Rebels & Redcoats Rules Variations
by David Wilson
send e-mail to: david.k.wilson@mac.com
I like the components and thorough orders of battle in Rebels and Redcoats, but the game does not accurately recreate Revolutionary War tactics. While completely rewriting the rules is tempting, given the fact the unit counters and maps are designed around the published rules, this is not practical. Therefore, with these variants, I have attempted to increase the simulation value of the game without completely doing away with the designer's original system.

1) Unit facing.
     The "top" of the counter is considered the front of the counter. The hex directly in front of a unit is considered its "front" hex. The two hexes adjacent to this front hex and the unit are also considered front hexes. The hex directly behind the counter is considered its "rear" hex. The two hexes adjacent to this rear hex and the unit are considered "flank" hexes.
1.1) Combat modifiers based on defender unit facing.
     1.1.1) Units attacking through an enemy's front hexes attack at normal strength levels.

     1.1.2) Units attacking through an enemy's flank hexside double their attack strengths.

     1.1.3) Units attacking through an enemy's rear hexside triple their attack strengths.

     1.1.4) Disrupted units have no facing. There are no attack bonuses due to facing when assaulting a disrupted unit. (Their unit strengths are already halved when disrupted, so there is no need for additional modifiers.)
1.2) Movement restrictions based on unit facing.
     1.2.1) Units may only move "forward," i.e., through one of the three "front" hexsides. Disrupted units have no facing and may move in any direction as long as the movement adheres to the disrupted unit movement rules.

     1.2.2) Units may change facing by expending movement points. American and British regulars may spend 1 MP to change to any facing. All irregular units (militia) spend 1 MP per hexside to change facing. Changing facing in woods or swamp costs 2 MP. Light Infantry expend only 1 MP to change facing in woods.

     1.2.3) Units must check morale to perform a facing change when enemy units are adjacent.
1.3) Voluntary Disruptions.
     1.3.1) Units may voluntarily disrupt at the beginning of any movement phase. Voluntary disruptions cost no MP. The unit may then move in any direction as restricted by disrupted unit movement rules (i.e, must still move toward LOC or friendly commander). 

     1.3.2) Voluntary disruptions or disruptions caused by disengagements do NOT count against "tainting." See rule 4 below.

     1.3.3) Voluntarily disrupted units must, of course, perform rally per normal rules.

(This rule allows militia units a way of moving to the rear with having to spend an entire turn changing facing. I imagine this is the way the militia performed their "retrograde" at Cowpens.)
2) Command and Control.
After determining which units are out-of-command (OOC), roll one time for every unit that is OOC. If the roll is less than the unit's morale, then that unit is considered in command for the remainder of that turn only.
This rule allows for initiative on the part of regiment-level commanders (Colonels, Lieutentants, Captains, and non-coms). Units with higher morale would obviously have better regimental commanders with higher experience and more initiative.
3) Melee Combat.
The regular combat phase is now considered to be exclusively fire combat. A new "Melee" phase is added for melee combat that goes after the Fire phase.
3.1) During the Melee phase, the phasing player may engage in melee combat against any adjacent enemy unit. The combat follows all normal rules, except the following additional modifiers are also applied.
3.2) Melee Combat Special Modifiers
     3.2.1) The average of each side's morale (round .5 up) are compared and the difference is used as a die roll modifier. This is in addition to any modifiers already present.
     3.2.2) American militia and German Jaeger units attack and defend at 1/2 strength (round .5 up) in melee combat. (Due to lack of bayonets.)

     3.2.3) Units must participate in Fire combat in order to attack during the Melee phase.

     3.2.4) The attacker can elect to have the defender forgo any adverse defender results (defender retreat, disrupt, morale checks) so that the attacker can engage the defender again with in Melee Combat. (This simulates an attacker holding fire and charging.)

3.3) Artillery Units in Melee Combat.
     3.3.1) Artillery may not attack during the Melee combat phase. Artillery defend at 1/4 their normal strength during melee combat.

3.4) Dragoons in Fire and Melee Combat
     3.4.1) Dragoons attack at 1/2 strength during the Fire phase.

     3.4.2) Dragoons attack at full strength during the Melee phase.
4) Unit "Tainting."
The first time a unit suffers a disruption due to combat it becomes "tainted." Once the unit rallies, its morale is permanently lowered by 1. To indicate this place a marker beneath the unit (an inverted out-of-command marker is handy for this.) In the case of stacked units where one or more units are untainted and others are tainted, only one taint marker need be used. Place all tainted units above the taint marker; all units below the taint marker are not tainted. Unit morale of tainted units is only lowered when the unit is NOT disrupted; i.e. units are not double penalized for being tainted and disrupted.
The purpose of this rule is to allow for at least some wearing down of units due to combat and fatigue. Since the original game designer did not allow for any wear, I decided not to allow for more than a slight reduction in unit efficiency. Without this rule, scenarios like Cowpens and Guilford Court House do not make any sense because the Americans employed a defense in depth. The purpose of a defense in depth is to wear the enemy down before they encounter the final defense line.
5) Rifle Sniping.
Rifle-armed units have a special type of attack they may perform during the fire combat phase called "sniping." A rifle unit may engage in normal combat during the Fire phase with adjacent units, or it may engage in snipe combat against a single unit. It may not perform both types of combat in a single turn.

5.1) Snipe attacks may only be performed against units two hexes distant from the rifle unit. Attacks against enemy units one hex away must be resolved per normal assault rules.

5.2) Sniping must be resolved on a single unit basis. I.e., unlike regular combat, units may NOT combine strengths when sniping. Likewise the target of a snipe attack must be a single enemy unit. Stacking is irrelevant; single units may still be attacked when in stacks.

     5.2.1) Units may only be sniped or assaulted once per combat phase.

5.3) Resolving Snipe Attacks.
     5.3.1) The sum of a rifle unit's strength and 1/2 of its morale equals its "snipe rating."

     5.3.2) Resolve a snipe attack by utilizing this rating on the Bombardment table.

     5.3.3) If the defending unit is also a rifle-armed unit, that unit may return fire against its attacker. All effects of snipe combat are applied simultaneously.
6) March Formation
Units now have two different formations: march or line.

6.1) Regular units spend 2 MP to change formations.

6.2) Miltia units spend 4 MP to change formations.

6.3) Only units in march formation may move on roads at their reduced movement rate (1/2 mp per hex). Units in line formation ignore roads and pay the MP cost for the other terrain in the hex.

6.4) Units in march formation gain 2 MP.

6.5) Units in march formation have their strengths halved in Fire and Shock combat.

6.6) Units in march formation attack at normal strength against units inside entrenchements.

6.7) Use a "march" marker to indicate units in march formation.
7) Victory.
7.1) Ignore the disintegration rules.

7.2) Victory goes to the side which manages to control all enemy LOC hexes for two consecutive turns.

7.3) Victory conditions may vary by scenario.