This Very Ground: Victory or Death (2nd edition)
Rules for wargaming in North America 1672-1815
By Keith Stine (Iron Ivan Games, 2022) $25.00
D10, Initiative-based alternate activation
This revised set of rules was released as part of a Brigade Games Kickstarter at the end of 2020 but has now gone on general sale. The game is designed to be played on a 6’x4’ gaming table, with the use of units of around fifteen men representing and referred to as a platoon. A typical scenario will include some five to ten such platoons. Basing is individual figures, who as units operate in one of three groupings -close (touching), loose (almost touching), and skirmish (within 2” of each other). Officers at company and battalion level are represented by single figures and have a command & control (C&C) influence. The primary emphasis of the rules is on infantry units, but cavalry, cannon, and boats are also covered.
The activation system is something I haven’t seen before. Each side gets a number of activation chits based upon its officer (normal chits) and the training and experience of its troops (push chits). Activation chits are spent to give a unit three command points, and it costs one command point to do such activities as moving, shooting, and reloading. A unit may share its command points with nearby units. Activating a unit alternates between players. A ‘push’ chit can be spent to
