or: The Phantom Crown.
| Maximilian Rules! - Rules for wargaming the Maximilian Adventure | By Mark W. Shearwood |
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These rules originally appeared in Wargames Illustrated 160, (December 2000). |
I found the need to write a set of rules for the Maximillian Adventure following an impulse purchase at the "Warlords" a couple of years ago when 50 assorted Mexicans and French troops jumped out shouting "Take me home". From this my interest in this strange war developed, but I could not find any rule sets that fitted the period. There is a great diversity in troop type and weaponry in this campaign, from Republican militia armed with out-of-date smoothbore muskets to Republican units equipped in American uniforms and with modern repeating titles. The French and Imperialist units started the war with a great advantage in French left with their rifles and cannons.
The backbone of this set of rules is the morale class of the troops. The morale class dictates the number of actions a unit can make in a turn, how it fights and if it stands.
If at any time there is a dispute about the rules roll a dice to decide. Dice needed are a D6 and several D10. N.B. 0 on the D10 is read as 0 not as 10.
Movement is alternate with the attacking player going first. The Order of Play is:
Units may perform actions (Moving /Firing/Loading etc) in any order they wish.
All actions are dependant on the class of the troops and there are five classes. Elite troops are only to be used in special scenarios. At the end of the rules there is a system for generating troop types if you are not using historical units.
| CLASS | ACTIONS | FIRING | MELEE | MORALE |
| Milita | 1 | +2 | +1 | +2 |
| Poor | 1 | +1 | 0 | +1 |
| Regular | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Veteran | 3 | -1 | -1 | -1 |
| Elite | 3 | -2 | -2 | -2 |
| All movement in inches | ||||
| TROOP TYPE | NORMAL | CHARGE / ROUT | ROAD | MANHANDLE |
| INFANTRY | 1D6+4 | +1D6 | +1D6 | N/A |
| CAVALRY | 1D6+10 | +2D6 | +1D6 | N/A |
| HORSE ARTILLERY | 1D6+8 | +1D6 | +1D6 | 4 in |
| FOOT ARTILLERY | 1D6+4 | N/A | +1D6 | 3 in |
| SIEGE ARTILLERY | 1D6 | N/A | +1D6 | 2 in |
| WAGONS | 1D6+2 | N/A | +1D6 | 2 in |
| TERRAIN EFFECTS | ||||||
| Infantry | Cavalry | Skirmishers | Foot/Horse Artillery | Siege Artillery | Wagon | |
| Hill | -1D6 | -1D6 | NONE | -1D6 | -1D6 | -1D6 |
| Gully | -1D6 | -1D6 | -1D6 | -1D6 | N/A | N/A |
| Stream / Ford | -1D6 | NONE | NONE | -1D6 | -1D6 | -1D6 |
| River | -2D6* | -1D6 | -1D6 | -2D6** | N/A | -2D6** |
| Scrub / Light Woods | NONE | NONE | NONE | -1D6 | -2D6** | -2D6** |
| Thick Woods | -2D6 | -1D6 | -1D6 | -2D6** | N/A | N/A |
| Walls | -1D6 | NONE | NONE | N/A | N/A | N/A |
* If dice rolls are more than the movement dice, the difference is the number of men drowned.
** A negative score means that the unit is stuck: It can move 1" only per turn for each additional
stand helping
(e.g. a regiment of 4 stands helps a stuck gun so it can move a 4" per turn.) .
Normal movement applies when the whole of the model base is out of the terrain.
| NONE means no movement penalty | N/A means no movement allowed |
All actions have a cost and, depending on the morale class of the unit, this will affect what that unit can do in a turn.
A typical turn for a regular unit with twoactions would be Move (one action), Fire (one action) on the next turn Re-load (one action), Fire (one action).
A Veteran unit with three actions could Move (one action) Fire (one action) and Reload (one action) or Fire/ Reload! Fire,
Repeating files can fire three times before they need to Reload
N.B. - A UNIT CAN ONLY MOVE ONCE A TURN
All firng is by stand (if a stand has one figure left it can still fire). Units that fire one stand in two or three round up.
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Example: A Militia unit of 4 stands fires at a French cavalry unit in the open at long range.
The Militia unit needs a 0 or 1 and it's modifiers are: Militia +2, Firing at cavalry -1, giving a end modifier of +1 to the dice.
They roll 1, 4, 0 & 1, these are modified to 2, 5, 1 & 2 so only 1 casualty is scored.
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Soft Cover: Scrub, light woods, gullies, Class 5 buildings Hard Cover: Stone walls, other buildings, prepared defenses |
Artillery is divided into the following types:
(Foot and Siege guns can be Cannons or Howitzers)
Howitzers Ignore cover except buildings.
If guns start the game limbered, they are unloaded.
If a modified dice score of -2 or below is rolled then
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Each gun counts as a unit. If the number of crew falls below the minimum number, all actions cost double.
Crew can be replaced by regular or veteran infantry as long is at least one original crew member left.
Artillery with a morale result of retire one move may retire gun; retire 2 moves or worse and they will leave the gun.
A unit must take a Morale Test for any one of the following:
Non-Militia Infantry do not check for routing Cavalry.
Units do not thes for lower morale~class units routing.
| MORALE TEST | |||
| Normal Test | Being Charged | Charging | |
| 0, 1, 2, 3 | OK | OK, Fire at close range | CHARGE |
| 4, 5 | Hold | OK, Fire at medium range | CHARGE, 1/2 Charge Bonus |
| 6, 7 | Hold Disordered | OK, Fire at long range | CHARGE, No Bonus |
| 8 | Retire 1 Move | Hold Disordered | Hold |
| 9 | Retire 2 Moves | Hold | Hold |
| 10+ | ROUT | ROUT | Hold Disordered |
| Dice Modifiers | |||||||
| Receiving Breakthrough Charge | +3 | Charged in flank | +1 | For each 2 whole stands | -1 | ||
| General killed | +2 | Each stand lost | +1 | In hard cover | -1 | ||
| Rout within 12" | +2 | Disordered | +1 | Veteran | -1 | ||
| Charged in rear | +2 | Charged by cavalry | +1 | General attached | -2 | ||
| Militia | +2 | For 2nd and subsequent tests | +1 | Elite | -2 | ||
| Officer killed | +1 | Poor | +1 | Infantry charging into flank or rear | -2 | ||
| Rout within 24" | +1 | Officer attached | -1 | Cavalry charging into flank or rear | -4 | ||
| Under artillery fire | +1 | General within 12" | -1 | ||||
A unit with over 60% casualties cannot charge
A unit with only one stand lefi must retire to hard cover or leave the field
Artillery treat each figure as a stand for morale purposes.
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CHARGING All units entering melee must charge into contact
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MELEE - Each side rolls one D1O
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There can be a maximum of four rounds of Melee (i.e. 2 fillI turns)
The difference in the scores is the number of figures killed (the maximum number killed is equal to the number of stands in the winning unit.*)
Example: A 7 stand Mexican unit charges a 4 stand French unit.
The Mexican unit rolls an 8, -1 for charging, -7 for number of stands, +1 for Militia: Score = +1
The French unit rolls 0, - 4 for number of stands: Score -4
Therefore the French unit wins, but as they only have 4 stands they can only inflict 4 casualties.
If two units are engaged in mielee it counts as a single melee. Take the morale & melee bonus of the unit with the greater number of figures, if equal take the higher result. Split casualties 50/50.
UNITS THAT CHARGE BUT FAIL TO CONTACT ARE DISORDERED
* If the winning uni charged the rear of a unit that turn they can cause a maximum of two casualties per stand (against the unit charged in the rear) instead of the normal one.
FRONT / FLANK /REAR ATTACKS
Frontal Attack
If any part of the attacking unit is in front of the defending unit's front line this is a frontal attack: e.g. Figures 1 & 2.
Flank Attack
Figure 3 is a flank attack as unit B started it's move behind unit A's front line but m front of it's rear line.
Rear Attack
Figure 4 is a rear attack as unit B has started it's move behind unit A's rear line.
Units in a Frontal / Rear attack fight with all stands.
Units in a Flank attack: Attackers fight with all stands. Defenders fight with stands in contact for the first turn. After that they may move other stands into contact.
Breakthrough Charges
A breakthrough charge can only happen when a unit charges a target that routs in it's morale check and there is a second target in range. The unit receiving a breakthrough charge must make an immediate morale check.
Routing units move without taking movement penalties into account and move immediately after the morale result. They will not move again in their next turn.
If an Officer or General is within 2" thyey can attempt to rally on the second and subsequent turns.
Units that have rallied must spend one full move stationary and end the turn disordered.
Units that fail two rally attempts cannot be rallied and is lost for good.
A unit in rout or tryrng to rally cannot do anything else, if contacted in melee or receiving casualties it will be lost for good and cannot rally.
A unit that rallies from rout suffers a permanent +1 to all dice throws.
If a unit is routed twice then it cannot rally.
Under normal conditions all Officers & Generals are the same and with have the same effect, but for scenarios they may be given a bonus of -1, 0, +2, or +2.
Intervention and Imperial Forces
One Brigade officer per 2/3 units and one General.
Republican Forces
1861-64: One General for the first 4 units, plus one officer for every additional 3 units.
1865-67: One officer for every 3 units, plus one General.
Killing Officers or Generals
Attached to a unit:
On a D10, roll equal or less than the number of casualties taken by the unit this turn:
(eg. If a unit received 3 casualties in a turn a roll of 3 or less will kill an attached Officer / General).
Detached Officers:
Firing: Treat as long range, hard cover.
Melee; if contacted an Officer is captured/killed.
If an officer stand has more that one figure, dice for who is killed.
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Before the game all buildings must be classified as one of the following:
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* This is the number of casualties needed to destroy the building's cover: Hard cover becomes soft cover & soft cover becomes open. You can inflict a casualty on the building without inflicting a casualty on the men inside by rolling the building's class or less. Siege guns get a -2 modifier.
If in doubt about a building roll an average dice.
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| Irregular Units | |||||||
| YEAR | TYPE | MILITIA C | MILITIA VP | MILITIA P | MILITIA N | POOR N | REG N |
| 1861-64 | Militia Foot | 9-7 | 6-4 | 3-1 | 0 | N/A | N/A |
| 1865-67 | Militia Foot | 9 | 8-7 | 6-5 | 4-3 | 2-1 | 0 |
| 1861-64 | Irregular Cavalry | 9-8 (L) | 7-6 (L) | 5-3 | 2-1 (L) | 0 (L) | N/A |
| 1865-67 | Irregular Cavalry | N/A | 9 (L) | 8-7 (L) | 6-5 (L) | 4-1 (L) | 0 |
| Intervention Units | Regular | Veteran | ||
| 1861-62 | French Line | Rifled Musket | 9-0 | N/A |
| 1863-65 | French Line | Rifled Musket | 9-2 | 1-0 |
| 1866-67 | French Line | Rifled Musket | 9-1 | 0 |
| 1861-67 | Chasseurs | Rifled Musket | 9-8 | 7-0 |
| 1861-67 | Zouaves / Turcos | Rifled Musket | N/A | 9-0 |
| 1861-67 | Foreign Legion | Rifled Musket | 9 | 8-0 |
| 1861-67 | African Light Infantry | Rifled Musket | 9-3 | 2-0 |
| 1861-67 | Naval Troops | Rifled Musket | 9-1 | 0 |
| 1862-67 | Contra~Guerillas | Rifled Musket | 9-2 | 1-0 |
| 1864-67 | Austrian Legion | Rifles | 9-7 | 6-0 |
| 1865-66 | Belgian Legion | Rifles | 9-6 | 5-0 |
| 1863-67 | Egyptian Battalion | Rifled Musket | 9-3 | 2-0 |
| 1861-67 | French Artillery | Artillery | 9-4 | 3-0 |
| 1861-67 | Chasseurs d'Afrique | M/L Carbine | 9-5 | 4-0 |
My figures are trom the following manufactures and are all in 25/28mm:
Snapdragon to a great range of Mexican buildings, they are on the large side and so are ideal for smull action or skirmish games.
All being well I hope to follow this article with a second part on the Maximilian Adventure covering the all troop types in more detail as well as Imperial Troops: There is also as stated an addidon to these rules for the 1859 campaign against the Austrians.
I must thank Stuart Parkin, John Stanion and Mait Oats of the Derby Wargames Society for putting up with play testing these rules.
The best two books to start with are;
Osprey Men at Arms 272: The Mexican Adventure, 1861-67
Frei Korps Campaign Booklet No 2. The Maximillian War, 1861-1867 (This was printed in 1984 and is a little goldmine.)
