What I have so far

Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 23

The Rise and Fall of an Empire
War in the age of Napoleon
By Sonny Smith

In “The Rise and Fall of an Empire” players battle each other with miniature armies representing the real armies of the age. The game is played typically on a 6’ X 4’ tabletop with two or more players, appropriate terrain, a tape measure and six-sided dice.

Command & Control

Motivation
The morale of your soldiers is based on the unit’s Motivation rating. There are three Motivation ratings in the game. These are Fearless which is the highest Motivation level, Confident this is the average Motivation level, and finally, Reluctant the lowest Motivation level. In “The Rise and Fall of an Empire” Motivation mostly deals with unit Morale and pressing-on in assaults.

Skill
The experience and training of your soldiers is based on the unit’s Skill rating. There are three different Skill ratings in the game. These are Veteran which is the highest Skill rating and provides 2 free CP actions, Trained which is an average Skill rating and provides 1 free CP actions, and Conscript the lowest Skill rating and provides no free CP actions. Skill also determines the number of free actions that can be used by Officers when using Command Points. In “The Rise and Fall of an Empire” Skill mostly deals with units being shot at, recovering from Disorder and accomplishing specialist tasks such as the effectiveness of an Artillery Bombardment.

Threshold
Every Battalion has a Threshold based on the battalion’s Skill rating. The battalion’s Threshold determines how much enemy fire the battalion can take before it starts being effected negatively. Disorder Markers are used to keep track of how many hits the battalion has taken. Threshold is broken in to two numbers once the battalion has more Disorder Markers then the first number the battalion’s ROF is halved. Once the battalion has more Disorder Markers then the second number the battalion begins losing Companies. Disorder Markers are covered later.

Officer
In “The Rise and Fall of an Empire” every unit has a commanding Officer which is purchased with points along side the unit. There are three different Officer ratings in the game. These ratings are Seasoned the highest Officer rating, Typical this is the average Officer rating, and finally, Green the lowest Officer Rating. An Officer has a number of Command Points or (CP) which is used to perform unit actions within the game, an Officer gets his full amount of CP every turn. An Officer also has a number of re-rolls that he may use throughout the game, once these re-rolls are used he does not gain them back. An Officer in a unit has the same Motivation and Skill as the unit he is in. The Officer mostly deals with maintaining order amongst the ranks of the unit and the speed and effectiveness of which orders can be carried out.

Command Points or (CP) are used to change Formation, March, Shoot and Assault. Every officer has a set number of CP Seasoned Officers will have more then Typical officers, and Green Officers will have less then Typical Officers. Units depend on CP to fight Officer’s wishing to use CP to perform unit actions must make a Motivation test to do so. Skill determines how many CP may be used before an Officer is forced to start rolling Motivation for using CP. Once an Officer fails a Motivation check then the Unit he is with is finished making actions for the turn.

Example
A French Confident Trained Infantry unit with a Seasoned Officer (5 CP/3 re-rolls) is in Column formation at the beginning of the turn. The unit wishes to move so the player uses 1 of the Officer’s CP to move the unit 6” straight ahead. Because the Unit is Trained the player does not need to roll to use this CP. The player then wishes to put the unit in Line Formation, because the Unit is Trained and the 1 free CP action was used to move, the player needs to roll the Officer’s Motivation to put the unit in Line Formation. Because the Unit is Confident the result of the D6 roll needs to be a 4, 5 or 6 to be successful. The player rolls 1D6 and gets a 4+, just enough to pass. The player sets up the unit in Line Formation. At this point the Officer has used 2 CP out of 5 total CP for the turn. The player then decides that he would like for the unit to shoot into an enemy formation that is within range. Again the player rolls 1D6 for the officer’s Motivation this time only getting a 2. The Officer was not able to get his men ready in time to fire, but there is still hope. The Officer has 3 re-rolls that he may use throughout the course of the game and the player decides to use 1 of these re-rolls now. He once again rolls 1D6 and scores a 6, Success. The unit resolves shooting into the enemy formation scoring 4 hits and leaving 4 Disorder markers, but the result was disappointing to the player so he decides another volley into the enemy is what is needed. With 2 CP left the player again tests the Officer’s Motivation this time scoring a 3, needing a 4+ the unit once again does not make the roll required to shoot. The player decides not to push his luck and so decides against using another re-roll. The Unit’s turn has ended and the French player moves on to the next unit and so on until either none of his units may act or the player voluntarily ends the turn.

Units

Infantry
The infantry units are either Line units or Light units. Line units are an army’s main fighting force they excel in the Line Formation. Light units are typically infantry formations meant to harass the enemy and for reconnaissance, these units excel in the Skirmish formation.

Cavalry
Cavalry units are divided into Heavy or Line Cavalry and Light Cavalry. The Heavy Cavalry units are best used to break enemy formations when they are at their weakest. Light Cavalry units use their speed to flank the enemy and to pursue fleeing enemy formations. Cavalry units are strongest when charging in the Wedge Formation.

Artillery
Artillery units are divided into gun types and can be attached to either Infantry or Cavalry units. Artillery is best used to bombard enemy units from a distance while the Infantry or Cavalry move into position to deliver the final blow. If the enemy comes close enough the Artillery can fire a devastating Canister shot into the opposing formation.

Formations

Formations
In “The Rise and Fall of an Empire” Formations represent how Units form up and fight. There are six Formations each serving different purposes in the game. These Formations are Column of Attack, Column of March, Line, Skirmish, Square and Wedge. All of these Formations are based upon the positioning of the unit’s Command Base. Position the Command base to the desired position and the other unit’s bases form up around the command base.

Column of Attack
Column of Attack formation is used to get a unit from point A to point B quickly but also providing some protection from enemy attacks. Infantry units moving in Column of Attack formation move 4” and Cavalry units moving in Column of Attack formation move 6” straight ahead. The disadvantage of being in Column of Attack formation is that units may only shoot their normal Rate of Fire (ROF) and only along their flanks. In Column of Attack formation the Command base is the leading element and is positioned in front of the unit, the other unit’s bases are positioned behind the Command base. In Column of Attack formation a unit’s Front is 90 degrees from the edges of the front of the Command Base.

Column of March
Column of March formation is used to get a unit from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Infantry units moving in Column of March formation move 6” and Cavalry units moving in Column formation move 8” straight ahead. The disadvantage of being in Column of March formation is that battalions may only shoot up to ½ their normal Rate of Fire (ROF). In Column of March formation the Command base is the leading element and is positioned in front of the unit, the other unit’s bases are positioned behind the Command base. In Column of March formation a unit’s Front is 90 degrees from the edges of the front of the Command Base.

Line
Line formation is used for bringing the maximum amount of musket fire to bear on an enemy unit as possible. Infantry units in Line formation move 2” and Cavalry units move 4” straight ahead. When shooting in Line Formation a Line Infantry unit shoots at 2x its normal Rate of Fire (ROF) all other units shoot at 1 1/2x their normal Rate of Fire (ROF). In Line Formation the Command base is in the center and two bases each to the left and right of the Command base any remaining bases are placed directly behind the front bases. In Line Formation the unit’s front is 180 degrees across the front of the Command base

Skirmish
Skirmish formation is used to harass the enemy, move through difficult terrain or for reconnaissance work. Infantry units in Skirmish formation move 4” and Cavalry units move 6” in any direction. Light Infantry units in Skirmish Formation are at a +1 to hit from shooting by enemy teams. When shooting in Skirmish Formation a Light Infantry unit shoots at 1 1/2x its normal Rate of Fire (ROF) all other units shoot at their normal Rate of Fire (ROF). In Skirmish Formation the unit has no front or flank but teams must turn to face the unit they are shooting at. A unit in Skirmish Formation that is assaulted will automatically break.

Square
Square formation is used to defend against cavalry charges. Infantry units in Square formation may not move and Cavalry units cannot form a Square. Infantry units in Square formation are at a +1 to hit from shooting by enemy Artillery teams. When shooting in Square formation an Infantry unit shoots at ½ its normal Rate of Fire (ROF). In Square formation the unit has no flank. Cavalry may charge a unit in Square formation but any hits in Defensive Fire against the cavalry count as three hits instead of one.

Wedge
Wedge Formation is used by the Cavalry to charge into enemy units. Infantry units may not form up in to Wedge Formation. Cavalry Units move 10” in Wedge Formation. If a Cavalry unit in Wedge Formation moves more than once in Wedge Formation in a turn then the unit gains a Disorder marker for each movement past the first. In Wedge Formation the Command base is in front, behind in the second rank two of the unit’s bases and in the third rank is three of the unit’s bases and so on. In Wedge Formation the unit’s front is 180 degrees across the front of the Command base.

Building an Army

Purchasing Units
In “The Rise and Fall of an Empire” players build their armies by spending points to purchase battalions, the lowest command structure represented in the game. Typically two players wishing to play a game will agree on a total number of points and then they build their armies subtracting the cost of the units from that point total until they have no points left to spend, it is typical that players will have a few points left over that cannot be spent while building their army.

Battalions
The Battalion is the basic unit in the game. Every battalion has a Battalion Rating and an Officer. The Battalion Rating provides important information about the unit and is what players will most often refer to during game play. Battalion Ratings are broken up into Motivation, Skill, Officer, Threshold and Rate of Fire (ROF).
Motivation, Skill and Officer were covered earlier which leaves Threshold and ROF.

Rate of Fire
In “The Rise and Fall of an Empire” the total number of 1D6 provided to a battalion for shooting is referred to as the battalion’s Rate of Fire or (ROF). During the course of the game it is possible that companies within a battalion will be destroyed, when this occurs the battalion losses 1 ROF for each destroyed company.

For example a battalion has a Rate of Fire (ROF) of 6. Later during the game the Battalion loses a company, it’s ROF drops to 5, if throughout the course of the game it loses another company then it’s ROF would drop to 4 and so on.

Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 23

Apologies for the gigantic post. I wanted to put this up because I have some trepidations about what I have worked out so far.

The first being Threshold of battalions. The game is set up so a player controls a few regiments and some extra support. A few player can get together per side if they want to play a Division sized game with each player effectivly controlling a Brigade.

With that in mind a player will be controlling between 4-8 Battalions/Squadrons. Keeping track of threshold, Officer's re-rolls and so on would require some writing down.

I wanted to get people's opinions on this before I continued. On one hand it takes away from some of the ease of play that Flames of War has. On the otherhand players have shown recently that they are willing to keep track of things this way like in Warmachine. And like Warmachine the system I came up with flows well after getting the hang of it.

So rip it apart, so that I can re-evaluate what needs to be changed before moving on.

Also, this is pretty much the same system my ACW game used except there was no Square formation.

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:52 pm

It's very interresting. If you want I can upload a document in our files and sticky this topic.
Wink