The (Unofficial) Great Battles of History
Fabio Bernardini
09 Nov 03
For those who find that romans, as depicted in the game, are too powerfull, here are a couple of Optional rules that I tested extensively with all scenarios in the boxed game and most of the modules (sometimes more than twice). The following rules are simpler than they look at first glance, I just tried to cover any gap describing them extensively. Needless to say that I really love this game and I'm grateful to Mark Hermann and Richard Berg because they gave me the chance to fulfil a long dreamed whish: recreate all those battle whose deployments were shoved in every of my history book since elementary school. I'm also playing SGBoH, but I slightly prefer the GBoH, that is the reason of my effort in trying to melt the SPQR older version and the one that came up on 1994 (not the SGBoH version).
Enjoy
4.25 Change (A) In the First Turn, a Roman Tribune or Praefect (or Proconsul) wishing to issue a line order, must roll against the OC strategy rating (even if he is within his OC command range). If he fails, he can either issue individual orders or let the opponent decide whether or not activate the leader who would go next. Once the latter is finished (he can try momentum) or if the opponent declined to activate his leader, the roman who previously failed his die roll can now issue automatically a line order (if he wishes so). The next roman leader now attempts to issue a line order, following the same procedure as above. If all non-roman leaders are finished (besides the OC) and there are still non-activated Tribunes or Praetects, they can go now, rolling the die against the OC strategy rating with a DRM of Minus One (-1). An adjusted result higher than the OC strategy rating prevent the leader from issuing line order, no second attempt is allowed.
Starting with the second turn, the same procedure is used, but line order is never automatic. Roman leader must be first within his OC command range then, if he fails the first attempt, once the opponent leader is finished, the tribune (or praefect) has to roll again, this time if he fails he can only issue individual orders or let the next roman leader in line try in his first attempt. If all non-roman leaders are finished (besides the OC) and there are still non-activated tribunes or praefects, they try only once with a DRM of Minus One (-1), if they fail all they can issue are individual orders.
It they are not within their OC command range, they roll the die, if they get a O or 1, they can issue line command, otherwise they are finished, no second attempt is allowed, the opponent doesn't get the opportunity to activate one of his leaders. (This doesn't apply to the First Turn, when the procedure above is applied regardless of position).
In meeting engagements, the turn in which the first fight takes place is perceived as the First Turn (it doesn't matter if the fight occurred at the end of that turn, thus letting all tribunes and praefects activate consecutively). In any previous turn, second edition standard rules apply.
(Exception: In Cavalry battles (those of Equus), ignore this rule)
4.25 Change (B) If in your opinion this is too complicated
(it's not ... believe me), you can use this option:
Roman Leaders can issue automatic Line Commands during the first turn.
Starting with the second turn they can issue LC only if in Range of
their OC and by rolling against his Strategy Rating (add +1 if any
of the units in that line are in an enemy ZOC), if unsuccessful they
can issue only Individual Orders.
If they are not within their OC command range, they roll the die, if they get a 0 or 1, they can issue a Line Command, otherwise they are finished.
8.3 Change Legion units are AS when attacking HI or MI frontally, only if they pass the Charge TQ check. If already adjacent, standard rules apply.
Alternatively, the Shock Superiority Chart provided with the module War Elephant can be used, treating Recruits Legion as HI, thus not AS against HI and MI (Even if that column was there to be used just in Caesar, The Civil War, I always use this rule at Cannae with the 8 legion version).
Rout Bid method Variant: Instead of just subtracting the
bid to the Rout level, after completing setup, remove Roman unit
from each legion in the following order til reaching the total
points you bid, rounding up. (Example: if you bid 40 points and
removed units for a total of 39, you need to remove one more unit):
2 cohorts
1 velite
1 triari
1 hastati
1 principe
1 cohort
1 triari
1 hastati
1 principe
...
Adjust the line to close the gap possibly created. Redo the math the find the new Roman Withdrawal Level.
Example: if the Roman army consists of 350 TQ points and the Rout Ratio is 35%, a bid of 80 points will adjust the Withdrawal Level from 123 to 95: (350 - 80) x 0.35.
This gives quite a different approach to the battle, the Non-Roman Player will have the feeling of actually winning the battle, not just winning because the Roman lost a small portion of his army.
For those of you whom, like me, are tired of dealing with Missile NO markers on top of Legions, I came up with a variant that achieves 2 goals: 1) you get rid of them (at least those destined to LG units), 2) helps balance the game a little bit (those tough Hastati and Principes don't really need that extra asset).
No Pilum Variant:
1. Legion units are not allowed to use Javelin;
2. Legion units moving and attacking Elephants frontally use column 5 instead of 3;
3. Elephant moving and attacking legion units frontally use column 5 instead of 7;
4. Legion units are DS against HC and LC attacking frontally only if their start the
activation free of enemy units in their zocs.
5. Every legion unit can use a kind of recation fire, once every activation, when
attacked frontally by LC using the Hit and Run tactic (i.e. the LC move adjacent to the
legion, throws its javelins and moves out of that hex in the same activation phase.
When using the above reaction fire a legion scores a hit on a dieroll of 3 or less.
(2 and 3 to make up for the missing pilum, 5 to counterbalance battles like those in the Jugurtha Module (SPQR) or Ruspina (Caesar, the Civil Wars) where, for a change, Romans don't have a chance to beat those riding devils without the help of pila.
I played the battles in C3i no9 using it and I believe the Roman still have a nice edge, but a reduced one. Moreover, far fewer Missile No marker to deal with scattered all over the battle field.
10.32 Change: In the Rout Movement phase all routed units undergo a TQ Check. If the dieroll is greater than one (the routed unit's TQ) the unit is eliminated, otherwise it moves its full printed MA in the same fashion as in 10.31.
The following is an attempt of streamlining the convoluted pursuing rule. It gives the off-map cavalry units a reasonable chance to get back in the battle (I never saw a cavalry returning from the regroup box with the original rule).
10.43 Change: Pursing cavalry that pursues off-map is placed directly
in the Regroup Box with a "pursuit" marker on top. Every time its Overall Commander is
activated, either by normal or momentum activation phase, all cavalry units in the Regroup
Box are moved back into the battlefield with the following procedure: