‘Tricorn’ Rules Amendments v1.5

It suddenly occurred to me, while responding to a request for a high-resolution version of the Tricorn Quick-Reference Sheets (QRS), that I hadn’t yet posted Tricorn Version 1.5 on the site.  This is the version we’ve been playing since late 2024, so it’s rather overdue!

If you’ve only just found this blog, Tricorn is a home-grown version of Shako rules developed over the years the Wargames Association of South Pembrokeshire (W.A.S.P.) to refight the battles of the Seven Years War (and other mid-18th Century wars).  I’m not going to trample all over Shako‘s copyright, so won’t post a full version of the rules, but if you have a copy of Shako or at least a working knowledge of the rules, you should be able to play Tricorn without too much trouble, but please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

The main Tricorn Resources Page will always show the latest version of the Tricorn QRS and a link to that page can be found in the list of categories at the right-hand side of this page.  Just post a comment if you want me to email you a high-res graphics or MS Powerpoint file.  You don’t need to post your email address; I can always see it when you post (it’s hidden for everyone else).

There are only a couple of small changes to the QRS this time (on Pages 1, 3 & 5), which are detailed below and highlighted in red on the QRS.  However, I’ll change the version number on all pages to v1.5, so that there’s no confusion.

As before, I’ll go through the changes page by page, starting with Page 1:

QRS Page 1:  Troops in Towns and All-Round Defence Positions:

In Shako, villages are defined as Built-Up Sectors (BUS), being all-round defence positions which can be occupied by a single battalion (larger villages and towns are made up of multiple BUS).  However, we felt that while this reflected the nature of defending a strongpoint such as a walled farm, château or redoubt well enough (such as Leuthen Church or the redoubts at Fontenoy), it didn’t really fit the style of fighting you might find in a typical, open 18th Century village that was often more gardens than houses.  This rule was causing problems with scenarios such as Kesselsdorf and Clostercamp (see map below), where we found it far better to define villages as ‘area terrain’ in much the same manner as woodland or swamps.

Consequently, we now use the normal Shako BUS method only for relatively small all-round defence strongpoints (such as the ‘Old Redoubt’ in the map above, or Kesselsdorf Church in the Kesselsdorf scenario) and treat villages in much the same manner as woods, though with improved defensive modifiers.

Firepower is still modified by -1 for a battalion deployed in line and firing from a town, as the very broken nature of the terrain would make it impossible to properly coordinate volleys.

Similarly, troops fighting in a town or all-round defences still do not benefit from Flank or Rear Support modifiers in mêlée.  Troops attacking a town or all-round defences only benefit from Rear Support.

I’ve added the word ‘modified’ to in order to clarify that the target becomes staggered if the modified die roll equals or exceeds the MR of the target.

Units deployed in all-round defences are treated in much the same way as troops defending a BUS in the standard Shako rules, with a few differences:

Troops defending all-round defences may fire at nearby enemy units, but using the Skirmisher procedure and only out to 4″ range.  Only one such shot may be made per unit per turn.  This is to make occupied defences something of an irritant to passing enemies (in standard Shako rules they can only fire if attacked, which does mean that they can often be simply ignored).

If charged, the defending battalion must fire at ALL attacking units separately, applying a -1 shooting modifier (in standard Shako rules, the defender rolls once and all attackers receive the same result, which always seemed rather strange/boring to me).

If the all-round defences are a properly-constructed redoubt with bastions, enfilades, etc, the -1 firing modifier is not applied.

The +1 point-blank modifier for defending British and Hanoverian infantry is not applied and nor is the -1 ‘Failed Volley’ modifier.

QRS Page 3:  Rear Support in Woods

Units providing Rear Support to mêlée in woods must be within 2 inches instead of the usual 6 inches.  This reflects the very limited visibility in woodland and the need for the second line to be closer to the action in order to provide effective and timely support to the first line.  It also limits the tactical options open to the second line (e.g. it makes it very difficult for a battalion in the second line to wheel and plug a gap in the first line on either flank, thus reflecting the extremely confused and chaotic nature of fighting in woods and encouraging ‘proper’ deployment in open ground).

QRS Page 3:  Rallying Units in Firefights

In standard Shako rules, troops within a musketry pattern may not rally from Stagger.  This does tend to make firefights an overly long, protracted affair, where the better units simply don’t make any impact once they become Staggered and the outcome of the firefight is simply down to luck of the dice.

We feel that better training and leadership would tend to make more of an impact on a firefight than simply trusting to luck and being able to sustain slightly more casualties than a less-well-motivated opponent.  However, applying a +1 to the roll for a better unit would have too much of an impact.

Consequently, we feel that allowing units to rally from Stagger (which would be easier for better units) would give the better units a slightly increased chance of rolling 6 and therefore getting double-hits (impossible once a unit becomes Staggered).

Therefore, units within a musketry template MAY roll to rally from Stagger, but apply a -1 modifier to their MR.

QRS Page 5:  General Tidying-Up

There are no real changes here.  Just a few word-changes and clarifications to the evade procedure for dismounted cavalry.

Matters Arising and Any Other Business

My apologies to my surviving reader if you’ve had any trouble getting into the site in recent months.  It’s been very slow, occasionally completely inaccessible and has been throwing up error messages about the site being insecure (it most definitely IS secure – I’ve only recently added a fresh SSL certificate (whatever one of those is…)).  It’s also been binning me out mid-way through editing articles, which is very frustrating and has contributed to my low productivity rate of recent months.

I’ve therefore been having discussions with my hosting company and they’ve allocated a few more resources, so it all seems to be running smoothly at the moment, though I’m looking for a better long-term option for hosting.  That will of course, require more cash and VERY careful negotiation with Mrs Fawr, but things should soon be improved around here.  I might even eventually work out how to change the page layout and make the pictures zoomable…

Anyway, that’s all for now! 🙂