REDS versus REDS

Chris Peers

Russian Civil War rules - all the bits we need.

THE BATTLE

Komuch forces are defending the village/built-up area.  All their units are deployed first. the Czech units must be deployed within 6 inches of their baseline.  Then all Red units are deployed  - exactly where I'll decide when I know the size of the table.

The Red Army wins if there are no Komuch units left in the village/built up area.

Czech units will withdraw towards their baseline if Red troops enter the village. They will return fire if attacked, but will not initiate combat.

THE FORCES

KOMUCH

1 Commander
1 Field Gun
1 Maxim MG
2 Infantry Units
1 Czech Artillery Observer
2 Czech Legion Units

RED ARMY

1 Commander
2 Commissars
2 Sailor Units
2 Infantry Units (1 with a Lewis Gunner)
1 Maxim MG

TACTICAL AND MORALE RATINGS

Each on-table fighting unit has a Tactical and a Morale Rating of between 2 (the worst) and 5 (the best). The former reflects the quality of leadership and training, and the latter the men’s enthusiasm for combat. 

Red Army				2	3
Red Sailors				2	4
People's Army	(Komuch)		2	2
Czech Legion				3	3
All Machine-Gunners			3	4
Komuch Artillery			4	4

Commanders

Each army has a Commander-in-Chief figure.  He is not part of a unit, and does not have to take morale tests. He may if necessary move, shoot and fight hand-to-hand like an ordinary rifleman, but may not undertake any command tasks in a turn in which he does so. He can:

	Rally one of his units which has any figures within its Tactical Radius in inches of him. . To rally a unit the player throws a D6, and succeeds if the result is less than the unit’s Morale Rating. This removes one morale failure marker from the unit. 

Red Commissars

Their function is to rally demoralised units, either by a quick exposition of Marxist-Leninist theory or by a more practical demonstration of pistol shooting. 

A Commissar may rally one unit per turn in the same way as a Commander, except that instead of rolling under the unit’s Morale Rating to succeed, he will always do so on a dice throw of 3 or better. If he fails to rally it, however, the unit must immediately lose 1 figure - representing men shot for defeatism - which is treated as a casualty for all the usual purposes. 

Like most other special figures, he can be shot at as normal if target priorities permit. 

Czech Legion - Artillery Observer

The Czech Legion has one on-table artillery observer. His function is to spot for and control Opportunity Fire from the unit's base Armoured Train. An observer is treated for movement purposes like a staff officer He does not fight or take morale tests, and is eliminated if contacted in close combat.

In this game the observer can call for 2 artillery strikes (4" shrapnel zones).  The strike will arrive in the next turn. 

Light Machine Gun (LMG) 

Any LMG may fire up to 3 shots per turn, as long as all subsequent targets are within 3 inches of the first. No more than 1 shot may be fired at each target figure.

Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs)

An HMG with its crew counts for all purposes - including close combat - as an individual figure.

An HMG may not fire if it moved this turn or last. 

It may shoot at up to 6 different targets per turn, as long as they are all within 6 inches of the first, and no more than one shot is fired against each target. 

An HMG receives a saving throw against all shooting; if the score of a D6 is less than its Morale Rating, the gun can continue unaffected. This simulates the likelihood that enough of the crew will be unhurt and unshaken to keep it in action.  

Field Artillery

Field guns are those normally used for direct fire on the battlefield. 

It may not fire if it moved this turn or last. 

Field guns fire once per turn like a normal figure, at targets to which they have a direct line of sight, except that if the target figure is hit, all figures within 2 inches of him if in the open or 3 inches in the built-up area must dice to see if they are caught by stray rounds or flying shrapnel. Each such figure becomes a casualty on a score of 5 or 6. 

Like an HMG, each field gun counts as an independent unit. Together with its crew it counts for all purposes - including hand-to-hand combat - as a single figure, and receives the same saving throw against shooting. 

Infantry

Figures may not shoot if they have moved or turned. 

Unit Cohesion: units must always deploy and attempt to remain with their figures no more than their Tactical Rating in inches apart from their nearest neighbour in the unit.  If a wider gap does appear (due to casualties, for instance), an attempt must be made to rectify it the next time any figure in the unit moves. However, while the whole unit remains stationary it need not move any figures just for the purpose of closing the gap.  

MOVE DISTANCES AND FIRING RANGES

FIRING			MOVEMENT
					
			MAX RANGE	NO. OF DICE	GOOD/DIFFICULT 
	                   	       
Rifle			 	12		     	1		2xD6/1xD6
	      
Lewis Gun			24	 		3		2xD6/1xD6		      
Heavy Machine Gun		40		     	6		1xD6/D6-2

Field Gun			80		     	1		1xD6/D6-3

TERRAIN

Scrub or Open Woods

 Line of sight is blocked by 4 inches of this type of terrain.

Built-up Areas

The village is treated a single continuous terrain piece, ignoring the individual buildings, which are only there for the sake of appearance and can be moved about as desired to facilitate the movement of figures. Any line of sight passing through more than 3 inches of the terrain piece is blocked unless it is along a straight road.  Stationary figures on foot inside them count as in cover

Roads and Tracks 

Roads and tracks simply cancel out the effect on movement of any terrain which they cross, except marsh. They count as open ground for movement, and also permit uninterrupted lines of sight along straight sections except where they cross hill crests, escarpments, or the lips of gullies.   

ORDER OF PLAY

MOVEMENT

The attacker begins by moving one unit of his choice.

The defender now moves one unit of his choice.

Repeat these two steps until all the units on both sides that wish to move have done so. If one player has moved all his units that can do so, the other player now moves all of his remaining units in any order he wishes. A declaration that a specific unit is not going to move counts as a move for this purpose. If a unit does move, not all its figures need move the full permitted distance, and some may remain stationary while others move.

Independent figures, such as staff officers, commissars and artillery observers, are now moved in a similar alternate sequence, starting with the attacker.

SHOOTING

Resolve all shooting, in the following sequence:

		1. Off-table artillery - Opportunity fire.
	2. HMGs
	3. Field artillery.
	4. Infantry weapons.
	
Within these shooting categories fire is regarded as taking place simultaneously, so that a figure already removed in this shooting phase may still shoot back. However, a figure killed by a weapon which fires before he does in the sequence may not shoot this turn.

CLOSE COMBAT 

Resolve all close combats.

MORALE

Take any morale tests required as a result of events this turn. Note that all tests are taken at this point, regardless of when in the turn sequence they were triggered. 

MOVEMENT

Units move in an alternate sequence. The maximum distance which any of a unit’s figures may move is decided for each turn separately, by throwing one or more dice as set out in the Characteristics table. This gives the maximum number of inches which any figure in the unit may move. The unit’s figures need not all move the full distance, and some may remain halted while others move.

Normally only one throw per turn is required for each unit, but in the case of those troop types which throw different numbers of dice depending on whether they are in the open or in difficult terrain, it is advisable to dice separately for each part of a unit which has figures in both types of going. Independent figures, such as commanders and commissars, dice individually, moving as infantry.

The reduced movement rates for difficult terrain apply to any figure whose movement starts in or passes through terrain which is listed as reducing movement or which intends to advance into close combat with an enemy who is in or behind such terrain, or in a trench or similar defensive position, or behind a barricade or other obstacle. In this case, if the player has elected to dice for the figure’s movement counting as if it is in the open, it may not contact the enemy but must halt at least 1 inch short of the cover or obstacle. 

OPPORTUNITY FIRE

 An on-table observer can then request it to fire on any target which he can see. The procedure is exactly the same as for a defensive barrage, except that the player must score at least 2 less than the artillery’s Tactical Rating to succeed. Any change in the aiming point counts as a new mission, and must be diced for again. The guns cannot be given a new task in any turn in which they fire.   

Because the target is not registered, however, there is a good chance that the fire will be inaccurate. A second dice throw of at least 2 under its Tactical Rating is needed for it to hit the exact aiming point specified in the first turn. If it does not hit, dice again for deviation: first throw 2 D6 and add the scores to give the distance in inches by which it misses the target, then throw another D6 for the direction:

Score:		

1 to 3:		Short (ie. in the direction of the firer's base edge).

4:		Right (from the point of view of the firing player).

5:		Left.		

6:		Over (in the direction of the enemy’s base edge).

Shrapnel

All armies may use shrapnel. Its popularity was due mainly to the fact that it was easy to manufacture rather than particularly effective, and large quantities had been stockpiled before the experience of war revealed its limitations. It has no effect on troops in trenches, nor on vehicles, buildings or fortifications, but other figures which are in the beaten zone of shrapnel must dice, becoming casualties on a score of 5 or 6 if moving, or 6 if they are stationary throughout the turn. 

It is paid for and placed in "beaten zones" of 4 inches radius from  specified point, each of which is assumed to represent the area affected by the fire of one battery. 

DIRECT FIRE

Direct fire by and to on-table figures is normally adjudicated from each individual figure to a nominated target figure, rather than from unit to unit. In practice it may sometimes be more convenient to dice for several shooters together, throwing one D6 for each, and then use common sense to allocate the casualties among the target figures. However this should not be done in cases where it is important to decide exactly who is hit - for example if the target figures are of different types, or if some are advancing into close combat with the shooters. 

The number of dice which a weapon may throw each turn, and its maximum range, are given in the Characteristics table. A figure may shoot anywhere within 90 degrees of straight ahead A figure may end its turn facing in any desired direction, but if this is not obvious from the position of the figure or base it should be declared to the opponent in order to avoid any ambiguity.

Figures may not shoot if they have moved or turned. Dismounted field guns and HMGs  must also have been stationary for the whole of the previous turn before they can fire. 

SHOOTING PROCEDURE

Throw a D6, then add or subtract as appropriate for each of the following that apply. To cause a casualty, a shooter needs to score a total of 4, 5 or 6.  

Plus 1 if:

Target is in close order, if fired at by small arms or machine guns. (For this purpose a target counts as in close order if it is in base contact with another friendly figure, or has at least 2 such figures within half an inch of its base. This does not apply to snipers, or artillery and machine gun crews, who never count as in close order in any circumstances.) 

Minus 1 if:

Target is at over half the shooter’s maximum range. 

Target is on foot (including dismounted field guns, HMGs etc.), and has been halted throughout the turn, or has ended the turn in cover.

(In the last 2 cases, do not count the benefit of the cover if the target is moving into close combat with the firing figure this turn.)

Target is in built-up area or behind soft cover.

(A target figure cannot count both the minus 1 for "halted throughout the turn" or “in cover”, and the minus 2 for "trenches or hard cover".) 

TARGET PRIORITIES

Field guns may always shoot at any eligible target of their choice. All other figures must shoot at the following types of target if available, in descending order, in preference to any others:

1. Any figure which ends its move in close combat with the shooter, or, if the shooter is an armoured vehicle, close enough to attack it with infantry weapons.

2. The nearest enemy figures within range and advancing directly towards the shooter. 

3. Any figures of the nearest enemy unit within 24 inches or the shooter’s maximum range, whichever is less, and in the shooter’s 90 degree firing arc.

Shooters may not choose to fire at an LMG or other support weapon incorporated in a target unit if any of the target’s other figures are closer. However, such weapons should take a proportionate share of the casualties if they are allocated among the unit as a whole.

CLOSE COMBAT

"Close combat" includes not only actual hand-to-hand fighting, but also the use of bombs, revolvers and other firearms at very close range. It occurs when a figure moves into base contact with an enemy figure at any point during the movement phase, and prevents any further movement by either combatant until it is resolved. The defender may shoot at the attacking figure only if he has not already moved this turn, and if the attacker was within his shooting angle at the beginning of the turn. He may never shoot at another figure which is not attacking him, even if the attacker himself is not eligible as a target. Figures which are in close combat through a turn, or leave it only by killing all their opponents in the close combat phase, may not be shot at except by off-table artillery.

Each figure involved in a close combat throws a D6, then modifies the score as follows:

Plus 2 if:

A second attacker fighting against a single opponent (see below).  

Minus 1 if:

Fighting to cross a defended natural or man-made obstacle. 

If one figure’s score exceeds the other’s by 2 or more, the loser is killed. Otherwise there is no result.

If two figures fight one, the outnumbered figure fights the opponent of his choice as normal. If he survives this, he then fights the second attacker, who receives a bonus of +2 in addition to any other modifiers. No more than two opponents may fight in close combat against a figure in the same turn. 

A figure which survives a turn of close combat may move out of contact next turn, in which case he may be shot at like a normal target, but no figure can leave one combat and enter another in the same turn.   

MORALE

A unit must take a morale test in the appropriate phase of the turn for each of the following circumstances which applies. It may therefore have to take two or more tests in a turn.

Each turn in which it loses a significant proportion of its strength in casualties. The number of figures which must be removed in a turn to trigger a test depends on the number of figures which the unit contained at the beginning of that turn:

					6 figures or fewer	1 casualty
					7 to 12 figures		2 casualties
					13 or more figures	3 casualties
						
(Every additional complete multiple of these casualties requires another test - so that if, for example, a 10-man unit loses 2 or 3 figures it tests only once, but if it loses 4 it must test twice.)	

TEST PROCEDURE:

To take a morale test, throw a single D6 for each unit. If the score exceeds its Morale Rating, the unit has failed. The first time a unit fails a test it may continue to act as normal, but its confidence has taken a knock. Place a suitable marker beside it This marker may be removed only if the unit is successfully rallied by its C-in-C or a staff officer in the appropriate phase of the turn. 

A unit which accumulates 2 morale failure markers may not advance nearer to any visible enemy. It routs immediately if it receives a third marker, or if any of its figures are contacted in close combat by an enemy figure while it still has 2 markers:

The whole of a routed unit is immediately removed from the table. It cannot be rallied, and cannot return during the game.