Hard targets such as walls, rams and vessels are destroyed by an escalating-chance roll that gets easier each successive turn of sustained attack.
A siege scenario and add-on rules for Classical Hack Second Edition, recreating Alexander's assault on Tyre (dated 334 B.C. in the article) with warships, barges, ladders, rams, towers and ballistae, plus a photocopiable quick reference sheet with adjusted shooting, melee and morale factors. The Macedonians must breach the temple compound walls in two places and block the Tyrian king and Carthaginian delegation before they reach the Temple of Hercules. New siege rules introduce light/medium/heavy ballistae, rams, wheeled towers, sheds, ladders, fascines, fenders and advancing ramps.
A friendly rout within 2" disorders nearby units, or routs already-disordered ones.
Units with a friendly unit routing within 2" test; the result is becoming disordered, or routing if already disordered. Each friendly unit routing within 2" also gives -1 to morale.
Friendly unit routing in 2 inches {Become Disordered/ Already Disordered Rout}
Units become disordered from flank contact, prolonged melee, ladders and ship-borne charges.
Disorder is caused by being contacted on flank or rear, after a second round of melee, failing morale from shooting, losing melee, pursuing, charging from ship or barge, and climbing ladders. Disordered units suffer -2 morale and give enemies +1/+2 in melee.
Causes of Disorder Contacted on flank or rear After second round of melee Failing morale from shooting Losing melee Pun;uing Charging from Ship or Barge Climbing Ladders
Morale tests on shooting casualties, lost melee, 50% strength and nearby routs.
Triggers: 2 casualties from shooting (retire 1 full move), loss of melee (rout or jump in the water), stopping a rout, 50% strength (retire 1 move). Basic morale factor +12 Macedonian, +10 Persian, modified by friends charging nearby +1, enemy routing +1, commander with unit +1, winning +1, losing -2, disordered -2, routed -2, -1 per figure lost and -1 per friendly unit routing within 2".
When to Test Morale & Results From: 2 casualties from shooting {Retire 1 full move back} Loss of Melee {Rout/jump in water}
An initiative roll decides movement order.
In the movement phase the initiative high roller determines order and one side moves then the other.
Movement Phase to Initiative High Roller I. One side moves then the other
Charges declared, missile fire, movement, melee, then rally phases.
A: charge declarations and responses marked only. B: missile fire, morale tests for 2 casualties, perform morale results, move charges and responses. C: movement phase (initiative high roller chooses; one side then the other), attach/detach commanders, catastrophic roll for entering harbours or shoals, stop rout once. D: melee one round per turn (including ram/wall attacks), morale tests, rout and pursuit. E: rally from melee, break off pursuit or evade.
A. Charge Declarations & Responses Mark Only ... B. Missile Fire ... C. Movement Phase to Initiative High Roller ... D. Melee one round per tum
Alexander may join ongoing melees, fighting in the front rank with a +3 bonus, but is at risk.
Alexander starts on a vessel and rushes to any breach, adding d10 to his vessel's movement. He is the only commander who can join an ongoing melee, adding +3 to the unit's melee and morale; he is at risk at each first contact like all commanders in the rules. A commander with a unit gives +1 morale.
When attaching himself to a unit in melee Alexander fights in the front rank and adds to the unit's melee and morale as a plus 3 modifier for both.
Rams and ballistae destroy hard targets on a d10 roll whose requirement drops by one each successive turn.
A ballista shooting ball shot at a wall, vessel or engine that inflicts at least one casualty then rolls d10: 10 destroys the target, then 9-10 next turn, 8-10 the turn after and so on, provided the shooter does not change target. Battering rams roll the same way against gates, walls and towers in the melee phase, and stones dropped from walls destroy rams, towers and mantlets by the same method. Stone walls give -2 and fenders -1 to attackers.
A battering ram destroys a gate, wall or tower by rolling a single 0 -10. The first time a 10 is required, the next turn a 9 or 10 is required, third tum a 8, 9 or 10 is required and so on.
Side-specific base melee factors with cumulative modifiers.
Persian basic melee factor +10 with +3 defending, +2 enemy shieldless, +2 hoplite charging, +1 enemy disordered; Macedonian basic +14 with +2 enemy disordered, +2 shieldless, +2 charging, +1 others charging. The scenario uses averaged base factors rather than per-unit values.
Persian Melee Factors Basic Factor +10 +3 Persian Defending +2 Enemy shieldless
Escalade with ladder-height rolls, fascines to fill ditches and fenders to absorb shot.
Units carrying ladders or fascines move at half speed. On reaching a wall, a d10 of 9 or 10 means the ladders are too short and the unit mills under the wall. Units on ladders fight as 3 figures (5 for loose order) in a column two figures wide (three for loose). A fascine fills 1" of ditch or builds 1" of barricade; fenders hung on walls give shooters -1. Each city tower has a battery that fires in one direction once per turn.
Units carrying ladders and reaching a wall that can be scaled will roll a 0-10 to determine if the ladders are tall enough. A roll of 9 or 10 and the ladder is too short.
Fixed maximum ranges per weapon, with ballistae split into light, medium and heavy.
The Tyre QRS gives bow 12", sling 6", ballista 36". The new siege rules rate ballistae light (12", +7), medium (18", +9) and heavy (24", +11), one rank each. Shooting factors are modified by stationary shooter +2, ball shot +2, shieldless target +2, hard cover -2, wall with fenders -1, soft cover -1 and missile-men targets -1, with a maximum of 2 figures from one shooter.
Light 12inches I Light + 7 ... Medium 18 inches I Medium +9 ... Heavy 24 inches I Heavy +II
Siege engines are typed light/medium/heavy with a computed morale value.
Engines (ballistae, rams, mantlets, towers, sheds) come in light, medium and heavy types. A ballista unit's morale value is (number of figures x FV) + UV, e.g. light ballista 5 figures, FV .4, UV 5. Ballistae taking antipersonnel hits reduce their X5 shooting multiplier by the hits taken.
[Number of Figures times PV]+UV=Unit Morale Value
Key figures, charging vessels and engines add a die roll to movement.
The Tyrian king and Carthaginians move their normal allowance plus d10; Alexander's vessel adds d10 when heading to a breach. Vessels charging walls add d6; rams and towers move d6 inches; routing units move normal move plus d6.
Azemilcus and the Carthaginians can be mounted as He or Ch and move using their normal allowed movement plus the roll of a D-10 die.
Vessels charge other vessels, walls or beaches and fight boarding melees.
Vessels declare and move charges after shooting like other units. At each first contact a warship rolls d10 for a catastrophic event (broken keel or ram); a 10 destroys it, and barges rammed by warships sink. Charges against walls or beaches add d6 to the vessel's move, after which the assault unit disembarks. All figures on vessels count in ship-to-ship melee; winners capture enemy vessels whose crews rout into the water.
At each first contact against other ships or barges a warship must roll a D-10 to determine if a catastrophic event occurs
The Tyrian king must reach the Temple of Hercules before Macedonian assault units cut him off.
The King of Tyre and the Carthaginian delegation must travel from the market and treasury along the main street into the temple's front door; the defenders' goal is to buy him time. Alexander must breach the temple compound walls in two places, enter the city and block the king's route.
The King of Tyre, Azemilcus, and the Carthaginian delegation must go from the city market and treasury building to the Temple of Hercules before Alexander's units cut them off.
Siege engines and ramps advance by die roll and towers risk toppling.
Manhandled rams, sheds and wheeled towers move d6 inches per turn. Wheeled towers moving on a ramp roll d10 each turn to see if they topple, using the escalating destruction method. Ramps under construction advance 1" per pip of a d6 roll; games are recommended to start with the ramp partly built.
For ramps that are under construction roll a D-6 die to move them forward. The roll will advance the ramp 1 inch for each pip rolled forward.