Long Rifle: French Indian War Skirmish Game, Basic Rules: 1 Activation

As it had been a while since we both played the a game by Two Hour Wargames; we thought it might be a good idea to run a walk through of some of the basic mechanics of Long Rifle rules before embarking on a game.

Ed Teixeira has includes some short but sweet examples of the game mechanics in Long Rifle to help you learn the rules and recommends you 'STOP' and follow a few short actions to check you've understood the rules. Here's one of them.

Long Rifle: Activation

We grab two D6 of different colours and two figures from opposing sides, placing them 12" apart from each other. Both figures are considered to be REP 4. (REP stands for Reputation, it is a combination of experience, fighting ability and morale that marks the general capability of the character. REP runs from 2-6, with 2 representing the old, very young or infirm and 6 representing backwoodsmen or warriors of exceptional ability.)

Before we go any further, lets us introduce our opponents:

First up: Alexandre. Alexandre is a REP 4 French Regular Infantryman, depicted here by a figure from QF-40 Regiment De Bearn, Line Infantry Loading

Alexandre. REP 4, French Regular

Next up is Windrunner. Windrunner is a REP 4 British Allied Indian. Windrunner is represented by RSF-16 Raid on St. Francis, Woodland Indian Attacking

At the start of each turn an Activation dice is rolled for each opponent, or 'Group' of opponents.

The goal is to roll under or equal to the REP of your character (or leader of your Group). Only those with a REP equal or higher to the Activation dice score can activate. If both sides succeed in rolling under their REP, the side with the highest score goes first. If the die scores are the same (doubles) simple re-roll both dice again.

We take a green die for the French (No Blue dice to hand) and a red die for the Indian.

In this instance, we roll a 2 for the French and a 5 for the Indian. Alexandre has rolled under his REP. His die is the highest to 'succeed' therefore Alexandre gets to activate first. Windrunner has not rolled under his REP; he has not 'succeeded' so unfortunately for him, he does not get to activate this turn. Could this spell trouble for Windrider?

We'll find out next time as we explore some of the basic mechanics of Long Rifle.