Pub Battles: Antietam Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Map
• The Units
• The Turns
• Scale
• Unit Types
  • Detachments
  • Militia-Recruits
  • Regulars
  • Elite
  • Artillery
  • Cavalry
  • Baggage Trains
  • HQ
• Sequence of Play
  • Modifying the Turn Order
• Movement
  • Real Maps
  • Distance
  • Majority Rule
  • Moving
  • HQs
  • Army Commander
  • Command Range
  • Difficult Terrain Reduction
  • Route Column
  • Hidden Reserves
  • Field of Fire (FoF)
  • Disengagement
• How to Attack
  • Support
  • Artillery
  • Bombardment
  • Line of Sight
  • Spotting
  • Flanking
  • Envelopment
  • Rally
  • Baggage Trains
  • Ineffective Formation
• Resolving Combat
• How to Fight
• Combat Modifiers
  • Cover
  • Flanking
• Applying Hits
• Unit Quality
• Retreat
  • Cavalry Retreat
• Multiple-Piece Combat
• Examples
  • Movement Examples
  • Combat Example
• Victory
• Night Turn
• Supply Source
• Free Play
  • A Bitter End
• Design Notes
• Terrain Effects Chart

Introduction

Overview

Pub Battles is a system of rules for recreating the conflicts of the musket era as a large-scale battle. With a robust cloth map and a small footprint, you can play anywhere: in the park, at the restaurant or at the pub.

The large scale and short playing time let you set up and fight entire battles, to their conclusion, in an hour or two.

Although quick to play and easy to memorize, Pub Battles is a serious study of wargaming, based on in-depth research, data and methods of the period.

This system focuses on Command.

What did commanders know or not know? What could they influence? What escaped them? Rather than calculating perfect attack odds and executing perfect moves, this game is about staying flexible.

Battles are chaotic and tense. As in a war, things do not always go as planned. You must plan for the unforeseen, be ready to react to disasters and seize opportunities. While mastering the chaos of combat, do not lose sight of your strategic plan for the battle. To win, you must keep your objective in view and manage both imperatives.

Pub Battles is also an excellent system for playing with miniature figures. The game system can easily accommodate multiple players, but it works just as well solitaire.

The Map

Instead of game boards with hexes or zones, Pub Battles uses a real map, like the original Prussian Kriegsspiel. Real maps can be hard to read, which can sometimes lead to frustration and confusion. It will take a little more time, but it is not wasted time. You are not just learning a game; you are acquiring a real command skill: map reading. It will become easier with practice.

We do not provide a "legend" for the map, because we use standard graphics and universally recognizable symbols. There are many details on the map that do not affect play: fields, farms, fences, and so on. The main elements that affect the game are listed in the terrain effects chart. A specific or unusual terrain will be explained in the rules of the scenario.

The Units

Your troops are the oblong blocks. Place the stickers carefully as shown in the Order of Battle of the scenario rules. Units normally stand with their stickers turned toward their own player. This lets players keep the exact unit type, quality and formation hidden from the enemy until they can be spotted. Units take facing into account, so you may turn them if you want to keep their identity hidden from your opponent when they are in an exposed corner.

Troops normally start the battle Fresh. They can become Disorganized by taking hits in combat. Rotate the sticker upward to show that a unit is "disorganized". This means the troops are exhausted and disorganized. They can still move and fight, but they are vulnerable and easier to destroy. They can Rally later if they are within range of a friendly unpacked Baggage Train.

"Formation": generally an army corps or a wing. It has an HQ, a chit, and a number of combat units, usually Divisions or Brigades.

The Turns

There are 8 regular turns in a day, followed by a single night turn. Use the 8-sided black die to track the turns. The scenario will give the starting turn for the battle.

Instead of players alternating turns to move all their forces and then attack, the two sides move one formation at a time during the movement phase, in a random order determined by drawing chits. Players may also try to modify the chit draw with their HQ, by rolling a die to delay or advance their movement. Combat is all resolved once, at the end of the turn, when there are no more chits to draw.

Changing the timing of a maneuver can be critical. Is it better to move first or last? That depends on the situation and on how it fits your plan. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you on the offensive or the defensive? Are you short of time, or trying to delay? Do you need to occupy a key piece of ground, rally and strike the enemy while he is weakened? Or do you force the enemy to move first before deploying your reserves?

Scale

Each regular day turn represents about 1.5 hours.

The scale of Pub Battles is 16,000:1. One mile equals 3 3/4 inches. This is twice the scale of Kriegsspiel (8,000:1), which makes it easy to organize an entire battle. It also makes conversion to Kriegsspiel easy. You can even use Kriegsspiel blocks to play: 4 Kriegsspiel blocks lined up equal one long block of a Pub Battles division. If you want a longer game with more detail and precision, you can play Pub Battles at Kriegsspiel scale, with our Battalion-scale rules. That lets you use the standard Kriegsspiel blocks. We have a growing catalogue of Kriegsspiel scenarios, perfect for this game or for standard Kriegsspiel games.

The pieces are wooden blocks called units. Each infantry unit generally represents 1,500 to 7,200 men. That is a considerable range. Remember that at a smaller scale, the small 450-man Kriegsspiel blocks can stack 4 deep. Stacking varies, but formations 4 blocks wide remain very consistent. For example, a 1,800-man colonial brigade always covered the same front as a 7,200-man division of the American Civil War. Their greater numerical concentration tended to be offset by greater lethality from longer-range weapons.

Unit Types

Detachments

Small infantry units fighting in skirmish formation. They are very useful for masking or delaying the enemy. You can also use them to bluff, making the enemy believe you are stronger than you really are. Do not confuse them with the actual skirmish lines accounted for by the Field of Fire (FoF).

You may assign them at the initial setup or on entry, with any formation.

Militia-Recruits

Infantry units of poor quality. They are full-strength units, but inexperienced (green recruits) or poorly equipped (militia). They are good for filling a hole in the line and firing a good volley, but do not count on them for sustained combat.

Regulars

Regular infantry. Your basic combat units and the backbone of your army.

Elite

These troops of excellent quality are better trained and equipped, and can withstand heavy fire.

Artillery

We assume that most infantry units have a handful of artillery guns with them. These artillery units represent concentrations of batteries held in reserve for bombardment. You can use them to disorganize the enemy before a critical attack. On defense, they can unleash a devastating fire on any attacker.

Cavalry

Cavalry moves more quickly. These units are very useful for covering or threatening flanks, or even raiding Baggage Trains. Cavalry massed together can break the enemy line and rout disorganized units. Dragoons fight dismounted in skirmish formation. They are good for masking and delaying. The scenario rules specify the cavalry types available and their special rules.

Baggage Trains

A huge logistical system needed to conduct a large battle. To be effective in a prolonged fight, your troops need supplies. Baggage Trains are essential to victory! Your troops need them to rally, but unpacking them also makes you vulnerable to defeat.

HQ

Headquarters. To attack, your troops must also be within range of their HQ (1/3 Mounted Movement). HQs can hide forces off the map on their Reserve Card. They can also attempt to modify the turn sequence.

Sequence of Play

Resolve each turn as follows:

Step	Action
1	Place all active chits in a cup.
2	Draw an activation chit at random.
3	Allow all fresh HQs to attempt to modify the draw order.
4	Move the pieces of this formation.
5	Repeat steps 2-4 until the cup is empty.
6	Resolve combat between pieces in contact.
7	Turn all HQs back to their fresh side.
8	Set the black die to the next turn.
9	Begin a new turn.

When you draw a chit, it is best to keep the formation's name hidden, so the enemy cannot be sure which formations have moved or which still have to move. You are not required to move the units of the formation when its chit is drawn. To keep the secret, simply look at the army's color while hiding the corps number, and show it to the appropriate player.

Modifying the Turn Order

After a chit is drawn, any fresh HQ may attempt to modify the draw.

Delay: If your chit is drawn and you do not wish to move at that moment, you may try to Delay your movement: roll 1 die, scoring less than or equal to the command value of the HQ. On success, draw another chit at random, which plays in your place, THEN return your chit to the cup. On failure, you must move in accordance with the draw.

Advance: If you want to move before the drawn chit, you may try to advance your turn and move first: roll a die scoring less than or equal to your HQ's value. If you succeed, draw your chit to play immediately. Leave the drawn chit outside the cup. It will move just after you, and before you draw a new chit. If your roll fails, leave your chit in the cup. The drawn chit moves normally.

Whether you succeed or not, turn your HQ to its "Spent" side (flag up) after an attempt.

After an attempt to modify the draw, other fresh HQs may also roll. Make modification rolls in the order announced. There is no limit to the number of attempts per draw, as long as the players wish to and have fresh HQs remaining.

Spent HQs (flag up) function normally for the rest of the game. This simply means they have already attempted to modify the turn.

The army commander may also roll a die for one of his subordinate HQs, if it is within his command range (1/3 Mounted Movement). He may do so on the same chit draw, even if the subordinate HQ has just failed its roll.

Movement

Real Maps

If you are used to hex or zone games, moving directly on a real map may seem intimidating at first. In fact, it is simpler than it looks once you practise.

Distance

The distance you can move depends on the unit type. Infantry, Artillery and Baggage Trains move at Foot Movement. Cavalry and HQs move at Mounted Movement. The terrain effects chart gives the maximum distance to move.

Majority Rule

Where is your piece? How do you decide if a piece moves or occupies several terrain types, such as clear and wooded? In these cases, use the majority rule. If the largest part of the ground under the piece is wooded, then the piece is considered to be entirely in wooded terrain. Try to move your pieces showing a clear intention, without trying to confuse the game.

Moving

Pieces may:

• move where the majority of the piece can stand;
• be in only one type of terrain: the terrain type on which the majority of the piece stands;
• not stack on top of one another;
• move through friendly pieces but not enemy pieces;
• change front for free, once, at any moment of the movement (pivoting the piece around its center). Each additional pivot costs 1/3 of movement;
• move only frontally, and must keep that front facing forward, or
• move obliquely up to an angle of 45°.

HQs

HQs cannot attack, be attacked or be overrun, and they do not block movement. Simply push enemy HQs back toward their line when you move.

Army Commander

Army commanders often have no chit or troops to command. If so, they may move once per turn with any other friendly chit drawn from the cup. Army commanders can order attacks for all units in their army, hide reserves, and attempt rolls to modify the turn order of any of their subordinate HQs.

Command Range

To attack, troops must begin their movement within command range: 1/3 of the Mounted Movement of the HQ that commands them. Move the HQs first, THEN determine command range. The range must just touch the piece; it does not need to extend over the majority of the piece.

Difficult Terrain Reduction

If you pass through one or more difficult terrain types (see Terrain Effects), reduce your movement by one third. This is NOT cumulative. Thus, if you cross a stream and then walk through woods, you still lose only 1/3 of your movement, not 2/3. This 1/3 cost for terrain is IN ADDITION to the costs for entering and leaving Route Column.

Note: The Reduction penalty for crossing a bridge or ford accounts for formation changes such as this one. As long as you do not attack across a bridge or ford, you may cross without any cost if you are already in Route Column.

Route Column

Pieces in Route Column can move faster (x2), but become extended and vulnerable to attack. Troops must pay 1/3 of their movement to enter or leave Route Column. Turn the piece lengthwise, along the road. The length of units in Route Column varies by scenario.

When moving in column along the same road:

• ignore terrain and changes of direction (pivots);
• you may not move through friendly pieces;
• you may not move within 1/3 of Foot Movement of the enemy.

Hidden Reserves

You can use your HQs to hide troops in Reserve. Carefully cut out and fold the Reserve cards (1 for each HQ). Reserve cards stay off the map and serve as a screen to hide your pieces from the enemy.

Your pieces can enter Reserve by moving to the HQ. Pieces may leave Reserve and enter the map whenever you wish, but be sure to account for the HQ's movement. You may not use Reserve to move farther than the piece could normally move. Pieces may begin the game in Reserve.

While in Reserve, your pieces are located, as indicated, behind the HQ. If you move along a road, reserve pieces will be in Route Column, following in order. The HQ marks the location of the front-most piece.

If your HQ is Spotted (Repéré) by the enemy, you must immediately place all reserve pieces on the map. Position the HQ beside them: it cannot be placed on a piece.

If your HQ is directly behind a piece, you may count the first reserve piece as Support (soutien).

Field of Fire (FoF)

Infantry, Dragoons and Artillery project a Field of Fire (FoF) in front of their front, in a 45° arc, out to a distance of 1/3 of Foot Movement, limited by line of sight.

The FoF counts for skirmishers as well as for canister fire from guns.

Restrictions:

• You may not end your movement with the majority of your piece in an enemy FoF, unless you advance to attack (or to support an attack).
• It is possible to be in several FoFs at once, as long as you are attacking an enemy piece.
• If you start your movement in an enemy FoF, you may stay if: you are under cover (see terrain effects), OR another piece attacks that enemy piece during the same movement (bombardments count).
• If you cannot stay, you MUST: advance to attack (any enemy piece), OR move your piece so that it is no longer in this FoF.

Disengagement

If you start your movement in contact with an enemy piece, you MAY:

• stay in contact and pivot to change front;
• leave the FoF and attack another enemy piece;
• avoid combat by leaving this FoF.

You cannot flee, turn, and then attack that same piece from the flank. Disengagement is possible because movements are simultaneous.

How to Attack

Simply move your piece forward to place it in contact with the defending piece. You must be able to move so that the majority of the pieces are in contact.

Support

Only one piece (no more) may move and place itself behind the attacking piece in support.

Only the lead piece counts for Combat. IF the lead piece is destroyed, disengages or retreats (bombardments and voluntary retreats are included), the supporting piece may retreat OR advance, take its place and continue the combat, with the same terrain benefits applying.

Artillery may benefit from Support but cannot Support.

Artillery

Artillery CAN defend (even without support), but it may not advance to attack. On the first turn only, Artillery on defense fires first: apply the losses to the attacker immediately. If the attacker survives, it may return fire. If the lead attacker has been destroyed or has retreated, a supporting attacker may advance and return fire for the first round.

In contact with the enemy, artillery may retreat ONLY IF it is Supported. A Retreat result on unsupported Artillery destroys it.

Bombardment

Instead of moving, fresh artillery that is not in contact may change front and fire once at a target within a range of 1 Foot Movement. Fire and apply hits normally, with the terrain effects. Bombardments can force pieces to retreat but cannot destroy them. A detachment hit by a bombardment will simply have to retreat.

Line of Sight

To Bombard, artillery must be able to "see" its target. Woods, buildings and hills block the line of sight. One can see into Woods and Buildings up to the depth of one piece. You may see through pieces, but you may not fire through or over friendly pieces. You can see on top of a hill up to its ridgeline: the central point between the slopes.

From a hill, you may see over Woods, Buildings, or over lower Hills, if you are closer to the blocking elements than the target is.

Spotting

You may spot units up to a distance of one full Foot Movement, within your line of sight in clear weather. If you can see a piece, the enemy must tell you its unit type (foot, mounted or artillery) on request. You cannot see the Quality of a piece before contact. Nor can you see the Quality of an enemy piece in support.

Flanking

You may attack the enemy's flanks to gain an advantage. The center of the attacker must be placed behind the front of the defender, as illustrated.

Pieces do not need to be perfectly aligned to make a flank attack. Resolve situations like these as follows:

Exactly like this:

Envelopment

When a supported defender is attacked from the front and from the rear, the support is broken. Treat this case as 2 separate combats with the 2 flanked defenders.

Rally

Instead of moving, a piece may Rally (turn back to its fresh, organized status) IF it is within 1/3 of Mounted Movement of any friendly unpacked Baggage Train. This distance concerns any part of the piece to be rallied, without necessarily covering the majority of it.

Cavalry does not need a Baggage Train to rally.

You may not Rally a unit that is in contact with an enemy piece (nor its support).

When you rally, you may make a free change of front.

"Amateurs study tactics. Professionals study logistics."

Baggage Trains

Baggage Trains in contact with the enemy at the start of the combat phase are automatically destroyed. Bombardments do not affect Baggage Trains.

Baggage Trains may Rally only if they are in "unpacked" mode. Unpacking or repacking a Baggage Train costs no movement, so a train may move, unpack and immediately rally a piece within range. Turn the piece so that its sticker is on the map to show the "unpacked" status of the Baggage Train. An unpacked Baggage Train may no longer move.

Repacking and moving a Baggage Train ends the battle: see victory conditions.

Ineffective Formation

A formation that has lost 50% of its infantry units is Ineffective. Determine this in the same way as for victory (rout).

Result: the pieces of this formation can no longer Rally.

Resolving Combat

Enemy pieces in contact form a combat. Resolve all combats one at a time until all contact is broken, BEFORE starting the next turn. The scenario will specify which side chooses the order; it is generally the side with the better command.

The attacker is the piece that moved to create the contact.

Resolve combat in Rounds as follows:

Step	Action
1	The lead pieces of the defender and the attacker in contact fight. Apply hits simultaneously.
2	The defender chooses to Retreat or to stay for another round of combat.
3	The attacker chooses to Retreat or to stay for another round of combat.
4	Repeat until contact is broken.

Tip: the usual mistake of new players is to stay and fight ALL the rounds. You do not have to! You can conserve your strength and greatly reduce your losses by retreating voluntarily.

How to Fight

To fight, simply roll the dice as follows:

Piece	Number of dice	Hits on a result of
Infantry, Cavalry & Artillery	3	4, 5, 6
Dragoons	2	4, 5, 6
Detachment	1	4, 5, 6

Modifiers may apply: see the Terrain Effects chart. Note that unit quality and status (Fresh / Disorganized) affect combat.

Alternatively, use our Pub Battles dice. Based on the Prussian Kriegsspiel method, they are quick and easy to use.

Combat Modifiers

Certain situations may modify the dice roll. See the Terrain Effects chart.

Cover

The attacker fighting a defender in cover suffers a -1 modifier to the dice result.

Fighting a defender on a hill and in woods always gives -1, not -2, since this is also Cover.

Flanking

Fighting in the flank of a unit gives you a +1 modifier. Fighting a unit that is flanking you changes your result to -1.

Fighting the flank of a unit that has just attacked by crossing a stream remains +1, not +2, because it is still the flanking modifier.

Flanking (including the effects of river crossings and route columns) adds to the effects of cover. Thus, a flank attack on a Defender in Woods will be +1 -1 = 0 for the Attacker. The Defender will nevertheless fight at -1 (because it is flanked).

Applying Hits

Apply hits to the lead piece as follows:

Hits	Fresh unit	Disorganized unit
1	Becomes disorganized	Must retreat
2	Becomes disorganized and retreats	Eliminated
3	Eliminated	Eliminated

Apply these hits per round. For example: if a fresh unit takes a hit in the first round, it starts the second round disorganized, so 2 hits can eliminate it. Excess hits are lost. Do not apply them to the supporting unit.

Unit Quality

The quality of a unit affects how it takes hits:

• Elite troops absorb the first hit in a combat, with no other effect. If the unit absorbed a hit from a bombardment earlier in the turn, it will still absorb the first hit of the combat. This does not carry over. Example: a fresh elite unit that takes 2 hits in the first round only becomes disorganized. One hit in the second round will force it to retreat.
• Militia or inexperienced (green) troops count their first hit in a combat as 2 hits. Thus, 1 hit on a fresh militia unit disorganizes it and makes it retreat in the first round. 2 hits destroy it.
• Detachments roll only one die in a combat and are destroyed by 1 hit. They are not destroyed by a bombardment; they simply retreat.

Retreat

The piece must turn and make 1/3 of Foot Movement, ignoring terrain costs, moving away from the combat and from enemy positions.

• If the piece is unable to make this move because of enemy pieces or impassable terrain, it is eliminated.
• Friendly pieces that are not in support, on the path of the retreating piece, become disorganized and are pushed back in front of the retreating piece.
• You MAY retreat through a Baggage Train. It will not move back.
• A fresh unit that retreats voluntarily becomes disorganized.
• Detachments MAY retreat voluntarily.

This unit can retreat, because the majority of the piece can slip between the enemy pieces.

This piece cannot retreat, because it cannot turn 90° and pass.

After resolving all combats, all pieces in an enemy FoF, without Cover, that did not take part in a combat MUST immediately Retreat.

Cavalry Retreat

Cavalry on defense may retreat before combat IF it is in contact with Infantry.

Disorganized Dragoons and Cavalry in Route Column may not Retreat.

Multiple-Piece Combat

Although rare, several pieces may be involved in the same contact. Resolve this as one combined combat:

• Start with the 2 pieces initially in contact.
• Additional pieces fight in order of arrival.
• The pieces decide whether to stay or retreat in the same order, and then a new round begins.

Examples

Movement Examples

The red piece in the center is on clear terrain. It may attack the blue center piece, because the majority of the red piece can slip through beside the blue right piece's position. It cannot flank the blue right piece, because the majority of that piece cannot fit here. The two red pieces on the right could attack the blue right piece in support. The two red pieces on the left could attack the blue center piece in support.

Can the reds attack across the river?

Yes! Just move them forward as illustrated.

Can the blues flank the reds?

No. There is not enough room: the majority of the piece is in or beyond the river.

Now assume the blue was further back, so that it has enough room to flank the attacking reds. The blue piece facing them will have a +1 modifier, but for the first round only. The blue piece that flanks will have this +1 bonus for all rounds, not a +2.

Combat Example

The red pieces 1 and 2 advance to attack the blue defenders A and B. Then 3 moves to attack their flank. Later, C moves to attack the flank of 3.

Round 1

• Pieces 1 and A, the initial contact, fight simultaneously. A takes 3 hits. Piece 1 should be destroyed, but it is an elite, so it turns to its disorganized side and retreats. Piece 1 takes 1 hit, and A turns to its disorganized side.
• If 1 destroys or makes A retreat, can 3 fight B? Yes, if B stays and advances to take the place of A. 2 decides to advance into the lead instead of retreating.
• 3 fights next. It may fight A with a +1 modifier or C with a -1 modifier. It cannot fight B, because B is only in support. 3 fights A, inflicting 2 hits, which destroys A. B now advances to take the place of A rather than retreat.
• C fights last. It attacks into the flank of 3 with +1 on the dice. It scores only one hit, and 3 becomes disorganized. Each piece announces whether it stays to fight or retreats, in this order: B, 2, 3, C. 3 retreats. The others continue the combat.

Round 2

• The pieces initially in contact, 2 and B, fight simultaneously. 2 takes 1 hit and becomes disorganized. B takes 2 hits, becomes disorganized and retreats.

Victory

You receive points for each enemy piece eliminated, as follows:

Pieces	Points
Detachments	1
Recruits / Militia	2
Infantry	3
Elite Infantry, Artillery, Dragoons	4
Cavalry & Guard	6

You may win the battle at the end of any turn in 3 different ways. Defeating your enemy in one of these ways multiplies your point total as follows:

• Rout = 4x: Inflict on the enemy 50% infantry losses, while remaining below this level for your own army at the end of any turn. Count blocks, not points. Do not count Detachments. Count the starting forces, and all reinforcements arrived up to the end of the current day.
• Broken = 3x: Destroy an enemy Baggage Train.
• Forced withdrawal = 2x: Make the enemy repack a Baggage Train.

If none of these has happened before nightfall, both players secretly note whether they will stay to fight another day or withdraw from the field.

If you withdraw, the battle is over and you lose. Compare points without multipliers.

Note that it is possible to "win" the battle without enough points: a Pyrrhic victory.

If both players stay, carry out a Night Turn and fight a second day.

Night Turn

Draw chits and move as usual, except:

• No attacks or bombardments.
• You may not move closer to the enemy than 1/3 of Foot Movement of infantry.

Each side recovers stragglers during the night: 50% of your destroyed pieces (rounded up) return to play. Count blocks, not points. Place the recovered pieces near their HQ. Permanently remove the pieces not recovered during the night.

Supply Source

To rally pieces, an unpacked Baggage Train must be "supplied". It must be able to trace a clear road off the map, along a Line of Communication (LoC) (see the scenario rules). To be considered "clear", no enemy combat unit may be within 1/3 of Foot Movement of this route.

Pieces that cannot trace a LoC at the end of the battle count as destroyed and score the corresponding points.

Free Play

Replaying battles is fun and a great exercise, but real generals fight a battle only once.

One of the best things you can do to make the game more "realistic" is to play in free play mode, with an unknown order of battle. It is one of the best "fog of war" tools. What are the enemy forces? Is it a probe, a diversion or a serious attack? A delaying action or a committed defense? How many reinforcements does the enemy have? Where will they arrive? What do they have?

In free play, you can build your own starting force and reinforcement schedule. Bring more reinforcements quickly or not at all? Make your army smaller or larger. You can reassign pieces to other Formations, and so on. Write your Order of Battle just before starting. The total forces matter little.

We recommend allowing one player to set up on the map, while the other player decides which side will enter.

The same victory rule works for free play. Victory depends on how you use your force. Greatly outnumbered, you can still win! Just fight a delaying action: inflict more damage on the enemy than you take, then leave the field safely without unpacking.

A Bitter End

Some players just want a quick game with a quick result: who won? That is perfectly fine.

If you play on out of curiosity, it can be fascinating to continue the game to its final conclusion: until one side has moved all its forces off the map by its lines of communication (LoC).

Imagine one of your Baggage Trains is sacked. Okay, you have lost, but the battle is not over. You must still conduct a rearguard action while you fight to get what remains of your army away safely! How much time is there until nightfall? How many more units will you lose when the enemy pursues you? Let points accumulate for both sides until you have removed all your pieces.

Now, do not take advantage of this. You can still conduct an aggressive rearguard action. You may need it to get as many units as possible out safely, but your main mission should be to evacuate, stop the fight and minimize further losses.

How do you translate this into a clear rule without players abusing it and without a referee? We are not sure. If you think you know the answer, send it to us!

What difference does it make if I lose by 5 points or by 120? For some players, none. That is fine. However, it is a good way to measure performance over a series of matches. Of course, we have each won a match, but when I won, I beat you by 120 points!

Imagine if we were playing for money? Each point is worth $5. That would matter to you, wouldn't it?

Train as if it IS real.

Design Notes

Pub Battles deals with the battle in a strategic sense. The rules do not get bogged down in all the details concerning individual units, weapons and generals. The scale remains large.

Why are we here? What are we fighting for? What is the best way to win the battle from this position? How far do we want to fight, and where? Where should we form our line? What do we do if this line is broken? What ground must we hold or take? How can we supply the men at the front when they need it? When and where will they need it? How do we organize traffic and manage bottlenecks so that we can deploy maximum force efficiently, rather than wasting it in the rear?

This is the chaos of war and uncertainty: the Fog of War. We roughly know what we have, and we have a plan for what we want to do, but we cannot be sure exactly when our troops will move. While we wait for our orders to be executed (the chit draw), what does the enemy do? Will he anticipate our attack and strike first? Will he regroup and bring up reinforcements? Will he fall back and flee before we can reach him? What strength does he have? We cannot be sure, but we have an idea. Is he short of fresh reserves, or are we completely outnumbered here without knowing it yet?

What is the heart of the game? It is about planning in the face of chaos. This requires planning in the urgency of the moment and in depth. Things do not always go as we wished. Pub Battles works like a miniatures game, but it does not come from miniatures games. It is inspired by Kriegsspiel. We loved the Kriegsspiel aspect. It is an excellent visual. Many generals marked the positions of their troops on real maps, like the wooden blocks on the table during battles. That prompted us to ask what the commander knows or does not know, and so on. This naturally leads to uncertainty and fog of war.

The biggest problem we had with this design is the long blocks. They give a fantastic visual aspect. We loved the look of long lines on the map. Unfortunately, this length also makes them cumbersome. How do you manage flanks and insertion into certain spaces? The simplest solution is to use smaller pieces. OK, but then you return to a game that takes 4 times longer (or more) to play, and you then need more rules for stacking and for movement in formation, and so on. It is a compromise. It works, and we have simplified and clarified a large part of the confusing aspects of route movement.

The other big problem we have encountered since the release of the game is the fight against rules bloat! We have a solid, clean game base, and it always tempts you to add a lot of chrome. We receive many suggestions to add more detailed rules. We have held a very firm line with Pub Battles on this subject. Much of its beauty and attraction lies in its minimalist approach. Someone said the other day that Pub Battles games were a "breath of fresh air". There are already many games with tons of chrome. If you like that kind of thing, it is quite easy to start adding rules. One of the main goals of the design of Pub Battles was to ensure the game remains simple and quick. For this design, we are committed to keeping it that way.

At such a scale, we paint with a very broad brush. We have long blocks. Now, how many men are in them exactly? How do you stack an Order of Battle (OB) detailed at such a scale and make it work one way or another? We do not have so many blocks. Some units are combined and regrouped with others. Some are separated. Some end up bigger than they should have been. It is very difficult to get all of that to hold together, to keep the balance with enemy forces, and to make it all come together and work as a historical battle. This is the paradox of game design: it is very simple and easy to make a complicated game, and extremely difficult to make a simple game. A simple game nonetheless remains a good historical model.

What makes the game work best? It captivates the imagination. It draws you in and lets you easily imagine being the army commander on the field. Games often start with this kind of design, but they extract history to focus on the rules. We have tried to limit that as much as possible. We aim for maximum immersion for players. As already said, this design is also very effective at confronting players with many difficult decisions, and there is always something to worry about and act on in this game. It is almost too much! I remember feeling overwhelmed when I started playing. Do not worry about the complexity and the rules you must learn and retain, as in most games; worry about the possibilities and the decisions. For example: OK, if I move first, could I rally these men as I should, but then I cannot retreat and escape with them? I cannot occupy this ground if the enemy has just fled after all, so now what should I do? Should I try to speed things up and act, or should I delay and see what the enemy does first? With a little practice it is fun. You will adapt and get used to it. It can be a heavy mental workload.

Do you play to learn and simulate history, or to win a difficult competition? A little of both, in general. There is nothing wrong with competition, but it tends to spoil many games. If victory is the important objective, then all games start to become truly false. Rules lawyers come out of the woods: "OK, very well. I am going to do this." "What? You can't do that! You have never done that historically!" "It's true, but the rules don't say I can't, so here it is! Take that!"

Of course, game designers could write rules to cover all these eccentric cases, but the rules would begin to resemble the tax code. Who would read it or play the game? Do you not think there is a balance here? You cannot cover everything. That would be bad design and bad wording. Kriegsspiel has a great advantage here, with referees and arbitrators. Summary judgment: "No, you cannot do that. Why? Because you are the arbiter, and I will not walk in the real world." It is done.

It is actually an excellent way of thinking everything through. Before making a move, I look at the situation and imagine what it would be like in a real battle. What would I do then? If you start from this premise, you will more easily avoid many mistakes. If it were a real battle, I would ask: do the rules allow it? Very well. Sometimes I find myself not making movements that are technically possible. Why? Because I do not think a commander would have ordered such a thing. Real troops would not do something like that. Playing with this maxim, rather than with a "win at all costs" mentality, can greatly improve your experience.

Terrain Effects Chart

Pub Battles - Terrain Effects Chart (Charte des effets de terrain)

Position	Movement	Combat
Woods (Bois)	Reduced.	Cover for the Defender.
Buildings - Villages (Bâtiments - Bourgades)	Pieces in buildings become disorganized and cannot rally.	Cover for the Defender. The Defender cannot be Flanked.
Hills (Collines)	Reduced to climb a slope.	Cover for the Defender if the attacker is coming from a lower level.
Streams (Ruisseaux)	Reduced to cross.	No effect.
Rivers (Rivières)	Reduced. Cross only by a ford or by a bridge.	Pieces attacking across a river are considered Flanked, for the first round only.
Marshes (Marais)	Reduced. Forbidden to Artillery, Cavalry and Baggage Trains.	No effect.
Route Column (Colonne de route)	Pay 1/3 of movement to enter or leave Route Column. Movement x 2.

For terrain effects, the majority of the piece (in width/length) is taken into account. If less than the majority of the piece is on the terrain, no restriction or bonus/penalty applies.

Reduced (Réduit): Advancing through any one or more difficult terrains reduces movement by 1/3. This is added to the costs for changing front and for entering or leaving Route Column.

Cover (Couvert): -1 on the attacker's dice if the defender benefits from cover. Woods on a hill give a defensive bonus of -1, not -2.

HQ pieces must be moved first, using Mounted Movement. They may pass through friendly units but not enemy pieces.

Distance de marche (Movement distances):

• Infantry, foot movement in 1h30 per turn: 3 segments of 4.5 cm = 3 x 760 metres.
• Mounted (Cavalry), mounted movement in 1h30 per turn: 3 segments of 6.4 cm = 3 x 1081 metres.