Scaling Ladders and Grapples

A unit can be designated in a scenario as carrying ladders or grapples. A unit carrying ladders pays one-third of its movement allowance every turn because of its load; there is no movement cost for carrying grapples.

Ladders and grapples can be represented by miniatures, toothpicks, thread, or other props, though this is not necessary.

A unit can use ladders if it begins its move in contact with (and facing) the wall to be scaled, or if it uses less than one-third of its move to contact and face the wall. To use grapples, a unit must be contacting and facing the wall at the start of its move.

When using ladders, a unit spends 2" of its movement allowance to move one figure 1" (10 feet in scale) up each available ladder. A ladder can support one figure for each 1" of its length; however, no more than one rank of a unit may climb aboard the unit's ladders until entry is gained to the walltop position.

Grapples are more difficult to use. Not only is the cost 3" per figure moving up 10 feet, but such figures might not be able to fight when they reach the top of the wall. If a unit is using grapples to reach the top of a wall, and the top of the wall is being defended by enemy units, then the attacking unit must make a special morale check—with no modifiers, regardless of other circumstances—before melee combat is resolved. The only purpose of this check is to determine if the unit using grapples gets to make an attack (success) or must simply hang on its ropes and endure the attacks of the defenders (failure). A unit never changes the status of its morale (to shaken or routed) or withdraws as a result of this special check.

Ladders: One man carrying a ladder moves at one-half normal speed, and two men carry a ladder with penalty. However, no charge movement is possible. As the desiegers always had an ample supply of scaling ladders, treat them as indestructible. Three men can climb from the base to the top of a ladder during a turn. Each man that goes to the top of a ladder will have to fight any defending troops within melee range on the wall. If there is no defender, the climbing man may move to a position on the wall, but only far enough to allow successive climbers room to stand at the head of the ladder. All combat is man-to-man.

If the defending troops win any single melee against escalading attackers, a die is rolled to determine if the defenders manage to push the ladder away. A die score of 5-6 succeeds in pushing off the ladder, the second man climbing is considered killed, and the third man stunned for one turn. (See MAN-TO-MAN COMBAT.)