Pre-Battle actions for an English Civil War game

Having recently painted another base of English Civil War (ECW) infantry, it was not long before I wanted to get the miniatures onto the tabletop for a game or two. I often use a variant of the One-Hour Wargames Pike and Shot rules and chance cards for my ECW games. As this was a one-off battle I thought I would try and incorporate a pre-battle game that would influence an army's deployment, composition, and also its readiness.

My initial idea was to create a deck of pre-battle cards that players would draw from, but that approach did not seem to be that interesting and lacked any decision making. So I asked ChatGPT for help in coming up with ideas for a set of rules using pre-battle cards. The rule ideas it suggested were very useful and I only needed to make a few adjustments.

The rest of this post covers the first draft of the pre-battle rules and an example of how they were used to create a narrative. The actual battle report will have to follow in a future post, as this post is already getting rather long.

An ECW game beckons.

The pre-battle rules take 10-15 minutes to play and are written for a tabletop game using One-Hour Wargames (or variant) which incorporate the use of 15 chance cards. The chance cards are important as this is how the army's readiness is represented.

OHW rules using chance cards. Each army has 15 cards and a card is draw at the start of each turn.

Sequence of Play

The pre-battle campaign is played in a series of turns. In each turn:

1) Select Campaign Action. Both players secretly choose one of three campaign actions:

• Advance Aggressively
• Consolidate Forces
• Secure the Region

The same action cannot be selected two turns in a row. For example: A player could choose the Advance Aggressively action in Turn 1, Secure the Region action in Turn 2, then Advance Aggressively again in Turn 3.

2) Reveal the chosen actions. Both players reveal their chosen action and resolve their effects (see next section).

3) Repeat or End. The game continues until 3 turns have been completed, or until a total of two Advance Aggressively actions have been selected in the campaign (regardless of which player selected them).

For solo play I roll a D6 to decide the first action. 1-2 Advance Aggressively, 3-4 Consolidate Forces, and 5-6 Secure the region. After that is a D6 roll 1-3 and 4-6 to decide from the 2 available actions as you cannot select the same action in twice in a row.

Campaign action cards. Alternatively you can just write down the action.

Campaign Actions and Their Effect

Advance Aggressively

• +2 CP
• Army composition - Halve the number of artillery units (round down)
• Draw 1 card

Consolidate Forces

• +1 CP
• Army composition - Double the number of dragoon units
• Draw 1 card

Secure the Region

• 0 CP
• Army composition - Halve dragoon units (round down)
• Draw 1 card, if it’s a disadvantage, discard and draw again (keep the second draw)

What to Track Each Turn

1. Campaign Points (CP). The player with the most CP at the end will choose the tabletop edge and deploy their army second.
2. Event Card Draws. Cards drawn during the campaign influence the Chance Card deck used in the battle.
3. Army Composition. Modified based on the last campaign action taken (e.g., fewer artillery, more dragoons).
4. Advance Aggressively Tracker. Once two Advance Aggressively actions have occurred in total, the campaign ends.

Ending the Pre-Battle Campaign

When a second Advance Aggressively action is selected or 3 turns completed:

1. Add up CP totals for each side.
2. Resolve card effects (as per the drawn Pre-Battle Event cards).
3. Determine army composition based on each player’s last selected action.

The player with the highest final CP chooses the tabletop edge and gets to deploy second. In the event that the CPs are equal, then roll a D6 to decide a winner. The winner chooses their tabletop edge and must deploy first.

Chance Card Deck (for the Tabletop Game)

As mentioned before I use a modified chance card deck from One-Hour Wargames for my English Civil War games. The composition of the deck can change with the pre-battle event cards drawn. The cards used before and changes are as follows (numbers in brackets are the number of cards):

Initiative (2): One unit may move twice, move & shoot, or shoot twice.

Rally (2): 1–3 units remove 1–3 hits (roll 1D3).

Confusion (2): Units must roll 3+ on a D6 to move. Any failure and no more units may move this turn.

Resupply (2): An infantry, dragoon, or artillery unit that’s out of ammunition is resupplied.

Panic (2): The friendly unit with the most hits takes 1D3 additional hits.

No Effect (5): Nothing happens.

Pre-Battle Event Card Effects (10 Cards)

These cards are drawn during the campaign phase. The cards modify the Chance Card deck used during the tabletop game or CP totals:

Officer Rivalry. Replace 1 No Effect card with a Confusion card.

Captured Supplies. Replace 1 No Effect card with a Resupply card

Poorly Trained Recruits. Replace 1 No Effect card with a Panic card.

Troops Get Paid. Replace 1 No Effect card with a Rally card.

Return of Veterans. Replace 1 Panic card with a No Effect card.

Spy in the Enemy Camp. Gain +2 CP.

Powder Spoiled. Replace 1 Resupply card with a No Effect card.

Rumours of Treachery. Replace 1 Rally card with a No Effect card.

Inspiring General. Replace 1 Confusion card with a No Effect card.

Clubmen - Pillaged the Wrong Village. Lose 1 CP.

 

 

Some Pre-Battle event cards were quickly made.

Playing the Pre-Battle Events

I opted to play the Royalist forces and used dice to drive Parliament's decisions.

Turn 1

• Royalists chose to Secure the Region. They get zero campaign points (CP) and drew "Clubmen - Pillaged the wrong village" which they discarded and drew "Troops get paid" which will add a rally card to the chance card deck.
• Parliament chose to Advance Aggressively gaining 2 CP. They drew "Spy in the enemy camp" which gives them another 2 CP.

Turn 2

• Royalists chose Consolidate Forces. They get 1 CP and drew "Captured Supplies" which will add a resupply card to their chance card deck.
• Parliament chose to Consolidate Forces. They get +1 CP and drew "Inspiring general". This will remove a confusion card from their chance card deck.

Turn 3

• Royalists chose advance Aggressively. They get +2 CP and drew "Powder Spoiled". This will negate the captured supply card removing a resupply card from their chance card deck.
• Parliament chose to advance aggressively. They drew "Poorly trained recruits" that adds a panic card to their chance card deck.

Parliament with a total of 7 CP will have the deployment advantage being able to choose the tabletop side and deploy second. In addition they will remove a confusion chance card and add a panic card to their chance card deck. As they were advancing they will halve their allocated artillery.

Royalists will only add a rally card to their chance card deck, having gained and lost a resupply chance card. As they were advancing they will also halve their allocated artillery.

The game's narrative from a Royalist perspective...

Sir Charles Blackthorne, commanding Royalist forces in the county of Northmarsh, had received word that a Parliamentarian army was advancing to contest his hold upon the region. Cautious by nature and loyal to the Crown, Sir Charles had spent the past weeks sending his troops off to secure the region and getting loans from Royalist sympathisers to keep his troops in pay.

Upon learning that the Parliamentarian force was under the command of Sir Nathaniel Cleve, a seasoned officer with experience from the wars on the Continent, Sir Charles resolved to draw in his scattered troops and prepare for battle.

His scouts reported the capture of several barrels of gunpowder from a local storehouse, yet hopes were dashed when it was later discovered the powder had spoiled, likely owing to prolonged exposure to damp weather.

Determined not to linger indecisively, Sir Charles gave the order to march leaving his artillery train to follow up behind. Yet as his force advanced, it became clear that Cleve had either anticipated his movement or had been warned by a treacherous spy. The Parliamentarian army was already in position barring the road ahead.

A closer view of an ECW game.

All is now set for a game.