"Light Bobs - New AWI rules in beta testing" Topic

Light Bobs: a nickname for the British light infantry, first used during the American Wars of Independence, and commonly applied to the Light Division during the Napoleonic wars.

If you are familiar with the Day of Battle, you'll notice a partial resemblance to them in these rules. I really enjoy the Command, Personality and Battle Line Morale parts of Day of Battle and knew I could use them for other eras.

Light Bobs is meant to cover actions where hundreds, rather than thousands, of soldiers are deployed. I feel that Light Bobs is written to be at battalion level, meaning the player commands four or more units called Companies. Companies are small (4 to 12 figures). This scale is larger than a man-to-man encounter, but below a brigade or multiple battalion engagement.

A basic game is between two leaders called Leaders of Worth with each commanding 4 to 6 Companies. Action is fast and sharp with the different Companies being of mixed arms and varying moral types. This is the scale of small units led by individual officers: a scale that I feel is sorely lacking in rules offerings. To bring out the individuality of the scale and the period I have used the personality rules from Day of Battle. These rules allow you to fight your Leader of Worth from battle to battle and watch him grow as a commander. This system is a sort of paperless campaign.

Interested in reading and playing my beta version edited by Phil Smith? Drop me a note at chris at dayofbattle dot com

Sent email, got this error:

>>> Nemesis ESMTP Service not available
554-No SMTP service
554-IP address is black listed.

I just tested the e-mail address and it is working fine. I received 2 requests so far. Here it is again in it's full script.

chris@dayofbattle.com

email is fine, I text received two more requests and have started sending them out.

TY in advance.

Basics

The following might help to understand the level of the game.

1 – THE BASICS
Game Scale
These rules are written for 25/40mm scale figures. The figures (preferably painted) should be mounted on as small a base as possible. A 1" round stand is recommended for infantry and a 1 x 2" rectangular stand for cavalry.

The basic maneuver unit of the game is the Company. The two terms, unit and Company, are interchangeable in the game. A Company is composed of between 4 and 12 figures. Companies include British and American regulars, Tory and Colonial militias, Indians, dragoons, and artillery. The lists provided in the appendix are for small engagements, not armies.

• The next formation is the Battalion. This term will be used to describe all of the Companies in a force, even if they are not actually from the same battalion. The commander of a force is always referred to as a Leader of Worth (LoW). This term indicates that the commander is the player. In the campaign version of Light Bobs each commander starts with a LoW at the rank of Captain. As he progresses through battles his rank may increase which will make him a better commander with more and better troops.

To Play Light Bobs You Will Need the Following
Miniature Figures
You will need a selection of figures to represent the troops under your command. On average, your force will consist of 33 figures.

Game Area
You will need a table on which to maneuver your figures. A 4' x 4' table is a good size; even larger areas are better when using larger number of figures. Table width should be increased based on the highest ranking LoW. A rule of thumb is 1' wider than the highest ranking LoW. Tables 6' or wider should have their depth increased to 5'.

More to come

Chris P.

Email sent.

Got it Joe and I just sent them on and thank you to all. Currently I am working on some rules that are year specific to reflect how the soldiers and leaders developed each year of the war.

Here is a little bit of the rules for units and army cration.

4 – ARMY CREATION
Unless determined by a scenario, the size of a player's army is one Company greater than his Military Rank (MR). A basic game is between two LoW each with an MR of 3, so each may field 4 Companies. The type of Companies is up to each player, and they may choose what is best for their missions. The quality of the Companies will determine the size of each Company. See Appendix A for further rules governing the creation of the army.

Company Size
A Company must always be of made up of the same figure type as listed on the Company Characteristics Table. At the start of a battle, during the deployment phase "like" Companies may be split apart up or joined together into smaller or larger Companies of the same type. Company strength may never be greater than 12 figures.

Company Characteristics Table
Company Type Strength Combat Dice Vulnerable
Elite 4 figures 2 per figure 1-2
Veteran 6 figures 1 per figure 1-2
Average 8 figures 1 per 2 figures 1-3
Poor 12 figures 1 per 3 figures 1-3
Militia 12 figures 1 per 3 figures 1-4
Cavalry Half figures based on Company Type
Crew Half figures based on Company Type

Example 9: A British LoW with an MR of 4 may field 5 Companies. According to the British army list in Appendix A at least half of the units must be infantry and no more than ¼ may be light infantry. The LoW chooses 1 Elite light infantry Company (4 figures), 1 Veteran line Company (6), 1 Average line Company (8), 1 Average loyalist Company (8) and 1 Average artillery Company (4 crew and 1 gun). Total figure count is 30 plus the LoW and the gun model.

Optional Rule: Number of Companies
Instead of adding 1 Company to the LoW's MR, draw a randomizer card. Ignoring the color, the value gives the number of additional Companies in the LoW's army. A joker adds 1 Company and allows the player to draw a bonus card. If a second joker is drawn, treat it as 1 as well but do not draw again.

Chris, if I have infantry stands, but with two 15mm figs per, each base being of square size 1" X 1", will these work with your system, or is there something in the rule mechanics that prescribe single figures and larger scale miniatures?

No problem. Units are 4 to 12 figures. Most units operate in what I label "loose order" and that is represented by figures touching and 1 rank deep. Open order places roughly a half inch between figures and you can just separate the stands a bit. Most militia deploy in what looks like close order which are two figures deep. This is to try to reflect that they wouldn't be as maneuverable as regulars and would tend to bunch up. Please drop me note for the rules.

Chris

Ah, I see there's more flexibility to reflect your different formation orders with single figures, but I think I could do this with stand spacing as you've indicated above.

Here's a picture of my figs in a scenario featuring Knowlton's Rangers, and other American units that became involved in the opening skirmish that eventually evolved into the Battle of Harlem Heights. I used Muskets & Tomahawks as the rules, and just termed the game formations as the battalions/regiments that fought in the action. Perhaps Light Bobs can do this tactical level of engagement?

Yes those will work and thanks for the great pictures. Rules are on the way.