Battle 1: Meeting Engagement

Two opposing forces dispatched to secure a strategically vital area scramble to deploy from their column of march to smash their opponents.

The following special rules are used in this scenario: Objectives, Army morale.

Forces

Both players pick armies to an agreed number of points.

Set-up

1. Set up the terrain using any mutually agreeable method. If one player sets up the terrain, then his opponent is allowed to choose which table edge he wishes to deploy on. If both players helped set up the terrain, or it was set up randomly, then roll a dice to see who gets the choice of table edge.
2. Players place their objectives as at Objectives.
3. The players' armies are assumed to be in one or more marching columns just off their table edge. They are allowed to enter play in the Movement phase of the first turn. Flyer detachments enter as reserves, so they will not be available on the first turn of the game. Any other detachments that fail to enter play on the first turn are lost!
4. To decide where the detachments come on the players take it in turn, starting with the player with the lower Strategy Rating, to place the HQ unit of each of their detachments on their table edge. All HQs after the first must be placed within 15cm of the first HQ. The position where the HQ is placed shows where the units from that detachment will enter play, and is where their move must be measured from on the first turn. If several detachments want to enter at the same point (along a road, for example) simply place the HQs in a row, one in front of the other, and measure their movement from the rearmost HQ in the row.
5. Either player may split off one detachment per 1,000 points in his army as a 'flanker', if he wishes. The HQ unit for a flanker can be placed anywhere along the player's table edge; it does not have to be placed within 15cm of the first HQ.
6. If you prefer you can place counters or tokens for each detachment instead of the HQ unit, just so long as you know which token corresponds to which unit.

Objectives

Each player must place one objective per 500 points in his army (round fractions up). For example, if you had a 1,500 point army, you would place three objectives.

The only objectives that may be used are Take & Hold and Rescue. Neither player may take more than one Rescue objective. See Objectives for information on how the objectives are placed on the table.

Game length and victory conditions

The player that reduces the opposing army's morale to 0 or less first wins the battle. If this hasn't happened by the end of the 4^th turn, or if both players' army morale falls to 0 or less on the same turn, then the player with the higher army morale level wins a 'tactical victory'. Alternatively you could decide to play until one player's army morale has dropped to 0 regardless of how many turns that may take.