Slitherine

LAST UPDATE May 23, 2012

Here is my current draft trying to detail all the SOP steps to make it easier for me and other players to flow through the turn. Changes made on the update date listed above will be in Red - deletions not shown. With small margins and sized properly, this SOP itself all fits on one Letter or A4 page, and deleting blank lines between sections helps with text size. Pasting into Excel and the result back into Word creates a table like the FOGR SOP. My Word/PDF version will have line numbers in the left margin and further bold formatting for emphasis.

All steps in each paragraph/line are completed before going to the next line (unless it says otherwise).
Active = Active Player Inactive = non-Active player Pages: L=left column, R=right

Command Point Allocation Phase (p25)
Active Corps Commander (not with unit in contact) allocates ADCs(CPs) to Divisional Commanders.

Assault Phase (p27)
Active declares Assaults and any Impetuous in reach of enemy who opt not to Assault.
Active CMTs required to Assault or Impetuous to not Assault (uses 1ADC per) (p28).
Units Wavering at start of phase take a CT if assault declared on them (p30L).
Infantry in open not in Square or behind Obstacle take CT if Cavalry declares assault on them (p30).
Infantry not in Square drop 1 Cohesion Level if Cavalry within 2MU declares assault on them (p69 table).
CT for any friends passed through by Impetuous who failed CMT not to assault.
Each Inactive Unit declares Reaction and takes any required test before action, or Outcome if Retire or Evade.
Intercepting units move (use ADC if required)(p31-32); counter-charging units moved. Target units not contacted due to their attackers being intercepted have the effects of their compulsory Reactions cancelled (p32R).
Fire Assaulted Artillery Defensive Firing at Medium Range before retiring if it passed CT to do so(p32).
Move Assaulters to 2MU (less in some cases) from enemy and resolve all close-range Defensive Fire, immediately resolving each Outcome. If CMT failed/not taken,then Cav+Arty Att. may & Inf must remain at 2 MU (p32).
Assaulters move to contact target (or eligible new target if original target retires/evades out of range) (p31), inflicting Cohesion Loss on retiring or evading troops they contact. (p30) Assaulter without eligible targets makes its full assault move (p31).
New targets within full Assault move range react normally before combat (p31).

Firing Phase (p48)
Active fire first, for each chosen target allocating all dice against, rolling, and Inactive immediately resolving result and Outcomes (p61-63); including CMT to Advance (note halts); 3 hits -> attached leader casualty check. (p66)
Inactive CTs for “Friends Broken” and “Burst Through”(p64).
Inactive fires in same manner as Active under Box 41 (p61-63).
Active CTs for “Friends Broken” and “Burst Through”(p64).

Movement Phase (p34)
Active check for Reserves and Flank Marches (p101-102, 34-35).
Active moves (& spends CPs for CMTs for) units (those Broken in last Inactive turn make rout move before others).
Inactive Auto-Activates Reserves (p101-102, 34-35).

Combat Phase (p55)
Simultaneous Combat hit calculations for all units; 3 hits -> attached leader casualty check (p66).
Combat Resolution Table resolves all Outcomes (p61) in order shown in Outcome Moves Table.
All Retirements first, then all Pursuits (p60).
If Pursuer contacts enemy @ < 1/2 pursuit move as part of Outcome then conduct immediate Combat and Outcome (no Reaction,; No Def Fire; may be further Pursuit but no more than one Pursuit combat per unit in this Phase). If contact @ > 1/2 first pursuit move, or if a second pursuit move, then Combat is resolved next Combat phase (Reaction allowed, but no Fire) (p66).
Active Broken recover to Wavering if all their opponents were Broken; Cavalry may pass through.
Make Cohesion Tests during phase as required; those at end are inactive first, then active (p70).
Recovery Phase (p67)
Assess victory conditions (p74).
Active: May Promote Brigade Commander to replace his lost Divisional Commander (p67).
Move commanders up to 4MU (Inactive first)(p25L).
Restore Artillery in fortifications to prior position if moved in firing (p25R).
Active: Each Cmdr may roll CT to Recover Cohesion or roll for Broken’s sole rally attempt for one of his units only(4 MU range)(p67-70) or Abandoned Guns (p47).
Active: Promote replacements for lost Corps and Division Commanders (p67).
Active: Restores ADCs to commanders (p25).

That is nice and clear, thanks for your work.

You are most welcome. I hope it is clear enough that my errors will be made obvious and can be corrected. It is also incomplete, inculding page references. For example, I am still cloudy on sequencing converted charges as well as pursuits, and there are a lot of fine point restrictions and some modifiers not in the tables which should get a page reference for the player to refer to if unsure as to whether he has them all fixed in his mind.

Revisions will be in the post above. Please provide input here or by PM. Thanks!

I have made a number of revisions.

An errata item: I write that effects of compulsory Reaction tests are cancelled for units whose attackers don't contact them due to interception because the official sequence of play on p24 puts interception after tests but p31 says those units don't need to take the compulsory tests if interception prevents the attackers from making contact. This reconciles both. The other option is to delay the compulsory tests until after interception, or move the interceptors early.

This is the one I have work on chaps

It looks good as an outline but the SOP is most useful for those with imperfect memories when it is a reliable step-by-step guide to play that cues the player to do the right things and check the right pages in the book if in doubt. This may be even more important when someone is trying to keep straight several FOG rules sets at a time (and critical as a reference to give a new player confidence when walking through a potentially complex battle). As you can see from the red above, my understanding (and that of others discussing the fine points) is evolving daily - towards a perfect answer, I'm hoping.

I also think it is essential to fit it on one page, which is doable.

My model is the FOGR Sequence of Play since it included clean up of all the ambiguities in the FOG SOP and very clearly indicated what is to be done at each step. In FOG, the order of play even in its nuances can be critical.

Fortunately this is not a set that requires a flowchart with multiple subroutines.

This has now been updated a few times with more details and based on errata and clarifications. Thanks for further corrections/suggestions. I am keeping the Word/PDF version down to one page - that is in table format.

Any corrections/suggestions for improvement? Right now my file is a one page table in Word that could be PDFd. Could color code the phases or other bits if that would be helpful.

A couple of points for the recover phase:

1) Commanders could be promoted at the begining ot the phase - IF a brigade commander is available to be sacrificed.
2) Only the active player restores ADCs

terrys wrote:A couple of points for the recover phase:

1) Commanders could be promoted at the begining ot the phase - IF a brigade commander is available to be sacrificed.
2) Only the active player restores ADCs

1) Right now it has at the start "Active: May Promote Brigade Commander to replace his lost Divisional Commander (p67)." Is that more general, in that a Corps Commander could be replaced by a Divisional Commander at the start of phase if a Brigadier was sacrificed to replace the DC being promoted?


2) Done.

Only a divisinoal commander can be replaced (by a brigade commander) at the begining of the recovery phase. A corps commander can only be replaced at the end of the recovery phase.

Mike - the errata says:

Page 24: RH Column/Movement Phase - 1st Bullet: Delete the last 2 sentences “He must move any and all units that are ‘in command’ first. He may then attempt to move units that are ‘out of command’.”

I take it that you now move whichever you choose first,

Albion1 wrote:Mike - the errata says:

Page 24: RH Column/Movement Phase - 1st Bullet: Delete the last 2 sentences “He must move any and all units that are ‘in command’ first. He may then attempt to move units that are ‘out of command’.”

I take it that you now move whichever you choose first,

Updated above.

I'll post a Word or PDF version once it's complete. If anything is not clear, please let me know.