Portable Shooting - Revised

One of the things about concentrating on a particular game is that sometimes it shifts your mind away from a problem you're having with a different game. And sometimes that can cause you to stop focusing too hard on the problem and come up with a possible solution.

And so it's been this weekend. Since I wrote my Portable Shooting post I've been trying to work out how to do combat for a Portable ACW Wargame, but this evening, after a few days of concentrating on Squad Hammer, I think I have a workable solution.

My aims, summarised:

(i)   If a shot hits, there is a result.
(ii)  No extra die roll
(iii) It allows for a low level of cover such as fences and hill crests within the granularity of the game.

What I have isn't perfect, but I think will work.

An attack from an adjacent square is a charge.

Roll to hit as normal. I confess I haven't outlined 'normal' at all, but it's basically the same as the 19th Century Portable Wargame. Cover gives a -1 to hit. Cover is such things as woods, towns or that ACW classic, the sunken road. A unit on a higher elevation is in cover if vs  charge. A unit behind a fence or similar linear obstacle counts as in cover if the attack isn't a charge.

So you hit the target. Units have a basic strength of 2 (Artillery), 3 (Cavalry) or 4 (Infantry), modified with a +1 if veteran and -1 if green. The target rolls a dice:

If the score is equal to or less than the unit's strength, it retreats if it is shaken or the attack is a charge. Otherwise it becomes shaken.
If the score is greater than the units strength it is destroyed if it is shaken or the attack is a charge. Otherwise it must retreat.

A unit which retreats also becomes shaken. A unit stays shake until it is activated, when the status is immediately removed. A shaken unit that retreats simply stays shaken; the status is not cumulative. The shaken status is removed immediately a unit is activated.

Basically long-range fire isn't as decisive; you'll generally need to hit something twice to first make it shaken and then get a more decisive retreat or destroyed result. This means with teaming up firing units, or hoping to get a double activation with the card-based initiative system. In fact I think this system wouldn't work if you play with a simple IGOUGO / all units activate becomes a nice gamble with the card-based initiative system, and an adjacent attack may or may not be close combat.

I guess I should outline how I do combat.

Artillery can't shoot and move, and neither does both side's artillery fire in its own phase of the turn. Other units can move one space and shoot. Shooting at a range of one is a charge, but is resolved as shooting, so you can still only charge a maximum of one space. A unit with an enemy to its front may opt to shoot and then move one square. This is declared when the unit activates, and they count as having moved so don't get the firing bonus. It does, however, allow the attacker to immediately take ground if they hit the target.

A 5+ on a D6 hits.
+1 if the unit didn't move (not artillery)
+1 if artillery at a range of one square (technically this is a 'charge', but is this case is canister), or if it is not a charge and it is firing at the same target in the same square as its previous shot and neither target or artillery has moved.
+1 if a charge against a unit's flank or rear
-1 if the target is in cover.

I need to find a way to make that more concise. I may rename 'charge' to 'close combat' since thats what it could be. But, once again, I think I have something workable.