Electronic Warfare:

As you will see below, the issuing of Orders to your Fireteams is a vital part of High Crusade, and your ability to issue the correct orders when needed will determine whether or not you are victorious or not. All orders are transmitted electronically by radio and unfortunately are susceptible to enemy use of Electronic Warfare Jammers, which can prevent your side getting its orders through, or even result in false orders being given!

To determine how many Electronic Warfare Jammers each side has, both players must throw a D4 and whatever the score, that is the number of Jammers they have at their disposal throughout the game (if you do not have a D4, roll a normal D6 and ignore any score of 5 or 6, rolling again if this occurs).

Orders:

Soldiers do not by nature just do their own thing in a battle. Sure they don't need much inclination to fire, but move towards the enemy when it's safer just to remain in their nice little foxhole? You must be joking... However they will if you order them to do so, and this is your role as commander.

At the start of each turn you must issue each of your Fireteams with an order. These are represented by small counters marked with either Advance, Cautious Advance, Static or Regroup. The issuing of the correct orders at the right time is vital for your success and is an art that you will gain after many a battle...

Advance: this order means that your Fireteam will move up to 10cm (but not less than 6cm) in any direction you wish. Troops advancing are regarded to be running as fast as they can from A to B and as such are unable to fire with any degree of accuracy and present easy targets for your opponent (the exact modifications are noted in the Firing section of the rules).

Cautious Advance: this order means that troops can advance up to 5cm, but not less than 1cm in any direction you wish. Troops cautiously advancing are deemed to be make short rushes of movement before taking cover. Whilst this means that they cannot cover as much ground as a normal Advance order, they are not so easy to hit and are more accurate when firing.

Static: this order means your Fireteam cannot move. Static troops are regarded to be lying down, taking advantage of any cover they can be found. As they are not moving, Static troops are very hard to hit and very accurate when firing.

Regroup: this order only applies if you are using the optional Morale rules and is explained under the Morale section (see Part 5).

You will need to make yourself a selection of counters from card marked with the above (or recognisable abbreviations such as Adv., Ct. Adv., St., and Rgp.) and we suggest you make a complete set of four for each Fireteam under your control. Ensure that you only write on one side and leave the other blank.

To issue a Fireteam with an order, you select one of the four above and place the counter marked accordingly, face down with the blank side up next to your Fireteam. An order cannot be changed once it is placed upon the table. When both players have placed all their orders next to their Fireteams, then they should all be revealed. The orders dictate the actions of the Fireteams for the forthcoming move,

Snipers are not issued with Orders, as these individuals are trained to operate independently, outside the normal military system.

Jamming:

Once the orders have been revealed, the players may attempt to Jam the enemy's orders by using his Electronic Warfare Jammers, the number of which each player has at his disposal was decided by a dice roll earlier. Each player can only attempt to jam the orders to the same number of Fireteams as he has Electronic Warfare Jammers (if you have two Jammers, you can only attempt to jam two of the enemy's orders).

To see if the attempted jam was successful, both players throw a D10 (remember on a D10 the 0 = 10, not zero). Should the defender score higher than the player attempting the Jam, then the attempt has failed. If however the defenders score is lower, then the Jam has succeeded.

If the Jam is successful, you then need to throw another D10 and apply the result as follows:

Initiative:

To decide which player moves and fires first each move, you need to find out who has the Initiative. To calculate the Initiative both players throw a D10 and add the following modifiers dependent on what forces they have at their command. Should you have a mixed force you take the highest modifier, not both (eg. a mixed force of Free Companies Crusaders and Levy would have a modifier of 4 not 7).

The player with the highest modified score, gains the Initiative for that turn.

Gaining the Initiative can be very important to a battle as it allows the player with it to move or fire first if they choose or wait to see what his opponent does first.

© Wessex Games 1994, 2000