95th - Adventuring in the Napoleonic Wars - Step by Step Bat Reps

Here's the first in a series of Bat Reps set in a Campaign in the Peninsula War 1808 for 95th - Adventuring in the Napoleonic Wars.

Summer 1808 and the 95th has just landed in Portugal with Sir Arthur Wellesley.  Food, powder and shot is available and orders are given to move out. Sgt. William Pinkerton as been charged with leading four riflemen on a patrol in the early morning. Billy thinks it may be a good idea to forage for some food while they're out there.

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The Campaign year in 95th is broken down into three seasons - spring, summer, and fall. Since the British arrived in Portugal in August of 1808 I start with the summer season. The Campaign Season follows a specific turn sequence. Note that you could use this for other rules, not just THW stuff.

First thing is checking for Food. Simple, I roll 1d6 on the Regular Rations Table and score a 5. Looking on the  British column of the table I see they have sufficient rations for the season. If I were playing Deserters or Guerrillas I would have to Forage for Food. This is required for them, but an option for Regular Armies.

Next is Supplies, but Regular Armies always have adequate powder and shot. Deserters and Guerrillas start the year with adequate supplies, but must Loot enemy figures or Pillage to get more. These can be stored and used one per season as needed. No Supplies, then it's melee only.

So I have Food and Supplies; time to go on a Mission. I could choose to Forage on my own, as much as I want during the season, but will only be assigned one Mission per season from High Command. I roll 2d6 and score a 10 - go figure, Forage. Forage is similar to a Patrol Mission so I figure I'll be patrolling, but looking out for Food as well.

Here's the 3 x 3 foot table I could be fighting on. But instead of setting up the terrain and digging out figures, I choose to use this as a map to track my movement and the  Battle Board option with the counters provided in the rules for combat.

Billy and the riflemen spread out and make their way along a road. Suddenly Billy raises his hand and the men stop. Up ahead and within range they see four French Légère - Light Infantry. They look up at the same time, and size each other up. What to do? 

"Fire!", Billy shouts and the riflemen respond. Crack, crack crack - the rifles open fire at the Frenchmen.

Down goes two Frenchmen, one never to rise while a third ducks back. The last soldier calmly raises his musket and returns fire.

"Steady men," Billy shouts. "Reload!" The ducking back Frenchman turns and runs away.

The last functioning French soldier thinks of charging, but being outnumbered, chooses to reload his musket.

As the 95th finish reloading the Frenchman sizes up the situation and decides that being outnumbered 5 to 1, it is best to leave. As  the Frenchman leaves the 95th move forward and search the two downed soldiers. One is dead, the other Out of the Fight. They find 2 Food units and now have a prisoner. Billy decides it's best to leave now, ending the Mission.

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After the Mission it's time to reap the rewards or suffer the consequences. First I forage for Food and find zero on the section we were in. But we did find 2 from the Frenchmen so the Mission was a success. That is worth 3 Increasing Rep d6.

I only track my Star as the other figures (Grunts) come and go as needed. Billy receives 1 Increasing Rep d6 for killing the French soldier and 1 for taking a prisoner.  That's a total of 5 Increasing Rep d6. As this is Billy's first Mission he had zero Lifetime Rep d6. He now has 5. The more you have the better you do, rising in rank at certain numbers. 

In addition, I use the 5 Increasing Rep d6 to see if Billy's Rep goes up. I roll all 5 and score a 1, 2, 2, 4 and 5. As none of them are higher than his current Rep, or a 6, his Rep remains the same. If Billy had ended the Mission with only Decreasing Rep d6 he would have rolled those. If one or more "1"s are scored, his Rep would drop by 1 level.

The system is set to reward success and punish failure.

Watch for more Bat Reps in the following days.