Thursday 4 February 2010

Best Wargames Rules

Like the anorak I truely am I got to thinking about the best wargames rules I have used,following the complaints about Black Powder at the Mollwitz re fight.
I have never been a lover of complex detailed rules ,but when I started gaming the emphasis seemed to be,if it was complex then we couldn't
be ridiculed for playing with toy soldiers,ergo complex meant it was a realistic re enactment of military history.
With age comes enlightement,and this is tosh.
Grant and Young realised it wasnt the rules that made the game an accurate portrayal of history,but the actual player who having read the history,used the actual tactics of that period in play. As a consequence I think the best rules are those that concentrate on a specific period in history,are not generic and encourage the gamer to fight as the army would in the period portrayed.
So my favourite rules in ascending order are;
5] A 'Nostalgic Whim' [ I know they were written for me, plagarising Grant and co,but they are good]
4] Folorn Hope. [ great ECW rules]
3] Armati. [Very unforgiving if you use non historical tactics]
2] Volley and Bayonet [ The original rules,perfect for BIG Napoleonic games]
1]The Lily Banners. [ An excellent effort, and perfect for the Williamite period]
Anyway,its purely a personal choice,but they all have one thing in common, subtlety coupled with simplicity.I hope to discuss my least favourite rules later,that is if I can remember the titles correctly.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting. Have you tried Shako, for large Napoleonics? Age of Reason, for 7YW and WSS? And what about ACW, Napoleonic naval, ancients (I favour Impetus), and any other periods/

    ReplyDelete

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.
Austria 1809.

Austrian Hussars

Austrian Hussars
Hinchliffe figures

Austrian Grenzer

Austrian Grenzer
Austrian Grenzer

Smoggycon 2013

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Smoogycon 2009

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My French getting another beating