Optional vedette rules

[Brian Laursen]

Will the next CNS game include the (now) optional, and much easier, vedette rules?

Would it be possible to put updated countersheets for older CNS games up for preorder? I would love to get new counters for my NAB.

[kzucker]

Hi Brian,

Are you referring to David Schubert's vedette rules? Let me know which rules you are talking about. Maybe we can poll the readership about that.

It's not posible to reprint whole countersheets for past games. It would be possible to do a sheet of corrected and alternate counters for all the games in print when we publish our next game. We could bundle that with the next issue of Wargame Design. Which counters do you think should be included?

[Brian Laursen]

Yes, the ones by Schubert. I posted them below for convenience.

I really think that the system would be much nicer to play with simpler vedette rules as they take up a lot of space in the rules compared to their effect(especially regarding combat)

As for the updated counters - I did not have any particular counters in mind, as I was hoping to get the entire NAB set upgraded to the new standards. New versions of misprinted counters is also a very good idea.

ALTERNATE VEDETTE RULES
Daniel CLAUDE <daniel.claude@libertysurf.fr>
David Schubert <deschubert@verizon.net>

We'd like to get player feedback on these rules. Please give them a try and then let us know how it went.

1. Vedettes have no combat ability. They have a (0) combat factor to indicate they may not attack (in brackets).(1) If in an EZOC at the end of a movement phase, (phasing or non phasing) they must retreat before combat, after performing their scouting mission. If retreat before combat is not possible (due to EZOC or whatever else), they are eliminated.

2. Scouting: Vedettes perform Scouting in order to reveal the identity of hidden enemy units. A recon action is performed whenever a vedette enters an enemy ZOC or an enemy unit enters a hex adjacent to a vedette.(2) Resolve the Scouting action by rolling 2 d6 and find the result on the Scouting Table. (3)

3. SCOUTING TABLE
Roll two d6
2-3 reveal all Leaders and exact strength
4-5 reveal all Leaders and approximate strength
6-8 reveal force leader and approximate strength
9-10 retreat vedette 2 hexes
11-12 eliminate vedette
Modifier: +1 if any cavalry in enemy force

At the moment when a vedette comes in contact, enemy force leader is revealed. So a player can scout with his vedettes, learn who is here, then advance with other forces. Then, at the end of Movement phase, vedettes may use the Scouting Table to learn more about enemy.

4. Every force can repulse a vedette.

5. The Scouting Table can be used only if a vedette is within 9 MP of a friendly force or18 MP of C/O or S/S at the moment of the scouting attempt (end of movement phase, for phasing and non phasing).

We don't add a bonus if friendly cavalry is at command range because distance can be big.

Questions: (1) Can vedettes be attacked? I guess the answer is “no” since they always retreat before combat.

(2) It is implied that vedettes do not have a ZOC. If they have no ZOC, that may impact their ability to fool anyone, because you have to tell the enemy player that THAT hex has no ZOC in it.

(3) Scouting takes place at the end of the Friendly or Enemy Movement Phase or the Forced March Segment?

[kzucker]

Brian-

Do you have the OSG (3rd) Edition of NAB? I guess you do, but if not, you can purchase a set of the counters to that game separately.

Regarding the above rules, Vedettes will never fool anyone if they do not have a ZOC, unless we say they have a ZOC for all purposes until revealed in the combat phase.

[Cundiff]

I guess the real question here is, "Are Vedettes really meant to be dummy forces used to trick the enemy, or are their real purpose to represent small amounts of cavalry used for scouting or screening"?

IF we assume the second purpose, then perhaps Vedettes should possess a ZOC only in the hex in which they are located. Maybe they should effect movement only in hexes possessing roads, and have no effect at all elsewhere. Afterall, a small force would be unable to have any impact at all upon troops moving across open ground. But small cavalry forces might be able to block the use of a road for a short time. So, perhaps the use of Vedettes ought to have a restricted use beyond what the rules state.

I don't think Vedettes could logically fool anyone into thinking they were large enough forces to impede the movement of a corp or division. Thus, their use as "Dummy Forces" is perhaps an incorrect application?

[kzucker]

Tom,

Actually, when an enemy force was encountered, typically the first troops would be vedettes, moving ahead of the main column. Their duty, once having encountered enemy scouts, was to prevent the enemy from getting beyond them to ascertain whether they were alone or were the leading edge of a large force.

Secondly, when you look at the map you can see al the hexes with a counter on them. That tells you where the enemy may have a force. Napoleon and his opponents had no such map in front of them. Therefore, you have to have enough vedettes to preserve some mystery. Ergo, the vedettes must be able to fool you.

So, they have to do both jobs you mentioned. If their ZOC is different in any way from a real force, it becomes difficult to maintian the pretense.

[Cundiff]

Yes, I can see how in a real face to face, or even pbem game the Fog of War concept becomes a problem if you don't have ZOC's for Vedettes.

Perhaps a way could be constructed in which a Vedette has a "soft" ZOC in that you must first move next to it before you find out that it is a Vedette and has no ZOC, and that when you move into the actual hex, assuming there's strength enough present you would have to be able to conduct an Overrun attack, or the Vedette would have the ability to withdraw before combat. In this way a road hex could still be contested, yet the Vedette would have no way of preventing an outflanking maneuver (which would still cost the player movement points and thus slow down progress - which afterall is the goal). It's been awhile since I've read the Vedette rules, I may have to review them and see if I can work something like that up into a variant article.

[kzucker]

Tom,

That would make things a lot easier for the offense. Right now, when you want to do an overrun, you don't already know whether you are facing a vedette or not. The vedette rules have reached their current state through a long evolution, and though extensive, do work as intended. If players want to employ the simplified version (see above) by Dave Schubert, that is cool, but I suspect players will eventually come back to fill-in from the published version again and again.

[Cundiff]

I do like the rules presented above. There's but one thing I'd add. There's no way a Vedette in any terrain other than on a road could possibly impede the progress of a much larger force overrun or not. It's analogous to a grain of sand trying to stand in the way of a torrent. However, in restricted terrain such as where a road is the obvious best means of moving a large force, a Vedette, given it had enough manpower, could impede progress. I'd restrict the ability of a Vedette to have any effect upon enemy movement to only that where a road was present. Elsewhere, nothing.

[Cundiff]

Yes, the ones by Schubert. I posted them below for convenience.

ALTERNATE VEDETTE RULES
Daniel CLAUDE <daniel.claude@libertysurf.fr>
David Schubert <deschubert@verizon.net>



Gentlemen,

I'd like to invite you to write your optional rules, using the format found in the rule booklet, and submit them to Old Soldiers Magazine for publication once you're satisified with them. This is exactly the type of article I like to see in print.

Tom
Old Soldiers Magazine