The Road to Vicksburg: The Battle of Champion Hill

The Road to Vicksburg: The Battle of Champion Hill Rulebook

Table of Contents

Standard Rules
Scenario-Exclusive Rules
- Introduction
- Champion Hill Scenario Rules: Missing From Source
Optional Rules
- 21.0 Optional Rules
Variants Rules

Standard Rules

1.0 Introduction

The Blue & Gray Deluxe edition offers players the opportunity to revisit the original SPI American Civil War QuadriGames with updated map graphics, mounted maps, enlarged counters, optional rules, and several variants with additional counters and markers.

The eight original SPI QuadriGames, first published in 1975, included in this edition are: (Blue & Gray I) Antietam, Cemetery Hill, Chickamauga, Shiloh, and (Blue & Gray II) Battle of the Wilderness, Chattanooga, Fredericksburg, Hooker & Lee.

Later editions of Blue & Gray were published by TSR in 1984 and by Decision Games in 1995.

These rules are based the original SPI Blue & Gray rules, reformatted and including official errata and clarifications. Our intent is to provide players with the original experience of playing those first eight SPI American Civil War games. Many of the optional rules and variants come from Moves magazine, Strategy & Tactics magazine, and later editions of the game system. Enjoy!

2.0 Game Equipment

This Deluxe edition has four double-sided mounted map boards, each side providing a map for one of the eight games included in this package.

2.1 The Game Map

Each mounted game map is 17×22-inch and includes all the significant terrain in the given battle. Maps also display a variety of visual aids which assist play (see below).

A hexagonal grid is superimposed over the terrain features printed on the map sheet to regularize movement and positioning of the playing pieces. Each hex is assigned a unique 4-digit identification number, the first 2 digits defining the column and the second two the row (Example: 0102 means the second hex in the first row). The numbering allows rapid placement of units, and enables players to record their games.

Note: These rules use the following color system: Red for important notes such as exceptions or errata, Blue for examples of play, Italic with gray background for designer notes. Check for e-rules updates to this game at decisiongames.com.

2.2 Visual Aids

Various visual aids are provided for the players to simplify and illustrate certain game functions. Some are contained on the maps while others are on a Player Aid Card (PAC). These include the following:

Game Charts & Tables

Combat Results Table (CRT) (on PAC #1 & some Maps)
Deployment & Reinforcement Charts (on PACs #2–5)
Eliminated & Exited Units Displays (on PACs #6–7)
Grand Chancellorsville Turn Record Track (on PAC #8)
Terrain Effects Chart (on PAC #1 and on the Shiloh Map)
Terrain Key (on Maps)
Turn Record Track (on Maps)
Victory Point Tracks (on PACs #6–7)

Map symbols

Union Reinforcement Entry
Confederate Reinforcement Entry
Special Rule Hexes (see scenario rules): Marked with thicker outline.
Historical Landmarks: No effect on play.
Day, Fog, Night: Spaces on the turn record tracks are color-coded as shown on the printed key when non-day turns are present.

2.3 The Playing Pieces

The cardboard pieces represent the actual military units that took part in the original battle. The blue colored pieces represent Union forces; the gray colored pieces represent Confederate forces. The numbers and symbols on the pieces represent the strength, movement capability, and type of unit represented by that piece. These playing pieces will hereafter be referred to as "units."

2.4 How to Read the Units

The printed counter diagram shows the front and back of a unit: the Size Symbol, Designation, Game Code, Type Symbol, Combat Strength, and Ineffective Combat Strength.

Unit Designations: Confederate units are identified by their commander's name. Union units are identified by numerals in this sequence: brigade/division/corps (roman numeral). Example: "2/1/IV" is the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division, 4th Corps.

Unit Types: Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery.

Unit Sizes: III: Regiment; X: Brigade; XX: Division; XXX: Corps.

Combat Strength: The relative strength of a unit when attacking and defending, expressed in terms of Combat Strength Points (CSP). Ineffective Combat Strength is shown in parentheses to reflect a unit's loss of Attack Effectiveness and inability to attack (see Optional Rule 11.0). Attack Ineffective units still defend normally.

Movement Allowance (not shown on units): The maximum number of Clear terrain hexes which a unit may be moved in a single Movement Phase.

The Movement Allowance for all units is six Movement Points (MP).
More than one MP may be expended for each hex entered with certain terrain.

Game Code Designations: Each counter has a lettered Game Code on its back side, designating the game for which that counter is used. These game codes also mark the scenario rules and PACs.

S: Shiloh
A: Antietam
T: Chattanooga
C: Cemetery Hill
W: Battle of the Wilderness
F: Fredericksburg
V: Variant Counters
H: Hooker & Lee
K: Chickamauga

Game Markers: The following additional markers are included to enhance game play: Victory Point (VP), Game Turn (GT), Control, and Other Markers. The following markers are for variants (22.0). Some are printed on the front of the markers and others on the backs.

The Exclusive Rules (13.0) of the selected game specify which player is the First Player and which the Second Player for each Turn, as well as rules for bringing in the reinforcements listed on the Reinforcement Charts.

2.5 Game Scale

Each hexagon on the map represents 400 meters of real terrain from side to side.
Each Strength Point represents between 250 and 350 men.

3.0 Setting Up the Game

Determine which game is to be played. The map board should be selected and unfolded. Players should determine who will be the Confederate Player and who will be the Union Player.

The Players then consult their respective Deployment & Reinforcement Charts (PACs). These charts show the hex number, strength, and Designation of each unit which is in play (on the map) during the first Game Turn. Players should simultaneously place each of these units in its proper position on the map. All remaining units should be placed aside and brought into play according to the Reinforcement Charts (PAC). In setting up units, Players may disregard historical designations, so long as the unit type and strength are correct. Once the units are set up, Players are ready to commence Game Turn One. Place the Game Turn Marker in the first position on the Turn Record Track.

4.0 Sequence of Play

The game is played in successive Game Turns (GT) composed of alternate Player Turns. During each Player Turn, the Player maneuvers his units and resolves combat in sequence, according to the rules which follow. At the conclusion of the final Game Turn, the Victory Conditions are consulted, and the winner is determined according to the victory conditions specified for each game.

4.1 Sequence Outline

The Game Turn is divided into a First Player Turn and a Second Player Turn. The Player whose Player Turn is currently in progress is termed the Phasing Player. The activity which may take place during each Phase is outlined below:

First Player Turn A. Movement Phase: The Phasing Player may move all, some, or none of his units as he desires within the limits and restrictions of the rules of Movement (5.0) and Zones of Control (6.0), and the Exclusive Rules of the game being played (13.0–20.0). The Phasing Player may bring reinforcements onto the map as allowed by his Reinforcement schedule and the Reinforcement rules (13.0–20.0). The non-Phasing Player's units may not move. B. Combat Phase: The Phasing Player uses his units to attack the non-Phasing Player's units according to the rules of Combat (7.0) and Artillery (8.0). During this Phase neither Player may move his units except when required to by the Combat Resolution procedure.
Second Player Turn: The Second Player now becomes the Phasing Player and conducts movement and combat in the manner described above.
Game Turn Record Interphase: The Game Turn marker should be advanced one space on the Game Turn Record Track to mark the passage of one Game Turn and signal the start of another.

5.0 Movement

During the Movement Phase, the Phasing Player may move as many or as few of his units as he desires. They may be moved in any direction or combination of directions.

Important: All units have a Movement Allowance of 6 MP.

Units are moved one at a time tracing a path of contiguous hexes through the hex grid. As a unit enters each hex, it must pay one or more Movement Points (MP) from its Movement Allowance. Thus, a unit can move through six Clear terrain hexes in a single Movement Phase.

5.1 Prohibitions

Movement may never take place out of sequence. A Player's units are moved during his own Movement Phase. During the Combat Phase, a unit which is either attacking or defending may be called upon to advance or retreat after its combat is resolved. Friendly units must not be moved during the Enemy Player's Movement Phase or during either Player's Combat Phase, except when advancing or retreating as a result of combat.
A unit may never enter a hex containing an enemy unit.
A unit may never exit an Enemy-Controlled hex during any Movement Phase (see 6.0). An Enemy-Controlled hex may be exited only during a retreat or advance as a result of combat (see 7.7).
No combat takes place during the Movement Phase. Once a Player has begun to resolve combat, and has thrown the die, he has irreversibly initiated the Combat Phase.
The number of MP expended by a unit during a single Movement Phase may not exceed the unit's Movement Allowance. A unit may expend any portion of the Movement Allowance, but unused MP may not be accumulated for another Movement Phase nor transferred to another unit.
Movement from hex to hex must be consecutive; that is to say, a unit may not skip hexes.
Once a unit has been moved, and the Player's hand is taken from the piece, it may not be moved any further during that Movement Phase, nor may it change its move without the consent of the opposing Player.

5.2 Effects of Terrain

A unit must expend 1 MP to enter a Clear terrain hex. To enter other types of terrain, a unit must often expend up to 6 MP. And some hexes are prohibited to movement entirely.

Important: See the Terrain Effects Chart (see PAC).

A unit which moves from one Road hex directly into an adjacent Road hex through a Road hexside expends only 1 MP, regardless of other terrain in the hex.
A unit which moves from one Trail hex directly into an adjacent Trail hex through a Trail hexside expends 2 MP if the hex being entered contains Forest and/or Rough terrain. If the hex being entered contains Clear terrain, the unit expends 1 MP.
Units may never enter River hexes. They may cross Rivers only by moving through River Ferry hexes.
Units may never end their movement in a River Ferry hex. They may enter a River Ferry hex only if they retain sufficient MP to enter the River Ferry hex and the hex on the opposite bank in the same Movement Phase and may only enter and exit through the hexsides to which the arrow indicators point.
Units may never cross Creek hexsides. They may cross Creeks only by moving through Bridge or Ford hexsides. There is no additional cost for moving through a Bridge hexside.
Movement through a Ford hexside costs one additional MP.
Units may move across Stream hexsides at an additional cost of 1 MP.
Terrain effects on movement are cumulative. If a unit does not have sufficient MP to enter a hex, then that unit may not enter the hex (e.g., a unit may not enter a Forest-Rough hex by crossing a Stream hexside as this would require more than 6 MP).

Example: If a unit moves through a Ford hexside (+1 MP) into a Forest hex (3 MP), the total cost is 4 MP.

5.3 Effects of Friendly Units

A Friendly unit may move through hexes occupied by other Friendly units. There is no additional cost for entering a Friendly-occupied hex.

A Friendly unit may end any Phase stacked in the same hex with one other Friendly unit. Important: A maximum of two units (regardless of strength or unit type) may be stacked in a single hex.
There is no limit to the number of Friendly units which may pass through a single hex in one Movement Phase.
Friendly-Controlled hexes never inhibit the movement of Friendly units.

6.0 Zones of Control

The six hexagons immediately surrounding a hex constitute the Zone of Control (ZOC) of any units in that hex. Hexes upon which a unit exerts a ZOC are called Enemy-Controlled hexes and inhibit the movement of Enemy units.

Important: All units must cease movement when they enter an Enemy-Controlled hex.

All units exert a ZOC throughout the Game Turn, regardless of the Phase or Player Turn. The presence of ZOCs is never negated by units, Enemy or Friendly.
Units do not pay any additional MP to enter an Enemy-Controlled hex.
There are only two ways to exit a hex in an Enemy ZOC (EZOC)—either by retreat or advance as a result of combat, or by removal of the Enemy unit exerting the EZOC as a result of combat.
If a Friendly unit is in an Enemy-Controlled hex, the Enemy unit is also in that Friendly unit's controlled hex. The two units are equally and mutually affected.
If there is an Enemy and Friendly ZOC exerted over the same hex, both ZOCs co-exist, and that hex is mutually controlled by both Players.
There is no additional effect from having more than one unit exerting a ZOC onto a single hex.
ZOCs usually extend into all six hexes adjacent to the controlling unit's hex.

Exception: ZOCs never extend through non-Bridge and non-Ford Creek hexsides or into River Ferry hexes. ZOCs do extend across Stream hexsides. See the example below and the Terrain Effects Chart (PAC).

[Map example, printed on page 5: a hex-grid diagram of a unit whose ZOC is marked "No ZOC" in the hexes beyond a Creek hexside. The hex numbers are map art and are not transcribed.]

7.0 Combat

Combat between adjacent opposing units is mandatory. The Phasing Player is termed the Attacker; the other Player is the Defender, regardless of the overall situation.

Important: Artillery units (8.0) are the only units which may attack units to which they are not adjacent.

The Attacker totals the Combat Strengths of all the units attacking a given hex and compares the total to the total Combat Strengths of the defending units in the hex under attack. The comparison is expressed as a ratio between attacking and defending Strength Points (attacking Strength Points divided by defending Strength Points) and is simplified by rounding down to one of the odds ratios on the Combat Results Table.

Example: If thirteen CSPs were attacking four, the combat odds ratio would be 3.25 to 1, rounded off (always in favor of the defender) to 3-1.

Having determined the actual combat odds, the attacker rolls the die. The result indicates a line on the Combat Results Table (PAC), which is cross indexed with the column representing the combat odds. The intersection of line and column yields a combat result (see 7.6). This should be immediately applied to the involved units, prior to resolving any other combat.

Separate combats may be resolved in any order that the Attacker wishes, so long as all combats are resolved during that Combat Phase.

7.1 Which Units Attack

All Enemy units that have Friendly units in their ZOCs must be attacked by the Friendly (Phasing) Player's units in the Combat Phase. He may resolve these attacks in any fashion desired, as long as all adjacent units are attacked, within the requirements of 7.2 below.

All of the Phasing Player's units which end the Movement Phase in an Enemy-Controlled hex must attack some Enemy unit during the ensuing Combat Phase. The Phasing Player may choose which attacking units will attack each defending unit, as long as all Friendly units adjacent to an enemy unit participate in an attack.
An Enemy-occupied hex may be attacked by as many units as can be brought to bear in the six adjacent hexes, and by as many artillery units as are within range (see 8.0).
No unit may attack more than once per Combat Phase, and no Enemy unit may be attacked more than once per Combat Phase.
Units may only attack when adjacent to the defending unit (Exception: Artillery, see 8.0).

7.2 Multiple Unit & Multi-Hex Combat

All units defending in a given hex must be attacked as a single strength. The Defender may not withhold a unit in a hex under attack. The Attacker must attack all the units in a stack together. The Combat Strengths of all the units in the defending hex are totaled, and this total Combat Strength is attacked.

Different defending units in the same hex may not be attacked separately.
Attacking units in the same hex must be used as a combined and unified Combat Strength. They may not be used in separate attacks.
If a Phasing Player's unit is in the ZOC of more than one Enemy unit, it must attack all those adjacent Enemy units which are not attacked by some other attacking unit.
Units in two or more different hexes may combine their Combat Strengths and attack a single hex, if all the attacking units are adjacent to (or are Artillery units within range of) the Enemy occupied hex.
Attacks may involve any number of attacking or defending units in different hexes. For the attacks to be resolved as a single combat, however, all the attacking units must be adjacent to all the defending units, except Bombarding Artillery units, which need not be adjacent.

7.3 Combat Strength Unity

A given unit's Combat Strength is always unitary; it may not be divided among different combats either in attacking or defending.

7.4 Effects of Terrain

Units defending in certain types of terrain may have their Combat Strength increased. This increase is always a multiple of the original Combat Strength.

Example: A unit with a Combat Strength of 5 would defend in a Rough terrain hex to an effective Combat Strength of 10.

Important: Terrain effects on combat are not cumulative. If a defending unit might possibly benefit from two different types of terrain, only the effect most beneficial to the defender would be used.

Example: A unit in Rough terrain being attacked across Stream hexsides would be doubled for defense, not quadrupled.

Important: See the Terrain Effects Chart (PAC) for a complete summary of terrain effects on combat.

7.5 Diversionary Attacks

A unit may make attacks at poor odds in order that adjacent attacks against other defenders may be made at higher odds (by allotting most of the attacking force to the major objective). These attacks are known as "Diversionary" or "Holding Attacks".

7.6 Explanation of Combat Results

Important: See the Combat Result Table (PAC).

Ae (Attacker Eliminated): All Attacking units are eliminated (remove from the map).
De (Defender Eliminated): All Defending units are eliminated.
Ex (Exchange): All Defending units are eliminated. The Attacking Player must eliminate Attacking units with a total printed (face value) Combat Strength at least equal to the total printed Combat Strengths of the eliminated Defending units. Only units which participated in a particular attack may be so eliminated.
Ar (Attacker Retreats): All Attacking units must retreat one hex (see 7.7).
Dr (Defender Retreats): All Defending units must retreat one hex (see 7.7).

7.7 Retreating & Advancing as a Result of Combat

When the Combat Result requires that a Player's units be retreated, the owning Player must immediately move those units one hex so that they are no longer in an Enemy-Controlled hex. The owning Player may decide the direction that each of his retreating units moves. Two units in the same hex may retreat in two different directions.

A retreating unit may not retreat into a prohibited hex, cross a prohibited hexside, or enter an Enemy-Controlled hex. If no hex is open to retreat into, the unit is eliminated.
A retreating unit may enter a vacant hex (within the restrictions noted in this section) or it may stack with some other Friendly unit (see 5.3) so long as the unit it stacks with is not in an Enemy-Controlled hex. If there is no other alternative, it may displace an adjacent Friendly unit (see 7.8).
If a unit is retreated into a Friendly hex which is subsequently attacked by Artillery Bombardment in the same Combat Phase, the already retreated unit does not contribute its Combat Strength to the defense (see 7.1), but it does suffer the result of the attack.

Whenever a hex is vacated as a result of Combat, one victorious unit which participated in that combat may advance into the vacated hex. This advance may be made regardless of any EZOC present.

The option to advance must be exercised immediately, before any other combat resolution. A unit is never forced to advance.
A unit may never advance more than one hex as a result of combat.
After advancing, units may neither attack nor be attacked that Phase (see 7.1), even if their advance places them next to Enemy units whose battles are yet to be resolved, or who were not involved in the combat.

Note: Advances are useful in cutting off the retreat of Enemy units whose combat has not yet been resolved.

Important: Only one victorious unit may advance into a vacated hex. If two hexes are vacated as a result of a single combat, the victorious Player may still advance only one unit.

7.8 Displacement

If the only hex available to the retreating unit is one which the unit could not normally move into because of stacking restrictions (5.3), then one of the units in the hex must be displaced. The displaced unit is moved back by the owning Player (as if it were retreating as a result of combat) and its position is taken by the retreating unit. The displaced unit itself may not be forced into Enemy-Controlled hexes or other prohibited hexes. One retreating unit displaces only one unit in a stack; two retreating units displace two.

If the displacement would cause any of the displaced units to be eliminated, the retreating unit is eliminated instead.
Displaced units can themselves displace other Friendly units in a sort of chain reaction of displacement, if that is the only permitted path of displacement open to them.
A unit may be displaced more than once per Combat Phase, if that is the only alternative.
Displaced Artillery units which have not yet engaged in combat, may not fire during that Combat Phase.
Units may not displace other Friendly units if they have other paths of retreat open to them.

7.9 Voluntary Reduction of Combat Odds

Prior to the resolution of any attack, the attacking Player may announce that he wishes to reduce the combat odds of that attack. He incurs no responsibility or penalty by doing this, but he may not change his mind after the die roll.

Example: Attack is computed to be a 5-1 attack. The attacking Player announces that he desires a 3-1 attack and resolves it using that column. Players may wish to do this to avoid excess casualties through exchanges, or to attempt to retreat Friendly units.

8.0 Artillery

Unlike infantry and cavalry units, artillery units may participate in two types of attack depending on whether they are adjacent to enemy units or not. Besides attacking adjacent enemy units using normal combat rules (7.0), artillery units may alternatively "bombard" non-adjacent defending enemy units if the artillery is located two or three hexes distant from the enemy unit being attacked.

Artillery units must participate in combat when adjacent to opposing units.
Unlike other units, artillery units are never destroyed or forced to retreat when bombarding a non-adjacent unit, although they are affected by all combat results when they are adjacent to the unit they are attacking.

Determine the odds of the attack in the same fashion as any other attack. All results are applied in the same fashion, except that bombarding artillery units (units firing from a non-adjacent hex) are not affected by combat results.

Example: If an "Exchange" were the result in an attack solely by bombarding artillery, the defending unit would be eliminated, but the bombarding units would not be affected. Other units cooperating with the bombarding artillery units from an adjacent position (including adjacent artillery units) would be affected by combat results, and they would suffer the effects of an "Exchange" result.

8.1 Bombardment Attacks

Artillery units may attack non-adjacent Enemy units, up to three hexes distant, but they are never forced to attack an Enemy unit merely because it is in range.

Range from the bombarding artillery unit to the target hex is counted by including the target hex, but not the bombarding unit's hex.
Artillery units may only attack a single Enemy-occupied hex when bombarding, except when making a combined attack with infantry or cavalry (see 8.2).
If two artillery units in the same hex are bombarding, they must both bombard the same hex.
Artillery attacking from a non-adjacent hex (that is, bombarding) suffer no Combat Results effects. They are never required to be destroyed or retreated as a result of their own bombardment attacks.

Important: Bombarding artillery may voluntarily elect to suffer an "Attacker Retreats" if Ar is the Combat Result.

8.2 Combined Attacks

Artillery units may attack alone, in concert with other bombarding artillery units, or in concert with any Friendly units which are adjacent to Enemy units within range, adding their bombarding Combat Strength to the attack.

If, in a combined attack, Friendly units are attacking Enemy units in more than one hex, the artillery units need only be within range of one of the defending hexes to add their Combat Strength to the attack.
When making a combined attack with bombarding artillery units, infantry and cavalry units always suffer all Combat Results, though bombarding artillery units do not.

8.3 Line of Sight

To determine if an artillery unit may bombard a given hex, lay a straight edge from the center of the hex of the bombarding artillery unit to the center of the target hex. This straight line is the Line of Sight. If any of the hexes intervening between the bombarding hex and the target hex is blocking terrain, the target hex may not be bombarded by that artillery unit.

If the Line of Sight is congruent to a hexside (that is, falling exactly between two hexes) it is blocked only if both hexes adjacent to that hexside are blocking terrain.
Hexes containing Forest (with or without Rough) and Town terrain are the only blocking hexes. Rough terrain by itself does not block Line of Sight.
The terrain in the target hex and in the hex of the bombarding artillery do not block the Line of Sight.
Artillery units may fire over other units, Enemy and/or Friendly.

8.4 Adjacent Attacks

When in the ZOC of an Enemy unit, artillery units must participate in an attack against adjacent Enemy unit(s). When an Artillery unit is in an Enemy-Controlled hex, it is treated like an infantry or cavalry unit, and may not bombard.

When attacking from an Enemy-Controlled hex, artillery units may attack as many units as they are adjacent to but may not attack non-adjacent units.
Artillery units attacking from an Enemy-Controlled hex must suffer all the Combat Results of their attacks.
Terrain does not prohibit artillery attacks into adjacent hexes.
An artillery unit may make a bombardment attack when across a Creek hexside from the only adjacent Enemy unit (since ZOCs do not extend across Creek hexsides). Any Enemy unit within range could be bombarded, even the adjacent unit across the Creek hexside.

8.5 Defense

Artillery units may never add their Combat Strength to another unit's Defensive value by bombardment. They may only bombard during their own Combat Phase.

When artillery units are themselves attacked, they suffer all Combat Results in the same manner as other units, even when bombarded by Enemy artillery units.

9.0 Terrain Effects Chart

See the Terrain Effects Chart (PAC) for all the effects of terrain on movement and combat.

Clarification:

A unit is doubled on defense as long as all adjacent attacking units attack across Ford, Bridge, or Stream hexsides. Similarly, units behind Redoubts are tripled. The participation of non-adjacent units has no effect on this.
A unit being attacked solely by artillery is doubled as long as the line of sight of the artillery fire crosses a Ford, Bridge, or Stream hexside, a Creek hexside, or an impassable hex (units behind Redoubts are tripled).

Note: The above SPI clarifications may surprise some people regarding bombarding artillery. Players can choose to use Optional Rule 21.4 in its place.

10.0 Night Game Turns

The shaded Game Turns on the Turn Record Track are Night GTs and have a different Sequence of Play than Day GTs. During Night GTs the Combat Phase is omitted.

10.1 Effect on Combat

There is no Combat Phase during a Night GT, and no combat is allowed. Opposing adjacent units do not engage in combat; they simply remain in place. Artillery units may not bombard during Night GTs.

10.2 Effect on Movement

Movement restrictions during Night GTs are identical to Day GT Movement restrictions, with one addition. Units may not enter Enemy-Controlled hexes during a Night GT, nor may units already in Enemy-Controlled hexes exit them.

11.0 Optional Rule: Attack Effectiveness

Whenever a unit receives an Attacker Retreat (Ar) result due to combat, its unit counter is inverted (turned face-down), and it becomes Ineffective.

It remains Ineffective until a Night Game Turn ensues, until the end of the game.
When units are face-down on the map, such units have lost Attack Effectiveness and may only defend.
The backs of combat units show the unit's combat factor in parentheses, reflecting a unit's Ineffective status and inability to attack.

11.1 How Effectiveness is Lost

Attack Effectiveness is lost by attacking units only when they suffer a Combat Result of Attacker Retreat. Units only lose Attack Effectiveness when they attack from an Enemy-Controlled hex. They lose it regardless of whether they moved into the adjacent position, or the Enemy did.

11.2 Results of Loss

Ineffective units may not attack. nor may they enter an Enemy-Controlled hex, until they have recovered their Attack Effectiveness. They may continue to move and defend in a normal manner and retain a ZOC.

11.3 Enemy Zone of Control (EZOC)

If, at the beginning of any Friendly Combat Phase, a Friendly Ineffective unit is in an Enemy-Controlled hex, either all the Enemy units must be retreated in combat so that no EZOC is in the Ineffective unit's hex, or the Friendly Ineffective unit must retreat according to the rules of Retreat After Combat (see 7.7).

This does not allow an Optional Advance by an opposing unit.
An Ineffective unit which does not begin the Combat Phase in an Enemy-Controlled hex is not required to retreat as outlined above, even if (due to advance of Enemy units after combat) the unit is in an Enemy-Controlled hex at the end of the Combat Phase.

11.4 Recovery of Attack Effectiveness

The loss of Attack Effectiveness continues for a given unit until the end of any Night Game Turn. At the end of any Night Game Turn, all units are immediately flipped face-up and resume, in the following Game Turn, at full Attack Effectiveness.

12.0 Designer's Notes

In designing the Blue & Gray game series, we started with the premise that the Civil War battles were similar in scale and intensity to the Napoleonic battles of 50 years before and that we could thus lift intact most of the design structure from the already existing Napoleon at Waterloo generation of games. We felt that the Napoleon at Waterloo game system as it stood combined the elements of playability and realism we were seeking in this game series. Thus, the scale of the Napoleonic games (400 meters per hex, 1–2 hours per Game Turn) and certain salient play features, such as rigid ZOCs, retreat and advance after combat, and sequential Player Turns, were retained in the present games.

Yet the Civil War games could not be an exact copy of the Napoleonic designs. The Civil War battles did differ from Napoleonic battles in several important respects. First, and foremost, they were not decisive battles in the sense that Waterloo was.

The fact that a decisive Battle of the Waterloo ilk did not happen was a tactical consequence of the general usage of the muzzle-loading, percussion capped rifle, which had been invented and refined in the decades prior to the war. This weapon was much more effective than the Napoleonic flintlock musket, extending the firepower of the infantry in range and reliability. The first consequence was that cavalry or, rather, the traditional massed cavalry charge, was reduced to a battlefield relic. Whereas before a cavalry charge could usually break a deployed infantry line, now anything except the most tenuous skirmish line was proof against cavalry. This meant that infantry could deploy in lines and mixed columns and lines, ignoring the presence of cavalry as a mounted threat. The second consequence of the rifle was to reduce the effectiveness of artillery as an offensive weapon. Napoleon had used artillery aggressively, massing it just beyond musket range of the enemy's infantry and using cannister to literally blow holes in enemy positions which could then be exploited by cavalry and reserves.

We incorporated one major innovation in the combat mechanics. That is Attack Effectiveness, which is presented as an optional rule. It was originally an organic part of the game but was moved to an optional rule in the pursuit of simplicity. Players who use it will find that they have to deal with a new and very realistic element in their battle management: That of proper and timely employment of reserves. In the regular games, a Player can afford to commit his forces to broad frontal assaults, putting pressure all along the line in hopes that he will get lucky with a series of 1-1 and 2-1 attacks, which could yield him a geographical advantage to exploit. Attack Effectiveness reduces the utility of this tactic. A Player who fails to keep an uncommitted fresh reserve available will find himself, toward the end of a day of battle, with most of his army intact, but unable to attack and at the mercy of an opponent who has fresh troops.

At the same time, we changed the bombardment rules so that a Player could no longer use bombardment to allow his artillery to escape the consequences of being adjacent to an enemy unit.

We considered, for a while, switching artillery from bombarding on attack to bombarding in defensive support (adding its strength to some friendly defending unit) but decided not to, since we felt the defending player should rely not on the passive defense strength of his units, but on well conducted counterattacks to preserve a given line or position (for which bombarding artillery is invaluable).

Scenario-Exclusive Rules

Introduction

The Exclusive Rules for all eight games included in this Deluxe edition are given below. Each set of Exclusive Rules references the Initial Deployment of units and Reinforcements.

Important: The Initial Deployment and Reinforcement Charts are located on the respective Player's set of PACs (Confederate and Union) #2–5.

[Not transcribed in this file: Exclusive Rules sections 13.0 (Shiloh) through 20.0 (Battle of the Wilderness), covering the eight original battles of this system, and the Orders of Battle (pages 47–48). They are specific to those battles, not to The Road to Vicksburg: Champion Hill. The Champion Hill scenario rules are missing from this source; see the note below.]

Champion Hill Scenario Rules: Missing From Source

The Champion Hill scenario sheet is not in this source. The Champion Hill battle's own rules (initial deployment, reinforcements, map and crossroads special rules, victory conditions and its order of battle) appear on the scenario sheet from Strategy & Tactics #103, which was not available to the transcriber. They are not reproduced here and must not be inferred from the general Blue & Gray rules above. This file therefore contains the Blue & Gray system rules only: the Standard Rules (1.0–12.0), the Optional Rules (21.0) and the Variants Rules (22.0).

Optional Rules

The original SPI Blue & Gray Standard Rules have been retained for this Deluxe edition, though reformatted with light editing. This was done so that players could experience the original games as first presented. The following Optional Rules provide an opportunity to fine-tune the game to your liking. They will have tactical impacts on the game system and may significantly affect play-balance. Feel free to mix and match.

The following optional rules come from later editions of Blue & Gray, other associated games, and players' suggestions:

TSR: TSR, Inc. (Publisher)
DG: Decision Games (Publisher)
BG: Blue & Gray (Game)
SDB: Seven Days Battles (Game)
TAC: The Atlanta Campaign (Game)

21.0 Optional Rules

21.1 Artillery Advance Restriction (BG/DG)

Artillery may not advance after combat.

Note: The original SPI rules are silent on this, but players can choose to add this restriction.

21.2 Artillery Attack Restriction (BG/DG)

Attacks by artillery alone against non-adjacent units must be made at odds of 1:3 or greater.

Note: This seems to be a more realistic requirement.

21.3 Artillery Bombardment & Ar Results (BG/DG)

Artillery attacking non-adjacent units may not elect to retreat if Ar is the combat result rolled.

Note: The DG rules are silent on the electing to take an Ar result; players can decide not to allow this.

21.4 Artillery Bombardment & Hexside Terrain (TAC/DG)

Bombarding artillery is affected by Redoubt hexsides—defending units are tripled in defense. Bombarding artillery is not affected by River, Stream, Creek, Bridge, or Ford hexsides—defenders are not doubled.

Note: Derived from another game, this rule just makes more sense to some people, especially since many played the games this way over the years. Use it or not.

21.5 Artillery Stacking & Bombardment (BG/TSR)

Two artillery Units in the same hex need not bombard the same target.

21.6 Artillery Stacking & Combat (SDB/DG)

If two artillery units are in the same hex, they may attack different enemy units. If they are adjacent to any enemy units, they may attack enemy units that are not adjacent as long as all enemy in friendly ZOCs are attacked.

21.7 Attack Effectiveness Recovery (NEW)

Roll a die at the beginning of each Player Turn to attempt to recover Attack Effectiveness for friendly units. On a die roll of 1 the unit recovers Attack Effectiveness. Roll for each unit individually.

Note: This optional rule has been suggested by players. Like in the Antietam game, it allows Attack Effectiveness recovery outside of Night Turns, lessening the impact.

21.8 Cavalry Movement (BG/DG)

All cavalry units have a Movement Allowance of 8.

Note: This seems a logical rule change to give cavalry more range of movement.

21.9 Cavalry Road Movement (BG/TSR)

Artillery and infantry units pay 1 MP to enter a Road Hex. Cavalry units pay 1/2 MP to enter a Road Hex.

21.10 Cavalry Retreat (BG/DG)

Cavalry units attacked solely by enemy infantry or artillery may retreat two hexes (observing all retreat restrictions above) before combat is resolved. The attacking units may not attack other units, but one of them may advance into the vacated hex.

Note: This nicely represents the ability of cavalry to screen against unmounted forces.

21.11 Friendly Stacking & Combat (BG/DG)

Attacking units stacked together may not attack separate enemy-occupied hexes. The phasing player may attack with only one of the units if he chooses and not attack at all with the other.

21.12 Friendly Stacking & Combat (SDB/DG)

Attacking units in the same hex may attack different hexes.

21.13 Movement Restriction—Zones of Control (BG/TSR)

A Friendly Unit cannot move into the ZOC of more than one Enemy Unit if that unit is the only Friendly Unit within the Enemy Units' ZOC.

21.14 Minimum Movement (BG/DG)

A unit not in an EZOC may always move a minimum of one hex per Movement Phase, regardless of terrain costs.

21.15 Night Turns (SDB/DG)

During Night GTs, there are special rules that modify normal rules.

Units may leave EZOCs but may not reenter an EZOC on the same GT. Strategic movement is not allowed.
Artillery units may only attack adjacent units.
Before a combat is resolved, the attacker rolls one die and subtracts four (–4) from the die roll. The resulting number indicates the number of odds columns on the Combat Results Table (CRT) that must be shifted left from the original odds column to determine the combat result.

Example: The die roll is a 2. 2–4= –2, and the attack is shifted two columns to the left.

Note: This simulates the additional chaos introduced by darkness which may result in either surprising success or disaster.

21.16 Reinforcements in Column (BG/TSR)

Reinforcements cannot arrive stacked; they must arrive in a column formation (one unit behind the other).

Visualize the Reinforcements as a column of units entering the map from a chain of hexes off map; the first unit that enters the map pays 1 MP to enter the Reinforcement Hex; the second unit pays 2 MP; the third pays 3 MP.
Once a Reinforcement enters the map, it can move and attack freely.
If more Reinforcements are scheduled to arrive than can physically enter the map during a GT, as many as possible enter the game immediately; the rest are brought into play on the following GTs.
Reinforcements can enter a hex in an EZOC but must immediately stop moving.

Note: The original reinforcement rules vary between individual games. This optional rule standardizes how reinforcements enter the map.

21.17 Strategic Movement (BG/DG)

Units which begin their Movement Phase at least four hexes from the nearest enemy unit (three intervening hexes) may use strategic movement. Infantry and artillery units add three MPs to their Movement Allowance; cavalry units add four. Units using strategic movement may not move closer than four hexes to the nearest enemy unit during their Movement Phase and may not combine strategic movement with regular movement.

Note: A standard rule in the Decision Games edition, strategic movement was only used in the Grand Chancellorsville scenario among the original SPI games.

21.18 Antietam—Optional Rule Modifications Die Roll (BG/TSR)

If players decide to use one of the "what if" optional rule modifications (14.6) in Antietam and want a more random way to select one of the options, roll a die and find the result below. Apply the modifications to the rules as described in 14.6.

Die Roll Result:

1: Greater Union Initiative
2: Total Union Initiative
3: Early Confederate Reinforcement
4: Early Union Reinforcement
5: Optional Reinforcement
6: No Confederate Disorganization

21.19 Cemetery Hill—Gettysburg Town Defense (NEW)

Do not double defenders in the Gettysburg Town hexes. Units defend at their regular combat strength.

Note: This rule has been suggested to avoid an ahistorical defense of the town. During the actual battle, Union forces chose better terrain South of town to defend.

21.20 Chickamauga—Supply Train & Optional Attack Effectiveness (BG/TSR)

If the optional Attack Effectiveness rule is in use when playing Chickamauga, Union units that begin and end the GT next to the Union Train unit, and did not move, regain Attack Effectiveness.

21.21 Suggested Clarification to Optional Attack Effectiveness Rules

These are clarifications on the Attack Effectiveness rules:

Due to a miscommunication, designers of the Blue & Gray series failed to specify in some Exclusive Rules whether the Attack Effectiveness rule should be used.

These must not use Attack Effectiveness:

Cemetery Hill
Fredericksburg
Hooker & Lee

These must use Attack Effectiveness:

Shiloh
Antietam
Chickamauga (In Chickamauga, without attack effectiveness to discourage them, CSA can "bury" the Union with repeated low odds attacks against key defensive terrain)

Optional Attack Effectiveness:

Chattanooga (But I suggest no—its use makes Union capture of Lookout Mountain very uncertain)
Battle of Wilderness (At players' option)
Road to Richmond (I strongly suggest no)

Important: Road to Richmond is not included in this edition.

Note: These clarifications have appeared in several places online. Feel free to disagree and apply the Attack Effectiveness rules as you like. They were optional in the original SPI rules and were required in the Decision Games rules. As it should be, it is up to you.

Variants Rules

In this section, players will find some variants which first appeared in Moves and Strategy & Tactics magazines over the years, as well as a new "brigade" variant for Cemetery Hill. These variants provide for new gaming experiences, and they are offered here as a way to enhance the continued enjoyment of these long-cherished classics.

Important: These variants have not been playtested and are offered solely for your enjoyment. Feel free to experiment with them.

The following variants are provided here essentially as they were originally published, and they may conflict with each other or create other gaming issues. Some additional counters and markers are provided, such as Leaders. Some minor editing has been done to account for new markers and to clarify or correct rules.

22.1 Cemetery Hill Brigade Level Variant (NEW)

A common complaint with the Cemetery Hill game was that the counters were divisional for the Union and half-divisions for the Confederates, creating a bit of a clunky gaming experience because of the scale and limited number of units. Many units had extremely high combat values and their loss in combat could be devastating. This variant provides new infantry counters, breaking down all the infantry units one more level so that there are two brigade units for each Union infantry division now and four brigade units for each Confederate infantry division. This reduces the game to a scale closer to the other Blue & Gray games, providing for more fluid gaming of the battle.

Replace the original infantry units in the game with the provided variant units.
Use the original artillery and cavalry units. These units are already represented as brigades and they remain as they were in the original game.
Stacking remains two units per hex (of these now smaller units, which has the effect of spreading out both armies).
Deployment and Reinforcements remain the same but there will now be two units arriving where one is designated.
Optional: Use Optional Rule 21.19.

22.2 Artillery in Blue & Gray

(From Moves #22)

The Napoleon at Waterloo/Borodino game system is an excellent one and very enjoyable. It presents, and realistically, the tactical possibilities of the Napoleonic era. I do feel that in an effort to incorporate the system into the games of Blue & Gray the system has been saved by ignoring some of the major characteristics of the Civil War battle.

Though the cannon using canister was a major offensive weapon for Napoleon, by the Civil War it had been rendered ineffective by the longer range of the rifle. No longer could it wheel up close to enemy lines to blow them away. It was the rifle that could cripple advancing artillery, out of canister range. As solid shot was unable to destroy infantry formations (as at Gettysburg) the cannon was a question mark. It was still able to silence opposing artillery or hold down enemy infantry. But it had ceased to be the major attack weapon it had been. Defensively the cannon, like the rifle, could be deadly against advancing infantry, and was its most effective on the defense.

In the four games of Blue & Gray artillery is still a basically offensive weapon, blowing away brigades on the attack or counterattack. On the defensive, artillery is at best a weak infantry unit, best held off the main line for those attacks. In actuality, defensively the best place for artillery was right on the line threatening to cannister the attacking enemy, and giving them solid shot when out of cannister range.

To make the use of artillery more realistic, I suggest the following rules be used in addition to the regular rules.

22.2.1 Artillery Stacking

Artillery, and only artillery, may stack above the two-unit limit, thus there may be three units in a hex as long as at least one is an artillery unit. Artillery units may not participate in normal attacks using this option, but can bombard offensively, even if adjacent to enemy units at the end of a Friendly Player Turn. When attacked, artillery defends just like infantry or cavalry.

22.2.2 Bombarding

Artillery may bombard both offensively and defensively.

Within the two-hex range, artillery may bombard any stack of units or individual units in a stack.
When bombarding artillery units, the normal CRT is used to resolve combat.
When bombarding infantry or cavalry, the chart below is used:

Artillery Bombardment Table (columns: odds of the bombarding attack; rows: die roll)

Die Roll	1-2	1-1	2-1	3-1	4-1	5-1
1	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned
2	–	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned
3	–	–	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned	Pinned
4	–	–

–: No Effect.

When Pinned, a defending unit has a choice of either:

a) Remaining in the hex it was bombarded in, not being allowed to move or attack in the next Friendly Turn (unless beginning the Turn adjacent to an Enemy unit; then it must attack); or
b) Retreating two hexes and not being allowed to attack the next Friendly Turn, though it may move normally.

All effects of pinning last one full GT and are applied immediately after bombarding combat resolution.

Important: Pinned markers are provided to mark Pinned units.

22.2.3 Defensive Bombarding

These rules should render artillery stronger on the defensive and rather a "hit or miss" thing on the offensive. Offensively, artillery will now take its historic role of silencing Enemy artillery and supporting infantry attacks by pinning possible infantry counterattacks. Defensively, artillery will at times break up infantry attacks and will be rather unpleasant to attack head on. Overall, artillery will still be important, but for different reasons, and the side on the defensive will have a slight edge over the regular game balance. The good offensive will require the artillery duel to make the way safe for the infantry.

Artillery units chosen to bombard defensively are announced at the beginning of the opposing Player's Combat Phase, before any combat.

Such units cannot bombard during the next Friendly Player's Combat Phase.
The defender then picks any units he wishes to bombard and resolves combat according to the bombardment table.
Any attacking units left adjacent to Enemy units in an un-Pinned state must resolve the attacks in any combination possible within the regular rules.

Important: Defensive Fire markers are provided to note artillery units which have fired defensively.

Successively bombarded units can be considered attacked for any "Soak-off" purposes or required attacks on all adjacent Enemy units. All other regular rules are still in effect.

22.3 Cavalry in Blue & Gray

(From Moves #24)

The Blue & Gray QuadriGame rules make no differentiation between infantry and cavalry. This is reasonably correct for combat because cavalry in the Civil War fought essentially like infantry. In the face of the longer ranged rifled muskets of the time, the cavalry charge was not effective, and therefore, not used.

However, there is a provision in the rules for the effective use of cavalry in scouting and screening. While scouting is superfluous in the game situation, since both sides have complete knowledge of all unit locations, there is a place for cavalry as a screening force or as rapid moving mounted infantry.

To simulate these capabilities, the following rules are presented:

Cavalry units have a Movement Allowance of 8. This represents their ability to move faster than foot troops while mounted. Note that their ability to move in Rough and Forest terrain is about the same as infantry. The two additional MP are usable only in Clear terrain or on Roads and Trails.
Cavalry must expend two additional MP to enter an EZOC. This simulates dismounting and forming up as infantry for engaging in combat.
Cavalry may refuse combat and retreat one hex before combat under the following conditions:
- a) The cavalry unit was not in an EZOC at the beginning of the Enemy's Movement Phase.
- b) The cavalry unit has a hex into which it may retreat which is not in an EZOC, not blocked by impassable terrain, and does not have more than one Friendly unit occupying it (displacement is not allowed under these conditions).
- c) The retreat takes place after all movement and before any combat. An Enemy unit may not advance into the hex vacated by the cavalry unit. In the case where adjacent Enemy units are not attacking the cavalry unit but are attacking other Friendly units while Enemy artillery bombards the cavalry unit from a greater than one hex range, the cavalry unit may still retreat before combat to avoid being pinned in place by the adjacent Enemy unit during the next Friendly Movement Phase. In other words, a cavalry unit may retreat before combat any time an Enemy unit of any type enters its ZOC, whether it will be attacked by that unit or not.
- d) Attacked solely by artillery from ranges greater than one hex, it may not retreat before combat.

The rationale behind the conditions for retreat before combat is that a cavalry unit, upon observing Enemy forces forming up and advancing toward them (entering their ZOC, would be able to put out enough fire to slow the attacking forces down, and still have sufficient time to mount up if necessary and move out of range of the advancing forces.

In the case of artillery bombardment only, the attack comes without warning, in that no forces can be observed to be approaching the cavalry unit, and the artillery fire can be more intensive and last longer, because there is no danger of hitting the advancing forces. Also, in view of the strength of most of the artillery and cavalry units in the game, the most likely outcome (other than Attacker Retreat) is Defender Retreat, which is the net result of retreating before combat. If sufficient artillery Strength Points are brought to bear to make a "DE" or "EX" result possible, requiring the cavalry unit to receive the attack, it is still consistent, because that much artillery would conceivably be capable of destroying a unit before it has a chance to react and move out of range.

22.4 Scenarios & Variants Complicating Blue & Gray

(From Moves #25)

These Optional Rules are intended to add increased realism and complexity (at the expense of playability) to SPI's Blue & Gray QuadriGame.

Several of these Optional Rules are based upon rules from SPI's Bull Run. Other rules were inspired by such other SPI games as Napoleon at Waterloo, Rifle & Saber, Wilderness Campaign and American Civil War. In most cases, the reasons behind these rules should be evident; in some cases, a brief explanation is given.

The use of these Optional Rules alters considerably the nature or "flavor" of the game. They may be used selectively or all together. Some of the rules, however, offset each other and should be used in conjunction.

Example: the use of Entrenchments gives an advantage to defending units; but the use of Flank Attacks tends to neutralize this advantage. As another example, the strength of artillery is limited by introducing Range Attenuation, but this is counterbalanced by giving artillery a defensive capability.

These Optional Rules are not intended to replace the Standard Rules, but only to modify them. All provisions of the Standard Rules remain in force, unless specifically changed or modified by the provisions of these Optional Rules.

22.4.1 Stacking

(Addition) Stacking limits cannot be exceeded during movement. A unit cannot move through a single Friendly unit in Towns or in Forest or Forest-Rough hexes or through two stacked units in other hexes.
(Change) A unit must expend 1 MP to enter a hex with a Friendly unit.
(Change) Stacking is not allowed in Town, Forest or Forest-Rough hexes (except if required under Initial Deployment). Only one unit may occupy one of those hexes at the end of the Movement Phase.

Note: This rule seems to add complexity for complexity's sake. The hexes are 400 meters across, easily enough room for two or three brigades.

22.4.2 (Addition) Entrenchments

A unit may increase its Combat Strength for defense by building Entrenchments. To build an Entrenchment, a unit must remain motionless in a hex for one complete GT. At the end of any Friendly Movement Phase, a unit (that may or may not have moved on that Movement Phase) may begin building an Entrenchment. This is signified by placing an Entrenching marker on the unit. The unit may not attack in the following Combat Phase. It may not defend during the Enemy's next Combat Phase (or else it must begin building again on the following Turn), nor may it move during its own next Movement Phase.

Important: Entrenchment/Entrenching markers are provided.

At the end of that Friendly Movement Phase, if the above conditions have been met, the Entrenching marker is turned over to the Entrenchment side on the unit and the Entrenchment has been finished. If, however, the unit participates in combat (either attacking or defending) or moves in its own next Movement Phase, the Entrenching marker is removed. The Entrenchment has not been finished and construction of it may begin again on that Movement Phase.
A unit that loses Command Control may not begin an Entrenchment or complete an Entrenchment started on a previous Movement Phase. If a unit that has started an Entrenchment on the previous Movement Phase loses Command Control during the present Movement Phase, the Entrenching marker is removed. Construction may not resume until the following Movement Phase.
Once an Entrenchment has been constructed, it remains in place for the remainder of the game and may be used by either side. Entrenchments do not inhibit movement and are non-directional.
A unit in an Entrenchment in a Clear hex has its Combat Strength doubled for defense only. A unit in an Entrenchment in a Town, Rough or Forest hex has its Combat Strength tripled for defense only.
Entrenchments may not be constructed in Forest-Rough hexes. (These are natural entrenchments and cannot be further improved.)
Units in Entrenchments may attack adjacent Enemy units but receive no change in Combat Strength; they attack with the printed Combat Strength.
An Entrenchment built by one unit may be used by two stacked units in one hex (provided that the terrain allows two units to occupy the hex). Both units gain the defensive advantage of the Entrenchment, even though only one of the units built it. Entrenchments do not count toward stacking limits. Units of both sides move freely over Entrenchments. Any unit in a hex with an Entrenchment is automatically Entrenched.
Dummy units may not build Entrenchments (see 22.4.11). If the Phasing Player wishes to use a covered unit to build an Entrenchment, the non-Phasing Player may demand that the Phasing Player show him the face of the unit to prove that it is a real unit and not a Dummy. The unit may then be placed, still covered, with the Entrenching marker.

Note: I have no objection to this idea. It is simple, effective and makes use of the existing materials. The only question is the length of time (2 Turns) needed to complete an Entrenchment. I suspect that three or four Turns would be more appropriate.

22.4.3 (Addition) Command Control

All units are subject to loss of Command Control and Scattering. Units that lose Command Control move randomly for that Turn. Units recover Command Control at the end of the Player Turn.

Important: Scattered markers are provided to mark units.

At the beginning of each Movement Phase, the Phasing Player rolls a die and cross-references the number on the die with the Command Control level of his troops for that game and Turn; see Command Control Table. Units Scatter that are in hexes whose numbers end with one of the numbers given on the Command Control Table.

During each Movement Phase, all non-Scattered units move first. Only then are the Scattered units moved, as follows:

For each Scattered unit, roll the die twice: the first roll gives the direction in which the unit will move; the second roll gives the number of MP the unit will move in that direction.
The units move according to the compass directions given on the map. 1: N; 2: NE; 3: SE; 4: S; 5: SW; 6: NW.
As a unit moves in these directions, it expends the MP allotted to it by the second die roll, according to the normal rules of movement and ZOCs.
A Scattered unit stops in the last hex it has enough MP to occupy but its movement may be blocked by an Enemy unit, a prohibited hex or hexside, or Friendly units stacked to the maximum stacking limit.
In some cases, a unit will not have enough MP to Scatter even one hex; it will then remain in place without moving.
Units may not Scatter off the map. They stop on reaching the map edge.
Units that Scatter may attack during their next Combat Phase if their Scattered movement takes them into an EZOC.

Command Control Table

Die Roll	CCL 1	CCL 2	CCL 3	CCL 4	CCL 5
1	0	1,4	1,3,6	1,3,5,8	1,3,5,7,9
2	1	2,7	2,4,8	0,4,6,8	2,4,6,8,0
3	3	3,8	5,7,9	1,3,7,8	1,3,5,7,9
4	5	4,7	1,4,9	2,3,6,9	2,4,6,8,0
5

Players may wish to use this alternate method for determining Scatter. Use a set of ten chits numbered 0 through 9 on one side (as are supplied in some SPI games). These chits may be placed in a container from which the Player draws (without looking) a number of chits equal to the Command Control Level of his units for that Turn. Units Scatter if they are in hexes whose numbers end in one of the numbers on the chit(s) drawn.

Command Control Levels

Game & Turn	USA Level	CSA Level
Antietam	4*	1
Cemetery Hill: Turns 1–3	3	2
Cemetery Hill: Turns 4–8	2	1
Cemetery Hill: Turns 9–13	2	1
Cemetery Hill: Turns 14–15	2	2
Chickamauga: Turns 1–9	4	3
Chickamauga: Turns 10–15	4	2
Shiloh: Turns 1–7	4	2
Shiloh: Turns 8–13

*In Antietam, the USA Command Control is already affected by Movement Restriction. Therefore, for the Union and for this game only, Scatter is modified as follows:

The Union Player throws the die normally at the beginning of the Movement Phase to get four numbers under the fourth column of the Command Control Table.
The units in hexes ending in those numbers do not Scatter but may not move in that Player Turn.
They may not be chosen among the 10 or 15 units allowed to move in that Turn.
Command Control functions normally for the Union if the Movement Restriction is removed due to Confederate movement across a Creek or the use of the optional Total Union Initiative rule (See Antietam Exclusive Rules—14.6.2).

22.4.4 (Change) Zones of Control

A unit must expend 3 MP to enter the ZOC of an Enemy unit. (This represents the time needed to deploy from marching formation into battle formation.)

Exception: see Cavalry Charge.

22.4.5 (Change) Combat

Attacking is not mandatory. The Phasing Player decides which, if any, of his units will attack during his Combat Phase.

An attacking unit must attack all adjacent units. Units that do not attack are Repulsed if they end the Player Turn in an EZOC (see Repulsion 22.4.7).
Only units that have attacked during a Turn remain in EZOCs at the end of the Turn. This "pins" the Enemy unit and prevents it from moving off during its own Movement Phase. The only way to pin an Enemy unit and prevent it from moving is to attack it.

22.4.6 (Addition) Flank Attacks

If a unit is attacked through two or more non-adjacent hexsides by Enemy infantry and/or cavalry, the attacking units have their Combat Strengths doubled.

Artillery may not be used to flank attack.
Flank attacks may only be executed by infantry and/or cavalry units.
An artillery unit may add its undoubled Combat Strength to the attack, but its presence does not cause a flank attack, even if the artillery unit is adjacent to the Enemy unit under attack.

22.4.7 (Addition) Repulsion

Whenever a Phasing Player's unit is adjacent to an Enemy unit after the Combat Phase and the Phasing Player's unit has not attacked in that Combat Phase, the Phasing Player's unit is repulsed. It is retreated one hex by the Phasing Player following the rules for retreat after combat.

If the unit is blocked from retreating, it is not eliminated, but remains in place without loss.
When a unit is repulsed, the non-Phasing Player may not advance into the hex vacated by the Phasing Player's unit.
At the end of the Movement Phase of Night Game Turns, all the Phasing Player's units in EZOCs will be Repulsed.

22.4.8 Artillery

(Addition) Range Attenuation. An artillery unit loses one Strength Point for each hex intervening between the artillery unit and the Enemy unit under attack (or defended against). Thus, when the Enemy unit is adjacent, the artillery uses its full Combat Strength; when the Enemy unit is two hexes apart (one intervening hex) the artillery unit's Combat Strength is reduced one point. When the Enemy unit is three hexes away (two intervening hexes) the artillery unit's Combat Strength is reduced two points.

An artillery unit with a Strength of one will have zero Combat Strength at two or three hexes range; an artillery unit with a Strength of two will have zero Strength at three hexes range.
This range attenuation applies to both Rifled Artillery attack and defense.

Special Note: In Antietam, the Union Rifled Artillery has its Combat Strength reduced by one for each two hexes intervening between the artillery unit and the target hex. Ignore single hexes.

Example: 2–3 intervening hexes reduce the Combat Strength by one point; 4–5 intervening hexes reduce the Combat Strength by two points, etc.

(Change) Artillery Defensive Aid. An artillery unit may aid the defense of any one Friendly unit within three hexes of the artillery unit by adding the Combat Strength of the artillery unit to the Combat Strengths of the other Friendly unit.

The artillery unit is not affected by the Combat Results unless it is adjacent to the attacking Enemy unit.
When an artillery unit is defending itself against an adjacent Enemy infantry unit, the defensive Combat Strength of the artillery unit is only 1 CSP, regardless of its normal Combat Strength.
Artillery defends with full Combat Strength if it is stacked with infantry (but not cavalry) or if it is attacked by an adjacent Enemy cavalry or artillery unit, unsupported by Enemy infantry.

(This reflects the vulnerability of artillery crews to infantry fire at short range, unless supported by infantry.)

(Change) Unlimbering. An artillery unit may not expend more than 3 MP in a Movement Phase if it wishes to attack in the following Combat Phase (they remain limbered). The remaining 3 MP represent the time required to unlimber and prepare for attack and are similar to the 3 MP a cavalry or infantry must expend to enter an EZOC.

If an artillery unit enters an EZOC and intends to attack, it pays only the usual 3 MP to enter the EZOC, not six.
An artillery unit that does not move in a Movement Phase, or one that is defending, is considered automatically unlimbered.

Important: Limbered markers have been provided to mark artillery units which expend more than 3 MP in a Movement Phase.

22.4.9 (Addition) Cavalry

Cavalry uses its full Combat Strength only when attacking or defending against Enemy cavalry units alone.

The Combat Strength of a cavalry unit is halved (rounding fractions up) when attacking Enemy infantry and/or artillery (even if the defending units include one or more cavalry units in addition to infantry and/or artillery units and even if the defending cavalry units are supported only by artillery units not adjacent to the attacking cavalry units).
Similarly, the defensive Combat Strength of cavalry is halved (rounding fractions up) when attacked by Enemy infantry and/or artillery units, even if in conjunction with attacking cavalry units, which would attack at full strength.

Example: if infantry, cavalry, and artillery units all attacked one Enemy cavalry unit, the attacking cavalry unit would use its full Combat Strength (as it is attacking only cavalry), but the defending cavalry would have its Combat Strength halved (as it is being attacked by infantry and artillery in addition to cavalry).

When a cavalry unit executes a cavalry charge, it may use its full Combat Strength, regardless of the type of units attacked (The shock effect of the charge compensates for the ineffectiveness of the cavalry's weapons).

Retreat Before Combat

Cavalry units may retreat before combat when attacked by infantry and/or artillery units. They may not retreat before combat when attacked by cavalry alone or in conjunction with infantry and/or artillery) but must stand and defend. When the Phasing Player announces that he wishes to attack an Enemy cavalry unit with infantry and/or artillery, the non-Phasing Player has the option of retreating the cavalry unit one hex or remaining in place (and defending at half strength).

If the cavalry unit retreats, one attacking infantry or artillery unit may advance into the vacated hex and that action stops. No combat is considered to have taken place between the units.
If an attacking unit advances into the vacated hex, it will be repulsed at the end of the Combat Phase (see Repulsion). The only advantage to the attacker of advancing into the vacated hex is the hope of blocking the retreat of Enemy units to be attacked later that Combat Phase.
Retreat before combat follows the retreat rules except that retreat before combat is always voluntary for the defending Player.

Cavalry Charge

Cavalry units may increase their Movement Allowance to twelve in any Movement Phase under the following conditions:

They must attack one or more Enemy units in the following Combat Phase.
They do not pay the 3 MP to enter the EZOC, as required by the above change.
Every hex they move through must be a Clear hex. They may not cross Stream, Bridge, or Ford hexsides. If moving through Road or Trail hexes, the hex must also be a Clear hex (for purposes of cavalry charges, Road and Trail hexes do not negate the effects of other terrain in the hex.)
They may not move through Friendly units.
They must move at least four hexes. Charging cavalry attack all units with full Combat Strength.
Cavalry units covered by blank markers may make cavalry charges, but the blank marker is removed at the end of the charge (see 22.4.11).

Note: I wouldn't touch this section with a ten-foot pole. I might consider making cavalry units more valuable for Victory Points so that a Player would think twice before committing them as grunts. The Combat Strengths of these units presume that the cavalry would always fight dismounted.

22.4.10 (Change) Terrain Effects

A defending unit's Combat Strength is doubled in Forest hexes and tripled in Forest-Rough hexes.
Artillery units must expend 6 MP to enter a Forest hex. Ignore this rule if the artillery unit is Scattered, or, of course, if it is on a Road.

(Addition) A unit that is free to move (one that is not in an EZOC) may always move one hex, regardless of terrain and ZOC costs (as long as it does not cross a prohibited hexside, enter a prohibited hex, or violate stacking limits).

Note: Terrain effects can be modified in many ways. Personally, I think a road march bonus of some kind would be appropriate. Artillery should be prohibited from Forest, except on a Road. I don't think that Forests should be doubled defense.

22.4.11 (Addition) Limited Intelligence

During Initial Deployment, all units may be covered with a blank counter. All reinforcements may enter the game covered. Units remain covered through all subsequent Turns until they enter the ZOC of an Enemy unit. Units are revealed immediately upon entering an EZOC, whether or not they engage in combat. Once a unit has been revealed, it remains revealed for the rest of the game. Covered units move the same as revealed units. All units are revealed at the end of the final GT before Victory Conditions are assessed.

Dummy Units

Dummy units represent small detachments or simply rumors of Enemy forces. They have no Combat Strength. Dummy units are deployed covered with a blank marker and are moved exactly the same as other units. They must conform to stacking limits. Dummy units are automatically eliminated whenever they are revealed (whenever they enter an EZOC). Opposing Dummy units eliminate each other whenever they enter each other's ZOC.

Dummy units may not be deployed in violation of stacking limits unless there are not enough hexes for them to deploy in without violating stacking limits, in which case they may be placed in violation of stacking limits but, if requested, the Player must show the other Player that one of the units in the hex is, in fact, a Dummy unit.

Dummy units are placed during Initial Deployment. The number of Dummy units a Player receives for deployment is based on their reinforcements.

Each Player receives one Dummy unit for Initial Deployment for every three real units that enter as reinforcements through one entry hex during one Turn.
Thus, a Player may not receive any Dummy units if he has fewer than three real units entering through a particular hex on a particular Turn.
Beginning with the First Turn, Dummy units may move independently.

Dummy units and their ZOCs may not block the retreat of an Enemy unit. If an Enemy unit is required to retreat and the only vacant hexes are in the ZOCs of one or more covered Friendly units, the Enemy Player may insist that the Friendly Player reveal one or more Friendly real units to prove that all vacant hexes are in fact blocked by ZOCs of real units, not Dummy units. Only then is the Enemy unit eliminated. If, however, the Friendly Player cannot prove that all retreat hexes are blocked, the Enemy unit may then retreat, causing all covered Friendly units that come within its ZOC to be revealed.

Dummy units may not be used to fulfill Victory Conditions. (They may not occupy hexes or block Lines of Communication.) They are eliminated when revealed at the end of the last GT. Once eliminated, Dummy units do not count toward VP; nor do they ever return to the game.

Important: Players will have to provide their own blank and dummy counters since none are provided, due to counter limitations in this edition of the game.

22.4.12 (Addition) Demoralization

A Player's units are demoralized for the rest of the game when his losses reach a cumulative total of one-third of his total CSP (of initial units plus reinforcements through that Turn).

A Player's units are double-demoralized for the rest of the game when his losses reach a cumulative total of two-thirds of his total CSP (of initial units, plus reinforcements through that Turn).

All attacks made by demoralized units have the odds shifted one column to the left on the Combat Results Table.
All attacks made on demoralized units have their odds shifted one column to the right.
For double-demoralized units, the odds are shifted two columns left or right.
If both sides reach the same level of demoralization, the odds are not shifted either way.
The Command Control Level of a Player's units is increased by one if the side is demoralized; and by two if double-demoralized.
Demoralization takes effect immediately during the Combat Phase that it occurs and affects subsequent combats in that Combat Phase.
Either or both sides may be demoralized at any time.
The demoralization of one side does not prevent the other side from later being demoralized as well (as it does in some SPI games).

Demoralization represents the loss of morale or "fighting spirit" caused by seeing too many of one's fellow soldiers being killed or wounded. This demoralization is not greatly affected by the knowledge that the Enemy has also sustained great losses, which the average soldier would probably not know in any case.)

Note: I approve.

22.4.13 (Addition) Free Deployment

As a variation from Historical Deployment, Players may set up the units given under the Initial Deployment however they like.

Units must be placed only on the set-up hexes listed on the Initial Deployment Chart.
Particular units do not, however, have to be placed on their "historical" hexes, but may be placed on one of the other set-up hex locations given.
Not all set-up hexes listed in the Initial Deployment need be used; units may stack on only some of the set-up hexes (within the limits of stacking limits), leaving other set-up hexes empty.

Note: Sure. Why not?

22.4.14 Simultaneous Movement

Note: All of the Standard Rules for Movement and Combat remain in force for Simultaneous Movement, unless modified by one of the changes below.

(Change) Sequence of Play

A. Reinforcement Phase: Reinforcements due to arrive on that GT are placed by each Player.
B. Simultaneous Movement Plot Phase: Both Players secretly write down their movement plot for each of their units.
C. Assignment of Combat Mission Phase: Both Players designate on their Plot Charts which of their units will attack on that Turn.
D. Movement Phase:
- 1. Command Control Segment: Each Player rolls a die to find out which of his units will Scatter as outlined below.
- 1. Simultaneous Movement Segment: Each Player reveals his movement plots and executes it for non-Scatter units as completely as possible, with full simultaneity.
- 1. Scatter Segment: Units which lost Command Control in Segment 1 are moved according to the Scatter rules (22.4.3).
E. Combat Phase:
- 1. Combat Resolution Segment: All attacks are allocated by each Player and resolved. Execution of results is delayed.
- 1. Repulsion Segment: Any unit which has not attacked and is in an EZOC is repulsed.
F. Turn Record Interphase: Players advance the GT marker one space on the Turn Record Track.

(Addition) Movement

During the Plotting Phase of each GT, both Players will first simultaneously plot the movement of as many or as few of their units as they desire in any direction or combination of directions.

Then both Players will simultaneously execute the plotted movement as completely as developing circumstances (such as intervention by moving Enemy units) allows.
For purposes of movement, the Simultaneous Movement Segment is divided into six sub-segments, corresponding to the 6 MP given to each unit.
Both Players simultaneously plot the movement of their units during the Movement Phase to reflect accurately the anticipated path of each unit.
During the Movement Phase, Players will move their units according to the exact path of each unit's written plot. The plot must reflect the exact Movement Sub-Segment in which a unit expends a MP, so that the anticipated position of every unit can be demonstrated on every Movement Sub-Segment.
It is not always necessary or desirable that a unit expend its first MP in the first Movement Sub-Segment.
The Movement Plot is the final determinant of Movement. Once a Player declares that he is finished plotting and play proceeds into the Movement Execution Phase, Players may not change their respective plots. They must execute the written plot as exactly as possible. No unit may voluntarily deviate from its written plot.

How to Execute Movement: During the Movement Execution Phase, Players physically move their units on their respective paths as written on the Plot Charts. Before beginning the movement, both Players apply the Command Control rules, as necessary.

Units affected by Command Control have their plotted movement crossed off the Plot Chart. They will be moved according to the Scatter rules after all normal plotted movement is completed.

Units not affected by Command Control move according to their Movement Plots until either the plot is fulfilled or Enemy unit intercepts the plot of the moving unit.

It is suggested that Players alternate moving one unit at a time. In this way, the non-moving Player can examine his plot to determine if one of his units would intercept an Enemy moving unit.
Interception occurs when two opposing units move into each other's ZOC or when they attempt to move into the same hex at the same Movement Sub-Segment. The guiding principle is that all movement is assumed to occur simultaneously.

Movement of opposing units ceases when they intercept one another. Opposing units occupying the same hex is prohibited; therefore, the unit which first attempts to enter the disputed hex shall have possession of the hex, or in the case of units that attempt to enter the same hex at exactly the same Sub-Segment, the Players shall each roll the die; the higher number takes possession.

A Movement Plot may be written that calls for the overrunning of Enemy units. This is because at the time the plot is written the intentions of the Enemy Player are not known. It is conceivable that the Enemy unit will move out of the way. If the Enemy unit does not move out of the way, it will intercept the overrunning unit.

Under no circumstances may a Friendly unit actually enter an Enemy-occupied hex or voluntarily leave an Enemy-Controlled hex.

(Change) Combat

A Player must designate his attacking units on the Plot Chart prior to Movement. Combat occurs simultaneously. It is entirely possible that opposing units will be slated to attack each other; such simultaneous combats will be resolved separately.

A unit which has been designated to attack must attack during the Combat Phase if it is adjacent to one or more Enemy units at the end of the Movement Phase.
Only units that have been designated to attack may attack.
Players should note that an attacking unit may not move during the final three Movement Sub-Segments of the Movement Phase. Nor can it expend more than 3 MP in Movement (if it did, it would not have 3 MP left to deploy into assault formation).
Players do not designate what Enemy unit they will attack; nor do they designate a specific hex for a unit to attack.
If an attacking unit does not complete its movement adjacent to an Enemy unit, it does not attack, unless it is artillery.
It is not necessary to designate a unit that is to defend. Any unit which has not been ordered to attack is assumed to be in a defensive posture, no matter how many MP it has expended.
A unit designated to attack may be involved in two combats in the same Combat Phase; once as the attacker and once as the defender against Enemy attacking units. A unit that has not been designated to attack may be involved in combat only as a defender.

Execution of Combat: Combat is presumed to occur simultaneously. Because of this, there are often cases of opposing units attacking one another.

Casualties and displacements resulting from attacks are not affected until after all attacks are resolved on both sides.
Players may resolve attacks in any order they desire.

All attacking units in an EZOC at the beginning of the Combat Segment must participate in an attack in that Combat Segment.

The attacking Player may choose which attacking units will attack each defending unit, as long as all Friendly attacking units participate in an attack, and as long as all Enemy units in the ZOCs of Friendly attacking units are attacked.
The attacking Player may resolve attacks in any order as long as all adjacent Enemy units are attacked.

Note: Almost by definition, a simultaneous system adds realism and tension to a game. By the same token, it adds boring paperwork and consumes time. Personally, I think there are too many units in play at one time for a playable simultaneous system. However, this is only my opinion. The roles as given by you are sufficient to impose simultaneity on a B&G game, if that is desired.

22.5 Initiative in Blue & Gray

(From Moves #28)

Below I suggest a couple of modifications that might be tried in any of the Blue & Gray games, which are more than a single day long. Actually, they could probably be modified to fit any multi-day game, but this article will be written in terms of the Quad games.

In almost all sequential movement games, the same Player moves first in each Game Turn. The specific ordering is usually based on which side had the initiative at the outset, although there are exceptions. But the initiative can shift, especially when the contest spreads over several days. For example, at Shiloh, the Confederates clearly held the initiative during the first day, and as such are given the first move in that game; but on the second day of the battle, Grant's Army took the initiative away from the fought-out Rebels and gained a victory. The determining factor at Shiloh is usually considered to be the reinforcements from Buell's Army, the troops which actually did most of the second day's fighting. However, there is no provision for this shift of initiative, and that is exactly what I present here, a means of determining who moves first each day based upon the situation at nightfall and daybreak. To supplement this, I also outline a set of rules for simultaneous night-time movement to be used in conjunction with this "Variable Initiative."

22.5.1 Variable Initiative

On the first Day Turn after any Night Turn, the Initiative Levels of both sides are determined. The Player with the higher Initiative Level (IL) moves first on that and all subsequent GTs, until the next Night Turn. The Initiative Level is the sum of the Initiative Levels of all of a Player's units, except those which are surrounded by EZOCs.

22.5.2 Initiative Levels

Only infantry units contribute to the Initiative Level; cavalry and artillery are considered to have an IL of zero.

All units which have not participated in combat the previous day have an Initiative Level equal to twice their Combat Strength.
Units which had been in combat but had retained their Attack Effectiveness at nightfall, have an IL equal to their Combat Strength.
Eliminated units have an Initiative Level equal to minus their Combat Strengths.
Units which had lost Attack Effectiveness have a variable Initiative Level: Total up the Combat Strengths of all Ineffective units, then roll the die and divide by the result. This is the IL of all of the Ineffective units (drop fractions).

22.5.3 Reinforcements

Reinforcements that arrive during the Night Turn are treated as units which had not participated in combat and, hence, they contribute twice their Combat Strength to the Initiative Level. Units which arrive during the First Day Turn contribute only their unmodified Combat Strength.

22.5.4 Separated Forces

If all of one Player's units are split into groups which are isolated from one another by EZOCs and/or the map edge, then Initiative Levels are computed for each group, and the highest one is compared with the Enemy Initiative Level.

Ties: In case both sides have the same Initiative Level, the Player who previously held the Initiative retains it.

22.5.5 Simultaneous Night Movement

Movement during Night Turns is simultaneous. Both Players write down (plot) their movement for all units, and these plots are executed simultaneously. Each Night Turn is divided into six Time Segments, during which every unit expends 1 and only 1 MP, either in moving from one hex to another, or in holding its position. A unit required to spend 2 MP to move into a hex would move during the second of six Time Segments.

22.5.6 Collisions

Opposing units must cease movement as soon as their ZOCs overlap. If two opposing units move such that they are adjacent, then they cease movement and are considered as any other units in opposing ZOCs (Exception: see below).

22.5.7 Restrictions

Units in EZOCs, or whose ZOCs overlap EZOCs may not move.

22.5.8 Withdrawal

If opposing units end the Night Turn adjacent, the Player who holds the Initiative may withdraw any of his units from an EZOC under the following restrictions:

a) The first hex of movement must be the last hex entered during the previous Night Turn.
b) An extra MP is expended in Withdrawal.
c) No other Friendly units may be moved until all Withdrawals are executed.
d) The first hex may not be in an EZOC. Withdrawals may only be executed by the Player with the Initiative, and only on the first Day Turn after a Night Turn.

22.5.9 Variations

Two variations might be tried in conjunction with these options. One would be to assign Initiative Levels to the commanders that actually took part in the battles. Thus, Lee might be given a +10 Initiative Level over Meade, and so on. This, however, gets into the broader question of Command Control for the Folio games, a subject which deserves more attention than I can give it here. A more viable variant would be to double the MP cost of all terrain during the Night Turns, except Roads and Ferries. This would simulate the increased difficulty in handling large bodies of troops at night.

22.6 Blue & Gray Variants: Expanded Rules for the Blue & Gray Game

(From Strategy & Tactics #98)

The original Blue & Gray game is a Quad game of four American Civil War battles that are quick, tense, and fun to play: The Antietam Game, the Cemetery Hill Game, the Chickamauga Game, and the Shiloh Game. Two players can sit down and fight an entire battle in less than two hours. The games are well balanced, and the outcome is usually hard to predict, right up to the end of play. While the games are fun to play, action sometimes proceeds along lines very different from the historical events. The complexity level of the games is quite simple but gamers desiring to recapture more of the historical flavor of these battles may wish to tinker with the rules and game balance. With that in mind, these optional rules offered to give more flexibility and variety to the games. In any rules questions between these optional variants and the game rules, the game rules apply. These variants are a new Combat Results Table and combat results, cavalry movement, leaders and command rules, and optional Chickamauga and Antietam Game rules.

22.6.1 Combat & Cavalry Rules

The game's combat results table was taken almost whole from the Napoleon at Waterloo Game and the venerable Borodino Game. While it works well for Napoleonic battles, it ignores the development that made the American Civil War so different from the Napoleonic Wars: the defender's firepower advantage.

The game's Combat Results Table (CRT) gives a 1:1 attack even odds for success with three Defender Retreat results and three Attacker Retreat results. The ratio of DR and AR results shifts linearly as the odds worsen or improve. But in the Civil War, an assault against an equal foe usually meant a bloody repulse (and sometimes destruction) for the attacker. The rifled musket had three times the killing range of the smoothbore muskets carried by Napoleon's Grande Armee so that an infantryman in 1862 could fire at least three times as many shots at an approaching enemy. This is an overly simplified view of the situation, but it does illustrate to some degree why even odds assaults just do not work as well.

To change this situation, the new CRT requires at least 3:2 odds before the attacker has a roughly even chance to dislodge the defender. All of the odds from 1:1 and less become worse for the attacker than they were in the original CRT. Odds of 2:1 and better remain the same. Another major change is that the CRT has been restructured for two-dice resolution of combat. The outcome of an attack is still predictable enough to let the attacker plan his assaults but allows for an occasional surprise.

Attacker/Defender Shattered

Another combat result which is abstracted for simpler play is a unit's remaining whole and unscratched or else being entirely removed from the field as an effective force. This has far-reaching effects on the game, not the least being the attacker's ability to launch a lot of 1:1 attacks along a line to keep the enemy occupied, knowing that the worst combat result will be a mere repulse.

Even worse is the game's optional disorder rule, which prohibits a unit from attacking or entering an EZOC after it suffers an Attacker Retreat result. Large numbers of units were decimated in futile frontal attacks during the war, but in the game, units very often must make low-odds attacks to pin the enemy while other friendly units make a heavy assault nearby. This sort of skirmishing certainly caused casualties, but it rarely led to the complete disintegration of the attacking units as the game's disorder rule does. To simulate the traumatic effects of dislodgement without resorting to extremes, a new combat result is needed: Attacker Shattered (AS) and Defender Shattered (DS).

A Shattered unit has generally taken many casualties and has very low morale. Its combat effectiveness is drastically reduced, but it is still a cohesive unit. A Shattered unit must retreat the same as if the combat result was AR or DR. In addition, the unit's combat strength is reduced to one-half of its full strength (round fractions up). This condition can be recorded by placing a provided Shattered marker on top of the Shattered unit.

Shattered units never recover. Once a unit is reduced to such a condition, it stays at half strength for the rest of the game.
If a Shattered unit receives another AS or DS result, it is eliminated.
If a unit is surrounded by enemy units or by EZOCs so that it cannot retreat when suffering a combat result forcing a retreat, that result becomes one step worse: DR becomes DS, and DS becomes DE (the same applies to results of AR and AS).
If the combat result is Exchange (EX), attacking units must lose at least as many strength points as the total printed (or Shattered) combat strengths of the eliminated defending units.
Shattered attacking units in an Exchange result can hold their ground, retreating only if the attacking player so desires.
Attacking units that are not Shattered in an Exchange result cannot retreat.

Important: Shattered markers are provided to mark combat units as such.

Cavalry Movement

A cavalry unit that spends the entire Turn outside EZOCs has a Movement Allowance of 9. If a cavalry unit expends more than 6 MP during its move, it cannot enter an EZOC.

22.6.2 Leaders

While the game recreates many of the conditions affecting the battles, one area that these optional rules help simulate more accurately is that of leaders and command rules. The addition of leader counters has a significant effect on the course of the four battles being simulated, as it forces players to keep their corps together.

[Leader Unit diagram: labels for Name, Command Unit, Command Rank (stars) and Command Rating.]

Army and corps-level leader units are used, as are some more divisional commanders in the Shiloh Game and the Antietam Game. Army commanders are designated by three stars, corps commanders by two stars, and division commanders by one star.

Leaders have 9 MP.
A leader can move out of an EZOC, but at the cost of 2 additional MP.

Example: Moving a leader from an EZOC into a clear hex costs 3 MP.

Each leader counter contains the Leader Name, Command Unit, Command Rank, and Command Rating, the latter indicating the distance in hexes that the leader can be from a unit he is commanding.
Leaders with parenthetic Command Ratings do not give a combat bonus to units they're stacked with.

Important: There are two identical counters for both Lee and Longstreet, since they both appear in two battles, Antietam and Cemetery Hill (see the Orders of Battle below).

Corps and division leaders command all units of their respective corps and divisions. While army leaders have no units directly under them, they can command any units of their army, up to the limit set by their Command Rating.

Example: Robert E. Lee (in the Antietam Game) has a Command Rating of 4. Lee can command any four units of the Army of Northern Virginia that are within four hexes of his leader counter.

Army leaders can stack with any friendly units. Corps and division leaders can stack only with units under their command, their army leader, or an independent unit. Leaders do not count toward the two-units-per-hex stacking limit.

Command Effects

All subordinate units within a specified number of hexes of their commander are In Command. The commander's radius is determined by his Command Rating. An EZOC blocks a line of command unless the Enemy-Controlled hex is occupied by a friendly unit.

The command status of all friendly units is determined at the beginning of the friendly Movement Phase.

All units that are In Command at the beginning of the Turn can move and attack normally, even if their movement takes them outside their commander's radius.
Units that are Out of Command at the beginning of the Turn have their full Movement Allowance but cannot move into an EZOC.
A unit that is Out of Command but in an EZOC must attack but cannot advance after combat.

Eliminating Leaders

If a leader unit is stacked with a combat unit that is eliminated during the game, the owning Player rolls one die. The leader unit is eliminated on a roll of 1 (1 or 2, if the leader is surrounded by enemy units or ZOCs).

If the leader unit is not eliminated, the owning Player can move the leader to the nearest unit under that leader's command.
If no units remain of that leader's command, the leader unit is removed from play.
An eliminated leader unit is worth VP equal to his Command Rating; the VictoryP apply toward the totals.

Replacing Leaders

An eliminated leader is replaced on any unit counter of his command at the beginning of the next friendly Movement Phase.

Use the same leader counter; this represents a subordinate commander of equal ability taking control of the units in the command.
The Phasing Player then rolls one die; if the result is less than the number of units remaining in that leader's command, the number of units shown on the die are automatically Out of Command for that turn.
The specific units affected are chosen by the opposing Player.
Only units of the eliminated leader's command can be affected.
A unit that is stacked with the leader cannot be Out of Command.

Leaders in Combat

A unit can be in one of three command conditions: Out of Command, In Command, or Stacked with a Leader.

If all the units participating in an attack are Stacked with a Leader, the attacker receives a combat bonus.
If all the attacking units are Out of Command, the defender receives a combat bonus.

A combat bonus allows a Player to alter the dice roll for combat results by one. After the dice are rolled, the Player with a combat bonus can apply it to raise or lower the number rolled on the dice by one, or else not apply the bonus at all. If the bonus is used, the modified dice result is then applied to the combat.

Combat bonuses cannot be carried over to another turn.
Artillery and cavalry units have no leader units and are always In Command. Neither unit type ever benefits from being stacked with a Leader.

Important: Out of Command markers are provided to mark units as such.

Longstreet (at Chickamauga)

Gen. James Longstreet's arrival from the east helped the Confederates dominate the Battle of Chickamauga. When the Longstreet counter arrives in the Chickamauga Game, it assumes command over the left wing of the Army of Tennessee, consisting of Buckner's and Hood's Corps. Longstreet functions as an army commander for these two corps. Confederate units stacked with Polk do not get a combat bonus.

Little Mac (at Antietam)

To account for Gen. George B. McClellan's indecisiveness in the battle of Antietam, in the original rules the Union player is saddled with an artificial movement restriction: no more than 15 Union units can move on the First Turn, and only 10 units are allowed to move on subsequent Turns. This unrealistic restriction limits one of the better games in the quad.

Instead, before starting the game, players should place one unit from each of the following Union corps in the game in a small cup or other container: II Corps, V Corps, VI Corps, IX Corps, XII Corps, and Pleasonton's Cavalry Division. Sixteen blank counters from the counter mix should be added to the cup and all the counters should be mixed thoroughly.

Important: Players will have to provide their own blank counters.

On Turn 1, only Hooker's Union I Corps is committed to the fight. All I Corps units can move and fight normally. All other corps remain uncommitted and cannot move. All Union units defend normally and must counterattack if a Confederate unit is in their ZOC at the beginning of a turn. The Union artillery can bombard normally, but never moves.

At the beginning of every Union Turn, including the First Turn, the Union Player draws one counter at random from the cup. If the counter drawn is a blank, McClellan has not ordered any fresh corps into the fight, and the blank is set aside. If the counter drawn is a Union unit, McClellan has ordered that unit's corps into the fight, and the Union counter is placed back in its set-up hex. That Union corps can begin moving and fighting per normal rules.

Franklin's Union VI Corps enters the map on GT 4, even if the corps has been committed to battle before then. If the VI Corps counter is pulled from the counter cup before Turn 4, the counter is placed off the map with the rest of VI Corps. Franklin's VI Corps is then considered committed from the moment it enters play. If VI Corps is not committed by Turn 4, the corps units can move onto the map on Turn 4 using their full Movement Allowance, but then must stand in place until committed.

Revised Combat Results Table

Dice Roll	1:5	1:4	1:3	1:2	1:1	3:2	2:1	3:1	4:1	5:1	6:1
2	DR	DR	DS	DR	DE	DS	DS	DS	DS	DR	DR
3	AR	DR	AR	DS	DS	DE	DR

AR: Attacker Retreat
AS: Attacker Shattered
AE: Attacker Eliminated
DR: Defender Retreat
DS: Defender Shattered
DE: Defender Eliminated
EX: Exchange