Phoenix Command Basic Miniatures Rules v.001

2.1 Turn Sequence

The game is played in a series of turns until one side or the other achieves victory on the battlefield.

The turn is broken into the following stages:

Strategic movement

Move any units that are designated for strategic movement—that unit may not act in the operations phase and loses any CP it may have accumulated over prior turns. The unit must not be in contact with the enemy before it engages in strategic movement, and its movement may not bring it into enemy contact. Its movement may, however, be subject to an interrupt if it passes through an ambush or enemy overwatch. Units are in contact if they are in weapons range of each other and are able to draw a Line of Sight to each other.

Resolve any interrupts that occur when units in strategic mode move into contact.

Initiative

Count the number of active combatants on each side. The Side which has the most active combatants has initiative until the turn ends, or an interrupt causes a change in initiative. An active combatant is one who:

1.       did not perform actions in the Strategic Movement phase (does not include actions performed in interrupts), and

2.       is not panicked or incapacitated.

Operations

The unit on the battlefield with the highest number of CP is activated. It can either:

1.       Expend all its CP by performing actions,

2.       Accumulate another CP, or

3.       Pass by doing nothing.

The decision then passes to the unit with the next highest number of CP, and so forth until all units have been activated.

In the event that both sides have a unit with an equal number of CP, the side with initiative activates their unit first.

Once a unit has been activated in a turn, it cannot become activated again in the turn.

Example: Alex has the initiative and has four fireteams with 3, 2, 2, and 0 CP accumulated, while Jason has two squads with 2 and 1 CP accumulated.

The activation of units in the operations phase of a turn would be as follows: Alex activates the fireteam with 3 CP first and adds another CP, giving 4 CP in total. This fireteam has been activated for the turn and cannot be activated again.

Because he holds initiative, Alex activates one of the squads with 2 CP and performs actions and then does the same with the other squad with 2 CP. He chooses the order in which these two units are activated.

Once Alex has activated all of his units with 2 CP, Jason is able to activate his 2 CP unit. He adds a CP, bringing the unit’s accumulated CP to 3. As this unit has been activated once in this turn, it cannot be activated again. Then Jason activates his final unit with 1 CP and has it accumulate another CP.

Finally, Alex activates his 0 CP unit and has it accumulate another CP.

All units have been activated, and this ends the operations phase of this turn.

2.2 Unit Organization

Combatants are organized into units on the battlefield. All members of the unit must remain within the Command Distance of the unit’s leader and must perform their actions at the same time in the turn. When the unit’s leader begins expending command points, all members in the unit must act.

Some common unit organizations are found here.

Units cannot be subdivided below the level of fire-team. However, units can be consolidated into larger organizations, such as sections/squads and even up to platoons, so the entire larger organization acts at the same time, and these can be broken down to their constituent units later in the game. 

Consolidation:

To consolidate sub-units into a larger unit or organization, all sub-units to be consolidated must be within the Organization Leader’s Command Radius. Consolidation requires 1 CP per sub-unit to be consolidated. Once consolidated, any CP not belonging to the organization Leader are lost.

Example: The US Infantry Squad contains two fire teams/sub-units. To consolidate the units into a single squad, the two fire teams/sub-units must be within the squad leader’s command radius, and the Squad leader would have to spend a total 2 CP (one CP for each unit) to complete the consolidation. If the intent were to consolidate to a platoon, all the units would first have to be consolidated into squads, and then the squads consolidated into a platoon.

Furthering the example, the Squad leader had 4 CP and the Team Leader of the second fire team had 3 CP, following the consolidation, the Squad leader would have his original CP less 2 for the consolidation leaving (4-2 =) 2 CP, and the team leader of the second fire team would have lost the 3 CP that he had before the consolidation.

Only units in the same organizational structure can consolidate, so only the two fire teams that comprise the same squad can consolidate, and squads can only consolidate with other squads from their platoon, and so forth.

Detachment:

A consolidated unit can detach units. Doing so costs 1 CP per unit detached. A detached unit begins with no CP.

Example: A US infantry squad breaks itself into two fire teams. Doing so requires 1 CP, and the unit is broken into two units. Only 1 CP was required for the detachment since officially, only one unit was detached

Reorganization:

In the midst of a battle, as units take casualties and are eliminated, holes may develop in the organizational structure. A platoon leader may want to assign and shift his units in his organization to maintain an effective command structure. Doing so is handled in a similar way to consolidation, but with key differences.

The reorganization requires expenditures of command points from two levels above the units subject to reorganization. So, a Platoon leader would be necessary to give reorganization orders to units under his command, and a company leader would be necessary to give reorganization orders to squads.

Example: Heavy fighting has mauled two of the squads in a platoon, so that each squad has lost a fire team. The Platoon leader is able to expend CP to reorganize the remaining fire teams into a single squad.

Example: Two squads have taken heavy casualties, so that none of their units are up to full strength. The Platoon leader is able to expend CP to reorganize all the individuals in the two squads into new fire teams and bring the new fire teams together into a single squad.

Reorganization requires the expenditures of 2 CP for each sub-unit affected. In the event that the reorganization results in the elimination of sub-units from the command structure, CP are only expended on the remaining sub-units. As with consolidation, the units being reorganized must be within the Reorganizing leader’s Command Distance.

Example: Continuing the examples above, as the reorganization results in the formation of a single squad with two units, only 4 CP are required from the platoon leader. Ordinarily these two squads would each have had two sub-units, but the reorganization eliminated two sub-units.

2.3 Command and Control

Command and Control determines how well a combat unit is able to develop and execute tasks on the battlefield, through a process of planning, initiative, and motivation. In Phoenix Command Miniatures, the Command and Control process is handled through the use of Command Points (CP).

When a unit is activated in the Operations phase of a turn, the leader of the unit may expend all his accumulated CP by having the unit perform actions. The actions a unit can perform are described in the following section.

If the activated unit’s leader does not choose to perform any actions and expend his entire accumulated CP, he accumulates another CP. There is a limit to the number of CP a leader can accumulate, and if the leader is already at his maximum for accumulated CP and does not wish to expend them, he does not gain another and the unit completes its turn. A leader cannot accumulate more CP than his Command Rating.

Example: Jason has two units, led by figures with Command Ratings of 4 and 3. Both have accumulated 3 CP at the start of the present turn. Jason decides not to have his first unit expend any actions this turn, so he adds another CP to the unit, bringing its cumulative CP to 4.

He also decides not to have the second unit expend actions either. However, since the unit has already accumulated CP equal to its Command Rating of 3, the unit cannot accumulate further CP. The unit does nothing this turn.

If a unit decides to expend CP by performing actions, all the unit’s CP must be expended, leaving the unit with 0 CP when its actions are completed. Any CP not used in performing actions are lost.

Example: Alex activates a unit with 3 CP. He uses 2 CP to advance the unit towards cover and does not wish to perform further actions. The unit’s remaining CP is lost.

Command Ratings: Each leader has a Command Rating, which determines his ability to plan and exercise control over his troops. Some leaders, notably poorly-trained militia, will have CP of 1 or 2. Most line troops have Command Ratings of 3 to 5, while elite troops can have command ratings of 5 or 6. The higher the rating, the more CP a commander can accumulate and have his troops expend all at once.

Breveting: If the leader of a unit is incapacitated or killed, the unit loses all accumulated CP and has to appoint (“brevet”) a new leader immediately from within its ranks. The new leader must accumulate and spend 1 CP to take command of the unit. In the advanced rules, a nation’s command and control doctrine can raise or lower this CP cost for the new leader to take command.

The new leader has a Command Rating one less than his predecessor. If the new leader’s command rating is less than 1, then the unit cannot brevet a new leader and breaks.

While a unit is breveting a new leader, it may not perform other actions, and can only mount a ragged defence.

Example: Alex’s two militia units (Command ratings 2 and 1 respectively) have taken heavy casualties. Leaders for both units have been killed.  Alex brevets a new leader for both units as soon as the old leaders are killed. The first unit’s replacement leader has a Command Rating of 1, while the second would have a Command Rating of 0.

Since the second unit’s replacement leader has a command rating of less than 1, that unit is unable to brevet a new leader and breaks from the battlefield.

The next turn, while the second unit is breaking, the first unit’s new leader accumulates 1 CP. The following turn, he expends that CP to take command of the unit and is then able to act normally.

Command Distance: Each leader has a command distance. All figures in his unit must remain within this distance to the leader to be able to properly take and execute orders. In the basic game, all leaders have a Command Distance as shown in the Leader Table. Rules for generating different command distances for leaders are found in the advanced rules.

A figure which ending his turn outside of his leader’s command distance is a Straggler. In the advanced rules, Stragglers are a dangerous fixture on the battlefield and can disrupt their own side’s actions or even open fire on their own side. Under the basic rules, Stragglers are removed from play in the turn they become stragglers.

Example: Jason’s fireteam has five figures including a leader. After expending actions, two of the figures finish their movement in positions which place them more than 7” and 8” away from their fireteam leader. These figures are Stragglers and are eliminated from play.

Command Checks: From time to time, a command check will be required to confirm that a commander maintains control over his troops. The command check is performed by making a 0-9 roll and trying to get under the sum of the figure’s Troop Quality and the leader’s Command Rating. This sum is referred to as the Command Check Target.

Shaken troops suffer a penalty of –2 to their Command Check Target. Panicked troops and Fanatical troops automatically fail command checks.

Leaders are not required to perform command checks on themselves.

Example: Alex has a unit of three figures attempting to perform an ambush/interrupt on one of Jason’s units. Alex wants the figures to hold fire until Jason’s unit is within the kill zone. Alex’s figures are militia (troop quality 2) and the leader has a command rating of 3.

Alex makes a 0-9 roll for the two non-leader figures in the team as soon as Jason’s unit enters Alex’s team’s line of sight, rolling a 3 and 0. Both rolls were below the Command Check Target 5, which was the sum of the Troop Quality of 2 and the Command Rating of 3. Therefore, both figures hold their fire, as does the leader.

Jason’s unit expends another CP to perform another action. Before they do so, Alex rolls the Command Check again, this time rolling a 6 and a 4. One of Alex’s figures fails the command check and opens fire on Jason’s unit. Having the ambush blown by a nervous soldier, Alex has the rest of his ambush team open fire on Jason’s unit. This weapons fire is resolved before Jason’s unit begins performing their actions on the current CP. 

Tracking Accumulated CP: Players can track accumulated CP through the use of CP chits. In an open game such as those played to introduce new players to the game, CP chits can be placed right on the tabletop beside the leader figure. This has the advantage of allowing players to know at a glance a unit’s accumulated CP, but it also shows the opposing player the same information and it allows him to anticipate actions from units with high CP counts. Chits can be anything—pennies, glass gaming stones, or cardboard counters have all been used.

By setting up a blind or screen around a unit roster, CP chits can be placed next to the appropriate unit’s roster. Since the unit’s roster is hidden from the opponent, an element of the fog of war is introduced, and opposing players are never certain which units will be the next to be activated. This creates a tension-filled game and gives a better simulation of real small unit actions, but it requires players to keep close track of their own units to ensure that CP are accurately assigned.

2.4 Actions

Units can only perform actions by expending accumulated CP. This can only be done during the Operations Phase of the game turn when a unit is activated and chooses to perform actions (See section 2.3 Command and Control). Each figure in the unit must perform his action before the unit’s next CP can be expended.

The actions permitted are shown on the following table:

Example: Jason activates a fireteam with 3 CP and 5 figures and decides to have them perform actions by assaulting a farmhouse. The five figures in the fireteam are Alan, Bob, Chuck, Doug, and Eric (leader).

The first CP expended is for disciplined fire to suppress any enemy in the farmhouse. Jason has Alan pop a smoke grenade to cover a subsequent advance, while the rest of the fireteam takes 4 shots each with their small arms.

The second CP expended is a double-time advance for the entire unit, which allows each figure in the unit to move twice the figure’s standard move. Jason moves the five figures of the fireteam twice their standard move of 6”, for total movement of 12” towards the farmhouse. They cannot perform another double-time advance this turn as each figure can only double-time advance once per turn.

The third CP expended has the team close to and enter the farmhouse. Alan and Bob go through the door shooting at targets they find within. Each takes two shots. Chuck and Doug move to cover outside the farmhouse and fire at the windows to suppress any enemy troops within, firing three shots. Eric moves to the corner of the farmhouse to cover approaches from adjacent buildings.

This unit has expended its entire CP and ends its turn. Jason makes a check and confirms that all members of the unit are within Eric’s Command Distance so no members have to be eliminated as Stragglers.

Actions are performed by the figures in a unit, and not the unit as a whole. Individual figures in a unit can perform different actions on the expenditure of the same CP. This means that one figure in a unit could be performing a double-time advance, at the same time as another is performing disciplined fire, while others in the unit are advancing and firing, and so forth.

2.5 Interrupts

Often in modern combat, units will set up combat positions to engage an enemy when the enemy moves into a certain area or kill zone. This is referred to as overwatch or ambush, but the result is the same—to prevent the enemy unit from continuing its actions.

Preparing Interrupts: A unit (ambushers) sets an interrupt by expending 1 CP. Once the interrupt is set, the unit ends its turn and holds the CP it expended setting the interrupt in reserve. An “interrupt prep” marker is placed beside the ambusher unit.

When an enemy unit enters an ambusher’s LOS, the ambushers have the option of expending the held CP to perform a single action. The entire unit must perform the same action, since there usually is no time to coordinate a complex response to the appearance of an enemy unit.

For clarification, a hidden unit which becomes spotted as a result of performing actions (even another interrupt) is considered to have entered LOS. This means that a hidden unit which opens fire may be exposing itself to interrupts from enemy units.

While waiting for an enemy to appear, the unit can continue to accumulate CP as normal, but it may not accumulate more CP (including the reserve CP for the interrupt) than the leader’s Command Rating.

Even though a unit that has set an interrupt may have multiple accumulated CP, only a single CP may be used in performing the interrupt.

Premature Interrupt Actions: In performing an interrupt, there is a chance that the ambushing unit may choose to perform its interrupt before conditions are optimal. For example, a soldier in the midst of an ambush may get nervous and open fire before the enemy has reached the kill zone.

Each CP the target spends after entering the ambusher’s LOS requires a Command Check to be done for each figure under the ambush team leader’s control. A successful command check means that the unit holds its fire and can decide when to fire while the target is performing its action. A failed roll means that the figures that failed perform ragged fire on the target before the target begins its action.

Example: Alex has a unit of three figures attempting to perform an ambush/interrupt on one of Jason’s units. Alex wants the figures to hold fire until Jason’s unit is within the kill zone. Alex’s figures are militia (troop quality 2) and the leader has a command rating of 3.

Alex makes a 0-9 roll for the two non-leader figures in the team as soon as Jason’s unit enters Alex’s team’s line of sight, rolling a 3 and 0. Both rolls were below the Command Check Target of 5, which was the sum of the Troop Quality of 2 and the Command Rating of 3. Therefore, both figures hold their fire, as does the leader.

Jason’s unit expends another CP to perform another action. Before they do so, Alex rolls the Command Check again, this time rolling a 6 and a 4. One of Alex’s figures fails the command check and opens fire on Jason’s unit. Having the ambush blown by a nervous soldier, Alex has the rest of his ambush team open fire on Jason’s unit. This weapons fire is resolved before Jason’s unit begins performing their actions on the current CP.

Alex resolves the fire as follows. The nervous figure performs ragged fire. This means he fires at the maximum rate of fire for his weapon, in this case three shots and all are performed at a –2 penalty. Unlike disciplined fire, the nervous figure cannot take any shots over and above the 3 shot maximum for his weapon.

The leader and other figure perform disciplined fire. The leader takes 2 shots, using the 1 shot line on the odds of hitting tables. According to the rules for disciplined fire, a figure may take an additional shot without modification to their odds of hitting. The other figure fires at his maximum rate of fire of three shots and takes an additional shot as allowed under disciplined fire.

Resolving Interrupts: If an ambusher’s actions are sufficient to cause the morale of the unit to become Shaken, then the interrupt is successful. The target unit loses its entire remaining CP and ceases its turn.

An interrupt is automatically successful against units that were already Shaken before the interrupt occurred.

Example: Continuing the above example, Alex’s ambushers manage to cause sufficient casualties to Jason’s unit to make the latter’s morale Shaken. Jason’s unit must cease performing actions and loses all remaining CP. Jason has his unit “Take Cover,” which costs no CP and has the unit go to ground taking advantage of any cover they can find. This ends the turn for Jason’s unit.

A failed interrupt means that the target unit is able to continue to perform actions normally.

Ragged Interrupts: Often, a unit will not have any CP in reserve to set or perform a prepared interrupt. However, they may still attempt an interrupt against an enemy unit entering their LOS. The procedure for holding fire and resolving interrupts is identical to that of the prepared interrupt except that a unit performing a Ragged Interrupt can only perform ragged fire.

A unit can only attempt one Ragged Interrupt in a turn.

Take Cover: A unit which has been successfully interrupted must cease performing actions and end their turn. As an option, they can “Take Cover” which has the unit as a whole try to locate any cover they can find and make use of it. Each figure can move up to 3” towards the nearest cover, but they cannot advance towards an enemy to do so. If there is no cover within the 3” limit, then the figures go prone.

The unit should be checked for any Stragglers after they have taken cover, and these should be dealt with appropriately. In the basic game, Stragglers are eliminated from play.

A figure that has Taken Cover is able to use the “In Cover” or “Prone” Lines, as appropriate, on the Odds of Hitting Modifiers Table.

Tactical Notes: The interrupt is a devastating tactic that can bring a coordinated enemy plan to a screeching halt if used properly. Interrupts should be set if enemy contact is anticipated. Multiple units can coordinate their actions so that one unit has set an interrupt while the other is advancing and so forth.

A truly successful interrupt may not only cause the target to become Shaken and end its turn, but if sufficient casualties are inflicted, it may also cause the enemy side to lose initiative, allowing the ambushing side to move its units before the enemy can.

Example: Continuing the above example, Jason’s unit has been Shaken and has taken three casualties. Alex calls to check initiative and both sides quickly count their active combatants. Jason had 27 active combatants before the ambush and now has 24, while Alex has 26. Alex seizes the initiative from Jason.

Jason has an unactivated unit with 3 CP and 2 unactivated units with 2 CP, while Alex has 2 unactivated units with 2 CP each. The next unit to be activated is Jason’s 3 CP unit, followed by Alex’s 2 CP units followed by Jason’s 2 CP units. Before Alex seized the initiative, Jason’s 2 CP units would have been activated before Alex’s 2 CP units.

2.6 Weapons Fire

Units can engage in weapons fire during interrupts or by expending actions in the operations phase of the turn. Units which have performed strategic movement in the turn or units which have used the Double-time advance in their action are not eligible to fire.

The Weapons Tables provide information on Range, PEN, and System Damage Modifier (SDM). Many weapons can strike the target with multiple rounds each time they hit, and these weapons are designated with a value like “2 hits @ 60” in their PEN entry. In this case, this means that the weapon strikes twice at a PEN of 60 for each successful shot. Each of these hits is resolved independently as described further in this section

If the weapon is listed as having 1 Shot/Action, then it may only fire 1 shot for each Action performed by the shooting figure. A weapon listed as 1 Use means that the weapon is disposable and can only be fired once before being discarded. Note that a weapon listed as having 1 Shot/Action or 1 Use takes the shooter his entire action to aim and fire. A Shooter, even if willing, cannot use the 2 shot or 3 shot lines on the Odds of Hitting Tables with these weapons. Disciplined fire will not give the shooter an extra shot with these weapons. 

A firing figure decides what weapon he is going to use (if he has more than one). For figures with multiple weapons, only one weapon may be used per action.

Once the weapon has been chosen, refer to the appropriate section of the Odds of Hitting Tables. At this point the firing figure decides how many shots he will take. If he takes one shot, it is assumed to be fairly carefully aimed and its Odds of Hitting are higher than if the two shot or three shot lines are chosen. The player cross-indexes this line with the range to the target, and modifies the number by the target’s Odds of Hitting Modifier. This gives the final Odds of Hitting.

The player then rolls a 0 to 9 number for each shot being taken by the figure; if the number rolled is less than or equal to the final Odds of Hitting, the target has been hit by that shot.

When determining the target’s Odds of Hitting Modifier, the target is considered In Cover if it is in terrain that provides cover (such as rubble or woods) or if there is cover or an obstacle between the shooter and the target. This includes low walls, vehicles, or other objects which do not block the line of sight but which partially obstructs the line of fire. The target is considered Firing Over Cover if it is firing over or around cover to which it is adjacent.

Optional Stray Fire Rule: Where a shooter is firing at a target, and the shooter’s Odds of Hitting are less than zero (0), have the shooter roll 0-9. Take the difference between the shooter’s 0-9 roll, and the odds of hitting, and subtract this from the hit location and injury roll.

Example: One of Jason’s combatants is militia level and is shooting three shots at a target behind cover at 20 inches. The Odds of Hitting are –3 for each of the three shots. Jason rolls a 7, 4, and 8. The target’s hit location and injury rolls would by modified by –10, -7, and –11. Jason rolls a 6, 9, and 3 for the hit location and injury rolls, and these are modified to –4, 2, and –8 respectively. Reading on the table, Jason sees that he has caused a graze to the target.

Hit Location and Injury for Human Targets: If a human target is hit, the target figure refers to the Hit Location and Injury Table. Compare the Weapon’s PEN with the Armour PF and resolve it as follows:

Make a 0-9 roll on the appropriate column of the Hit Location and Injury Table to determine the result. Add the Weapons System Damage Modifier (SDM) to the roll to determine the final Injury Effect.

Note that if there is intervening cover between the shooter and the target, then the projectile’s PEN for non-explosive ammunition is reduced by the PF of any intervening cover through which the projectile passes before striking the target. Explosive weapons detonate on the intervening cover.

A Graze result reduces the Morale of a Bold target to Shaken, and a Shaken target to Panicked. It has no effect on Fanatical or Panicked targets.

A Light Wound Result requires the target to make a 0-9 roll against his Knockout Chance. If less than or equal to the knockout chance is rolled, the target goes unconscious and is incapacitated. If the character remains conscious, he can act normally, but the Morale of a Bold target is reduced to Shaken, and a Shaken target to Panicked. A Light Wound has no effect on the Morale of a Panicked target.

Fanatical targets suffering a light wound that remain conscious must make a second 0-9 roll against their Knockout Chance. If less than or equal to the knockout chance is rolled, the fanatical target immediately becomes panicked.

Incapacitated figures are simply removed from play in the Basic rules. Advanced rules allow for Medics and Recovery.

A Critical Wound result means that the Character has been immediately Incapacitated and is removed from play.

Explosive Weapons: Weapons which have a (B) following their PEN have a significant blast effect. This includes Grenades, Grenade Launchers, LAWs and other explosive weapons. All figures near the target may be injured, with injury effects taken from the Explosive Injury Table after cross indexing the weapon’s SDM with the figure’s range from the blast centre in the appropriate part of the table.

If the explosive weapon misses its target, roll a ten-sided die. The direction the upper corner of the first die points is the direction the explosive warhead deviates. The explosive warhead detonates 4” away from the target in the direction of deviation.

2.7 Melee

To make a Melee attack, a figure must move to where his base is touching the base of his target and declare a Melee attack. The target figure then decides if he wishes to engage in melee or escape.

Assuming the target engages in melee, the attacker rolls a 0-9 number; if the number rolled is less than his Melee Attack Value, the attack hits. Any successful attacks roll on the Hit Location and Injury Table using the appropriate Melee column for unarmoured targets or targets wearing Body Armour.

If the target instead wishes to escape, there is an additional +5 to the attacker’s Melee Attack Value. If the target survives this attack, the target can then perform actions normally.

2.8 Morale

Morale effects play a very important role on the modern battlefield, and much of a leader’s time is spent bolstering the morale of troops in combat.

All figures on the battlefield fall into certain morale states. For the majority of troops, the morale state starts with Bold, where troops behave execute orders normally.

As troops are exposed to the rigours of combat, their morale state can drop to Shaken. In this condition, a soldier is hesitant to expose himself to combat and requires encouragement from his leader to do so. In many armies, this encouragement comes from reassurance that his squadmates are still there to support him, and need his support in return. In other armies, leaders have been known to push reluctant soldiers at the point of a gun.

When a figure in a unit becomes shaken, the unit’s leader must decide whether to attempt to Rally the shaken figure, or to abandon him.

Rallying: A rally involves performing actions. When a unit decides to perform actions, a leader must first spend 1 accumulated CP to rally all shaken figures in his unit. Failure to spend the CP means that the Shaken figures will not move or perform actions, and can only perform ragged fire. If the leader has no CP, the leader’s superior officer can move to join the unit and expend his own CP to rally the unit.

Abandonment: Rallying can become very expensive in terms of CP and time, and a leader may be tempted to abandon a Shaken figure and press on with his plan. Doing so requires a successful command check for each Bold figure in the unit—any that pass the command check are able to execute actions normally. Those that fail will lag behind by 1 CP. As the actions are resolved, check to see whether the abandoned figures become Stragglers.

Example: Alex’s fireteam has been badly mauled by fighting, and one of his five team members is Shaken. Alex’s leader has 3 CP accumulated and needs to seize a farmhouse before the enemy can consolidate their defences, so he decides to abandon the Shaken team member, telling him to sit tight and that he and the rest of the team will be back presently.

Alex makes Command Checks for the rest of the team, and passes with all but one. Deciding to proceed, he expends the first CP and has the leader and the team members who successfully passed the Command Check perform actions. The one team member that failed the command check does not perform any actions on this CP. The Shaken figure also does not perform any actions.

On the second CP expended, Alex moves the leader and all unshaken team members and manages to take down the enemy and clear the farmhouse.

On his third CP, he moves the leader and unshaken team members so that the Shaken member is still within Command Distance and does not become a Straggler.

Leader Self-Rally:  If the leader of a unit has been Shaken or Panicked, the leader must expend 1 CP composing himself before he can expend any further CP. On completing a self-rally, the leader is returned to a Bold morale state.

Forced Rally: Where a leader is faced with a desperate situation and where he has multiple shaken troops in his unit, he can perform a Forced Rally. This is a very desperate measure and involves the leader killing one of the Shaken troops.

To do a Forced Rally, the unit’s leader expends a CP and removes one of the Shaken troops in his unit from play. The remaining Shaken and Panicked troops in his unit and in any friendly units within sight of the execution are immediately restored to Bold morale state.

The leader performing the forced rally then performs a command check at +2 on each figure in his unit. If the majority of his unit (rounded up) passes, the leader can continue expending CP. If, however, the majority of the unit fails the command check, then the leader is removed from play (shot by his own side) and the unit is Broken.

Panic: A special morale state is Panic, where a figure refuses to follow orders and attempts to flee from the battlefield. The panicked figure will retreat at a double-time advance rate of movement directly away from the enemy towards cover. He will do so even if he has already double-time advanced earlier in the turn.

If the figure reach cover, the figure will instead attempt to surrender, and is removed from play.

A Panicked figure can be rallied and restored to a Bold morale state by the unit’s leader expending 1 CP for each panicked figure.

Panicked figures can only use ragged fire.

Fanatics: Fanatics are another special morale state. Fanatics begin the battle in the fanatic state and can never be changed to a Bold or Shaken morale state. They are, however, subject to Unit Morale Effects for panic. Once a fanatic has panicked, he cannot be rallied out of his panic, and will attempt to leave the battlefield. If unable to do so, he will not surrender, but instead attack the enemy with the ferocity of a cornered animal. Fanatic figures can only use ragged fire.

Unit Morale Effects: The morale of figures in a unit can have a ripple effect on others in the same unit. If the majority (rounded up) of figures in a unit are Shaken, then the Unit becomes Shaken and the leader must expend a CP to restore the Unit Morale to Bold for the turn. He must then rally, abandon, or force-rally the individual shaken figures with his next CP in order to keep the unit morale from sliding back to Shaken in the next turn.

If the majority (rounded up) of figures in a unit are Panicked, then the unit as a whole is Broken and immediately routs, moving directly away from the enemy towards the nearest cover at a double-time advance rate of movement. They will do so even if they have already double-time advanced earlier in the turn.

If the unit cannot reach cover within its rout, the unit will instead attempt to surrender, and is removed from play.

Once the unit is in cover, the leader must expend a CP to steady the unit to Shaken state, and then expend another CP to steady the unit to Bold state. Then, he must spend CP to rally each individual panicked member in the unit, as described above.

If the leader does not have sufficient CP to expend, then the unit will, during the next strategic movement phase, move back to its Forming Up Point, or off the battlefield. A commanding officer can attempt to rendezvous with the unit as it routs and may use his CP to rally and steady the unit and its members.

2.9 Heroes

A special form of unit is the Hero, who is an individual figure able to move and act independent of any larger unit. Heroes accumulate CP and perform actions in the same way as other, larger units.

In the advanced rules, heroes can have special abilities which they can use themselves, or to affect a larger unit. In the basic game, however, the heroes have no special abilities and act in the same way as other, larger units with the sole exception of being immune to command distance requirements. They do not have to be within command distance of any other unit, and can act and move independent of other units.

2.X Design and Tactical Notes

Phoenix Command Miniatures is designed to simulate the decisions faced by small unit commanders, and as such, morale and command and control are key factors, and are reflected in the rules as well.

A small unit commander is essentially trying to impose his will upon an innately chaotic and terrifying situation, and so has to deal with assessing a situation, planning a response, delivering instructions to his people, and then ensuring that his people carry through on those instructions. And all of this is done while the other side is actively trying to kill him and his people. And with the pace of modern combat increasing with the presence of computerized communications, increased coordination of air, ground, and artillery assets, and the growing prevalence of close quarter battle (CQB) and military operations on urban terrain (MOUT), any small unit commander can be quickly overwhelmed by the situation.

Phoenix Command Miniatures simulates a commander’s activities through the use of CP. Where in real life units have to stop, assess, plan, and coordinate actions before they can execute operations, in Phoenix Command Miniatures, units have to accumulate sufficient CP before they can act.

This results in a miniatures battle that ebbs and flows as real battles do. Units will spend brief moments acting and racing towards their objectives, and then in the lulls spend time coordinating and planning.

The key to victory is planning. Commanders have to look beyond the next turn, and have to gain an understanding of what their unit will be doing all the way to the end of the battle. Instead of focussing on the next turn, instead focus ten or twenty turns ahead. Players have to manoeuvre units carefully into position for coordinated assaults, or staged defences.