BOOTS, TRACKS, AND HOVERSKIRTS

v. 1.0

  An operational-level wargame rules for the 2300AD game universe. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Game Scale
Game Units
Turn Sequence
            Order Phase
Movement
Battle Resolution
            Battle Resolution Table
Advanced Rules

Air Combat Module

Unit Conversion
            Unit Conversion Example

Armies of 2300AD
            America
            France
            Germany
            Great Britain
            Mexico
            Tanstaafl
            The Kafers

Detailed Combat Example

 GAME SCALE
Each turn represents approximately 8 hours of operations. The game can be played on a hex map, with each hex representing 10 km, using cardboard counters to represent battalion-sized formations, or as a miniatures game, with each inch or cm representing 10km of actual terrain (depending on the scale of miniatures used) and individual vehicle and soldier miniatures representing battalions.

GAME UNITS
Units represent battalions (note that some armies call battalions "regiments), which in turn consist of company-sized steps. A typical ground unit will have a following unit notation:

Strength:--(--)   Armor: A/B/C   Infantry:--    FS:--(--)    Tech:--     AD:--    Mobility:-- 

Strength represents the size of the unit. The first value is used for determining losses. The parenthesized value is used for stacking and supply purposes.

Armor: Each unit may have up to 3 armor ratings, henceforth referred to, from right to left, as A, B, and C. Armor value A represents the average offensive armored capability of the unit, B is used when a unit consists of more than one type of AFV and represents offensive armor capability of the unit’s heaviest IFVs (it may be parenthesized to reflect vehicles with heavy armor but weak AT weapons), while C position represents defensive AT capability of units predominantly equipped with ATGM (Dirtside II “GMS” systems) or light AFVs equipped with heavy AT weapons. The letter behind the armor value represents the Armor Qualifier (AQ), which is used to denote the relative armor thickness or armor penetration of unit’s weapons.  

Infantry: This value represents battle power derived from its infantry strength. Units with infantry strength in “( )” may use their infantry strength only when defending—they may not initiate battles. Units with infantry strength in “[ ]” are considered Assault, and units with infantry ratings in “{ }” are considered Heavy Weapons units (more details on Infantry type characteristics in Battle Resolution section). Units with Inf rating in “{[ ]}” are Combat Walkers. Infantry units consisting of more than one infantry type may have separate infantry values separated by a plus sign.

 FS: Fire support, denotes the unit’s ability to deliver indirect fire. The parenthesized value represents range in hexes. Units with an FS value with no range may only contribute FS points to battles in which they are directly participating. 

Tech: The Tech Level value represents an attempt to quantify unquantifiable qualitative aspects of combat units, such as the quality of its fire control, stealth, ECM, communications, etc. Every unit is rated as having Low (L), Medium (M) or High (H) Tech.  

AD: Air Defense: The parenthesized value represents range in hexes. Units with AD range of 0 may only contribute FS points to battles in which they are directly participating.  AD weapons with range of 0 are considered to be Short-Range AD, whereas AD weapons with ranges 1 or greater are considered Long Range AD. 

Move: represents number of movement points. The letter represents mobility type: T: Tracked, HW: high-mobility wheeled, LW: low-mobility wheeled, F: foot, H: Hover. 

Attack VTOL units have the following format:
Strength:       Armor:       Tech:            Move:

 Transport VTOL companies:
Capacity:         Move: 

Artillery  and Air Defense Units:
Strength:    FS:      AD: Mobility:           Tech:

 TURN SEQUENCE

1. Air Superiority Phase (See optional rules)
First Player Active Phase Begins
2. 1st Player Order Phase
3. 1st Player Movement Phase
4. Battle Phase
First Player Active Phase Ends
Second Player Active Phase Begins
5. 2nd Player Order Phase
6. 2nd Player Movement Phase
7. Battle Phase
Second Player active phase ends.

The “1^st Player” will usually be the player who is on the offense in the scenario, and the sequence will not change during the game unless using Initiative optional rule. 

Order Phase

Possible orders are Administrative Advance, Hasty Advance, Deliberate Advance, Hasty Defense, Deliberate Defense, Prepared Defense. Each Brigade receives 1 order per turn and all units subordinate to that HQ are in that posture until the next order phase. Owning player must specify clearly which units within that brigade are given which orders.  

Hasty Advance (HA): Unit may move its full movement allowance. Units must stop once they enter a hex adjacent to an enemy unit and may (but do not have to) initiate battle. May not be given to units with Deliberate or Prepared Defense orders. 

Deliberate Advance (DA): Units may not move, only attack an adjacent enemy unit. Units in this posture may advance into a vacated hex. May not be given to units with Deliberate or Prepared Defense orders. Units with these orders may not initiate battle against units in against units in Hasty Defense or Hasty Advance postures. When attacked, units with DA orders are treated as if in Hasty Defense posture. 

Hasty Defense (HD): HD is the assumed posture of all units with HA and DA orders during the other player’s turn.  Any unit transitioning from a Defense posture to an Advance posture must be given HD orders for one turn before receiving an Advance order. 

Deliberate Defense (DD): May be issued to any unit with HA or HD orders. Unit in Deliberate Defense posture must be given Hasty Defense orders before receiving any Advance order. Units with those orders may not move (except to retreat) or initiate battle. They may not move into vacated hexes. 

Prepared Defense (PD): Unit in Deliberate Defense posture must be given Hasty Defense orders before receiving any Advance order. Units with those orders may not move or initiate battle. They may not move except to retreat.   

Administrative Advance: Unit may use the road movement rates. It may not enter hexes adjacent to enemy units or initiate battle. Units with Admin Advance orders may be attacked.  

MOVEMENT

After the orders are issued, activated units may move up to their entire movement allowance, depending on orders. 

Movement classes:

F (Foot): 2 MP
W (Slow Wheeled): 6
FW (Fast Wheeled): 8
ST: (Slow Tracked): 6 MPs
FT: (Fast Tracked): 8 MPs
SH: (Slow Hover): 8 MPs
FH: (Fast Hover): 10 MPs

Movement Point Cost:
Open: All 1
Rough: Foot 1, Tracked 2, Wheel and Hover 3
Forest: Foot 1, Tracked 2, Wheel and Hover 3
Mountain: Foot 1, Tracked 3, Wheel and Hover 4
Heavy Forest: Foot 1, Tracked 3, Wheel and Hover 4
Urban: All 1

Road: ½ MP per hex regardless of terrain for all except wheel, which pays 1/3 MP per hex. Must have AA posture to use.

 If not using Headquarters (see optional rules), all brigades must maintain unit cohesion by ensuring that at the end of move no unit of the brigade is further than 4 hexes from all other units belonging to the same brigade. 

BATTLE RESOLUTION

A battle is considered to be an engagement between Active player's units attacking a single hex with units located in adjacent hex or hexes (with the exception of artillery units, which must be within range of the hex being assaulted), and Non-Active player's defending units in the attacked hex, plus units in adjacent hexes (as well as eligible artillery units within range), if Non-Active player so chooses. In addition, artillery units on both sides may contribute their FS points, if within range. Each battle is resolved separately, in accordance with the following sequence. 

1) Determine the type of Battle. Determine whether the it is a Maneuver or Positional battle. A Positional battle occurs when all defending units involved in a battle on one side (with the exception of artillery and gunship units) are in Deliberate Defense or Prepared Defense. Maneuver battles occur in all other cases, except in Close terrain, where all battles are treated as positional irrespective of posture.  For the activating player, overall posture is determined by the order marker of the activated brigade.  For the defending player, overall posture is determined by the posture of the units in the hex into which the attack is being launched.   

2) Determine whether the battle is fought in Open, Intermediate or Close terrain. Terrain in hex being attacked determines terrain for purposes of battle resolution.  

Open Terrain: plains, fields, steppes, desert, etc.
Intermediate Terrain: foothills, light woods, brush, rough, etc.
Close Terrain: forest, city, jungle, mountains, etc. 

3) Determine Armor and Infantry strengths of units participating in battle, multiply them in accordance with the chart below, then add them together. 

Open Terrain, Maneuver Battle
Low Tech Units: Armor x 4, Infantry x 1
Med Tech Units: Armor x 8, Infantry x 2
High Tech Units: Armor x 12, Infantry x 3

Open Terrain, Positional Battle
Low and Med Tech Units: Armor x 2, Infantry x 2
High Tech Units: Armor x 3, Infantry x 3 

Intermediate Terrain, Maneuver Battle
Low  and Med Tech Units: Armor x 4, Infantry x 2
High Tech Units: Armor x 6, Infantry x 3 

Intermediate Terrain, Positional Battle
All Units: Armor x 1, Infantry x 2 

Close Terrain
All Units: Armor x 1, Infantry x 4

 Battle Resolution Notes:

Armor Notes:
Armor ratings in “( )” (representing ATGMs) use Infantry multipliers in Maneuver battles, not Armor multipliers.  

If units with more than one armor rating are involved, the owning player must determine which of the ratings will be used. Armor ratings separated by a “/” may not be added together, with one exception: When a unit has Defense orders, it may add second and third ratings provided armor value C has a “+” in front of it.  The C rating may only be used in Defense postures, while the A and B in all types of postures.  If  B rating is parenthesized, it may only be used if no unit involved in a battle uses their A rating. 

At the beginning of the battle, determine the highest armor qualifier (AQ) (i.e., the letter following the armor rating, from VL--very light through L, M, H, to VH--very heavy) on each side. Units with the highest AQ have unchanged armor values, units on the other side with qualifier one lower have their armor ratings halved, units with qualifier two levels lower have their armor ratings divided by 4 and all armor ratings with lower AQs are reduced to zero. If several units with differing AQs are present on both sides, the highest AQ is the lowest value on one side that is still higher than any value on the opposing side (see example 2).  

For example, Side 1 has units with the following armor ratings 10H, 10M, 10 L. Side 2 has units with the following armor ratings: 10M, 10L.  

The highest AQ on Side 1 is H, therefore all M-units on Side 2 are halved, all L-units on Side 2 are Quartered, and any VL units would have had their armor ratings ignored. 

The highest AQ on side 2 is M, therefore all H- and M-units on Side 1 are left unchanged, all L-units are halved, and any VL-units would have had their armor ratings quartered. 

Infantry Notes:
Assault Infantry units have their Inf rating doubled when engaged in Positional battles with Advance orders. Their infantry rating is halved in all other circumstances. Heavy Weapons infantry units have their Inf ratings doubled when engaged in Positional battles with Defense orders. Their Inf ratings are halved in all other circumstances. 

In situations involving Hasty Advances against Deliberate or Prepared Defenses, the attacker’s Infantry uses Armor multipliers instead of Infantry multipliers. 

Units with more than one infantry rating separated by a “+” sign add all ratings after they are suitably modified depending on type of battle and terrain. 

4) Find Fire Support Die Roll Modifiers

Each player adds up all Fire Support ratings of units participating in the battle. All units physically participating in the battle may contribute their Fire Support values to the battle.  No unit that is not participating in the battle may contribute Fire Support, except for Artillery units, which must be within range of at least one hex containing enemy units engaged in the battle which the Artillery unit wishes to support.  Usual terrain/posture/tech multipliers used for armor and infantry values are not used. 

Target Posture:
HA, DA, HD: No change
DD: Lt/4, Med/2, Heavy no change
PD: Lt artillery has no effect, Med/4, Heavy/2. 

Terrain: Lt arty is halved in Close terrain. Cities represent special case, where all artillery is quartered, with the exception of Heavy which is halved. 

After adding up the ratings, each player divides his total FS value by his units’ total Strength. Then the Defender’s FS value is subtracted from the Attacker’s, and the resulting number (rounded off to the nearest whole number) is used both by the attacker and the defender as a die roll modifier in the battle resolution roll. If the attacker’s FS value is superior, the FS modifier is positive for both players, if the defender’s FS value is superior, the FS modifier is negative for both players. 

The FS modifier is doubled in Positional Battles, except in Close Terrain. 

Only units composed wholly of artillery batteries may provide fire support to battles in which they are not participating (i.e., they are not in the hex being attacked, or in any adjacent hex).  Artillery units may not use their FS in battles in which there are no non-artillery units participating on the same side. In such cases their combat value is their Strength divided by 4.

5) Battle Resolution:  Determine the odds by comparing the two sides’ battle strengths, round off all fractions down, find the proper odds column on the Combat Result Table (CRT), implement column shifts (if any). 

The first figure in every column represents the percentage of Strength the Attacker loses, the second one the percentage lost by the Defender.

Column shifts:
Defender in DD: 2 to the Left (2L)
Defender in PD: 4L
Defender in AA: 4R
Attacker in DA: 1R

 Each player rolls a D10 (or a 2D6-2, if agreed so before the game by both players), applies the Fire Support die roll modifier and appropriate column shifts, and finds the appropriate loss level on the column. 

6) Damage Allocation:  The figure on the odds column corresponding to the die roll is the percentage of Strength eliminated in the battle.. Add up total strength of units participating in the battle, find the percentage (number of hits), then eliminate units from the battle pile equal to the eliminated Strength. Owning player determines which units are eliminated.

Units absorb damage points by being eliminated (in doing so they absorb damage points equal to their Strength) or half-eliminated (in doing so they absorb damage points equal to half of their Strength). Half-eliminated units are then appropriately marked.

  Remaining damage points are ignored only if they are equal or less to ¼ of Strength of the weakest remaining unit on the friendly side. If the remaining damage points are between ¼ and ½ strength any remaining unit, that unit must be marked as half-eliminated, and in doing so it absorbs all remaining damage points. If the remaining damage points are between ½ and full Strength of any unit, that unit must be eliminated. 

 Artillery units only contributing FS may not be eliminated.  

Units may also be forced to retreat. Any force which suffers at least 30% casualties must retreat by one hex, 60% by two hexes, 90% by three hexes.  If, however, no attacking units advance into the hexes vacated by the retreating units, they may ignore the retreat result and return into the vacated hexes.  

ADVANCED RULES

BT&H was designed as a game of varying complexity, with “modular” rules. The basic rules contain everything that’s needed to play the game, while the Advanced rules add complexity as well as realism. They also change the character of the game. While the Basic game will be essentially attritional in nature, Advanced rules, particularly Initiative, Fog of War, Supply, and others, will turn it into a simulation of maneuver warfare.  The game has also been written in such a way that it can be played with some, all, or none of the Advanced rules and still be “complete.” 

Bombardments:  A Bombardment is a type of battle which involves only artillery, air, or orbital bombardment units using their FS points against the other side’s ground units.  A Bombardment is resolved like a normal battle, with the exception that only the defender (i.e. bombardment’s recipient) takes casualties, the bombarding side’s total FS rating is quartered before the bombardment is resolved, and the bombarded units only use their Strength, not armor and infantry combat values. All units in target hex and any of the adjacent hexes (attacker’s choice) may be the target of bombardment.

Following modifiers are also used to resolve bombardments:
Attacker’s HQ Tech level higher/lower than Defender’s: 2 column shifts to the right/left per TL difference.
Firer’s TL higher/lower than Target’s: 1 column shift right/left per TL difference.
Target units in AA posture: no change
Target in HA/HD posture: 2L
Target in  DD posture: 4L
Target in PD posture: 6L
Bombarding side has air superiority: 2R
If average Raw Strength present in target hex or hexes is 0-4: no change;  5-8: 2R; 9-12: 4R; 13-16: 6R 

If a Bombardment is carried out by artillery units, the opposing side’s may execute a counterbattery Bombardment, which takes effect before the declared bombardment. In counterbattery bombardments use the same modifiers as above, as well as: 

Target is Towed Artillery: 1L

If using Fog of War rules, artillery units conducting bombardments must be revealed. 

If using Initiative rules, the bombarded player may “buy” L column shifts by placing enemy initiative markers on the hex being bombarded, 1 column shift per initiative marker, up to four markers.  

Treat Orbital Bombardments as Heavy or Very Heavy artillery batteries/battalions with unlimited range. Because of their long response time, they may be used to support Positional Battles only or deliver Bombardments. 

Cavalry Units: these are infantry units mounted on horses, or other suitable animals. Any infantry unit mounted on horses has an infantry multiplier 1 level lower than an equivalent "leg" infantry unit and has its strength halved for the purposes of absorbing hits if in HA posture.  They have 2 MPs and same mobility class as Foot. 

Detailed Battle Resolution: For battles or campaigns involving only a few battalions on each side, a more detailed system of assigning battle damage might be needed. Doing so would require the players to create a status sheet for every battalion-sized unit listing each individual company in the battalion and their capabilities. Losses are applied by checking off individual eliminated companies in the battalion.  

Disengagements: Posture rules make a rapid disengagement from enemy difficult, particularly if occupying defensive positions. The Disengagement rule fills in that gap by enabling BT&H units to do what real ones are able to--rapidly break off contact and disengage. A unit in contact with the enemy (i.e., with enemy units in adjacent hexes) may declare a Disengagement and immediately switch to Hasty Advance posture, regardless of its initial posture. It may move in accordance with HA rules, with one exception--it may not enter in contact with the enemy and/or initiate battle of any kind. It may, however, be attacked.

Engineers: If this rule is used, defensive posture changes are no longer automatic. To go from a Hasty Defense posture to a Deliberate Defense posture, a unit must roll a 4 or more on a 1d10. To go from a Deliberate Defense to Prepared Defense, a unit must roll 7 or higher.  Green units subtract 2 from the die roll, Trained units subract 1, Veterans add 1, Elites add 2.  Each engineer battalion allows a brigade (or up to three separate battalions) to add 2 to the die roll.  There is no upper limit on the number of engineer battalions that can help a brigade improve its defensive posture. 

In addition to helping construct defenses, engineers also have a mobility/countermobility role. Each engineer battalion may issue up to 6 MPs to friendly units during own movement phase, although no single infantry battalion may receive more than 1 MP per turn, and no vehicular unit may receive more than 3 MPs per turn.  Extra MPs may only be issued to units which did not spend the entire turn moving on roads in Administrative Advance posture. 

Engineer units’ obstacle-breaching capabilities are simulated as follows: a brigade within the effective radius of a friendly engineer battalion and attacking enemy units in PD posture receives a 1R column shift.  

An engineer battalion may use both its defense-improvement and mobility capabilities in a single turn, and may assist any friendly unit within a 6-hex radius from its own location. 

2300AD “canon” provides little information concerning the presence of combat engineers. A good rule of thumb is 1 engineer battalion per brigade for first rank armies, less for less well equipped forces.  Engineer battalions are usually grouped in separate brigades, and are rarely permanently attached to maneuver brigades. 

Fog of War: When a brigade are not engaged ( none of their units are adjacent to any enemy units), its owning player may remove all units being controlled by the brigade and place three individually identifiable (with numbers, symbols, etc.) Hidden Unit Counters (HUCs) in any of the hexes occupied by the brigade’s battalions. This action may be performed by the active player during his Order Phase. There is no limit to the number of units so hidden. (Opposing player may not note which HUCs represent which brigades/separate battalions) The player must also note which of the HUCs represents the "real" brigade and which are “empty”. Once HUCs are introduced players may give them any orders which could be given to actual units.  HUCs have the same movement class as the units they replace. HUCs may also be moved by air, and use as much airlift as the actual brigade.   HUCs are removed (or identified as representing the brigade's actual location) when at the end of an activation (not necessarily one in which they were activated) they are within 3 hexes of an enemy unit, or within 5 hexes of an enemy reconnaissance unit. Units may also be revealed when activated if their controlling player so desires.  

When a HUC representing the brigade is removed, all of brigade's units must be placed within two hexes of the HUC's last location, and in terrain which they could have entered on their own.  

HUCs may not be targeted by air or artillery bombardments. When one player's HUC moves within 3 hexes of an enemy HUC, the owning player of the moving HUC must reveal its character. If the HUC represents no actual unit, it is removed and the opposing player’s HUC is not revealed. If the active HUC represents an actual unit, the owning player must place the unit it represents on the map, then the inactive player must reveal the nature of all HUCs within 3 hexes of the final location of the revealed HUC.  If any of the non-active player's HUCs are real, he must place the actual units on the map (within two hexes of the HUC's location, and in same posture as HUC), then remove any two of his own HUCs not representing actual units. In addition, any HUCs within 3 hexes of the active player's HUC (5, if the HUC represented a recon unit) are removed. Then the active player places his units (even if no actual non-active units were detected) and removes any two of his HUCs not representing actual units. If the active player reveals his hidden unit and it turns out all of the inactive player’s HUCs were empty, he may then replace his revealed unit with a  HUC and at the same time remove two empty HUCs already on the board and place them in the same hex, without revealing which of the counters represents the re-hidden unit. The unit may also continue movement if it has not expended all of its MPs for the turn. 

Attack gunship units may not be sent to attack HUCs or to force them to be revealed.   

A hidden unit unit may be moved by air or air-dropped. Owning player may place two empty HUCs not representing actual units for each real HUC in the same hex, but must also remove two empty HUCs from the board.  

Separate battalions may be treated identically as brigades, except that they use HUCs distinct from brigade HUCs. 

If using Initiative rules, unmasking of Hidden units may also involve the placement of Initiative markers.  This is done only when a hidden unit is revealed upon contact with another unit. Both players roll a 1D10 and use the following modifiers:  

All units in the brigade are foot-mobile:  -2
Per level of TQ difference between units concerned: +/-2.
Only one side’s HUCs were revealed: +4 for the side with revealed HUCs.
Side has air superiority: +2
Side has air supremacy: +4
Side has space superiority (a scenario-specific condition): +4.

After the dice are rolled, compare the difference between the two rolls.
Difference of 4 or less: no Initiative markers placed
Difference of 4 to 8: one Initiative marker placed
Difference of 9-12: two Initiative markers placed
Difference of 13 or more: 3 Initiative markers placed. 

All of the markers must be placed in one hex, located within 2 hexes of the HQ of any of the brigades involved in the HUC revealing process and belonging Initiative-winning player. 

High-Tech Missiles: AT missiles, being vulnerable to point defenses and electronic warfare, are more vulnerable to Tech differences than “dumb” weapons. If using this rule, missile-firing units on one side that have a higher Tech than all units in a battle on the other side may use their parenthesized Armor C-ratings (which are derived from AT missiles) instead of A or B ratings in Advance postures, as well as Defense postures. Parenthesized Armor ratings of such units use Armor, not Infantry, multipliers in Maneuver battles. A side that has lower Tech than the other must halve their missile-derived armor C-ratings when in combat against higher Tech units. 

Initiative: Initiative markers are used to track the ebb and flow of the battle.  Number of Initiative markers placed in a stack depends on the level of victory (LV). Level of victory (in the left column) is determined by the RS of defeated units belonging to the Defender (Attacker’s losses are ignored) and degree of defeat inflicted on them (expressed in terms of percentage losses inflicted on the Battle Resolution Table).  

 Following a battle, place a number of Initiative markers equal to the level of victory plus 1 (Level 2 victory would result in the placement of 3 markers) on the hex into which the active player’s forces attacked. Initiative markers are placed only on the basis of the attacking player’s success: if the defending player in the battle succeeds in inflicting a defeat upon the attacking player, no Initiative markers are placed.  LV is increased by one if a battle resulted in a total elimination of an enemy force. 

An Initiative marker or a stack of Initiative markers have a radius of 3 hexes per each marker in the stack.  

Maneuver battles fought within the effective radius of 1 or 2 Initiative markers get a one column shift to the left. Maneuver battles fought within the effective radius of 3 such markers get a 2L shift, within 4 or more markers a 3L shift.  The shift is reduced by 1 in Positional battles.  

Effect of markers on units of the same side: MP costs are halved for all terrain.  

Effect of markers on units of opposing side:
Within radius of 1 or 2 markers: MP costs halved
3 and more markers: MP costs halved, may not occupy any Deliberate or Prepared posture. Units already in Deliberate or Prepared postures may remain in them, but may not upgrade. 

Opposing players’ Initiative marker cancel each other out if one is within range of another. The effect is immediate. For example, if a one-marker stack is within range of the other player’s three-marker stack, immediately reduce both stacks by one marker.  A two marker stack within range of a three-marker stack means both stacks have to be reduced by two markers, a three-marker stack within radius of two enemy 1-marker stacks would be reduced by two markers, while the 1-marker stacks would be eliminated, and so on. 

Initiative marker stacks are reduced by one marker at the beginning of owning player’s Order phase.  

Initiative markers also determine which player has turn initiative. At the beginning of each turn, before Air Superiority phase, check the number of Initiative markers each player has on the board. The player with the greater number of markers has initiative for that turn, which means that player decides which player will be the first Active player in the turn.

If not using Fog of War rule, Initiative markers may also be placed when units of differing troop quality or tech levels come in contact. Use the following procedure: 

When units of two brigades come into contact with one another, both players roll 1D10 and apply the following modifiers:
Both players roll a 1D10 and use the following modifiers (superior unit adds, inferior subtracts):
All units in the brigade are foot-mobile:  -2
Per level of TQ difference between units concerned: +/-2.
Side has air superiority: +2
Side has air supremacy: +4
Side has space superiority (a scenario-specific condition): +4.
Per level of Tech difference between the two units’ HHQs (only when using HHQ rules): +/-2.
Within radius of at least one friendly Recon aircraft: +2.

After the dice are rolled, compare the difference between the two rolls.
Difference of 4 or less: no Initiative markers placed
Difference of 4 to 8: one Initiative marker placed
Difference of 9-12: two Initiative markers placed
Difference of 13 or more: 3 Initiative markers placed. 

Kinetic Energy Missiles: special missile type available only to High Tech forces in 2300AD. Any vehicular unit armed with heavy AT missiles may fire KEMs. KEMs behave as ordinary missiles, except they use Armor, rather than Infantry multipliers in Maneuver combats. KEMs also benefit from the High-Tech Missiles rule, if in force. 

Reconnaissance Units: Recon units are specialized, combined arms formations ranging between company and brigade in size. Their capabilities in BT&H are represented as follows: if a Recon unit is engaged in battle (regardless of who initiated the battle), instead of accepting hits as normal its owning player may declare a Delaying Action and move the recon unit away from the enemy 1 hex, and halve number of hits it has to accept. A Delaying Action may be declared only if no non-recon units are involved on the side of the player declaring the Delaying Action (artillery units located in non-adjacent hexes and contributing FS points excepted). Since recon forces' doctrine and training emphasizes mobile battle, they may only be issued Hasty Advance, Hasty Defense, and Admin Advance orders. Each recon battalion receives a separate order marker. 

Reconstituting Units:  Eliminated units that were are taken off the map and placed in a separate holding area. For Elite and Veteran units, whenever two identical infantry units or three identical AFV units accumulate, the owning player may return one of them to play, and place the rest in another, “really dead” pile. Experienced and Trained units need three AFV or five vehicular units to reconstitute a unit. Green units may not be reconstituted-they go directly to the “really dead” pile.  If using the Supply rule, eliminated units must be in supply at the time of their elimination, otherwise they go directly to the “really dead” pile. Reconstituted units must be added to a brigade that is in supply and is not in an Advance posture. 

Separate units: Separate units are maneuver (tank, infantry, mechanized, etc.) battalions which have the necessary logistical and command and control assets to operate on their own, without close supervision by a brigade. Each separate battalion receives a separate order marker. Each separate battalion must trace its own supply route, be supply-independent, or be air-resupplied. Each separate bn receives own orders and needs not be within the command radius of any brigade. They may not participate in battles in conjunction with other units (even other separate units) unless subordinated to a brigade. An separate unit may be subordinated to a brigade HQ if the owning player so chooses, and loses its special benefits and penalties. A battalion subordinated to a brigade may be declared to be separate during the active player’s Order phase, and from that point behaves in accordance with separate unit rules. 

Sequential Movement: Instead of conducting battles after all movement has been completed, both player move all of his units in the same movement phase in the following sequence: Deliberate Advance, Hasty Advance, Administrative Advance.  After all units with DA are moved any battles either player wants to initiate with these units are resolved, then units with HA orders are moved and their battles are resolved, and finally AA posture units are moved.  Bombardments may be conducted in any phases player desires. An artillery unit may support battles with FS in every phase but may only carry out one bombardment per turn. Same applies for air units. 

If using this rule, turn sequence looks as follows:
Air Superiority Phase
Order Phase
Deliberate Advance Move/Battle Phase
Hasty Advance Move/Battle Phase
Admin Advance Move Phase

If using this rule, Elite and Veteran units may receive two different order markers per brigade. 

Supply: Every brigade, separate unit, and HUC must trace a 10-hex supply route to a road, and from there along a road to a supply source (a city, edge of map, and/or a supply depot). The supply route may not pass through any hexes adjacent to enemy units.   

Each player makes a supply state determination for his units at the beginning of each supply phase. If any units are unsupplied, they (or their HQs) are marked with U-1 marker. Any units already marked with a U-1 marker and are still not supplied are marked with a U-2 marker. Any units already marked with a U-2 marker and are still not supplied are marked with a U-3 marker. Any units marked with a U-* marker which find themselves supplied at the beginning of their player’s active portion of a turn have their markers removed. 

Supply marker effects:
U-1 markers:  no effect. No artillery bombardments allowed.
U-2 markers:  Lose half movement points (for vehicles), may not use any third position Armor values.  No fire support by unsupplied units.  Heavy Weapons and Assault infantry ratings halved.
U-3 markers: All Armor, FS, and assault and heavy weapons infantry ratings reduced to 0.  No vehicular movement allowed. All units with this marker are considered Low Tech. 

Towed Artillery: All rules to date assume self-propelled artillery systems. In case of towed artillery, FS values are quartered in all Hasty postures. 

VTOL Units: VTOL (2300AD X-wings, gunships, etc.) units have special movement rules, since they rely on mobile refueling and rearming facilities behind own lines. These are simulated by a Strength 1 ground unit with no additional combat values with a mobility rating of SW or SH.  VTOL units must begin and end turn stacked with a friendly ground unit (an abstracted way of representing ground-based refueling/rearming/maintenance assets). There is no limit as to how many VTOL units may stack with a friendly unit.  Instead of having a movement allowance, VTOL units have a radius of action, which means a total number of hexes they may travel in a turn between originating HQ, destination, and final HQ (which doesn’t have to be the same as the originating HQ).   

When in a battle and no friendly ground units are participating, VTOL units are treated as if they have Hasty Advance orders, otherwise they are considered to have the same orders as ground units they support.  

VTOL units are the only units which may be moved by the inactive player during the active player’s phase. While Active, the player may move his VTOLs in accordance with the rules but must bring them back to their respective HQs at the end of his Combat Phase. While Inactive, the player may move his VTOLs after the Active players has finished his movement phase.  VTOLs may initiate combat even when moved by the inactive player, and participate in all battles normally. 

VTOL Armor ratings are wholly based on their ATGMs, but use armor multipliers even in maneuver battles, never infantry. 

Transport VTOLs may also move other units about the board, using the same movement rules as attack VTOLs. Two modes of transport are possible: Assault, in which case a transport VTOL unit may move units up to its load capacity during a movement phase, and Ferry, with a transport VTOL may move up to three times its load capacity during a movement phase.  If moved by Assault mode, arriving units arrive as HUCs (if using Initiative rules) and may move up to their full MA under Hasty Advance orders in the same movement phase if during the player’s Active phase. If moved by Ferry mode, ground units arrive unhidden, may not move in that movement phase, and are assumed to be in HD posture.  Ground units Assault-moved during the owning player’s Active phase may be Assault-moved at the conclusion of that phase’s Battle Phase; if so, once they reach their destination they may not move and assume HD posture. They still arrive as HUCs.  When transporting ground units, the VTOL total travel between own HQ,  the ground unit’s initial location, the ground unit’s destination location, and back to the HQ again, may not exceed the VTOL’s radius. 

VTOL operations are not possible under conditions of enemy Air Supremacy. If operating under enemy Air Superiority conditions, their combat values are halved. 

AIR SUPERIORITY/SUPPORT/DEFENSE MODULE

Aircraft types:
2300AD fleshes out the aerial component of warfare to a considerably lower degree than ground combat, and only recognizes three basic combat aircraft types. They are the Conventional Frontier Fighter (CFF), First-line Multipurpose Fighter (FMF) and Continental Interceptor (CI). BT&H follows that breakdown, with the exception of reclassifying the CI as IF—Interface Fighter, an aerospace combat unit capable of operations in the atmosphere and near-planetary space. Whereas CFF and FMF may be only ground-based, IFs may be launched from/recovered by orbiting spacecraft and project their air superiority/ground strike capabilities into the battle being waged on the planet. As such, they are likely to be the sole source of air support to a planetary landing force in the opening stages of the operation, and also play an important role in planetary defense suppression prior to the landings. 

Each aircraft flight has Air to Air (AA) equal to Troop Quality x Tech Multiplier (see below) x 2 (if FMF) or 3 (if IF). Air to Ground attack strength (AG) is calculated as  TQ x 3 (CFF) or x 5 (FMF) or x 7 (IF).  Note that ground attack strength receives a tech-based multiplier depending on type of battle and terrain. Ground attack capabilities are equivalent to Heavy artillery. 

Sample Generic Aircraft 

Veteran High Tech IF:
Strength: 5       AA: 45              AG: 49H            Tech: High

Veteran High Tech FMF
Strength: 5       AA: 30              AG: 35H            Tech: High 

Veteran High Tech CFF
Strength: 5       AA: 15              AG: 15H            Tech: Med 

Experienced Med Tech FMF
Strength: 3       AA: 12              AG: 15H            Tech: Med 

Trained Low Tech CFF
Strength: 2       AA: 2                AG: 6H              Tech: Low 

Air unit TQ and Tech level are subject to rules governing TQ and Tech level of national ground units. It is assumed that air force quality is the same as the country’s army quality. 

Air Superiority: At the beginning of each air superiority phase, determine which aircraft will be committed to action this turn. Assign each aircraft a mission. Available missions are: Air Superiority (AS), Ground Support (GS) air defense suppression (ADS). Calculate each side’s Offensive and Defensive AA strength. Offensive AA strength consists of the sum of AA values of aircraft with AS orders. Defensive ATA strength consists of the sum of strengths of aircraft with all other types of orders. 

Next, calculate the ratio of each side’s OATA to the other side’s DATA and resolve the battle on the CRT. Only Defending side suffers losses in each of the Off vs. Deff battles. 

Losses are calculated in the following manner: an aircraft which absorbs damage equal to its Strength is considered to be Aborted. Aircraft which absorb damage equal to Strength x 2 are considered shot down and removed from play. Aborted aircraft are moved to the Aborted pile. At the beginning of each Air Superiority Phase, both players roll to determine whether their Aborted units will be available to fly missions this turn. Roll a 1D10 and add the following modifiers: Elite: +4, Veteran: +2, Experienced: 0, Trained: -2, Green: -4. An aborted aircraft returns to action if the modified roll is 6 or higher.  

Owning player determines which of his aircraft will be shot down and which aborted. However, aborted aircraft may not outnumber shot down by more than two to one.  

After air combat is resolved, the player who has more planes left not shot down or aborted is considered to have Air Superiority for that turn. If all aircraft belonging to one player that were committed to combat for that turn are shot down or aborted, the opposing player is considered to have Air Supremacy for the remainder of that turn.  

Air Defense and Ground Support:

Once the Air Superiority phase has been concluded, air units remaining in action may fly ground support missions or carry out aerial bombardments (see Bombardment rules). Each air unit may fly one such mission per Battle Phase of a turn. At the beginning of the Battle Phase, after all battles have been identified, indicate which air units will support which battles by placing them on friendly ground units participating in those battles.  

After all air units have been placed, carry out Air Defense fires. Find out the average AD value for maneuver battalions participating in the battle, add the AD values of any air defense units within range. Gunship units may use their Armor ratings as if they were AD ratings. The battle is resolved as a typical battle, with the ratio of AD fire to the total aircraft strength being used.  Ground units firing AD are the Attacker, Air units are the Defender. Only the Defender rolls and takes casualties. 

Following modifiers are used: for each aircraft with ADS orders supporting the combat: 1 column shift Left if same Tech level as enemy air defenses, 2L shift if higher Tech level.  

Losses are applied normally, as per Air Superiority phase. Units eliminated/aborted in the first Battle Phase of a turn may not participate in the second battle phase.

Once air defense fires are resolved, air units contribute their FS to battles/bombardments, which are then resolved normally. Air units may not be eliminated as a result of a ground battle resolution. 

UNIT CONVERSION MODULE
Building a BT&H unit for one’s own army is a multi-step process. First, ascertain what type of army your country possesses, secondly choose from a list of available company types on the basis of your army quality, and finally calculate the exact combat values of your units on the basis of the chosen company types.  

Since military effectiveness varies from state to state, and is dictated by such considerations as economic performance, naturally not all countries will be able to field armies composed of nothing but Veteran and Elite units. The chart below is based on modified GGII economic data and represents an attempt to divide 2300AD armies into 4 ranks and provide guidelines for drafting Orders of Battle of various 2300AD nations.

1st Line/Elite/2nd line gives unit qualities assigned to specific unit categories of every country. In general, at least 50% of any army's units should be First Line, no more than 25% elite, and no less than 25% 2nd line. Any unit, be it Full or Partial Mechanized, Infantry I or II, can be classified as 1st line, 2nd line, or Elite and assigned appropriate troop quality. Colonial militias ought to be generally classified as 2^nd Line troops in most militaries. 

Category: 1st Line Units/Elite Units/2nd Line Units
1st Rank: Veteran/Elite/Exp.
2nd Rank: Exp/Vet/Train
3rd Rank: Train/Vet/Green
4th Rank: Green/Exp (no 2nd-line units) 

Each TQ level has an associated multiplier used in the determination all units’ combat values.
Green: 1; Trained: 2; Experienced: 3; Veteran: 5; Elite: 7 

A similar chart for unit Tech:
1st Rank: High/High/Medium
2nd Rank: Medium/High/Low
3rd Rank: Low/Medium/Low
4th Rank: all units Low Tech. 

Each Tech has an associated multiplier used in determining some combat values:
Low: 1; Medium: 2; High: 3 

To give you some idea as to what those categories mean, 1st Rank today would be NATO members such as US, UK, Germany, etc., (but not Turkey or Greece), 2nd Rank would represent the Soviet Army in 1970s and 80s and second-tier NATO armies (Greece, Turkey, etc.), 3rd Rank are the more powerful Third World nations, like Iraq, while 4th Rank would represent armies of truly underdeveloped countries, like Zaire or Rwanda. This division is by no means a comprehensive one, and does not include all of Earth’s more significant forces. 

First-Rank Armies: America, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia.
Second-rank armies: Argentina, Azania, Indonesia, Manchuria, Mexico, Ukraine, Texas, the Kafers
Third-rank armies: Brazil, Turkey, Chile, Inca Republic.
Fourth-rank armies: CAR (warlord forces), etc. 

Corporate and mercenary armed forces: treat as if First-rank for purposes of troop quality, but Second-rank for purposes of equipment TL. 

Although there does not exist a comprehensive database of 2300AD military units and vehicles, some general categorizations may be made on the basis of available information. Thusly, the following basic categories of vehicle and troop types can be identified: 

Super-heavy tank: There is only one known superheavy tank design in 2300AD, namely the Kafer Behemoth. No human armies appear to field tanks of that size. The Behemoth can carry one infantry company. As is the case with most Kafer units, its Tech is Medium, and Move class is Slow Tracked. 

Heavy tank: Several Kafer and Vah designs belong to this category, including the Deathsled, CC-21, and the Manchurian Type-27. Modern human heavy tanks have a Tech of High, older ones (including the Manchurian design) have a Tech of Medium, while Kafer ones are Medium. The Kafer Deathsled has a mobility rating of Slow Hover while all known human heavy tanks are Fast Tracked.  There may exist hover heavy tanks in human armies, but they ought to be considered as having Slow Hover mobility.  

Medium tank: Virtually all human hovertanks fit into this category, and most (American M-9 being a notable exception) also carry heavy AT missiles. The newest vehicles (AC-12, M-9, LkPz-IX, Montgomery) have Tech of High and mobility of Fast Hover, while older vehicles (AC-8, LkPz-VIII) have Tech of Medium and mobility of Slow Hover.  

Light tank: There are relatively few of these vehicles present in the game. One example is the ABR-76, a wheeled, Medium Tech vehicle. Again, Tech varies widely. 

Heavy IFV: The top of the line IFVs used by the Earth armies (as exemplified by the GPzTr-XIII) are almost light tanks in terms of their combat capabilities. Only vehicles with 2300AD armor rating of 20 or higher qualify for heavy IFV rating. 

Light IFV/APC: All troopcarriers with 2300AD armor rating of less than 20. They may mount heavy or light missiles, although that may be rarer on older vehicles. Some troop carriers, both old and new, use wheels or tracks instead of hoverfans. 

VTOL gunship: Virtually all carry heavy AT missiles, and have only armor C-ratings. However, on account of their mobility, they may use C-ratings without normal restrictions (i.e., as if it were A-rating). Light VTOLs have a radius of 40 hexes, heavy VTOLs have a radius of 80 hexes.  

Infantry unit organization: First-line infantry battalions in 1^st and 2^nd rank armies are assumed to have a fairly good allowance of heavy support weapons. This means one battery of medium (if mechanized) or light fire support, 1-2 company-equivalents of heavy AT missiles.  Lower-readiness units and battalions belonging to 3^rd and 4^th rank armies may have at most 1 battery of light fire support and 1 battery of light AT missiles.  Infantry battalions considered to be “light infantry” (i.e., with no vehicles to speak of, and carrying everything on their backs) should have only light mortars and light AT missiles, regardless of tech level and army rank. Finally, most militia units will have very low heavy weapon allowances, perhaps 1 missile or fire support battery per battalion. Infantry unit Tech ratings are the same as for vehicles. First-line infantry units of first-rank powers will have High Tech, second-line infantry belonging to first-rank powers or first-line infantry of second rank powers will have Medium Tech, militias will have Low Tech, Kafer infantry has Medium Tech. 

Artillery: The ubiquitous 120mm MRL (and weapons of similar caliber) are considered Medium artillery. Anything significantly larger are treated as Heavy, and weapons under 100mm are considered Light  Artillery. 

Rating Units 

A typical BT&H unit will have the following notation:
Strength:--(--)   Armor:--/--/--   Infantry:--    FS:--(--)    Tech:--     AD:--    Mobility:-- 

Strength: unit's Strength rating is equal to the total number of maneuver companies (infantry, armor, recon, etc.) multiplied by the TQ multiplier. A mechanized infantry company counts as one company for the purposes of Strength calculation, although its infantry and armor components are treated as distinct companies for Armor and Infantry factor calculation. Artillery batteries are not counted for the purposes of strength calculation, except in the case of artillery battalions, where they are counted normally.  For purposes of determining number of companies in a unit, a company is considered to consist of 10 AFVs or heavy AT weapons, 6 artillery weapons, 25 combat walkers, 4 VTOL gunships, or 100 infantrymen. 

Troop Quality (TQ) multipliers:
Green: x 1 Trained: x 2 Regular:x 3  Veteran: x5 Elite: x7 

Tech multipliers:
Low: 1; Medium: 2; High: 3 

Armor:
A-rating: The first step in calculating the unit’s Armor values is calculating the average of the unit’s AFV components’ armor ratings, using the following guide:

Superheavy tanks: 5 Heavy tanks: 4 Medium tanks: 3 Light tanks and Heavy IFVs: 2 Light IFVs/APCs: 1  

AQ “A” rating is obtained by calculating the average of Protection ratings of all AFV companies.   

Example: the American MIB battalion TF has three companies of M24 IFVs and 1 company of M9 tanks. M24s have a protection value of 1, M9s of 3.  

The next step is calculating the average: 

The MIB average is 3x1 + 1x3=6 divided by 4 (the total number of companies), yielding 1.5. Rounding fractions down (always) yields 1. 

Compare this to the Armor Qualifier list:
VH:5, H:4, M:3, L:2, VL: 1 

 MIB’s armor average of 1 corresponds of AQ of VL. 

Rating B may be calculated separately if the battalion consists of various types of armored vehicles. For example, if a battalion contains three companies of light APCs and one company of heavy tanks, the second rating will be calculated as if the heavy tank company was the only AFV company in the unit. In this case the B-rating would be calculated by multiplying the number of heavy tank companies by troop quality, and its AQ would be obtained from protection values of heavy tanks only.  

The C-rating is used for lightly armored vehicles with AT missiles.  A unit’s C-rating is found by multiplying the number of AT missile-armed company-equivalents by the unit’s Troop Quality multiplier.  C-ratings derived from light ATGMs are halved. C ratings derived from ATGMs based on vehicles other than dedicated ATGM platforms (defined as carrying at least 15 rounds of missile ammunition, or VTOLs)are halved as well (in other words, a non-ATGM platform vehicle or infantry unit with light AT missiles has its armor C-rating quartered).       

Infantry: To obtain infantry rating, multiply number of infantry companies (i.e., multiples of 100 infantrymen) by the TQ multiplier. Units composed of Assault stands have their infantry ratings placed in “[ ]”. Units composed predominantly of Heavy Weapons stands have their infantry ratings placed in “{}”. A Battle Walker “company” is considered to consist of 30 CWs and is treated as being both Assault and Heavy Weapons—their Inf ratings are doubled while attacking and defending in Positional battles and halved in all other situations.   

Fire Support: Take the number of batteries (consider 6-8 indirect-fire weapons a battery), multiply them by the TQ multipliers and then by 4, then note whether it’s Light, Medium, or Heavy artillery from the Dirtside vehicle description. Light artillery has a range of 3 hexes, Medium artillery of  6 hexes, Heavy artillery of 9 hexes. However, only artillery battalions have their weapons’ range recorded on their unit notation template. 

Air Defense: multiply number of AD batteries by TQ and Tech multipliers for that battalion. The result is AD rating for the unit.  AD battalions have a range of 3 for light AD weapons, 6 for Medium AD weapons and 9 for Heavy AD weapons. 

VTOL units: Calculate Strength and Armor ratings normally. VTOLs have only one Armor rating which, although it is derived from their missile weaponry, is treated like a standard A-rating. In addition, VTOL are rated for Radius of action. Light VTOLs (attack, light transport) ought to have a radius of 40 hexes, heavy VTOLs (heavy transport) of 60 hexes.  

ARMIES OF 2300AD

AMERICA

Marine Interface Brigade American 7th Marine Interface Brigade (as described in Overlord). 

According to Overlord, a MIB consists of 1 armor battalion, 3 infantry battalions, 1 artillery and 1 walker battalions, 1 gunship squadron. Let's assume that the brigade would be organized in three battalion task forces, each built around a marine infantry battalion, with gunship, artillery and walker units remaining not broken up. 

Each Battalion Task Force would have 1 M9 company and 3 Marine Infantry companies, with a light artillery battery in support. Since America fields a first-rank military, American Marines are Elite troops. 

Strength: 1 tank company, 3 mechanized companies gives a total of 4 companies. Since Marines are Elite, Strength is 28, Raw Strength is 4. 

Armor A rating: The battalion has 4 armor companies, one of tanks and three of APCs, which multiplied by 7 yield Armor Rating of 28. Armor Qualifier is the average of armor penetration values of its armor companies. MIB M9 tanks have protection rating of 3, M24 APCs of 1, which gives (1x3+3x1)/4=1.5 rounded off to 2, which corresponds to L. 

Armor B rating: since a MIB TF has AFVs of varying penetration/protection values, it is entitled to a B rating. Its heaviest AFVs are all found in a single M9 company, which gives a B rating of 7M. 

Armor C rating: MIB TF is lavishly equipped with ATGMs, having the equivalent of three light ATGM companies assigned to its three rifle companies (one light ATGM per squad), and 3 heavy ATGM companies on its APCs.  APC missiles earn a value of 3 (number of companies) times 7 (Elite) divided by 2 (non-ATGM platforms) yielding 11. Infantry ATGMs have a rating of 3 times 7 divided by 4 (light missiles, non-ATGM platform) yielding 5. Total ATGM rating of 16. Note also that the ratings are parenthesized since they are derived from the unit’s ATGM strength.  The “+” indicates that the battalion may add its B and C ratings, since ATGMs are not fired by the same subunits from which B rating is derived.  

Infantry rating: three elite companies give a rating of 21. A unit like the MIB would be trained in a variety of missions, including assault or defensive operations, and would have the necessary equipment for each. Therefore the controlling player should feel free to treat MIB infantry as regular, assault, or heavy weapons. However, MIB infantry may not switch its status in the middle of a scenario.  

Fire Support: We’ll assume one battery of  light artillery, hence 1x7x4= 28L. 

Tech: Being an Elite unit of a First Rank army, the MIB has High tech. 

Air Defense: 1 battery of High Tech weapons, giving it AD value of 1x3x7(elite)= 21. 

So the final MIB battalion TF unit notation template looks like this: 

Strength: 28(4)   Armor: 28VL/7M/+(16)   Infantry: 21 or [21] or {21}    FS: 28L    Tech: High     AD: 21    Mobility: FH 

Artillery battalion: 3 batteries of hoverborne 120mm MRLs make it an easy unit to rate.
Strength: 21(3)    FS: 84M(6)     Mobility: FH     Tech: High 

Combat Walker Battalion: 100 walkers translate into a 4-company unit. A number of assumptions has also been made, including that, if necessary, the battalion is equipped with fast hover transport in order not to fall behind the rest of the MIB.
Strength: 28(4)   Armor: 28VL/--/--   Infantry: {[28]}    FS: --    Tech: High     AD: --    Mobility: FH or F 

Gunship Squadron: Assume three flights of 4 gunships apiece, giving the squadron following stats:
Strength: 7(1)     Armor: (7)    Tech: High    Mobility: Air (40) 

In addition, the MIB aviation element includes 1 squadron of light transport VTOLs, capable of assault-moving a rifle company (without vehicles) or transport-moving a battalion. Stats for a MIB rifle battalion (minus vehicles):
Strength: 21(3)   Armor: --/--/(5)   Infantry: 21 or [21] or {21}    FS:28L    Tech: High     AD: 21    Mobility: F 

FRAN CE

These unit organizations are somewhat “chopped down” versions of  French Army divisional organizations found on the Etranger Noticeboard.  Given its power projection needs, the French Army probably treats its divisions as austere, rapidly deployable basic building blocks to which additional units may be added to form mission-organized task forces. For example, adding a separate tank battalion (CC-21s) would turn a French DB into a somewhat slower unit but one vastly more capable of tank-to-tank combat. Similarly, adding a CC-21 battalion to an Infantry Division would improve its assault capability, as well as its defensive abilities against heavy armored attacks.  Although information on French units is scarce, what is available suggests that certain weapon types like CC-21s, attack gunships, or combat walkers are grouped in separate battalions/squadrons and are not parceled out among divisions on permanent basis. They are too expensive, too scarce, and too specialized to be allowed to remain idle by being tied down with divisions that are not engaged in operations. Instead, they are organized into separate battalions which are pooled at higher echelons and attached to divisions whose missions require the added capabilities. Such an arrangement also dovetails nicely with France’s status as the pre-eminent colonial power, requiring rapidly deployable and tailorable forces. This organizational structure is also roughly similar to current “real world” French reorganization plans, doing away with divisions and instead reorganizing their constituent units into brigades somewhat resembling divisional organizations described above. 

Armored Division (Division Blindee)
HQ
2 Armored Regiments
2 Mechanized Regiments
1 Artillery Regiment 

Armored Regiment: Veteran, High-Tech unit with 4 companies of AC-12 hovertanks, one battery of medium SP artillery and one air defense battery.
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20M/--/(10)   Infantry:--    FS: 20M    Tech: High     AD:15    Mobility:FH 

Mechanized Regiment: Veteran, High-tech unit with 4 hovermechanized companies, one battery of medium SP artillery, 1 air defense battery. We’ll assume to have light ATGM in each squad, heavy IFVs with ATGMs.
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20L/--/(15)   Infantry: 20    FS: 20M    Tech:High     AD:15    Mobility:FH

Hover Artillery Regiment: 3 batteries of Medium SP artillery. Veteran unit.
Strength: 15(3)    FS: 60M(6)     Mobility: FH     Tech: High

 Infantry Division Veteran unit.

1 Light Armor Regiment: As regular Armored Regiment, except that hovertanks are replaced with armored cars, high-tech successors to the obsolescent ABR-76.
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20L/--/(10)   Infantry:--    FS: 20M    Tech: High     AD:15    Mobility:FW

 3 Infantry Regiments: As Mechanized Regiment, except infantry is mounted on light wheeled APCs.
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20VL/--/(15)   Infantry: 20    FS:20M    Tech:High     AD:15    Mobility:FH 

1 Artillery Regiment:
Strength: 15(3)    FS: 60M(6)     Mobility: FW    Tech: High

Light Armored Division: similar to Infantry Division, except that it consists of 2 Light Armor regiments, 2 Infantry Regiments, 1 Artillery regiment. 

The most important separate battalion (regiment) types in the French Army are: 

Airmobile Regiment:
An elite unit consisting of 3 infantry companies, associated VTOL lift assets sufficient for assault-moving the entire unit, and a company of Zephyr attack gunships, as described in the Aurore Sourcebook.  These statistics do not include the Zephyr gunship squadron, which is  listed separately in this section. It is not clear whether the unit described in the Aurore Sourcebook represents a permanent separate regiment, or a task force assembled out of elements of an airmobile division, which might be composed of three such regiments, a gunship regiment, and possibly an air-transportable towed medium artillery regiment of 3 batteries.
Strength: 21(3)   Armor: --/--/--&nbbsp;  Infantry:21 or {21} or [21]    FS: 28L    Tech: High     AD:21    Mobility:FT(Air) 

Heavy Armored Regiment: Veteran unit, with same organization as a hovertank regiment.
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20H/--/(10)   Infantry:--    FS: 20M    Tech: High     AD:15    Mobility:FT 

Combat Walker Regiment: Known French combat walker units all appear to belong to elite organizations, such as the Marines or the Legion Etrangere. Organizationally, they appear similar to American walker units, hence the similarity of ratings.
Strength: 28(4)   Armor: 28VL/--/--   Infantry: {[28]}    FS: --    Tech: High     AD: --    Mobility: FH or F 

Heavy Artillery Regiment
Strength: 15(3)    FS: 45H(9) AD: 15       Mobility: FH     Tech: High 

Zephyr Gunship Squadron:
Strength: 5(1)     Armor: (5)    Tech: High    Mobility: Air (40)

 GERMANY
Being one of the top-ranked powers of 2300AD, Germany fields a first-rank army. 

Sterntruppen Bn
It is a mixed unit of one company of hovertanks, one hover infantry company, and two infantry companies on tracked APCs. It is supported by a Kz-7 walker company and a half-battery of towed MRLs. It should be considered an Elite unit. Its infantry can be regular, Heavy Weapons or Assault, depending on situation (as in the case of American MIB infantry), and probably has light ATGMs.  For BT&H purposes, the battalion has been broken down into two Kampfgruppen, the first one consisting of the tank and hover infantry companies, giving it Fast Hover mobility, and the second with the remaining two infantry companies, combat walker company, and MRL half-battery with Fast or Slow Tracked mobility.

Hover Kampfgruppe:
Strength: 14(2)   Armor: 14L/7M/(8)   Infantry:7 or [7] or {7}    FS: 0    Tech: High     AD:7   Mobility:FH 

Tracked Kampgruppe:
Strength: 14(2)   Armor: 14VL/--/(+4)   Infantry:14 or [14] or {14}    FS: 28M    Tech: High     AD:14    Mobility:FT

 GREAT BRITAIN
Britain also fields a first-rank army, and the quality of its vehicles and units reflects it.  Montgomery MBT ought to be considered a High Tech medium hovertank with fast hover mobility and heavy missile (rating 5) secondary armament. Cavalier and Cromwell are a second-line vehicles, medium tanks with fast hover mobility and medium tech.  Templar IFV qualifies as a modern heavy IFV, with armor ratings of 2 and armed with light AT missiles. Templar AT is a dedicated missile-armed tank destroyer. Rifleman APC has similar characteristics, but Medium tech. The Churchill should be considered a Heavy Tank (armor and penetration ratings of 4) with Fast Tracked mobility, High Tech, and missile rating of 5. This makes it roughly equivalent to the CC-21 and other top-of-the-line Human heavy tanks. Organizations are based on unit Orbats found on Bryn Monnery’s site. 

An Armoured Infantry Battlegroup consists of a Montgomery company (squadron), two companies of infantry in Templars, one company of Templar ATs, and one medium SP mortar battery. Veteran unit.
Strength: 15(3)   Armor: 15L/5M/(12)   Infantry:10   FS: 20M    Tech: High     AD:15    Mobility:FT 

An Armoured Battlegroup consists of two Montgomery squadrons, two armoured infantry companies in Templars and a support squadron.
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20L/10M/(10)   Infantry:10   FS: 20M    Tech: High     AD:15    Mobility:FT  

A typical armoured brigade will have two Armoured Infantry battle groups, one armoured battle group and an air regiment.

 MEXICO
Greg Hunter’s Mexican army (see his Mexico in 2300AD site) is mostly composed of “regiments” which can be either treated as small brigades or very large battalions. I chose the former course, treating each squadron as a separate “battalion”. Mexico fields a second-rank army.  

Guards Hussar Regiment
Mexican military appears to have only one of these units, which is assigned to the Presidential Guard Brigade. As such, it is considered Veteran. The CC-21 Squadron is considered High Tech (we’ll assume Mexico did not get stuck with a downgraded export model) and the ABR-76s are Med Tech vehicles, no longer representing the state-of-the-art of AFV technology.

1 CC-21 Squadron: Two companies of heavy tanks.
Strength: 10(2)   Armor: 10H/--/(5)   Infantry:--    FS: 0    Tech: High     AD:5    Mobility:FT 

3 ABR-76 Squadrons: each with two companies of armored cars. 
Strength: 10(2)   Armor: 10L/--/--   Infantry:--    FS: 0    Tech: High     AD:5    Mobility:FW

Wheeled Mechanized Cavalry Regiment:
Each of its four squadrons is treated as a separate unit, with one ABR-76 company, one heavy missile-armed IFV company, and one battery of Medium SP mortars, with the following characteristics: 

A Veteran unit of the Presidential Guard Brigade:
Strength: 10(2)   Armor: 10L/--/(3)   Infantry: 5    FS: 20M    Tech: Med     AD:5    Mobility:FW 

An Experienced unit, in a regular line brigade:
Strength: 6(2)   Armor: 6L/--/(2)   Infantry: 3    FS: 12M    Tech: Med     AD:3    Mobility:FW 

“Mixed” Hover Cavalry Regiment
Treated as four separate squadrons, each with 1 company of LkPz-VIIIs, 1 company of hover APCs, 1 battery of SP medium mortars. Experienced unit. Each squadron has the following stats:
Strength: 6(2)   Armor: 6L/3M/--   Infantry: 3    FS: 12M    Tech: Med     AD:3    Mobility:FW 

Hover Cavalry Regiment
Four squadrons, each with 2 companies of LkPz-VIIIs. Experienced unit. Each squadron has the following stats:
Strength: 6(2)   Armor: 6M/--/--   Infantry: --    FS: -- &nbbsp;  Tech: Med     AD:3    Mobility:FW 

Heavy Artillery Regiment
One of Mexican Army’s strong suits is definitely its artillery. Here is a typical self-propelled wheeled heavy howitzer regiment of three batteries. Experienced unit.
Strength: 9(3)    FS: 36H(9) AD: 6          Mobility: FW    Tech: Med

 TANSTAAFL 

Tanstaafl Free Legion
The TFL is described as having 1 company of LkPz IX hovertanks, 3 hover infantry companies (on Kangaroos), 5 motorized infantry companies, 2 armored car companies (ABR-76s), 2 heliborne infantry companies, and 3 artillery batteries. The TFL can be considered a Veteran formation with Med Tech equipment. This could give the following organization: 

1 Hover Battalion, with 1 Hovertank and 3 Hover Infantry Companies, 1 MRL battery. TFL infantry is Regular. Assume a battery of light mortars and some AD weapons, since it is a fairly well equipped force. On the account of LkPz  IXs, this battalion receives High Tech rating.
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20L/5M/(7)   Infantry:15   FS: 20M    Tech: High     AD:10    Mobility:FH 

2 Motorized Battalions, each with 1 Armored Car and 3 Motorized Infantry companies, 1 MRL battery.
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 5L/--/(5)   Infantry:15   FS: 20M    Tech: Med     AD:10    Mobility:FW 

The two heliborne companies, should organized into a single Airmobile Battalion of two infantry companies, with some light fire support. TFL is assumed to have two transport VTOL companies, capable of assault-lifting the entire battalion. Strength: 10(2)   Armor: --/--/(2)   Infantry:10   FS: 8L    Tech: Med     AD:10    Mobility:F (Air)

THE VAH (KAFERS) 

Due to their unique physiology, Kafer units are governed by the following special rules:All Kafer units have two sets of combat values, the upper one for their unaroused state, and the lower one for their aroused state. A Kafer unit which initiates combat or which begins its turn adjacent to a Human unit is considered aroused and uses the lower set of values (in effect, doubling its combat effectiveness), while Kafer units in other circumstances are compelled to use non-aroused, upper set of values. Unaroused Kafer units may not be given enter any Deliberate or Prepared posture. A Kafer unit which reaches Prepared Defense will drop to Deliberate Defense during first turn it is out of contact with Humans and to Hasty Defense the second. Kafer units may never be compelled to retreat.  

Additionally, all Kafer warparties, warbands, and warhosts are considered to be “separate” units in the sense that units belonging to one warband or warhost may not participate in the same battle as units of another warband and warhost. If a situation arises where units of more than one warband or warhost are eligible to participate in a battle, owning player must choose which unit will participate. Warparties are considered to be separate battalions. 

Kafer Units 

There is not as much information on Kafer military organization as there is on Human armies. Kafer units largely appear to be combined arms affairs, with a mix of hovertanks and tracked APCs. Kafer also have heavy tracked tanks and fast, modern hover APCs, but those appear rarely and in small numbers. Units described below are therefore little more than educated guesses, though they do fit available data pretty well.

"War Party": This is the standard, garden-variety battalion-sized Kafer force which appears in some sourcebooks, including Invasion and Kafer Dawn. Let's assume 1 company of Deathsleds and 3 companies of APC-borne infantry, equivalent of 1 light mortar battery.
Unaroused:
Strength: 8(4)   Armor: 8L/2H/--   Infantry:6   FS: 8M    Tech: Med     AD:4    Mobility:FT
Aroused:
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20L/8H/(4)   Infantry:15   FS: 20M    Tech: Med     AD:10    Mobility:FT

"War Band": This is a larger, brigade-sized Kafer force, composed of 1-2 hovertank "packs" (battalions) and 2-4 APC infantry "packs". Occasionally a War Band may also contain an infantry company on Floaters, a tracked MRL “pack”, and/or a company of Behemoths. Each "pack" is assumed to have 4 companies. 

Deathsled hovertank “pack”
Unaroused:
Strength: 8(4)   Armor: 8H/--/(4)   Infantry:--   FS: 8M    Tech: Med     AD:4    Mobility:SH
Aroused:
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20H/--/(10)   Infantry:--   FS: 20M    Tech: Med     AD:10    Mobility:SH 

Tracked APC infantry “pack”
Unaroused:
Strength: 8(4)   Armor: 8VL/--/(4)   Infantry:8   FS: 8M    Tech: Med     AD:4    Mobility:FT
Aroused:
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20VL/--/(10)   Infantry:20   FS: 20M    Tech: Med     AD:10    Mobility:FT 

SP MRL “pack”
Unaroused:
Strength: 6(3)    FS: 12M(6)       Mobility: FT      Tech: Med
Aroused:
Strength: 15(3)    FS: 30M(6)     Mobility: FT      Tech: Med 

"War Host" 

This is a major Kafer force. A Kafer suzerain might have several dozen of "War Hosts" under his authority, in addition to hundreds of War Bands and War Parties. A War Host typically consists of a hovertank "horde" (with 4-6 Deathsled "packs"), an infantry "horde" on APCs (6-10 APC Infantry "packs"), a small fire support "horde" (2-4 heavy MRL "packs" on APC chassis, some of which may be equipped with Heavy MRLs, with a range of 9), a heavy tank "pack" (4 companies of Behemoths)and a hover infantry "pack" on Floaters.  

Behemoth “pack”
Unaroused:
Strength: 8(4)   Armor: 8VH/--/(4)   Infantry: 8   FS: 8M    Tech: Med     AD:4    Mobility:FT
Aroused:
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20VH/--/(10)   Infantry: 20   FS: 20M    Tech: Med     AD:10    Mobility:FT

 Floater “pack”
Strength: 20(4)   Armor: 20VL/--/(10)   Infantry:20   FS: 20M    Tech: Med     AD:10    Mobility:FH 

Evidence suggests that Floater-armed unit are largely manned by veteran Kafer who have reached a fairly high level of permanent intelligence. Therefore, Floater units are rated as permanently Veteran and are not governed by Kafer special rules. Their function in peacetime is probably acting as a bodyguard to senior Kafer officers (to prevent bored and stupid rank and file Kafer from assassinating them), while in wartime they serve as reconnaissance, raiding, and rapid response troops. Again, a Floater "pack" has 4 companies of infantry and Floaters each. Floater units have Recon capabilities. 

“Safe-Place”

A Kafer Safe-Place is an impressive military unit in its own right. It boasts SSM (range of 3 hexes) Surface-to-Space, and SAM batteries (8 AD points and range of 20), powerful anti-armor and anti-infantry weapons and even houses combat aircraft (3 4-plane flights). A Safe-Place usually has a War Party assigned to it, which is considered to be in Prepared Defense while in the same hex. A Safe-Place is assumed to have 6 companies, each with 10 Armor Points, 6 AT points, 6 FS points, and 0 Inf points. It is immobile. A Safe-Place is considered to be in Prepared Defense posture at all times. 

The Safe-Place is a Kafer fortification found on many occupied worlds which is effective in alleviating problems caused by their poor fighting qualities in unaroused state. A Safe-Place may accommodate up to a Warband (4 packs of armor and infantry, not counting artillery) which, as long as they are in the Safe-Place, are considered to be in Prepared Defense posture regardless of their arousal level or most recent posture. In addition, Safe-Place has several SSM, SAM, and surface-to-space missile batteries and is capable of housing 3 4-aircraft flights. 

By itself, the Safe-Place is treated as an artillery/air defense unit. During Battle, use its Strength to determine casualties only if no Kafer unit is stacked with it.

Unaroused:
Strength: 12(6)    FS: 60H(9)  AD: 15(9)  Mobility: --        Tech: Med
Aroused:
Strength: 30(6)    FS: 150H(6)  AD: 40(9)            Mobility: --        Tech: Med

DETAILED COMBAT EXAMPLE 

Taking advantage of America’s and Mexico’s involvement in fighting the Kafers in the French Arm, Mexico decides to right some ancient wrongs and launches a full-scale invasion of Texas. The hard-pressed Texan government soon requests American assistance, which is promptly given.  In the first battle of the war, a hard-charging mixed Mexican task force, consisting of the Presidential Guard Brigade’s Guards Hussar Regiment, one Hover Cavalry Regiment, and two Mixed Hover Cavalry Regiments, with three heavy artillery regiments in support, runs headlong into the first American unit deployed to Texas, a Marine Interface Brigade of three battalion task forces, an artillery battalion, and a gunship squadron.

Terrain is Open, the Mexican force has Hasty Advance orders, while the MIB has Hasty Defense Orders, making this a Maneuver battle.  The heaviest Mexican armor in the battle is the Guards Hussars’ CC-21 squadron, which has an armor qualifier of Heavy, which means that American units with rating of Medium have their armor ratings halved, those with Light armor are quartered, and those with VL armor are ignored. The heaviest  American armor in the battle is Medium, which means that Mexican Heavy and Medium units are unchanged, Lights are halved, and VLs are quartered.

Mexican forces have the following combat strength: 

CC-21 squadron: the only high-tech unit involved on the Mexican side, its Armor strength is multiplied by 12, yielding 120.  

Each of the three ABR-76 squadrons has its armor rating halved and receives a multiplier of 8 (med tech), which yields 40 x 3 = 120 for all three squadrons.  

The Hover Cavalry regiment has four two-company squadrons of LkPzVIIIs, medium-armor medium-tech vehicles, which gives 4 (number of squadrons) x 8(med tech armor multiplier for maneuver combat in open terrain) x 6 = 192. 

Since the VL A-rating would be quartered the Mixed Hover Cavalry regiments elect to use their Medium B-ratings. 4 x 8 x 3= 96, and an infantry value of  4 x 2 x 3=24, for a total regimental value of 120.  Both regiments have a total value of 240. 

Therefore total combat value of Mexican forces is 120+120+192+240=672. 

Concerning fire support, the American forces are in Hasty Defense posture, which has no effect on indirect fire support. The total FS points of Mexican forces involved are 24 (for both of the Mixed Hover Cavalry regiments involved) + 36x3 of the heavy artillery regiments, yielding 132.  

Total Strength of Mexican forces is 112. 132 divided by 112 gives a FS modifier of 1.17. 

On the American side, the total combat strength of each of the three MIB units is:

Armor: Since the VL armor A-rating would be reduced to 0, the MIB player uses the B-rating, particularly since this allows him to use the C-rating as well. 7 x 12(High tech unit in Maneuver battle)/2 yields 42. Adding the C-rating gives 16 x 3 (AT missiles in Maneuver battles use Infantry, not Armor, multipliers) = 48, for a total armor rating of 90.

 Infantry: 21 x 3 = 63. 

Total battalion battlegroup rating: 153. Three battlegroups have combat strength of 459.

 Gunship squadron: This one is easy:  7 x 12 = 84. 

The total MIB battle value is 543. 

Total American strength is 3x28 + 7 = 91, total fire support is 3x28+84=168. 168/91=1.84 

Battle resolution: 

Odds in the battle are 672:459=1.46:1 which is rounded off to 1.5:1.  

Die roll modifiers: the only die roll modifier is the fire support, and the FS modifiers of Mexican (1.17) and American (1.84) units work out to ..67 which, since the Americans are the attackers, gives a -1 die roll modifier. 

Column shifts: there are no column shifts. 

Battle resolution: both players roll a D10, Mexican player rolls a 7, American 8. This is changed to 6 and 7 by the FS modifier, which means 40% casualties for each player.   

American player has a strength of 91, 40% of that is 36.4. To absorb these losses, one battalion task force is eliminated (28 strength points), as well as the gunship squadron (7 strength points).  The remaining points (1.4) are ignored, since no unit can be eliminated or half-eliminated. 

Mexican player has a strength of 112, 40% of that is 44.8. Mexican player absorbs these damage points by eliminating 1 ABR-76 squadron from the Guards Hussar Squadron (10 pts), one entire Mixed Cavalry regiment (24 pts), and one squadron from the Hover Cavalry regiment (6 pts). These eliminations account for 40 pts. The remaining 4.8 points are used up by half-eliminating a squadron from the second Mixed Cavalry Regiment (3pts); the last 1.8 pts are ignored. 

If Initiative rules were in use, no initiative markers would have been placed, since the casualty threshold is too low.