Mons, 1914: The Mad Minute will include the 2.0 version of the Rifle and Spade series rules; the 1.0 version shipped with Gallipoli, 1915: Churchill’s Greatest Gamble. The new version is focused on readability and faster play, while retaining the same historical accuracy. Rules that rarely came up in play or that were difficult to remember were dropped, obscure language clarified, and several key procedures simplified – the new rules are 20% shorter and the playtesters are all much happier. Gallipoli can be played with the 2.0 rules, using replacments of the Fire DRM chart and the Fire Results Table.

In this first blog entry I explain the new fire method, which has been used for all Mons playtesting since 2019.

The Fire Modifier Display (see image below) replaces the Fire DRM chart. The DRM chart had sub-cases piled on sub-cases; the new display has one row per condition, possibly with a choice between infantry and artillery fire. The left-hand column contains conditions common to all fires, such as terrain, movement, and night. The top middle column is used the target density, the middle bottom is for artillery range. The net value is set on the right-hand column.

Each row has a cube, which starts in the No column. If the condition applies to this fire, then the cube is slid across to the Yes column, revealing the modifier. The modifiers are easy to add up, just add the modifiers that are visible. The net result is recorded un the column on the right. The net column is very useful when a sequence of fires all have the same conditions, there is no need to recalculate the modifiers.

For example, suppose that six points of British infantry are firing at two steps of German infantry moving in column in a farmland hex. In this case the three cubes on those three rows (Moving, In Column, and Farmland) are moved to the Yes column, all the other cubes remain in the No column. The target density is two steps, and the firing type is low-angle infantry. The modifiers will be -3, -4, +1, 0 respectively, total -6, as shown below.

Gallipoli and Mons have their own Fire Modifier displays because they each have their own terrain types.

Playtesters like the new display because the modifiers are easy to find, the arithmetic is easy, and the physical set up means that you don’t lose track of where you were if you get interrupted. It is also easy to calculate repeated fires with similar conditions because typically at most one block changes between similar fires.

Another change in 2.0 is that the fire modifier is now directly used on the Fire Results Table, rather than being added to the dice roll (yet more mental arithmetic removed!). Continuing the above example, we look at the -6 row on the six fire points column. The results is 1.61, meaning one definite hit and 61% chance of a second hit. Roll percentile dice, if the result is 61 or less then it is two hits, otherwise one hit. Make a morale check, and that’s it.

There is a YouTube video showing the new fire modifier display in action in Gallipoli at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuIaZv3XcG8 (search for “Fire Modifier Display for GMT’s Gallipoli 1915”).

In the next chapter I will walk through the streamlined assault procedure.

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