Working towards a set of 'universal' wargames rules

Whilst I was on my recent cruise I had time to give quite a lot of thought to the rules I have been using in the Zubia-based mini-campaigns I have fought since Christmas ... and have come to the conclusion that I am on the verge of putting together a set of simple, fast-play wargames rules that will be adaptable to a variety of different historical periods.

The 'universal' wargames rules that are evolving are based upon the work I had previously done when I wrote the following:

• THE PORTABLE WARGAME
• MEMOIR OF BATTLE (MOB)
• MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOBAT)
• ITCHY & SCRATCHY

They also draw heavily upon the work of Joseph Morschauser and Richard Borg.

In a nutshell the rules can be summarised as follows:

• Units have initial strength values of 4 (infantry), 3 (cavalry), and 2 (artillery);
• Units retain an undiminished ability to fight (i.e. they throw the same number of combat dice) until they are destroyed (i.e. their strength value is reduced to 0);
• When one side's remaining strength value is reduced to 50% of the combined strength value they began the battle with, they cannot continue to advance from their existing positions, although they may withdraw and continue to defend themselves; when both sides are reduced to 50% of the combined strength value they began the battle with, the battle ends;
• A card-driven unit activation system is used;
• Unit movement is restricted by the terrain the unit is moving through and whether or not it is engaging in combat during its current activation;
• One combat resolution system for both fire and close combat;
• The combat resolution system uses standard D6 dice, with the number of dice thrown depending upon the range at which the combat is taking place;
• The combat resolution system uses pairs of dice to determine 'hits' on enemy units (i.e. 1 + 1 = 'hit' on an enemy artillery unit; 2 + 2 or 3 + 3 = 'hit' on an enemy cavalry unit; 4 + 4 or 5 + 5 or 6 + 6 = 'hit' on an enemy infantry unit; enemy units in cover require these scores plus an additional pair to be 'hit')

I had initially decided to use special D6 dice similar to those used in Richard Borg's BATTLE CRY and MEMOIR '44 rules, but I found that my attempts to do so were flawed (i.e. the dice seemed to end up unbalanced) so I reverted to a simpler system based on the one used in my ITCHY & SCRATCHY rules. (The original idea for this combat resolution system came from Archduke Piccolo [see my blog entry of 14th September 2013 and his blog entry of 13th September 2013].)

These rules have now been set down on paper, but require some more play-testing before I make them more widely available. In the meantime I want to complete varnishing and basing my collection of Del Prado pre-painted 25/28mm-scale Napoleonic figures before the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo in June.