Inter Arma

Inter Arma
Skirmish-size wargaming in the ancient and medieval ages

Version 1.06.

by Andrew J. McCory

0. Introduction

This game is intended to simulate the warfare of the ancient and medieval ages until the use of gunpowder - in a simply manner. ((The Inter Arma 4th Appendix adds rules for the use of gunpowder weapons.))
Tools used in the game are: miniature figures; measurement tape/stick; 6-sided dice (referred as 1d6 in the following; 12- and 8-sided dice are optional).
This manual contains no regulations on maximum players, types of armies and the balance of army components, leaving it to the players' decision.

1. Sequence of the game

Sequence of the game as follows:
		TURN 1
			a) Deciding initiative
			b) Movement
			c) Combat
				ca) Ranged
				cb) Melee
			d) Testing morale
		TURN 2
			e) Movement - Fatigue rolls
			f) Combat
				fa) Ranged
				fb) Melee
			g) Morale
		TURN 3

2. Initiative

Deciding initiative (e. g. who has the first move) happens by either:
	a) throwing dice per one side, highest has initiative (more than 2 players: movements happen in rank order, equals reroll).
	b) agreement of the participants.
	c) based on a scenario (for example: barbarian attack on a Roman camp; Barbarian is offensive and therefore has initiative).

3. Classification

Troops are either classified as
	a) Regulars,
	b) Elites (or veterans),
	c) Commanders/Heroes.
	((d) Conscripts/Militia added in the 4th Appendix))

Each of these has their own specifics in combat, see later.
There are no specific regulations on the number of these represented in each party/warband.

4. Movement and visibility

I. Standard

Distances are measured in centimeter. For easier use, transfer 2cm to 1 inch.
Player with initiative moves first, using the distances given in the table below.

Every turn after turn 1, roll 1d6 on fatigue. See table below: rolling first number means movement is halved; second number means unit is tired and doesn't move in turn.
No dice when walking.


	Unit type	Walk	Run	Crawl	Failing fatigue
	Infantry	8	12	4	1/2
	-Armored*	7	11	4	1/2
	Skirmisher	12	16	6	2 (no half)

	Cavalry		-	20	-
	-Armored*	-	18	-

*Armored = figure is using a high amount of chainmail or plate. Eastern style armor (bamboo/leather) doesn't affect movement.

Reduce by
	a) 4cm if moving in the dark (except for crawling),
	b) 2cm to get up or lie down (NOT in turn while crawling),
	c) 4cm if moving uphill (no crawling),
	d) 5cm to cross low obstacle or get on/off a ship (no crawling),
	e) 3cm when in heavy woods (not when crawling),
	f) 2cm if figure shot in previous turn (no shooting while crawling).

Visibility is 30cm on foot, 35 when mounted, remove -6 in woods.
Rocks and buildings (including walls) larger than figures eventually remove line of sight.
Stream/lake/river: roll 1d6 to see if provides LoS, 4+ means units are hidden; crawling only.
Units cannot enter heavy woods in closed formation.

Scenario: sentries roll 1d6 in 30cm,
	a) in open: 4+ sights the enemy,
	b) in wood: 6 sights the enemy.

Crawling: when in visibility range,
	a) in open: roll 1d6 if enemy is facing the direction of your fig; 1-2=visible, 1-3 if armored.
	b) in wood: roll 1d6 if enemy is facing soldier, 1= visible, 1-2 if armored.

II. Night/Rain

Rain or fog
a) reduces movement by 1cm, visibility by 4 and removes sighting bonus for cavalry.
b) Player doesn't have to roll to test if crawling figures are spotted.

Nighttime, besides the movement reduction,
a) reduces visibility by 8cm, removes bonus for cavalry,
b) removes test to spot crawling enemy,
c) reduces sentries' sighting range by 10cm,
d) each group of soldiers rolls direction dice (2d6 or 1d12) compared to intended direction:
	- 12-11 90°left
	- 10-9 45°left
	- 8-6 intended route
	- 5-4 45°right
	- 3-2 90°right
	Add/remove 1 if commander/hero is present and makes a difference.
Units not in combat after 5 consecutive turns are disordered and take one extra morale test, see later.

5. Combat

Combat happens after movement is finished on every sides. There is no further movement unless units are nearing contact and extra movement wouldn't result in disatvantage (getting closer to troops armed with spears/polearms).

I. Universal rules

"Saving": when figure is hit, roll 1d6 to see if saved and consider the following table, and
a) add +1 if unit is elite/veteran,
b) +2 if unit is commander/hero.
c) Closed formations such as Viking shield wall and Roman Testudo increase roll by an extra 1 (but don't protect against angled/ volley fire, see Appendix III).

	Unit type	Wounded	Dead
	Infantry	3	2
	-With shield	3	1
	-Armored	2	1
	Skirmisher	3	1

Pre-combat saving rolls (breaking contact): Archers and ranged units, in case they want to keep distance and don't stay for melee, must roll a save if they got in contact with the enemy and they can still move in that turn (opponent has initiative and said units did not move yet).
	-Units must be in real contact (extra damage distance from polearms is diminished).
	-Add +1 to saving roll in all cases.
Light cavalry ((unless classified as Conscripts/Militia, see Appendix IV)) does not have to roll saves when breaking contact.

II. Cavalry

When saving cavalry, roll 1d6 first for dismount/damaging horse:
a) when shot at, Long/Med 1-2 shoots the horse, Short 1-3 shoots the horse; rider otherwise (save on this account only)
b) against footmen, 3+ damages the horse; -II-
c) against cavalry, 4+ damages the horse; -II-
In melee combat, the horse must roll a save similar to other units and regarding how much is it armored. If results in a Wounded/Dead the rider is dismounted and continues to fight on foot.
When damaging the riders, the savings go as follows:

			Wounded	Dead
	Cavalry		3	2
	-Armored	2	1

III. Wounded status

Wounded means figure remains in place and is unable to fight. If attacked,
a) when opponent's Commander/hero is in range, player decides what to do with the wounded (capture/kill it);
b) when Commander/hero is not in range, roll 1d6 to determine if:
	1-2 soldiers kill the wounded,
	2-3 they leave him/her behind,
	4+ wounded soldier is captured.

Out of combat: roll 1d6 after end of battle to decide wounded's fate (when on campaign):
a) 1-2 dies,
b) 3-4 reroll in next battle,
c) 5-6 survives.

Add +2 to these rolls when wounded soldier is classified as Commander/hero.

IV. Ranged damage

To score a hit roll 1d6,
Results:
Range	Score
Short	3+
Medium	4+
Long	6

Add 1 to roll on Short/Medium distance if soldier is Elite/veteran, +2 if commander/hero.
Reduce roll by 1 if shooting from horseback (still counting the bonuses above).

Distances as follows:
Weapon		Short	Medium	Long
Bow		10	18	25
Sling		6	15	19
Javelin*	8	11	-
Crossbow	12	16	20

If a figure shoots from atop of a building (tower/keep etc.) the distance is counted from the base of said building. Shooting from a height downwards adds +4cm to firing distance (for bows and crossbows only).

*Figures (unless indicated otherwise) can throw one javelin only, but they can pick up one later.
Roman pilum can be used once only. Other types of javelins can be picked up and used by the enemy when they miss. It is highly recommended therefore to use javelin markers on the table to represent missed javelins.
For the sake of simplicity it is presumed that archers are supplied with enough arrows throughout the encounter.
Wheat fields, heavy woods (unless indicated otherwise) reduce hitting roll by 1.


V. Melee

a) 1 on 1
Throw 1d6 for initiative, highest attacks first.
	+1 if Elite/veteran against Regular;
	+1 if Commander/hero against Elite;
	+2 if Commander/hero against Regular.
	-1 if soldier is archer and shot previously in that turn.
	((Conscripts/Militia added in Appendix IV reduce their roll by 1 further against
	each of these 	advantages))

In another aspect, the units have specific qualities which add to their roll. Based on this:
	Type			Quality
	Hero/Commander		+2
	Elite/Veteran		+1
	Regular			0
	((Conscript/Militia	-1))

Soldier being attacked rolls save, if saved (not killed/wounded), automatically counterattacks and opponent saves (only one clash per turn).

b) 2 on 1
Throw 1,5d6 (roll 2d6 and half higher roll) against 1d6.
	+1 if includes Elite/veteran,
	+2 if includes Commander/hero;
Solo fig can counter-attack only once; gets no bonuses on initiative, but when saved, bonuses are transferred as a reduction on saving roll of one enemy (-1 if Elite, -2 if Commander).

c) 3 or more on 1
Throw 2d6 against 1d6 and include bonuses mentioned above.

d) Massed combat
Throw groups of dice and compare them in rank order, number of each player's initiatives are based on this (reroll 1 dice if equal).
Example: A rolls 6, 5, 3, 1; B rolls 5, 5, 2, 2

Order:
	A	B	Initiative
	6	5	A
	5	5	Reroll
	3	2	A
	1	2	B

Only meeting (first) ranks suffer casualties; Elites/Veterans and Commanders/Heroes lose bonus of initiative.
Spears ((and pikes, see Appendix IV)) can do damage from second rank.

As the experiences show, this way of deciding initiative works up to 6 men. The 4th Appendix offers a mechanism for units larger than that by rolling one initiative based on the average quality of the unit and then rolling saving rolls all at once.

Special: Attacking from behind/ambushing
a) Single combat
When a crawling enemy hits on a soldier, it doesn't roll initiative and reduces saving roll by 2, 1 if armored.
If saved, Elites and Regulars cannot counterattack immediately, but have initiative in next turn. Commanders/heroes, when saved, return attack immediately.

6. Morale

Morale tests are rolled in critical situations (high losses etc.).
Retreating from contact: if melee units are in contact with the enemy and are able to and wish to retreat, have to roll a morale test to see how the decision affects them.
	-Units outside commander's sighting/commanding range cannot retreat from contact.
	-Light cavalry does not have to test morale when retreating from contact.
Roll 2d6/1d12 to test morale of the complete army/warband and add the following:

a) Casualties
	+1 for every 2 killed/wounded enemy (horses don't count)
	-1 for every 3 killed/wounded soldier
	-1 for every 4 killed/wounded ally

	+1 for killed enemy commander/hero
	-1 for killed own/allied hero

	+1 for 3 killed enemy civilians
	-1 for 3 killed own civilians

b) Goals
	+1 for found loot
	+1 for occupied checkpoint on table
	-1 for LOST checkpoint on table
	+1 for destroyed enemy building
	-1 for destroyed own/allied building

	+1 for captured loot/heirloom/vexillum/standard
	-1 for lost loot/heirloom/vexillum/standard

	+1 for captured herd and other similar, specific goals

Results of the test:
0-4 Retreat - In case of retreat, commander/hero can roll 1d6 on soldiers in visibility range, if rolls 3+, they don't run. One commander can save a unit from running 2 times only.
5-8 Opponent has initiative (of movement) in next turn; when all sides have this effect, initiative does not change.
9-11 Troops act regularly.
12 Troops act regularly+ commander/hero has +1 damage in next active combat.

7. Comments

This set of rules was made after a test game with an over-simplified version, which was imbalanced in terms of death ratio on both parts of a Gallic/Roman encounter (of a 22-man warband and a 22-man legion camp only 1 Gallic archer remained alive). Classification and giving more chance for armored men to survive tends to balance this.

Version 0.9 (original) was made on July 6, 2012.

Version 0.99 (first modification) was made on August 12, 2012: includes rules for shooting from a height or from a building, Elites and Commanders losing intiative bonus in massed combat.

Appendixes made for v0.99 on September 6, 2012:
-Appendix I, Fantasy rules: http://pastebin.com/XLLh9jPT
Appendix II, Campaign rules: http://pastebin.com/vRiUQBcj

Version 1.0 (final) removes morale tests at the end of each turn and has them used in critical situations.

Version 1.05 increases weapon ranges, changes the saving and combat mechanisms, modifies fatigue rolls, damage to cavalry, stopping routing units, adds further LoS modifiers and references to other appendixes at certain points, as a result of further playtesting.

Version 1.06 includes rules for breaking contact and retreat from contact, enables mounted polearms to damage from second rank.

Critics on the rules are more than welcome on the 'Rules' page of my blog, http://randomncreative.blogspot.com.