D3 French Indian War Rules

French Indian War Rules

D3 French Indian War Rules

Introduction

• These rules began as a variant of One Hour Wargames Horse & Musket rules & for the most part reflect the straightforward nature of those rules. A movement activation mechanism has been added to reflect how difficult terrain impacted the linear nature of warfare at the time.
• The rules have been converted for play using a 6" square grid to regulate movement & shooting ranges. In the rules the term "bound" is used for movement & shooting where one bound is a square (or 6” for free movement if that is your preference).
• The facing of a unit in its square is free form & not dictated by the square. The direction a unit faces is important when it comes to combat.
• The game uses D6 for activations & D3 dice for combat. I like using D3 dice as combat results are treated as either below average, average, or above average.

Units

• The rules cater for the following unit types:

• Regular/Line Infantry
• Skirmisher/Irregulars/Light Infantry
• Native Warbands
• Militia
• Artillery
• Grenadiers

Sequence of Play

• The game is played in a series of turns. During a player’s turn they complete the following steps:

1. Movement
2. Combat
3. Unit Elimination
4. Army Resolve

Movement

• For units to move they must first be activated. To activate a unit roll 1D6 on a score of 2+ a unit can move.
• When in difficult terrain or woods, regular infantry, militia & grenadiers, are activated on 3+.
• If a unit fails activation, then the movement step of a player’s turn is over & no more units may be moved. The player then begins the combat step of their turn.
• Regular infantry, militia, grenadiers & artillery move one bound.
• Skirmishers, irregulars, warbands & light infantry move 2 bounds.
• Artillery must cease movement after shooting, but can still change facing.
• Units may turn facing as part of their movement.
• Turning a unit to change it's facing still counts as movement.
• Units may not move & shoot in the same activation.
• Units may pass through other units.

Terrain

Woods

• Artillery may never enter woods. 
• Infantry, militia & grenadiers occupying woods subtract 1 when shooting.
• Units occupying woods are treated as being in cover.

Towns

• Artillery may never enter towns.
• Units occupying a town have a 360 degree field of fire & are treated as being in cover.

Marshland & Lakes

• No units may enter.

Rivers

• Can only be crossed at bridges & fords.

Difficult Terrain/Streams

• Artillery may never enter difficult terrain or cross streams. 
• Infantry & grenadiers occupying difficult terrain/streams subtract 1 when shooting.

Entrenchments (eg Trenches/Gabions)

• Units occupying fortifications are treated as being in cover.

Fortifications

• Units occupying forts are treated as being in cover.
• Units occupying forts add 1 when shooting.

Combat

• Units may only shoot at units within 45 degrees of their frontal facing.
• Warbands & units in towns & forts have a field of fire of 360 degrees.
• Muskets have a range of two bounds.
• Artillery units have a range of 4 bounds.
• To determine casualties units roll a D3 & make the following adjustments:

• Grenadiers roll D3+1
• Regular/line infantry units roll D3
• Skirmishers/warband/irregulars roll D3-1
• Militia units roll D3-1
• Artillery units roll D3-1

• Subtract 1 from the score if a unit can claim cover.
• Units occupying forts add 1 to their shooting score.
• Infantry, militia & grenadiers occupying woods subtract 1 when shooting.
• When infantry, grenadiers & warbands are attacking a unit in an adjacent square. If the unit is eliminated, they automatically charge forward & occupy the vacated square.

Elimination

• Units are eliminated when they accumulated more hits than their resolve value.
• All units have a base resolve value which varies depending upon unit type (shown in brackets):

• Regular/Line Infantry (8)
• Skirmisher/Irregulars/Light Infantry (6)
• Warband/Natives (6)
• Militia (6)
• Artillery (6)
• Grenadiers (10)

• Note - the number of hits a unit can take can be increased by 2 depending upon a commander’s ability (see optional rule).

Commanders

• Commanders can re-roll the move activation dice rolls for any adjacent unit.

Commander Ability (Optional)

• At the beginning of a game decide upon the quality of a commander. All commenders have two quality factors, one for attack & one for defence. 
• Only one factor can be used in a game depending if a commander is deemed as defending or attacking.
• The quality factor (between 1 & 4) determines how many regiments of a commander’s force can increase by 2 the number of hits before they are eliminated.
• If the game is not part of a campaign roll a D6-2 for each quality.
• Note - depending upon the size of game being played, a regiment may be represented by 1 to 3 units on the tabletop. So increasing a regiment’s hits will increase all units representing it.

Trusted Officers

• Each side can field one trusted officer. They are attached to a unit, normally one assigned to an important task.
• If the unit is eliminated the officer is removed as well.
• Units with trusted officers can re-roll shooting & move activation dice rolls, but must accept the re-rolled score.

Army Resolve

• At the beginning of the game determine an army's resolve which is equal to the number of units being fielded.
• When a unit is eliminated roll a D3 & accumulate these scores during the game. Once an army’s resolve is exceeded, the game ends & the army retires from the field of battle.
• If a commander is lost with their attached unit, then roll a D3+2.