Sept 13, 2017 Feudal [Late Dark Ages] Rules

Charge! There's no Rules Glitches to stop us now!

from http://talismancoins.com/products/64822

These are the latest version of my rules as of 13 SEP 2017. Updates from 21 AUG are:

1. Added Board Edge as impassible terrain,
2. Retreat is now always a Fast Move straight back, for simplicity,
3. Defending Terrain is now always half hits, for simplicity,
4. Several small clarifications of language with no rule change.

I'm very pleased with how they've progressed and been cleaned up. Many useful suggestions have been made, and much attention has been given to the subtle details of mechanics so you will have few moments when it isn't clear what the design intent is - and for those, you can use the Triple Zed rule and then fire a message to me!

The intent is to put the player in the role of commander and give him decisions to make at that level, ones that really matter and affect the outcome. While it is possible to lose - or win - with the dice, generally the better player will win 3-4 out of 5 times with these rules, usually by thinking ahead a couple turns and paying attention to the scenario victory conditions.

They've been playtested extensively with strangers: veterans and newbies alike. Some of the scenarios have been played as much as 20 times. From the July post, these have mainly been edited for clarity and corrections, and the Force Matrix and Optional rules have been fixed up.

It is worth remembering that the 30 scenarios of the One-Hour Wargames book are key to the crisp, tight play of these rules - buy them if you don't have them, they're worth every penny [or pence]!

Any questions, just shoot a reply to this post - enjoy!

09/13/17 - FEUDAL WARGAME RULES: gaming the 90%!

A battle game for 1000 warriors a force on a 3x3-4’ table, A.D. 1000-1300 or so.

GAME CONVENTIONS

0.00 Grey Areas are resolved by defining the issue in “either/or” terms and rolling off, the “Triple-Zed Rule”.

0.1 Measuring may be done anytime.

0.2 Dice used are six-sided, with either 1-6 [D6] or 2-5 [D5] on the sides [the D5 “average dice”, has pips of 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, & 5, no 1 & 6]. Pick one to use for all game rolls. Due to this choice, dice are referred to as “Dx”.

0.3 Scale is 5-10 minutes of action / inaction; 5” = 40y [1”=8y]. A 25mm fig=20 / 15mm fig=10 men. A 3’ battle-field is therefore about 300y square, representing the decisive fighting area rather than the maneuver area.

0.4 Units represent 160 close foot, 80 knights/loose foot, 40 skirmishers [mounted or foot] in five feudal types:

a.    Knights or milites, are feudal nobles with mail, helm, lance, and shield on warhorses, supported by retinues.  They charge aggressively but lack cohesion and horse armor so are vulnerable to casualties.

b.    Serjeants or servientes, or mercenary stipendarii, are footmen with spear, shield and hand weapons. Those armored are in the front ranks, often stiffened with dismounted knights. Veteran captains, mutual support, experience and obligation to nobles or cities make them the best of the foot.

c.    Freemen or liberi are the lesser experienced and armed men of a province or town called to fill out the ranks, especially in sieges.  They’ve less élan but support the knights with numbers in solid groups.

d.    Bowmen are serjeants, liberi or mercenary stipendarii, with bow or crossbow, who may shoot volleys. They’ve enough missiles to endanger targets and affect the battle but avoid mêlée until they run out.

e.    Brigans or ruttae are bandits or camp-followers with knives, improvised weapons, throwing rocks, javelins, et al.  The best are fierce raiding warriors.  They harass from difficult terrain, charging vulnerable opponents. Also called ribauds, bidets, brigans, kerns, jacquerie, etc.

0.5 Figures & Basing. Units have a Front of 4-6” and a depth half that. I use single 5”x 2.5” bases with 3-5 mtd / loose order figs, 12-16 foot. WRG/DBx bases work on 12x6cm sabots, or any 2-1 Front-Flank ratio.

0.6 Base Width [BW] & Base Depth [BD] are used for measurements and must be in a 2-1 ratio. The BD measures a Unit half; more than half a Unit is needed for Line of Sight, terrain advantages, a protected flank, to shoot, a gap to shoot through, charge contact, and more. So whether 2.5” or 30mm, the BD matters!

0.7 Front, Flank & Rear are measured from Unit corners, 45° arcs off the sides Front, Rear or Flanks – left and right. A Unit’s Front center point shows if it is in and can Target a Unit’s Front, Flank or Rear Arc.

0.8 Bows are missiles propelled by a device, e.g. bows, slings, and crossbows.

0.9 Javelins are missiles thrown by a person, including throwing spears, javelins, hand axes and rocks.

0.10 Terrain has two types, Area and Linear.  Area are 6-12” per side or diameter.  Linear are 6-12” long x 1-3” wide. Units are Defending terrain if within Area terrain or lining the edge of intervening Linear terrain.

a.    Hills. Area.  Defensive bonus if within AND uphill of mêlée opponent. 

b.    Woods, Marsh.  Area. Only Brigans may enter. Defensive bonus.

c.    Camp, Village. Area. Defensive bonus.

d.    Lakes, Rivers, Cliffs, Board-Edge.  Impassible Area and Linear respectively.

e.    Walls, Ditch, Riverbank (at Bridge or Ford). Linear. Defensive bonus.

f.     Roads. Linear. Road move gives BD bonus & cancels terrain restrictions, [2.9]

0.11 Line of Sight.  Units must have LoS to a Target Unit at the time of a Shot or Charge. LoS is measured from a shooting or charging Unit's Front center point:

a.    To a BD of the Target Unit’s side within which the attacking Unit is located – it can only be in one!

b.    To Units lining the edge of Area or Linear terrain, and vice-versa.

c.    Up to a BD between Units across one side of or within Area terrain,eg woods, hill [crest / plateau edge].

d.    And requires a gap >BD through which to trace it. 

e.    And is obstructed by anything a figure height or taller, e.g. hills, woods and Units, but may be traced by a Unit on a height clearly taller and if the obstruction is closer to the Sighting Unit than the Target Unit.

LoS is blocked to a Target’s Flank if it has a friendly Unit beside it and under a BD away, [measure corners -  front to front and rear to rear]; obstructing terrain within the BD of a flank does the same. Note that as LoS is used for both Shooting and Charges, a Protected Flank restricts both.

PLAY SEQUENCE.  A full turn has each player taking four phases:

Attacker  [player A]: 1) Shoot, 2) Move, 3) Mêlée, 4) Rally

Defender [player D]: 1) Shoot, 2) Move, 3) Mêlée, 4) Rally

1) SHOOT

1.1 Shooting Basics. Bowmen and Brigans may shoot if they’ve a LoS [0.11] and are not in mêlée or out of missiles. Bowmen shoot in “Phase 1, Shoot”, while Brigans shoot in “Phase 2, Move” [2.8]:

a.    Range is 2BW for Bows, BW for Javelins, measured per LoS above.

b.    Bowmen that Shoot cannot move in Phase 2. Brigans that shoot in Phase 2 cannot Charge.

c.    Shooting into a Mêlée is permitted if there is LoS to a Targeted Unit’s side.

d.    Protected Flanks. These may not be shot as there is no LoS to them [0.11g].

1.2 Resolving Shooting. Roll a Dx for the number of Hits against the Target Unit, modified in order:

a.    Brigans shooting are -2,

b.    Terrain.  Units defending woods, camp, village or walls halve Hits,

c.    Armored.  Serjeants halve Hits from shooting,

d.    Unshielded or unprepared. Double Hits from Units shooting into a Target’s Rear Arc [cf. 0.7]. 

e.    Stacked Modifiers. The max benefit is ¼ Hits [1/2x1/2] and one halving and doubling cancel out.

f.     Round all fractions up. This increases the minimum number of Hits which accounts for fatigue.

1.3 Place an Attacked Marker on every Target Unit. Something red is easy to spot!

1.4 Missile Limit.  Brigans and Bowmen are out of missiles at 3 Shots - mark the Unit.

1.5  Remove units with 15+ Hits from Bowmen at the end of Phase 1, from Brigans at the end of Phase 2.

2) MOVE

2.1 Move Basics.  Players sequentially; select a Unit, state if using the Fast bonus, then move the Unit in a straight line any part of the total, using Turns before or after the Move to change direction.

Class 1  Serjeants, Freeman, Bowmen         5”         Move  BD       Fast +BD        Road +BD

Class 2  Brigans                                             7.5”      Move  BW       Fast +BD        Road +BD

Class 3  Knights                                             10”       Move  BW       Fast +BW       Road +BD

2.2 Moves allow a Retreat [2.4c] or a Charge [2.7] and require a Turn to change direction.

2.3 Fast Moves are the same, but also require a Unit start / remain over a BD from all enemy Units unless Charging [2.7], in which case they may pass within a BD of enemy Units on their route to their charge target.

2.4 Turning. Turns are not measured but are movement; Units may rotate on their center up to 180° per Turn. While doing so, their corners and edges may pass “over” Units and any Terrain, but the Unit must immediately move clear, i.e. not interpenetrate [2.7]. Note this means a Unit may always rotate 180° [an “about face”]:

a.    Serjeants, Freemen and Bowmen may Turn once, at the start of their move.

b.    Knights may Turn once, at the start OR end of their move.

c.    Brigans may Turn twice, once at the start AND once at the end of their move.

2.5 Retreat from Mêlée is allowed for Units in Front contact with one Unit from a slower move Class; the Unit makes a  Fast Move straight back, ending facing the original direction.

2.6 Facing an Attacker is allowed if a Unit is in Mêlée contact with enemy Unit(s), none on its Front. It turns a full 90° / 180° to face one contacting Unit with its Front side.  Adjust enemy Unit bases to maintain contact.  If space is a problem, leave as-is and mark that side as the “Front” [cf. 0.5].

2.7 Gaps & Interpenetration. A gap of a BW is needed to fit between Units or terrain. Brigans may move through Brigans, but must end move clear of the stationary Brigans. No other Interpenetrations are allowed.

2.8 Shooting & Moving. Bowmen may not Move if they shot in Phase 1 [1.1b]. Brigans may Shoot before or after their Move [including all Turns] but may not Charge if they Shoot. 

2.9 Roads. Units that move entirely touching a road with any part of their base get a bonus BD distance.

2.8 Charging requires either a Front Arc LoS [0.11] to a Target Unit within a Fast Move away, OR that the Target Unit be within a BD of the Charger’s Flank Arc (measure from both corners). Fulfilling this, Contact is made by putting the units edge to edge for at least a BD long, centered as much as possible.

a.    A Charge to Flank is done by Turning the Charger then Contacting the Target with its Front as above.

b.    Contact is limited to four Charging Units, one on each Target side; Front, Rear and each Flank. 

c.    Brigans may only charge a Flank or Rear, and only if they did not Shoot. 

d.    Bowmen may only Charge when out of missiles.

e.    Protected Flanks. These may not be Charged as there is no LoS to them [0.11g].

f.     Side Edge Contact is allowed in cramped situations between Units and Terrain / Board Edge if:

                      i.        a Gap over a BD exists for an attacker to get thru, and,

                     ii.        the Charge Target will allow at least a BD of edge contact.

Mark the contacting side as the Unit’s [temporary] front. Rotate 90 so the Front Edge is in contact as soon as circumstances allow, e.g. an obstructing Unit moves. Using a side as front can also occur when melee Targets turn to face an attacker on their own turn or to prevent clever players from manipulating the rules!

The goal is to get Charging Units in full edge contact of at least a BD, despite terrain modeling, basing or sabots; also to reward flank protection while penalizing unprotected flanks and rear.  If disputed, cf. 0.00!

3) MÊLÉE

3.1 One-Sided Mêlée.  Units only inflict Hits during their own player turn and only on one Target Unit in Frontal Contact.  Mêlée includes lulls in action as both sides catch breath and exchange insults in close proximity.

3.2 Resolving Mêlée. Roll a Dx for each attacking Unit to get the Hits on the Target Unit, modified in order:

a.    Unit Types. +2 for Knights and -2 for Brigans and Bowmen. 

b.    Terrain. Units uphill, or Defending a ditch, riverbank, wall etc, halve Hits.

                      i.        Units defending woods halve Hits, but ONLY on the turn they are charged.

c.    Armored. Serjeants halve Hits.

d.    Unshielded or Unprepared.  Double Hits from Units Contacting a Flank or Rear.

e.    Stacked Modifiers. The max benefit is ¼ Hits [1/2x1/2] and one halving and doubling cancel out.

f.     Round all fractions up, even quarters, as for Shooting [cf. 1.2f].

Mêlée concludes with the elimination of Units or their Retreat from Mêlée [cf. 2.2]. 

3.3 Place an Attacked Marker on any Unit that was in Mêlée. Something red is easy to spot!

3.4 Remove Units as soon as they get 15+ Hits.

4) RALLIES

4.1 Rallying. Units eligible to rally off Hits due to this or an Optional Rule do so now. 

a.    Phasing Units that didn’t Shoot, Move or Mêlée may Rally off 1 Hit.

b.    If they ALSO do not have an Attacked Marker, they may rally off 1 additional Hit.

c.    If a Unit has 5 Hits or more, they cannot rally to below 5 Hits, i.e. the 5 Hits are permanent.

4.2 Attacked Markers for the Phasing Player’s Units are now removed.

6-Hit Unit Variant

Some find tracking 15 Hits a burden. This system reduces the number of Hits a unit has to 6, tracked with 1d6.

·         Units that inflict d6+2 Hits get 3 Attack Dice, d6 get 2 Attack Dice, and d6-2 get 1 Attack Dice.

·         All Units inflict a Hit with a roll of 3+ on an Attack Dice.

·         4.1 is changed to rolling 1Dx and rallying a hit on a 3+, none if they’ve an Attacked Marker, and if a Unit has >2 Hits it can’t be rallied to below 2 Hits.

·         Units are removed when their Hits are >6.

Some nuance is lost with this, but nuance of game mechanics is not really what OHW is about, anyway!

The optional rules will have the most trouble being adapted, but: approximate values are 2/6 Hits = 5/15 Hits, and a 5 Hit = 12 Hit / 7 Hit = 18 Hit Unit. Units that are a bit inferior hit on a 4+ with their dice instead of 3+.

OPTIONAL RULES

PERSONALITIES

These come in several types and their use is encouraged since so much of Feudal warfare was about people and personalities.  For every three Units in a force, a player may pick a personality figure.  All function as a Unit upgrade. If not in Mêlée, the Personality may transfer to another Unit within 6” at the start of the friendly Movement Phase.  If the Unit is destroyed, the personality is removed with the Unit.

·         A Knight Errant is a warrior with renowned personal fighting skill honed in battles and tournaments like William Marshal.  He inspires others with his skill so his Unit inflicts +1 Hit in Mêlée.

·         A Constable is a powerful Lord, such as Earl Robert of Gloucester.  He knows that fear and his willpower keep men fighting alongside him, so his Unit may Rally even if it Moved.

·         A Horse Marshal knows how to maneuver knights on a battlefield – he gives his Knight Unit an additional Turn at the end of movement.

·         A Bow Marshal is a renowned missile master, like Robert Boet or Benkin. He knows how to control and loose high-arc volleys so his Bowmen shoot an extra BW distance for 3BW altogether, i.e. 15”.

·         A Brabanter is a famous mercenary captain such as William of Ypres. He knows how to hire reliable veterans, so his unit may re-roll its hit dice in combat [but the result stands, even if worse!].

·         A Banner is an upgrade to any personality above.  The Banner is a prestigious symbol of the Personality that inspires his followers.  It allows a Unit to Rally despite an Attacked Marker [4.1b]. 

o   However, it does count as another personality.

o   The Personality, and his banner, must stay with one Unit of Knights or Serjeants for the battle.

·         A Christian Priest may be used to rally Dx bonus Hits [per 4.1b] once to one Unit, since he has a holy relic, standard, vigorous prayers, etc., however the Unit must obey the Rally rules. Remove the priest from the Unit once he’s inspired them, he’s tired and wants to go back to the monastery to pray!

Tired Units

Units that have passed ten Hits are Tired and -1 to all Dx rolls – Shooting, Moving and Mêlée. Use one Red die to mark the Hits.  This represents unrecoverable fatigue and casualties in a typical 10-15 turn battle.

Rallying undisciplined feudal warriors was difficult; instead of automatically rallying hits, use this rule:

·         Units eligible to rally roll a dice, losing 0 Hits on 1, 1 Hit on 2-5, 2 Hits on a 6.

Savings Rolls

Some love’em, others hate’em.  The good thing is that they reduce math and give a Unit a chance to endure [or collapse…] unexpectedly.  They also keep both players involved in a Turn.  Simply roll a d6 for each halving of Hits, saving on a 4+.  If they get two halvings [e.g. one for armor and one for terrain] then re-roll the failures.  

Missile Supply Variants

* Accepting some unpredictability, Missile Units run out of missiles if they roll a natural ‘5’.

* Missile Units that are well-supplied, e.g. defending fortifications, have a 4-Shot limit, not 3.

Initiative

Battles often began with one side as the clear aggressor, making a series of attacks until fatigue or enemy resistance caused them to lose momentum.  To simulate this, the scenario Attacker has Initiative and goes first each Turn [if no clear Attacker, roll off].  But at the start of Turn 2 - and every Turn after - roll off adding +2 for the Initiative Side, who also wins ties.  If the Initiative side loses the roll, Initiative changes to the other side which goes first each Turn until it changes again.  Note this allows the side seizing Initiative to go twice in a row as the turn order changes, which could be a critical moment in a game.  While it is possible for Initiative to switch several times, it is likely to only change once or twice.  Additional options:

·         For less likelihood to change use +3 for the side holding Initiative, for more go with +1.

·         Subtract '1' from the players dice rolls for each friendly Unit removed.

·         Personality: Strategos has a one-time bonus of +3 to seize Initiative.

Trained Units

Some Feudal warriors were full time professional with a lot of experience working together.  Often, these were paid mercenaries who manned garrisons, but sometimes they were hired in large groups.  If using this rule, all Dx rolls are made with a d6, producing less dependable results for movement, mêlée and shooting.  Trained [T] Units instead roll a Dx, making them less spectacular [good or bad] but more dependable.

Force Morale

The 1HW scenarios have 6 Units per side as the norm.  This conveniently comes to rolling a Dx each time a friendly Unit is destroyed, attempting to roll equal or higher than the total number of friendly Units destroyed to keeping fighting. If you roll less your force routs and the game ends.  

·         As this shortens the game a lot, you can roll TWO Dx and keep fighting if EITHER roll beats the number of Units lost.  With a three or four Unit army, roll a Dx halved [round up]. 

·         You could also get a +1 to your roll if your opponent has lost more Units, emboldening your force to greater efforts, or a +1 if you still have a Personality on the board.

·         In a campaign game, allow the opposing side to get one last free attack as the army flees, or eliminate all Units that are in mêlée with a Unit of higher movement class.  

For more "period flavor", consider fun ways to gain a bonus point or two on the die roll, like winning a pre-game challenge, praying to God [or 'the gods'], fatigue from force marching to an objective, etc.

Diced Movement

Movement by Feudal units was not consistent as only a few in a given force would have had experience campaigning and fighting together. The blowing of horns, following of banners / standards would guide the warrior groups, but it wouldn’t be in a predictable timeframe [which is why drill has been historically practiced by more sophisticated professional armies]. To use diced movement, the following changes are made:

Class 1  Serjeants, Freeman, Bowmen         Move  3”         Fast +Dx”       Road +3”

Class 2  Brigans                                             Move  6”         Fast +Dx”       Road +3”       

Class 3  Knights                                             Move  9”         Fast +Dx”       Road +3”       

Javelins shoot 6” and Bowmen 12” [because the average move is longer].

Advantages and Disadvantages

It’s quite easy to alter the qualities of units to get more variety – note this will slow down the game. If used, both armies are permitted to improve a Unit with an advantage and downgrade a Unit with a disadvantage. No Unit should have better than +2 or worse than -2 in Shooting or Mêlée or have more than one advantage and/or disadvantage used upon it. Some suggestions:

·         Determined / Unenthusiastic: 18 Hits / 12 Hits,

·         Mêlée +1 / -1, Shoot +1 / -1, Extra Missiles for 4 Shots total,

·         Freemen / Bowmen that enter Woods, or only have 3 shots, or run out on a 5-6.

Example: an unpaid mercenary crossbow unit may shoot Dx+1 but have only 12 Hits. A German Knight Unit may Melee Dx+1 but have 18 Hits due to their slower, denser charge method.

Impetuous Charges

Units prone to impetuous charges, e.g. Knights, Warbands, sometimes found themselves a little farther away than needed to contact the enemy. Practice and desire often gave them that last little bit of distance, but it required real exertion and risked fatiguing men and horses. Allow the impetuous Unit to charge up to 3” farther, but take a Hit for each inch or part used, applied immediately. So using a 2.25” Charge bonus results in 3 Hits taken. This ability should be taken as a Unit Advantage.

If using this, balance this for by inflicting a Hit on a Unit using Retreat move.

Alternative Troop Types

It is not always clear from accounts how warriors were armed and how they used their weapons. Some flexibility is in order to take these into account.

·         Brigans with Bows / Crossbows – these Shoot 2BW distance, but only in Phase 1, like Bowmen.

·         Mounted Brigans – these are Brigans who Fast Move a BW but cannot enter woods. They usually had Javelins, but can arguably have bow or a light crossbow with the same effect.

·         Cavalry – these move as Knights, mêlée Dx and shoot Dx-2 as Brigans in Phase 2 [with javelins].

FEUDAL FORCE MATRIX

The OHW rules have six different diced forces a side with 3-4 core Units and three other Units that vary from 0-2 in each force, for 36 possible combinations! The below matrix suits the focus of these rules better. Knights and Bowmen predominate, with Brigans [to procure supplies, i.e. steal] and some Freemen who are the least common type, being expensive to feed and only useful at sieges.

                        Knights⁺         Bowmen*       Brigans          Freemen

Die roll            Core                Type 1                        Type 2                        Type 3

1                      1                      1                      2                      2            [Defensive or Siege type of force]

2                      3                      1                      1                      1            

3                      3                      2                      1                      0            

4                      4                      1                      0                      1            

5                      4                      1                      1                      0           

6                      4                      2                      0                      0         

⁺Knights may dismount before a game, becoming a Serjeants Unit instead – they may not remount.

*One Bowmen may shoot at Dx+1 as mercenary crossbows. Balance this by making one Knight mêlée Dx+1 as mounted Serjeants, or one Freeman mêlée Dx-1 as unwilling levy.

Some variations for interesting corners of the Angevin Empire and British Isles:

Anglo Irish: Core – Brigans, T1 Bowmen, T2 Knights, T3 Freemen.

Norse Irish: Core – Brigans, T1 Serjeants, T2 Freemen, T4 Cavalry [move as Knights, mêlée only Dx].

All scenarios should have an additional 8x4” wood placed fully within and against the edge of a square.

Scots Common Army: Core – Serjeants*, T1 – Brigans, T2 – Bowmen, T3 - Knights

*Scots Serjeants are schiltrons; Hits from mêlée are halved but not Hits from shooting.

Scots Isles & Highlands: Core – Serjeants, T1 – Brigans, T2 – Freemen, T3 – Bowmen

Any Bowmen and Freemen may be replaced by Brigans.

Early Feudal French or German: Core – Knights, T1 – Freemen, T2 – Bowmen, T3 – Brigans

Bretons: Core – Cavalry*, T1 – Brigans, T2 – Bowmen, T3 – Knights

*Cavalry move as Knights but mêlée Dx and shoot as Brigans [Try a Horse Master personality!].

North Welsh: Core – Freemen¹, T1 – Knights², T2 – Brigans, T3 – Bowmen

South Welsh: Core – Bowmen, T1 – Knights², T2 – Brigans, T3 – Freemen

¹ Any Freemen be replaced by Brigans; one may become Serjeants

² Any Knights may be replaced with Cavalry, as Bretons above. 

What's Missing in One-Hour Wargames Rules? P.1: Ancients to Pike & Shot

2/3 of the Horse & Musket OHW Rules...obviously not encumbered with details and differentiations!

What would the design teams of "Empire III" and "Advanced Squad Leader" say about this???

"One-Hour Wargames" rules are pretty sparse - which is why they are so short! Essential mechanics have been left for the players to decide. Some aspects must be defined or clarified, no matter what your gaming preferences are. In other words, there's no way of playing the game without these coming up and then having to be discussed. It's all well and good if you're hanging out with a friend - especially one who isn't a wargamer - but the tendency of people to argue to their own advantage, OR, the need to explain to a willing participant, means you may as well think about them now and make a decision on them.

Missing and Must Be Decided

General
- Premeasuring allowed?
- rounding fractions in favor of attacker, i.e. ANY fraction UP? so 2.25 Hits = 3 Hits?
- Unit Size dimensions are loosely given, typically 4-6" in the rules, with a few like guns being half that. It MATTERS for a number of mechanics AND how many units fit onto the table top in certain spaces, how wide the units are. Depth isn't as important.

Movement
- Crossing River at Ford / Bridge, i.e. rate, cost, bridge model
- Road Movement, i.e. how does the 1-base unit do it?
- Charging; How to Contact [corner-edge? edge-edge? full / partial alignment?]
- Measurement point for move distance to Contact?
- Cavalry retreat from Hand-to-Hand, e.g. 6" move any direction or straight back?
- turning and corner / edge interpenetrating friendly / enemy units.

Shooting
- measurement points to / from Units [center-closest? center-center? closest-closest?]
- measurement point for Unit occupying town?
- Firing Arc, i.e. how is a Unit "within" 45 degrees of the front facing?
- How much of a Unit needs to be seen to be targeted?
- How large a gap does a shooter need to fire through?
- Line of Sight, including through / within / across Area & Linear Terrain, and over units [especially important for artillery Units].
- Can you shoot into a melee [Ancients, Dark Ages, Medieval, Pike & Shot rules]?

Terrain
- How many Units may occupy a town? If 2+, how to work the 360 fire arc?
- what's "in" woods / town terrain?  [entire Unit or Unit Edge] [Partially or fully] within?
- How does a Unit "occupy" a hilltop? Same as "in woods / town" above?

MY DECISIONS
I generally divide the periods into Ancient [Ancient thru Pike and Shot] and Moderns [Horse and Musket to WWII]. The general concept is that modern armies begin when training is widely introduced to make movement and shooting more predictable.

General
- Premeasuring is allowed; 
- Any fraction is round UP. This "minimum" Hit of '1' gives a little satisfaction on a bad roll, and it also is justified by how intense and tiring combat is.
- Unit Sizes: For Ancients, I field units on a 2-1 front / Side base size ratio. My Medievals are all being rebased to 5" front and 2.5" deep. This is close to the WRG / DBx standard of 12cm front by 6cm deep. I then use the Base Width [BW] of 5" and Base Depth [BD] of 2.5" as measurement tools. For Moderns, I will be using multi-stand units about 4cm x 2cm in size, and they take up about 5-6" wide on the table.
- Line of Sight [LoS] I handled using the 2-1 base width-depth ratio. For a shot or charge, an attacker needs a BD of the target unit. So all of a flank and 1/2 the front of the base. The entire LoS needs to be within range, so again it would be the entire flank side of the base, or 1/2 of the front side of the base - the 1/2 front side doesn't need to be center to corner.

Movement
- Crossing River at Ford / Bridge, i.e. rate, cost, bridge model
I cross at normal move rates, but always make the river about an infantry move wide. So the most common units spend a turn crossing.
- Road Movement, i.e. how does the 1-base unit do it?
for Ancients, I let any contact with the road count, as they are mostly just a rough track or trail, anyway, and hasten movement not due to the quality of the road itself but due to the ease of staying on course. For Moderns, I have multiple base units so they just move along the narrow side of the base, each base upon the road.

- Charging; How to Contact [corner-edge? edge-edge? full / partial alignment?]
I use edge / edge and maximise contact, with the minimum being half the front, or a BD.
- Measurement point for move distance to Contact? I use charger's front center point to the farthest point of the LoS - a full BD of the base side being charged. 
- Cavalry retreat from Hand-to-Hand, e.g. 6" move any direction or straight back?
As I use edge-edge contact, they bounce straight back, HOWEVER, this is a good example where I can see allowing the corner contact along the straight line, and then moving directly back along that same charge line, so no conforming to edge contact.
- turning and corner / edge interpenetrating friendly / enemy units.
I allow this as the Units themselves are an area that has soldiers in it, not that the entire base footprint is entirely packed with people. Also, it's a lot easier on players to move around, especially when they're learning the game.

Shooting
- measurement points to / from Units [center-closest? center-center? closest-closest?]
Front Center point to the entire LoS, which is BD long [half the front, all the side] must be within range.
- measurement point for Unit occupying town?
One Unit per town, so the center of each of the four sides of the square, as tho it was a unit.
- Firing Arc, i.e. how is a Unit "within" 45 degrees of the front facing?
The entire LoS must be with the front 45 degree arc, so 1/2 the front, all of the side.
- How much of a Unit needs to be seen to be targeted?
A BD, or 1/2 the front, all of the side, needs to be in LoS.
- How large a gap does a shooter need to fire through? A BD.
- Line of Sight, including through / within / across Area & Linear Terrain, and over units [especially important for artillery Units]. 
I use a BD across a terrain edge or line that blocks LoS [e.g. woods, hill crest] or a BD within terrain [woods, town]. I don't allow shooting over friendly units, but if a Unit is a full level higher or more than an intervening enemy unit, I allow them to shoot if that unit is closer to them than the target unit.
- Can you shoot into a melee [Ancients, Dark Ages, Medieval, Pike & Shot rules]? 
I say yes, as long as you have a Line of Sight. This is b/c I don't see melee as continuous, but a series of short, sharp attacks with times of breaks in between. This also allows bowmen and Skirmishers to support other units during the game better.

Terrain
- How many Units may occupy a town? If 2+, how to work the 360 fire arc?
One in Ancients - so the square town is like a unit. In Moders, I let them fight through towns like they are woods, in effect.
- what's "in" woods / town terrain?  [entire Unit or Unit Edge] [Partially or fully] within?
I say entirely within area terrain to get a defensive bonus in melee. For shooting, if the LoS has the terrain between, then the unit gets the terrain bonus.
- How does a Unit "occupy" a hilltop? Same as "in woods / town" above?
I use a military crest, usually, so I define this by being "uphill" of the opponent in melee. If both are across the slope and appear "equally" situated from uphill to downhill no one gets a defensive bonus.

While there are many different rule sets out there that handle these mechanics and situations differently, I've tried to choose a series of intuitive, visually obvious means to solve most of the issues in the simplest way possible. Additional nuance is usually BOTH tedious and a-historical. An overall difference is best expressed with something simple, like Cavalry is faster than infantry, so it has a 12" move rather than the 6" infantry move.

Hope this list helps you to more easily prepare to play these rules and start considering your own way to handle the various situations that arise.

Designing Big-Battle "One-Hour Wargames"

Playing with the Maps.
To brainstorm with the scenarios to make larger scenarios for multiple players, I really needed to be able to lay out the maps next to each other and consider what would be happening on each area of the mapboard. Also, the ways that some of the maps fit together requires being able to rotate them. Not that a scenario board can't be mirror-reversed [like I did with Scenario 10] and be the same yet fit to other maps well - they can. But many of the scenarios maps could fit together in completely different ways, again without altering anything substantially or having to rebuild them from the ground up.

The Dangers of Alteration. 
I've found that each scenario and the dimensions of terrain, especially gaps between terrain, etc, are pretty significant. Move something a few inches or get sloppy, and you realize that it is literally the difference between getting two units side by side in a valley v. three, which totally changes the way to approach a scenario. I'm not saying "don't mess with it" I'm just saying give the designer the benefit of the doubt until you've personally playtested a scenario a few times!

The Maps as Puzzle Pieces
I went through quite a bit of trouble to photocopy all the scenarios and maps. I then cut out the maps and because they'd be handled quite a bit, I laminated them 4 to a sheet with my de-lux cheap-o laminator I got at Staples, or Target or somewhere:


I realized part way thru, that all the maps weren't quite the same size! Uncertain if that was my photocopying or the layout and graphic design of the book:


But in the end, with a little playing, I got all 30 printed out. The static cling of the laminating sheets made it no problem to put them within, and I kept some plastic border around so that they were carefully sealed up inside with a full plastic border:


Now, I can take any of the maps and lay them beside each other in various combinations:

The above has scenario 4 and 2 placed above each other. I could still play the scenarios out exactly as written - I'd just have to have the 4 Units that enter Turn 2 in scenario 4 be in the rear of the army in Scenario 2 and facing the other way! This makes for interesting possibilities - the scenarios together make a totally different story. 

Same Scenarios, Different Stories
For example, the two scenarios could now represent a pincer movement of the Blue force from the left and right sides of the board [Board South and North] and trapped between are two Red Units on the hill [facing South] and ten Red Units along the vertical East-West road, with four immediately heading to reinforce the hill to left, and six contesting the hill to right. From a military perspective, it is obvious that holding the crossroads and both hills will put the Red side in a strong position. Conversely, losing the crossroad and the left hill would have the Red army remnants trapped in a valley between the two hills without an easy way to break out.

But, I probably wouldn't see it without being able to play around with the maps!

Design and Deliver
So taking related scenarios [three river crossings] and putting them alongside one another is pretty obvious. But putting together 3-5 scenarios for a grand battle, say along the way to Arnhem in WWII, requires really visually working with the maps, at least for me. With four map sides all rotating and put together in various ways, there's mathematically thousands of scenarios that can be put together using those in the book! So go ahead and play around with the maps - tell your own stories with larger groups of people.

Hope this is a useful idea for you, also.

Scenario 4: Take the High Ground - Tactical Tutorial

Having played this scenario numerous times, and still looking for that "down to the wire / down to the die roll" balance, I decided to double-check this matchup to see if there was imbalance - maybe there is!

A few things should be noted here:
- the present rules and lists show my historical preference, which differentiates the Welsh from the Feudal English. The Welsh enjoy more shooting, but do not have Knights as a troop type. Instead, they have Cavalry, which are Dx melee Knights, who shoot as Brigans, ie on the move for Dx-2.
- the last time I played this, I gave the English 3 knights, 2 Bowmen and 1 Freemen, and they won fairly easily on Turn 9 or so. So for the Big Battle demo game, I switched them to 2 Knights, 2 Bowmen, and 2 Freemen.
- while I'm pretty sure these lists are balanced across the spectrum of 30 scenarios, the greater mobility and shooting of the Welsh with less hitting power may not be a winner in each individual scenario. I'm OK with this, since it is a hazard of national differentiation.
- Many of the tactical details will change if you tinker with the mechanics of movement, melee contact, etc. I've movement of 5", 7.5" and 10" as standard. If you go to 6"/9"/12", some of the below relationships will change. Still, the thought process will remain identical even if some of the tactical nuances are altered - this is how you win using tactics!

Anyway, to battle once again!

A reminder, that the Welsh start with a won game. The English must completely clear the hill of Welsh to win. Anything else is a draw. Demonstrated below, a Freeman with 14 Hits has its toe on the hill - the Feudal English have NOT won the battle!


Turn 1. Welsh deploy their two Freemen behind the hill crest, out of LoS, and therefore may not be shot or charged until LoS is less than one Base Depth [BD] or 2.5" with my basing. English split their Knights, one up each flank of the hill. To left, the Knight advances a Fast Move of two Base Widths [BW] or 10". The Knight to right also advances 2BW but gets a BD bonus by moving along the road, a total of 12.5". The rest of the English army advances 5", with the Freemen in center to attack the hill, bowmen supporting from flanks.

At top of pic, is the Welsh reinforcements, arriving a Turn 2.

Closeup of interesting deployment and Turn 1 decisions. Both Knights advanced the max.


Left Knight out of Charge range. Right Knight easily in due to extra road movement.


To avoid the charge, the Welsh Freemen would have to be pretty far back, if still on the Hill.


But this concedes the uphill bonus of halved Hits to the Knights, which is unacceptable - they can advanced on their turn, get a BD on the hill, staying out of a BD of the Welsh.


Alternatively, the Welsh Freemen can squelch any attempt to flank them by being both on the hill and over the Hillcrest [there isn't a BD of any side over the Crest, so they are out of LoS].

Unfortunately, this loses the Welsh the mutual support of Protected Flanks, leaving them vulnerable to flank attacks at the center of the hill - also unacceptable.

This leaves the below the only acceptable deployment in my book - the Welsh have a Protected Flank in the center and can't be flanked by the Knights turn 2. The Knights have a choice - Charge uphill against the Welsh [an even proposition but it blocks their army] or continue moving forward to work around the flanks, while the foot go up the middle..

These are the kinds of decisions I'm looking for in a game. Easy on the amount / complexity of the rules, but hard choices have to be made that actually matter.

Turn 2. The Welsh Reinforcements enter. Two Freemen up the road, the mounted on the right with the Cavalry leading the way. 
They give the English some tough choices. The Knights can charge the flank of the Freeman on the hill, then be shot Turn 3 and meleed by the Cavalry on the left side on Turn 4 - not an inviting proposition as Knights disappear rapidly when attacked on the flank.


OR, Turn 2 the English can face the Welsh Cavalry but still threaten the Freemn with a Flank charge if the Welsh mounted don't close in, forcing them to commit to their right. After some debate, I choose this course of action.


Meanwhile, Turn 2 on the right has left the Knight in a bind. Turn 3 will have the 2 Welsh Freemen right on top of them, well within threat range of 5". The nearby Bowmen can't charge until they are out of missiles. This has the Knight isolated and unsupported.


Turn 2. English right Knight moves to right, opening space for Bowmen to support. Note that neither of the English Freemen can charge the Welsh: they are both over the crest and out of LoS [which requires a BD of the base to be seen] and they are out of Charge range since 5" won't give either Freemen a BD of a side, the minimum required to be in melee.


Turn 3 on right. Welsh Freemen move full down the road. English close in. Knights charge Freemen for 5 Hits but leaving flank open. Bowmen could advance pretty far up, but need to stay a bit farther away so a BD of a side of either Welsh Freemen is within shooting Arc.


Turn 3 on left. Welsh mounted offer lousy situation to the English Knights: They advance with the Cavalry within Charge Range, but the mounted Brigans to left are within both shooting and charge range of the flank. If English Knights charge Welsh Freemen on the Hill, they will in turn be charged on their flank by the Welsh Cavalry. Ugh!


Yet, the Knights can't reach the Brigans, which would be worse anyway since the Cavalry melee Dx v. Dx-2 for the Brigans, so better to have the Brigans hitting the flank...


In the end, I decide to take the fight to the clever Welsh - Tally Ho! [oops, wrong game...]. The English Knights charge the Cavalry, inflicting 4+2 for 6 Hits total.



Welsh Turn 4 on left. Cavalry inflict 3 Hits. Brigans 4-2x2 or 4 Hits for 7 total Hits.


Turn 4 English Knights hit back for 3+2 Hits, 5 total, bringing the Cavalry to 11 Hits.


Welsh Turn 4 on Right. Freemen take obvious choice, charge Knights in flank, inflicting 3x2 Hits [3 doubled for Flank...could've been 8 or 10 Hits]. Freemen on Front side Hit for 3.

Turn 4, English Knights strike back for 5+2 or 7. Bowmen could shoot at flanking Freemen, but taking the Hill is the victory, so...

They shoot at the Welsh Freemen on the hill for 4 Hits.


Turn 4 Center. Welsh Freemen move over crest to get uphill advantage. Note they cannot charge since they were out of LoS at the start of their moves. on hill. English Freemen charge to get in the first blow, inflicting 3 and 2 hits [halving is rounded up for any fraction].


Turn 5 Center. Welsh hit for 5 and 4. English hit for 6 and 4, but I forgot to halve the Freemen attacking uphill, which would have been one less each. *Sigh...* that's the problem with taking pics and writing narrative - I make little mistakes. We'll see if it is decisive or not.


Turn 5 left. Welsh finish the fight, adding 10 Hits: 4 from the Cavalry, 5-2x2=6 from the Brigans. This brings the Knights to 17 Hits and they are destroyed [15 Hits = destroyed].


Turn 5 Right. I mess up again. I played the English first. They roll 4+2 Hits and destroyed the Welsh Freeman in front of them. They then take for more hits from the Freeman on the Flank putting them to 13 Hits. I should've fought the Welsh Freemen first, which would've destroyed the Knight [as the Freeman to Front has to inflict at least 2 Hits!]. AAARGH!


Turn 6 Right. Welsh destroy the Knights. Had this been done correctly, they would've had the Knights destroyed last turn, and both Freemen would still be on the table: one with zero hits [to left, as is] and one to Front with 12 Hits -2 for Rallying, or ten Hits [which is gone].


Welsh Turn 6, center. Welsh shift over their victorious mounted forces to contest the hill. The Cavalry throw missiles for 4-2=2 Hits on the Bowmen [who are out of missiles, and may charge]. The Freemen inflict 3 Hits each - rolling low is a bad idea at this time!


English Turn 6, Center. Unsurprisingly, the Freemen destroy both Welsh Freemen to their front. The support of the Bowmen was essential - as it should be, since they are unarmored spearmen and I don't see any reason to penalize archers shooting uphill. The Bowmen charge the Welsh Cavalry inflicting 2-2=0 Hits...take that!


Turn 7 Left. Cavalry fight back for 4 hits, the Bowmen, show their stuff by again missing.


Turn 7 center. Brigans advance and throw for 1 Hit. Welsh Freemen position themselves against the Bowmen. Two English Freemen advance and Charge respectively, threatening the Cavalry's flank and inflicting 4 Hits on the Brigans.


Welsh Turn 8, left. Cavalry decide to Retreat from the melee, moving straight back a full Move, a BW / 5". They have to do this b/c of the English Freemen threating their flank - the flank charge would inflict a minimum of 4 hits, destroying them.


Turn 8. Welsh Brigans roll hot and inflicting 3 Hits! To the right, the Freemen hit the Bowmen for 4 Hits. The left Bowmen charge the retreating Cavalry, but roll a 3-2=1 Hit.


English Turn 8, Center / Right. Freemen blow it and roll 2 Hits on the Brigans But the other Freemen is now threatening the Brigans with a devestating Flank Charge. English Bowmen roll OK, inflicting 4-2=2 Hits on the Welsh Freemen on the right.


Turn 9, Center / Right. Welsh Brigans also retreat from a flank threat. They roll another '4' and get the Bowmen to 8 Hits. While the Bowmen only inflict 3-2=1 Hit back, their Freemen charge the flank for 3x2=6 Hits on the Welsh Freemen. It's looking pretty tough for the Welsh...they could really use that other Freemen I mistakenly removed! To left, off-camera almost. the Cavalry get 3 Hits, the Bowmen 3-2=1 Hit - slow going for the Welsh, there.


Turn 10. Welsh do 3 Hits on Bowmen from Cavalry, 4 Hits on Bowmen from Freemen, pull back the Brigans. In return, the English destroy the Welsh Freemen, leaving quite a hole. The Left Bowmen miss entirely - again.


Turn 11. Welsh Cavalry destroy the Bowmen. But Freemen move up to threaten them.


More Turn 11. Welsh Brigans rally off 2 Hits. I forget to rally off two Hits each on the English Freemen to right and the remaining Bowmen, it seems - I meant to since they didn't move.


Turn 12. Welsh Cavalry move back, Brigans move over and shoot for 4-2=2 Hits. English Freemen advance against the Cavalry, rally two Hits to 11 on the other. Bowmen position themselves to threaten the Brigans next turn if needed [or they could've rallied 1 Hit]


Turn 13. Welsh Cavalry rally off 2 Hits and Brigans miss, 2-2=0 Hits. English Freemen right advance against the Cavalry and on left rally off two Hits [down to 9 from 13]. Bowmen should've rallied off a hit, but I shot them instead [bad plan], and they put two Hits on the Brigans [waste of time when they only have 4 Hits and it brings them to 6, really]..


Turn 14. Welsh Brigans eliminate the Bowmen - yay! English Freemen rally down to 7 Hits.



Turn 14, Left. Cavalry turn and shoot, rolling a 5 for 5-2=3 Hits! This puts the Freemen at 11 Hits, not enough to destroy them but giving even up odds at destroying them next turn! Freemen in turn charge and inflict three hits, putting the Cavalry at 14 - 100% chance of destroying them if the Welsh blow the shot!


Turn 15 Left. Welsh roll a 3-2=1 Hit, putting the Freemen at 14 Hits - they blew it! Freemen put three more Hits on them in return, and they are destroyed.


Turn 15, Center. Unfortunately, the Welsh Brigans are able to move onto the hill, and the Freemen can only threaten them. No one cleared the hill, so the game is a draw.


A close battle. I think that in this scenario, splitting the Knights is a mistake. They should be kept together for mutual support and go down the road. A Bowmen on the Left is enough to work on that flank in the confined space between the hill and the board edge. Given that there's a better attack up the road, it is quite possible that this force is a bit weak. As it is a small raiding or local force, they should have one additional unit of Cavalry available that can dismount as Serjeants.

Concluding thoughts.
Well, I hope that this quite detailed account serves a few purposes. 
First, that simple rules with good scenarios provide lots of opportunities for interesting tactical play, significant decisions and close outcomes. 
Second, that two armies that are different in play style can meet and have an equal chance of winning, and of all is even, fight to a draw with these rules. 
Finally, that it is hard to keep track of things when you are playing both sides, thinking about explaining tactics and rolling dice around! Unfortunately, the game probably would've been a win for the Welsh if I hadn't removed one of their Freemen by mistake.

C'est la Guerre!

So, this is what I did the last week. It was a bit time-consuming, but it furthered my goals and work for this set of rules and this period in general, including getting more stuff based, smoothing out the rules a bit, and making a QRS, which I've long needed. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the progress, and feel like I'm in a good place with the development of this rules set and the figs / basing / period details to go with it.