by Jim McConnell Revised 6/9/95
 

1. Both sides agree to fight a particular CW battle as a FF game.

2. Depending on the type of CW hex (clear, forest, swamp, road/gap) the battle occurs in, the appropriate FF battlefield is selected.

3. The Defender, as defined in CW terms, chooses the side of the battlefield he wishes to defend.  The Attacker gets the other side.

4. Each side then creates an Order of Battle (OOB) using the following guidelines:

A. Each CW Strength Point (SP) translates to 20 FF stands of infantry, or cavalry if commanded by a CW cavalry leader, plus two batteries of artillery, horse if cavalry. This ratio can be modified if both players agree.

B. Each CW leader counter present at the battle must be represented by FF leader stand of appropriate rank: CW 1 star = FF Division leader, CW 2 star = FF Corps leader, CW 3 star = FF Corps or Army leader, CW 4 star = Army leader.

C. In the OOB, each CW translated FF leader stand must command a unit appropriate to his command level: a Division leader must command 1 or 2 CW SP's worth of FF troops (20 to 40 stands plus 2 to 4 batteries if the standard 20/2 ratio is used), a Corps leader must command 2 or more divisions comprising 2 to 6 CW SP's worth of FF troops (40 to 120 stands plus 4 to 12 batteries).

D. The OOB may (and sometimes must) include FF leader stands (both Division and Corps leaders) who are not representing a CW leader counter. Such FF leaders are always "Average", never "Excellent" or "Poltroon". They must command forces within the size constraints outlined above for leaders of their rank.

E. Each Division in the FF OOB should contain from 2 to 5 brigades and be commanded by a FF Division leader. Each Corps should contain 2 or more Divisions. Artillery batteries may be distributed at the Brigade, Division or Army level.

F. The FF effectiveness rating for each Brigade in the OOB is translated from the CW game system as follows:

(1) All CW SP's which have never fought in battle will yield green FF stands.

(2) Once a green CW SP is involved in its first battle (either a CW battle or an FF battle), that CW SP becomes a veteran.

(3) The player whose army wins a battle (either CW or FF) may promote one Veteran CW SP to crack. If all the CW SP's in the victorious army began the battle green, one of these may be promoted directly to crack.

A. No more than 50% of the FF stands in an army can be committed to Flank Marches, and no more than one Flank Marching Force can be assigned to each flank of the same army.

B. Each Flank Marching Force must contain a minimum of 1 CW SP's worth of FF stands, and must be commanded by a CW leader counter derived FF leader of appropriate rank. The components of each Flank Marching Force should be noted on the OOB.

7. At the start of the battle, each player places on the table only those units deployed on-table which would be visible from the enemies initial deployment zone.

A. With the aid of a neutral party (wife, mailman, unsuspecting passerby), and with the results hidden from his opponent, each player determines the "E" and "P" ratings of Brigades and Leaders which start the battle on-table, using the following method.

(1) If a CW leader has a tactical Rating of +2, the FF Division or Corps Leader representing that person will be an "E". If the rating is +1, there is a 50% chance the FF Leader will be an "E", rolled at the beginning of the battle, or in the case of Flank Marches, upon arrival on the battlefield.

(2) If the CW leader has a Tactical Rating of -2, the FF Division or Corps leader will automatically be "P"(for Poltroon). A -1 Rating means a 50% chance of a "P" rating.

(a) In the FF game, brigades in an unattached "P" leader's chain of command get no plus modifiers from that leader, but take a -1 on the Maneuver Table if out of his command radius.

(b) If a "P" leader is attached to a brigade, all other brigades in his chain of command take a -1 maneuver modifier, and the brigade to which he is attached has a 50% chance of rolling +1, 50% -1, on both maneuver and close combat tables, rolled for each use.

(3) Brigades have a flat 30% chance of having an "E" rating, rolled before each battle.

B. If either or both players have designated any Flank Marching Forces, the neutral party, keeping all results secret from both players, rolls dice to determine the arrival of the respective Flank Marching Forces (FMF).

(1) For each FMF for each side, a 4-sided die is rolled. If the modified result exceeds the FMF's leader's CW initiative rating, that FMF's march has been "swift"; if the modified result equals the initiative rating, the march has been "deliberate"; if the modified result is less than the initiative rating, the march has been "plodding".

(2) A "swift" marching force enters the table anywhere along it's target Flank March Entry zone, fully deployed, on the fourth turn of the game; both players are informed of the imminent arrival on the third turn.

(3) A "deliberate" marching force enters on the ninth turn, with notification of arrival on the eighth turn.

(4) A "plodding" force enters on the fourteenth turn with notification on the thirteenth.

(5) If both sides have a FMF on the same flank, and one is "swift" while the other is "plodding", arrivals are as above. If one is "swift" and the other "deliberate", or one "plodding" and one "swift", there is a 50% chance that they will encounter each other off-table. This determination is made by the neutral party by rolling a die before the game.

(a) If an off-table encounter occurs, the smaller of the two Flank Marching Forces never arrives, while the portion of the larger force arrives which is in excess of the strength of the smaller force arrives as previously determined. No losses are suffered by the forces which never arrives on the table.

(b) Each cavalry stand which is part of the FMF counts as two stands for purposes of how many enemy stands are prevented from arriving on table in case of an off table encounter. If no off table encounter occurs, the respective FMFs arrive at their indicated times.

(6) If both sides have an FMF on the same flank, and their arrival times are identical, an off table encounter automatically occurs as described above.

(7) On the turn which an FMF arrives on the battlefield, rolls are made for the "E" and "P" ratings of leaders and brigades.

C. Adjustments to the FF battle setup to take into account CW battle "Column Shifts" as follows.

(1) If the battle is being fought in a Forest hex, subtract 1 from all die rolls for the attackers FMF arrival times, and allow the Defenders breastworks equal in inches to 25% of the total number of stands in his on table defending force.

(2) If the battle is being fought in a "swamp" hex or across a Gap/Road hexside, neither player may attempt flank marches, and the Defender is allowed breastworks equal in inches to 50% of the total number of stands in his defending force.

(3) If the Attacker enters the Defenders hex by crossing an un-navigable river hexside, subtract 1 from all die rolls for the Attacker's FMF arrival times, and allow the Defender 25% breastworks.

(4) If the Attacker enters the Defender's hex by crossing a navigable river hexside, subtract 2 for all die rolls for the Attacker's FMF arrival times, and allow the Defender 50% breastworks.

D. Adjustments to the FF battle setup if the defending army is Demoralized in CW terms at the start of the battle are as follows.

(1) The defending army may not attempt any flank marches.

(2) All brigades in the defending army start the battle with a FF Effectiveness Rating of "Worn".  Thus a "Green" 10-stand brigade, normally a 10.8.6, would be a -.10.6; a "Veteran" 8-stand brigade would be a -.8.4 (instead of 8.6.4), etc.

FF battles can last more than one FF game day, ending only when one of the contending armies is driven from the battlefield, or withdraws voluntarily.

A. If nightfall arrives with neither commander conceding defeat, the FF battle will continue next day.

(1) Only those brigades and batteries which were on-table at nightfall the previous day may participate the next day.

(2) "Skedaddlers" return to their brigades; all other losses remain lost, with consequent reductions in effectiveness.

(3) Neither army may advance nearer to the enemy than the positions they occupied at nightfall, though they may fall back. Within this restriction, brigades, batteries, and leaders may be moved up to three standard moves distance from their nightfall positions, done as a single "night move" without maneuver die rolls.

B. An army holding on until nightfall can withdraw from the table unmolested overnight.

C. An army which withdraws or is driven from the FF battlefield is automatically Demoralized in CW terms, regardless of other considerations.

A. All FF killed/wounded or captured stands are considered permanently lost in CW terms, prorated as CW SP's in the same ratio as that used to convert from CW SP's to FF stands when building the Order of Battle. Losses to "Crack" stands must be prorated separately.

B. Whether it wins or loses the FF battle, an army is Demoralized in CW terms if it loses 2 or more CW SP's in the battle, or if it is forced from or withdraws from the FF battlefield.

C. An army remaining in possession of the battlefield at the end of a FF battle, and which has lost 1 or no CW SP's, will have a proportional chance of being Demoralized equal to the chance it would have had of becoming Demoralized after suffering losses of 1 or no SP's on the CW Combat Results Table had the battle been fought as a CW battle rather than a FF battle.

D. CW Leader Loss Checks need not be made for any CW leader who actually appeared on-table at any time in the FF battle; CW leaders who never appeared on-table (possible only if they were part of a FMF which never arrived) must roll for CW Leader Loss.  FF Leaders killed or disabled in FF terms during the battle are killed or wounded in CW terms as well.

E. By definition, there are no "Green" stands left in an army after a battle. The exception would be any "Green" stands which were part of a FMF which never arrived on-table. Such stands remain "Green", and suffer no losses in the battle.

A. When a CW leader fights in a battle (CW or FF), place his next step promotion counter on the turn record track on the turn the battle is fought.

B. In the Reinforcement Phase of each CW turn, roll a die for each leader promotion counter on the turn record track, subtracting from the die roll a number equal to the difference between the current turn number and the turn number at which the promotion counter is positioned on the track. For example, if the Sherman 2-star counter has been placed at Turn 2, and the game is now in the Reinforcement Phase of Turn 3, subtract 1 from the die roll (the difference between 3 and 2).

C. If the modified die roll is equal to or less than the Tactical Rating of the leader counter currently in play (the 1-star Sherman counter in the above example, not the 2-star), put that counter in the "Promotion Pool" (not the Leader Pool) for that turn.

D. Promotions may be taken from the "Promotion Pool" only by a player who wins the initiative die roll for a pulse with an odd-numbered initiative die roll, and then only by using his "free reinforcement" for the purpose.

E. Promotion counters are chosen randomly from the "Promotion Pool". If there are promotion counters remaining in the pool when all leaders from the Leader Pool and all reinforcements have been entered for both sides, and all Commands have been used for both sides, the turn ends with the non-promoted leader counters still in the pool for next turn.

A. A FF army leader stand has an Army Command Radius of 30".   Friendly corps leader stands which lie within this 30" radius of the army leader stand during the maneuver phase act as described in FF. Friendly corps leader stands lying outside this 30" radius during the maneuver phase have their maneuver modifiers reduced by one for any maneuver die rolls they might modify; such reductions may not, however, result in a negative modifier.

B. An army leader stand may personally place any artillery stand in his army, provided it is within his "tactical" command radius (the standard FF 18").

C. An army leader stand may attach himself to any brigade in his army, having the same effect on maneuver die rolls as a corps leader of the same rating (i.e., +3 if 'E', +2 if "Average", +1 if "Poltroon"), and the same effect on charge combat as any other attached leader. However, while the army leader stand is attached to a brigade, all corps leaders under his command are considered to be out of his army command radius, and suffer the consequent maneuver table modifier reductions.

D. CW boardgame leader counter army command rating affect FF army leaders as follows.

(1) For each "positive" CW army command rating point, add 6" to that FF army leader stand's army command radius (thus, R. E. Lee's army command radius in an FF battle would be 48", Grant's would be 42").

(2) For each "negative" point CW army command rating point, deduct 6" from that FF army leader stand's army command radius (thus, McClellan's radius is 24"; Fremont's, the poor sod, is only 12").

(3) For each "positive" CW army command rating point, an army commander may re-roll a friendly maneuver die roll of his choice each turn; army leaders with "negative" CW army command ratings may be required by their opponent to re-roll one of their own army's maneuver rolls for each "negative" point, each turn.