"7 sets of Rules For H.Y.W.but which one to use" Topic

1.Impetus
2.Medieval warfare by T.G
3.Piquet
4.Field of Glory
5.Tactica Medieval
6.Flower of Chivalry
7.DBM

All of the above rules i have.I would say that lately i use almost always impetus .I have not read yet Piquet and i have not used for a long long while Medieval warfare -Tactica-FoG.. so i cant remember the feel of those rules..DBM I bought 15 years ago when i started war gaming maybe i was too young i did not understand a thing and i have not opened it since..
to tell you the truth i also like Flower of Chivalry simple but i enjoy the ''Battle Lust'' rules.
I also got some free rules..''the tree of battles'' and ''free company'' if you have any comment on them..i did not have time to read them..
Any preferences or comments from more experienced players would be very welcomed!
P.S. One thing i would like to point is that i usually play Solo games.

I would add Armati and DBA V3 to your list although most of my medieval games of late have been Basic Impetus which seems to work very well.

The introduction of flank support into DBA has made it instantly one of the best medieval games (allowing archers to be properly bolstered by Men-at-Arms): Armati already had this concept bedded in but I always found the power of the Longbow over the top if played straight by the book.

Phil
Ancients on the Move

So you would recommend DBA V3 and Impetus.?

You might want to keep an eye out for the Osprey SYW rules due this year.

Piquet. Is excellant for solo games.
you would need the main rules and the correct supplement, I think it's Band of Brothers.
Check the site at
link

Impetus from experience does it very well. I would think Piquet would also handle it well.

Christopher

So you would recommend DBA V3 and Impetus.?

It depends what size battles you are looking to recreate, how many figures you ideally want to field, whether you want the game organised into units or elements etc.

I would recommend 'Big battle' DBA (but would specify V3 of DBA as previous versions were less suited to medieval warfare) … make each battle a command. I would certainly replace DBM on your list with the BB version of DBA for the reasons given (flank support isn't in any of the obsolescent DBM games).

I couldn't recommend Impetus for HYW as yet (as I don't have enough experience of it – I do like Basic Impetus* for the era prior to the emergence of the Longbow)

Phil
*and please remember that none of my contributions mention Impetus only the simpler free version Basic Impetus

You might have fun with Flower of Chivalry. The rolls for following orders, the card determined number of actions, and the battle lust mechanic all contribute to a good solo experience.

I really like Big Battle DBA, and have enjoyed Tactica Medieval, but I prefer those games to be against others and not solo.

My solo gaming of late has been playing out the One Hour Wargames scenarios using modified Rules According to Ral.

Flower of Chivalry. I did the a kingmaker solo campaign with them

Another vote for DBA 3. We worked hard to make HYW work well in this version. We came very close.

Joe Collins

Impetus
And consider the one by the Perfect Captain ( for war of the roses but will be ok for 15th cty)

Sword & Spear
same basing as Impetus

Alex

Third Big Battle DBA 3.0 for HYW (earlier versions not great).

DBM up through 2.0 is quite good (3.0 pretty bad).

Battle Lust is a great (if a bit complex) skirmish game – different feel from DBX.

Here is the "Medeival Package" of extra rules to add a bit more period flavor to DBA 3.0's standard rules (from the Verneuil historical replay):

1. By this date in the Hundred Years War English archers had acquired both armor and close fighting skills making them, in historian Matthew Strickland's words, "universal soldiers". To reflect this ability give all English archers a CF of +3 against Foot (like Shooters in Hordes of the Things).

2. Similarly crossbowmen had steady increased in both armor and the power of their weapons. While gaining in power the crossbows now had to be drawn by mechanical devices and cranks, further slowing their effective rate of shooting. To reflect these changes, troops identified as "Heavy Crossbows" have a CF of +3 against t Foot but shoot only in their own bound.

3. Vernieul saw the first large scale use of metal horse barding to counter the effect of missile weapons though smaller scale use of barding had been tried at Poitiers and Agincourt. To reflect the effect of barding, Mounted Elements identified as "barded" count as a Foot target against Distance Shooting (but not in Close Combat).

TomT

Tree of Battles are very good and are professionally presented, which is a bonus, considering they are free.

It really focuses on the C&C aspect of medieval warfare and keeping your army in good shape (or at least, better shape than your opponent!) to give it the best chance in combat. It gives the commander lots of options and it makes you have to think about tactics instead of stacking +/- factors, which is why I like them.

Combat itself is intuitive, relatively straight forward and I can't think of any "Huh?" moments for outcomes. Worth a try for the price alone.

Thank you all for your answers!
I can see that all of you have a vast knowledge of the medieval warfare that is why i want your comments
I have read a lot of books and i have i think an understanding of the period..
what is evident on those battles was that morale played the most important factor..you never saw in the end of a hundred years battle..400 English fighting 200 French surrounded by bodies..
most of the times 60-70% even more of each army stayed in tact..and only because of morale collapsing armies disintegrated in all the major battles the remaining of the French army that was fleeing was 2-3 times larger than the English..even though.. the English won..!why..?
because the morale of the French army was destroyed by watching for example their nobles die in the hands of the English.. you could see the same army win or loose ..depending on morale issues..when a king was fighting ..why give +1 only to its stand..all the army should get a bonus..
What about the stand that are not fighting..or the reserves..that can have a better understanding of what is going on..if they see their troops loosing should they make a test..or become disordered..or maybe never enter battle as happened many times in real life..
i think rules should focus more in morale issues ..Fighting in those times was straight forward..and i think all the rules more or less have captured this..but as long as morale is concerned i think not..when you see a stand pushed back..there should be a domino effect of morale test for most of the army…but many rules just do not take those morale issues in consideration..you loose the melee you are pushed back..you fight again you are pushed back again..and?nothing else?
how do other fighters react when they see..their comrades in arms being pushed back non stop…

just a thought..maybe you know rules like that and you can point them to me..

Flower of Chivalry. Kind of a no brainer. It is a purpose built set of rules for the period. DBA v3 for the simple straight forward pickup game. Tactica Medieval is another fine choice as it has that medieval "vibe". The setup rules are a bit draconian though. Finally, why not go with what you know? If you've been playing Impetus and you and your buddies like the set, just continue on with that? I believe there are some WotR lists and all.

Day of Battle covers the period as well.