If The Lord Spares Us

Introduction
“…Til we meet again, if the Lord Spares Us”. So ends the last letter written home from Gallipoli veteran 202537 Lance Sergeant Albert Skinner, 2/4th Royal West Kent Regiment, just a few weeks before his death in the hills near Tel Khuweilfe, a few miles north east of Beersheba, Palestine on 4th November 1917. These rules are dedicated to Albert and all those other poor sods who are still out there.

It's a long way to Tipperary but whether you're fighting your way up Anzac Cove, sipping Pimms as part of Townshend's Regatta up the Tigris, marching through Jerusalem with Allenby, or bouncing on a flea-ridden camel on the route to Damascus with Lawrence of Arabia these rules will enable you to pack up your troubles and take the fight to Johnny Turk. Away from the quagmire of the Western Front ITLSU proves that brigade level games the Great War in the Middle East have components of everything; camels, arab war bands, sweeping cavalry attacks, opposed beach landings, massed machine guns, gas attacks, tanks, armoued cars, fighting in the mirage, water shortages, trench assaults, river gunboats - and enough command and control dilemmas to test the most cunning Pasha.The opportunities it provides are boundless. ITLSU makes every wargame a Great War game!

Rules Questions
Introduction

These FAQs follow on from the successful ‘Thoughts of Chairman Mao’ for the Too Fat Lardies’ I Aint Been Shot Mum (IABSM)’ WW2 rules and ‘Thoughts of Chairman Daz’ for the Le Feu Sacre (LFS) Napoleonic rules. It was thought worthwhile to compile a similar collection for the WW1 TFL rules ‘If the Lord Spares Us’ (ITLSU). At present these FAQs replicate those found in a document on the TFL Yahoo Group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Toofatlardies/ ) dated 20 June 2006 based on answers by Nick Skinner and Richard Clarke in that group. It will be updated for subsequent information in due course.

Synopsis of the game

ITLSU is designed as a Brigade game for the Middle East 1914-18 but potentially extendable to East Africa and possibly other theatres. Some work has been done on a Western Front variant.

In ITLSU 3-4 bases (usually of two figures) represent a company of infantry or a squadron of cavalry and a model gun representing two artillery pieces. The basic unit is the infantry battalion, cavalry regiment or artillery battery with sub-units being companies, squadrons and gun sections. Ground scale is envisaged as more or less 62.5 yards to the inch.

Like most other TFL games turns are card based and a system of ‘blinds’ are used to enhance the fog – or in certain parts of the theatre the mirage – of war.

Units act when their card is turned and there is no certainty either of the order they will act in or whether they will act at all in a given turn.

Organisation of these FAQs

The document is organised by section number. Section references are those found in the first edition hard copy © Nick Skinner 2005.

The square bracketed number after the # sign is the post number on the TFL yahoo group where this was dealt with. However a number of the entries below contain subsequent clarifications by Pasha Nick of those posts so the explanations below should generally be a better clarification than the original posts.

1 Introduction


 * No questions yet

2 Troops


 * - Dismounting Cavalry - clarification [#27293]Dismounting cavalry retain their original number of bases (eg a mounted squadron of three bases becomes a dismounted squadron of 3 bases) because the rules (9.4) take account of horse holders by modifying their firing ability.

3 Treatment of Machine Guns


 * 3.1.2 MG officer – clarification [partial response #28175] An MG officer who has more than one MG unit under his command acts on the card of any MG unit he is within 4” of.]


 * Ex. 1 MG’s attached to units ITLSU Example 1 – errata [#30111] In the final paragraph the chance of hitting an MG base rather than an infantry base is 1 in 5 not 1 in 4 and so a d5 should be used with every score of a 5 resulting in a kill or suppression on an MG.

4 Turn Sequence


 * 4 Sequence of actions – clarification [#29159]
 * Units can perform actions in any order once their card is turned. However you would usually try to remove suppression first (see 11). Spotting can be carried out before or after movement (see 7.3). If firing is carried out as well as moving then 9.1 addresses how this works.


 * 4.1.1 Blinds – clarification [#28921] There is no ‘Blinds Allocation Table’. In general the number of dummy blinds is usually equal to the number of signals bases.


 * 4.1.1 Brigade HQ [#24402] The Brigade HQ must deploy off a blind before it can be used as a Brigade HQ. See 6.2.


 * 4.1.1 Signals bases – clarification [#24402] Signals bases move on the Brigade HQ Command card. See 11.2.2


 * 4.1.1 Artillery cards – clarification [#28874 by implication?] Off table artillery is represented by a single card ‘Off table artillery’ while on table artillery is represented by one card per model.


 * 4.1.4 The Card Pack – ITLSU Example 2 - errata [#30111] The reference under National Characteristic Cards to ‘Turkish Rally’ should be to ‘Turkish Delight’.

5 Troop Quality


 * No questions yet.

6 Leadership, orders and control


 * 6.2 Forward Observer – optional rule [#28175, #28232, #28873] The commander in chief will usually act as Forward Observer. However players may wish to have a specific Forward Observer base which will act on the Brigade Commander card and will be share most of the characteristics of a signals base (see 11.2.2) ie can only be deployed when Brigade HQ is deployed, must remain within 18” of the Brigade HQ, may not be fired on, may only be removed by physical contact. A force with a Forward Observer base may only use the Forward Observer to observe fire ie it may not use the Brigade HQ base to observe fire.


 * 6.7 Brigade Commander orders outside 18” - clarification [#28872] A Brigade Commander can change the order of a unit more than 18” away where there is no signals unit to form a link by paying double pips. [Really?]

7 Spotting
 * Forward Observer base – clarification [#no ref] A Forward Observer base may not spot.

8 Movement


 * 8.1 Random movement - clarification [#28142] Where dicing is called for (eg minus DAv) then each company/squadron should roll separately.


 * 8.9 Fog and night marches – clarification [#29159] If the double rolled is double 4 the unit moves 6 inches in the 8 o’clock direction. If it were 1-6 then the direction would always be right or straight back but 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 more evenly spreads the directions.

9 Small Arms Firing


 * 9.1 Target priorities – clarification [#27966] Blinds cannot be targets of direct (or indirect) fire. They could be dust clouds etc.


 * 9.2 Firing limitations – clarification [#28872] Infantry and MGs may not fire through friendly troops on the same level – but see below under 9.13 for an optional rule for MGs.


 * 9.4 British cavalry firing – optional rule [#28872] Players may agree that British cavalry after 1917 equipped with Hotchkiss LMGs may benefit from a +1 like their infantry counterparts equipped with Lewis LMGs.


 * 9.4 Armoured cars – clarification [#28872 & 28622]
 * An MG armed armoured car starts with 2d6, can move and fire with a -2 penalty. They count as hard cover targets and only MGs or artillery can inflict kills (see 9.17). Armoured vehicles can fire on the Tea Break like MGs.


 * 9.12 Firing on the Tea Break - clarification [#28622] Armoured vehicles can fire on the Tea Break as MGs or artillery depending on their armament.
 * 9.13 MG overhead fire – optional rule [#27966]

Overhead fire by an MG is allowed provided that the range to the target from the intervening friendly troops is at least 12” and the MG is more than 24” from the target.

10 Artillery


 * 10.2 Firing procedure – clarification [#28142] The artillery observer is either the Brigade HQ or (if using the optional rule – see 6 above – the Forward Observer base.
 * 10.3 Corrections to artillery fire – clarification [#28874] Corrections to indirect (non-barrage) fire is made on the ‘off table artillery card’. Corrections to barrage fire are on the Brigade HQ card. On table units using direct fire can change targets etc on their card or at the Tea Break. To Pasha Nick’s thinking ‘correcting should mean stopping it and then having it come in again on another turn. This gives a reasonable and realistic delay.


 * 10.3 Corrections to artillery fire – clarification [#28874] Corrections to indirect (non-barrage) fire is made on the ‘off table artillery card’. Corrections to barrage fire are on the Brigade HQ card. On table units using direct fire can change targets etc on their card or at the Tea Break. To Pasha Nick’s thinking ‘correcting should mean stopping it and then having it come in again on another turn. This gives a reasonable and realistic delay.


 * 10.3 Indirect fire – clarification [#28142] Indirect fire other than barrage fire:


 * arrives when the card of the on-table unit is turned or when the off-table artillery card is turned;
 * does not test for accuracy using 10.6
 * does not have a barrage zone.
 * fires at a specific (sub)unit (eg an infantry company using the rules in section 9.


 * 10.4 Pre-arranged barrages – clarification [#28874] Only pre-arranged barrages are limited – called in barrages are not.
 * 10.6 Accuracy of off table barrages – clarification/errata [#no ref] Insert the words ‘the total’ before ‘of 2d6’ in the last line. Pasha Nick thinks that the weighting of from 5 to 7 o’clock nicely throws up the issue of ‘shorts’. For a more balanced spread you could use a D12 but Pasha Nick doesn’t like to recommend using yet another dice type.
 * 10.10 Mountain guns – errata [#30111] Mountain guns use 3d6 not 2d6 per model (to be consistent with table 9.4).

11 Suppression


 * 11.1 Effect of suppression points on movement – clarification [#28142] The battalion commander may roll for suppression removal at the beginning of an impulse before needing to check to see whether the unit has to withdraw.


 * 11.2 Removing suppression – clarification [#28142*] An individual company cannot roll in to remove suppression in the same turn that a battalion HQ uses its points to remove suppression use because the individual unit is only allowed to roll under 11.2.5 if a battalion HQ is not present.

12 Close Combat


 * No questions yet.

13 Morale


 * No questions yet.

14 Air Attacks
 * No questions yet.

15 Rivers and Boats
 * 15.4 Firing on boats – optional rule [#27167] Small arms fire on boats with a +2.

16 Notes on field defences, trenches etc


 * No questions yet.

Appendix 1 - Blinds


 * No questions so far.

Quick reference sheet

No questions so far.

Summer/Christmas Special Articles
2005 Christmas 2006 Summer 2006 Christmas 2007 Summer 2007 Christmas 2009 Summer 2009 Christmas 2010 Summer
 * If The Lord Spares Us - Rules Introduction and Scenario - Palestine 1917
 * The affair of Wadi Hu'ara - Scenario - Mesopotamia 1914
 * Square Hill - Scenario - Palestine 1918
 * A Different Kettle of Fish – Using Machine Guns
 * Gully Ravine - Scenario - Gallipoli 1915
 * Advance to Kut - Scenario - Mesopotamia 1915
 * "Things are a bit 'ard" - Supplement - East Africa 1914
 * The Other M'boto Gorge"Things are a bit 'ard" Scenario - East Africa 1918
 * Tanga - Day One - "Things are a bit 'ard" Scenario - East Africa 1914
 * Tanga - Day Two - "Things are a bit 'ard" Scenario - East Africa 1914
 * In Jordan's Hot Valley - Scenario – 1918
 * A Tight Ring - ITLSU Scenario - Palestine 1918
 * Attack on Camp El Juba ITLSU Scenario - Mesopotamia 1915
 * Revenge at Camp El Juba - Scenario Mesopotamia
 * Last Chance on the Tigris - Scenario Mesopotamia 1916