Time Conquistadors

I'm taking part in a monthly competition on The Wargames Website.  The competitions are only open to sponsoring members, but for £1 a month it's well worth it just to support such a friendly and welcoming forum. 

The following is what I've come up with so far, the challenge is to come up with a game concept where forces from different times come into conflict.

Time Conquistadors

On the 23rd of July 2038 an experiment was conducted in North Korea.  The intention was to send an army back to June 1950 to ensure the unification of Korea under a communist regime.  No effects were observed, the scientists involved were removed from their positions and the project cancelled.

On the 23rd of July 1938 a ship carrying Republican reinforcements from Valencia to Barcelona disappeared without a trace.

On what under the Gregorian calendar would have been the 23rd of July 63 BC a large vessel of was observed by fishermen to appear out of thin air off the coast of Hispania Citerior…

The Game

The game would be a short campaign where a small force from the Spanish Civil War attempts to establish itself as a power in the era of the late Roman Republic.  Their starting forces would be the reinforcements being transported on the ship plus a couple of tanks and artillery pieces, some Moroccan prisoners and the ship’s crew.  As they win battles they would be reinforced by local troops possibly including Roman units going over to their side.

A short set of battle rules would be included, focused heavily on morale.  Fuel and ammunition usage by the 20th century forces would play a part and units would become unavailable or reduced in effectiveness as these run out.  The morale effect of 20th century weapons would be high initially but reduce as the campaign proceeded.

The Rules

Combat, both shooting and melee, is resolved using morale bags, one for each army.  They contain black and white counters.

When a unit is shot at a number of counters equal to the fire it is receiving is drawn.  If any black counters are drawn the unit receives one hit.  If more black counters are drawn than the unit’s morale level it routs immediately.  The counters are replaced in the bag.

For melee both sides draw four counters and add the number of white counters drawn to their melee factor.  The loser takes a number of hits equal to the difference.  A unit attacking a flank or rear draws an additional two counters.  After melee the counters are replaced in their respective bags.

When a unit other than skirmishers is eliminated a black counter is added to that side’s morale bag.  Use of twentieth century weapons adds black counters to their opponent morale bag too, though the number added decreases in subsequent battles.

For each new battle in the campaign the morale bags revert to their original contents then the winner of the previous battle adds one white counter for every battle won in a row to that point.