How to play 1918: Part 5: Morale, Pins and the End Phase

By 1918, morale was terrible for every soldier on every front in each nation. After four long, grinding years of war and death, no man was immune to despair. And yet, the great powers still battled.

Morale is a key element in most tabletop wargames, but it comes to the fore especially in a simulation of the First World War. And it need not even take much death before a side begins to waver - horrific innovations like the tank, the machine gun and mustard gas reaped a heavy psychological toll even before the killing began.

Pinning

Pinning is a key mechanic in 1918 - it’s a measure of the suppressive nature of accurate gunfire, and especially relevant in an era in which the machine gun dominated the battlefield. Once a section starts to come under fire, it can receive up to three Pins - plastic markers which show badly its operational potential is degraded.

With one Pin, a unit is Under Fire, receiving a -1 penalty to its rolls to hit, and issue or accept orders. With a second Pin, a unit becomes Pinned and goes to ground. It loses its current order and adopts a stance (you may therefore be forced to activate a unit sooner than you’d like in the Tactical Phase if it’s about to get caught in crossfire). At three Pins, a unit is Suppressed and cannot receive new orders or even take snapshots at all. This represents the heaviest of bombardments upon groups of young men cowering in the mud and praying for survival. If this unit takes excess pins, it’s forced to take morale tests with ever-increasing penalties until it finally quits the field.

Pins are applied by enemy shooting, according to the type of weapons used. Each weapon has a Pins attribute, and when one unit fires at another it applies a number of Pins equal to the hits it inflicts - capped at this number. This means that a rifle section will only be able to inflict a maximum of one Pin on a unit - even if that unit already has a Pin. A Lewis Gun, on the other hand, will be able to inflict two Pins. Three Pin weapons are very rare - but heavy explosives and off-screen artillery will manage it.

Pinned units have various opportunities to remove pins, mostly by entering the Regroup stance and rallying or falling back. They can also roll a Recovery Test during the End Phase.

As you’d expect, Pins are key to victory in 1918. You must carefully manage your own units’ shell-shock, while trying to apply the maximum suppression on your foes. You’re unlikely to win by killing everyone, but you may well send them running.

Morale

Units are forced to take Morale Tests at various junctures. Certain weapons can force a test, while any single attack that reduces a unit’s strength by 25% or more will also result in one. To test morale, roll a D6 and try to equal or beat the unit’s Veterancy score (or that of an officer who has joined them). If you fail, your unit becomes Wavering.

Wavering units immediately take two Pins - losing their orders - and must then make another Morale Test in the End Phase. Fail that and they flee from the board, no longer participating in the engagement.

The End Phase

There are several tests of this type taken during the End Phase, a shorter portion of the turn which completes the battlefield admin ahead of the next Command Phase.

The sequence is simple:

1. Test to see if Wavering units are routed. Those that pass stay Wavering, while the rest flee for good

2. Make Recovery rolls. Each unit that passes may either remove one Pin or lose the Wavering status

3. Test to retain orders. Gun and Weapons Teams can make a Veterancy Test to see if they retain their Fire or Stand To orders 

4. Score Victory Points. Players check their mission objectives at this point, scoring any they have achieved and checking to see if the scenario end conditions have been met

5. Roll for wind direction. If the wind changes, smoke, gas and artillery is effected

6. Ready Exhausted units. This just means readying units to accept the next round of orders

And with that, you’re ready to go. We’ve also looked at the Command Phase and the Tactical Phase in previous articles. Next week, we’ll look at the Missions and Terrain (including a little about the fantastic modular trenches we will be releasing in the next few months). For now, stay up to date with 1918 by following us on Facebook and Instagram, and you can sign up to the newsletter for a 10% discount on your next digital order.