A Coat of Steel

Regular Approaches move at Steady Gait and are lost if the ward halts. Rapid Approaches move at Quick Gait for two turns; on the third a card above the commander's Forwardness turns them Piecemeal. Steady Attacks need a stationary start or a regular Approach, Quick Attacks need a Rapid Approach, and Tired Attacks can be used any time. Attacks move straight ahead with at most one stand of deviation per turn, and the attack type sets each band's handstrokes strength.

Quick Attack: This may only be played after a Rapid Approach. It may not be used if the ward halted after a Rapid Approach (a Tired Attack is used instead).

Pursuers move at the slowest band's pursuit rate and may break off only if outdistanced by 6" and passing a Courage check. For each 6 pursuing bands with routers within 6" draw a card; the Black Shield number is bands killed. Captured nobles are captured on 1-3, slain 4-5, escape on 6. Forethought stratagem Prickers add extra kills. A ward pursuing off board may not return.

“666”: for each 6 bands in a pursuing unit, that have routers within 6” range of their company, may draw a Resolution card and consult the Black Shield (1-6); the number shown is the number of bands that they may kill.

At the start of battle, the player who force marched into the battle space chooses one of two penalties. Either one ward starts off table and enters late, or the 'Time hath worn us into slovenry' verse is placed on his Chronicle. For the late ward, a card is drawn secretly: 1-4 delays entry 6 turns, 5-6 delays it 10 turns. The campaign-side force march itself is handled outside these battle rules.

The player who force marched to get to the space where the battle occurs must choose between a late entry for one ward, or the “Time hath worn us into slovenry” verse being placed on their Chronicle.

Linear hindrances cost 1 extra inch, force a Faltering check on approaches (failure means Piecemeal) and make attacks Tired. Area hindrances cost 2 per inch and make the ward Tired. Buildings cannot be entered and make wards moving around them Tired. Defended obstacles make attacks through them Tired.

For Approaches, these cause merely a Faltering check- any failure means that the approach has become Piecemeal. Any attack across them immediately counts as one that is Tired.

MAA and other foot move 4" at Steady Gait and 6" at Quick; fleet foot 4/8; horse 6/10. Rout and pursuit rates are 6" (MAA), 8" (other foot and fleet foot) and 12" (horse). Companies in a ward must stay within one Quick move of another company.

a) Distance between companies: All companies in a ward must attempt to stay within one move (at Quick Gait) of at least one other company in the ward.

Bands must stay in base contact in any arrangement. Frontage changes by two bands per turn (one each end), and only on Approach or when stationary. Ranks may swap at activation for free so archers or melee troops come forward. A second rank must be more than a third of the first to count.

Frontage: Companies may increase or decrease frontage (the width of a unit in bands) during a turn by two bands per turn- one on each end.

Movers pay an extra 2" and must be on a Steady Gait approach; both wards count as crossing a Linear Hindrance and take Faltering checks.

The companies of one ward may pass through those of another stationary ward. To do this the movers pay an extra 2 inches, and may only do this at a Steady Gait

Stances are Gather to the Standards (enemy casualty draws -1), Thrust Home Lads (enemy +1 on casualty draws), I'll Not Shrink Back (commander leads from front at greater risk; if both play it the commanders duel), Pluck up your Courage (Courage check for a TBS bonus), Daggers Drawn (not first turn; more casualties) and Stand off Apace (break contact, both lose 1 Courage). The winner's card shows the Hazard to apply against the loser's stance.

Once both sides have chosen their stances for that encounter, they mutually reveal their choices. These stances, when cross- indexed, will show which bands in their companies will be counted in the encounter, along with any modifiers to their strength.

Quick Attack strengths apply only in the first round, then Tired. Steady Attacks keep Steady values while winning, then Tired. Tired attacks last indefinitely. Cavalry attacks last two rounds, then retire one Quick move and attack again as Tired. Belaboured winners get an extra card next round.

Steady Attacks- if the Ward is under Steady Attack orders in the turn when a company or companies enter into an encounter, use the Steady Attack Strengths

Locked: continue next round. Repulsed: loser pushed back one base depth with the winner following, Courage check and Pushed Back modifier. Stuck In: loser takes Light casualties, winner on 5+, loser checks Courage. Belaboured: loser Heavy, winner Light casualties. Any disengagement costs unbroken companies 1 Courage.

Repulsed- Loser is “Pushed Back” one base depth, with the winner following up. The loser takes a Courage Check, and has the “Pushed Back” modifier against him next turn.

Band strengths depend on attack type (Quick, Steady, Tired) and stance. Each eligible side draws a Resolution card and adds the Black Shield (1-6). Ties go to the higher Puissance, then Forwardness, else Locked.

a resolution card is drawn for each side (if eligible), and the random number in the center of the card (The Black Shield-TBS) is added to each respective total. The higher total wins the encounter.

Several companies vs one combine strength and share casualties proportionally. Striking flank or rear doubles unmodified strength; attacking across a defended obstacle halves the total; being downhill, single-ranked vs multiple ranks, or pushed back last turn denies the card draw. Unengaged lapping companies can wheel onto a flank as a Tired attack.

Any company that is attacking an enemy through their flank or rear facing does so with its unmodified Handstroke Strength doubled (before applying any random card draw).

Pike-fronted companies under Steady Attack orders attacked frontally by cavalry double their strength. Handstroke casualties are removed in order of greatest disparity between opposing band melee ratings (e.g. an archer facing a billman before a spearman facing a billman).

If a company fronted with Pikemen who are under a Steady Attack order, and are attacked through their front by Cavalry, then the Pikemen are doubled in strength

Verses are added for events like the king in the enemy camp, being outnumbered 3:2, successful enemy bombardment, enemy reinforcements, a friendly ward broken or withdrawing, or a Prop killed or captured. In the Assay phase, Doubt forces Falter tests and lowers commitment, Crisis makes failures rout, Cast Down forces withdrawal. When the enemy suffers an asterisked event, a side may 'forget' its last verse on a card draw.

At the bottom of each Ward Display sheet is a series of boxes that constitute the “Chronicle Track”, on which the morale of the entire Host and the battle is tracked.

Starting Courage comes from the commander's commitment and the company's dominant contingent type (e.g. Committed with 50%+ riding retinue = 4, Uncommitted array = 0), +1 Audacious, -1 Timorous. Failed Courage checks lose a level, every ended handstrokes encounter costs 1, commander death costs 1, and wards can spend Courage to ignore Faltering. Markers are kept face down.

Courage- a combination of physical energy and troop morale, which affects individual companies. It is determined by the collective starting quality of the bands and commanders that make up a company, and is spent through action

Draw a card and read the Falter result for the ward commander's commitment: Fight On, Falter or Miscarry. Effects depend on the cause, e.g. the ward halts and loses its approach under archery, all companies lose 1 Courage after a company is lost, or 1-2 Courage on losing the commander. A commander may substitute by having every company lose 1 Courage to drive on.

If during a turn an individual company is broken and put to flight, or if one is halted by archery fire, the entire ward that it is a part of may falter because of the misfortune caused to one of its parts.

Bands turn away and move individually at their own rout rate toward a board edge, with a first-turn bonus of +0/+1/+2" on a card draw. Routing through friends costs 1" and forces Courage checks on them; routers halt at obstacles and lose all MAA and half the rest in impassable rivers.

Units may never recover from rout once it occurs. The cohesion of contingents and companies is broken, and bands move as individuals, at their own rout speed.

The lower quarter of the card shows Carry On or Fail for Committed, Well-Wisher and Uncommitted commanders. Fail lowers Courage by one.

Draw a resolution card, and Check the lower right hand quarter of the card (where the Courage Check section is located; the result of the check for each Commitment level of the commander is shown.

A Discouraged company may only make Tired attacks and cannot use Pluck up your Courage; if it fails another Courage check, or loses Courage through substitution, it is broken and turned to rout next turn.

Any company which has no Courage left (it has no marker next to it) it is considered “Discouraged”; if in this state it fails another Courage Check, it is immediately broken.

Magnates raise Riding Retinue, Well-Wisher and Commission of Array contingent counters by shire in the campaign; at battle these are converted to bands and grouped into companies and wards, with minor nobles drawn to command. Captives and Chronicle outcomes feed back to the campaign.

If using the ACOP Campaign system, divide the contingents from the host that is engaged in a battle on the campaign board into wards, and choose out the ward commanders

The Battlefinder card system favours the advantaged host commander (Audacious, Old Soldier, +2 Forwardness, or facing an Impetuous foe). The side that did not seek battle deploys first; if both sought battle, deployments are written and placed simultaneously with 24" separation. A force-marched host either delays a ward 6-10 turns or takes a Chronicle verse. Orders, Dangers and Stratagems are fixed before turn 1.

The player who force marched to get to the space where the battle occurs must choose between a late entry for one ward, or the “Time hath worn us into slovenry” verse being placed on their Chronicle.

Each Happenstance phase reshuffles and draws one card; a Happenstance applies its Day of Battle effect, sometimes to a ward chosen by chit draw. During resolution draws, cards coded Co (Courage), Hs (Handstrokes) or Sh (Shooting) apply only to the matching draw type, after which a fresh card is drawn.

So if the player is drawing a card for a Courage Check, and a “Co” code appears, then that card applies to the check.

The game is not ended at victory but continues until the loser's commanders are off the board or captured, after which captives' fates are settled at the Block.

A victory is awarded to one side when the opposite side has all his wards either Withdrawing, in route, or already off the board.

After the required delay a late ward's chit is placed in the cup with a Lethargy chit; if Lethargy is drawn first it is delayed further. Late wards March in at Quick Gait, may not knowingly come within 18" of the enemy, and cannot make Quick Attacks after marching.

keep that counter aside until the required turns of delay are done, then place it in the cup, along with a Lethargy counter.

Lists Yorkist and Lancastrian commanders and their contingent draws (e.g. Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke: 2 RR, 5 WW, 5 CoA) with a map and historical background.

A Coat of Steel-Battle Scenario VI February 3rd, 1461 Orders of Battle Mortimer's Cross

The Company Quality table cross-references commander commitment with the majority contingent type (riding retinue with peer, riding retinue, well-wishers, array, mercenaries) to give starting Courage 0-4. Retinue archers outshoot levy archers.

To do this, he references the Company Commander’s Commitment level with the predominant types of contingents that made up the company.

Amateurs get none, Practiced one, Old Soldiers two and Audacious three, from options such as A Captain's Advice (change or add an order), Energetic (regenerate an approach/attack), A Wary Eye (detect bushments), Inspiring (restore Courage), Master Gunner, Forethought (prickers), Stout Ensign (absorb a commander casualty), Artifices, Good Timing (sharp archery), Far Sighted and Feint.

Stratagems represent certain tactical abilities and choices that are available to commanders, depending on their attributes and experience.

A band is 60-100 men on a uniform base (DBx-style bases work). Contingents are indivisible; companies need a command stand; wards are Vaward, Mainward, Rearward and Reserve, arranged in line or column with fixed positions.

There is a minimum and maximum company size- from 6 to 16 bands.

Each card gives dates, Forwardness and Puissance ratings, affinities and enmities (e.g. Pro-Neville, Anti-Stanley), commitment to York or Lancaster, experience (Amateur, Practiced, Old Soldier, Audacious) and traits such as Impetuous or Bloodthirsty. Unnamed captains are Uncommitted, Practiced, 3/3.

He is a Committed Yorkist, and Anti-Tudor. He is commands as an Old Soldier.

British: men-at-arms, levied billmen, levied spearmen, retinue archers, levy archers, kerns, galloglaich (fleet foot), mounted MAA, hobilars. Continental: handgunners, crossbowmen, pikemen. Artillery: bombards, field gonnes, organ gonnes. Bands are Melee troops or Archery/Other troops with both ratings.

For the purposes of combat, all bands (stands) in ACOP are divided into two basic types: Melee troops and Archery (or Other) troops.

Dangers include Incompetence (a random order is discarded), Confusion (card 4+ needed to change orders), Impetuous (feints or galling archery may force a piecemeal rush), Lethargic and Treacherous (activation chits), Timorous (may withdraw when the Cause is in Crisis), Mistrust (enmity lowers commitment), Revenge, Bloodthirsty and Merciful (fate of captives). They come from the characteristics on each noble's card.

Unlike Stratagems, these tendencies are forced upon a commander- he does not choose them; rather they are assigned to him.

Overall Orders such as Grim Advance (1 Flight, 2 Sheaf, 1 Steady Attack, 2 Approaches), Await the Foe, Hasty Assault, Headlong Rush, Defend Position and Draw Enemy (Old Soldiers only) are placed on the Ward Control Sheet. On activation the player picks one counter (Approach, Attack, Archery or a Stratagem) as the ward's current action; once performed it is discarded. Piecemeal approaches and Tired attacks can always be regenerated, but the planned options cannot.

After the tactic has been performed (and some may last a few turns) the tactic counter is discarded, and not used again during the game.

After shooting with casualties, commanders draw two cards: wounded 11+/killed 12 (Flight) or 10+/11+ (Sheaf); after handstrokes wounded 9+, killed 11+ (8+ if leading from the front). Two wounds kill. If both sides play I'll Not Shrink Back, commanders add a card to Puissance: winning by 3+ kills, 1-2 wounds (enmity turns wounds to kills). Losing a ward commander forces a Falter check; losing a company commander costs 1 Courage.

If both companies in a Handstrokes encounter play “I’ll not Shrink Back” stances, then they will fight each other before the encounter is resolved.

A bushment must be hidden by terrain; in the friendly third it is free, in the middle third only if the enemy host commander cannot set one and on a card at or under Forwardness. It uses the hidden Reserve chit until triggered or discovered (A Wary Eye reveals on 8+); springing one within 12" forces a Falter check.

In all cases, the size of the ward in bushment must physically be concealed by a terrain piece- either some woods, or in a deep depression, or behind some buildings.

Flight is high-trajectory area fire at long range (to 18"), uses all ranks and a 22-degree arc, and takes -1 intensity at short range. Sheaf is aimed close-range fire (about 8"), front rank only, straight ahead at the closest target, and takes -1 at long range. The whole ward fires and spends the tactic even if some companies are out of range. Crossbows have no wrong-range penalty; handguns may only use Sheaf.

Sheaf: This denotes short range, flat trajectory aimed fire, using a heavier sheaf arrow.

Archery tactics represent both firing modes and the limits on arrow supply; each volley expends a counter for the whole ward. Field guns may only fire every second turn and organ guns every fourth. Companies defending works get +1 intensity for extra arrows.

The Archery Tactics components represent both the different modes of archery barrage that were used in our era, along with limitations on ammunition that were a reality in English tactical usage.

Sum the shooting strength of eligible bands (e.g. retinue bows 3 Flight/4 Sheaf, levy bows 2/3) and cross-index with target company size to get Intensity, modified (+2 vs cavalry, +1 sharp archery, -1 target with 3+ starting Courage, -2 rain into wind, -1 pavises). A Resolution card gives Falls Short, Scattered (Courage check, casualty draw), Galling (two casualty draws, Faltering check) or Discomfiting (also one mandatory casualty per 20 strength).

Total the Shooting Strength of all Archer bands in the company that can fire; find total (rounded down) against target company size (round down also) on the Shooting Intensity Chart to determine Intensity.

A side with three or more guns including a bombard totals 1 per field gun and 2 per bombard (+2 for an expert gonner) plus 1d6; beating the enemy by 3+ places the 'Vex us with shot' verse on their Chronicle. In battle guns cannot move, fire last without needing orders, and crews flee if enemies come within 4". Rain or snow stops all gunpowder weapons.

This is more an attack on his foe’s morale rather than one on his men’s bodies, and will only have effectiveness against their army morale

Cards are drawn for shooting, handstrokes, casualties, commander casualties, Courage and Faltering checks; each has a TBS number and quadrants listing results per commitment level. Some cards are Happenstances.

The Black Shield (TBS)- The black shield icon in the middle of each resolution card- numbered 1to 6. These may be used in lieu of six sided dice rolls.

A Courage Check reads the result for the commander's Commitment level (Committed, Well-wisher or Uncommitted) from the drawn Resolution card. The Mistrust Danger makes all commanders involved count one level of Commitment lower. A bad Handstroke hazard result makes the loser take a Courage Check at -1 level of Commitment. Resolution cards such as "Thou with an Eagle art Inspired!" have the drawer check at 1 level higher or lower.

All commanders involved count one level of Commitment lower.

Ranks are Heir, Peer, Lord and Captain with strict precedence; up to four Props per host whose loss hurts the Chronicle. Commanders are Committed, Well-Wishers or Uncommitted, which sets Courage and Faltering results, and family enmities cause Mistrust or Treachery. After battle captives may be exchanged for near kin, and enmity or a Bloodthirsty host commander sends them to the block.

If there is enmity between one of the Victorious ward commanders and any captive, the captive must go to the block.

Only commander captives are tracked, and each one taken slows the pursuing unit by 1 inch. If the pursuit is broken off and a path to the captor's rear edge is clear of enemies within 6 inches, captives go to the rear; otherwise they stay with the company, in the rear ranks. If the company routes, the captives go free and are removed from play. After the battle, captives with close family held by the enemy may be exchanged for them, and the other side cannot refuse. Captives with enmity toward a victorious ward commander, or held by a Bloodthirsty Host Commander, go to the block.

If the pursuit is broken off, and a path to the captor's rear board edge is clear of any enemy within 6", the captives may be sent to the rear- if not, they must remain with the company until they may be sent off.

One chit per ward of both sides goes into the cup and is drawn in turn to activate that ward. An Audacious C-in-C adds a Choice chit; a Lethargic commander's ward chit is replaced by two Lethargy chits and an Action chit, so it only acts if Action comes out first; a Treacherous commander also adds a Treachery chit that switches sides if drawn first. Late wards enter with a Lethargy chit.

Lethargic Ward Commander: do not include his ward chit; instead, add the two "Lethargy" chits, and the "Action" chit. First one chosen determines ward's activity.

Each turn fills the activation cup, draws a card for Day of Battle events, moves all routers and pursuers compulsorily, activates wards one by one as chits are drawn, then resolves all handstrokes ward by ward, and finally both sides assess their Chronicle track for army morale effects.

1) Prepare the Ward Activation Cup 2) Common Happenstance 3) All Routers & Pursuers move. 4) Ward Activity 5) Handstrokes 6) Assay the Cause

Flight casualties come from the lightest-armoured bands first; Sheaf casualties from the closest rank; handstrokes only from bands in contact, weakest first. Light casualties are at least 1 band, Heavy at least 2; winning by 10+ strength adds one, and companies of 40+ strength double casualties. Losing 4 bands in a round or being reduced to 3 or fewer is an automatic rout; losing half the starting bands removes all Courage.

Lose 4 bands in casualties in one round: automatic Rout. •3 bands or less remaining at end of round: automatic Rout.

Draw two cards for starting weather; wind direction is chosen by one player and rotated by a card draw. Precipitation is snow from December to March, else rain. Gunpowder weapons cannot fire in rain/snow, and shooting into the wind in rain or snow gets -2 intensity.

No Gunpowder weapons: Bombards, Field Gonnes, Organ Gonnes, or handgonnes may not fire.