Friday, January 8, 2021

Morschauser Horse and Musket Rules - sort of.

 These are the rules we used for our New Year's Eve remote game, based upon the rules in Joseph Morschauser's book, How to play Wargames in Miniature, including somr of the ideas he sets for in the later chapters of the book, and using a gridded tabletop (which he subsequently became a great advocate of). The grid speeds play and works especially well with a remote gaming set up. 

Following that is the same set updated a bit from the experience of playing the last game. 


Morschauser-style gridded Horse and Musket Rules, Mark 1


Unit Type

Move-inches

Move-boxes

Hits

Melee- Front

Melee- Other

Light Infantry

15”

5

4

2

1

Infantry

12”

4

5

3

1

Grenadiers

12”

4

6

4

1

Light Cavalry

18”

6

4

4

2

Heavy Cavalry

15”

5

6

5

2

Artillery

12”

4

3

1

1

Leaders

18”

6

2

1

1


For gridded game, costs 1.5 to move on the diagonal

Costs 3”/1 box for each turn of up to 90 degrees

Increase Move by 50% if the entire move is along a road. 


In melee roll as many dice as hits remaining to the unit, Each die scoring the melee value or less is a hit on the enemy.

Minus 1 to melee when attacking uphill, from stream, into woods, or units in buildings



Unit Type

Range-inches

Range-boxes

To Hit

Special

Light Infantry

18”

6

4, 5, 6

May enter Woods

Infantry

18”

6

5, 6


Grenadiers

18”

6

5, 6


Light Cavalry

12”

4

6


Heavy Cavalry

N/A

N/A

N/A

No shooting

Artillery-Shot

48”

16

4, 5 ,6


Artillery-Grape

12”

4

2, 3, 4 ,5, 6


Leaders

Must stay w/in 24”/8 boxes of his command; units farther away move ½ speed. May Rally once per turn 1,2 = fail, 3,4,5,8 = 1 hit,


Units may Fire at the beginning or end of their move, but not in between.

Each unit gets one shot, no matter how many hits it has taken, until eliminated.

Minus 1 to shooting into woods, behind walls, or in buildings.

Units in a stream or ford may not shoot.

If entering an enemy zone of control (within 3”/the 3 boxes to the front) must stop, and melee will result. Must face into the box of at least one enemy unit whose ZOC you enter.



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Morschauser-style gridded Horse and Musket Rules, Mark 2


Organize the Army into commands, each with a Leader. Leaders only affect their Command.

Players alternate turns. Dice for who goes first at the beginning of the game. 


Unit Type

Move-inches

Move-boxes

Hits

Melee- Front

Melee- Other

Militia Infantry

6”

2

2

2

1

Light Infantry

9”

3

4

2

1

Infantry

6”

2

5

3

1

Grenadiers

6”

2

6

4

1

Light Cavalry

15”

5

4

4

2

Heavy Cavalry

12”

4

6

5

2

Artillery

6”

2

3

1

1

Leaders

18”

6

2

1

1


For gridded game, counts as 1.5 boxes to move or measure range on the diagonal

Costs  1.5”/1/2 box for each turn of 45 degrees

Increase Move by 50% if the entire move is along a road. 

Only Light Infantry may enter woods. Cavalry and Artillery may not enter buildings.


If entering an enemy zone of control (within 3”/the 3 boxes to the front) must stop, and melee will result. Must face into the box of at least one enemy unit whose ZOC you enter.

All defending units who are attacked, or have an enemy in their ZOC may fight in melee. 

Minus 1 to melee when attacking uphill, from stream, into woods, or units in buildings

Minus 1 to melee if their Command is Shaken. 

Units losing a melee Fall Back 6” (2 boxes), facing the enemy.



Unit Type

Range-inches

Range-boxes

To Hit

Special

Militia Infantry

12”

4

5, 6


Light Infantry

12”

4

4, 5, 6

May enter Woods

Infantry

12”

4

5, 6


Grenadiers

12”

4

5, 6


Light Cavalry

9”

3

6


Heavy Cavalry

N/A

N/A

N/A

No shooting

Artillery-Shot

48”

16

4, 5 ,6


Artillery-Grape

12”

4

2, 3, 4 ,5, 6


Leaders

Must stay w/in 18”/6 boxes of his command; units farther away move ½ speed. May Rally one unit once per turn 1,2 = fail, 3,4,5,6 = 1 hit regained


Each unit gets one shot, no matter how many hits it has taken, until eliminated.

Units may Fire at the beginning or end of their move, but not in between

Minus 1 to shooting into woods, behind walls, or in buildings.

Minus 1 to shooting if their Command is Shaken. 

Units in a stream or ford may not shoot.

Units suffering 2 or more hits due to fire in a single turn Fall Back 6’/2 boxes, facing the enemy. 



Morale 

Command Morale: When ½ of the units in a Command have been removed it becomes Shaken and must immediately retreat 12”/4 boxes. Units which are part of a Shaken Command move at half speed, except to the rear (retreating), and suffer an additional minus 1 penalty to shooting and melee. 

Army Morale: When all the Commands in an army are Shaken the General must concede. 



Extras

Guard troops 

are treated as their type, but get two additional hit boxes. Should be very limited!


Poorly motivated troops and less than enthusiastic allied troops could also be handled like the Militia.


Leader Quality 

Roll a D6 for each Leader at the start of the game:

1,2= Poor (minus 1 to Rally rolls)

3,4 = Average (no change)

5,6 = Superior (plus 1 to rally rolls; a modified “7” = 2 hits regained!


The quality roll itself could be modified -1 for armies with overall poor leadership, and +1 for armies with excellent overall leadership.

20 comments:

  1. Very interesting to see these rules and thanks for sharing. I may even give them a go on my small gridded board and see how I get on with them:)

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    Replies
    1. We enjoyed playing them. They clearly needed a bit of morale added to them, hence the additions in the Mark 2 version, which I freely admit to being inspired by Ross McFarlane's "Rough Wooing", another Morschauser inspired set.

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  2. Most interesting rules, I think I will give them a go.

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    Replies
    1. I'd love to see how you make out with them!
      Jon and I have discussed having a go at a gridded version of"Rough Wooing", but set in the Great Italian Wars.

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  3. I forgot to ask if you have a similar set you could share for the Ancient period especially chariot/biblical warfare.

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    Replies
    1. On my long list of things to try. It would be easy enough to make a similar adaptation of Morschauser's Ancient/Medieval rules.

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  4. Thanks, Peter. It was fun bringing these old rules into a new light. Wargaming rules have come a long way since 1962. Morschauser was a pioneer in the hobby.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed; they were fun to play, and I'd do it again, especially remotely. It wouldn't be the game I'd want to play very day, though. However, they are simple enough I am quite sure they would work with grade school age kids, which is the other use that comes to mind for them.

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  5. Handy 1-page rule set. Might have to dig out my Morschauser and have another look.

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    Replies
    1. Definitely an "Old School" rules set, even updated a bit, but the Mark 1 version fits on one side of a page, while Mark 2 spills over onto the second page a bit.

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  6. Thanks for posting these rules, Peter. Always nice to have a set to try out - particularly when it's free! :)

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome, Dean. My chief interests in this were to pay homage to the book that started it all for me, as well as assess their suitability for remote gaming in the era of Covid, plus possible applicability as an introductory set for use with my Grandson(s) in a year or two.

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  7. They have an elegance about them in their simplicity. As you say Peter, great for a remote game or introducing a new generation into gaming.

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    Replies
    1. Exactly, Lawrence. I should consider another go with the proposed revisions. I have lots more rules I want to put on the table,though!

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  8. Replies
    1. That is exactly how I woukld characterize them, Gary!

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  9. Peter,
    Thanks for posting the rules. We will definitely have to give them a try.
    Neil

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    Replies
    1. They are pretty straightforward, but have their uses!

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  10. Interesting, pared down ruleset!
    Best Iain

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! As inspiring as they were, they were also a bit too pared down for my tastes, even at age 13! Still with the grid and the simple rules, they should work well for remote games, and perhaps as an intro for my grandsons in a year or two.

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