Card-driven Turn Sequences

As part of my project to develop a modernised version of Joseph Morschauser's rules, I have spent a lot of time recently experimenting with different card-driven turn sequences. The intention was to produce a system that met the following criteria:

• It had to be simple
• It had to have a degree of unpredictability
• It had to incorporate some method by which differences in each army commander's abilities could be represented
• It had to be rely on 'off the shelf' materials (i.e. no specially printed or produced cards

Over the years I have used several different card-driven turn sequences in my wargames rules. I therefore decided to start the design process by reviewing – in turn – each of them to see if any of them fulfilled my criteria.

The wargames rules that I had previously written (or helped write) included

• Bundock and Bayonet
• Restless Natives
• Redcoats and Dervishes
• Colonial Rules for Heroscape™ terrain
• Solferino in Thirty Minutes

Bundock and Bayonet

There is no movement sequence in the traditionally accepted sense of the term (e.g. Both sides move all their troops; then all eligible units fire; then any close combats are resolved; and then any morale checks are made). In these rules the pack of playing cards determines who does what and when.

The system is very simple. The top card of the pack of playing cards is turned over, and the suit and colour is exposed for all to see. The player whose side has been allocated that suit and/or colour may now choose one of their units to "activate". This means that they must first test the unit's morale, and then they can carry out any permitted actions. When this has been completed, the next playing card is turned over, and the sequence is repeated. Once all the playing cards in the pack have been turned over, the pack is shuffled again and reused. This continues until the game is concluded.

Restless Natives

1. The umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire) turns over the top card of the standard pack of playing cards.
2. If it is a Red card, the British C-in-C may activate a unit under their direct command or pass the initiative to activate a unit on to one of their subordinate commanders. Once the activated unit has completed all the actions it can take during a game turn, the card is then added to the discard pile, and the umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire) begins the Turn Sequence process again.
3. If it is a Red King, Queen, or Jack, the umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire) also deals each of the British players a further Special Event Card (subject to the rule that no player may hold more then three Special Event Cards at any one time).
4. If it is a Black card, the Native C-in-C may activate a unit under their direct command or pass the initiative to activate a unit on to one of their subordinate commanders. Once the activated unit has completed all the actions it can take during a game turn, the card is then added to the discard pile, and the umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire) begins the Turn Sequence process again.
5. If it is a Black King, Queen, or Jack, the umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire) also deals each of the British players a further Special Event Card (subject to the rule that no player may hold more then three Special Event Cards at any one time).
6. If it is a Joker – and it is the first time a Joker has been turned over – then all the players must hand all their Special Event Cards to the umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire), who then deals each player one replacement Special Event Card. The Joker is then added to the discard pile, and the umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire) begins the Turn Sequence process again.
7. If it is the second time a Joker has been turned over, the battle ends.

Redcoats and Dervishes

1. A playing card is dealt, face up, to each unit or Leader except:
• Opposing units or Leaders that ended the last turn in the same square as a result of a charge or hand-to-hand combat during the previous turn.
• Impetuous cavalry and camelry units.
• Those units that are disorganised.
2. The undealt playing cards are placed face down where all the players can see them.
3. Any Leader who has been dealt a King, Queen, or Jack is also dealt an Heroic Leadership card (subject to the rule that no player may hold more than 3 Heroic Leadership cards at the same time).
4. Hand-to-hand combats are fought.
5. If it is the first turn of the battle, any cavalry or camelry unit that has been dealt a red card becomes impetuous and must charge the nearest enemy unit. Any cavalry or camelry unit that becomes impetuous rolls two D12s per turn to determine the number of action points they have to expend upon movement until they come into contact with that enemy unit, after which they cease to be impetuous.
6. Impetuous cavalry and camelry move.
7. The unit or Leader with the lowest number playing card is activated first (N.B. An Ace counts as ‘1’) and throws an appropriate dice to determine how many action points they have. The unit, units, or Leader may then move and/or fire. Once this has been completed the unit, units, or Leader may not be activated again during this turn. In the event of two or more units or Leaders being dealt the same number playing card, the order of precedence used is Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, and then Spades.
8. The unit or Leader with the next lowest number playing card is then activated and follows the same procedure as laid down in Step 7. This continues until all the eligible units or Leaders have had the opportunity to move and/or fire.
9. Units that are disorganised may attempt to recover.
10. The number of units that remain disorganised is checked to see if the ‘break off battle’ limit has been reached.
11. Once the turn sequence has been completed, all the playing cards are shuffled ready for the next turn.

Colonial Rules for Heroscape™ terrain

1. The top card of the pack of playing cards is turned over, and the suit and colour is exposed for all to see. The player whose side has been allocated that suit and/or colour may now choose one of their units to activate.
2. They must first check the unit's morale, and then they can carry out any permitted actions.
3. When this has been completed, the next playing card is turned over, and the sequence is repeated.
4. Once all the playing cards in the pack have been turned over, the pack is shuffled again and reused. This continues until the game is concluded.

Solferino in Thirty Minutes

Each general was allocated a number of specially made activation cards, dependent upon the general's ability.

The activation cards were shuffled, and as each activation card was turned over, the general named on the card activated the units under their command.

A possible solution?

Each of the card-driven turn mechanisms outlined above has something to commend it, but none of them meet the criteria I set out to fulfil. I am currently experimenting with a system that does. It builds on the experience gained designing the mechanisms mentioned above (and borrows certain elements from some of them), and it works like this:

1. Before the battle commences, each commander is allocated a playing card suit and/or colour.
2. Then the command ability of each side’s commander is assessed, and this generates the number of playing cards they are allocated.
3. All the allocated playing cards are gathered together and the remaining playing cards are discarded for the rest of the battle.
4. The pack of allocated playing cards is then shuffled and put face down where the players can see them.
5. The top card of the pack of playing cards is turned over, and the suit and colour is exposed for all to see. The player whose side has been allocated that suit and/or colour may now choose one of their units to activate.
6. Once the activated unit has completed all the actions it can take during a turn, the next playing card is turned over, and the sequence is repeated.
7. Once all the playing cards in the pack have been turned over, the pack is shuffled again and reused. This continues until the battle is concluded.

One interesting result of this turn sequence is that it is possible for a commander to activate the same unit several times during the same turn. Although this may at first appear odd, it does result in some interesting and unpredictable results. My experiments indicate that what is very important is that the difference in the number of playing cards allocated to the different commanders is not too great. Too big a difference can make it almost impossible for a poorer commander to do anything much to counter his opponent’s actions.

At present my experiments are continuing, but I feel fairly confident that I will have a draft set of rules that incorporate this new card-driven turn sequence ready for play-testing within the next fortnight.