Optional Rules

Optional Fire Results - The resulting fire casualty values are based on the average of two default fire calculations. This produces values which are more likely to be in the midrange of the casualty interval rather than uniformly distributed.

Optional Melee Results - The resulting melee casualty values are based on the average of two default melee casualties. This has the effect of reducing the variation in casualty values.

Quality Fire Modifiers - Fire results are affected by the quality of the firing unit. Non-artillery units which have a quality of A or B will have a 10% modifier applied to their fire value. Non-artillery units which have a quality of E or F will have a 10% modifier subtracted from their fire value.

Higher Fatigue Recovery Rates - Units recover from Fatigue faster than normal. Under this rule, units with Low Fatigue will have a fatigue recovery rate which is 5 times normal. Units with Medium Fatigue will have a fatigue recovery rate which is 3 times normal. Units with High Fatigue are not affected by this rule.

Victory Points for Leader Casualties - Victory Points awarded for enemy leaders that are killed, wounded, or captured.

Rout Limiting - Reduces the amount of secondary routing that occurs. The default routing rules require that units adjacent to a unit that has failed its morale check must also take a morale check. This is applied recursively if those units also fail their check. While this can result in the rout of large number of units, given normal probabilities it is ``self limiting’’, that is, it stops after a certain number of iterations based on the situation. When Rout Limiting is in effect, units in adjacent hexes undergoing a morale check receive a progressively larger modifier to their default morale. This modifier starts at 1 and is increased by 1 for each iteration based on a failed morale check. So, for example, if unit A fails their morale check, unit B in an adjacent hex undergoes a morale check with +1 added to their default morale. If unit B fails this test, then unit C in an adjacent hex to B undergoes a morale check with +2 added to their default morale. And so on. Therefore, as these modifiers increase, a point is reached where units stop routing which, in general, will be before they would have stopped otherwise. See the Design Notes for why this is not a default rule.

Density Fire Modifier - Fire against a target hex with more than 2/3 of the maximum stacking is increased. This increase is proportional to the stacking value up to a maximum of 150% at maximum stacking.

Night Movement Fatigue - Units that move during night turns accrue Fatigue based on the Night Movement Penalty parameter data value.

Mounted Cavalry Skirmishers - Mounted cavalry automatically get the same skirmisher detection ability as infantry does when it deploys skirmishers without any of the movement costs.

Higher Disrupted Movement - Disrupted units get ¾ of their movement allowance when Disrupted instead of ½.

Alternate Fixed Unit Release - Fixed units become released whenever an enemy unit comes within 5 hexes of them regardless of the line-of-sight to that enemy unit.

Quality Melee Modifiers - Melee results are affected by the quality of the units involved. If all of the attacking or defending units in a melee have a quality of A or B, then their side receives a modifier of 10% in their favor. If any attacking or defending units in a melee have a quality of E or F, then their side receives a modifier of 10% against them.

Isolation Rules - Isolated units have their strength divided by 4 when defending in a melee. Also Isolated leaders receive no benefit from their commanders during command checks. When an Isolated Artillery unit fires, it may become Low or Out-Of-Ammo. The Artillery unit will become resupplied when it becomes non-Isolated, unless the Artillery supply level for its side is zero.

Weak Zone-Of-Control - Units can move one hex through enemy Zone-Of-Control per turn and to allow units to retreat one hex through enemy Zone-Of-Control.

Partial Retreats - Units are allowed to retreat from a hex after being defeated in melee even when there is not enough room for all of the units to retreat.

Flank Morale Modifier - The morale of units is increased by 1 for Rout and Disruption determination when they have friendly non-Leader units on both flanks. The friendly units can be in either of the two hexes on each flank of the unit. Another way to refer to this feature is as "double flank elbow courage".

Full Melee Defensive Fire - Opportunity Fire is conducted by the program against attacking units in melee at full strength instead of half-strength.

Bridge Limit and Repairing - Invoke the optional bridge repair and bridge limit rules. These are described in the Movement section of the User Manual.

Artillery Capture - Allow artillery batteries to be captured in melee. Details associated with this rule can be found in the Melee section of the Users Manual.

Artillery Retire By Prolonge - Allow unlimbered artillery to move one hex to the rear when the movement is between Clear hexes and does not move the unit to a higher elevation.

Artillery Ammo by Cannon - Artillery ammo and usage is computed on a per-cannon basis instead of a per-battery basis.

Proportional Opportunity Fire - Opportunity fire is modified so that small stacks have a lower probability of triggering opportunity fire when they fire while larger stacks have a higher probability of triggering opportunity fire.

Mixed Organization Penalty - A -1 morale modifier is applied to units in the same hex with units from different brigades.