"Rules and reference books for the AWI/F&IW" Topic

Can anyone recommend good sets of rules for the AWI/F&IW?
I want to play skirmish games with 20-30 minis a side and larger games with 100+ minis a side in 28mm.
I would prefer something like a GW format with a rule book and codex with army list, army composition and painting guide.
I've tried "This very Ground" skirmish rules and I'm not that keen on them.
Thanks
tfc

This is the type of question that will get you 11 answers from every 10 wargamers who reply.

I don't think there is anything as complete as you want on the AWI, or one set of rules that would cover both types of action (I'm happy to be corrected on that). My personal recommendations would be:

* "Brother Against Brother" for the skirmish side, quick and probably unhistorically bloody, but easy to pick up and can expand into multi-player games unlike many skirmish sets.

* "British Grenadier" for the larger games – 100-150 figures a side will give you 2-3 brigades, and a game lasting between 2 and 4 hours.

For the rest, consider the following:

* Uniforms of the American Revolution (Mollo/McGregor)- now a bit dated in terms of the research, but still the best book with information for all sides.

* A Guide to the Armies of the American War of Independence
(Greg Novak, available from Old Glory in the US, Caliver Books in the UK) – full orbats for almost every engagement in the North and the South, including many skirmishes.

The British Grenadier rules will also give you three scenarios (Bunker Hill, Freeman's Farm, Guilford CH) and ideas on building your armies from scratch, as well as some coloured regimental flags.

Hi TFC,

My club enjoy AWI.

I've written about it and icnluded photos here:

link

There maybe other photos with the MWS or Session Reports tags that have other AWI games I forgot to label correctly.

My local gamers have used several rulesets although GoL (Guns of Liberty) is their favorite for ground battles… naval is a whole other story! 15mm scale tends to be the scale we use although someone has 28mm as well.

Hope that helps!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

In order of the number of figures you want to play with:

Gloire, for a maximum of 4 figures per player. I am assembling a cast of characters to game the capture of Charles Lee at the BaddaBing in New Jersey.

Fire and Steel, by WRG. I have put on games with up to 10 players, each controlling 10 figures, all with different victory conditions.

I have not played BaB all that much, but it works for players having several 10 figure units.

The Sword and the Flame is probably the highest level for a 1:1 man:figure ratio. Experienced players can handle 6 or more 10-20 man units.

Then, you get into regimental sized units, and I like Patriots and Loyalists, and the old war horse 1776.

Canadian Wagames Group publish a consistent series of books on warfare in America. This is the closest you will find to a GW "rules and codex" approach.
"Habitants and Highlanders" has a short history of the FIW. It also has a uniform guide and flag guide. There is also a strategic map boardgame on Wolf before Quebec. Finally, there are about 10 scenarios.
"The Whites of their eyes" is similar, but without the rules. You need H&H to play. However, it has the same uniforms and flag data. It has more AWI scenarios, and two map games. One is a strategic game, based on the war itself, and one concerns Arnold's street fighting in Quebec.
"The rockets Red Glare" covers the War of 1812, with the rules from H&H, and simple naval rules in place of the map game.

For uniforms, SM recommended Mollo as a starter, and I agree. Weird units can be found in Troiani's magnificent new coffee table book which I saw in Barnes and Noble just last weekend.

I also agree with SM, but would lower the ratio to 4 opinions for every 3 players.

For rules, there is no wrong answer, since everybody wants something different, and there are enough rules out there to satisfy most of what you are looking for, and you may not like what I like.

MacDuff to the frontier is also good and its free. Go to lochsloy.ca/macduff.htm

Don Featherstone produced a book with some AWI rules – mostly the larger engagements though, not skirmish rule – I forget the title

For your larger project, try The British Are Coming…one figure equals 25 men, although I am going to go with 1 figure equals 10 men, using 15mm. Doesn't have a painting guide, but you can find painting guides everywhere, but it does have unit ratings/organizations throughout the war for the Americans, British, Hessians, and French (alas no Spanish) and two scenarios (Cowpens and Guilford C.H.)

Discussion group: link

To order: tabletopconflicts.com

Featherstone's book was "A Wargamer's Handbook of the American War of Independence" and was published around the Bicentennial – very dated in terms of its opinions, tactics, etc but nice rules I'm told. Long oop, so down to the public library if you want to get hold of a copy, as it rarely comes up on the 2nd hand market.

(Someone will now post that there are 20 copies on US EBay.)

Don't know about it being on Ebay, but I got my copy of Featherstone's book from abebooks about a year ago for around $15. USD

I second "British Grenadier" for larger AWI battles. The rules are very clear, easy to pick up and, as SM says, the rulebook contains hints on army building which are very useful. There is also a scenario book available.

May I also plug my AWI blog, which may be of interest if you are started out in the period: gilesallison.blogspot.com

Giles

Drums of War ALong The Mohawk
$30.00 USD incl. postage
oldregimerules@msn.com

If you want a good background read on FIW with a view to skirmishing, try "The White Devil" by Stephen Brumwell on Richard Rogers and the St Francis raid.