Lost Battles » Rules » "LOST BATTLES" - OFFICIAL SPI ERRATA

Author: carlofab
From: Skip Franklin
Subject: Lost Battles (SPI) Errata

LOST BATTLES
Published in S&T #28
Errata as of 31 May 73

COMBAT RESULTS TABLES

Note that the columns of results for die rolls of 0 and -1 are never
used.

Note that die roll additions that raise the roll to more than 8 are read
in the results column marked 8.

EXPLANATION OF COMBAT RESULTS

Ex = exchange. All defending units are destroyed, and the Attacker must
remove Combat or Attack Strength Points equal to the Combat or Defense
Strength loss of the Defender. The Strengths used are those in the
original combat.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY
I. Range Artillery Combat Segment
Phasein Player may fire his Ranged Artillery units at Enemy units within
range as outlined in the combat and ARtillery rules. Only Ranged
Artillery units may fire in this segment.

III. Final Ground Combat Strength

All attacking Class 1 units compare their Combat Strengths (gainst
non0armor units) to the total Combat Strengths of all defending units
(plus defensive artillery fire, if any) and resolve combat. Armored
units that attacked in the Initial Armored Combat Segment may attack
again in this segment. Surviving defending units that were attacked in
the Initial Armored Combat Segment may defend in the Final Ground Combat
Segment if attacked again. Combat in this segment is between adjacent
Enemy units only (except artillery employing defensive fire).

COMBAT PROCEDURE
In each segment of the Combat Phase compare the apprpriate Combat or
Attack Strength of the attacking units to the apprpriate Combat or
Defense Strength of the Defending units. State the comparison of the
Attacker's total Strength to the Defender total Strength as a prbability
ration and round downward to the nearest whole number on the combat
Results Table (CRT). Example... (leave remainder as is)

COMBAT CASES
(C) Only armored units may attack more than once in a Combat Phase in
the Initial Armored Combat Segment and in the Final Ground Combat
Segment. Any unit may be forced to defend against up to four atacks per
Combat Phase (including the Ranged Artillery, Armored, Combat, Ground
combat, and Air Strike Segments). Example... (leave remainder as is)

(D) Class 1 units in one hex may attack units in every hex to which they
are adjacent. Both Class 1 and Class 2 units in their respective Combat
Segments may combine attacks from several differing hexes against one
Enemy held hex.

(E) All units in any hex under attack must defend. Units stacked in one
hex combine their Strengths into one total Defense Strength when
attacked (Exceptions: in the Armored Combat Segment only, Armored and/or
Direct Fire Artillery units may defend regardless of other units in
their hex; in Air Strike Combat the Attacker may selectively attack a
single unit out of a stack in the attacked hex -- these constitute the
only exceptions to the rules that all units stacked in a hex must defend
together).

ARTILLERY SUPPLY
Note that Artillery Supply Units perform a different and seperate
function from teh Supply line traced to Headquarters Units. The
Artillery Supply restrictions are additional to the normal supply
requirements which Ranged Artillery must also meet.

F. Artillery Supply
Whenever Ranged Artillery... (leave remainder as is)

Artillery Supply Units attacked in an Enemy Combat Phase may not supply
Defensive Fire during that Phase.

AIR STRIKE, CASE D

(d) Only a "DX" result affects the Defending units in Air Strike
combat. All other results are treated as no effect.

MOVEMENT (New Case)

(N) Units entering the mapsheet expend the appropriate Movemetn Point
for the first hex entered.

SCENARIOS
Scenario #4
At the end of every Russian Movement Phase any Russian motorized unit
(i.e., units with a Movement Allowance of 8 or greater) that is not
stacked with or adjacent to a Friendly non-motorized unit (i.e., a unit
with a Movement Allowance of less than 8) is eliminated. Germans deploy
first. Russians move first.

--
Skip Franklin
Grognard Wargamer
wargamer@swbell.net

Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:11 pm

Author: Bolkonsky
Lots of nice pointers from Mr Saha. This is the clarification style errata that was published months or maybe close to year after
the game came out. It was mostly to answer the questions of those who hadn't given the rules a careful read. The only really
useful errata here, and in the link I provided below, are about the scenarios which did indeed need some small clarification.

Frankly, this was a seminal design in my opinion. While the game itself was not popular, nevertheless, it formed a foundation for
many other designs, notably the Kursk series surely grabbed as much of the basic mechanics as could be rationalized at a higher
scale. I've never asked him but I think this game influenced Chadwick pretty fundamentally for certain designs. I see a direct line
between Lost Battles and Avalanche, Crusader and my beloved White Death! Of course, these Chadwick designs were far more
nuanced and have various layers of novelty layered on that show Chadwick's own far more creative and synthetic spirit. I think a
lot of designers have gone to this well.

I personally have had great fun with the game-actually playing it, and replaying it over the years, and somewhat relieved to not be
assaulted by the increasingly necessary charm and bling of later graphics. From a ludological point of view this has basically
been a designer's game. Quietly intriguing since its inception, never very popular with those more 'hasty' players and those who
seem to require a bass lure to be drawn to a game, primitive and yet more than complete enough, designed to be tinkered with
and fun to tinker with.

here is a link to some more errata: http://www.thewargamer.com/grognard/lostbat.gif

Sat Jan 22, 2011 7:27 am