Wargaming with the Grandsons

On my latest trip to Oregon I had the chance to preside over a wargame with four of my grandsons with the regiments I painted up for them for Christmas. I have developed some very simple rules that worked quite well. The ages of my grandsons are 6, 8, 10 and 14. Each one had a regiment made up of six companies of six figures each. There are five line companies and one company of grenadiers. In addition, each regiment is led by a mounted officer.

I made movement stands for each company to make moving them about easier. The movement stands are labeled 0ne through six. The rules are as follows: Initiative is determined at the beginning of each turn by each player rolling a die. The highest roll gets to go first. Each company can do two actions per turn; move six inches, change facing or fire. So, a company can move once and fire, fire and move six inches, change facing and move or fire, or move twice for a total movement of 12 inches. Firing is done by rolling a die for each figure in the company. At close range (0 to six inches) fives and sixes are hits and at long range (6 to 12 inches) sixes are hits. The grenadiers get to add +1 to their rolls. The commander can attach to a unit and also add +1 to the unit's roll. However, if the general is attached to a unit there is a chance he may become a casualty. Units may also use their movement to charge. Both charges and firing are done straight ahead. Charging units roll one die per figure and receive a +1 for charging. The defender also rolls one die per figure without the plus one. Whoever inflicts the most casualties is the winner. The loser must fall back one move. If the officer is attached, the unit receives an additonal plus one to each die roll. However, if the unit he is attached to receives casualties there is a chance he may be hit. The opposing player rolls a die and on a six the officer is removed from play.

In our game, we used a small throw rug as our battlefield with each grandson deploying his regiment on one of the four edges. Initiative was determined and off we went. Not too long into the conflict one grandson asked his brother to form an alliance. He agreed and the flavor of the game changed dramatically. The older grandsons wisely kept their grenadiers in reserve. One grandson even came up with the tactic of firing and then retiring 6 inches to get beyound close range. Another figured out how to maneuver onto the flank of his opponent and get a +1 bonus for both firing and charging. The fortunes of war swung back and forth. In the end, it came down to the last two figures of one regiment charging the last remaining figure of his brother. He rolled a two and a five, his brother a six. In the end, only one soldier remained. The whole affair took about an hour. They all had a great time and can't wait to do it again. This Christmas they are each getting a gun and limber to add to their collection to add yet another element to the game.