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1916
LAND WAR IN THE AGE OF MACHINES: 1914-1918



Advanced Game Setup

    Setup Sequence
  1. Decide in which year the scenario is taking place and which sides are attacker and defender. In case of debate about this, the numerically superior side becomes the attacker. Also, decide whether the battle represents a local attack or big push (this affects the type of pre-game barrage chosen).
  2. Each side rolls for air superiority.
  3. Each side rolls for air strike availability.
  4. Each side rolls for artillery barrage availability.
  5. Each side rolls for gas warfare support.
  6. Each side rolls for extra heavy weapons.
  7. Each side rolls for defensive works (See Troop Lists and Notes).
  8. Roll for setup proximity and record turn to begin rolling for Combat Lulls.
  9. Review Optional Setup Rules
  10. Place defensive works.
  11. Troop Placement. Players alternate setting units on the board, with the loser of the air supremacy roll setting two units for each unit placed by the winner. Once all units are placed, the process is repeated for heavy weapons and other bases. Personnel type units may begin the game prone.
  12. Each player records their preparatory barrage target mix: counterbattery, wire clearing, command suppression, or standard preparatory barrage.
  13. Resolve counterbattery fire for preparatory barrages. Counterbattery barrages are considered simultaneous, hence, a player may not destroy his opponent's counterbattery assigned barrages. Players should roll for random loss of other barrage types; wire-clearing, etc.
  14. Resolve wire-clearing fire for preparatory barrages.
  15. Resolve command suppression fire for preparatory barrages.
  16. Conduct standard preparatory barrages against enemy combat units, mark gassed units and check morale for all units which suffered casualties.


Air Superiority | Each side rolls one six sided die (1D6), with the Central Powers player applying the appropriate modifier from the table below. The resulting value establishes a relative air superiority-parity value which effects other player capabilities.

  1915 1916 1917 1918
  1st half 2nd half 1st half 2nd half 1st half 2nd half All
German Modifier              
Western Front Europe -1 +1 -1 -1 +2 0 -2
Eastern Fronts Europe +4 +4 +3 +2 +4 +5 -
Africa & Asia -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5
Austrian Modifier              
Eastern Front Modifier 0 +1 -1 0 +1 +1 0
Italian Front 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Turkish & Bulgarian Modifiers              
All fronts -3 -3 -4 -4 -4 -5 -5
Modifier: Attacker for "big push" attack: +2. Attacker for local attack" +1


Air Attacks | Each side should compare its air superiority or parity value with the table below. The numbers along the top of the table indicate the victory-loss margins for the air superiority die rolls, with the plus values on the right side indicating air superiority winners and the minus values on the left side indicating air superiority losers. The zero column represents relative parity. The numbers in the body of the table indicate the number of airstrikes awarded to the respective players for use during game play.

Name and Location Air Superiority Victory/Loss Margin
  -3 -2 -1  0  +1 +2 +3 +4 +5
German : West Front 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 3
German : East Front 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
German : Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Commonwealth : West Front 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4
Commonwealth : Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
French : West Front 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
French : Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
American : West Front 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 3
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1


Artillery Barrages | Each side rolls one six sided die (1D6) once on the On-call barrage column, and once on either the Daily Grind, Local Attack or Big Push preparatory barrage columns. Barrage results are decimal values which indicate the number of barrages a player receives per sub-unit present on the battlefield (totalled for both sides). For low intensity campaign areas such as Africa, Palestine, etc., players may want to use the on-call artillery option only.

Example: A game which sets a French regiment of three five-unit battalions against a German regiment of three six-unit battalions plus two assault units, will have a battlefield total of 35 units present. A barrage result of .40 on the chart will allow the player who roles that value to multiply .40 by 35 (.40 x 35) giving that player 14 barrages. Standard rounding rules apply to final values.

Die Roll Daily Grind Preparatory Barrages Local Attack Preparatory Barrages Big Push Preparatory Barrages
(Starting 1916)		 On-Call Artillery Barrages Barrage/On-call die roll modifiers:
Germans 1918 = +2
Russian 1914 = -2
Russian 1915 = -3
Russian 1916 = -1
Italian1917-18 = -3
Attacker Defender Attacker Defender Attacker Defender Daily Grind Local Attack Big Push
1 .15 .00 .20 .10 .30 .15 .10 .05 .10
2 .15 .00 .25 .15 .35 .25 .10 .05 .15
3 .20 .05 .30 .20 .45 .30 .15 .10 .20
4 .20 .05 .40 .25 .55 .40 .15 .10 .25
5 .25 .10 .50 .35 .65 .45 .15 .15 .30
6 .30 .10 .60 .45 .75 .55 .20 .20 .40
7 .35 .15 .65 .50 .80 .60 .20 .25 .45
8 .40 .20 .70 .55 .85 .65 .20 .30 .50

Preparatory Barrages
Each preparatory (pre-game) barrage may be used for any one of the following attack types; 1) Standard preparatory barrage against one enemy sub-unit; 2) Counterbattery fire against one enemy preparatory or on-call barrage; 3) One attack on a single enemy command base; or 4) One wiring clearing attack against enemy barbed wire entanglements.

Standard Preparatory Barrage | A preparatory barrage may be assigned to one enemy sub-unit which is on the board at the time game play is ready to begin. For each barrage that attacks it, every base in a targeted unit must roll once on the Area Weapons Chart with all normal modifiers. All supporting bases (heavy weapons, etc.) within a sub-unit's deployment area must also roll once on the same chart. Barrages may be distributed in any manner, either throughout an enemy force, or concentrated on a few units, forcing their component bases to roll multiple times for loss and damage.

Counterbattery Fire | A player may expend up to half of his available barrages to "attack" an enemy's barrage pool. For each barrage used for counterbattery fire, roll one six-sided die. A 5 or 6 result will destroy one enemy preparatory barrage or, if none of those are available, an enemy on-call barrage will be destroyed instead. Add a +1 to the die roll if deadly, shell delivered gas is used. Add a +1 to the die roll if the barraging player won air superiority by at least three points.

Clearing wire | A player may expend up to one-quarter of his preparatory barrages on attacks to clear enemy barbed wire entanglements. All resulting destruction of barbed wire segments is immediately implemented. The resulting damage therefore occurs in addition to that which may be suffered as a result of the standard preparatory barrage die rolls which follow this step. To conduct a wire-clearing barrage, a player rolls two six sided dice (2D6) for each of his wire clearing barrages which survived the counter-battery barrage phase. The value rolled is the number of barbed wire segments destroyed. The barraging player removes half of the number indicated, and the defending player removes the remaining half of wire segments indicated. Any odd losses are removed by the attacking player (the player controlling the attacking barrages). All areas cleared of wire due to wire-clearing barrages are turned into cratered terrain for 30 yards in every direction (equivalent to the standard 60 yard cratered zones used in the artillery rules)

Command Suppression | A player may expend up to half of his preparatory barrages on attacks against enemy command control and headquarters capabilities. This is done by "attacking" the command bases which abstractly represent enemy command, communication and control facilities which are spread out behind the front line combat formations. Command bases themselves may be attacked and damaged, but not destroyed. To conduct a command suppression barrage, the barraging player must score an unmodified D or K result on the Area Weapons Chart in order to damage a command marker. Due to their special nature, command bases do not benefit from being entrenched or otherwise protected, although there is also no limit to how many times they may be damaged. Each damage point scored against a command base will lower the command die rolls of all subordinate units by one point.


Gas Warfare Support | If gas is available to a nation's armed forces (check the dates on the chart below) the controlling player may roll one die to established whether gas warfare resources are available for the game. If they are available, roll one six-sided die (1D6) and cross reference the result with the corresponding year of the game scenario being played. Multiply the resulting percentage by the total number of on-call and preparatory barrages to establish the number of gas barrage points available to that player (use standard rounding to resolve uneven results). Each gas point may be used to modify one barrage of any type with the appropriate gas attack modifier. A unit which loses one or more bases as a result of a gas-modified barrage is considered to be a "gassed unit" and suffers that morale modifier for the rest of the game. Below are described the four basic gas types and their allowed usage, players may select and use any of the gas types listed so long as the availability date matches the game scenario date..
Gas types
Chlorine: Available in 1915, temporary, deadly, wind delivery.
Tear: Available in 1916, temporary, disabling, shell delivery. 2:1 availability.
Phosgene: Available in 1917, temporary, deadly, shell delivery.
Mustard: Available in 1917, persistent, deadly, shell delivery.

Definitions
Temporary: Has no affect on terrain or units after use.
Persistent: Area occupied by affected unit or target zone becomes "gassed terrain" which will use the area weapons chart without modifiers to attack all bases passing through it (roll for attack during attacked base's movement step).
Disabling: Does not modify Area Weapons die roll, but if any losses are suffered during the Area Weapons test for that barrage, targeted unit still counts as gassed.
Deadly: Gives a bonus to barrage rolls on the Area Weapons Chart
Wind delivery: May be applied only during pre-game barrage against enemy front line bases which are within support range (240 yards) of delivering player's front line bases. Any unmodified attack rolls of 1 result in an equivalent attack against the nearest base belonging to the player conducting the gas attack.
Shell delivery: Must be applied in conjunction with an artillery barrage.
2:1 availability: May be used in two different barrages for each gas point expended.
Gas Warfare Support
Die Roll (2D6) Other British/American French German

1917-18 1916 1917-18 1915 1916 1917-18 1915 1916-17 1918
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30%
3 - 6 0 0 10% 0 0 10% 0 10% 40%
7 - 9 0 10% 20% 0 10% 20% 0 30% 50%
10,11 10% 20% 30% 0 20% 30% 5% 40% 60%
12 20% 30% 40% 5% 30% 40% 10% 50% 70%

Gas use recommendations: Use mustard gas only for barrages against units anchoring the enemy flanks, leaving the path immediately in front of your units clear for an attack or counter-attack. Saving a few mustard gas/on-call barrage resources in reserve may allow you to suppress enemy flanking reinforcements. Use disabling gas against units with weak morale or training, especially if their numbers are great.


Extra Heavy Weapons | The chart below allows players to roll for possible acquisition of extra heavy weapon bases including field guns (cannon), trench mortars and more rarely, extra machine guns. Qualified players roll one six sided die (1D6) for each allowable category. Results are decimal values which indicate the number of heavy weapon bases of that type received per friendly sub-unit.

Example: A player in command of a regiment composed of three five-unit battalions will have a total of 15 units within his control. If it is 1914 and he rolls a .55 value on the chart when rolling to acquire field guns, the resulting calculations (.55 x 15) will give him 8 field gun bases for game-board use.

Die Roll A B C D F
1 .70 .45 .25 .05 .00
2 .75 .50 .30 .10 .00
3 .80 .55 .35 .15 .00
4 .90 .65 .45 .25 .05
5 .95 .70 .50 .30 .10
6 1.00 .75 .55 .35 .15
Heavy Weapon Die Roll Recommendations (all nations unless noted)
1914: Field Gun C
1915: Field Gun D | Light Trench Mortar D | French & Commonwealth LMG = D
1916: Field Gun F | Light Trench Mortar C | German HMG = F
1917: Field Gun F | Medium Trench Mortar F
1918: Field Gun D | Medium Trench Mortar F | German HMG = F | American LMG = C
Note that several of the chart columns are not yet assigned a specific use. Players should feel free to use them as tools for creating scenarios. LMG and HMG values should not be adjusted too much, as their current values are set to match the changes in availability as the war progressed.


Defensive Positions | Each side rolls for each category (trenches, barbed wire entanglements, pillboxes and bunkers) once per 20 sub-units present for both sides according to the values shown in the Troop Lists and Notes section for that nationality. For example, a French player fighting a battle in 1915 would roll to acquire trenches, wire and pillboxes, but not bunkers. Consult the links below for defense die rolls:
British · French (Also American) · German (Also Turkish) · Russian (also Austrian, Italian, Balkan)


Setup Proximity - Cross index the roll of one six sided die (top row) with the location and year (left column) to obtain the nearest point (in yards) to the defender that the attacker may place his nearest combat units or defenses. Also, the die value (number of dots) actually rolled is the turn number that players begin rolling for lulls in combat. See the Combat Lull section below for more information.


 1 2 3 4 5 6
Constricted Terrain 80 yds 160 yds 200 yds 250 yds 300 yds 400 yds
Open Terrain 100 yds 180 yds 250 yds 320 yds 400 yds 500 yds
Wide Open Terrain 120 yds 200 yds 300 yds 400 yds 500 yds 600 yds
Ref: Large scale 1" = 20 yards, Medium Scale 1" = 30 yards, Small Scale 1" = 40 yards.



Combat Lulls - When players roll for proximity on the set up chart, the unmodified die result is used to establish the turn upon which players begin rolling on one six-sided die (1D6) for a combat lull, which will occur on an unmodified roll result of 6. The lull is considered to be a short lull if it occurs before the seventh game turn, and is considered to be a long lull if it occurs on or after the seventh game turn. Players may mutually declare either type of combat lull at any time during the game.

The Lull Features column below shows the various attempts at base repair, unit recover and resource acquisition which player may attempt during combat lulls. The values shown under the Short Lull and Long Lull columns below indicate the permissions or die rolls required to achieve the operations shown at left. For example: During a short lull, a unit which was gassed with mustard gas (a persistent gas) may not attempt to recover from its gassed status. But that same unit will recover during a long lull if it can roll a 6 on a recovery die roll. A damaged combat base may repair itself on a die roll of 6 during a short lull and on a 4 through 6 during a long lull.

Lull Feature Short Lull Long Lull
Extra Defenses Foxholes : Unlimited Trenchline: ½10
Repair Roll : Combat Base Damage 6 4 - 6
Repair Roll: Command Base Damage ¹ 6 5,6
Repair : MG Jam Automatic Automatic
Recovery Roll : Temp Gassed Unit 6 4 - 6
Recovery Roll : Persistent Gassed No recovery 6
Recovery : Demoralized Unit No recovery 5,6
Reorganize : Units ² No reorganizing All unpinned units
Extra Resource Roll : On-call barrages ³ No Yes
Extra Resource Roll : Airstrikes ³ Yes Yes
¹ — A command base may repair a maximum of one damage point during a short lull, and three damage points during a long lull.
² — Re-configure battalion subunits to more favorable strengths. This may include eliminating existing subunits in order to reinforce others in the same battalion. May only be done within a battalion, hence inferior grade troops may not be used to replace better grade troops, etc. Pinned units remained pinned, and therefore may not take part in any reorganization.
³ — Unused on-call artillery not used in the previous round may be kept and used in the next round of fighting. Unused air strikes are lost.


Optional Setup Rules

Armor Warfare Availability (Roll two six-sided dice)
Die Roll Britain France German

'16 '17, '18 '17 '18 '17, '18
2 - 4 - - - - AT Rifle
5,6 - 1 - - -
7 - 9 1 1 - 1 -
10,11 1 2 1 2 -
12 2 4 2 3 1

Cross index the year ('16 = 1916) with the die roll to find the number of tank units (3 models per unit) available for the game. Defenders suffer a -1 die modifier. Roll once per 20 total sub-units present on the field. Americans roll the same value as French. The "AT Rifle" result under the German listing indicates that on a die roll of two through four, the German player receives one anti-tank rifle base for that die roll round.



Attacker Victory Conditions | For variety, players may add these optional attacker victory conditions to the game. The attacker secretly rolls one die before beginning set up, the die roll value indicating the conditions needed for an attacker "victory". Players who prefer clear results may have the attacker roll the die into a cup or box, which is then set aside after allowing the attacker to check the result. The box is then left undisturbed until the game's end, when the defender can then look at the original die roll to confirm his demise.

Die Roll Victory Condition
1 Clear or occupy entire enemy first line trenches.
2 Occupy 30% of any enemy trenchlines until a lull.
3 Exit at least two non-remnant infantry sub-units off of the enemy's rear board edge.
4 Destroy all enemy machine gun emplacements.*
5 Capture the highest point on the battlefield.*
6 Reduce ¾ of enemy sub-units to remnant status.*

* - 1918 Germans may "trade-in" this result for result number 3.



Reinforcements (For lulls only)
Die Roll Follow-up
(attacker)		 Reinforcement
(defender)		 Flanking
(defender)
2-4 none 1 inf. sub-unit none
5,6 none 2 inf. sub-units & 1 HMG 1 HMG
7-9 2 inf. sub-units 3 inf. sub-units & 1 HMG 1 LMG, 2 HMG
10,11 2 inf. sub-units & 1 HMG 4 inf. sub-units & 2 HMG 1 inf. sub-units, 2 LMG, 2 HMG
12 3 inf. sub-units & 2 HMG 5 inf. sub-units & 2 HMG 2 inf. sub-units, 3 LMG, 3 HMG

Follow-up and Reinforcement forces arrive at the rear edge of the receiving player's setup. Flanking forces arrive on the side edges of the receiving player's setup. Player's who acquired armor for the initial set up may exchange reinforcing infantry sub-units for individual tank bases.
 
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