Strategy & Tactics Issue #242
They Died With Their Boots On 2
(Boots 2, for short), presents a wargame system that simulates two
campaigns of the US Army from the late 18th and early 20th centuries.
The
rules present sub-systems that show the wild fluctuations of fortune
that historically affected the forces of both sides, from heroic fights
to blunders that led to some of the more infamous military actions of
those times.
Boots 2 uses an
interactive game turn in which both players command an overall force
made up of several sub-commands. During each turn, players alternate
picking "command markers," which designate the sub-command within their
force they may then use to conduct operations. The player then moves
units of that sub-command and, at the completion of its movement, may
conduct attacks with the units of that same sub-command. Play then
passes to the other player, who similarly picks a marker and moves and
fights. That procedure continues until all command markers have been
picked. Additionally, certain events cause players to pick "heroism
markers" at random, which may generate anything from mad, impetuous
charges to abject surrenders.
The
rules are divided into the standard rules, which are common to all
games in the system (Boots 1 will have appeared in S&T no. 236),
and the scenario rules, which provide deployment and reinforcement
instructions, as well as victory conditions, for each specific battle
game.
This edition of Boots includes two games: Pershing: The Hunt for Poncho Villa, 1916; and Mad Anthony: War for Ohio, 1791-94.
In the Pershing game,
each turn represents one month, and each hexagon on the map represents
10 miles across. US Army units, as well as those of the Mexican
Federales forces, are battalions, regiments and brigades. Poncho
Villa's units each represent correspondingly sized groups of
combatants, with about 80 to 120 individuals per strength point.
In
the Mad Anthony game, each turn represents between one week and one
month, depending on the time of year, and each hexagon on the map
represents 10 miles across. Units of maneuver for the US Army are
primarily battalions, while Indian units are warbands, awarded one
strength point for each 80 to 120 individuals within them.
Scale:
Players: 2
Level: Company/Battalion
Hex: 10 Miles