Here you will find the “definitive” set of rules for playing Line of Muskets. They complement the Line of Muskets Tutorial. Once you go through the tutorial you will know all there is to know to start playing the game. Although it is not absolutely necessary to read the rules to play the game, for those who wish to learn the finer points of Line of Muskets, here they are.

Please understand the rules have been written with the information that a General of the American Civil War would like to know. That is, here you find out the correct tactical commands to give.

Start Playing

Make sure you have gone through the Getting Started section before you attempt to start a game. Then go to the game room and start playing.

Once you have joined a Proposal you can choose your preferences for commands and then click "join". Players in Line of Muskets are playing the part of Army, Corps or Divisional Commanders.

The "join game" panel that appears for the Battle of Bull Run, 5 player scenario.

When you do join a game be aware you won’t always get the position you want, but that is part of the fun! Just as in real war, Generals weren’t always given the positions they wanted. Once all positions are filled, then the battle will commence.

Winning the battle

In this game the idea is to shoot the enemy and destroy his brigades without him destroying yours. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Every brigade of yours can be ordered to move. At the end of their move they will engage any enemy with musketry fire that is within range. You have to order your artillery to fire. In each battle both armies are fighting to win (stating the obvious). You win the battle by having more Victory Points than the other side at the end of the battle (see Victory Points section for more details).

Union artillery pounds a Confederate brigade at the Battle of Cedar Mountain

Tactics

The basic tactic of the day is to attack the enemy at a position that you feel you can “break” their line. When you have broken their line, it becomes easier for you to fire at him and very difficult for him to fire at you. The other way is to “flank” the enemy. In this way you, once again, can fire at the enemy where they cannot fire back. In this way you can “roll up” their line.

Credits