Volleyfire! A Napoleonic Wargame By: Matt Cappetta Army Composition In Volleyfire there are three types of bases. There are artillery, cavalry and infantry. While artillery bases are standalone units in themselves cavalry and infantry are split up into units. If a unit is ever reduced to two or less bases the unit is routed and counts as destroyed. Formations The Column- The column is the best position for movement but the firepower of the unit will be greatly reduced. Units in the column formation get a +3 to their movement. Only the front base in the formation may shoot. A column must be only one base wide. The Line- The line is the default formation for a unit and is favored when shooting. When a unit is in a line every unit may shoot. A line may be no more than two bases deep. The Squares- The square formation is commonly used as an anti-cavalry formation. When units are in squares the cavalry receive the infantry bonus for charging not the cavalry. Note: Cavalry may not use the square formation. Skirmishers- A skirmish formation is a common formation for close quarter fighting. In addition a thinly spread unit is harder to destroy with cannon balls. It does not however work well against cavalry for in lone combat the saber of a mounted warrior will commonly strike down the bayonet of a foootsoldier. Bases in the skirmish formation are placed about one inch apart from one another. If the unit is shot by a cannon only one base will be affected. In combat a unit of cavalry fighting a unit of skirmishers receive an extra 2 re-rolls. Units in a skirmish formation may move an additional 2 inches when moving. Turn Sequence In volleyfire players take turns activating each of their units. To activate a unit a player must have some sort of command in command range. Once a unit has been activated he is expended until the next phase. Players switch off activations until all units capable have taken actions. Units that are not in command range of a command may still shoot at the closest enemy. Once all units have taken their actions it is time for combat and then the beginning of a new turn. Activations Every unit has two actions. This means they may shoot and reload, or move and reload, move twice (marching), shoot and charge an enemy, shoot twice (if possible) and so on. Movement Commanders may move their units as an action. A unit may move the following distance as one action in line formation if applicable: Cavalry 6 inches Infantry 3 inches Artillery 3 Inches (If Limbered) Terrain There are two types of terrain. Light terrain and heavy terrain. Light terrain is things such as hills, streams and so one while heavy terrain is things like thick forests and swamps. For every inch a unit moves through Light terrain it counts as 2 inches for all movement allowance purposes. For every inch a unit moves in heavy terrain it counts as 3 inches. Shooting When a unit wishes to shoot it may use an action to do so. To shoot the units weapons must be loaded. If they are it chooses its target before measuring. Once a target is chosen the distance is measured. If the target is out of range the shots are wasted. If they are in range roll 1d6 for each base in a unit that may fire. They must roll over their range difficulty. This roll may be affected by certain modifiers such as unit experience. If the roll is sufficient to pass the range difficulty a hit is scored. Roll another 1d6 to see if the base is destroyed or wounded enough to retreat. On the roll of a 5 or better the base is destroyed. Ranges Each weapon has an assigned maximum range. Inside this maximum there are four range distances. At ¼ or less of the weapons range shots are at “point blank range”, at ½ or less the weapons range the shots are at close range, at ¾ or less the shots are at moderate range and at the maximum range or less the shots are at long range. The Following shows what applies to shots at certain ranges: Point Blank 3+ to hit: +1 to the damage roll. Close Range 4+ to Hit Moderate Range 5+ to Hit Long Range 6+ to hit: -1 to damage roll. Units that are on elevated terrain get a +1 to their maximum distance for each inch they are above ground level. This does not however change the other ranges such as point blank and close range. Weapons The Rifle Range 40 inches Takes 2 actions to reload. The Musket Range 20 inches The Pistol Range 10 inches Does not need to reload. The Cannon Range 100 inches If hits up to three bases may be wounded. 3+ Needed to Wound Shot will always scatter. Cover Units that are in terrain have a required 6 to roll instead of a 5+. Combat To get into combat one unit must charge. The unit that charges counts as having one extra base throughout the combat for all offensive purposes. In combat each player rolls 1d6 for each base. Every 5 or 6 scored counts as a hit. Players compare the number of hits scored and the higher player gets as many chances to wound the enemy as the difference of the two score. Like before a 5+ is needed to destroy a base. All the following bonuses are for offensive purposes only. Certain units are better in combat than other units. For these units re-rolls are allowed. To re-roll simply choose a dice you wish to re-roll and roll it again. All rerolls must be stated after the initial battle. Mounted Units get 2 rerolls against infantry. Units with swords get 2 rerolls. Units with bayonets get 1 reroll. Elite units get 1 reroll. Command Units get 1 reroll. If two allied units are in combat against a single allied unit their results are added. At the end of the phase all units who are still in combat remain in combat. They may use an action to break away. If they break away the unit turns one inch and may use its second action to move. If a unit is ever charged from behind the unit is destroyed. If a unit is ever charged from the flank only the units on the sides of their formations may fight while all the chargers units may attack. Artillery units count as one base of infantry in combat. Command Bases A command base may join another unit. If they do the command unit may not be targeted individually for ranged attacks. It will always be the last base killed in a unit. An average command base has a command range of 20 inches. Special Units The following lists special units and tells what abilities they receive: Hussars Hussars may move and shoot for one action. Curriasiers A unit attacking a curriasier must roll a 6 to wound. Dragoons Dragoons move at the speed of cavalry but fight as infanty. Ulhans (Lancers) Ulhans receive a bonus counting as five extra bases when charging. Royal Command Unit Royal Command units have a command range of 30. National Bonuses British- English and Scottish troops will only be routed when reduced to one base. French- Regular French command units have a command range of 25. Prussians- Prussian cavalry have a default move of seven inches. Russian- To in close combat a 6 must be rolled to wound a Russian soldier. Russian commanders have 2 less command radius than equal enemy or allied generals. Spanish- Spanish units will rout if they are reduced to three or less bases. At moderate range Spanish troops need a 4+ to hit. Polish- Polish infantry are always allowed one re-oll in battle. Portuguese- Limbered Portuguese artillery move 4 inches.