Square Bashing - First Steps

For those new to SB who find the rule book daunting, fear not.  Fear my poor use of the english language and grammar instead as I try to get you over the top as painlessly as possible.  We are going to use the concept of a quick game which is included in the book to enable new players to get started quickly.

But before you start looking for that, first do a little reading of the following rule sections .  Most RFCM games have the idea of pre-battle activity.  This ensures that when you actually start the first turn you have absorbed some of the flavour of your period.  So setting the game up correctly is pretty important.

Start off by skimming through the following rule sections:
12 on Page 22
13 on Page 25
14 on Page 26
15 on Page 27
16 on Page 27
17 on Page 28
18 on Page 30

I did say flick as the idea is that now you have a rough idea of where things are and how they go together the next piece of narrative makes sense.

Now go to Page 15 where the game set up is described and references all the relevant sections in case you get lost. Ignore notes 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Normally you would follow the steps in Order 1 - 18 but to get you started quickly we are only going to use:

Step 1 (and even that we are going to shorten that)
Step 2
Skip past 3 - 6
Steps  7 - 18

Step 1.
Most Players haven't got a clue about force composition or what works and what doesn't; so don't bother.  Use the sample forces below until you are happy with the mechanics and only then start working out your own forces from the Army Lists:

Side A - The attacker
2 Reservist Units
6 Regular Units
3 Professional Units
6 Standard Guns
4 Machine Guns

Side B - The Defender
6 Machine Guns
3 Reservist Units
5 Regular Units
4 Standard Guns

Step 2.
Both players select some scenery items as described in Section 12

Step 7 - 12
To get started you are only going to have 8 terrain pieces and you only need to be able to count to 13 for your objectives.  Place the terrain as directed and if you get stuck read Section 13, 15 & 16 again

Roads First

Then Objectives

Then the rest of the terrain 

Then terrain moves

Step 13 - 14
Set up both armies as per Section 17

Step 15
As this is the quick game you have skipped a large chunk of fluff which sets a normal game.  The quick game assumes that has already happened and that the defender has been on the receiving end of the attackers preparatory barrages.  As the quick game states this is "attack in force" if you look on the table on Page 32 you can see where the 6D6 comes from don't forget to use the modifiers on this table.  As this is the quick game make sure you read the notes on Page 9 before rolling for depletions.

Step 16
For new players I would recommend the attacker being a Fighting General and the Defender being a Morale rating for your first couple of games.  Give each general a 3 Command rating.

Step 17 and 18
You are now ready to start the game with the attacker going first.

Now read Sections 23 - 28 and 30 (Skip 29 for the quick game)