From: Paul Smith Subject: Re: La Bataille version 4.0 rules Sergio Non wrote: > > My local club has ordered those rules as well. Just out of curiosity, what > are some of the major changes? > > Paul Smith wrote in message <343A4421.59B7@nospam.ftw.mot.com>... > >I just got the new rulebook for the La Bataille series of games by Clash > >of Arms. Some of you will be in for a surprise. These are brand new > >games, now. La Bataille rev 4.0 rules major changes: I would say there is one overall design philosophy that will impact the games the most. There is no longer any I-move-you-move sequencing. Each side has a certain number of command chits available to it. These are assigned to leaders and then placed in a cup. Every turn a chit is drawn and that leader (and his subordinate combat units) get to move. There are also two "end-of-turn" chits. When the second one of these is drawn, the movement phase ends. During the fire phase, each side alternates conducting fire attacks (I conduct one fire, then you conduct one fire, then I conduct my next fire, etc). The same holds for the melee phase. This is a good compromise between the old method and a purely simultaneous fire phase (which would be unplayable in games of this size). As a result of the command chits, chain of command is now very important. There are command radii to worry about. Light Cavalry commanders can roll for initiative and may not need to be within command radius of their superior commander. Also, stacking is no longer allowed unless a leader is present (battalions can temporarily overstack when reforming into a regiment or when a regiment breaks down into its component battalions). There are pull-out charts that list ALL the various modifiers for fire, melee, morale, etc. This is a big help. You don't have to go through the rulebook trying to find all the various modifiers. Many of these modifiers are slightly different than those in the previous addition. All modifiers are now die roll modifiers (in the old rules, some were die roll modifiers and some were morale value modifiers and it was hard to remember which was which). Cavalry Charges occur during the movement phase (i.e., when their command chit is picked). Resulting melees are handled immediately after all cavalry from this command have moved. Note that this may occur at the beginning, middle, or end of the movement phase depending on the luck of the draw of the chits. Assaults are no longer automatic. Units roll a dice to see if they close to assault in the melee phase. Usually, if the defender doesn't rout or disorder, no melee takes place. There are, of course, various other changes such as stacking (artillery can only stack 1 increment per hex while using road movement), feu de chance (1/2 strength - no ammo expenditure), retreat before charge, formations (especially cavalry columns - only 4 increments per hex), formation changes (cavalry can make a special line-to-column change, or visa-versa), units in carre can move, the French Guard have special assault rules and can also be recruited to man abandoned guns, Tirailleurs can attempt to form carre, Pursuit has been clarified (actually, just about everything has been clarified), etc. At the end is a list of all the games in the La Bataille series and how the rules apply to them, with special attention paid to the command procedure. Having played some games with this new ruleset, I can say that it kept both sides paying attention throughout the entire game turn. There are no more player turns per se. With younger players (i.e., high school), it kept their interest up. I am pleased. Two thumbs up (left and right). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul F. Smith mailto:psmith@ftw.mot.com To reply, remove "nospam." from my email address. From: Richard Gassan Subject: La Bataille Rules, 4th Edition - Overview (longish) I recently recieved the 4th Edition La Bataille rules and have been reading them. A quick overview follows: _New_ Manoeuver Units (MUs) have been added. MUs are a way to add randomness to the movement of formations, and will be familiar for players of Richard Berg's games (among others). For each MU specified in the game, you put a counter in a cup. You draw the counters (although the game still has each side drawing its counters only), and that unit (corps or division, depending on the side and/or battle) with the possibility of a sudden end of turn. Several questions on formation have been resolved, including how to indicate refused flanks, how to wheel, and the Carre (square) rules have been rewritten to be much more coherent than before. Several cavalry manoeuvers have been added. Units cannot stack without a leader. Units must Roll to Close before initiating an Assaut (melee), and units must Roll to Stand against one, and a French Guard Assaut has been added. The cavalry rules have been rewritten, and seem to be much more coherent than before, thank god. A new section on leaders and command has been added, incorporating some of the special rules from Mt. St. Jean. Leaders are used for much more than just assaults and firing now -- they actually have a command purpose. Best of all, there are specific rules for all the La Batt games, indicating how to retrofit them for these new rules (mostly describing how the MUs are formed, and who is in command). And there are two complete examples of play. In all, it's an impressive package, and well worth buying for the La Batt owner. Having puzzled out the theological implications of the 3rd Edition rules for many hours, it's a welcome change, and it seems to bring the series up to, if not state of the art, at least it incorporates most of the best of gaming for the period I've seen. Of course... all this is without actually playing them, so who knows what holes will come up then! Richard.