Rules Queries

[rage13fury]

Hi - As a club we have been playing with the Ga-Pa ruleset, fairly good rules but not at all easy to just pick up for a casual game, you need to really know them well.

We have recently purchased BLB & had our first game last night & were very impressed with both the speed & playability of the rules. Great, thank you.

Our first game did throw up some questions & we hope to be able to get some clarification here.

1. I charged with a Brigade of cavalry vs. a sqdn of enemy cavalry & routed them. Almost immediately behind them was another unit of cavalry, in open terrain with no nearby friends. Would the routers & pursuers flow around or would the routers interpenetrate & the pursuers contact. We couldn't find anything relating to fresh enemy revealed by a rout.

2. If in a cavalry melee the result is a draw does it just continue or do both sides need to test for morale if casulaties are inflicted. What if no casualties are inflicted?

3. Do you need to be able to actually contact an enemy base to re-inforce a melee, or is the melee assumed to degenerated to a mass bundle with fresh units feeding in? Does a unit re-inforcing get first round chances to hit or does it have the same chance to hit as the original units.

4. In the rules there is an example of an infantry vs. cavalry melee. The infantry stand & shoot but do not fight back vs. the cavalry, which is fine, but what happens in the 2nd & subsequent rounds? Do the infantry stand & shoot again, or do they melee, or do they still not fight back?

5. The Ga-Pa basing is different to BLB. As an example the British are based on 4 stands on 3 figures to represent the 2 deep line, French are 3 bases of 4 figs & Bavarians 2 1/2 bases i.e. 10 figures. We don't particularly to rebase, but the sizes of the units caused problems when British infantry wanted to charge a shaken Bavarian unit, with non shaken friends to either side. Presumably this must arise on your basing anyway if the 2 firing lines don't match up exactly. So can an infantry unit charge shaken infantry but still contact the non shaken units adjacent to it?

6. Does a unit only need to test to charge home if it receives casulties?

7. Finally, the QR sheet says that Hussars & Dragoons don't lose figures in a cav. vs. cav. melee until after the 1st round, this isn't in the rules. We assume the QR sheet is correct?

Sorry for the length of this e-mail.

I am looking forward to the clarifications & my next game too. Thanks.

Dik.

[barr7430]

1. I charged with a Brigade of cavalry vs. a sqdn of enemy cavalry & routed them. Almost immediately behind them was another unit of cavalry, in open terrain with no nearby friends. Would the routers & pursuers flow around or would the routers interpenetrate & the pursuers contact. We couldn't find anything relating to fresh enemy revealed by a rout.
If there was no gap either side or the routers were within 2 inches of the friendly cavalry when routed, they would burst through otherwise they would go for the gap. The pursuers could cease pursuit by passing a 'cease pursuit morale test(see routing and pursuing(p16). If they choose NOT to do this or FAIL the test they follow on into the second unit but that combat is done NEXT turn during the melee phase and both sides kill only on 6s per figure.

2. If in a cavalry melee the result is a draw does it just continue or do both sides need to test for morale if casulaties are inflicted. What if no casualties are inflicted?
If it is a draw OR no casualties are inflicted then nobody tests and the melee carries on next turn

3. Do you need to be able to actually contact an enemy base to re-inforce a melee, or is the melee assumed to degenerated to a mass bundle with fresh units feeding in? Does a unit re-inforcing get first round chances to hit or does it have the same chance to hit as the original units.
Fresh units DO need to touch the combatant enemy unit if it is an Infantry v intanry melee. If cavalry against any opponent then they need not touch the enemy unit but simply join in behind their own unit already engaged. Infantry WILL get the bonuses Cavalry DO NOT but simply kill on sixes with ALL figures fighting

4. In the rules there is an example of an infantry vs. cavalry melee. The infantry stand & shoot but do not fight back vs. the cavalry, which is fine, but what happens in the 2nd & subsequent rounds? Do the infantry stand & shoot again, or do they melee, or do they still not fight back?

Infantry's only chance to stop a cavalry charge is by breaking their opponents or inflicting more casualties by fire than they receive in melee. Once the Horse are in, infantry must tough it out and do not fight back unless in square and steady when they get saving throws if they have pikes. This lasts for three rounds before the horse must break off. It os possible to survive, I have seen it many times!

Some people are phased by the logic of the seemingly helpless infantry but there is a clear rationale: If you fire you will not have time to fix your plug bayonet, you are therefore deefenceless when the cavalry hit. The option of forming square/hedgehog should also be seriously considered. Socket bayonets were being introduced but this is also spurios logic. How many infantry lines stood to receive cavalry charges in the Napoleonic Wars and survived?? Fire or Square.. the Colonel's dilemma

5. The Ga-Pa basing is different to BLB. As an example the British are based on 4 stands on 3 figures to represent the 2 deep line, French are 3 bases of 4 figs & Bavarians 2 1/2 bases i.e. 10 figures. We don't particularly to rebase, but the sizes of the units caused problems when British infantry wanted to charge a shaken Bavarian unit, with non shaken friends to either side. Presumably this must arise on your basing anyway if the 2 firing lines don't match up exactly. So can an infantry unit charge shaken infantry but still contact the non shaken units adjacent to it?

No it shouldn't contact non shaken enemy if this can be at all avoided. If your units are smaller don't worry. Treat the basic basing element of your collections as a BLB firing stand or alternatively count your unit as having a nominal strength of 18 figures regardless of how many physical pieces you have. Mark you losses off on paper. This shouldn't cause you any problems. It was never my intention to force people into rebasing or changing the unit sizes of their collections. It should be very easily adapted by gentlemen's agreement.

6. Does a unit only need to test to charge home if it receives casulties?
YES

7. Finally, the QR sheet says that Hussars & Dragoons don't lose figures in a cav. vs. cav. melee until after the 1st round, this isn't in the rules. We assume the QR sheet is correct?
IT DOES MENTION IT IN THE MAIN RULES ON PAGE 21(BUT YOU ARE CORRECT IT DOES NOT SAY AFTER 1st ROUND AND HUSSARS ARE NOT MENTIONED THERE) THE QR SHEET IS CORRECT