CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
INTRODUCTION
Solo Dice & Record Keeping Game.
Simulation of the Charge of the Light Brigade,
the final phase of battle of Balaclava in 1854.
MATERIALS
Six sided Dice, Paper, Pencil.
COUNTER SET & BOARD
by Totola
Click Here
YOUR MEN
The player controls a British cavalry group of 12 men known as a ‘Troop’.
All men are mounted on horses.
All men are armed with a sword.
One of the men is the Captain, the leader of the troop.
Another man is the Trumpeter.
The other 10 men are referred to as riders.
There are 3 types of Troops: Dragoons, Hussars, and Lancers.
Pick which type you want your troop to be.
ROOSTER
Write the name of each of your men.
Each man has 1 skill. Roll on the skill table and record it.
The Captain has 3 skills: Riding, Horsemanship, and Fighting.
The Captain is never killed. Treat all kill results as wounds.
Other info that will be recorded as the game proceeds include:
Wounds sustained by each man.
The space (Location) each man occupies.
The morale of each man.
Spur points on each mans horse.
SKILL TABLE
1D6 Skill Type: Notes:
1- Riding +1 to Evade Rolls
2 Horsemanship +1 to Spur Rolls
3 Steadfast +1 to Morale Rolls
4 Steadfast +1 to Morale Rolls
5 Fighting +1 to Fight Rolls
6+ Tough +1 to Kill Rolls
Dragoons get a –1 modifier to the roll.
Hussars get a +1 modifier to the roll.
Roll modifiers only apply to that man.
GAME LENGTH
Your Troop will have to traverse 20 ‘spaces’ before mixing in with the
Russian Gun Battery.
Once any of your men reach the battery, there will be 5 turns of Melee.
After this, your troop must turn around and return 20 spaces the way it came.
Draw a row of boxes 20 spaces long. Use this to record the location of your troop.
TURN SEQUENCE
1. Movement or Melee Phase
2. Morale Phase
3. Rally Phase
MOVEMENT PHASE
All of your men attempt to move forward one space every turn not in Melee:
Roll on the Encounter Table for each man.
If the encounter indicates Flat, the man automatically moves forward one space.
If there is an obstacle, roll on the appropriate table to see what type it is.
Roll 1D6. (The Evade Roll)
If this is equal to or greater than the obstacle value move the man forward one space.
If it is less, the rider does not move forward and suffers a
wound on a roll of 1-2 on 1D6.
If it is a Fire Encounter, roll 1D6.
If this is equal to or less than the Hit value the man is hit.
If the man is hit roll 1D6. (The Kill Roll)
If this is equal to or less than the Kill value the man is killed.
(Killed also including seriously wounded or having a horse shot out from under you)
If hit but not killed, the man is wounded.
If not killed by the fire the man automatically moves forward one space
SPURRING
You may have a man spur his horse.
A Horse can only be spurred once per turn.
The rider gains 1 Spur point.
(The horse goes from a trot to a gallop.)
This allows a man to:
1. Move a second time this turn. (Repeat the Movement Phase)
2. Get +2 to an Evade or Fight roll
Roll 2D6 (The Spur Roll)
If this is less than the riders Spur point total the horse is blown.
A Blown horse cannot be Spurred and gets –1 to all evade rolls.
If a man on a blown horse ever encounters a riderless horse, he may switch horses.
The ‘new’ horse will have 1D6 Spur points.
MORALE PHASE
If any of your men were killed this turn roll 1D6 individually for all your other men.
(These are Morale rolls)
On a roll of 1-2 on 1D6 the man fails the morale test and must roll on the Break Table
If the roll is 3+ the man maintains Good Morale.
BREAK TABLE
1D6 Result: Notes:
1-3 Hurried The man will spur next turn to move an extra space forward
4-5 Hesitates The man will not move forward next turn unless he spurs
6 Retreats The man turns tail and flees the field
RALLY PHASE
The Captain may attempt to rally either all Hurried or all Hesitant or
all Retreating men in the troop.
Roll 1D6 (The Rally Roll):
On a roll of 4-6 the target men are rallied and
do not suffer the Results of the Break Table.
Add one to the roll if the Trumpeter is still alive and in the same space as the Captain.
MELEE
If a man is in the Battery (Space 20) he rolls on the
Melee Table instead of the Encounter Table.
Roll 1D6. (The Fight Roll):
If this is equal to or greater than the Fight value of
the opponent, the Russian is killed.
If it is less, the rider rolls 1D6 (Kill Roll):
The Rider suffers a wound on a roll of 1-3. On 4-6 the rider is killed.
ENCOUNTER TABLE
1D6 Encounter
1- Flat & Level
2 Flat & Even
3 Ground Obstacle
4 Man Obstacle
5 Cannon Fire
6+ Musketry Fire
MAN OBSTACLES TABLE
1D6 Obstacle: Evade
1 Corpse 2
2-3 Wounded Man 3
4 Dead Horse 4
5-6 Riderless Horse 5
GROUND OBSTACLES TABLE
1D6 Obstacle: Evade
1-3 Uneven Ground 2
4 Bushes 3
5 Rocks 4
6 Ditch 5
CANNON FIRE TABLE
1D6 Type: Hit Kill
1- Double Canister 5 4
2 Canister 4 3
3 Round Shot 2 5
4 Cannon Ball 2 5
5 Exploding Shell 4 2
6+ Shrapnel 3 1
If the man is in spaces 1-12 (Just starting out) add 2 to the roll
If the man is in spaces 17-19 (Closest to the battery) subtract 2 from the roll
MUSKETRY FIRE TABLE
1D6 Type: Hit Kill
1-2 Musket Fire 2 3
3-4 Musket Volley 3 3
5-6 Rifle Shot 4 3
MELEE TABLE
2D6 Opponent: Fight
2 Officer with Saber 5
3 Cossack with Sword 4
4 Russian Lancer 4
5 Greatcoat with Bayonet 3
6 Artilleryman 2
7 No Opponent this Turn X
8 Artilleryman 2
9 Cossack with Sword 4
10 Russian Lancer 4
11 Greatcoat with Bayonet 3
12 Officer with Saber 5
WOUNDS
A man with one or more wounds gets –1 to Rally rolls.
A man with two or more wounds gets –1 to Morale & Evade rolls.
A man with three or more wounds gets –1 to Fight rolls.
FRONT RANK OPTION
At the beginning of the game you may choose to have your troop be in the
front rank of the Charge.
If so, during the approach treat all Man Obstacle Encounters as Flat.
In spaces 15-19, treat Flat & Level rolls as Cannon Fire.
STRAGGLERS
On the way back any encounters with wounded men add 1 wounded rider to your troop.
SCORING
Get 2 points for every man that makes it back alive.
Get 1 point for every Russian killed during the Melee.
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HISTORY
Of the 673 men who went into action 113 were killed and 247 badly wounded.
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FAQ
Questions by Volkhard...
> 1) May I pick a mixed British cavalry group of 12 men (3 Hussars, 4
Dragoons, 5 Lancers) or may I only choose 12 men of the same troop
type (either Dragoons or Hussars or Lancers) ?
A) My original intent was that they all be of the same type.
That seems more historically accurate to me, all the men in
the same unit would be of the same type.
> Turn Sequence
> 2) Is there a morale phase and a rally phase on the way back after
the fifth turn of melee with the Russian gun battery ?
A) I forgot my original intention, but looking closely, I'll say
yes, confusion, smoke, and all that.
> Since all surviving men of my troop retreat from battlefield after
the fifth turn of melee with the Russian gun battery morale is
irrelevant, unless the surviving men of my troop are attacked by
other Russian troops on the way back. The rules did not mention that
there is another battle with Russians on the way back.
A) I haven't read up on the subject lately, but I'm sure the
Russians must have got a few shots in at the retreating
English on their way back. Smoke might have been an issue and
some of the Russian units might have been disorganized, but the
Cossacks are famous for attacking retreating forces. For now
presume that have to fight their way back
> Stragglers
> Any encounters with wounded men add 1 wounded rider to my troop on
the way back.
> 3) Do the wounded riders encountered on the way back count as a part of my
troop that I picked at the beginning of the game or do they join my troop as
a part of another British cavalry troop not controlled by the player ?
A) They could be anybody, but you get credit for bringing them back.
If needs be, roll a random skill for them, and give them 1D6-3 wounds.
Roll 1D6: On a roll of 1-3 they have their own horse with 1D6-1
Spur points; on 4-6 they share a Horse with one of your other
riders randomly selected, or if within 4 spaces of home, they
simply walk back.
> 4) Do I score 2 points for each of these riders(stragglers), if they
survive until the end of the game ?
A) Yes
> Captain and Trumpeter
> 5) Do the captain and the trumpeter attempt to rally themselves at
the rally phase, if they failed at the morale phase ?
Do the captain and the trumpeter retreat from battle, if they roll a
"Retreats" result at the morale phase and fail at the rally phase?
Do all men of my troop retreat from the battle automatically, if
the captain or the trumpeter retreats at the rally phase ?
A) The Captain never fails morale, however the Trumpeter can.
8) Must I nevertheless add one to the rally rolls for the trumpeter
and the captain and the rally rolls for the other riders who failed
at the morale phase, if the trumpeter is in the same space as the
captain and rolled a "Retreats" result at the morale phase ?
Must I nevertheless add one to the rally rolls for the trumpeter
and the captain and the rally rolls for the other riders who failed
at the morale phase, if the trumpeter is in the same space as the
captain and rolled a "Hurried" result or a "Hesitates" result at the
morale phase ?
A)No, you don't get the bonus if the Trumpeter is retreating,
hurried, or hesitating.
> Wounds
> 10) What is the maximum (number) of wounds which each rider can take, to
survive the battle ?
A) 4 Wounds kills a Normal man.
5 Wounds kills a Steadfast man.
6 Wounds kills a Tough man.
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ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
by Ron Pehr
Started playing this last night. Realizing that continual dice
rolling is what happens in a solo game, I have to say it got a
bit laborious to do exactly the same rolls twelve times each
turn (until, of course, you start losing troopers). Rather than
marking position on the card for each man, I laid them out next
to numbered pieces of paper (could use chits or dice) indicating
what space they were on, as the troop is seldom broken far
apart. Thus, if most of the troop is at, say, "4" there'll be
stragglers at "3" maybe "2" and the hard-chargers at "5" so you
don't actually have to lay out all 20. Alternately, could do
that, have a sort of board marked out in 20 spaces and put the
cards for each trooper in whatever space he's reached. Here are
the cards I made for the captain and the troopers. You put
check marks on the lines for the status, in pencil so it can be
erased and re-used.
______________________________________________________________
CAPTAIN:
Name:
Skills: Riding (+1 evade)
Horsemanship (+1 spur)
Fighting (+1 fight)
Wounds: one (-1 rally)___
two (-1 morale, -1 evade)___
three+(-1 fight)____
Morale: Hurried (must spur next turn)___
Hesitate (spur or don’t move next turn)___
Retreat ___
Spur Points:___
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
TROOPER:
Name:
Skills: Riding (+1 evade)__
Horsemanship (+1 spur)__
Steadfast (+1 morale)__
Fighting (+1 fight)__
Tough (+1 kill)___
Wounds: one (-1 rally)___
two (-1 morale, -1 evade)___
three+(-1 fight)____
Morale: Hurried (must spur next turn)___
Hesitate (spur or don’t move next turn)___
Retreat ___
Spur Points:___
_____________________________________________________________
The Trumpeter is same as a "Trooper" just label it as such.
Have presumed that if Trumpeter demoralized he nevertheless adds
the +1 when rallying roll made if in same space as Captain, and
that the Captain similarly can rally himself.