Guns of the South - Felix's Gaming Pages

A “Flintloque” Scenario

Harry Turtledove has written many a fine alternative history novel, his WorldWar Balance books describing an alien invasion of earth during the Second World War are well known. One of his earlier books, Guns of the South, is set during the American Civil War.

Though this time the Confederates are armed with deadly repeaters known as AK-47 Assault Rifles… as might be imagined the impact of such a deadly weapon on troops armed with Springfield Rifles is pretty clear cut.

The Confederates, finding the AK-47 a more than decent replacement for their rifles and smoothbore muskets, easily win any firefight. The rest of the story, well I would recommend that you read the book.

Scenario

Using the excellent Flintloque skirmish system, this scenario pits a small band of Confederate soldiers against a much larger reconnaissance force of Union soldiers. This article contains details for both the forces and the weapons involved. Ideas for the AK-47 were taken from a Grunts article in Orcs in the Hills, the dedicated journal for Flintloque gamers.. Flintloque, luckily, contains rules for using humans in games, but not surprisingly enough, rules for AK47’s…

Confederate Forces

You are five soldiers on forage duty in a small hamlet in the state of Virginia. You are armed with the new repeater with the strange name of the AK-47. You have spent a few weeks using the weapon and are quite happy about them. You have left your horses about a half mile back with one of your men to look after them. All the soldiers have bayonets.

Sergeant Nate Caudell, experienced irregular with an AK47.
Private Melvin Bean, average irregular with an AK47 (actually Molly Bean).
Private Tom Short, raw irregular with an AK47.
Private Rufus Daniel, raw irregular with an AK47.
Private David Lewis, raw irregular with an AK47.

Union Forces

You are a reconnaissance force checking the local terrain for signs of rebel forces. Rumours are rife in your camp about Johnny Reb’s new repeaters, you have not seen or heard them in action. Your reconnaissance force consists of six mounted troopers and ten foot soldiers.

Captain Henry Leroy, experienced elite, armed with Spencer Carbine.
Sergeant Joseph Smith, average elite, armed with Spencer Carbine.
Private Michael Coretti, average elite, armed with Spencer Carbine.
Private Chuck Lawson, raw elite, armed with Spencer Carbine.
Private Sean O’Brien, raw elite, armed with Spencer Carbine.
Private Angus McDonald, raw elite, armed with Spencer Carbine.

All the foot soldiers have bayonets.

Corporal Sean O’Leary, experienced regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Han Koppler, average regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Elias Middler, average regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Jonas Simpson, average regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Anton Kowlowski, raw regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Mitch Buchanan, raw regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Harry Smith, raw regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Lance Sharpe, raw regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Matthew Williams, raw regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.
Private Jerome Lipski, raw regular, armed with Springfield Rifle.

Terrain

The Confederate forces can (if an impartial umpire is present, or both players agree) use hidden placement and movement if they so wish. The hamlet is long deserted, but there is plenty of old wagons, boxes and other rubbish hanging about, providing quite a bit of cover.

Models

Various 25mm American Civil War miniatures can be bought and a little carving and a piece of plasticard and most ACW rifles can be converted to at least resemble an AK-47. You could use 15mm figures, or even card counters…

Springfield Rifle

The Springfield Rifle is a development of the Baker Rifle used by the British, but using Minié bullets. It is more accurate than the Baker, and slightly faster to reload, taking one stationary turn.

Spencer Carbine

This seven shot weapon was often used by cavalry, it was pre-loaded with seven cartridges, and only needs to be cocked before being fired again, however once all seven shots are fired, it takes three stationary turns to reload.

AK-47

This Soviet designed weapon is either an original design, or a copy of a German prototype, depending on who you believe… The rules are based on the “Gruntes” article in issue three of Orcs in the Hills. AK-47’s can be either fired by burst or aimed fire (the aiming rules in Flintloque do not apply here). Burst fire is essentially firing from the hip, it is not as accurate as aimed fire, it does have the advantage of covering an area and any character within 2cm of the target should be rolled for to see if they too are wounded. Aimed fire only hits the target aimed at. The Confederate player must state whether they are firing a burst or aiming. For those players who like to write down magazine usage, use the following rules. Each magazine contains thirty shots, a burst can be said to be ten to fifteen shots (roll a D10 and add five). It takes one turn to reload the AK-47, but this can be done on the move.

Range (cm)	0 to 10	10-25	25-40	40-55	55-70	70-85
AK47 Aimed	90/8	70/7	55/5	40/4	25/3	10/2
AK47 Burst	75/10	55/8	40/6	25/5	10/4	–
Springfield Rifle	70/5	60/4	45/3	25/3	10/2	–
Spencer Carbine	55/5	45/4	25/3	10/2	–	–