Ayton 2022 Rules

[Essex Boy]

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be drip feeding you details of the rules and how they’ll translate for Ayton. There’s no particular reason for this – I just figure that bunging it all down in one hit will be a bit too much to chew on.

So, the first bite sized bit concerns a basic summary of the sequence of play.

Sequence of Play
This is an I go you go game
1) At the start of each new game turn, roll to see who goes first - that’ll be the side rolling highest.
2) The sides take turns activating a brigade of their choice until all Brigades of both sides have been activated once.
3) When a Brigade is activated, the player picks one of its units and gives it an order. The order is immediately carried out – be it shooting, charging and melee etc. Once that is done, an order is given to the next unit, and so on.

So, there is only ever one unit and one order in play at any time, and there’s no set sequence to moving, shooting and charging etc. These are the possible orders:

Move – which is rather self explanatory.
Fire – your unit shoots.
Charge – your unit attempts to move into contact with an enemy unit. The melee, if there is one, is fought to a conclusion.
Rally – recover a unit which is Broken.
Return to the Colours – your unit can attempt to replace some of its lost hits.
Unit recall – rapidly withdraw a unit from danger (this is a new one and hasn’t been play-tested yet – we think it’ll make Brigades a little more resilient).

Needless to say, there is a bit more to the above. In particular……….

One side may have more Brigades in play than the opponent. The player fortunate enough to be in this position should choose his Brigade activations carefully, because the ‘excess’ Brigades are unlikely to do everything he wants of them.

There are two possible orders which apply to the whole of an activated Brigade:

Brigade Move – the whole Brigade moves as one. It really speeds things up.
Brigade Recall – the Brigade rapidly redeploys to the rear. It’s a valuable tactic if the Brigade is taking too many hits and is about to be Wrecked.

I should stress that by 'sides' I don't mean the whole of one side of the table. The game will most likely be split down into one against one or pairs fighting pairs. Any questions on the above?

[Essex Boy]

This thread is two days old and no one has punned or derailed it. Either you guys are losing your touch, or you've found a new way of taking the piss.

E

[Etranger]

My touch is never loose....

[Essex Boy]

My touch is never loose....

Oops. Corrected, ta.

[World2dave]

Don't be worried about these new-fangled rules, on the day Iain will be happy to go up and down the table clarifying things and helping you with your cavalry charges. And the subsequent routs. And making your 'trampled General' rolls.

[Essex Boy]

Rude........but true.

[Peeler]

I thought we were taking the piss silently?
But having testplayed the rules, I'm sure they'll be fine.

[Essex Boy]

Well, you all seem to have digested the sequence of play stuff, so now a titbit about your Leaders and casualties (hits).
Dave has explained about Brigade organisation and basic unit types, so I’ll leave that for now….unless there are any questions?

Leaders
There are three important things to know about Leaders:

* It’s the player who gives orders to your Brigades and units, not the Leaders. You don’t need to have a Leader close by for your order to be received.

* A Leader is only a Leader if he is part of the command structure of the activated Brigade. So that would be the Brigadier, the Major General of the Division of which the Brigade is part, and the CinC.

* Leaders give all manner of bonuses to nearby units. The bonuses usually come with a risk of injury, so they are always voluntary. Leaders must be activated if you want to move them, which they can do once per turn.

You will need a Brigadier figure for each Brigade. You will also need one Major General figure if you have between two and four Brigades. You will need a second Major General figure if you have between five and seven Brigades.

If you have overall command of more than seven Brigades (include your partner’s Brigades), you can have a full General figure!

Hits and casualties
Casualties aren’t removed so hits from shooting and melee are accrued using markers. When the accrued hits reach a certain level, a unit is wrecked and removed from the game. Before that happens, the unit will be ‘damaged’, which will have an adverse effect on its shooting and melee dice.

You may be able to recover some hits with the Return to the colours order.

Wrecked and (damaged)
Line infantry 9 hits (6 hits)
Guns 4 hits (guns and crew don’t become damaged)
Skirmishers 1 hit
All other units 7 hits (5 hits).

It just so happens that, apart from guns, the above also reflect the number of dice the unit uses when in combat. For example, a line infantry unit rolls 9D6 when it shoots and melees, reducing to 6D6 when it becomes damaged.

Any questions?

[Paul]

Purely as an observing rules junkie can I ask a couple (or thrupple!) of questions?

If you win activation can you "pass" to the other player without making an activation? (as an aside to this, what is the thinking behind penalising armies with more Brigades? This seems to be a game mechanic choice and sits a wee bit uncomfortably with the stated presumed command structures?)

Given the limit on brigades (3 or 4) is the second Major General is purely a narrative/organisational thing, as only one will be needed at a time?

Presumably casualties can be recorded off table to avoid clutter? (Or is there a need for the units state to be visible)?

[Essex Boy]

Hello Paul,

Many thanks. Excellent points, as always.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'win activation'. Are you referring to dicing to see who activates first? If so, there is no 'winning'. The side rolling highest goes first - that might be good, or it might be bad. I am considering giving the side who rolls highest a minus 1 pip on its roll next turn - not sure that it's worth the ink though.

I don't agree with your comment about the side with more Brigades being penalised. The side with the greater number of Brigades gets to activate all of its Brigades and therefore has more options than its outnumbered opponent. It is the case that, once both sides have activated an equal number of Brigades, the side with Brigades remaining has reduced options, but that simply adds another level of decision making for the player with the advantage in numbers. That's in keeping with the gentle 'friction' the rules generate for players. I should have given more detail about the rule........

Chapter 1. C. What if I have more Brigades than my opponent?
Once both sides have activated an equal number of Brigades, the side with still more to activate:
a. Selects a Brigade to activate and rolls a D6.
b. A CinC Leader within 6” can add a bonus D6 (roll together and take the highest).
c. The Brigade’s units can only be given orders per the table below.
d. Do this in turn for each additional Brigade.

1 - 3 Brigade Recall, Do Nothing, Return to the Colours or Rally orders only
4 - 5 Any order except Charge.
6 Any order, but Charge can only be given on a further roll needing 3 – 6 (failing becomes a ‘Do Nothing’ order)

I've mentioned the broader Leadership structure just in case the number of Brigades per player isn't yet set in stone. So yes, I've done it for the sake of completeness. It's entirely possible that two Major Generals could take the field, but only one would be a Leader at any given time of course (Brigades are allocated to a Division - a Division can have one Major General).

Yes, both players should be able to calculate shooting and melee dice - that can't be done if players record hits on scraps of paper which they keep to themselves. Keep it simple and make it quick is the aim.

Hope that helps.

Iain