Original Rules Ó Berg-Herman. Unofficial adaptation by Grayde Bowen

This is a trial adaptation of the Simple Alexander rules for use with 1^st edition SPQR. Some counter types apply to Caesar not SPQR. These will be used when the rules are tested with Caesar.

Use all the components of the Standard game:

All combat and leader counters use all their printed ratings (some of which are ignored). There are no additional/new ratings.

We have three new charts, to replace those so designated, below.

There are NO TURNS in Simple SPQR. Players simply keep repeating the Sequence of Play until someone wins.

(3.1) THE SEQUENCE

Use this sequence instead of the SPQR sequence of play.

A. Leader Activation. An Activated Leader may move. When he finishes movement, all (eligible) units within the activated Leader's Range may undertake actions (B). An overall commander may use his activation to replace any other dead leader with the corresponding replacement unit. Praefects and Tribunes may be replaced any number of times.

B. Unit Activation. Units commanded by activated leader may, in the order listed,

1. Move and/or Fire

2. Shock

3. Rally.

C. Continuity. The Player now designates a different Leader and rolls to see if he can continue play. He does not do this if he has already gone 3x in succession.

(3.2) CONTINUITY

The game starts by both players rolling the die to see who goes first. High DR wins, and, in winning, the player designates which of his Leaders he wishes to activate.

When the activated Leader has finished moving his units, the player who

just went now uses Continuity to determine whether he can go again. To do so, in the Continuity Phase, he designates any Leader other than the Leader who was just activated (Exception: Elite Leader), rolls one die, and compares the DR to that Leader's Initiative Rating.

** If = or < Initiative, that leader is Activated; proceed to Phase "A" of the sequence.

** If > Initiative; play passes to his opponent, who may now activate any Leader of his choice (no DR necessary), and he goes to Phase "A" of the sequence.

Exceptions:

1. No Player may "go" more than three times (3x) in succession. If a player has had Continuity three times in a row, the Sequence automatically passes to his opponent, who may designate any one Leader, no DR necessary. However, in this circumstance, the "opponent" does not get to roll for Continuity, after he goes; play then passes back to the other player (the one who had gone 3x). That player now rolls for Continuity.

2. Instead of designating a Leader, a Player may designate one of the two "groups" below, without regard to any Leader range:

** Any three combat units, anywhere on the map; or

** All units from any one Identical Name and Type (e.g.: all units of a single combat type -HA PR - of the same Legion or Ala. All non-Roman units with the same top line on the counter and identical unit type must be identical) that are contiguous. (See 4.33, infantry lines) or within 1 hex of each other (Legions and Alae only). If the player chooses to try to roll to use the above, he must roll a 0 or a 1.

3. Optional finished leaders. When a leader has been activated flip the counter to its finished side. A finished leader may be activated again but add 1 to the activation die roll. The adjusted roll is used to determine rout movement and the return of pursuers. Immediately the opponent finishes an activation and all friendly leaders are finished; flip all friendly leaders to their non-finished sides.

If the Player is getting a Freebie - his opponent fails his Continuity DR, or he is getting the benefit of the No More than 3x Rule - he does not have to roll for a leaderless "group".

(3.3) WHO GOES FIRST?

If only 1 side has an elite commander that side goes 1^st. If Scipio Africanus and Hannibal are both present Scipio goes 1^st.

Otherwise - and, as an exception to the above, if both players agree (and it does help balance) - high DR goes first

(4.1) LEADER COUNTERS

Each leader possesses several ratings:

Command Range: Denotes his overall presence - as well as the presence of his subordinates and "aides" - on the battlefield as well as the effectiveness of his abilities; the range in hexes over which that leader may exert his Initiative.

Elite Commander Initiative: This refers to leaders with a triangle to the left of their Initiative. An Elite commander may attempt to go twice in succession (but not 3x).

Initiative: Denotes his basic ability to control forces and make rapid decisions. This rating is used to determine Continuity. It also defines the number of individual unit 'orders' that leader may issue per Orders Phase. The higher the rating the better the leader.

Line Command: Not used.

Charisma: Not used.

Personal Combat: Not used.

Strategy: Not used.

Movement Allowance: The number of Movement Points a Leader may expend in an activation. The MA, which is l6 for all leaders, is not printed on the counter. Exception: Commanders who have Leader Elephants (actually, here, only Hannibal) use the MA of the Elephant (12).

(4.2) LEADER CAPABILITIES

When designated and activated (as above), a Leader may move. He moves before "activating" any combat units. Exception: a combat unit stacked with the leader may move with the leader. When he finishes moving, he then may activate any/all combat units of a specific, individual type (see below) that are within his Command Range. Those units may then Move, Fire, Shock or Rally.

Usually, the individual groups are any units of the same "type" (LI, HC, etc.). There are some exceptions to this, as noted in the individual scenarios.

(4.3) LEADERS AND ENEMY COMBAT

(4.31) The instant any combat unit moves adjacent to a leader alone in a hex (not stacked with a friendly combat unit) that leader can undertake an Orderly Withdrawal . If it does not - or cannot (because of enemy units or terrain) - one of the following happens:

1. If only enemy foot. units, simply place that leader with the nearest friendly unit;

2. If a mounted enemy unit (including elephants), roll the die. If the die 'Roll is a 3-9, that leader is eliminated (captured/killed). If the dieroll is 0-2 place with nearest friendly unit, as above.

3. If the leader cannot reach the "nearest friendly unit" because it is surrounded by enemy units or ZOC's through which it would have to move, it is, instead, eliminated.

4.32) All leaders, other than the Overall Commander, may be Replaced when killed. This is done by having the OC issue an Order to Replace a fallen subordinate with a "Replacement" leader. (Eliminated Tribunes and Praefects are simply placed back on the map.) The OC does not have to be within range of any particular unit; simply place the Replacement leader (or returning Tribune/Praefect) in any hex containing a unit he is capable of commanding. The Replacement leader is considered "Finished" for that turn if the finished option is in use. The number of Replacement leaders provided is a design-intent play limitation. If there are no Replacement leaders available, a dead leader may not be replaced. (This, again, does not apply to Tribunes and Praefects.)

(4.33) If an Overall Commander is eliminated he is not replaced; no other leader takes over. Exception: see Proconsuls (5.36).

(5.1) HOW TO ACTIVATE LEADERS

There is no Trumping.

A Leader may be activated in one of two ways:

** The opponent has either failed his Continuity DR, or has gone 3x in succession, in which case the Player may now designate any Leader (or un-led group, as above) for activation.

** In the Continuity Phase, he designates any one leader, other than the leader who has just, previously gone, and rolls the die. See Continuity.

And see 4.2 for what an activated Leader now does.

(5.2) ELITE COMMANDERS

An Elite Commander may be designated for activation twice in succession.

(5.3) PROCONSULS, TRIBUNES AND PRAEFECTS

(5.31) Each Roman army receives (and uses) one or more of the following: Tribunes, Praefects Sociorum (both for infantry) and Praefects Equitum (for cavalry). We have given the Tribunes and Praefects names that are ahistorical and solely for identification purposes. Feel free to use whichever tribunes and Praefects you wish. The numbers for each army vary according to the scenario.

(5.32) Tribunes may issue Orders only to legionary troops, Praefects Sociorum only to Alae troops. Exception: A Tribune or Praefect may issue Orders/LC's to any and all velites, regardless of their printed legion or ala designation - as long as velites are the only "class" being given such orders.

(5.33) Praefects Equitum may issue orders, to either Legion OR Alae cavalry - but only to one group each activation. However, they may issue a command to a line of (mixed) legionary and alae cavalry if it is specifically allowed by the Line Eligibility Chart. (E.g., it is NOT allowed at Cannae.) Tribunes and Praefects Sociorum may not issue orders to cavalry, and Praefects equitum may not issue orders to infantry.

(5.34) One of the tribunes and one of the Praefects Equitum is not as "good" as their brethren. The Roman player is free to pick the higher-rated tribunes/praefect if a choice presents itself.

(5.35) Proconsuls - present at Cannae - were usually ex-consuls who were around to help out with the command chores; sometimes they were men appointed to lead a "third" army when the other two consuls were elsewhere. Proconsuls may command ANY troops. In addition: If the OC has been killed, the player may replace him as OC with a proconsul. The latter's ratings do not change.

(5.36) The restrictions on Roman commanders only concern giving orders. Leader ranges are used for mandatory rally and shock without regard to leader type.

(6.1) MOVEMENT ALLOWANCES

(6.11) A combat unit's printed Movement Allowance is the basic allowance for a single Order. A combat unit receiving an Order may move up to its printed MA. Units may always move less than the printed MA.

(6.12) There is no limit to the number of times a combat unit may move in a single turn; HOWEVER; it may move only once per Orders Phase. Thus, a line of hastati ordered by a tribune to move in that tribune's Activation Phase may move again; but, to do so, it must wait for an order from either another leader or from that tribune in a subsequent Activation Phase.

(6.13) The "Moved" side of a unit is used to denote "Disorder" not for movement purposes.

(6.14) Leaders may move only when they have been activated. Leaders move using "cavalry" costs, unless they have a Leader Elephant - in which case they use elephant costs. Leaders have no facing and do not pay any cost to change facing.

(6.2) TERRAIN

(6.21) A unit expends Movement Points for each hex it enters. Most units also pay extra Movement Points to move into a hex of higher elevation. Thus a heavy infantry unit at Cynoscephalae in hex 2322 would expend 4 MP's to move into 2523 (1 for each Clear hex, one for each higher elevation level).

(6.22) A hex containing two types of terrain uses the "majority" terrain. Thus hex 2800 at Cannae, while it does contain some river, is a Clear hex in game terms.

(6.23) Certain hexes are impassable: no unit may enter such a hex. The Aufidus River and the town of Cannae, both on the Cannae map, are the only such hexes. The Roman Camp on the Beneventum map has its own rules and chart; see that scenario. The dirt road on the Zama map has no effect; the Roman Road at Beneventum does have some slight effect on movement.

(6.24) A moving unit must have enough MP's to pay the terrain cost of entering a hex; if it doesn't, it cannot enter that hex. Units also pay movement point costs to change facing.

(6.25) Elevation, woods and marsh may also affect shock combat results by adjusting the column under which the players roll to determine losses, as per the Shock Combat Results Table.

The Movement Cost Chart

This chart gives the Movement costs for each type of unit moving (or changing facing in) into/across a specific type of terrain.

(6.3) MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS

(6.31) As a unit moves it traces a path of contiguous hexes through the hex grid, paying the cost of each hex entered. One unit's movement must be completed before another can begin.

Exception: Units that are allowed to stack together may move together if they start and end movement in the same hex.

(6.32) A unit may be moved in any direction or combination of directions. However, a unit may only enter a hex, which is to its front. In order for a "single-hex" unit to change direction it must first change facing by pivoting in the hex it occupies. Phalanxes do not change facing within a hex; they do so by moving.

(6.33) Phalanxes incur an extra cost when pivoting.

(6.4) PHALANXES

(6.41). The MA is '4' at all times.

(6.42) When a double-sized, phalanx unit enters two hexes of different terrain/elevation it expends the higher of the two possible costs for movement penalties.

(6.43) The Front-to-Flank Manoeuvre; A phalanx can either go forward, with both halves of the unit entering new hexes, or one half of the unit can enter a hex while the other half pivots in the space it occupies (in essence changing the facing of the unit).

(6.44) The Reverse Face Manoeuvre: Phalanxes are allowed a special manoeuvre whereby, at a cost of 3 movement points, the unit is re-faced in the opposite direction in the same two hexes. There is no cohesion penalty for this manoeuvre, but it may not be performed if any part of the unit is in an enemy ZOC or in Rough Terrain.

(6.45) The Wheeling Manoeuvre: If one side of a Phalanx is in an enemy ZOC the other side may still move forward (in essence, using the front-to-flank manoeuvre, 6.42). In addition, a unit undertaking a Wheeling manoeuvre may do so only in clear terrain, and at a 2 MP per hex cost

(6.46) Column Movement; The phalanxes are in a battle formation that would, in later centuries, be called "Line". They were capable, however, of using much looser, more mobile formation (in modern terms, "Column"). Therefore, on being given a move Order, a Phalanx that is not in an enemy ZOC or Routed may change to "Column", with a MA of "6". There is no cost in Movement Points to change formation. However, the new "front" must face the hexside (not the vertex) and only the hex directly in front of them is frontal.

(6.47) Column units may move, "short-end" first, into either their frontal hex or the flank hexes adjacent to the frontal hex. They may not change facing; they may only move. The unit is considered to be in column until it receives a new Order, at which time it may change back to its normal formation. All flank/rear combat penalties apply.

(6.48) If an In Column Phalanx is shock attacked, at the conclusion of that

Orders Phase the Phalanx automatically goes back to its "combat" formation.

In Column Phalanxes may NOT use Orderly Withdrawal.

(6.5) ORDERLY WITHDRAWAL

(6.5l) During an enemy Movement Segment or during an elephant rampage, any friendly (unrouted) combat unit or leader may avoid contact with an enemy unit (even a Rampaging elephant - and that applies to friendly cavalry about to be trampled by a friendly elephant) instant it moves within two hexes of the friendly, "defending" unit, as long as the "defending" unit has a higher movement allowance than the attacking combat unit exception: see Skirmishers, ) To do this, the friendly, defending unit Withdraws up to a number of Movement Points (not hexes) equal to the difference between movement allowances, away from the advancing unit Withdrawal must occur the instant the enemy unit moves into two hex range (stop moving the friendly unit temporarily), or the option is lost. Regardless of how many hexes they may actually move.

(6.52) The withdrawing unit maintains its original facing throughout withdrawal.

1. After Withdrawal, Roman Hastati, Principes, and Cohorts undergo an immediate TQ check. If the dieroll is higher than the TQ the unit suffers disorder.

2. All other withdrawing foot units (but NOT cavalry or elephants) suffer an automatic disorder.

Exception: Skirmishers and Roman Velites do not suffer penalty 2 unless they are approached from a rear or flank hex.

(6.54) A unit may withdraw an unlimited number of times during a game turn. No movement points are expended and no orders are needed for combat units.

(6.55) A unit may not withdraw into an enemy ZOC, woods, marsh, river or any hex into which movement would be prohibited. A withdrawing missile unit may NOT fire as it withdraws.

Exception: Mounted Archers may fire as part of Withdrawal. The range is always treated as Two (2) Stacking restrictions (6.6) apply during withdrawal.

.

(6.56) Orderly Withdrawal takes place during the opposing player's movement - a unit may not Withdraw in the Shock Combat segment (unless it's an elephant rampage). The attacking/moving unit may continue to complete its movement in the face of such withdrawal.

(6.6) STACKING

Stacking refers to having more than one unit in a hex at any one time. The basic, rule is 1 combat unit per hex The main exception concerns most foot units in Roman legions/alae. In addition, Skirmisher units, trained in avoidance and dispersal tactics, have certain advantages over other units, specifically in terms of moving into/through other units. For the Romans, the stacking rules make express use of the colour borders on all Roman foot units.

There are two principles involved when considering Stacking rules: Voluntary Movement, which usually means combat units moving under orders or Orderly Withdrawal; and Mandatory Movement, virtually all of which is rout movement.

(6.61) The Basic, Non-Roman Stacking Rule: A hex may contain, without penalty, one combat unit (or one half of a double-sized combat unit). Leaders (including leader elephants) and informational markers do not count for stacking purposes . A hex may contain any number of leaders/markers. There are two exceptions to this basic rule:

Roman Manipular Flexibility, and the special rule on double-depth phalanxes for the Cynoscephalae battle.

(6.62) A unit may never move into or through a hex containing an enemy combat unit.

(6.63) The restrictions and allowances for stacking are all given on the two Stacking Charts. The actual chart used depends on the type of movement - voluntary or mandatory - being undertaken by the moving unit. The following premises and terms are used:

Basic: All units other than Skirmisher, Velites and other Roman foot Different Colour; Applies to Roman Foot units from different Legion or Ala. Note, that units from the I Legion and the I Ala are the same BORDER colour and are thus from the same "organisation".

Cohesion hits are not used. When a chart calls for any cohesion hits the unit is disordered if it rolls >TQ. If a unit is interpenetrated by a routing unit add 1 to the die result.

(6.64) Combat units may enter a hex containing only a leader at no movement cost. However, Leaders (including leader elephants) pay a Movement penalty of +1 MP to enter a hex occupied by a combat unit.

(6.65) A combat unit stacked with a Leader may Withdraw together, or the leader may withdraw and the combat unit remain. If they withdraw together, they may withdraw to separate hexes or the same hex.

(6.66) Both combat units stacked in a hex must have the same facing. This does not apply to a unit passing through an occupied hex.

(6.67) The Stacking Charts

The Chart lists what type of unit is moving. However, the effects apply to BOTH moving and stationary units, unless otherwise specified. The term "Organisation" refers to the Legion/Ala number (i.e., I, III., etc.)

(7.1) FACING

1) All units must be faced in a hex so that the top of the unit (the side with its name) faces into the vertex of the hex (between two hex-sides, as below). All units in a hex must be faced the same way. The two hexes to the front (3 for phalanxes) are called the Frontal Hexes; those to the side, the Flanks, and those behind, the Rear. A unit may only move into a hex to its Front.

(7.12) In order for a single-hex unit to change its facing it must pivot within its hex. All non-Roman infantry, except for skirmishers, and ~l cavalry (including Roman) pay a cost of one movement point for each vertex shifted. Roman legionary and alae infantry pay a cost of one movement point to change facing in any direction, regardless of the number of vertices shifted. Skirmishers do not pay any Movement costs to change facing. A unit cannot change facing while in an enemy ZOC.

(7.13) Units (except skirmishers) that change facing within a Rough terrain hex are disordered if they roll > their TQ.

(7.14) Phalanxes do not "change facing"; they can only change the relation in which they are facing by moving (and paying any costs for so moving) one side of the counter forward, thus pivoting the counter.

(7.15) Reaction Facing Change: Any non-disordered, single-hex unit (not double-hex units) may try to change facing one vertex (per Phase) when an enemy unit moves adjacent to it. It may not do so if a (different) enemy unit is adjacent and that player has stated he is going to attack. To do so, roll the die:

** If = or < than that unit's TQ, it may change Facing

** If > than the unit's TQ, it may not. Moreover, that unit is now Disordered.

** Cavalry changing facing in reaction to infantry movement do NOT have to DR; they do so automatically.

(7.2) ZONES OF CONTROL

ZOCs extend into the front 2 (or 3 for double hex units) hexes of any unit. See the "Engaged" combat Result.

If a unit enters the ZOC of an enemy unit with an equal or higher MA, the moving unit must stop movement for that turn. It may "move on" in its next turn.

(7.3) SHOCK REQUIREMENTS

There are none, with one exception: Engaged units must shock attack if within Command Range of an Activated Leader. Otherwise, Shock is voluntary.

** There are no Cohesion Hits

** There is only one Shock DR.

(8.1) MISSILE FIRE

(8.11) When given an individual order individual missile units can move, fire, or fire during movement. Activated missile units may fire during - or instead of - their movement. A unit may fire during movement only if it moved "forward" (towards the target) immediately preceding actually firing. Firing during movement does not cost any movement points. Disordered and Engaged units may not Fire.

(8.12) Missile units may fire when activated.

(8.13) A Missile unit may volley (fire) at any single target unit which is within its Missile Range - which extends from its frontal and/or flank hexes. - And to which it can trace a Line of Sight (8.16). Missile units must each fire individually; they may not combine fire. If there is more than one combat unit in the target hex, the Cohesion Hit from Missile Fire is applied to the top unit.

(8.14) Legion Infantry Javelinists (Hastati, Principes and Cohorts Alae + the Caesar Legions) are have no missile fire ability but have a bonus in shock. Other missile units have unlimited ammo.