Land on Fire: Draft rebellion wargame rules

This is part of a draft set of rules I am working on for a solo / co-op game where the player represents a government that is trying to put down the fires of rebellion. 

The first iteration covers the rebellions in Ireland in 1796-98. I've chosen this because I'm currently reading The Napoleon Options, edited by Jonathan North. The first chapter of that, by wargames designer Paddy Griffiths, deals with the attempted French invasion of Ireland in 1796.

The player in Land on Fire (LoF) takes on the role of the British commanders, and the AI manages the Irish rebels and various French invasion forces. Rules are subject to change as the game is play-tested, and I'll be keeping track of this on the blog. Bear in mind this is currently quite an abstract game, and I'm using the topic of the restive Irish nation and French efforts to use it as a back door to defeat Britain as the sample topic to test the system with.

My plan is to evolve a 'system' which can be applied to varying counter-rebellion situations across history, where the player is facing a mixture of strategic threat (the French in this case) coupled with a rebellion by irregular forces.

Winning and losing

The British win if all the three attempted French invasions are defeated. The British lose if any of the following occur:

• Any French army reaches Dublin
• Five rebel bands are present in Dublin at any time
• 12 towns in Ireland are Pillaged
• One region has four rebel bands in each town (Ireland is divided into four regions - Ulster, Leinster, Connaught and Munster).

Starting the game

The British start in Dublin with four generals - Sir Richard Abercromby (Brown), Viscount Gerard Lake (Purple), Lord Charles Cornwallis (Yellow) and Sir John Moore (Blue). 

Irish rebels are diced for at the start of the game. Rebel bands break down into four different groups. These can only be engaged if a British army is present in that town.

The four types of rebel group, plus dice roll needed to break up one band are as follows:

• United Irishmen (Green) 5+
• Whiteboys (Blue) 3+
• Defenders of Ireland (Pink) 4+
• Jacobins (Black) 4+

There are three French fleets which can land troops in Ireland which immediately manifest as armies, namely Lazare Hoche (Black), Jean Humbert (Pink) and Wolfe Tone (Green). Each French/Irish commander has different characteristics, of which more later.

Whenever a French fleet lands an army in Ireland, three rebel bands immediately rise at that location: Jacobins for Hoche and Humbert and United Irish for Tone.

At the start of the game, dice for initial uprisings. Roll % dice six times, and place two rebel bands of the same colour on each town. Then roll % again six times - one rebel band rises in each town. Note that this means some towns could have three bands active, from two different factions. Roll on the Rebel Ideology chart to determine the type of rebel there. There should now be 18 rebel bands active.

Each general rolls twice on the Military assets chart at the start of the game to see how many additional assets he has under his command. Note that generals can transfer these assets between each other if in the same town, but not their core infantry strength. I may go with a deck of cards rather than a table, using playing cards to determine both assets and events.

Core British line regiments can only be reinforced in a loyal port. Generals in Dublin at the start of the game may exchange assets before they leave the city, but not the infantry regiments under their respective commands.

The game turn

This is what the game turn currently looks like.

1. Roll for weather: check to see if weather is good enough for French to land. Only roll if there are no French armies in Ireland. Stop rolling while there is an active French army in Ireland. IF weather is good, roll to see which port the French land at. The first French army to land is always Hoche, followed by Humbert.
2. Roll action points for each general on 2D6. Reduce this by number of losses their command has taken. Note: I may vary the number of dice rolled here to reflect superior military commanders, although historically Lake and Cornwallis were decent, despite Cornwallis' surrender of Yorktown to the American rebels in 1781.
3. Spend action points on various actions available, including one point per roll made to suppress rebel bands and one point for engaging the French. All combat initiated by the British occurs here.
4. If in Dublin or a major loyal port, roll 2D on the military assets table (or pull an asset card, depending on which system I go with). No British commander may have more than 10 assets attached to his command. British armies in ports of any kind can also roll to see if they receive new infantry regiments. Garrison units may be added to an army now.
5. Roll for rebellions to see if new rebels are added at any town. Check to see if the rebellion spreads. Place any Pillaged markers as a result.
6. If there is a French army in Ireland, roll to see if it moves closer to Dublin. This is based on the ability of the French commander. If this means the French arrive in an area with a British army, do not resolve the battle now, as the British may choose to retreat in the next turn. If the French have just landed this turn, they may still advance.
7. Check to see if the presence of the French army causes more insurrection at the town it is currently present at. Note: I am going with one new rebel band per successful Charisma check from the French commander, with Wolfe Tone being the most likely to raise rebels, and Humbert the least. I may give Tone the ability to raise more rebels than the French - i.e. two rather than one, as he is a native Irishman. It may also be that he only raises United Irishmen).
8. Place any further Pillaged markers caused by the French army. Pillaged markers are not placed if British troops are present in that town.
9. Check for victory conditions. Note that once the British defeat Wolfe Tone they have won automatically. Also, if the French enter Dublin on step 6, the British lose automatically.

Spreading the rebellion

Any time new rebels are placed, if there are already four rebels in that town, new rebels are placed in all neighbouring towns. The rebels will be from the same faction as that placed. Note: rebellions cannot occur if there is a British garrison, nor can they spread to towns with British garrisons. More on these later, but these are likely going to be driven by event cards and represent a garrison holed up in a fort, potentially supplied by sea by the Royal Navy. There are no garrisons on the map at the start of the game. British garrisons may be placed inland, but risk being cut off if all surrounding towns are occupied by rebels.

If there is a Pillaged marker on a town, then the rebellion automatically spreads to a neighbouring town. A town can also contain more than one Pillaged marker. No pillaging allowed if there is either a British army or garrison present.

Designer note on rebel bands and British garrisons

I decided to go with different rebel factions to both reflect the different competing ideologies within Ireland among the rebels in the 1790s, and because it allows the game designer to provide a more complex map to the rebellion. 

The Jacobins, for example, were more closely aligned with the ideology of the French Revolution and could be described as internationalists and more likely to emerge from the educated, urban middle class in Ireland. But they were fewer in number. The Whiteboys represent agrarian rebels motivated more by highly localised issues, and less keen on marching anywhere else. Both the Defenders of Ireland and United Irishmen have regional and religious motivations which will be reflected in the insurrection tables. The Defenders are more likely to rise in Ulster, for example.

Note that the Catholic church and the French Revolution were not on good terms in 1796, with the church in France having been suppressed energetically (and the Pope being stripped of his temporal power by Berthier in 1798 did not improve the situation); this undoubtedly caused issues for the United Irishmen among pious locals.

British garrisons will probably come off the military assets deck and can be held in a commander's hand and placed accordingly. They can be placed anywhere there is a British army, or in a loyal port. They are always counted as supplied if on the coast. If they are surrounded - i.e. all neighbouring towns are rebel held, then supplies and the possible surrender of the garrison becomes an issue.

British players might be tempted to protect Dublin by simply garrisoning all the areas around it (e.g. Kildare and Wicklow). Garrisons cannot be left in Dublin itself. Obviously this could be a tactic for the British, but they would need to be able to draw enough garrison cards first, and the game designer could always not leave them with enough for such a 'ring of steel' strategy. Bear in mind that losing Dublin is not the only way to lose this wargame. Hunkering down in Dublin should not be the solution, nor was it in 1798.

Still to come

• Characteristics of the British and French leaders
• British military assets deck
• The rebellion table
• Pacifying rebel areas
• Combat
• Events deck