Pub Battles: Brandywine Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Pieces
• Status
• How the Turns Work
• How the Pieces Move
• How to Resolve Combat
• How to Alter Turn Order
• Optional Hidden Reserves
• Optional Baggage Trains
• Optional Multi Player Rules
• Optional HQ Alter
• Optional Written Orders
• Terrain Effects
• Brandywine Scenario: Special Rules
  • Historical Background
  • Units
  • Commanders
  • HQ Ratings
  • Road Column
  • Objectives
  • Start Options
  • Early Start Option
  • Setup
  • Order of Battle
  • Expansion Battles
  • Germantown Battle

Introduction

These rules explain the basics of how to play turns, movement and combat. The Scenario will provide details on Order of Battle (sticker placement), Map, Setup, Reinforcements, Victory Conditions and any special rules for that battle. You will find details on Order of Battle (stickering blocks), Setup and Victory Conditions and any special rules for a battle in the Scenario.

The Pieces

See the Order of Battle (OB) in the Scenario for pictures of the different piece types.

Piece	Purpose
HQs	Command pieces to Move / Attack and Alter the move order.
Cavalry	Move fast and can screen / delay the enemy's advance.
Artillery	Bombard from a distance or bolster your defense.
Infantry	Do all your basic fighting in the battle.

Status

Pieces begin the game Fresh. Taking Hits in combat or retreating can flip them to Spent. They can Rally to Fresh later by not moving.

(The printed rulebook illustrates a Fresh piece and a Spent piece, each with its Front Facing marked.)

How the Turns Work

Usually, several Commands (Corps or Wings) make up an Army (see OB). Each Command has a corresponding Command Chit. As you randomly pull these Chits, the Commands move on the field.

You resolve combat at the end of the turn after all Chits are gone.

Resolve each turn as follows:

Step	Action
1	Place all Command Chits in a cup.
2	Pull a Command Chit randomly from the cup.
3	Move pieces from that Command.
4	Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until cup is empty.
5	Resolve Combat between all enemy pieces in contact.
6	Start a new Turn.

How the Pieces Move

Moving

Pieces simply move on the map up to their max range (see Terrain Effects chart).

Pieces can:

• Move where the majority of the piece can fit.
• Be in only 1 type of terrain: the type under the majority of the piece.
• Not stack on top of each other.
• Move through friendly pieces but not enemy.

Oblique Move

• Must move in the direction they are Facing and maintain their Facing while moving.
• Change their facing once at any time during their move (rotate from the center point). Each additional facing change uses up 1/3 of their movement.
• Move obliquely up to a 45 degree angle.

HQs

Command Range: HQs cannot attack, be attacked or overrun and do not block movement. Simply push them back towards their lines as you move.

Army HQs with no chit can move once per turn with any friendly command.

To attack, a piece must begin its move within 1/3 cavalry move of its HQ. Move HQs first, THEN determine command range.

Army HQs can also Command Attacks, with any friendly pieces.

Road Column

Pieces in Road Column can move faster (x2) but become stretched out and vulnerable to attack. Pay 1/3 move to change into or out of Road Column.

Turn piece lengthwise along the road. While moving in Road Column:

• Ignore terrain and facing changes while moving along same road.
• You cannot move through friendly pieces while moving along the same road.
• You cannot move into an enemy Field of Fire (FoF).

Field of Fire

Infantry, Dragoons and Artillery project a Field of Fire (FoF) out to their front, within a 45 degree arc, to a range of 1/3 Foot move, limited by Line of Sight.

How to Attack

• Fire Fight: Advance to put the enemy in your FoF.
• Melee: Move so that the majority of the pieces are in contact as shown.

Moving Intent

In general, a Combat is between 2 opposing pieces. Players should move in such a way as to make this intent clear. You should not purposely move to obscure or confuse the game. For example, moving so that you are:

• equally in two types of terrain at once.
• equally attacking 2 pieces at once.
• half in Fire range, half out.

If the opponent moves in this manner, you may relocate his piece within 1/3 foot move to the terrain of your choice.

(The printed rulebook gives illustrated examples of moves that are not allowed and moves that are preferred.)

Bombardment

Instead of moving, Fresh artillery can change facing and fire once at a target in its FoF. Bombardment cannot destroy pieces.

Line of Sight

To Bombard, artillery must be able to "see" their target. Woods, Buildings, Hills and pieces block line of sight. You can see into Woods and Buildings up to the thickness of a piece: 3/8". You can see onto a Hill up to the center crest line.

While on a Hill, you can see over Woods, Buildings or a lower Hill IF you are closer to those blocking objects than the target.

The max range you can see is 1 Foot move.

ID Type

If you can spot a piece, the enemy must reveal the type upon request: Inf, Cav, Art.

Rally

Instead of moving, a piece may Rally: rotate to Fresh and change facing. A piece cannot Rally while in contact with the enemy or in enemy FoF.

Ineffective

A Command that has suffered 50% losses (killed pieces) is Ineffective. Result: The pieces from this Command can no longer Rally.

Move Examples

The printed rulebook illustrates these move examples:

• The center Red piece is in clear terrain. It can attack the center Blue piece because the majority of the piece can fit past the right Blue piece. It cannot flank attack the right Blue piece because the majority of the piece cannot fit there. The right 2 Red pieces could attack the right Blue piece in support. The left 2 Red pieces could attack the center Blue piece in support.
• Can the Red attack across the river? Yes! Simply move them forward as shown.
• Can the Blue flank the Red? No. There is not enough room. Majority of piece is in or past river.

How to Resolve Combat

Definition

A Combat is two opposing pieces in Melee (contact) or a Fire Fight (in FoF).

The Attacker is the piece that moved creating the Combat.

Resolve Combats one at a time in Rounds with opposing pieces firing at each other simultaneously. As lead pieces retreat or are destroyed, follow-on pieces behind them may become involved in the next Round. Continue Rounds until the Combat is broken: there are no opposing pieces remaining in contact or FoF. Then resolve the next Combat until there are none left.

Order

The side with the better Command Ratings chooses the order.

(For this scenario, the order of combat is decided by the British player. See the Brandywine scenario rules.)

Process

Resolve Combat in Rounds as follows:

Step	Action
1	Defender and Attacker roll dice and apply hits simultaneously. Pieces only roll IF they had a target at the beginning of the Round.
2	Defender may Retreat or stay for another round.
3	Attacker may Retreat or stay for another round.
4	Repeat until Combat is broken.

Rolling Results

Each piece rolls dice as follows:

Piece	Melee Dice	Fire Dice
Infantry	3	2
Artillery	3	3
Cavalry	3	0
Dragoons	2	1

Applying Hits

Results of 4 or higher inflict hits. Terrain Effects may modify results (see chart).

Artillery

Artillery Fires First: Apply their hits first, then other pieces return fire. Artillery forced to retreat (as a result of hits) in Melee, is destroyed.

Apply each hit to the target enemy piece as follows:

Piece	Result
Fresh piece	is flipped to Spent
Spent piece	must retreat
Already Retreated piece	is destroyed

Hits are cumulative. So 2 hits on a Fresh piece, flip it and force it to Retreat. 3 hits on a Fresh piece (or 2 hits on a Spent piece) Destroy it.

Excess hits are wasted. Do not apply them to other pieces.

Combat Example

• Round 1: A and C roll 3 dice in Melee. C is destroyed with 3 hits. B and D cannot fire.
• Round 2: A and D roll 2 dice in Fire. If D is destroyed or retreats, the combat is over. If A is destroyed or retreats, B and D will Fire at each other for a 3rd round.

Unit Quality

• Elite pieces absorb the first hit in a combat with no effect.
• Militia pieces count their first hit in a combat as 2 hits.

The first absorbed hit from a bombardment does not carry over to combat.

Retreat

The Piece must turn about and make a 1/3 move, ignoring terrain costs, back and away from the combat, enemy positions and out of enemy FoF.

• If unable to do this because of enemy pieces or impassible terrain, it is destroyed.
• If friendly pieces are in the way it can simply retreat further.
• A voluntary retreat also flips Fresh pieces to Spent.

Cavalry Withdrawal

Defending Cavalry may retreat before combat IF in contact with Infantry. Cavalry in Road Column cannot Withdrawal.

Flanking Attacks

Attacking an enemy's flank gives you die roll modifiers. Flanking often puts 2 or more pieces in your FoF and results in multi-piece combats. This is allowed for flanking attacks.

You Flank the enemy IF they are in your FoF but the majority of your piece is not in the enemy's FoF.

Pieces do not normally fire outside their FoF. IF you are Flanked, you may fire at a piece on your flank with a -1 modifier.

Combine nearby Flanking attacks into a combined Combat as applicable.

Multiple Piece Combat

You can only fire at one target per round. If you have multiple targets, you must select and declare before you roll. Treat all pieces as firing simultaneously. Any excess hits are wasted.

Example:

• Round 1: A and D fire at each other. C and E Melee. B cannot fire. C is destroyed.
• Round 2: D can only fire at A. E can fire into the flank of A or B. A can fire at D or at E with a -1 modifier. B can fire at E with a -1 modifier.

How to Alter Turn Order

Definition

Once per turn, each HQ may attempt to alter their move sequence by rolling their rating or less: Find the HQ ratings in the Scenario.

Types

• Delay: Move Return your just pulled chit to the cup AFTER you draw a new one.
• Move Now: Jump ahead in sequence and move before the pulled Chit. Other HQs may then attempt to move before this.

Flip the HQ, name side up to show it has already rolled this turn: Spent.

Note: The Army Commander can also roll for one of his Commands if he is within Command Range of that HQ (1/3 Cav move).

Optional Hidden Reserves

Purpose

After your first game, we strongly recommend this rule. It adds true Kriegsspiel style Fog-of-War, without the need of an umpire.

Cut out and fold the Reserve Cards (1 for each HQ). The Reserve Cards remain off board and act as a screen to hide your pieces from the enemy. Your pieces on the board and even other entire Corps can move onto Reserve Cards by moving "into" the matching HQ. They move out of Reserve by placing them on the board by the HQ and conducting a regular move.

The HQ marks the location of pieces that are closest to the enemy. Consider all pieces in Reserve to be within 1/3 Cav move at or behind the HQ (away from the enemy).

HQs can only move at the speed of the slowest piece they have on their card. Pieces can begin the game in Reserve.

Army HQs can also hold pieces in Reserve.

Pieces can remain hidden in Reserve, as long as the HQ cannot be Spotted by the enemy. If the HQ is Spotted, all of its Reserve pieces must be placed on the board AFTER the move is complete.

If an HQ is moving along a road at column speed, treat all pieces in reserve as in Road Column. If that HQ stops for a turn or only moves 1/3 of a Foot move, then treat all pieces as in combat formation.

Pieces moving in Reserve must still comply with all normal movement rules. You cannot use the Hidden Reserve as a way to move pieces further than they could normally.

Reassignment

Before the game starts, you can reassign pieces to other commands. Simply note which units are attached to which commands. Treat them as a regular part of that command for the entire game.

Command Size Limits

• Min: 2 pieces
• Max: Largest historical Command of that army (see OB), +1 piece

Optional Baggage Trains

Purpose

Baggage Trains introduce logistical conundrums. They are vulnerable, necessary for sustaining attacks and clog the roads.

• Cavalry does not normally require Baggage to Rally.
• Inf and Art must be within 1/3 Mounted move of a Baggage Train to Rally.
• Baggage Trains in contact with the enemy at the beginning of Combat are automatically destroyed.
• Each Baggage Train can only Rally 1 piece per turn.
• Destroyed Baggage Trains count double for victory.

Optional Multi Player Rules

Purpose

These simple rules recreate most of the command communication problems of Kriegsspiel, without Umpires and tracking written dispatches.

Each player controls 1 or more HQs.

Limited Communications

Players can talk freely before the game. During the game players can only "Communicate About the Game" IF their HQs are touching.

"Communicate"

This includes any and all forms, both verbal and non-verbal. Such as: groans, sighs, eye rolling, nodding, smiling, frowning, staring, etc.

"About the Game"

This means anything to do with the game strategy or situation. Unrelated social small talk is allowed, as long as it is not used as secret communication.

• You can ask questions about the rules and mechanics of game play. Players can answer for clarification.
• You cannot "ask questions" as a way of communicating with a player, so as to prompt him to avoid a threat.

Penalty

Immediately announce when you catch a player in violation of this rule and record. For each violation you catch, you get 1 die, Re-Roll to use at anytime during the game.

Optional HQ Alter

Purpose

In real command, the clock is ticking. Do you want to get the jump on the enemy? Then you better assess and decide quick. This rule is tense, fun and trains you to think like a real commander.

Rather than the usual die roll for Altering, use these rules:

• Every HQ can attempt to Alter the sequence EVERY chit pull, as long as that HQ hasn't moved yet this turn.
• There is no die roll. There can only be 1 Alter per Chit Pull (excepting ties).
• The first HQ that announces its Alter is successful. All others fail.
• You must announce the Command and the type of Alter. For example: "First Corps, Delay" or "Eleventh Corps, Jump". You must say it clearly and discernibly. No mumbling.
• Whatever you say, you MUST do. You can't blurt something random out and then decide what you really want to do later.
• In a tie, BOTH HQs Alter. Roll a die to determine which goes first.
• You can Jump if your Chit was pulled. This prevents another Command from Jumping ahead of you, IF you say it first.

(The printed rulebook notes that this works really well for Multi-Player games.)

Optional Written Orders

Purpose

Many have the impression that written orders are a tedious hassle. If done right, they can add a lot of realism and fun to the game. The goal here is not so much to "win" but to Role Play the key officer's positions while learning about history, teamwork, leadership and command.

Location

A Location is simply an area on the map, with the diameter of 1 full Foot move. Specify the Location by a name on the map. Examples: "Birmingham Hill", "Sunken Road", "Chadd's Ford".

SOP

Each Command is in a Location. They can deploy, move and attack within their Location to control and defend it from the enemy. If forced out of their Location, they will fall back and hold until they can recapture it. None of this requires orders. All Commands will do this normally.

Orders

Moving to a new Location or attacking to take an enemy Location requires Orders. Orders do not specify exactly how to move and face each piece. Instead, they order a Command to attack or move to a new Location.

Examples

• "Attack Culp's Hill."
• "Move SE along Old Post Road to Miller farm."

Move Vs Attack

A "Moving" Command will halt upon meeting the enemy and will NOT try to take their Location.

When

At the beginning of each turn, Army Commanders have 3 minutes to write new orders.

Delay

Orders become effective 1 turn later IF the distance to that HQ is within 1 Mounted move. Delay the order 1 turn for each extra Mounted move.

Initial Orders

It is usually best to have only the attacking side start with initial orders. The defending side can start writing orders as the game begins.

2 Player Kriegsspiel

This works best if a different person has to interpret and implement the orders. If you only have 2 players, you can randomly assign Commands to each player. So the Blue Army Commander will control half of the Red Commands. The Red Commander will control half of the Blue Commands.

Solitaire

Written Orders make for a great Solitaire game. Write out 3 different sets of initial orders for the attacking side. Randomly pick which set to use AFTER you setup the defender and start playing.

(Tip from the printed rulebook: try to run each Command by their orders, knowing only what they would know.)

Terrain Effects

Terrain	Movement	Combat
Woods	Reduced.	Cover for Defender.
Buildings	Pieces in Buildings become Spent and cannot Rally.	Cover for Defender. Defenders cannot be Flanked.
Hills	Reduced to cross a slope.	Cover for Defender if Attacker moved from lower ground.
Streams	Reduced to cross.	No effect.
Rivers	Reduced. Cross only at bridges or fords.	Treat pieces attacking across a River as flanked for 1st round only.
Marsh	Reduced. No Artillery or Cavalry.	No effect.
Road Column	Pay 1/3 move to change. 2x.	Treat as Flanked for combat.
Flanking

Reduced

Moving through any or all of the difficult terrain types, reduce movement by 1/3. This is in addition to any Formation and Road Column change costs.

Cover

-1 to Attacker's die rolls if the Defender has Cover. Woods on a Hill is still -1, not -2.

Rates of March

The printed rulebook shows a graphic scale bar for Foot and for Mounted movement. The bar lengths are a graphic and are not reproduced in this text.

Transcriber note: the printed Marsh entry reads "Cavarly"; it is transcribed above as "Cavalry" (spelling correction only).

Brandywine Scenario: Special Rules

The following is the scenario section. It is an English translation of the official Japanese-language scenario document (see the source note in the Table of Contents).

Historical Background

In the late summer of 1777, Howe led his army up the Chesapeake and landed at Elk. This is a town located between Baltimore and Philadelphia. Washington was based at Wilmington, to the northeast, and blocked the route to Philadelphia, which was then the rebel capital.

Howe marched north, but rather than attacking Washington head-on, he turned west toward Kennett Square. From this position he could threaten Washington from the west, attack him, or bypass him and head straight for Philadelphia. Washington moved west to Birmingham to respond. This move placed him between Howe and the capital. It also gave him a good defensive position behind the Brandywine River, where he covered the fords that block the approach from Kennett Square.

On September 11, Knyphausen's army marched north to engage Washington at Brandywine. At the same time, Cornwallis's army marched north, crossed the upper Brandywine and turned to attack Washington's right flank. The colonial scouts discovered Cornwallis's column crossing at about 9:30 a.m. That report reached Washington around noon. Strangely, however, Washington stayed seated for about two hours after receiving the news and did virtually nothing. By 2 p.m., Cornwallis's army had begun to arrive at the edge of the battlefield. It was a grueling 17-mile march in 9 hours.

It is an interesting comparison that in the later American Civil War, the famous "foot cavalry" march by which Stonewall Jackson struck the flank of Hooker at Chancellorsville was only 12 miles. Cornwallis actually approached the enemy between about 3:00 and 3:30 p.m. Washington only began to act at about 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. Fortunately for him, he had enough time to mount some delaying defence and form a line before his whole army could be ganged up on and beaten.

Brandywine was almost a complete disaster for the colonial army. Had Howe not been late, or had Washington been a little later...... If the British had soundly defeated the colonial army here, they could have ended the war early. Or, if fortune smiled, Washington might have survived one more day, and he would then keep frustrating the British.

Units

All cavalry in this battle are dragoons. They roll 2 dice in combat.

Commanders

Howe has no command chit. Howe moves together with whichever one of the two British Commands moves. Howe can move only once per turn. Howe can command attacks, and can hold units in reserve.

HQ Ratings

HQ ratings are as shown on the units. The British player decides the order of combat.

Road Column

In this scenario, units do not stretch out even when in Road Column.

Objectives

The British objective is to clear the colonial army quickly and to continue the advance on Philadelphia.

Ideally, the colonial task is to crush the British here at Brandywine and stop them. Otherwise, the best delaying action is to force the British to take many casualties while forming a line.

Whatever the colonial army achieves, keeping it intact is essential. Rout, loss of morale and retreat would bring ruin to the revolution. The colonial player must avoid this at all costs.

Transcriber note: the scenario text states the objectives in prose only. It does not print a numbered victory-point table; the core rules defer Victory Conditions to the Scenario.

Start Options

If Cornwallis had not attempted a flanking attack, he might have arrived on the battlefield sooner.

If	Then
British reinforcements enter from the centre	Start the game on Turn 1
British reinforcements enter from the right or left wing	Start the game on Turn 4

Early Start Option

To make events progress more quickly, we have set the start of the game to the point at which this battle began. It is also interesting to try the option of starting the game two turns early and advancing the British first command onto the map. This option opens many opportunities for strategic deception and for understanding enemy intent.

The British player specifies in writing, before the game begins, where the second command will arrive.

Example: with an early start and a flank attack, begin on Turn 2. The first command enters the map along the main road and waits/deploys between Turns 2 and 3. Then, on Turn 4, the second wing enters the map.

Setup

The setup diagram in the scenario document shows the map with these zones and markers:

• All chits go into the cup.
• British placement (1st): Place the first British command in any location on this side of the river where its terrain can be entered (the British side, south of the Brandywine).
• Colonial placement (2nd): Place the second (colonial) command in any location on this side of the river where its terrain can be entered (the colonial side, north of the Brandywine).
• British Turn 1 reinforcements: A command that was not placed at setup enters the map on Turn 1, from one of the three zones: right wing, centre or left wing. The British player notes in advance, before the game begins, which zone the reinforcements will enter from.
• All units may be placed at setup or enter the map in Road Column.

Transcriber note: the setup diagram's zone labels read Left wing (左翼), Centre (中央) and Right wing (右翼). The map sheet itself is not transcribed.

Order of Battle

The order of battle is given on the scenario sticker sheet, which the scenario document illustrates. Unit scale is shown as Brigade (approx. 1,500 men). Sticker application: align each sticker slowly, then press it down firmly to fix it in place.

The sheet's legend names these items: Rating, HQ, Command Chit, Command, Elite (精鋭), Artillery (砲兵), Dragoons (竜騎兵), Militia (民兵), Baggage Train (補給段列), Infantry (歩兵) and Detachment (分遣隊).

The sheet's bar patterns are described below as printed on the sheet. Unnamed bars are listed by their pattern only; they carry no unit name on the sticker. Check the pattern against the sticker sheet image before use.

British army (red)

• Army HQ: Howe (rating piece; no command chit)
• C Command (command chit C; HQ piece labelled "Crwl"):
  • Unnamed bar with the striped pattern of the Baggage Train
  • Unnamed bar with the four-pip artillery pattern
  • 16th
  • Mathew (Elite callout)
  • Grenadiers (gear icon)
  • Grey
  • Agnew
  • Abercromby Lt (gear icon)
  • Von Donop (green bar)
• K Command (command chit K; HQ piece labelled "Knyp"):
  • Unnamed bar with the striped pattern of the Baggage Train
  • Unnamed bar with the four-pip artillery pattern
  • Ferguson (X icon; Elite callout)
  • 71st
  • J Grant
  • Grant
  • Stirn (green bar)
• Detachments: 3 British detachment bars (red)

Colonial army (blue)

• Army HQ: Washington (command chit W; HQ piece labelled "Wshtn")
  • Unnamed bar with the four-pip artillery pattern
  • Pulaski (Dragoons callout)
  • Maxwell Lt
  • Nash - North Carolina
  • Armstrong - Penn. (Militia callout)
• G Command (command chit G; HQ piece labelled "Greene"):
  • Baggage Train (striped bar)
  • Muhlenburg - Virginia
  • Wayne - Pennsylvania
  • Weedon - Virginia
• S Command (command chit S; HQ piece labelled "Sulvn"):
  • Unnamed bar with the striped pattern of the Baggage Train
  • Sullivan - Maryland
  • Stephen - Virginia
  • Stirling - New Jersey
• Detachments: 3 colonial detachment bars (blue)

Expansion Battles

This game includes additional pieces for use in the expansion battles of Monmouth and Germantown. The scenario document also includes pieces for the Monmouth and Germantown expansion battles. In most cases it will be clear which pieces belong to which Command. A quick look at the order of battle in the history will clear up any confusion.

Germantown Battle

Playing the Brandywine and Germantown battles as a continuous campaign is an interesting option. After playing Brandywine, carry out a night turn and restore removed units. Then set up the final battle at Germantown with both armies using the units that survived Brandywine, the units restored in the night turn, and the detachment units available for the Germantown scenario, and begin the battle.