Last Nights ULB Game and some questions

[Anonymous]

Hi to all,

We fought our first game of ULB last night at the Napoleonic Wargaming Society in Perth, Western Australia. Enormous fun was had by the four of us and it attracted alot of interest from the other members at the club as well.

Reasonably small game - eight battalions a side, four squadrons of cavalry and a field gun each. Just to get a feel and not be too bogged down. Used all the rules except events and capturing colours for the first trial. We came up with a few situations which I would love to post and see what you think Barry as well as the rest of the membership.

Firstly, changing orders via a courier. Staff Officer travels the required distance etc , is there a chance that the sub-general will not pay any heed if a not controlled by a gamer? Is their a mechanism for that or a simple roll a six - odds and evens?

Command Control for the C-in C and his brigade commanders. Can the Cin C use his movement roll to influence a brigade which rolled poorly under their own commander? If so, should this be declared prior to movement rolls?

Can field guns be considered limbered for intial deployment or is this a simple case of design the scenario and enjoy?(the latter I think).

Infantry forming square-reading the rules it seems to be only available as a response when being charged. Are they able to form square in the normal course of their move without cavalry bounding in on them?

Cavalry iniating a charge who roll a six-FAIL. Do they simply have to remain halted or can they move somewhere else? I found in the rules where they state what they do if under fire etc but not if they simply roll the dreaded six.

Situation - Cavalry have successfully rolled to charge infantry sixteen inches away. Infantry have failed their morale and have been forced to retreat four inches. The cavalry can not hit them with the 16 inch charge. Do they simply charge the 16 inches and hope to charge again the next turn? Can they only move half-way and be a sort of "faint charge"?. In the game we moved them behind the infantry retreating and allowed them to charge again next turn.

Also, cavalry who have charged and not taken any fire. Do they still need to roll to charge home?

Does Shaken also mean disordered? Is there any modifier for shaken troops forming square?

The melee rules in Infantry state three rounds and then all fallback. Does that also include cavalry v infantry?

In the case of infantry that were in square at the start of a combat and have survived the three rounds of melee. Are they able to take their move back and reform remaning in square or must they fall back in another formation? Can they then reform in any direction and in any formation?

Is the angle or arc of fire for infantry the same as artillery e.g. 22.5 degrees?

Charging troops into enemy. I know there is a range at which infantry fire dependant upon class and a dice roll. Is there a distance where foot and cavalry halt in front of the target to first take the fire and then before they roll to charge home? I know in the Grand Manner (Napoleonics) it is six inches for cavalry and three inches for Foot.

Hope the questions are seen as positive. We really enjoyed the game and we have five members so intrigued they are busy ordering their Front Rank figures and madly painting them up. The rules had a great "feel" about them and were a huge amount of fun.

Look forward to the response.

Best wishes

Carlo

[barr7430]

Carlo,

Firstly let me say how glad I am that you and the lads enjoyed playing ULB, that makes it all worthwhile for me

I'll deal with your points just as you wrote them(below) answers in BOLD.

Firstly, changing orders via a courier. Staff Officer travels the required distance etc , is there a chance that the sub-general will not pay any heed if a not controlled by a gamer? Is their a mechanism for that or a simple roll a six - odds and evens?
Your mechanism of letting the dice decide is a good one I'd stick to that. Alternatively you could roll a D2 or D3 when he arrives and say that the resulting score is the number of turns in which it takes the unit/brigade to repsond to the orders. ie they continue to do what theyare doing for x further turns.

Command Control for the C-in C and his brigade commanders. Can the Cin C use his movement roll to influence a brigade which rolled poorly under their own commander? If so, should this be declared prior to movement rolls?

The CinC would have to be in contact with the brigade at the start of the turn

Can field guns be considered limbered for intial deployment or is this a simple case of design the scenario and enjoy?(the latter I think).

I think you answered your own question on that one!

Infantry forming square-reading the rules it seems to be only available as a response when being charged. Are they able to form square in the normal course of their move without cavalry bounding in on them?

Yes (takes a full move) but it was a very rare manoeuvre I believe and I am still looking for evidence of its widespread use on any battlefield. I would consider dropping the 'form square' rule(or at least having it as an optional rule) if I could find more proof one way or the other.

Cavalry iniating a charge who roll a six-FAIL. Do they simply have to remain halted or can they move somewhere else? I found in the rules where they state what they do if under fire etc but not if they simply roll the dreaded six.

If a charge is declared and the test is failed then they should stand and DO NOTHING that turn. Simulating confusion, haranguing and general repercussions for insubordination!

Situation - Cavalry have successfully rolled to charge infantry sixteen inches away. Infantry have failed their morale and have been forced to retreat four inches. The cavalry can not hit them with the 16 inch charge. Do they simply charge the 16 inches and hope to charge again the next turn? Can they only move half-way and be a sort of "faint charge"?. In the game we moved them behind the infantry retreating and allowed them to charge again next turn.

In situations where the target is fleeing/evading/routing I usually do the movement in quarter turns(target moves a quarter move then chargers move a quarter move) this determines whether the chargers contact the target in a more scientific fashion that simply moveing both their full move straight away. If it is clear that there will be no contact(because initial seperation distance was to great) then the cavalry should take a morale test to cease pursuit at their NORMAL MOVE DISTANCE. If they pass they can pull up and immiediately declare a chagre next turn. If they fail they must stand for as turn(next) and rally - horses blown. They will counter(test to) if themselves charged by other horse otherwise they stand and do nothing. I will clarify in the next amendment of ULB
Also, cavalry who have charged and not taken any fire. Do they still need to roll to charge home?

Does Shaken also mean disordered? Is there any modifier for shaken troops forming square?

Big debate(and I've canged my mind on this many times) SHAKEN is a psychological condition and DISORDER a physical one. My thinking on this at the moment is no, it does not automatically follow that a SHAKEN unit is disordered. DISORDER is caused by: difficult terrain, melee, retreating or routing, interpenetration, pursuing,evading. I will again clarify this point if it is not clear in the main rules.
The melee rules in Infantry state three rounds and then all fallback. Does that also include cavalry v infantry?

In the case of infantry that were in square at the start of a combat and have survived the three rounds of melee. Are they able to take their move back and reform remaning in square or must they fall back in another formation? Can they then reform in any direction and in any formation?

No movement in square, has to be another formation. Can reform in any direction

Is the angle or arc of fire for infantry the same as artillery e.g. 22.5 degrees?

Yup

Charging troops into enemy. I know there is a range at which infantry fire dependant upon class and a dice roll. Is there a distance where foot and cavalry halt in front of the target to first take the fire and then before they roll to charge home? I know in the Grand Manner (Napoleonics) it is six inches for cavalry and three inches for Foot.

I would stop them 3" for cavalry(the distance required to gain charge speed bonus) and 2" for infantry. The stand and fire volley although designated by SHORT-MEDIUM-LONG is not actually simulating the distance at which the volley is fired, rather the effect it is having on the target. Perhaps an alternative designation may be useful: DEVASTATING- EFFECTIVE-INEFFECTUAL. In fact I rather prefer that definition! Could be another change!

Hope this is useful

Barry

[Anonymous]

Thanks Barry,

Does not get much better than having some queries and being able to get the correct interpretations back in less than 24 hours from the author!!

A couple of qusetions that may have slipped through to the keeper - the one on cavalry not receiving fire-do they still need to roll to charge home? Three rounds of melee for Cav v infantry then all retreat a move and reform -correct?

Thanks again.

Cheers

Carlo

[barr7430]

OOPS!

Cavalry who do not take fire or casualties on the charge need NOT test to charge home, they immediately contact the infantry.


After three rounds of melee then both sides have to reform for one turn.

Cheers

B