"Skirmishes" Topic

Although like most English civil war enthusiasts the larger battles of the civil war are of great interest,I must admit that the smaller actions that were taking place daily,Beating up of quarters,patrol meeting engagements,and actions that were mainly to gain county control,rather than grand strategy,
if that is a concept you can really use in the English civil war.
Can any one recommend a set of rules dealing with the war at this level in 28mm.Thanks

There is a book by Charlie Wesencraft called Pike and Shot.

It's a golden oldie although you might be lucky to get a copy online somewhere. It's OOP as they say.

Genuine Old School rules for 25mm figures so 28mm would be OK.

Wesencraft's book is 'With Pike and Musket', and the rules mostly concern themselves with larger actions (Edgehill, Lansdown, Naseby etc.). Although the figure scale is not fixed, and one figure can represent from 10 (Syon House) to 100 men (Marston Moor).

Battles included in the book range from Pinkie 1547 to Worcester 1651

It has been republished by John Curry and is available on Amazon link

I have the first edition (1975), and have no idea if the new edition contains any extra material.

Try 'Witchfinder General'. Leave out the supernatural and you have a neat set of ECW skirmish rules. In fact, play the supernatural as well; after all, it's what the people of the time believed.

Once Upon a Time in the West Country, or Donnybrook?

Thanks for the assistance.I will check out the titles that you have recommended,would you say that they capture the feel of the period? and are they still widely used,as although my interest at the moment is mainly figure painting,It would be nice to eventually game against an opponent.

Mine are 1:1 figure skirmish rules, free to download at link

@daubere

Thanks for the corrections mon ami.

I have read the book but do not have it in my collection.

@Willoughby

Donnybrook may well suffice too.

Third for Donnybrook.

This War Without an Enemy by Real Time Wargames has a campaign system based upon the county of Worcestershire, complete with a stylised colour map, together with rules for dmaller battles – but not mere skirmishes or sieges.
You could also try The Perfect Captain's TinkerFox for a more detailed ECW campaign system.

I like the "Once Upon a Time in the West Country" rules for small skirmishes.

I've been wanting to try the Perfect Captains Very Civile Actions as well, but haven't had the opportunity yet. It's designed for actions that are larger than a few men per side, but not so large as the large battles of the war. There is also a companion campaign ruleset, and both sets of rules are free (although the Perfect Captain does encourage you to make donations to charity as a sign of appreciation).

We have played Very Civile Actions a far bit and enjoy them. Like all of the Captain's rules, there are a bunch of components to print out, but once that is done they give a good game.
Mind you, it takes some getting use to having pike and shot running all over the place seemingly willy-nilly, but it works. Personally, I prefer sticking mainly with cavalry and dragoons as the main troops with just a dose of infantry. There are some rules available on their Yahoo Group site that allows full regiments to maneuver on the table.

Many thanks again guys,I have been looking at the Captains rules,and for the price of couple of £$ they seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to produce them.
After checking out your recommendations for Various websites, I have found enough to give me a broad idea of what is available.