The Unofficial GBoH Competition Play Rules, Armies and Leaders List. Last update: 12/20/96 The following rules and accompanying Armies and Leaders Lists have been designed to allow small competition style armies to be created and fought against each other using GMT's GBoH series. To date, the point values seem to work well when constructing armies led by the big boys, i.e. Alexander, Pyrrhus, Hannibal, Africanus, Caesar. More testing is required to see if the system will work with the other nations. Currently, the armies from Samurai and Lion of the North are not included, and the troop type ratios have not been determined for all armies. But first, a word from the designer. After an extremely long time, I finally became satisfied with a points formula that, in my opinion, adequately rated the combat units and leaders that appear in GBoH. I have rated everything about a unit, TQ, size, missile, etc., and made adjustments based on their relative importance. By that I mean, relative importance to their affects on a unit's survivability and its ability to rout an enemy unit. For example, a unit's TQ is much more important to survival than its size, so that value was significantly increased to account for this. After arriving at a unit's core value, an adjustment was made based on its troop type. This was made to reflect how well a unit would do in shock combat. Shock combat is virtually unavoidable in a game. It is also the main mechanism by which units are routed. Fast movement and the ability to orderly withdraw were taken into account, but if you can't stand your ground, you'll likely be routed off the field. It is for this reason that you'll find heavier armed troops cost more than lighter ones. The final adjustment made was based on whether a unit was mounted or not. To be considered mounted, a unit needed to have a movement allowance greater than 6. This adjustment was made to reflect these units' ability to orderly withdraw and easily outflank all infantry. Because I believe this is extremely important in combat terms, it is a relatively high modifier. By examining the Armies list, you'll find that good cavalry will be very expensive and even poor quality ones cost more than the infantry. It should be noted that elephants are considered mounted units and, therefore, expensive compared to infantry. Elephants proved hard to rate. They can outrun all infantry, and if used properly, can be very dangerous to cavalry. However, they are also very brittle and prone to elimination. In the end, I felt the former was more important than the latter in the course of a game. The only consolation I can offer is that they are inexpensive compared to other mounted units, and don't cost much in terms of Rout Points. At first glance, or even after many, you may find you disagree with the cost ratings for units. I suggest playing several games out before deciding that "such and such are too expensive". If you after play, you still think they are wrong, adjust them to your tastes. Regardless, I'd like to hear any comments or recommendations you have. I only ask you be polite when writing. :) Finally, the ratio of troop types was arrived at by examining the published scenarios. I wanted a system that made sure players commanded armies typical of the nation they were using. Players may initially feel hampered by this, but it works well to prevent all the armies from looking alike, or from creating ones that were in the realm of fantasy. Enjoy! Sal Email: SalVasta@aol.com Competion Play Rules: For competition play, I recommend no leader have Elite Initiative. Spending Limits: Players purchase units up to the spending limits for each Category. There are 3 Purchasing Categories: Infantry, Mounted, and Leaders. Both sides have the same number of total points to spend, but with different breakdowns depending on whether it's a Roman army or not. Non-Roman Armies: Total = 2,350 Infantry = 850 Mounted (Cav, EL, CH) = 1,200 Leaders = 300 Roman Armies: Total = 2,350 Infantry = 1,100 Mounted = 1,000 Leaders = 250 After purchasing armies, players each roll a die. High die allows that player to either pick the map and set up first, or force the other player to do so. Forces are then set up no closer than 6 hexes to, and no farther than 15 hexes from, an army's Retreat Edge. There are no limitations to the map's side edges. Side edges are the end of the world so they may be used to anchor a flank. Once both sides are set up, play begins per the standard rules. For each side, the command system and rules used are based on which game the army comes from. For example, if an army under Alexander the Great is fighting a Roman army under Julius Caesar, then the command rules used by the Macedonian player are from the GB of Alexander game while the Roman player uses the Caesar game rules. Therefore, only Alexander can use MCC's and only Caesar can use the Aux Phase. Shock Combat Clarrification: When conducting Shock Combat, "The Push" check segment found in the Alexander Shock Combat rules is not performed for any army. Just skip it. Pursuit rules used by all armies are from SPQR. Alternate rules: Allow both sides the Aux Phase and/or the Push Segment. If I remember correctly from the Origins tournament. The Aux phase was allowed for both players if one played using Caesar. The Push segment was not ever used. Play continues until someone wins. Winning the game: A player wins if his opponent's army is routed. An army routs when its total losses (rout points) exceed its Rout Level. The Rout Level for an army is its total Rout Points times the Rout Ratio Percentage. Rout Points: Add up the printed TQ values of all combat units fielded with the following adjustments: Double sized units are worth two times (2x) their printed TQ. Elephants are worth 2 TQ points. Skirmishers are worth 1 TQ point. That monsterous Theban cinder block is worth six times (6x) its printed TQ. In other words, make sure it doesn't rout. The Rout Ratio for both armies is 35%. This may be adjusted absolutely (35%+5%=40%) as indicated below. Under or over spending the total spending limit will affect the Rout Ratio % of that army. Under spending will increase the Rout Ratio while over spending will decrease it. Point Difference Rout Ratio Adjustment 0-25: No change 26-50: +/-5% 51-75: +/-10% 76-100: +/-15% Losses: Rout points equal to a unit's TQ are accumulated for each unit that is eliminated or routed OFF the board. Don't forget the adjusted TQ's for the units listed above. If the overall leader is killed, then his Initiative value times 5 is added to the losses. If any other leader is killed, then his Initiative value times 3 is added to the losses. MCC's have an initiative of 3 for this calculation. Armies List: Type: The sub-category the counters indicated fall within Counter: The name that appears on the counter HX: indicates whether it is a double counter MS: Missile type SZ: Size TQ: Troop Quality MA: Movement Allowance. 4.5 means the MA is 4/5 Max: The maximum # of counters that may be bought/exist. Note that this is subject to change as additional counters are introduced in the series. (I know there are errors.) $: The cost if the max is purchased. There are several "$" for the Early Republican Romans detailing the breakdown between the various troop types (with or without Doctrine). There are 2 Purchasing Categories: Infantry and Mounted Within each Category, there are Sub-Categories that correspond to various troop types, e.g. HI, LC, etc. Next to these are the actual counters available for purchase that fall within that sub-category. Recruiting Limitations: This is the ratio of troop types that must be maintained when purchasing units within a sub-category. Players must buy units (counters) for a specific troop type in the order and quantity indicated. If after buying the required units, a player has not reached the spending limit for a category, he goes back around and purchases additional units. Again, by troop type in the order and quantity indicated. Example: A list reads HI:3, MI:1, LI:1. If after buying 3 HI, 1 MI and 1 LI counters, the spending limit for the Infantry Category has not been reached, the player continues buying 3 HI, 1 MI and 1 LI until it has. Several notes follow a nation's list that detail limitations and/or variations allowed when purchasing units. The purpose of these is to recreate armies that are relatively historical in composition. It also allows players to slighty tailor an army to their tastes. The variations allowed apply for each "go around" within a Category, including the very first time units are purchased. Example: A player takes an Early Macedonian army. When buying the infantry portion of his army, he looks at the Recruiting Limitations and finds 3 sub-categories listed, i.e. HI, LI, SK. He therefore purchases combat units as follows. 3 from Heavy Infantry: 2 Macedon-PH and 1 Greek Ally 1 from Light Inf: 1 Thrace-LP 2 from Skirmishers: 2 Macedon. The value of these 6 counters is still below the Infantry spending limit, so the player buys some more starting with Heavy Infantry, then Light Inf, etc.. In addition, note "b" indicates he may buy 1 LI in substitute for 1 SK. This is applicable each time he buys a set of 6 combat units from the Infantry Category, including the first. Should a player no longer have enough points left to buy, or has bought all the units within a specific sub-category, e.g. HI, he skips that sub-category and continues buying from the next ones. Example continued: The above player finds he has 35 points remaining to spend for the Infantry category, but the cheapest HI counter is worth 39. Without enough points, he can now ignore the HI sub-category purchase requirement. Players must attempt to buy up to the spending limit for each category. Each category may be under or over spent according to the following list. a) The amount spent for Infantry may vary by no more than 25 points. b) The amount spent for Mounted may vary.by no more than 50 points. c) The amount spent for Leaders may vary by no more than 25 points Note: This does not give a player the option to underspend if he can afford to purchase an available unit. The Leader List: OC: Overall Commander. SC: Subordinate/Section Commander MCC: Macedonian Contingent Commander CC: Cavalry Commander RLC: Roman Legion Commander ALC: Alae Legion Commander LC: Legion Commander Line: Generally the number of line commands that can be issued. However, what is and how big a line may be varies with each game so read up on it before you play. (0.5 is used for leaders that have a limited capability.) There are 3 cost values for leaders depending on if they will have Elite Initiative. The lowest value is if they will not (NE) The middle value is if they will have partial ability (PE). Available on the first turn, and one later turn in the game. The player decides at the beginning of a turn if he will have it or not. The highest value is if they will have Elite Initiative for every turn of the game. Note on Heroic Charisma: Currently, only Caesar has this ability. It is factored into all 3 of his costs. For games that do not allow elite initiative for any leader, he should not be considered to have Heroic ability either. The extra points for this ability need not be compensated for. (It may be worth a cheap inf unit at best.) The limitations on leaders that may be bought are: a) 1 Overall Commander per army. b) No leader may be bought twice, e.g. Alexander and his younger self. c) No OC may command more leaders -by type (not name)- then he did historically for any one battle published for the series, e.g. Alexander may only purchase up to 2 Subordinate Commanders and 3 MCC's. d) As found in the notes at the end of a nation's list.