These are my rules to support a large scale campaign based in southern Spain from 1810, covering Mortier's V Corps based at Seville, and the various Spanish attacks from Extremadura, the Condado de Niebla, and Cadiz. Much of the detail is derived from Bruce Quarrie's “Napoleon's Campaigns in Miniature”.

The campaign is divided into long “phases”. When the action has drawn to a close you can decide that the end of a phase has been reached, which allows much of the force and organisation to be reset before the start of the next “phase” (the end of a phase is also the logical point to review assumptions about supply and attrition rates documented below).

The aim is to create the feeling of action happening in real time, but from the commander's perspective. That means receiving reports and issuing orders based on limited information. The sequence starts at the beginning of each day and concludes at the end.

For each army check the current location and strength of all units. For each unit update its supply status and attrition rate, return any men to the ranks as required by the attrition and medical rules. For each unit also check whether the unit is operating in a detached fashion and which set of orders that unit is currently operating under (subject to change at the next step). Determine which areas are under French control.

In this phase of play, each independent commander reviews the information and the (dated) intelligence available to them. Commanders can also detach part of their command if they so wish (and it is within the orders they are operating under) providing a strategic mandate instruction when they do so. Each independent commander then issues operational orders to the units under his command. The commander may choose to leave existing operating instructions in place if they remain appropriate.

Where new orders are issued, the date on which they will arrive at the receiving commander must be noted. They must not be acted upon until they arrive at their destination.

For each unit record what activity it will be undertaking this turn from the following list:

• Moving.
• Foraging.
• Scouting.
• At rest.
• Recruiting (dispersos - Spanish only).

Based on current location and a reasonable interpretation of the unit's current orders, calculate the movement for each unit and update it's location in the etat-situation. Where movement results in enemy units arriving in the same square, update the intelligence record to show enemy contact and calculate when any superior commanders will be notified. Decide whether the contact will result in a battle, and if so whether it will be resolved using Sharp Practice or General d'Armee.

Record each unit's location by grid reference in the Etat-Situation at the end of each movement cycle.

After movement has been calculated, and any combat has been resolved, record the outcomes and update the Etat Major as required. This means:

• New unit locations.
• Usage of supply stocks.
• Losses due to combat and updates to the Surgeon-General record.
• Losses due to attrition.
• New information as a result of contact and observation.

Movement rates are based on the following tables taken from Quarrie and give rates per hour/per day based on a marching day of 8 hours.

The aim should be to track and record movement in as organic a way as possible, although the location of each unit should be recorded on the Etat-Situation by grid reference at the end of every movement cycle.

Troops ordinarily march six days out of seven, and for 8 hours each day. Marching for a seventh consecutive day, or for more than 8 hours, is a forced march. At the end of their first forced march troops will become tired. Tired troops move at 75% of their normal rate, require two days of rest to recuperate, start any combat with a penalty, and suffer an increased attrition rate. Tired troops that continue moving become exhausted. Exhausted troops move at 50% of their normal rate, require three days of rest to recuperate, start combat with a further penalty, and suffer a further increased attrition rate.

Continuous rain reduces movement rates by 10% for each day (so after ten days of continuous rain all movement must stop). Ground dries out at the rate of 25% per day.

All supply needs are summarised as “sacks” of supplies. Infantry (and foot artillery) units consume supplies at the rate of 1 sack per day per 100 men or fraction thereof; Cavalry (and horse artillery) units consume supplies at the higher rate of 8 sacks per day to reflect the need for fodder. Each unit's supply needs and how they are to be met are identified at the start of each day. Supplies may either be provided from the “train”, from supplies they carry themselves, or from foraging the local surroundings. Where a unit cannot meet it's full supply needs this is reflected in its attrition rate.

Troops themselves can carry sufficient supplies for 5 days. How much they are currently carrying is recorded for each unit on the Etat-Situation page of the Etat-Major and should be adjusted whenever the commander chooses to use this source to supply that unit.

Supply status is either:

• In supply.
• Half supply (where the unit can fulfill less than all but more than half its needs).
• Out of supply (where the unit can fulfill less than half its needs).

A commander can voluntarily reduce the supply usage for a unit to “half supply” to extend the time during which the unit is in partial supply, thereby accepting an increased attrition rate in the short term to postpone the moment at which the unit will run out of supply completely.

In the campaign briefing, each army will have a specified depot town or city. This town can supply an unlimited number of troops for an indefinite amount of time, and can fully reload any supply wagons (taking a full day to do so). Temporary magazines can be accumulated by foraging troops in any town location and should be accounted for separately through the Intendant-General.

Sacks of supplies can be transported on wagons (although remember that this will slow moving troops down to the speed of wagons). Each wagon can hold a maximum of 20 sacks. The Intendant-General page of the Etat Major should record each company of wagon train and log withdrawals of supplies by units to record a running total of the supplies carried by that company.

Temporary depot can be created at any town held by either army. These essentially function as static train, and can be recorded by simply adding the appropriate accounting lines to the Intendant-General page of the Etat Major.

Troops can also forage for supplies instead of withdrawing supplies from a supply train. To do this, the troops must be located in a town or village and must be stationary. It is assumed that they are in effect slightly dispersed as they search the local area and commandeer whatever they find. This doesn't impose any combat penalty, it is assumed that the troops will be sufficiently watchful to spot any approaching enemy troops and re-form so that they are combat ready should any action take place. Troops left stationary for a period of time can (at discretion) start to forage without being specifically ordered to do so, representing the likelihood that troops will not willingly starve without stripping the local area of any available food.

The maximum amount of supplies that can be collected from a location is summarised below:

Troops can accumulate supplies which are recorded against their own line in the Intendant-General ledger, up to a maximum of 10 days supply in total.

When a French unit attempts to forage in an uncontrolled area roll 1d10. On a result of 1 that unit does not gather any supplies, and adds +1 to that unit's attrition. This is to reflect local guerilla resistance. Alternatively this can be fought as a Sharp Practice action to determine whether supplies are obtained and any resulting losses.

All units suffer from a defined level of attrition over time, depending on factors such as what activity they have undertaken and whether they were fully supplied or not. The Etat-Situation holds a count for every unit which is incremented according to the following table. Every time the overall count for any given unit reaches 8 that unit loses 1% of it's effectives. For the impact of this loss of men, see the “transferring to the tabletop” section.

These increments are cumulative (so marching on without supplies makes you lose men faster). A separate ongoing record should be kept of the number of men lost to attrition during the current phase.

When a unit is at rest for a day (ie. has a status of “at rest” throughout the day and is not disturbed or contacted by the enemy) decrement the number by 1. When the attrition count reaches -10 then 10% of the numbers lost to attrition can be returned to the ranks. This is the maximum number that can return after being lost to attrition during any phase of the campaign, and represents stragglers catching up with their unit. The attrition number does not decrease for French units in uncontrolled territory.

The map is divided into areas controlled by the French as the occupying power and areas not controlled by the French. An area is defined as under French control if it is in the (green) lowland areas, and all the towns and villages (yellow squares) are occupied by the minimum number of troops required to forage. A judgement should be made where control ceases when this level of control stops. The French can extend control by using their troops to control more towns and villages and vice versa. Note that it is not possible the French to control upland (brown) areas. French units in uncontrolled areas suffer a number of additional penalties.

Attrition French units in uncontrolled areas accrue an additional +1 to their attrition score on top of any attrition accrued through its other activity.

Intelligence Any French unit that comes within an adjacent square of an 'uncontrolled' town or village (yellow square) generates an additional piece of intelligence for the Spanish that should be forwarded to the Spanish commander-in-chief without the need for a courier (but still subject to the rules for determining the quality of arrival time for that intelligence). This is the case even though the French units may then go on to occupy the town or village and therefore bring it under control.

Couriers and other small units Any French units smaller than either a battalion of infantry, regiment of cavalry, or battery of artillery which pass through an area which is not under French control are liable to have to fight their way through an encounter with a guerilla band. Such an encounter should be triggered on a roll of 1 or 2 on a d10 for each day of travel that passes at least in part through an uncontrolled area. This should be run as a small Sharp Practice encounter with the relevant French force scaled as necessary and an appropriate guerilla force built using the standard points system, or resolved randomly off-table depending on the player's appetite for running a tabletop game at that point in the campaign.

Foraging See the separate rules for guerilla activity in response to foraging.

Spanish armies only can dedicate troops to recalling any dispersed troops in a particular area to the colours. A battalion of infantry or regiment of cavalry allocated to any village or town will accumulate 5 points per day. Once the total accumulates to 100, the Spanish can add 100 troops to any unit based in the same area, at which point the count is reset to 0. During this time they may not undertake any other activity, and may not have contact with the enemy. If the units are contacted by the enemy or do anything else then the count should be reset to 0, all accumulated points are lost.

Casualties in combat are treated separately from attrition, and therefore need to be scaled up from the action on the tabletop and converted into the a reduction to the unit strength recorded for each unit in the Etat-Situation. Sections below determine how the number of casualties are calculated for each possible rule set. Once the number of casualties is known they should be divided into three groups:

1. 25% are dead and are permanently deducted from unit strength.
2. 25% are seriously wounded and should be evacuated to a hospital (see the separate section).
3. 50% are walking wounded (see the separate section).

There are two different types of hospital.

• Field Hospitals are temporary arrangements and can be designated in any location at the start of a day, most likely just before action.
• Depot Hospitals are more permanent institutions and are located in designated depot towns for each army. They cannot be relocated. New ones can be created by designating one in a garrisoned town, the hospital coming into being 7 days later. The town must remain garrisoned throughout that time by at least the number of troops required to forage there.

The seriously wounded must be moved to a depot hospital to stand a chance of recovering. They cannot move by themselves and must ordinarily be transported by cart. Alternatively in extreme cases they can be transported over short distances by dedicating two healthy troops to each walking wounded but they can still only travel at the pace of wagons. Seriously wounded troops must be evacuated to a depot hospital to recover. A defeated army may therefore not be able to move it's wounded fast enough for them to escape capture by the enemy if they are pursued, unless they are able to mount a vigorous rear guard action.

20 casualties can be transported on each wagon, regardless of whether it is also carrying supplies. This is a simplification and reflects people hitching a ride for part of the day as well as lying among the sacks (and also that supplies themselves are an abstraction).

Once at a depot hospital, 50% will recover after 30 days. The remainder will die or be so debilitated as unable to return to the ranks and will be invalided home.

The walking wounded are lightly injured and are able to transport themselves at the pace of wagons. After spending one day resting at a field hospital they return to the ranks. If after 5 days they have not spent a day resting at a field hospital, 50% will become seriously wounded and the remainder will return to the ranks.

In General d'Armee specific casualties are neither counted nor removed and the degradation in unit effectiveness is meant to represent casualties, battle stress, fatigue, and straggling. Rules for transferring this to and from the table top have not yet been defined.

The figure to men ratio for Sharp Practice can be scaled dynamically, but is generally likely to be 1 to 5. Bearing this ratio in mind, Sharp Practice figures and casualties scale directly. All casualties suffered on the table are treated as casualties for at the appropriate ratio for the purposes of managing casualties.

The Intelligence page records every piece of information and the date on which that information will become known to the commander in chief. Most additional information will be generated through contact with the enemy, but may come from other sources such as Chance tables. When a new piece of information is added to the Intelligence page consult the Information table to see whether that information should be modified, then consult the Couriers Chance table and calculate the date at which a courier will arrive at the commander in chief and record this alongside too. Decisions by the commander in chief can only be based on the information available to them at the time.

Care should be taken when monitoring the movement of units to ensure that all possible encounters are recognised and logged to generate new intelligence.

Units that are not scouting generate new intelligence whenever an enemy unit is in an adjacent square on the map. This should be recorded as intelligence after consulting the New Intelligence table to see how the information should be modified. It is available immediately to the local independent commander, and is recorded on the intelligence page of the etat-major after consulting the Courier table to calculate the date on which it will be available to the commander in chief.

Units that are given the task of scouting are specifically deployed to searching for enemy units and general intelligence, picking up reports from sympathetic (or coerced) locals and finding high spots of ground to scout ahead and so forth. They won't ordinarily engage in combat with any enemy units, being content to observe each other. Units that are scouting can see a square further ahead than units that are not scouting, that is two squares ahead in total. In practice this creates a “cavalry screen” that is two squares in front of the unit itself and one square on either side of the square directly in front of it. On the pictorial map this can be represented as a dotted line. If there is any unit within that range then a new piece of intelligence should be generated, with reference to both the New Intelligence and Courier tables.

When units are discovered by scouts, they will also generate a new piece of intelligence for the side scouted. This represents the opposing light cavalry moving forward then retreating, making contact with the enemy and being noticed as they do so.

Only light cavalry can scout, and while doing so it can move no faster than half its normal movement rate.

Commanders that are operating independently are identified along with their command on the appropriate page of the Etat-Major. Each independent command operates according to two sets of orders, a “mandate” which sets out the strategic goals set by higher authority, and operating instructions which set out what the units within that command are to do in the next phase. The orders under which every unit is operating are recorded against in the Etat-Situation. The Orders page lists each commander operating independently and the order reference they are currently operating under.

Independent commands are units grouped together. To remain as part of a command they must remain within one day's travel of their commander at light cavalry (ie. courier) pace so that orders can in effect be treated as arriving instantaneously.

When a commander issues new orders to an independent subordinate command, consult the Couriers Chance table and calculate the date on which those orders will arrive with the subordinate commander. The subordinate commander must not act on those orders until they arrive.

There are a number of different situations where reference to Chance tables must be made:

Roll 1d10 on the table below.

Roll 1d10 on the table below.

Roll 1d10 each day, on a roll of 10 a random event occurs. Each day add an additional plus one to the roll, resetting to 0 when an event occurs. So on the first day the roll is a simple d10, on the second day +1, on the third +2 and so on until an event occurs. When an event does occur, roll d100 on the table below to determine the event.