MARSTON LESS

 

Fast Wargames Rules for the English Civil War

by Tony Cullen (c)Copyright 2002


Introduction:
The principle behind this game is to be able to fight a stylised ECW battle in 10-15 minutes, using a grid board and 6mm figures.

The Board:
The board will be marked into three longitudinal sectors (Right Wing, Centre & Left Wing) and seven lateral zones. The Infantry will deploy in the centre, the horse on the wings and any artillery on the Wing/Centre dividing lines.

The centre sector will be 13" wide, the wing sectors 7", and each edge of the board will have a 1" extreme flank sector for the deployment of dragoons. Each zone, which stretch the width of the board, are 3" deep and there are 7 zones.
This gives a board 29" wide by 21" deep.
Play testing may require this to be increased

The Armies:
The Armies will be composed of Foot Units, Horse Units, Artillery and Generals.
Foot and horse Units will have strength of 1, 2 or 3.
I suggest a Foot unit be a single base of 4 shot stands and 2 pike. A horse unit of 8 figures. The bases can be magnetic and thus quickly used to build "lines".
Line Trays will be 1" x 12½" for Foot and 1¼" x 6½" for horse.
Unit stands should be;

Foot

60mm x 20mm

Horse

37.5mm x 30mm

Set Up:
At the start of the game each player has:

7

Foot Units

(2 x str3; 4 x str4; 1 x str1)

10

Horse Units

(2 x str3; 6 x str2; 2 x str1)

He then draws 5 cards from the Deck to modify his/(his opponent's army).
Any rough terrain or Dragoons (see The Deck) should be placed now.

He must then determine his deployment.
The Foot may be divided into up to 3 "Lines". Each Foot Line may contain up to 5 Units.
The Horse may be divided into up to 2 "Lines" per Wing. Each Horse Line may contain up to 4 Units.

The Players Lines may be deployed into the three nearest zones to his side of the board.
Each line would now have its Strength calculated by summing the strength of its constituent units. These strengths will be recorded on the Army Roster.

Additional Units and leaders should be included in the deployment. Artillery will be deployed on the Wing/Centre dividing lines, normally in the most forward-occupied zone.

The Game Sequence:
The game is divided into turns made up of phases as follows:

1

Dice for initiative

2

Both Players fire artillery

3

Player A moves

4

Fight Combats

5

Player B moves

6

Fight Combats

7

Rallying & Reforming

Initiative:
Both roll 1d6. The higher becomes Player A for that turn.

DPs:
Each Line may receive DPs during the battle. Once a line has received 4 DPs it will rout.

Artillery:
Artillery can fire up to a range of 3 zones. It may not fire across zones that contain troops. It may fire into the centre or wing sectors on whose dividing line it is.
Each artillery piece has a factor (see Deck).
Roll 1d20 for the corresponding factor to determine the number of DPs inflicted.
Artillery may not move. If the enemy occupies both the zones of the sectors bordering the artillery, solely, the Artillery is lost.

Generals:
Generals may be Ordinary or Superior.
Generals must start the battle attached to a line. Generals may move independently up to 2 Zones/Sectors. They may not move diagonally. Generals, not attached to a line, contacted by the enemy are lost.
Generals may not detach themselves from pursuing Lines. Generals attached to Lines that Rout must roll 1d6, requiring a 5 or 6 to avoid being swept away with the routers.

Movement:
In his phase a player may move one line/General. Following this initial move he may attempt to move additional lines/Generals.
Roll 1d6 requiring a 5 or 6 to move the additional line if it is foot; 4,5 or 6 if it is Horse/General.
Add +1 to the dice if the line has an Ordinary General attached or +2 if a Superior General - not the Generals themselves
Subtract 1 from the dice if in or entering Rough Terrain.

If the player is successful in moving an additional line/General he may attempt to roll for a further line/General and may continue to do so until he fails to move a line/General.
Individual Lines/General may be moved any number of times in a phase as long as the dice allow.
Foot Lines may move 1 zone.
Horse Lines 2 Zone (or 1 Sector - see Flanking)
Generals move 2 zones or sectors.
Each zone may only contain 1 line from each side, Unless one of the Lines is Horse that has turned in on enemy foot (see flanking).

Rough Terrain:
Rough Terrain stops Horse movement immediately they enter it.

Combat:
Combat occurs when two opposing Lines occupy the same zone.
Each side will calculate its current strength:
Line Strength from the Roster +/- and modifiers.
Roll 1d20 on the combat table.
The resultant DPs are applied to the opposition.
If two lines are attacking one they both roll separately. The outnumbered Line may split its Factor between the two enemy Lines as it wishes.

Modifiers:

+2

There are Friendly Dragoons on the flank of your sector

+1

Per Light Artillery support

+1

Friendly line immediately to the rear

-1

Attacking Foot in rough terrain

-2

Cavalry in Rough Terrain

-2

Being attacked in the rear

-1

Being attacked in the flank

Push Backs:
Lines which suffer more DPs in the current round of combat than its opponent must roll 1d6. If he rolls less than or equal to the Line's current total of DP's and the zone to the rear of the Line is vacant; the Line must retire 1 zone.

Routers:
When a Line receives a total of 4 DPs it will rout. Routed Lines are removed from the Board. Lines in the Zone immediately to the rear of the routing unit receive 1 DP.

Pursuit:
A Line that routs its opponent may pursue it.
Roll 1d6; a Horse line Pursues on a roll of 1-5. A Foot line on a roll of 1-2.
Add +1 to the dice roll if an Ordinary General is attached to the Line, +2 if a Superior General.
Pursuing Lines move one zone immediately upon its opponent routing and then in each of the owning players phases. They move up the board within the same sector until contacting another enemy line; are rallied or leave the table.
Pursuing Lines that contact a formed enemy immediately take 1 DP.
Lines that leave the table will not return.

Combat Table:

Factor

1 DP

2 DPs

3 DPs

1 or less

20

-

-

2

19-20

-

-

3

17-20

-

-

4

16-20

-

-

5

15-20

-

-

6

14-20

-

-

7

12-19

20

-

8

11-18

19-20

-

9

10-17

18-20

-

10

9-16

17-19

20

11

8-15

16-19

20

12

6-14

15-18

19-20

13

5-13

14-18

19-20

14

3-12

13-17

18-20

15+

2-11

12-17

18-20

Flanking:
Horse Lines in a sector which has been cleared of all enemy Lines may attempt to turn in on the centre sector to engage the enemy foot. This may either be into an unoccupied zone or one already occupied by enemy troops. The opposition determines the success of the move.
Roll 1d6 (add +1 if an Ordinary General is attached to the line, +2 if a Superior General.)
A 5 or 6 are required to turn in on an occupied zone.
A 4,5 or 6 are required to turn in on an unoccupied zone.
A Horse line turning in will make only the 1 sector move. It may not also move zones.
A Horse Line may not turn in on a zone if there are enemy foot further up the board than the zone into which the horse wishes to turn. i.e. the horse must turn in on or behind the enemies rearmost Line.

Rallying:
Pursuing Lines may be rallied. Roll 1d6 in the Rally phase. Add +1 if an Ordinary General is attached, +2 if a Superior General.
A Foot Line requires a 4,5 or 6.
A Horse Line requires a 6.

Reforming:
In the Reforming phase Lines may attempt to remove DPs. An attempt may be made if the Line has a General attached or has friendly troops in the zone immediately to its rear.
Roll 1d6 for each line able to attempt reforming, a 5 or 6 results in the removal of 1 DP.
+1 if a Superior General is attached to the Line.
-1 if the Line is in the same zone as an enemy Line.

The Deck:
The Deck is comprised of the following Cards:

Required Units:
Per Side

Individual: