New Campaign Rules for Uneven Battles

I have finally decided how to handle uneven battles without having to set up and play the boring and  predictable wargame.

There has been some suggestions from the campaign players on the PBEM forum, and I have taken that into consideration.   Mind a lot of it would not fit into the campaign system, so I have had to compromise .

I considered a chart for each corps involved, but decided against that as it would involve too much work.   I would have to take quality of commanders, plus the quality, ability, casualties and morale of each brigade.  All of this would require a large chart of plus and minus points, and would need constant adjustment in the light of game experience.

I have decided to stick with one simple chart.   However I will use two D6 dice to cover a wider range of possibilities.

A low dice total indicates that the weaker side has managed to retreat before the stronger side can bring their weight to bear.   Only the rearguard has been involved in the fighting, which has been light and ineffective.

The higher the total the more fighting has taken place.  Both sides suffer casualties, but the weaker side many more than the stronger side.

This simple solution will save a lot of time fighting pointless and boring wargames.

It also follows the same principle as my wargame rules.    A low dice is bad luck for the attacker.  A high dice bad luck for the defender.

Even in the worse case the casualties will not be sufficient to force the weaker side to surrender.  I would not want any campaign to end without a formal wargame to decide the winner.

On the other hand the weaker side will always suffer more casualties than the stronger side.   This was not always the case when we fought the battle as a wargame.   The weaker side would always retreat as soon as they saw that the attackers were much stronger.   They would often do so without any casualties at all.

The new chart is as follows

Roll two D6 dice

Total               Stronger Side              Weaker Side

02                    1 infantry                    1 infantry

03                    1 infantry                    2 infantry

04                    1 infantry                    2 infantry        1 cavalry

05                    1 infantry                    3 infantry

06                    2 infantry                    3 infantry        1 cavalry

07                    2 infantry                    4 infantry       

08                    2 infantry                    4 infantry        1 cavalry

09                    2 infantry                    5 infantry

10                    3 infantry                    5 infantry        1 cavalry         1 gunner

11                    3 infantry                    6 infantry

12                    3 infantry                    6 infantry        1 cavalry         1 gunner

Note

1 infantry equals 400 infantry casualties

1 cavalry equals 100 cavalry casualties

1 gunner equals 100 gunners casualties and three guns

Each full strength corps has 16000 infantry, 1000 cavalry and 1000 gunners.

So possible casualties of 2400 infantry, 100 cavalry and 100 gunners is a considerable punishment for allowing yourself to be attacked by greater numbers of the enemy.

This will allow me to avoid wargaming uneven battles.  No doubt I will encounter problems as I use it in the campaign, but at least I can forget the problem for now