Sunday, June 14, 2015

Muskets & Mayhem CORPS Level Rules Brainstorm Session

Recently we embarked on a small project to supplement Muskets & Mayhem by increasing the command level to that of a Corps or Army commander.

Duc de Gobin's challenge to me was to keep the ammendment in the spirit of Muskets & Mayhem and I owed him a new draft that was similar to Muskets & Mayhem but also put you in the saddle of the Corps Commander or Division Commander.

This may have something to do with the Waterloo anniversary approaching!

So with that said, here are my proposed ammendments to Muskets & Mayhem to give the would-be General a REAL sense of chaos - that of a Corps Commander!  First thing you may notice is that the sequence of play is extremely similar to Muskets & Mayhem, with only small changes to the sequence. I have BOLDED and underlined those changes.

1. Orders Phase: Assign orders to Brigades or subordinate Battalions.
2. Initiative Phase: Both sides roll a D6 with higher choosing to go first or second.
3. Movement Phase: Side A moves.  Then Side B moves. 
4. Artillery Phase
5. Stationary Fire Phase
6. Moving Fire Phase
7. Morale
8. Melee Combat

Orders:  Corps commanders assign orders to their Brigades.  Those orders are ADVANCE, VOLLEY, CHARGE, RALLY.

Advance: Units may move and fire.
Volley: UNits must remain stationary but fire with a +1 modifier to hit.
Charge: Units make assaults to enter close combat and capture enemy positions.
Rally: Units attempt to reorganize after fire or melee.

Shooting: Unlike tactical Muskets & Mayhem, the Corps level rules are much simpler and use less dice.  Battalions have strength points and those strength points also represent the number of dice you fire with.  EG: British Battalion has 4 strength points.  During the first turn it fires with 4D6.  Range is 6" for Battalions.  9" for rifle-armed Battalions.
Artillery Range 6" close 7 to 12" effective, 12 to 18 long

Troop Quality / To Hit Numbers:

Elite  2+
Veteran 3+
Regular 4+
Second Rate 5+
Conscript 6

2 comments:

  1. I'm liking the order structure already. A good set of rules just got better :)

    There's a nice touch in 'Snappy Nappy' where the French have a lot of flexibility in terms of changing an order 'up' or 'down' once issued.

    The same could happen here for elite or superior troops - charge could be reduced to advance, or rally, volley could be changed to advance - depending on circumstances, but only for better troops, displaying command flexibility.

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    1. I do like that rule in Snappy Nappy. Better units with better staffs may adjust by 2 levels up or down. I was also thinking something along the lines of more traditional, conservative military philosophies and doctrines (think Napoleonic Prussians) may only issue orders to Brigades, where more flexible formations may issue orders directly to Battalions.

      I'm happy with these so far and think they're a good mirror to M&M as they use almost identical sequences of play.

      The strenth point concept (borrowed from other games) is appropriate for an Army of Corps commander's point of view.

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