The ambush is a well known military tactic, however wargames rules rarely seem to have a workable mechanism to handle them.
A summary of existing rules and methods
I carried out a non-comprehensive analysis of wargames rules that have any rules for ambushes. (If any readers know of any other than those I have listed then please send a comment to the Editor!)
Ambush rules in published wargames
“Flames of War”
The Defender may have 1 (sometimes more than 1 depending on the scenario) unit kept off table for use in an ambush.
Deployed no closer than 4" and in cover (woods, etc.) to an enemy unit or more than 16" and not in cover.
Bolt Action
A unit can be given an Ambush order
A unit with an Ambush order may fire at a moving enemy unit in the opponent’s turn (so a bit like overwatch in other rules)
At the end of the turn an unused Ambush order can be converted to a Fire order on a score of 4+ on 1D6
One Page Rules
Units with the Ambush special rule may be set aside at the beginning of the game. In any turn after the first, a one of these units can be deployed anywhere >9” from any opposing unit.
“The Sword and the Flame”
This game has rules for the concealment of units – indeed it is recommended that all Native units are concealed at the start of a game. A concealed unit may be revealed as and when desired by the Native player or when an opposing unit moves to a position where the concealed unit is visible.
Considerations
Most of these methods work up to a point. However, tracking the location of units can be a pain. This pain can be alleviated to some extent by using an area or grid location but it still requires record keeping. Of course it is possible to “free kriegsspiel” the whole thing as in Dick Scholefield’s “The Birds Are Singing And It's a Wonderful Day!”, but I was looking for something more rules based.
Colonial
Many moons ago my old wargaming friend Robin Peck (now sadly passed away) wrote up a system in the “Lone Warrior” magazine. This is summarised here:
Generally, the native forces will be concealed at the start of the game. Shuffle together as many marked cards as there are native units with as many blank cards as there are more possible places of concealment than native units. For example, if there are 11 possible places of concealment and 6 native units, shuffle together 11 cards – 6 marked and 5 blank.
Place one card face down at each location. Remember that more than one unit may fit in a larger area of concealment.
Face down cards may not be moved. Cards may be turned over when:
During native movement – roll 1D6 to score 6 to allow one card card to be turned over. You may do this no more than twice in any turn.
If any Imperial figure approaches within 4in. of a feature containing a card
An ordinary pack of playing cards may be used:
Blank cards are red. A blank card is removed when turned over.
Marked cards are black. A marked card is replaced by a native unit.
Again the system worked but the disadvantage is that all potential concealment locations are known, it’s just that you don’t know if they are occupied or not. It is theoretically possible for the opposing force to simply work around them.
I have seen a number of other games where concealment is managed by having one or more dummy markers for each marker representing a real unit. Again, this has the same problem – all the potential locations of the concealed forces are known even if the actual location is unknown. The corollary is of course that where there is no marker there is definitely no enemy troops ...
A Better Mousetrap?
Picture the scene … a British column advancing through hostile territory. It could be the North West Frontier or the savannahs of Zululand … . An American patrol in Vietnam …. an armed convoy in Palestine in 1936….
At any time they could be ambushed by enemy troops. They don’t see it coming until the bullets start flying or the demolition charge blows the road in front of them. Every tree, hillock or other piece of cover could hide a malevolent enemy. Most of the time the Americans in the jungles of Vietnam never even saw their opponents.
While trying to recreate these sort of situations in a game format, it dawned on me that all the constraints rules normally placed on where and when an ambush might occur are actually completely irrelevant. Why not simply allow ambushers to appear from cover literally anywhere? And why limit the number of ambushers?
Simple Ambush Rules
These rules have a main core section (given below) and then two alternative specific modules – one for a unit based rules system and the other for a figure based skirmish type game. In the latter case my “go to“ rules for skirmishes is “One Hour Skirmish Wargames”, hence the references to Action Points (APs).
The ambushing side has one or more “ambush pools”. An Ambush Pool is a group of units or figures held off table and available for deployment in ambushes. The Ambush Pools can potentially contain all the figures or units in the Ambushing force. A single Ambush Pool can be assigned to a specified zone on the table.
The Defender moves onto the table and proceeds with actions until the Ambusher declares an ambush. At this point the Ambusher places as many units or figures from the Ambush Pool as they wish. This deployment counts as a Move action (and any restrictions on Move actions will apply).
Ambushing units must be placed no closer than the “minimum ambush distance” from any enemy, may be in cover or prone, and no further away than the “maximum shooting distance”. The ambushers must have LOS to an enemy unit. The “minimum ambush distance” is to ensure that Ambushers cannot move straight into Close Combat.
Play then proceeds normally with the following additional provisions:
In the Ambusher’s activation, additional units or figures from the Ambush Pool may be deployed. This deployment counts as a Move action.
The scenario may set a limit on how many units or figures can be deployed in a single activation.
Ambushing units or figures may “fade away”. They are removed from the table and returned to the Ambush Pool. This action also counts as a Move action. A unit that fades away recovers all hits.
Contact is broken when all units or figures are out of LOS. If contact is broken then all the ambushing units fade away.
Simple Ambush Rules (unit based)
“minimum ambush distance” is one normal move (for the ambushing unit).
“maximum shooting distance” Is small arms range
Roll 6+ on 2D6 to activate a unit from the ambush pool for the first time.
A unit cannot fade away if engaged in close combat.
A unit that has “faded away” may be deployed again in ambush on a score of 8+ on 2D6, but not on the same turn in which it fades away..
Simple Ambush Rules (for use with “One Hour Skirmish Wargames” or similar skirmish rules)
“minimum ambush distance” is 6”.
“maximum shooting distance” Is 24”
It costs 1AP to deploy a figure
The scenario will set a limit on how many figures can be deployed in a single activation, though usually this is limited by the number of APs available.
An ambushing figure may “fade away” at a cost of 1AP per figure.
