Rules
This is just a quick list
of all the rules that I use for various periods, plus some sets of rules that
I've written over the years which you can download. I make no claims for
originality or brilliance for the latter. Some of them were only played a
couple of times as they didn't work too well, some I still use. A few have also
been published in Practical Wargamer.
Ancients
I normally use the
excellent DBA and DBM from the Wargames Research group. The former requires
only small armies of 40 or so figures, the latter is good if you want to fill
the table with figures.
I've used the new
Warhammer Ancients Battles for some more 'skirmish' type games. Not bad - in
fact, rather fun. A bit like the old Featherstone/Bath rules from the 60s.
Retro indeed.
In the past, I started with
the old Don Featherstone set in Wargames, then used WRG 4th, 5th
and 6th. I tried 7th a couple of times but didn't like
it. Likewise Armati (which is excellent for Solo games, though, since you have
so little control once the game starts). We've also used Strategos, which is excellent for an 'Army level game'. Recently, we've also tried the Warmaster Ancients set, and found them quite good, and Command and Colors:ancients, which also gives a good game (and is quite different from my own Battle Cry Ancients variant).
I've also written a set
myself. It is loosely based on the old WRG 6th edition rules. I got
fed up with all the book-keeping and complex charts in these, so I did a bit of
maths and produced a set with whole-figure casualty removal using only 6 sided
dice which has much the same casualty rates. Then I changed the move sequence
to make it semi-simultaneous, and ..... I don't know why I'm telling you all
this. If you are interested, have a look. They are fun.
Here's a set of rules for
a DBA mini-campaign which I've run a few times
And here's an ancients
version of the excellent Battle Cry. With many ideas pinched unashamedly from
DBA.
Dark Ages
I have about 50 Vikings
and Saxons, along with sundry civilians and peasants, plus a Viking boat, to
recreate raids and mayhem in the 10th century. This is a lot of fun
- I use my own rule set, which was published a while back in Practical
Wargamer, however, it has been improved and speeded up since then. It is
suitable for Medieval skirmishes, too.
English
Civil War
We've been using DBR for
these and other Pike & Shot games, but the latest issue of the Arquebusier
contains a Pike & Shot version of Fire & Fury (probably my favourite
rules set) which also looks fun. Basing is compatible. I've not written an ECW
rules set (yet).
Napoleonic
I must have tried more rules
for this period than any other, and I've still not found a set I'm really happy
with. You'll find no less than three sets which I've written here as well.
I started out with Charles
Grant's set in the Napoleonic Wargame, moved on to the old WRG set (not the
1685-1845 one, the old one in the red cover), then Quarrie, then Newbury, then
the newer WRG 1685-1845 'bang your dead' set (still pretty good I think), tried
'In the Grand Manner' and didn't like it. Napoleon's Battles is OK but I find
it hard work and too 'gamey' for my tastes. Volley & Bayonet is excellent
for big battles and realistic. Shako is a nice fast set and I use it for
Regimental level games. I also have a Fire & Fury variant called L'Ordre
Mixte which I wrote and which works well. I'm thinking of trying Picquet for
this period too, and possibly Napoleonic Principles of War. So many rules, so
little gaming time.
Shako also has an
excellent scenario book (Fields of Glory)
So here are some sets I've
written.
First a 'conventional' set
with regimental units. It has some novel Command & Control rules
Then a DBA style set for
fast, big battles
And here's a Napoleonic
version of the excellent Battle Cry.
And finally my Fire &
Fury adaptation for Brigade level games - these were published in Practical
Wargamer a little while back.
American
Civil War
No contest here - Fire
& Fury is just about my favourite rules set. I started with the old Don
Featherstone rules, then used some homebrew ones, tried Johnny Reb and Volley
& Bayonet, but Fire & Fury really is the business, I find. I can load
the table with figures and still finish a game in an evening, and it bears a
pretty close relationship to history as well as being an excellent game.
Recently, we've also had a
lot of fun with Battle Cry (AH/Hasbro). In fact, I made a big board so that I
could use my existing ACW figures and terrain. Inevitably, we've come up with
Napoleonic and Ancients versions. Only a matter of time before we do Seven
Years War, English Civil War and Colonial versions.
Wild West
Much fun here with
snake-eyed gunslingers sniping at each other from behind upturned wagons, gangs
trying to rob the train, prospectors being trapped by a landslide. I use my own
set of rules (which you will see bears more than a passing similarity to my
Dark Age set)
Zulu Wars
Much fun here, too with
square jawed sergeants trying to pry open ammunition boxes as the Impi pours
over the mealie bags. Not for the faint of heart. I've tried The Sword and the
Flame for this period, but I have my own set specifically for this war (another
one which has been published in Practical Wargamer)
And here's a Zulu War
version of the excellent Battle Cry.
Somewhere in here come my
Jungle Warfare rules. These are loosely based on the Ashanti Wars and have
players each with a British column competing to loot the native villages and
hoping not to be ambushed too many times......A very silly game (but a lot of
fun)
World War 2
I have used Squad Leader
(the board game) as my WW2 rules, just saying 1 hex equals 2 inches on the table.
This then means that one SL mapboard is one of my 6x2 table sections. Here's a
crib sheet for use with SL (I stick the game counters on the bottom of vehicles
as a quick reference)
We use the excellent
Crossfire for infantry games. This must be one of the best, most fun rule-sets
I've seen in years. No game turns, no rulers, deceptively simple. Highly
recommended (and get hold of the 'Hit the Dirt' scenario book, too). I'm slowly
adapting some of the Squad Leader scenarios for Crossfire (see the scenario
page).
Rapid Fire is also a fine
rule set - better for combined arms the Crossfire, very simple, and playable.
It also has lots of nice scenarios in the rule book and the supplements.
A new addition is Battlefront:
WW2 by Fire and Fury games. We are very impressed with this set (though it is
rather expensive). It plays almost as fast as Rapid Fire, but allows a lot more
tactical nuance. It works well for combined arms games (unlike Crossfire), and
best of all, one can easily use scenarios designed for Squad Leader, Crossfire
or Rapid Fire. Data for vehicles and troops is on (very nice) gloss-printed,
full colour cards, which saves a lot of looking up during the game; just put
the cards you need into one of those A4 file sheets with card-sized pockets.
Artillery system is very good, and it has an elegant command and control and
morale system combined into a single phase, like Fire & Fury.
In due course, Ill post
some extra cards for this set.
I do have a couple of sets
of my own, but I've not used them for years and I'm not sure what has happened
to the files...
I also have my own set of
WW2 Naval rules designed for use with 1:3000 ships and a hex-marked table. Fast
& furious.
There's also a set of
strategic rules for map movement which goes with these, but they are in an
exotic format which is hard work to convert.
Fantasy
I've tucked this away at
the end to avoid mental shocks. I don't actually play much fantasy, although
Gary's son is now of an age where he likes to play G**** W******* stuff, so we
do play a bit of that occasionally. When I do play fantasy, I prefer to use a
set of rules I'm already familiar with, so I use 'Hordes of the Things' which
is a fantasy version of DBA. My New Kingdom Egyptians have a base of priests
which acts as a Magician for HOTT.
Here's a variant set of
Magic rules for HOTT.
We have tried Chipco's
Fantasy Rules, but there were a number of things neither of us liked - the PIP system
(fixed and reducing), the use of d10 for combats, and the Magic system.