"English Civil War - Warhammer rules" Topic

Can anyone comment on the Warhammer ECW rules?

I'm trying to find a set of rules for this period and don't really know any other than this set and the skirmish set "Once Upon A Time In The West Country".

Any suggestions on other rules would also be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Friends and I played "Pike and Shotte" by Warlord Games several times, and a lot of our time was spent on rules questions. Then we played this set PDF link by John Armatys/ War Game Developments, and got a lot farther in one game. Perhaps some previous experience from the first series of games helped.

Hi,

For my part, I'll never pass up an opportunity to recommend my favorite set of ECW rules…..1644.

Tom

Our club rules are available as a pdf.

wfgamers.org.uk

Give a good game and can be used for quite small battles (couple of infantry regiments and similar number of cavalry units) up to major engagements with several players on each side. We use 28 mm figures, but, as rules use " stands", they can be played with any of the popular scales.

Google Victory without Quarter. Free from the author if you e-mail him.

For skirmish type games try Witchfinder General: strip out the supernatural elements and you're left with a fun set of skirmish/small action rules. Figure: man ratio is about 1:6 or 1:8.

The only rule set I have really played for English Civil War is 1644…

It was an enjoyable game, and the rules were not too difficult. Played similar to a Warhammer style game in complexity and time, but a lot less dice rolling.

I've never played the ECW or the pike-and-shotte period in general, but I've read Warhammer ECW. As with Warhammer Ancients, it has a very bottom-up approach to simulating battles. In other words, it doesn't concern itself greatly with top-down concepts like the challenges of command and control. Rather, the focus is on the armaments and combat-related stats of troops and the nitty-gritty of combat where you first check how many individual figures get to shoot/attack (as dictated by their individual shooting arcs or base-to-base contact), then roll to hit, then roll to wound, then roll armour saves, all using charts that relate to the aforementioned all-important combat stats (Ballistic Skill, Weapon Skill, Strength, Toughness, Armour), then remove individual figures as casualties, and finally resolve break tests where the number of individual figures again is important for the purposes of counting rank bonuses.

This is nothing new if you've ever played WHFB or Warhammer Ancients, but I thought I'd point it out in case you haven't. Personally I think it's the wrong way of handling historical massed battles (too much granularity in terms of stats and armaments, too much dice-rolling and chart-consulting for resolving fighting, not enough command and control), but YMMV.

Well, I think it's a great game and a terrific representation of massed ECW combat. I've played in many games and as long as there's a good scenario (as with most games) it's makes for fun time. I will say I have always liked the war hammer system no matter what era it was built for, so YMMV.

as long as there's a good scenario (as with most games) it's makes for fun time

This I don't disagree with in the least. A good scenario and a shared willingness among players to immerse themselves in the story of what is happening on the tabletop will make most games fun regardless of the ruleset being used.

I agree with nazrat – WHECW is a guilty pleasure for me. I've used it to play out many of the highly thematic, small battles of Montrose, which the granularity seems to be well suited for. Despite the detail, it is fun and easy to play if you are familiar with Warhammer mechanics. Scenarios are important.

I haven't found another set that I like as much, but of course YMMV.

Only tried it once but it was a lot of fun – and as at the time I was playing a lot of Warhammer Ancients I knew the mechanics pretty well

R III has got it. Not my first choice of rules.

If you already know Warhammer I suppose WECW would be alright as a game.
It is NOT a terrific representation of ECW combat.

1644 is a good system. The times I've played it, it seems a bit slow. But that could have been due to the players rather than the rules.

Forlorn Hope is a good system. We mostly play that. There's a learning curve at first but once you get going its pretty good.

Might of Arms is also pretty good but there's a lot of fiddly counters to deal with.

Pike & Shotte is in the same vein as WECW as far as being a game more than a representation of ECW combat.

This question comes up about once a month on the Renaissance board. Take a quick look through there and you'll probably find enough reviews of the various rule sets to give you a good idea of which system you'll like best.

I have run a lot of Warhammer ECW scenarios for my gaming group. As other have stated it is a fun game and if you are familiar with the Warhammer mechanic you will adapt easily to the game. I think it is one of the most fun game systems I have ever run. It depends on what you are looking for. Roderick mentions the bottom up mechanism which I do not have a problem with. I want at some point to try out Pike and Shot as well as 1644 and Forlorn Hope.

"It is NOT a terrific representation of ECW combat."

To YOU. Were you there? 8)=

Nope……..But I have been accused in the past of being old enough. So that's close enough.

You said that it was, were you there?

Here's a link to one of the previous threads that lists a lot of rule sets.
TMP link

To ME it's right and as I said, "I THINK it's fantastic…". You refuted my comment emphatically as if only your opinion were true.

What about: For God, King and Country: A Guidebook to the English Civil Wars. These are both a set of rules and guidebook. Even if you don't want to use the rules, the book contains useful scenarios and background material. An interesting read. I have a signed copy from the author.

link

Naz….
You should know by now that ALL my opinions are true.

Resistance is futile.

Ha! You got me there! 8)=

An inherent benefit of being a dictator, surely.

Much maligned, DBR2 actually works really well for ECW.

It really depends on what sort of game you want. For the larger battles DBR works very well, and FoG Renaissance is also apparently very good.

If you want a smaller scale game, then there are plenty of choices.

I pretty much agree with the Tin Dictator's points … and in my experience, 1644 is slow.

My preference is for 'whole unit' mechanisms like Advanced Armati (VWQ looks similar though I haven't tested it yet) and the Ren/Ref version of Impetus is likely to do a good job, too.

Phil
If you want more of a skirmish game then go for something historical like File Leader

Some of the most laughter and sheer joy experienced in a war game was during a game of WHECW with 6 players. We were ALL shocked and gasping for breathe when, on the very last move, the Buffoon won the objective in the most improbable way. Still shake my head and chuckle when I recall that game.