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Regiment of Foote

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TITLE: Regiment of Foote (2002)RegimentOfFoote2002

AUTHOR: The  RFCM Team

PUBLISHER: Peter Pig

PUBLICATION DATE:  2002

WEB SITE/SUPPORT FORUM:

[Note, July 2022: Yahoo Groups are now offline.]

There is no dedicated Regiment of Foote site. However, Peter Pig’s rules are supported on a Yahoo group called “Rules for the Common Man.”   (RFCM). 

PRICE (with date): $19.50 (in 2009).  As far as I know in 2009 they are sold only by Peter Pig itself in the UK and by Brookhurst Hobbies of California in the USA.

REVIEWED BY: Ken Portner

PERIOD COVERED: The English Civil War

THE BOOK:

The book is a softback, 46 page, comb bound booklet.  The front and back covers are laminated in plastic.  The pages are 8.5” x 11” copy style paper with what looks like laser printed text.  There are some hand drawn diagrams illustrating examples of play, formations, etc.  The back cover is a playsheet.

SCOPE:

The basic unit is the infantry regiment or cavalry regiment.

ARMY SIZE:

The rules calculate casualties and combat by bases and the number or arrangement of figures on the base is irrelevant to play.   So armies can pretty much be as small or large (in terms of figures) as you like.

BASE UNIT:

Unit strength is measured by the number of bases, not number of miniatures.

Infantry units can be between 3 and 8 bases.  Cavalry units can be from 2 to 4 bases. Dragoon/skirmish units are 1 to 3 bases. 

GAME SCALES:

  • Ground scale: Not specified
  • Time scale: Not specified
  • Figure/Base Ratio: Not specified
  • Recommended Figure Size: The game is designed for 15 mm.  I use 28 mm without problems.
  • Table Size:     5’x3’  to 6’x4’
  • Game Length:    Variable.  There is a “countdown” mechanism. Each turn the defender rolls a D6.   The number rolled is deducted from the number 23.  When the number counts down to zero the game is over.

BASING SIZES: Infantry bases are 3cm x 3cm.  Cavalry bases are 3cm x 4cm.  

TURN SEQUENCE:

PRE GAME SEQUENCE

The rules feature an entire pre-game sequence which is designed to simulate the campaign that occurred before the battle you’re about to fight took place and which determines who will be the attacker and who the defender.  The defender gets to set up the table top terrain on which the battle will be fought.  But the defender also has to roll on a table which can result in some of his units being late to the battle or never showing up at all.  The attacker gets to move first in the battle.  So there are advantages/disadvantages to being in either position.

The attacker is the player who has executed the greatest number of marches in the campaign.  Each player is given a number of campaign points.  He then spends these points by marching and camping.  Each time he does either he rolls on a set of table which tells him how many campaign points he expended.  When he gets to zero points he’s done.   There are also various events that can occur as the result of rolling on these tables.  Some are good (unit increases its experience level) some are bad (unit loses one or more stands).

This is all done very humorously and is quite a lot of fun (for the first 2-3 times at least).

BATTLE TURN SEQUENCE

  • Units Test Morale
  • Move Generals
  • Motivate Units

Armies have three generals . In a player turn the player uses his generals to “motivate” his units to perform actions. The generals can motivate any unit in the army. 

Taking one general at a time, the player makes a die roll for each unit he want to motivate.   To do this the die roll has to equal or exceed to total of the general’ rating, the units rating (Conscript, Trained, Veteran) and certain modifiers (e.g. +1 for each 3” distance separating the general and unit he wishes to motivate).   If the roll is successful the unit then rolls a D6 and this gives the number of Action Points (AP) it can use in that turn. (Veterans get +1, Conscripts -1). 

The unit then spends these AP to move, change formation, shoot, or close to contact with the enemy. There is no morale check to charge or in reaction to a charge. It doesn’t cost any AP to fight if a unit is already in contact. 

If the general fails the roll, then he is done for the turn and the unit that he tried to motivate cannot be motivated by another general (If this reminds you of Warmaster/Blitzkrieg Commander/etc. you’re not alone).

Once a player has motivated and acted with (or tried to) with all the units he wants to act with, the player’s turn is over and the other player runs through the same procedure.

One point to note is that the non-moving player gets to opportunity fire at the moving player’s units that move to within close firing range.

Reinforcements

Game Length Countdown

GAME MECHANICS:

Fire combat:  Each musket base rolls a D6.   Depending on the circumstances it hits on a 5,6 or 6.  The firer can re-roll misses based on its quality. (Conscript, Trained, Veteran).   Target gets a Saving Roll based on its quality.  Saving roll can be modified by circumstances (short range, volley fire).  It takes two hits to cause the loss of a base. 

Close Combat:  The entire unit fights if any contact is made. Units get a number of dice (D6) per base depending on type of base (musket, pike, charger cavalry, pistol cavalry) and the situation.  Each 5 or 6 rolled is a hit. The target gets saving rolls for each hit.  The roll needed is based on the quality of the target.  The unit that suffers the most unsaved hits loses the combat.   The consequences of losing is dependent on the matchup (i.e. cavalry vs. cavalry, infantry vs. cavalry, etc.).

One thing to note is that a unit of cavalry that routs a unit of enemy cavalry in close combat follows the router off the board. (the pursuer has a chance to come back onto the battle field later). 

Morale:  Units take morale tests if they have suffered casualties, after losing or drawing a close combat, or if they have seen a friendly unit rout.    A unit rolls a number of dice (D6) depending on its situation.  Each roll of 4,5, or 6 is a failure. One failure means no movement for the turn; two require the unit to fall back; three or more means the unit routs and is removed from the board.

ARMY LISTS/SCENARIOS:

The rules include a point system.

Army Lists Included:

    • Scots Covenanter
    • Montrose Royalist Scots
    • Early War Royalist
    • Later War Royalist
    • Early War Parliamentarian
    • Later War Parliamentarian
    • New Model Army

The rules do not include historical scenarios.

REVIEWER’S/PLAYER’S  COMMENTS:

The production values are crude, especially in this day and age of full color, glossy volumes, but this is a case of not being able to judge a book by its cover because these rules are actually quite sophisticated in their interactions.

I’ve played them quite a few times.  They give a satisfying game.   My only complaints are that pistol cavalry are too powerful relative to charger cavalry and some may find them too generic.

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