"Best rules for 15mm ECW gaming?" Topic

What are the best/most poplular ECW rules for gaming in 15mm. I prefer a some what fast but based on good historical research type of rules that I can also use at conventions. Thanks Mark

Mark,

I have not played it yet but Regiment of Foote by Peter Pig looks like it might meet your needs.

I have been playing Pike and Shotte by Warlord in 15mm and although I was dubious about them working they give a very good game that feels right.

Mike

I find that Black Powder or Pike and Shotte works pretty well. If you use Pike and Shotte you would be better off using the NYW lists with the pike company rule rather than the actual ECW lists. A canny player will start using his pike in a much more offensive manner than they were used historically. Especially if it is a convention game.

BP and P&S provide a good "game" but they do not have good historical research. That was also one of the OP's criteria.

Might of Arms seems to be pretty good and I've seen it played fairly often at Historicon.

I also like Forlorn Hope for ECW. Its has a bit of a learning curve but produces good results and historic formations. These rules seem to be played less than MOA.

Forlorn Hope, agree about the learning curve, but best ECW set there is.

"But they do not have good historical research".

Can you prove they don't? I completely disagree. And as it is all totally subjective we are both right.

As for correct formations, nobody actually knows how the troops were used nor even what proportions of pike to shot there were.

So what is "correct"?

Jaz
TMP link

I use an out of print rules from Australia…yup across the other pond, called, "Push of Pike". Push-of-Pike came out in July 1992. The basic concept of the rule set is different from what is considered "normal" in wargaming rules. There are no mathematical tables, where a player can safely determine the outcome of an action before it occurs. The card operated game system-for the most part- ensures that for the bulk of the game, players will not even know in what order the action takes place. Here's what the cards look like:

For 15mm figures, one figure represents 10-20 actual combatants. One artillery piece represents 2-4 actual guns. The ground scale, one inch represents 20 yards of real ground.

PM me for further details. Good luck!

P.

Rules are not scale specific … there are some useful variants for Armati on my ECW Battles blog. They work well for recreating historical engagements.

I didn't find Pike & Shotte very convincing.

FoG-R seems to have a good following. It might suit you if you like lots of 'game process' detail (or you want generic wargames) …

Goog luck

Phil

We use FoG-R for big uns and little uns. I prefer Gush but am swimming against the tide locally.

I love Forlorn Hope but found them simply too slow for an evening game – used to play them a lot when I had more time.

Mike

Victory Without Quarter by Clarence Harrison is a very nice little set of rules. We have played with 15mm and 28mm figs with these rules. They don't require much in the way of figures and give a good game. Plus they are free.

Another free set, Very Civile Actions! is by the Perfect Captain. A bit more involved than VWQ but the graphic presentation is amazing for a free set of rules and they give a good game.

Piquet's Anchor of Faith does the best job IMHO. I do not like games that claim historical realism yet break up pikes and musket into separate groups entirely allowing funky deployment.

I think Pike & Shotte can give a good game, though you will need to tinker with it a bit for 15mm and it is not a good set for "tournament" or competitive play; it and Black Powder give good games but are more relaxed in their approach.

For God King and Country.

I think that Age of Gunpowder (by chipco I think) fits your stipulations quite well.
Fast play and captures the feel of the period!

DBR is the the one for me. I have Parliament, Royalist, Irish Confederate, Scots Covenanter and Scots Royalist (Montrose) armies, which means I have a wide variety of troops, equipment and abilities. DBR handles them all

There is a very interesting free set called, For Parliament, King, or Glory. It uses morale levels as the basis for combat and most other game-related functions.

I have played many sets of rules including Forlorn Hope, Victory Without Quarter, Peter Pig and DBR. For a great evening game that you get finished and has a period flavour Peter pig rules are a great set with some entertaining original elements like the pre battle campaign and the countdown. Victory Without Quarter is fun and plays well, but lacks the ability to vary unit size and proportion of puke to Musket as they did historically. For best historical accuracy, but slower to play is DBR, although if you simplify the play charts for the ECW period it speeds things along. Forlorn Hope is OK, that is what I started with. When I have seen Pike and Shotte played, everyone ends up with their infantry in pike stands against cavalry, a concept I don't agree with in ECW wargaming. DBR allows the intermingling of shot with cavalry and cavalry with infantry and also the different troop tactics that emerged during the civil war

Take a look at Repent or Die from Hoplite.

We find Field of Glory:Renaissance to give very good games for ECW battles.
Regiment of Foote is also fun with its pre-battle phase.

6SIDED- You are wrong, we know what formations were used in the Ecw from historical sources, manuals and maps

As a start, read Robert's PIKE & SHOT tactics from Osprey- and various articles in ENGLISH CIVIL WAR TIMES

Anyone still use 1644, with or without modifications?

Gave up on 1644. Wrote some rules available at runtus.org

I had a good game with 1644 but, as others have suggested, casualties sustained seemed too many. Also, the pike melee rules didn't seem very clear. As a result I am working on modifications, especially by combing through the Warlord Pike and Shotte rules.

I plan to reduce the shot casualties by allotting a limited number of turns of firing per game for each unit (powder rationing) and/ allowing only the first 1 or 2 ranks of shot to fire (I deploy in three ranks).

I may slightly alter the morale rules to make troops more liable to break.

Even though dice use doesn't seem as excessive as in many rule sets, I played a second game with 1644 which I felt was spoiled when my opponent rolled a lot of 5s and 6s as against my poor to average rolling. Is there a mechanism to overule this?

Perfect Captain does a wide range of free games

link

A Very Civile Action is the ECW Variant for Spanish Fury. The Battlefinder supplement is useful for many periods

Anothwer vote for victory without quarter