Evading

[ochoin]

We all like to do a bit of evading whether it's from a traffic cop, the tax man or just your least favourite relatives wanting to drop by.

I've been thinking specifically about the concept of evading in wargames' rules. They normally apply only to non-battle troops: those units whose job it is to skirmish or scout. Naturally, such troops don't want to stand toe to toe with an enemy, usually better armed & more numerous. They give this magical ability to 'run away, run away' usually at greater than the normal top speed and preclude any chance of being surprised. The result is troops capable of evading are often incautious on the tabletop. But how realistic is this "get out of gaol free" card?

Given such troops tend to be more nippy than their heavier opponents & that they are minded not to want to clash swords, I wonder if it would not be more realistic to not have an evade rule & encourage them to keep (just) outside of charge range?
Thus, an incautious table top commander might lose his skirmishers to a charging enemy but the canny one would keep the gad-flys in play but never contacted?

donald

[grizzlymc]

I think it's as matter of scale. If you are doing 15 second turns and commanding the light company, yes you should fire the odd shot and keep well out of the enemy's charge range. If you are commanding a division or a corps, the evade tells you that the central Bn in the left hand Bde has a competent light company commander.

Same thing with Whores artillery. You can model Ramsay's troop's escape as a sort of horse race, or you can say he successfully evaded, depending on the scale of the game.

[valleyboy]

I particularly like the Squirmisher rule in GdeA where they cannot target cavalry.

Finding a balance between preventing squirmishers being able to behave incautiously but yet being enough of an itch or minor pestilence so that they cannot be ignored is difficult. In some periods that we play they're role was important and it its probably important that they do not become so inconsequential that they can be ignored eg Napoleonics

The only 2 ways I can think of doing this is to ensure that they must remain within a certain distance of their own formed troops (unlike perhaps a Forlon Hope sent well ahead to slow oncoming troops down) so they cannot roam far and wide or perhaps is to have a dice throw that introduces an element of risk when they do evade
For example if they throw a 1 when evading from formed troops then they might not return say for 3 turns or whatever rather than run and hide between formed battalions from their own side and magically reappear on the next turn in front of those battalions
Alternatively you could even make them take a turn to have a lie down and have a rest for a turn should they have been legging it in an evade the turn before say

[grizzlymc]

WRG handles them quite well. They cannot evade unless they stand the charge. If they fail they break and have to be rallied before they can come back and shoot at the emeny. If they stand, they can stand and be scythed down, or they can fall back on supports. If they fall back on supports, they can come out and skirmish any time. Their firepower is about half that of a close order line of the same number of men but nobody can hit a skirmisher at over 100 paces.

[ochoin]

Interesting. I really don't like any evade rule that lets the evaders shoot as they scarper but these restrictions look worth thinking about.

donald

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

You can use their evade mode against them of course - manoeuvre them close to the edge of the board and they either have to stand and fight, or run off table and be lost (albeit only 1 force point lost, whereas routing from melee is 2 in FoG:R). That said, with my dice rolling skills, my opponents usually choose to risk their lights in combat.....

[grizzlymc]

Evaders should also be allowed to evade into broken terrain.

Shooting should be whatever move and shoot you allow, obviously they won't evade far if they shoot, but lining the outside of a marsh and shooting 25 mm in seems reasonable, although the cavalry may not like it.

[Vintage Wargaming]

Plus 3 if led by Boris Johnson and there is a walk in fridge within 6 inches

[Norman D. Landings]

I reckon evasion movement does not represent ‘normal’ movement at all.

Normal unit movement represents moving under orders, in a tactical manner - maintaining cohesion - formation and spacing as per drill.

Evasion movement might include all of the above to some extent, but what it also includes is this: a degree of ‘scatter’.

I have no problem at all with skirmishers evading - it’s (broadly) historically accurate and it’s a convenient and time-saving mechanism for the player.

Where I’d introduce a roll is to see whether they maintain discipline and cohesion while doing so. Roll against Quality/morale/ however your system does it:

Critical success: textbook. The unit evades as below, and may shoot at half-effect as it does so.

Success: fine. They evaded as per drill. Make your evasion move, carry on as normal next turn.

Fail: scattered. Every man for himself. Make the evade move, BUT: the unit has to spend a round reforming before it can come back under orders.

Critical fail: They ran as above, but: some of them kept on running.
The unit must spend a round reforming before coming back under orders, AND: it comes back diminished.
(Loses a base, takes a hit, goes down one step in quality, however your system handles it.)

This introduces a degree of difference between well-drilled light order troops and rabble with bows.

It also gives the player pause for thought before attempting to be too rash with his skirmishers - there’s no guarantee you’ll get them back in good order.

I’d also rule that poor quality skirmishers have to stay in closer proximity to their own formed lines, while better-drilled skirmishers can roam further afield.

[Essex Boy]

In Rank and File an 'evade' is, perhaps more appropriately, described as 'flee'.

A fleeing unit chucks dice to see how far it will flee so, not being able to guarantee outdistancing their pursuers, it's a brave unit that gets too close.

Iain