TURN SEQUENCE

1. Start Phase – Draw control hands, resolve start of turn effects

2. Artillery Phase – Any units with the Troop Type ‘Artillery’ may fire
3. Orders Phase – Decide order in which Brigadiers will activate, then activate them in turn
4. Morale Phase – Carry out any relevant morale tests.
5. End phase – Resolve End of turn events. Discard unwanted control cards, shuffle decks

1. START PHASE
1.1 CONTROL HANDS

The Control hand is a number of cards the player has in their hand. These should be kept
secret from one’s opponent, but you can look at them yourself. The control hand represents the
command abilities of the C-in-C and his ability to control his subordinate commanders. A good C-in-C
will have more cards, and maybe even the chance to manipulate them. A poor one will have fewer.
The size of the control hand will vary across the game, and by army. At the start of each army list
there will be a formula that looks something like this

CONTROL HAND = NUMBER OF BRIGADIERS + 4 – TURN NUMBER.

In this example, the control hand of an army on turn 3 with 4 Brigadiers will be 7 (4+6-3).
The reduction in the size of the control hand represents the chaos of battle as it goes on and the
breakdown of central command. Note that the control hand may never be less than 3 cards unless
stated (particularly ineffective C-in-C’s, Prince of Orange, certain Spanish generals might have a
lower bottom cap). At the beginning of the Start Phase calculate the number of cards available for
your control hand. Draw cards from the freshly shuffled deck to make your control up to the
required number. If you have too many, discard the number required RANDOMLY (either shuffle
your control hand and take from the top, or fan them letting your opponent pick) until you reach the
control hand size

These control hands may only be used for Brigadiers that are ‘In Command’. This is typically
within 24” of their Divisional commander. If you are playing a huge game and the Divisional
Commander isn’t the C-in-C, they themselves must be with 56” of their Corps commander. Corps
commanders are always in command. When a Brigadier is attached to unit, and is in command, he
may influence the unit by replacing a flipped card with one from the control hand if required. For
this to be the case, the Brigade commander must attach himself to the unit, unless it is an order, in
which case the unit must be within 12” of him

ACTIVATING BRIGADIERS

Each player places a numbered counter face down next to each of their Brigadiers. This is
the order in which they will act. Player A turns their ‘1’ counter and that Brigadier’s units are
activated. Once they have all carried out their orders (or passed), Player B turns their ‘1’ counter and
their Brigadier activates. Then Player A’s ‘2’ Brigadier activates, etc. Once all units have moved
and/or fired and/or fought in melee, the Morale Phase begins.

ISSUING ORDERS

Each unit issues it’s own orders. The player states what they wish the unit to do, looks up
the difficulty of that order and flips the top card. If the card meets the requirements the order is a
success, the unit performs the order. If the card is the Red Joker the unit may be issued a second
order following the same procedure here. If the card does not meet the requirements the order is
not carried out. Furthermore, if the card is the Black Joker, the unit not only fails to carry out the
order but becomes disordered.

If the Brigade Commander is within 12” of the unit, and he himself is within 24” of his
Divisional Commander then a player my replace the flipped card with one from their control hand,
over-riding the card actually flipped (although, as always, not if the flipped card is a Joker).

Orders are split into 4 categories, Easy, Medium, Hard and Very Hard. Below are some
examples of orders and what category they fall into. Note the formation the unit is in, and the
quality of the troops may make change the difficulty of carrying out an order. This will be noted in
the army list. If you wish to issue an order that isn’t on the list, discuss with your opponent what
difficulty you think the order would be.

Infantry
Easy – 5+ or suit
Advance (Column), Fire (not volley), Fire First
Volley (once per game), Occupy empty terrain,
deploy/recall light company, form square from
column/battalion mass, change formation by
turning (eg line left turn into Column of March)
etc. Rally at over 75%
Hard 9+ or suit
Make buildings into strongholds,; form square as
charge reaction (from column/battalion mass,
infantry change formation from square within
12” of cavalry , Rally at 25% to 50%, etc
Medium 7+ or suit
Advance (line), Fire Volley, Charge formed
infantry, change formation (not square from
column), rally at 50% or over strength, etc.
Very Hard 9+ AND suit
Rally at less than 25% strength. Infantry charge
cavalry, form square as charge reaction (from
line), etc.

Cavalry
Easy – 5+ or suit
Advance (Column), Fire (not volley), Charge
lighter opponents, Mount/dismount, change
formation by turning (eg line left turn into
Column of March) etc. Rally at over 75%
Hard 9+ or suit
Charge heavier opponents, Rally at 25% to 50%,
charge infantry in square (lancers).
Medium 7+ or suit
Advance (line), Charge equal weight opponents,
change formation, rally at 50% or over strength,
etc.
Very Hard 9+ AND suit
Rally at less than 25% strength. Charge infantry
in square (not lancers), etc,
REACTION ORDERS

While going first allows you to strike at your opponent before they have chance to move,
they will also have time to react. If the enemy declare one of your units THAT HASN’T ACTIVATED
THIS TURN as a target for a charge, they may REACT. Place a ‘REACTION COUNTER’ next to the unit.
It will carry out the reaction move, but may not act further in the current turn even if the order is
failed. As normal, if the card flipped is the Black Joker the unit also becomes disordered.

Enemy Action Reaction and difficulty (Infantry)
Stand and fire – Medium
Charge (Infantry) Counter Charge – Medium
Evade/Flee - Easy
Stand and Fire – Hard
Charge (Cavalry) Form Square – Med/Hard
Flee – Easy
Reaction and difficulty (cav)
Counter charge – Easy /
Medium
Stand and fire – Hard
Evade/Flee - Hard

JOKERS AND ORDERS

Regardless of requirements, a Black Joker is always a failed order and a Red Joker is always
successful. Even if the Brigade commander is in command, and all his units are in command, a
flipped joker cannot be replaced.

SHOOTING

Firing is carried out as the result of an order. The ordered unit checks it is in range and fires
either a volley or regular fire. A volley is more devastating, but harder to co-ordinate. In the army
list, every unit has a factor for Volley Fire and Regular Fire, use whichever is appropriate. Flip the top
card and add the relevant firing factor and applying any modifiers. Your opponent then flips their top
card and adds their defence factor, also applying modifiers. If the defence is higher or equal to the
attack score, the attack has no effect, if the attack is higher, the difference indicates the severity of
the effect.

1-4 Weak 5-8 Moderate 9+ Heavy.

Each weapon has different effect at each band. A pistol’s heavy damage is probably not as
devastating to a unit as weak damage from a 20lb cannon. Below is a list of weapons, their ranges
and their damage

Move Volley H2H Defence Morale Weapon Special Rules

Line 6” 6 4 4 6 Musket Pas de Charge,
Weapon Range Weak Moderate Heavy Save Mod Special Rules
Musket 12” 3 6 9
Rifle 18” 2 3 4 Disorders on all suits but enemy’s
Carbine 6” 1 2 3
Lt Arty 30” 2 4 6
Med Arty 48” 3 6 9
Heavy Arty 56” 6 8 10