ou are either new to the world of miniature gaming or you are an old hand to this excellent hobby. This book is intended to promote the general creative fun of designing, developing, and playing games in miniature. It is intended for all age, interest, and experience levels.

The only caution is to ensure participants completely understand the nature of your game which helps eliminate disappointments. There are endless online resources, clubs, and web sites that are easy to locate or discover. Above all keep the games light hearted and fun!

Here are the general concepts covered in this book:

GENRE

For the purpose of this book my genre will be colonial activities for the time period of 1865 through 1910. My primary reason for gaming this period is that the combination of technology and cultures of vastly different peoples from all over the world clash with spectacular result. Where else can you have men armed with swords and spear charging en mass into a small troop of soldiers armed with rifles, machine guns, and quick firing cannon?

I also modify historical accuracy at times to allow fictional concepts from the same time period. This includes H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and many other authors. Imagine steam powered land ships, flying machines, or the discovery of a hidden valley containing cavemen and dinosaurs! Not to mention an attack from Mars followed by the exploration to that red planet in kind. As you can see there truly is something for everyone. Future volumes in this series will cover other periods of time in greater detail.

You are encouraged to play any time period or genre of history that you want. It is only natural to modify existing themes as you see fit. You can be traditional and have a straight forward American War of Independence battle. But if you think it would be fun to throw in some non-historic/fictional mercenaries or equipment then go right ahead! Just make sure your players understand what they are getting into before they settle down for the game.

MODELS

I like to use 1/72 scale plastic soldiers and models at a ratio of 1:1 or one model/figure representing one vehicle/soldier. The reason is that this scale covers a wide variety of troop and vehicles over a variety of different eras. Cost is also a consideration as a box of 50 figures currently costs less than $10 USD making it one of the least expensive options you have

available to you – especially if you search for sales and auctions! Just be sure to game with the scale and ratio of figures you think will make the experience the most rewarding to you.

RULES

The rules you chose should compliment your scale, ratio, available playing area, and number of players to ensure a smooth game. Try out as many different rules as you can until you find a set that works for you.

Remember – the point of the game is to have fun. If the rules begin to wear you down then either modify them until you are happy or ditch them in order to find or create something better. Keep in mind that more players or larger armies will often require simpler rules due to longer wait times so plan accordingly.

PLAY AREA

Location is important because you may be able to build a table large enough to play your game on, but you might not have the room to hold it! You may have to use a table in a common space, such as a dining or living room. You also might create any number of variations of folding or sectional playing surfaces that can be broken down and stored away.

For my own games I have plywood on a light, wheeled frame which is located in a corner of my basement. I can set up ahead of time, leave a game in mid play, and not break it down until a later time. My table measures 4’ x 6’ and allows me plenty of maneuver room for my models based on my scale and ratio.

Once you have a better idea of the scale, ratio, and genre you want to play you will have an idea of the surface you will need. If the table is too narrow or too wide it will effect the game severely. If you only have one or two places to advance along the outcome will become quickly apparent and tends to kill the excitement. Distances that are too long require too much moving before action can take place and excess waiting is enough to kill any amount of fun.

A good table size in one that allows you and your opponent to maneuver sufficiently to allow some individual initiative and choices. Big game areas are okay as long as the main units in play can easily cover the distance by fire or maneuver within the normal time span allotted for the game.

TERRAIN

Today you can easily purchase your terrain from numerous suppliers and stores from around the world. I personally prefer to create as much of the terrain myself as this is one of aspects of miniature gaming that I enjoy most.

he most important factor in any miniature game is the models and how they are represented on the table top.

What kind of game are you going to play? Is it based on vehicles, dismounted soldiers or a combination of both? It is important to have an idea of the size of the miniature you are going to want to play with.This size determines how much room you have to maneuver on the table and help dictates the variety of games that you can play.

The grouping of the units that your rule set specifies is important to know. If your units are supposed to be mounted on a single base it can effect your decision as to what scale of miniature and model to use.

As an example let us say you love 1/32 scale plastic soldiers. They are great for play and loved for their wonderful detail. If you wanted to reproduce the battle at Rorke’s Drift however you would need a huge playing surface in order to do the game in that scale. You could use a higher ratio of 1:10 but the game might look a little silly with only a handful of model figures manning the defenses.

So you pick a smaller soldier in 1/72 scale. The 139 British troops involved can easily be purchased these days for around $20 USD. You could get a good portion of the Drift on the table top but then you realize that you do not have much room for the Zulu warriors to maneuver around as they attack.

So you go to a smaller scale of 6mm. Now you can get the Drift and the surrounding terrain on one table giving the Zulus plenty of room to move and the British space to fire. The figure costs for the British are much less due to the price of the figures and it becomes much easier to represent the 4,000 Zulu warriors although some creative substitution may be in order.

So as you can see you should play test the game you want to host until you get the kinks worked out. Talk to fellow gamers to generate ideas that can save you time and money as it is very likely others may have attempted such feats themselves.

Once you decide on the scale and ratio of the figures you want to play you are ready to prepare your figures. It is important to prep your figures as all molding processes are not perfect and failure to remove unwanted substances from the surface of the figure may lead to flaking of your detailed paint job later on.

Scrub your miniatures with a mild soap and firm bristled brush or toothbrush. This bath helps to remove any oils or coatings that may have found their way onto your miniatures from the manufacture process or general handling.

Using a sharp hobby knife remove any pieces of the figure that are either deformations or unwanted additional plastic. You are encouraged to really think about what you want your soldiers to be carrying or wearing. This is the time to modify him to satisfy your needs by adding or removing pieces of equipment, or in more daring operations, heads or limbs.

With good glue secure equipment, features, or body parts you want your figure to have. You may need to reinforce the figure with pins or other material as needed to provide sufficient support or strength. There are hundreds of options for troop modification and at least ten different ways to do each. Research carefully and use your imagination to think up and implement the best ideas.

After the figure has been allowed to dry you are ready to mount them on their base. Mounting figures on a fixed base gives them a stable footing and also gives something for a player to grab hold of. You can also decorate the surface of the base in order to add a level realism to your figures.

Depending on the type of game and rules you want to play troops can be mounted individually or in groups. I strongly suggest that you mount your figures individually but in a way that they can be temporarily grouped together for ease of use with different rules.

One way of doing this is to use metal washers for base so that they can be placed on a piece of sheet magnet. This allows you to move a group of figures with great ease. For those games where the status of the unit must be noted an option is now available to remove figures from the unit to reflect status. This also allows you the option of storing your figures in drawers lined with magnet sheets so they do not become entangled or damage one another.

Upon deciding on the configuration that you wish to mount your troops a way to secure them to their base is with a healthy dab of white glue. Place the bases on a sheet of newspaper and apply a small amount of glue to the top surface. Place your figure on the spot of glue and ensure that there is good coverage between the figure and the base.

After the base is sufficiently dry mix natural sand with more white glue until you get a slightly wet paste that does not run or drip. Spread the paste in a layer that sufficiently covers from the outer top edges of the base all the way up to the feet of your figure.

When the putty or sand paste mixture is completely dry you need to base coat the figure with some paint. One method is to mix black paint with white glue and then paint this on your figure. I prefer using a matt finish black spray paint that bonds with plastic.

Find a well ventilated location protected from the wind and place the figures on an old window screen. Start spraying off of the figure with good coverage, allowing the paint to dry completely between coats. This prevents running and also tends to use less paint. Do not forget to get those hidden nooks and crevices under arms and legs as the idea is to add shadow in order to give the figure some sense of mass.

When the figure dries you are ready to paint the details. You are encouraged to paint what you think looks good or to research various uniform plates that show you exactly what color should go where.

Regardless the next step is to determine what type of paints to use. It is best to test paint on a single figure to see how the colors look and hold. Also witness any adverse effects to your models as those who rush ahead with any new process run the risk of ruining a whole bunch of figures at once. I prefer acrylic but know a wide variety of people who use oil paints.

Start painting your figure with the hardest to reach places first. Rationale for this is you can afford to be sloppy as you try to get into those places and later on it is easy to clean up the mess with the next layer of detail. I prefer to have an assembly line of figures where I paint the same feature on all first before proceeding with the next. This tends to make the work go much faster and gives the various layers of paint time to dry before I come back to work over them again.

Dry brushing is a great technique where you have as little paint on the brush as possible. The reason for this is to allow the dark recesses of the figure to remain untouched and to have the undercoat show through your color. This helps to give some sense of depth to your figure and the shadow forces the perspective of mass to add a level of realism. Try to visualize places where shadow should fall on your miniature from above and do your best to leave them dark. If you need help place the figure under bright light and note how the shadows fall accordingly.

In the end I think you will agree that this is a great technique as it requires less time, less paint, and gives you a more realistic look once finished. Once again I encourage you to try different techniques before you start knocking out hundreds of guys only to realize you like a different technique later on down the road.

After the figure has dried overnight I like to coat them with a wash of ink. By washing I mean the use of an inexpensive water color brush which is dipped straight into the bottle of ink. Taking the soaked brush gently spread the ink over the surface of the figure coating it evenly. What this will do is darken the detail color to make them more realistic and allow the ink to collect on the creases and corners of the figure to bring out detail on the surface of your miniatures.

Depending on your taste you can use a diluted wash of ink and water but I find that a nice dark brown ink darkens and details nicely without over doing it. The brown hue of the ink looks more natural to my eye as black tends to create a look of grey discoloration.

Once the wash has dried completely spread white glue on the base of the figure spreading with a brush and needed. Sprinkle the glue with some ground cover of sand, flock, grass, or what ever your heart desires. It is suggested you use something that will look good in most environments you plan to play on as the figures will be standing on everything from street corners to building tops.

After the figure dries over night gently tap off any excess material and remove any erroneously located pieces with a clean dry brush. Be careful that the loose cover does not stick to unwanted locations on your figure such as the tops of the feet.

The next step is to cover the figure in a protective layer. I like to use a clear matte finish spray and apply the same technique as mentioned earlier to prevent excess running. You can also use a gloss finish for a more “traditional” look. Another technique is to dip your figures in diluted glue and water or a bath of varnish. Bottom line is to put some kind of protection between the paint job of your figure and the outside world. Failure to do so ensures the eventual destruction of all your hard work due to handling.

Hopefully by now you have the hang of preparing and painting your soldiers. I think you will see very quickly what techniques you can improve upon. If you discover a great technique please share it and never forget to ask for ideas that may save you a lot of work or frustration in the long run!

Storing figures is also an interesting challenge. I prefer to use rolling plastic cabinets with drawers that stand some five feet in height. This allows me to have a three inch high drawer clearance for troops or vehicles and easily accepts a sheet of magnet paper which keeps my soldiers from becoming dislodged when I work or transport the drawers.

Depending on the scale of your soldiers you will have several different options to choose from. A suggestion is to select storage that allows you to label and see your figures without having to open each one to identify the contents. For smaller scales modified VCR tape cases are great for storing 6mm armies. Keep your eyes and imagination open and soon you will have nifty containers of your own design!

How to transport your miniatures on the road should be considered as well. I have a smaller five drawer plastic cabinet that stands less than three feet tall. This is easily secured with a seatbelt in the car for a road trip and my magnet sheeting keeps my miniatures held fast even if they find themselves traveling at an extreme angle.

ules – more people telling you what to do!

WHERE TO START

Deciding on a set of rules to play is easy. Just pick any set of rules, read them over, and learn what you like or dislike about them through trial and error. Look for free rules or ask to borrow a set from a fellow gamer.

A preferred technique is to play with someone who already knows the rules. This may not always be possible but will help you with the learning curve instead of stumbling through them by yourself.

Rules, like politics, have many opinions as to which are good and which are terrible. In my opinion I believe the primary focus should be based on fun. Rules that are arduous or feel more like taking an exam should be avoided. That is not to say I do not like realism, but to sacrifice game play for realism is not a good idea. Where you can you do and where you cannot you should not.

HOSTING A GAME

Ultimately I believe that every game should have a host. The host is the end all be all for the game and rules interpretation and will help reduce arguing or disagreements over how the rules are interpreted for that gaming session.

The idea here is that it does not matter what the rules say as much as how the host interprets the rules. If one person reads a rule to mean one thing and another reads it to be something different, it is up to the host to decide how it will be interpreted with all players agreeing bound by the decision.

A worst case scenario is where someone has forgotten gaming is for fun. If a serious argument develops try to find a way to please as many players as possible without constantly giving in to the one doing all the complaining. To do so will only encourage the individual to continue such behavior.

Should someone continue to raise a fuss to the point that it is disrupting the game I encourage you to remind them that the game is for fun. Should they persist I feel that the host is within their right to ask the person to leave the game.

Now, how one handles bullies and complainers is as different as the faces we carry, but the end goal is for everyone to have fun. Thus I find that although host ruling may not be “fair” to all opinions, it is a necessary role that needs to be filled to ensure a smooth and fun game for the rest.

HOME BREW

I often encourage others to make up their own rules. I have my own set of rules I have been piecing together for the last few years. They are named after the title of one of Samuel Clemens’ (Mark Twain) works that I felt captured the spirit of my games. In particular I enjoyed the aspect that in naming it thus I give no loyalty to any genre, place, or time.

All steps are optional - agree with your fellow gamers before you start playing. D6 means ‘six sided dice’. 3D6 would mean roll three six sided dice.

ORGANIZE YOUR FORCE

Select a single figure to be the Commander. Group the remaining miniatures into Units (usually of 10) and assign a Leader figure to each.

Rating

Rating is how reliable the soldier is – the more training and experience the more likely they will perform as expected. To check if soldiers pass a Rating Check you must roll equal to or less than the Rating value on 1D6.

Rating Checks can be required as agreed to by the players for soldiers to move, shoot, hit, rally, search, or perform a specific task such as destroy a row of fence or dig in. The main idea is to only have to roll for success on those actions or activities that you feel would add flavor to the game by being left to chance without slowing down game play.

The Rating of Commanders, Leaders and Troops may be randomly determined or selected by the players themselves. A random determination can add a truly unique spin to any game and is strongly encouraged!

Figures can be marked with colored pips or other markers on their bases to indicate their Rating to the owning player. One technique is to place a colored piece of magnet sheet underneath the base so that it is just visible. Others denote Rating by the type of terrain decoration on the base, such as foliage, rock, or twig. This greatly reduces book keeping and speeds up game play. Use what works best for you.

Speed

Movement around the board is another important element. I prefer to have the distance a unit can move somewhat left to chance as it adds spice. There is nothing like having the enemy dash from the trees to fall short of their objective by a couple of inches and be left stuck out in the open!

For this selected genre troops trained in the European style have limitations on their movement due to the need to be precisely controlled as well as the uniforms and equipment they carried.

Where movement can be done by “Line” soldiers may be abreast or side by side to each other with no additional limitations. If soldiers move by “Column” they travel further but can be no more than two (2) soldiers wide along direction of travel. This represents the ability of the troops to move faster by following the guy in front of them and requires less coordination than paying attention to staying in line with the fellow to your left and right.

Natives or war bands can move on average more quickly. However units must be positioned in an outwardly spiraling ring originating from the leader. This simulates the disorder in which a war band finds itself gathered. For example if the leader moves his band out to attack, first place the leader, then place his men around him in a clock-wise fashion continuing to wrap layer after layer until all men have been moved. If the leader reaches a destination the war band may disperse from the leader as remaining movement points permit in order to take up the desired positions.

All troops have a base move equal to their Rating. Add to this base distance the number rolled on the dice listed on the movement table.

Melee

Good old fashioned hand-to-hand covers any non-missile fighting. Your soldier can get additional +1s towards melee combat result for possessing each of the following:

• Specifically trained in melee combat
• Fanatical, Suicidal, or Altered Mind
• Melee weapons including pistols or shotguns

The idea is to give that slight advantage to those figures where applicable in order to add more variety to the game. Try not to abuse this as it will quickly lose any flair that it might have added to your game.

Missiles

This covers any thing that is thrown, tossed, hurled, or fired. Troops armed with fire arms may fire from two ranks deep so long as there is no terrain feature in front of the first rank of firers. Thus troops gathered along a wall would not be able to take advantage of this rule. Another example is only the first four troops in a column two wide would be able to engage targets to the front illustrating the hazards of advancing in such a formation towards the enemy.

Based on your game scale identify how many meters/feet there are per unit of game measure. For my scale of 1/72 one unit of measure (an inch) equals 5 scale feet. This allows me to translate actual weapon maximum effective ranges into approximate game measurements. Keep in mind this process is completely optional – you can instead simply assign ranges as you think reasonable.

For yards I would calculate the following: 100 yards x 3 feet = 300 feet; 300 feet / 5 feet = 60 units of range. For meters I would calculate the following: 100 meters x 1.0936133 (conversion to yards) = 109 yards (rounded); 109 yards x 3 feet = 327 feet; 327 feet / 5 feet = 65 units of range.

I then further divide this number by 5 (dropping the remainder) to get a basic range bracket. Each additional range bracket required to reach a target is an additional penalty of -1 to hit. Below you will find some common examples.

Take some time and get a reasonable idea of the range of your weapons within a historical context. Keep in mind to make you estimates fair and balanced so as not to create any unrealistic advantages.

Most of you will notice that in 1/72 the range brackets of the even carbines is quite a long reach on my gaming table which has a max length of 72 inches. This reflects the nature of modern fire arms when used in a close skirmish setting. Range is more a factor in antiquated weapons or for smaller scale games we talked about earlier. If I were playing a 10mm game the same carbine would have a range bracket of 50mm or 5cm and thus the distance would have more of an effect on game play.

Now we know how far you can shoot but the next question is how often? There are two different veins you have to keep in mind here: point and area fire. Point fire is intended to engage one man sized target at a time. Area is when you “spray and pray” shots into a particular location in order to attempt a hit.

Rate of fire for a point weapon is the number of shots per minute divided by 5. Rate of fire for an area weapon is determined by shots per minute divided by 50. Keep in mind that any listed cyclic rates of fire will be much higher and less realistic than a documented rate of fire.

Thus a Martini-Henry rifle with 10 shots a minute (point) would have a game rate of fire of 2 dice per figure. The Maxim machinegun with 500 shots per minute (area) would have a rate of fire of 10 dice per gun.

Any machinegun or similar weapon may jam on any roll of 6 which is then re-rolling a 6. This is to reflect the mechanical nature of the weapon or the poor quality of the time period. Rolling the dice in a sequence is encouraged as all shots after the jam are considered lost. Different weapons may have different break numbers thus giving better quality differentiations.

In the table below you will find general guidelines for various weapon rates of fire.

In most instances the rate of fire for a weapon can get out of hand in game scale. One way to reduce their effect is to take into account the supply of ammunition. A Maxim machine gun firing at full rate would exhaust 40 dice in only four rounds of firing. Telling the owner that they only have a 50 dice supply of ammunition may help even the playing field by forcing the firer to conserve their shots.

Field guns in particular could have a limited supply of ammunition that only allows a number of shots to be fired for the current engagement – failure to observe this limit could count against victory conditions as a penalty for impacting future operations.

Lastly we have the damage of the weapon on the board. For typical small arms I assign a value of 1D6. For the larger guns I try to research the actual characteristics of the weapon and get it as close to accurate as possible but within reason. Below you will find the successive methods I use to calculate the number of D6 the weapon is assigned.

Please keep in mind that this is a very rough estimate and if the different methods were applied to the same gun you would very likely get different results. If this is the case try to identify historically which result seems to be the most accurate or go with what works best in game play.

Also different gun ammunition types can have different effects as shrapnel, shell, and canister ammunition have an area of effect and solid shot does not. Adventurous types will also take range into account for reducing gun effect but I do not.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

The following tables are optional as some or all may be implemented.

Terrain

Select or roll 1D6 for terrain category.

Next select or roll 1D6 for terrain features.

There are different techniques for placing terrain. I prefer to have both players roll 3D6 with the high roller selecting and placing a piece of terrain. Continue this process with the remaining terrain until both players feel there is an accurate coverage of the table. Other games may be dictated by scenario or historical limitations and as always use your judgment.

Light & Weather

Roll 2D6 and consult the appropriate table(s) below.

Seasonal conditions effect movement due to the condition of the surrounding terrain.

Current precipitation effects command radius, shooting, and spotting checks.

Wind condition effects command radius, shooting, and spotting checks.

Visible light effects command radius, moving, shooting, and spotting checks.

The effects where noted are cumulative as they pertain to a specific troop task. Thus shooting in the morning (-1), during a light rain (-1), in light wind (-1) would result in an initial -3 to all ranged attacks. It can be rather easy to have the weather shut out a game due to limitations so perhaps using only one or two table is best. Else you might end up fighting at night, in severe mud, during heavy rain, and in a hurricane (-12)!

OBJECTIVES

Each side then chooses or rolls for the type of victory objective(s) they are going to achieve during the game. For campaign games you can add or subtract a modifier to reflect a higher chance of a particular posture due to prevailing circumstances.

For instance if you won the last battle you may be given a +1 to your roll to reflect a higher likelihood you will follow up your victory with an attack. Or, if you have an overly cautious commander, you may find yourself waiting for the enemy with a constant modifier of -2. The host should take input from the players into consideration when deciding on a modifier as this allows them to help develop the game.

One you have your posture it is time to determine your objective(s). Roll 1D6 on the following table for each of the columns.

Both sides write this information down and place these hidden orders in a common area to be opened upon conclusion of the game as proof of objective(s).

Thus a sample primary objective would look something like this: rolling 2, 3, 2, and 6 results in the objective of “Defending” an “Economic Thing” that is “Friendly” by “Hiding”.

My primary objective would be to defend a friendly economic thing (let’s say bags of spice) by hiding it from the enemy. This means that if the enemy discovers the location of the thing I lose points towards winning the game. How many points is up to the host.

As you can see there is a lot of room for determining what the objective generated result means, but I think that with a little practice you will easily get the hang of it. Regardless consider the result as a suggestion or rough idea and do what you think is best. An effect of this is to redefine what it is to “win” as something other than just eliminating the other side or taking all their ground. You could get smashed yet still prevail.

SETTING UP

Initial unit placement is Defender, Patrol, and then Attacker. If both sides have similar posture then each rolls their Commander Rating with the highest result deciding who places first.

Defenders identify positions and set up on the table as limited by the scenario. They may place units into hiding and only have a marker on the board to represent possible unit locations. Hidden units should be noted on an index card before game play starts. Hidden markers can be exposed by direct observation, rolling a successful adjacent search check, or moving into contact with the marker. Once a marker is exposed it is removed and any associated hidden units are now visible. Other dummy markers do not have to be removed until they are exposed. Dummy markers are allowed to move but are eliminated if they are exposed by the opposing player.

Patrol player rolls 1D6 and randomly determines where they enter onto the board. Use the four corners and half the length of the table, much like billiard table holes numbered clockwise. The idea is to prevent the Patrol leader control over how they enter the table. Defending against a patrol may cause the defender to place his units towards the possible entry points or in the center of the table to ensure some amount of defense in depth.

Attackers deliberately select their entry point onto the table. This reflects their general knowledge of the land of their advance which they should have taken into consideration while planning the attack. Scenario or host limitations may prevent use of some entry points.

ORDERING TROOPS

Place a card into a single Draw Deck for each Commander, Leader, and Crewed Gun for both forces. These cards can be labeled index cards or playing cards representing each of the elements on the board. Place the shuffled Draw Deck face down and flip over the first card to start the Turn. Other techniques can also be used such as placing labeled chits or poker chips in a bag so long as the selection process allows randomization.

A Turn ends once all cards have been played and represents a flexible amount of time based on the declared actions of the players. For games with a scenario based time limit the host will decide how much time passed for the Turn that just completed. Players should declare their desired actions prior to any rolls with ordered troops committed to that order.

A Commander may activate any Leader or Unit size of (usually up to 10) individuals within his Command Radius regardless of line of sight. Regular Leaders may also activate with the additional restriction that there must be a line of sight to the individual activated. Individuals do not have to be from the same Unit however an additional penalty may be assigned if desired.

When a Leader or Commander card is drawn and that figure has already become a casualty the owning player may nominate any non-leader figure as an Informal Leader. Roll 1D6 for Command Radius with the same limitations as a Leader.

If the card is for a Gun or Equipment it may be utilized if crewed sufficiently. Other random critical actions may also be included in the Draw Deck as needed. A good example of this is determining when a dam breaking.

An action may be any combination of Movement, Firing, or Activity. All figures do not have to be issued the same order. Thus half the group can be ordered to fire on the enemy while the other half move forward and place assault ladders against the walls.

Each D6 of movement combined with any other action imposes an -1 penalty. By example a unit that advanced at 3D6 and then fires a volley would have a -3 base penalty to their result. Sappers who move 2D6 to a gate to place an explosive charge would find themselves operating at a -2 to succeed. Failure to execute a specific action simply means the activity did not occur unless the host specifically decides otherwise.

Players may hold an action card in hand to play later on in the Turn. Held cards are placed on the Discard Pile when action is desired and are resolved in sequence played. A player may place multiple Unit cards at the same time so as to allow units to coordinate their actions or move together. At the end of the Turn any held cards are mixed together and drawn by the host as normal however this time the action must be utilized as drawn or it is lost.

MOVING

Movement Value (MV) is the number of units of measure the figure must pay in order to advance through or over terrain. Defensive Value (DV) is the amount of protection a terrain type provides against hits.

It is possible to have terrain with different MVs and DVs. An example would be muddy ground being difficult to cross (MV5) but providing very little cover or protection (DV2). It is also possible to have a mix of terrain. An example is an area of felt representing light woods (MV2) which has a high stone wall running through it (MV4). Soldiers moving through the woods would pay 2 points for each unit of measure moved and 4 for crossing the stone wall when it is reached. You cannot partially cross an obstacle with insufficient movement points. A unit with only a few movement points left cannot start to climb a wall they cannot cross completely in that same attempt.

There are restrictions on which type of units can move where. Wheeled vehicles may not cross terrain greater than MV 2 or DV1. Mounted miniatures may not cross terrain greater than MV 3 or DV 3. The host can also declare that any traversing vehicle or mounted figure is immobilized by rolling the MV or less of the adverse terrain. Thus mounted troops can move through rough MV3 terrain but risk losing their mounts in doing so.

MELEE COMBAT

Individuals at range 1 or less with enemy can opt to melee or hand-to-hand. Unique weapons such as pole arms may increase this distance. Pair up the combatants and declare any other figures that are supporting them. Supporting troops cannot ignore an enemy opposing them to act as a support and must also be within range of the intended target. To resolve the combat add Rating + Melee + Support(s) + Terrain + D6. The highest roll is the victor with the losing figure being removed from play. Any ties result in both figures being removed.

Capturing

Procedure for capturing an opponent is the same as melee except the defender wins any ties. If the attacker wins his opponent has been subdued and is under his control placing the captured figure behind the winning figure. A single unengaged soldier can guard up to one unit of prisoners. If all guard(s) are attacked in melee the prisoner control returns to their original commander although lack of original weapons should be taken into consideration.

MISSILE COMBAT

When calculating missile results your weapon range bracket is important. This is because your roll will have an additional -1 per range bracket beyond the first. So a Veteran (4) soldier with a range bracket of 20 shooting at a target at range 45 would be in the middle of the third range bracket (2 beyond the first bracket) for a range penalty of -2. The result is the figure needing a 4–2=2 or less per D6 in order to secure a possible hit based on range alone.

Individuals may fire up to their Rate of Fire per activation. Possible hits are scored against the enemy by rolling equal to or less than the Rating of the attacker minus Range, Movement, and Weather penalties. Any result of 0 is a possible lucky hit by re-rolling all one’s (1s) and again have the dice come up one (1). This is a 1/36^th or 2.8% chance of success and illustrates a “miracle shot”.

Machineguns and other crew served weapons may fire their Rate of Fire only when that specific weapon card is drawn. This means crewed weapons cannot fire more than once per Deck Turn. If there is a minimum crew requirement a Rating check minus each soldier short is needed in order to fire. The lack of crew men should also effect movement D6 as well. Thus a two man Veteran (4) crew of a machinegun requiring a crew of three would only fire on a roll of 3 or less and would move at a -1D6.

Machineguns

Machineguns can either attack along a plunging or traversing line. A plunging line is traced from the gun to the horizon with the gunner dividing their Rate of Fire on different groups of targets as desired. In traversing fire the gunner has to trace a continuous line of measure. This means a 7D6 RoF Gardner Gun could engage a group of targets spread up to 7 units of measure apart. To concentrate 3D6 of this fire on one part of the line would shorten the spread by 2 measures. Due to the area fire of machineguns re-roll any possible hits keeping only those that are even.

Cannon & Artillery

Attacks of shell and shrapnel are limited by a blast radius equivalent to the D6 of the weapon minus the DV of and centered on the impact point. So a 12D6 shell exploding in dense trees (DV4) would have a blast radius of 12-4=8 centered on the impact point.

Targets are then attacked with the D6 minus the distance they are from the center of the impact. So using the above example a soldier at range 4 from the impact point receives 8D6 possible hits. The result is light medium and heavy weapons having different radii and thus different effects based on range and terrain.

To limber, unlimber, or reorient a gun requires an action. Firing arc is determined from the tail of the piece through the wheels of the gun. To change the firing arc of a gun imposes a -1 to hit per arc.

To determine the impact point first estimate by sight the distance from the muzzle of the gun to the desired target point. Then make a gunner rating check with any failed result plus range bracket penalty being the D6 the shots drifts from the point of impact. Players are allowed to use the measurements of previous shots in subsequent attempts and thus represent ranging to target.

Direction of drift is either determined by rolling any manner of random direction determination (to include specially marked or labeled D6, the pointy end of a D8 or D10) or use of the following table:

Firer then measures their estimated range plus the effects of any drift adjustment to discern the actual impact point. Any intervening obstacle of sufficient height as determined by the host can be struck instead.

Solid shot travels in a straight line attacking one target per distance using same negation technique as previously mentioned. If a negation is successful the shot is stopped and further targets are not attacked. If not the shot hits the target and continues to its next target for further resolution.

Canister fire is handled a little differently. Divide the range of the canister fire by the number of D6 of the gun. Use these damage brackets to determine the number of possible hits scored on each soldier within the pattern of fire. For every bracket past the first reduce the effects of the D6 by 1. Double canister halves the range of the gun but doubles the D6 of damage and counts as two shots.

Determine your line of fire as normal with the canister pattern being 1 centered distance unit wide per damage range bracket. So the canister pattern at damage range bracket 3 is three units of measure centered on the line of fire. A little tedious but worth the effort when you witness the effects!

Making templates ahead of time out of transparent sheet material will greatly speed up game play. It is also suggested that each side keep track of each ammo type available for each gun if it does not bog down play too much. Guns may quickly find themselves out of shell or shrapnel and loaded only with canister. Artillery may be placed off board by noting the location and distance from a corner on a piece of paper or piece of tape stuck to the wall.

NEGATING POSSIBLE HITS

All possible hits are negated by rolling equal to or less than the current DV of the terrain the figure occupies.

As an example there are 2 figures standing at a road block. An 8D6 shell lands at range 4 striking open ground (DV1) resulting in a blast radius of 8-1=7. Figure A is standing in the open (DV1) and figure B is inside a defensive position (DV5). Both figures receive 7-4=3D6 possible hits. Figure A needs to roll one’s (1s) and figure B needs to roll five’s (5s) or less on three dice in order to not become a casualty.

If your target is wearing armor that is capable of stopping the attack but it is not evenly distributed across the body use the following table to determine the location of the hit.

For my genre this is not really applicable unless it is melee combat. Depending on the year gamed this armor can stop a variety of attacks but research carefully.

A vehicle with armor could use the same formula for gun strength to determine a protection value. These defensive dice would be rolled and any even results counted as successes. If the number of successful attacks is greater than the number of successful defenses the vehicle is destroyed and the remaining hits would go to any crew or passengers.

An example of this is a mountain gun has an attack of 6D6. The armor of a gunboat is 50mm thick or a defense of 5D6. Rolling 6D6 we get 3 successes and 5D6 we get 2 successes. The boat would be destroyed and the remaining success resulting in a casualty against the crew and passengers.

CASUALTIES

When a figure is being fired upon all figures and mounts within 3 inches may be included by the defender in the random hit population. This is to help prevent sniping of key figures.

Place the appropriate number of markers into a bag or bowl representing each of the different types of targets. Draw at random the victims. Guns and caissons should be included when fired upon by artillery with all hit equipment being destroyed.

If you like greater detail or for campaign games roll for the types of casualty suffered. The use of designated medics or first aid personnel may reduce the casualty type by one. Properly equipped doctors could reduce it by two levels.

The type of casualty can greatly effect the nature of a campaign game where wounded must be cared for and protected. This also allows a number of troops to

be returned to duty and could mean the difference between victory and defeat in future battles.

MORALE & RETREATING

Each troop must make a Rating Check plus any protective DV minus the total number of adjacent casualties within 3 inches and direct line of sight. Failures result in the figure fleeing the number of dice that they failed the check by in the opposite direction of the casualties and greatest number of visible attackers while ignoring all terrain costs. Fleeing figures moving into melee range of enemy units are eliminated or captured as decided by the attacker.

he last critical element of miniature gaming is terrain. There are many different types of terrain features that should be taken into consideration and they fall into several categories.

GROUND COVER

Ground cover is the tapestry that all other terrain will end up on. They can be of different types and colors of cloth in order to symbolize different climates and conditions. The key is to think of the environment that you want to play in and pick a color and texture of material that fits accordingly.

White fluffy felt or an old white sheet could represent snow. Brown corduroy could be freshly plowed fields. Blue splotched cloth could represent water. Even brown packaging paper crumpled up and smoothed flat can become very effective dry desert terrain.

Objects can be placed underneath the cloth to give the appearance of rolling terrain and most ground cover should work with a variety of terrain pieces that will be placed on top of it.

When selecting terrain keep in mind the following: Does this look good on top of my ground cover and is it in harmony with the other terrain on the table? If not modifying the terrain in order to get it to blend. Often dry brushing pieces can work wonders in terms of getting everything to fit together nicely to the human eye.

SIZE OF TERRAIN PIECES

The idea is to have a selection of terrain elements that work well together and do not take up too much space all by themselves. Hills and buildings if done to actual dimensions will quickly take up lots of table space. In order to combat this some understanding of symbolism should be utilized.

For my games a house that takes up four square inches is considered a good sized element even though proportionally a real home might more accurately scaled at ten square inches. As long as I can maneuver in and around the terrain I am content. Variety and moderation is the key to prevent over cluttering.

BUILDINGS

Model railroad buildings can also be used to represent more detailed structures. Keep in mind for 1/72 scale figures an HO scale building is slightly too small but on the gaming table an HO scale building makes an excellent symbol of where a building is and what it looks like. Trial and error and even using pieces of existing structures in home made models can help you make the type of building you desire.

Houses are easy to find in various rail road or model hobby stores. I encourage you to only buy those buildings that are either a real steal or ones that have so much wonderful detail that you could not hope to reproduce them without spending countless hours of tediously detailed work.

For all other simpler buildings I encourage you to create them from scratch. Industrial buildings can be easy to replicate due to their plain exteriors and detail. My favorite buildings are made from cardboard and held together with masking tape. This frame is then covered with a glue/sand/putty mix and allowed to dry. With some dry brushing it is easy to make a series of mud brick buildings in one sitting and the effect of the finished product is both enjoyable and very convincing.

Bridges are readily available from hobby and train stores as well. Rough bridges of stone, bamboo, or wood can easily be tossed together and with a base coat and dry brushing made to look very realistic in no time at all.

Ruins for any of the above are easy – just start with the real thing and wreck it! This is great for buildings as you can often get two or three ruins out of a single new structure. Debris created with scraps of building mixed in with small bits of gravel, wood, and sand help finalize the presentation. Here the key is to allow the base coat and dry brushing to communicate the condition of the ruin. Adding some growth in the form of flock or grass also helps to seal the deal.

EARTH

Hills are another tricky subject and face more of the same issues. Ideally you should be able to place foam hills on the table in such a fashion in order to provide low and high ground and ways of getting to and from each. But again you don’t want the hill to take up too much of the table surface so choose wisely and sparingly when creating and placing these.

Rocks and crags can be created in a couple ways. One is to go to the garden store and get a bag of those volcanic looking rocks. They look great straight out of the bag or with a base coat and some dry brushing. Another great find is a bag of large wood bark. These large pieces of bark can be placed as is or cut in half and laid on edge to simulate layers of bed rock. Once you base coat and dry brush them you’ll swear you were looking at the real bed rock.

Roads can be created from spreading brown caulk onto a sheet of newspaper. Sprinkle the surface with sand and allow it to dry. Once it dries peel away the excess newspaper, black base, and dry brush as desired. Gravel roads can be made in the same fashion by replacing the sand with slightly larger ballast. Once the road has dried some you can use light pressure from a ruler or other tool to flatten the surface of the stone to make it more realistic.

The end result is a flexible but durable road or river basin that can lay with the shape and contours of the terrain it is placed on. The caulk may take a long time to dry but once it has it becomes a soft flexible plastic that lends itself well to being placed over hills and other terrain.

WATER

Ponds can be created by creating a bank from either glue and sand mixtures or some air hardening clay in which the water would be contained. Once the bank is dry cover the surface area with white glue. Once the glue dries completely you can dry brush the surface of the water as you would want it to appear. Once this paint has dried apply another thin layer of white glue. Once this final layer has dried it will become transparent to some degree giving you water the illusion of depth.

Larger bodies of water may be created by crushing and flattening pieces of colored film paper. The wrinkles of the film will reflect light much in the way water does and different layers of film create different depths and colors of water.

Dirty or algae filled waters are usually uniform tan or light green in color. Simply paint the surface of your glue this color and spray coat with a gloss finish. This will make the water opaque but still appear to be wet.

Rivers can be created from spreading brown caulk on newspaper. Sprinkle the surface with sand and allow it to dry. Once it dries peel away the exposed newspaper, black base, and dry brush the desired. The end result is a flexible but strong basin that can lay with the shape and contours of the terrain it is placed on. White glue added to the tops of the river pieces and coating with a gloss finish gives a wet look and additional dry brushing can add sufficient detail to make the piece appear to flow like water.

VEGETATION

Trees and vegetation provide their own unique issues as units need to be able to move into and through them. The best way to represent woods or forests that I have found is to cut out some ground cloth of a dark green color. Place this on the table and then stand individual trees on top. This allows you to have a definite forest border and the scattering of physical trees are merely for show as they can be moved around and removed as needed to allow access to units and to facilitate troop movement.

Individual trees can be purchased from train or cake decoration stores. Almost all of my palm trees come from bakery suppliers and most of my jungle canopy is from fake roses. I cut off the flower head and removed the ring of leaves from mid stem. Turning the leaves upside down so they now resemble a banana or rubber tree I reattached them a top and hit the whole tree with a light dusting of olive drab spray paint to add light texture and remove the plastic shine.

Almost all of my exotic bushes are from fake aquarium plants found in pet on craft stores. Depending on the type of vegetation you desire it is easy to find materials which can be assembled and/or painted to meet your needs.

Crop fields can be made from different types of cloth, rugs, or door mats. Welcome mats made from hemp make excellent wheat fields once they are cut down to the proper dimensions. Corduroy and other textures appear to be plowed earth ready for planting depending on the scale you have chosen for your games.

Bushes and hedges are another easy problem to solve. Most model train stores sell a type of clumped material that you can glue to bare tree frames in order to represent bunches of leaves. The same material glued to a base just as easily represents shrubs or bushes.

Hedges can be made from green scrubbing pads which have been cut down in order for the newly formed edge to represent wild or trimmed down growth. Glue the flat edge of two pieces to a base to give irregularity of form and depth and coat with some flock or previously mentioned foam foliage.

ODDS & ENDS

Take a walk around your local discount, toy, pet, or home improvement store. Look at all the different items for sale and ask yourself if, with a little work, this item might look great on your table.

Toys stores often have inexpensive plastic castles that once slightly modified and base coated end up looking outstanding on your table. Toy plastic boats meant for youngsters that are cannibalized and modified make ready and easily boats or defenses.

Pet stores have numerous fish tank accessories that with very little work make striking contributions to the presentation of your game. Oriental buildings, rocky caves, and even plastic plant material easily give fire to the imagination.

Stone or sand bag walls can be made from white glue mixed with small pebbles or dried beans and mounted on newspaper. Once the glue has dried you can peel the newspaper away and you end up with a sturdy wall ready for finishing.

Wooden fences can be made from tooth picks or bags of wood sticks from craft stores. Palisades or log walls can be created from bamboo skewers or sticks from outside. These can be washed in either India ink or stain in order to get a more weathered look.

Poly filler used for pillows can be used as white smoke or with a little help darkened to represent the black smoke of burning buildings or vehicles. Rock salt chunks can be glues with plastic crystals to represent alien terrain or vegetation. The list of different types of terrain you can make from scratch or purchase is an endless one.

KEEP IN MIND

When in doubt or facing a new project for the first time make sure you research and ask a lot of questions before you start. You may find that some one knows of a good place to buy inexpensive model railroad trees by the dozen, or someone has an easy technique for creating western style buildings. The less time you waste creating your terrain is more time you spend playing with it.

Most importantly ensure that the piece does not take up too much room and try to make generic pieces that can be used in a lot of different situations. Building a temple to some dark god may be exciting to envision and construct but when it can only be used in specific scenarios it may end up feeling like a waste of time, effort, and money.

A good example of multi use terrain is most natural pieces. When it comes to buildings I try to pick European and Mediterranean designs that can work for medieval, colonial, and WWII games. This way I get more use out of my terrain and have to worry less about storing and transporting it all. Sure there may be a time and place for a specific type of single use terrain but choose carefully!