemy owned boxes that were occupied during this turn, as ownership of a box is determined after all battles are fought. It can be traced into an enemy owned box in which a unit ends its movement but not into an enemy held box.

9.4 In order to attack in a turn, a player must be able to trace a supply line from the magazine to the attacking column along any combination of transportation lines which do not pass through any city boxes ruled or captured by another player, or in the hands of Rebels. Each attack conducted in a turn must be supplied by a different magazine. A single attack is defined as any number of columns all attacking the same enemy occupied city box. If attacks are launched on a single box from multiple locations, all the boxes containing attacking troops must be able to trace a supply line.

9.5 A force may always attack an enemy which is blocking its supply line, in order to re-open it.

9.6 Units must also be in supply to avoid attrition. Supply can be provided either by tracing a supply line back to a magazine or by foraging. Supply is determined at the start of a player’s turn, before any movement is conducted. If units are out of supply there is no immediate effect, but supply must be checked at the end of the players’ movement phase. If the units are still out of supply, they must check for attrition. Each column in the same box, out of supply suffers attrition.

9.6.1 Foraging: Units needing supply can forage in recruiting cities at the end of their movement phase. The ruled recruiting value of a city is the number of columns that can usually subsist there by foraging. However, in the winter turn the captured recruiting value of the city (the lower of the two numbers) determines the number of columns which may subsist there by foraging. Units that forage do not roll for attrition.

9.6.2 Attrition: Attrition consists of rolling one or more D6 –2 for each out of supply column and adding the total of the dice to determine how many strength points the column will lose this turn. The number of dice rolled will be determined by the season in which the die roll is made, as shown below.

Season	Dice
Winter	3
Spring-Summer	2
Autumn	1

Lost points will be allocated by the umpire. This loss is taken before any battles are resolved and (unlike battle casualties) are not subject to the percentage recovery rule at the end of the battle. However the exhaustion levels of the columns in the army are not recalculated before the battle starts, so that all battle casualties will count toward the divisions’ exhaustion.

Immediately after movement, for every box containing one or more columns, a player rolls a die for each. Deduct 1 if there is only one column in the box. Add 1 for every column after the second. Add one if the column(s) expended a march this turn. Deduct 1 if the box contains no Raw troops. The score is the total losses in SPs across all columns in the box (not each column). Losses are removed from units at the Umpire’s discretion.

10.1 When it is the first player's turn to move, he rolls a D6. The number rolled is the number of marches he may conduct in the turn. There is one exception to this; if he rolls a one, he may still make two marches. After the first player has made his move (Hrvatska in the example above), subsequent players apply a formula to their die roll. If they roll a 3 or 4, they are allocated the same number of marches as the previous player. If they roll a 1 or 2 they are allocated 1 march less and if they roll a 5 or 6 they are allocated 1 march more. Note however that no player may have less than 2 marches, or more than 6. A die roll that would result in 1 march or 7 marches is instead treated as if it had resulted in a score of 2 or 6. There is only one exception to this - see Rule 17: Random Events: Healthy Troops. Continuing the example above, the Hrvatska player rolls a 3 and so in his first spring turn his army has three marches. After he has completed his turn and play passes to the Argozia player, he rolls the die and scores 5. His army therefore has one more march than Hrvatska, or 4 marches.

10.2 Each march consists of moving any or all of the columns that start the turn in the same city box to other boxes along connecting transportation lines. Columns may move to different city boxes as part of a single march, provided they start the march in the same box.

10.3 The distance a column may move depends on what type it is and what type of transportation line it moves along.

10.3.1 Infantry may move one box along a road or two boxes along a highway. An infantry column may not move along both a road and a highway as part of the same march; for instance, an infantry column could not move one box along a highway and then one box along a road as part of the same march.

10.3.2 Cavalry columns (both light and heavy) may move two boxes along a road or highway and may combine movement along roads and highways during the same march.

10.3.3 All columns may move one box up stream on a river or two boxes down stream. No column may combine river movement with either road or highway movement as part of the same march.

10.3.4 During winter turns, no column may participate in more than one march per turn.

10.4 The moving player may distribute his marches as he sees fit, but no column may participate in more than two marches in a turn.

10.5 A column may move into a box containing enemy troops but there it must stop. This precipitates a battle and is considered to be an attack. A column may not move along a river into a box containing enemy troops.

10.6 Light Cavalry Infiltration Move: A Light cavalry column may move through a box containing enemy troops; this is called an infiltration move. A light cavalry column may make only one infiltration move in a turn. It may not end an infiltration move in a box containing enemy troops. It may not move through a box containing enemy light cavalry. It may not make an infiltration move if moving by river.

10.7 Officer movement: Officers require marches to move even if they take no units with them. Officers moving alone move at a speed of three boxes by road or highway, two boxes up stream on a river and three boxes down stream. An Officer moving with no units must do so entirely through boxes that were friendly at the start of the turn. An Officer moving with units may drop them all off during the movement phase and keep moving - but the previous sentence means that he can drop them only in boxes which are already friendly controlled - moving into an enemy controlled box means that he must retain at least one column. Units can be left in a box without a DC (see Garrisons above).

10.8 Entrenchments: Instead of moving, infantry columns may use their march to entrench. When units use a march to entrench, the frontage of the V&B infantry, artillery and dragoon stands that make up the entrenching force, is converted to hasty works. Example: two columns occupy a recruiting city box. One is an infantry column comprising 4 infantry regiment stands and an artillery battery, the second is a light cavalry column comprising a dragoon brigade and two light cavalry regiment stands. Since there is an infantry column present, the columns may entrench (infantry are assumed to have pioneering equipments in their baggage traynes – cavalry columns do not). The owning player expends a march to entrench them. Only the artillery, infantry and dragoons may entrench, thus 16½ inches of hasty works is dug in the recruiting city box.

10.8.1 It requires one march for a column to entrench in a recruiting city (any city box with recruiting numbers in it). It requires two marches to entrench in any other box. The same march may be used to move some columns out of a box and entrench others in it.

10.8.2 Columns moving into a box, or recruited in a box, containing friendly entrenched troops do not become entrenched, and if an entrenched column moves it is no longer entrenched (the works are no longer maintained and fall into disrepair). However a force smaller than that which originally dug the works is sufficient to maintain them. In the example above, if the infantry column subsequently marches out of the city box, the dragoon brigade alone is able to maintain the works.

10.8.3 Certain boxes on the map are shown as permanent entrenchments, due either to the presence of earthwork camps or lesser works placed to enhance the natural strength of the geographic position. Any column which moves into one of these boxes (and which belongs to the player who currently owns the box) is automatically entrenched. These marked entrenchments are treated as V&B field works.

11.1 When a column moves into a box containing hostile units, a battle may have to be fought.

11.2 As long as the moving player has a cavalry superiority of 2 to 1 or more in terms of adjusted cavalry strength, a battle must be fought in that box (adjusted cavalry strength is calculated by multiplying morale by strength points to better weigh the experience of the cavalry. A 2-5 cavalry brigade would have an adjusted cavalry strength of 10, while a 3-4 cavalry brigade would have an adjusted strength of 12). Light cavalry have their adjusted cavalry strength doubled for the purposes of scouting prior to battles.

11.3 Units are set up in the manner mentioned below, and the defender if he wishes to withdraw, must do so on the tabletop.

11.3.1 If the attacker lacks cavalry superiority of 2:1, the defender may withdraw his force from the box in question to any other adjacent box which is currently controlled by him, and which was not used by the enemy this turn. All of the defenders units must withdraw together, and move to the same box. No battle needs to be fought on the tabletop, but this does count as a victory for purposes of recruiting during the next winter recruiting phase for the attacking player. It does not count as a victory for the purposes of promoting troops.

11.3.2 The defender never has to withdraw unless he wishes to, as it is an option that is up to that army's commander.

11.4 Battlefield: It is the duty of the Umpire to generate the battlefield map. The Umpire will have a master file showing a 12' by 12' area for each box on the strategic map. Based on the size of the table available the defender will indicate the area that he will defend. After the defender indicates the area to be defended, the attacking player indicates the axis of orientation of the map. The Umpire will then determine the board edge that the attacker will use as his baseline, based on the orientation of the map, and the transportation routes that he used to march to the box in which the battle is fought. If no umpire is available it is suggested that one or more players who are not involved in the battle lay the terrain based on the approximate geography of the map box. The defenders’ side of the table may be dictated by the terrain but if it is not, he may choose which side becomes his base line. If the box contains a river this will be impassable for the purposes of V&B but at least two well spaced crossing points must be shown.

11.5.1 Attacker with 2:1 cavalry superiority: The defender marks his deployment area on the table as he wishes, with no units within 1' (one foot) of any board edge, or 2’ (two feet) of any board edge that is declared to be the attackers base line. He then sketches in his deployment on a rough map. He shows this sketch to the Umpire. The Umpire advises the attacker of the basic elements of the defender’s position ("infantry here and here, artillery concentrated here. Cavalry mainly on the left wing. Possibly some troops in that wood. That town is lightly defended", and so on). The attacker then sketches his deployment with troops no closer than 8" (eight inches) from the defender’s furthest forward troops, as indicated to him by the Umpire. The defender then deploys in accordance with his sketch. Then the attacker deploys in accordance with his sketch.

11.5.2 Defender with 2:1 cavalry superiority: The defender marks his deployment area on the table as he wishes, with no units within 1' (one foot) of any board edge, or 2’ (two feet) of any board edge that is declared to be the attackers base line. He then sketches in his deployment on a rough map. He shows this sketch to the Umpire. The Umpire advises the attacker of the defender’s deployment area and gives him extremely limited intelligence on where the enemy principal force is ("the enemy is mostly holding that ridge in strength"). The attacker then deploys his army no closer than 12" from the defender’s furthest forward troops, as indicated to him by the Umpire. Once the attacker has set up, the defender deploys his troops, in accordance with his sketch.

11.5.3 Neither side with 2:1 cavalry superiority. The defender marks his deployment area on the table as he wishes, with no units within 1' (one foot) of any board edge, or 2’ (two feet) of any board edge that is declared to be the attackers base line. He then sketches in his deployment on a rough map. He shows this sketch to the Umpire. The Umpire indicates the deployment area to the attacker and gives him general intelligence on where the enemy principal main force is ("the enemy has these two towns garrisoned with further supporting troops on the hill to the left. There appears to be some cavalry beside that wood"). The attacker then sketches out his deployment no closer than 10" from the defender’s furthest forward troops, as indicated to him by the Umpire. Both sides then deploy simultaneously in accordance with their sketches.

11.7 If more than one transportation line is used to bring troops to the battlefield, then a separate deployment area is set up for each such force. Note it might be possible for the attacker to enter on more than one board edge.

11.8 Starting Time: The attacker rolls a D6, and adds the number rolled to the hour of sunrise to determine the starting time for the engagement. If the attackers column(s) entered by more than one transportation line, then a separate die roll is made for each force. The later starting wing of the attacker’s army cannot move until the appointed hour although it may conduct long range artillery fire and go stationary. If the defender counter-attacks a delayed wing of the attacking force, and moves units into contact, into short artillery range or into infantry musket range, then the attackers wing may respond and make moves and/or attacks freely. The battle continues until one side decides to withdraw or concedes defeat. If sunset occurs before the defender is forced to withdraw or concedes, the battle may continue on in darkness at the attackers option but he may halt it at any time. A maximum of three night turns are permitted before the troops, by their own inertia and fatigue, will mutually cease fighting. If the night fighting peters out and the defender still holds the attacker’s objective(s), then the attacker has lost and must withdraw. In this era there were no multiple day battles.

Season	Sunrise	Sunset/Dusk	Full Dark
Winter	7 a.m.	4 p.m.	5 p.m.
Spring	5 a.m.	7 p.m.	8 p.m.
Summer	4 a.m.	9 p.m.	10 p.m.
Autumn	6 a.m.	7 p.m.	8 p.m.

Example: A battle takes place in spring. The attacker rolls a 4 on his dice and so the action commences at 9 a.m. At the end of the 6 p.m. turn (after 10 turns) the sun goes down and the following turn (7 p.m. to 8 p.m.) is fought in twilight. At 8 p.m. it is full dark. If the attacker wishes, he can continue fighting for the 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. turns. At 11 p.m. fighting will cease.

11.9.1 For fighting in dusk, use the following rules: Command radius drops to 4". Troops may not rally.

11.9.2 For fighting in darkness, use the following rules: Command radius is 4", troops may not rally or recover disorder. Visibility is 2". All units suffer a –1 on morale.

11.10 Reinforcements: Reinforcements may not be brought onto the field while a battle is in progress.

11.11 Retreats: All columns must retreat to the same box; the box must not contain any enemy columns and must not be an enemy-owned recruiting city. If there are no such boxes adjacent to the battle, the columns may not retreat. If possible, the retreat must be to a friendly-owned box, but this is not required if there are none available. A player's columns may not retreat to a box from which enemy columns entered the battle. If an army retreats, the other side wins the battle.

11.12 Victory: If any portion of a battle has been fought on the tabletop, after it is over it counts as a victory for purposes of recruiting during the next winter recruiting phase for the winning player as well as a victory for the purposes of promoting troops.

If 4 and at least one of requirements 1, 2 or 3 is achieved, the attacker is the winner.

The principal town of a city box will be a single stone-built town block. The principal town of a recruiting city box will be 2 stone-built town blocks. All other towns and villages unless designated as manors, castles, or well built farms (all village stone bases) will be wooden built.

11.13 Conceding Defeat: This era was characterised by a formal style of warfare, the principal elements of which were that a beaten enemy was rarely pursued, and if a pursuit was conducted it was never vigorous. A player may concede defeat at any time and the victor will allow him to retreat, giving him the famous ‘Golden Bridge’ to retire. Modern player mindsets may find this concept alien, but this was the age when war was the sport of kings and gentlemen, when state resources for war were limited (and money could be much better spent on glorifying one’s palace). Consequently no-one wanted to expend money on replacing expensively trained soldiers and if an enemy was beaten a victor recognized that fact and permitted his beaten foe to withdraw. After a battle an army would succour it’s casualties, gather up and parade the spoils, sing a few Te Deums and fire off a few Feu de Joie’s. This was not a period of politics where destruction of the enemy army was the primary object. Pressuring the opponent into ceding land was the object. Additionally the army command structures of this era were incapable of co-ordinating long range pursuit strategies, and the type of heavy cavalry in use in this period were unsuited to this function. Furthermore the types of rather hairy light cavalry available meant these could not be trusted to go off and achieve military objectives in pursuit – they would seek personal gain and most likely ignore the army commanders strategic aims. Therefore, on the gaming table, when one side utters the fateful phrase "I concede the battle," the game immediately halts, with the single proviso that both sides must have conducted an equal number of attacker turns.

12.1 After all battles are fought, the recovery and promotion phase commences:

12.2 Recovery: The victor recovers two thirds of his infantry and cavalry losses and all his artillery losses unless his guns were eliminated in melee, when half are recovered. The loser recovers half of his infantry and cavalry losses and all his artillery losses unless his guns were eliminated in melee, or routed as a result of melee, when half are recovered. If an odd number of artillery losses still remain, round to the nearest whole number, rounding halves up.

12.3 Promotion: Promotion affects the status of a stand. Stands are classified as Raw, Experienced, Veteran, and in very rare cases, Elite. The status of a stand affects its morale, the percentage of losses used to determine exhaustion, and in rare cases, it's status as "shock" troops. The listing of a unit as PT, "Poorly Trained" is not affected by promotion, but by recruiting as mentioned in Rule 13: Recruiting.

12.3.1 Raw Stands: Raw stands, which include newly raised troops, have a formed infantry and cavalry and artillery morale of 4, and a light cavalry and light infantry morale of 3. Raw units use 40% as their exhaustion number. Raw stands can be promoted to Experienced status. Raw artillery are PPA.

12.3.2 Experienced Stands: Experienced stands, which are either stands which have seen action or are well trained, have a formed infantry and cavalry and artillery morale of 5, and a light cavalry and light infantry morale of 4. Experienced units use 50% as their exhaustion number. Experienced stands can be promoted to Veteran status. Experienced artillery are PT.

12.3.3 Veteran Stands: Veteran stands can only be promoted by combat experience. They have a formed infantry and cavalry morale of 6 and artillery, light cavalry / infantry morale of 5. Veteran columns use 60% as their exhaustion number. Veteran stands can under special circumstances be promoted to elite status. Veteran artillery are PT.

12.3.4 Elite Stands: Elite stands can only be promoted due to combat experience, and then only on a stand by stand basis. They have an infantry and cavalry morale of 7. Artillery and light troops can never be Elite. Elite units use the exhaustion number of the majority stands of their parent division.

12.3.5 Mixed Formations: From time to time columns will exist that are made up of a mixture of stands of different status. In these cases, the exhaustion number of the largest group within the column in terms of SP's will be used. Thus, pairing two 3-4 infantry stands with a pair of Veteran 2-6 infantry stands in a column will cause that column to use 40% for its exhaustion number.

12.4 How Promotion Occurs: Stands may be promoted under any of the following circumstances, with the proviso that any given stand may only be promoted once per seasonal strategic game turn.

12.4.1 Promotion by Training: During the recovery and promotion phase, one column within that sides army can be promoted from Raw to Experienced, even though they may not have been in combat during that turn. These columns have the morale of the stands within the column adjusted upward by 1, and their exhaustion number becomes 50%. Promotion by training can only be used to raise stands from Raw to Experienced - it may not be used to raise stands from Experienced to Veteran.

12.4.2 Combat Promotion: During the recovery and promotion phase, for each battle gamed out on the tabletop that turn, the following is done. The winning side gets to pick two columns and the losing side gets to pick one for battlefield promotion from the columns that participated in that particular battle. These columns may be promoted one level in status if the following conditions are met: To promote from Raw to Experienced the column must have been engaged in action. To be considered engaged in action the column must have either caused casualties, or taken casualties during the course of the battle. To promote from Experienced to Veteran, the requirements are a bit different. If all of the sides columns present are rated as Experienced already, including any promotions just given out, then Experienced columns can be raised to Veteran status if they were engaged in combat. If on the other hand not all of the sides columns present are already Experienced, and a player wishes to promote an Experienced column to Veteran, then the following criteria must be met: The newly promoted columns must have been engaged in action, and gone into exhaustion without suffering a morale collapse. If this condition has not been met, then the Experienced column can not be promoted to Veteran. Veteran columns are only allowed to have a single infantry/cavalry stand with a morale of 6. The remaining stands in that column remain with morale of 5. However the exhaustion rate for the column is now set at 60% instead of the veteran level of 50%. Note that light troops and artillery never have morale higher than 5.

12.4.3 Battlefield Promotion and Demotion: From time to time stands will perform above and beyond what can be expected of them or conversely fail to carry the day when all is in their favour, The Umpire reserves the right to make such promotions and demotions as the events on the battlefield play out. The ability to confer shock status on stands can also be earned on the battlefield.

12.4.4 Winter Quarters: In the movement phase of each winter turn the player whose turn it is may promote one column per march not used for movement. This represents intensive drill and training of the troops in winter quarters. A column thus promoted is assumed to have conducted its one allowed winter march, even though it does not actually move. Note that one march allows the promotion of only one column, not every column in the same box. Promotions by training may only be made from Raw to Experienced, never to Veteran. If all columns in a player’s army are Experienced, no promotions by training are possible.

13.1 Each player may recruit additional columns during the promotion phase of his winter game turn (only). When recruiting, a player may bring into play a number of new columns, of raw quality, up to his Recruiting Capacity. His Recruiting Capacity is determined by summing two variables:

13.1.1 Base Recruiting Number: This represents the efficiency of the government machine to recruit men. It also represents the soundness of the economy and infrastructure to supply and deliver uniforms, armaments and munitions and to conduct basic training and drill. This is 1 in the winter of the first year of the war. It rises to 2 in the second winter of the war and to 3 in the third. It thereafter drops to 2 for the fourth to fifth winters of the war and should the war continue beyond five years, infrastructure exhaustion begins to bite and the recruiting number drops to 1 per winter thereafter.

13.1.2 Popularity: The more battles a nation wins, the more popular it’s leader becomes, the more respect he commands from his people and the more willing recruits become available. For every battle won in the previous year, add 1 to the number of columns that may be recruited. Each player should keep a record of the number of victories he wins during the year.

13.2 However, a player's ability to recruit is not just the sum of his Base Recruiting Number and Popularity. Maximum army size is limited by the following conditions:

13.2.1 Local Recruiting Capacity: Men and horses are in limited supply in each area. No more than one column may be raised in each friendly recruiting city.

13.2.2 Army Maximum Size: An army cannot keep on devouring cannon fodder indefinitely. The total manpower capacity of the state is governed by its size (essentially major population centres: the number of recruiting cities controlled or ruled). The numbers in the recruiting city boxes are used to determine the maximum allowable size of a player's army. Each recruiting city contains two numbers. The first (higher) number is the number added to the maximum army size of a player if he rules the city. The second (lower) number is the number added to his maximum army size if he merely captures the city (the distinction is explained below). A player may recruit columns to bring him to his army maximum; however, if his army already exceeds his current maximum, he is not required to remove columns, he simply may not raise new formations.

13.3 Newly raised columns use the organisations found in Rule 21. They may be placed in any recruiting city held by the side raising them, with a maximum of one column per location raised.

14.1 After all promotions are taken, the active player may reorganise his forces by shifting stands between columns. Troops can normally only be reorganised as long as the units are in the same box on the map. However columns are administrative as well as tactical organisations, and it may be sensible for the units left behind in various boxes to be combined as a column whose function is Garrison duties. Therefore at the Umpire's discretion reorganisations may take place when not all units are present in the same box.

14.1.1 Note that cavalry and infantry may never be mixed in a single column. Artillery may never be added to cavalry columns (except for battalion guns), and heavy cavalry may not be added to light cavalry columns. Light cavalry may be added to heavy cavalry columns but such a formation is still treated as a heavy cavalry column. Excluding Officers, the maximum size of an infantry column is 8 units (of which a maximum of 2 may be artillery) and the minimum is 2 (of which a maximum of 1 may be artillery). The upper and lower limits for both heavy and light cavalry columns are 5 and 2. Rebels never reorganize. If by reorganisation, an Officer is left without troops, he is promoted to a CC. One of the purposes of reorganisation is to permit weak columns to be combined into stronger ones and this releases used ‘column slots’ to allow a greater Army Maximum Size.

14.1.2 The restrictions on the size of columns as listed in Rule 3: The Armies, must be maintained. Players may also consolidate stands whose size drops below 2 strength points in the case of formed infantry and cavalry. These stands may be consolidated with other stands within the box, provided that the new stands do not exceed 4 SP's in the case of formed infantry, and 3 SP's in the case of cavalry brigades. If consolidated with a stand with a different status rating, the rating of the majority of the converged unit is used.

14.2 1SP Units: From time to time 1 SP formed units may come into existence as a result of battle casualties which cannot be consolidated. 1 SP cavalry units will be linear stands. 1 SP units that are created as the result of battlefield losses may be consolidated when they are co-located with a unit they can consolidate with.

15.1 At the start of the game, all city boxes in the two native provinces of each Principal player belong to those players and all of the boxes of the Estavian Empire belong to no player (see Rule 18: Optional Imperial Duchies for Estavian Duchy activation). A player captures a box by having at least one unit there at the end of any player turn after all battles have been fought (not just at the end of a march). The box has then been captured by that player. Units that move through a box in the course of the turn do not capture the box.

16.1 At the start of the game, each Principal player rules two provinces, and thus rules all of the cities in those provinces. There are two ways in which a player may come to rule additional provinces: a plebiscite or a direct grant.

16.1.1 Plebiscite: A plebiscite is the process of the enfranchized citizens of a province voting to choose a ruler. A plebiscite may be used by a player to rule a province that either has no ruler or is currently ruled by another player. For a player to hold a successful plebiscite (that is, one which will confirm him as the legitimate ruler) he must have at least one column (not a garrison) in each recruiting city in the province. Plebiscites may only be held by a player at the beginning of his player turn, before any movement takes place. Note that it is possible for a plebiscite to take place and a province to change rulers while enemy troops are in it.

16.1.2 Direct Grant: A player who rules a province already may make a direct grant of it to another player at any time.

17.1 Eight random events may occur. Allocate two playing cards from a standard deck to each (both red aces for Good Harvest, both black aces for Rebellion, etc) and shuffle the 16 cards. At the beginning of each spring game turn, immediately after new magazines are placed but before any player turns have taken place, each Principal player draws one random event card. The player who normally moves first draws first, and drawing then proceeds in the normal order of player turns.

17.2 Before examining his random event card, each Principal player in turn declares which province on the map he wishes his event to apply. If he applies the card to a province containing troops of several players, he must also declare which player it applies to in case it should prove to be one of the events which applies to only one player. All random event cards are revealed and their results take effect before the first player spring turn.

17.2.1 Good Harvest (red ace): If a good harvest marker is drawn, a particularly bountiful harvest was enjoyed by the designated province, and one extra magazine is added in that province. If the province is ruled by a player, that player receives the magazine in any city box of that province he desires. If the province is not ruled by any player, the player designated as being affected by the event receives the magazine in any desired city box of that province.

17.2.2 Healthy Troops (red queen): The troops in the province belonging to the player designated as affected by the event had an unusually restful and healthy winter. As a result, the affected player receives one more march than indicated by the die roll in his spring player turn. At least one of his marches must be used by army pieces from the province in which the healthy troops are quartered. Note that this is the only occasion that a player may ever receive 7 marches.

17.2.3 Fortress (red king): An enterprising engineer officer spent the winter months conducting a complete survey of the province looking for positions of natural strength. The player designated as affected by the event may place an entrenchment marker on any city box in the province. These function exactly as entrenchment markers permanently on the map (see Rule 10: Movement). A player may place his entrenchments in a box that already contains an entrenchment marker. In this case, when troops occupy this position, half the length of entrenchments may be converted to Forts. These function as a Fort in V&B. A column that begins a turn in a box containing a Fortress may expend a march to demilitarize it (that is, dismantle it). Remove the entrenchment marker.

17.2.4 Drillmaster (red knave): A garrison commander was particularly conscientious about drilling and training the troops of the provincial garrison in winter quarters. The player designated as affected by the event may immediately make one additional promotion of one of the columns in the province. Even Experienced columns may be promoted to Veteran by this means. This is the only occasion on which Veteran status may be attained off the battlefield.

17.2.5 Poor Harvest (black king): Bad weather and crop blight has lowered farm yields. A poor harvest cancels the effects of a good harvest. In a ruled province in which there was a poor harvest, no magazine is received. In a province not ruled by a player, the player who the card has been applied to, rolls a D6. The result is the number of strength points permanently removed from his forces in the province due to starvation.

17.2.6 Typhus (black queen): An epidemic of typhus has broken out among the troops. All players with columns in the province must remove 50% of the strength points from one column from each city box in the province in which the player has more than one column. A column is not affected in if there is only one in a city box. The owning player is allowed to choose which specific column is struck by Typhus.

17.2.7 Equine Encephalitis (black knave): An epidemic of equine encephalitis has broken out among the cavalry mounts in the province. One cavalry column (heavy or light) has 50% of its strength points removed from one city box that contains any cavalry column(s). The owning player is allowed to choose which column is struck by equine encephalitis when several are in the same city box. The strength points of men are not lost. They immediately convert to formed infantry stands with EFD, and no BGs. They become a Garrison unless there is an infantry column in the city box they may join. However they may not be reorganised into that infantry column until the reorganisation phase, and the maximum column size rule applies.

17.2.8 Revolt (black ace): The citizens of the province, fed up with the tyranny of the squabbling soldier kings, rise up in armed revolt. A number of Rebel columns immediately appear equal to the total recruiting value of the province (counted as if it were ruled). The rebels appear in the recruiting cities of the province, with the number appearing in each city equal to its ruled recruiting value. An additional player turn is inserted at the beginning of the game turn, during which the rebels will conduct their attacks. Once placed, rebels never move, and thus there is no movement phase in the rebel turn.

17.2.8.1 Rebel columns appear in recruiting cities whether or not there are army columns of one of the players in the city. If there are player columns in the city, the rebels attack. One of the other players should command the rebel forces in the battle. Rebels never retreat from battle.

17.2.8.2 If the rebels win a battle, two of their columns which participated are promoted to Rebel Experienced columns. No Rebel unit may be promoted to Veteran. If a player wins a battle against rebels, only one promotion is awarded as the experience gained fighting Rebels is of less value than against regular troops. Defeated Rebels are dispersed (remove any Rebel columns forced out of the box).

17.2.8.3 The revolt continues until there are no Rebel columns on the map at the end of a season turn. So long as the revolt continues (at least one Rebel column is still on the map), one new Rebel column will appear each Rebel player turn to replace any two Rebel columns lost the previous turn. In each city Rebel columns may appear equal to the difference between the recruiting value of the city and the number of Rebel columns already there.

17.2.8.4 The unit mix of Rebel columns is listed at the end of Rule 21. Their armies are structured cyclically by column type (that is if one Rebel column appears, it is a Type 1 infantry, if three appear there is one each of Type 1 infantry, Type 2 infantry and a cavalry column).

18.1 If sufficient players are available the petty Dukedoms of the Estavian Empire may become active. Each will have it’s Duke (or Bishop for Bishoprics, and Freemen’s or Merchant’s Council for Free Cities, States-General for Republics – take your pick).

18.1.1 The Estavian Duchies are: Naervaron (6 columns), Cleve (8 columns), Sinistria-Cotlas (4 columns each), Dupanen-Bern (4 columns each), The Hereditary Lands (8 columns), The Bravacian March (6 columns), Banst (7 columns), The Midlands (8 columns), Upper and Lower Waldow (4 and 5 columns respectively). If a very large gathering of players is available, the dual Duchies may be further split into individual minor states. Note the joint Duchies of Dupanen-Bern are geographically separate.

18.1.2 Not all Duchies need be active at once. Those inactive are neutral and their borders may be freely violated by any player. Duchy commands may suit intermittently available players who might travel to gaming events at infrequent intervals – one Duchy may become active for a single session then lapse again into neutrality.

18.2 The object of the game for Duchy players is to stay alive and independent. These fiercely self-motivated petty princes are enjoying the lack of central control of an Empire with no Emperor to boss them around. They pay less taxes and get away with more abuses of their peasants when the Imperial Inspectors are lax. The Duchy players are weaker militarily and it’s obvious that they will probably lose a stand up war against a Soldier King, should one put his mind to it. They therefore need to ally with another Duke, or even with a Soldier King in return for mutual security or adventure (ally Ducal forces may march with Royal armies and Ducal magazines may be drawn upon by allied Royal armies). It is possible for a Cabal of Dukes to assemble and if they control 5 (not 4) of the 7 electoral cities they may appoint themselves as the Imperial Council and win the war. The Soldier Kings may of course refuse to recognise the legality of such a Council… It might be possible (but not terribly likely) that a single Duke be crowned Emperor by taking 4 of the electoral cities himself. As you can see the Duchies can have considerable leverage and will add greatly to the character and Machievallian depth of the game.

18.4 Warning: In a game with this many players the tempo of the campaign will slow down, victory for all becomes much harder, diplomacy becomes essential and an Umpire (or Umpire Team) is indispensable.

19.1 The game has no specified length, and is played until one player (or a Ducal Council) wins. A Soldier King player wins when he holds (by capture or rule) four or more of the seven electoral cities of the empire for one complete non-winter game turn. The seven electoral cities are those marked with a crown. When a player has successfully done this, he is elected emperor and wins the game.

20.1 When choosing which columns to have in an army, a player must adhere to the following proportions.

20.1.2 Light cavalry may form up to half the total cavalry columns at any one time.

20.1.3 Infantry columns must be selected in order by type. If an army has only one infantry column, it must be a Type 1. If the army has two columns they will be a Type 1 and a Type 2. Three columns will produce one each of Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3, and so on. Once one of each type has been selected, cycle through the sequence again. Thus an army with 7 infantry columns will have two Type 1s, two Type 2s, two Type 3s and one Type 4. The deliberate intent of this system is to reduce the amount of heavy artillery.

20.2 Recruiting during the campaign: The same proportions must be adhered to each winter when recruiting new formations. So if three infantry columns are raised in winter, no heavy artillery may be raised. The only means of raising heavy artillery is to raise at least four infantry columns at the start of the game or in one winter.

20.3.1 Guards may be infantry or heavy cavalry. Once a player has chosen his columns he may convert one (or if a Principal player, two) to Guards. In a Guards Column the morale of all infantry and cavalry units is raised by 1. Artillery morale is not raised. One of the infantry regiments may be rated shock, to indicate a crack grenadier regiment. If a Guards infantry column contains a skirmish battalion, this is upgraded to sharpshooters.

20.3.2 Howitzers: One in three field and heavy artillery batteries may be converted to howitzers. The howitzer battery converted may be a field battery or a heavy battery. During each winter recruiting season, one artillery battery may be converted to howitzers providing the army possesses at least three non-howitzer field or heavy batteries.

20.3.3 Dragoons may dismount as skirmish stands or linear infantry. When dismounted, dragoons are always EFD.

20.3.4 PPA artillery: When newly recruited, all artillery is PPA. It improves to PT after two seasons.

20.3.5 EFD infantry: All Ducal infantry is always Early Firelock Drill to represent the conservative military attitude and/or parsimonious training establishments in the petty Imperial states. All Rebel formed infantry is also EFD.

20.3.6 BG: All formed infantry has Battalion Guns in this campaign, except Rebels, who do not.

22.1 Retreating before or during a battle. After the experience of one campaign I found that section 11.13 made the whole battle process inherently broken as a player who thought the game was going against him could retire from the field and suffer almost no damaging consequences. To fix this the following rules were introduced, which I recommend.

22.11 Retreating before a battle (retreater has cavalry superiority): The side that retreats suffers no morale penalty. The victor (the side that forced it’s opponent to retreat), gains a +1 recruit bonus next winter but no promotions.

22.12 Retreating before a battle (retreater has cavalry inferiority): The side that retreats suffers a -1 morale penalty on every stand (but no stand may drop below M3). All exhaustion levels drop accordingly. No other troop quality is affected (Shock, ss, etc). The victor (the side that forced it’s opponent to retreat), gains a +1 recruit bonus next winter but no promotions. This represents the men being partly disillusioned with their cowardly or dishonourable commanders, plus some morale impact from loss of baggage or enemy cavalry harrying the withdrawal.

22.13 Conceding defeat during a battle without marching off the table: The side that retreats suffers a -1 morale penalty on every stand (but no stand may drop below M3). All exhaustion levels drop accordingly. No other troop quality is affected (Shock, ss, etc). Certain stands that the Umpire deems to have ‘fought well’ do not suffer this -1. The victor (the side that forced it’s opponent to retreat), gains a +1 recruit bonus next winter and 2 promotions. The side that concedes gains 1 promotion. Both sides suffer normal battle casualties. Rationale as per 22.12.

22.14 Marching off the table during a battle without conceding defeat: The side that retreats suffers no adverse penalty except battle losses (the Commander did not lose his head and the men are buoyed up by the knowledge that they conducted a successful fighting retreat). The gains a +1 recruit bonus next winter and 2 promotions. The side that withdrew gains 1 promotion. Both sides suffer normal battle casualties

After playing the campaign once and experiencing some truly huge battles (60,000 a side) I think the game would run well if either the number of columns were reduced by 2 each and the Ducal armies by 1 each, or one stand was deleted from each column. We did not use the Optional Rule section of 9.6.2. This rule ought to give fairly severe attrition from disease and reduce army sizes.

I have not played with the Imperial Ducal Players option. If you were to do so, using email and up to about 2 dozen players, and with all the diplomacy stops pulled out, this game would work extremely well.

© Martin Soilleux-Cardwell, 1999 and thanks to Greg Novak (for his ACW Campaign System based on AHD) and Frank Chadwick (at some distant moment in the past for the original SK and, of course, for Volley and Bayonet).