"Osprey Wargaming 'Blue' Rules- Best/Worst?" Topic

Osprey has been quite prolific over the last couple of years with a stack of different games they've released. Yesterday Black Ops released, and can be added to the pile.

link

Of these releases, what do you love and what do you hate? And why? I'm curious what people consider to be the best and what they consider the worst.

Haven't tried any yet, but the 7YW one looks interesting.
Thanks for the link

Own Lion Rampant and Dux Bellorum. Have never played Dux, but the rules look good. Have played many game of Lion Rampant and really like it. In fact my friend and I have been working on an AWI version of Lion Rampant which so far is working out well.

Lion Rampant and Dux Bellorum are both very good. Both by Dan Mersey so not surprising.
Why do I like them?
Aimed at specific quite tight, culturally coherent periods. Well written, not masses of pointless page filing fluff verbiage padding out an overpriced piece of tat. Produce a good game (some historical teeth sucking in bits perhaps but not sufficient to bother the judges).
Both very good, reasonably priced sets that produce an enjoyable couple of hours gaming.

None of them are that bad compared with the crap that some people put out. But World Aflame and the pirates one don't seem to make many waves.

Most popular! Lion Rampant and in Her majesty's Name I reckon.

Love Dux Bellorum and use it for ancients. To me it's a cleaned-up, more elegant version of Impetus.

Disappointed by Of Gods and Mortals. To be fair I don't really enjoy the SOBH activation to begin with, and the 'gods' mechanics are not what I hoped it would be, so it's a matter of taste and not something wrong with the rules per se.

Lion Rampant, Dux Bellorum, In Her majesty's Name and, of course, Frostgrave are my most popular rule sets. Least favorite, Of Gods and Mortals, but this is just a personal preference and I would change my mind if there were more gods available…probably.

I have Lion Rampant and it is currently my favourite set of medieval rules. I will buy Dragon Rampant too.

I am thinking about Black Ops as it sounds quite good.

Frostgrave appears to be a hit for fantasy.

I think Osprey's attitude to rules publishing is the 'blunderbuss' approach: pull the trigger and see what sticks.

BillyFish is right. There is no consistency in format or quality and sixty odd pages is not a lot of space for a comprehensive rule set.

Lion Rampant is excellent, World Aflame is unplayable bad.

BillyFish is right. There is no consistency in format or quality and sixty odd pages is not a lot if space for a comprehensive rule set.

Lion Rampant is excellent, World Aflame is unplayable bad.

Yes, World Aflame was simply awful.

World aflame only the 2nd set of rules I put in the recycling box , couldn't even sell it on ebay for 99p .

Frostgrave doesn't really count as an Osprey Blue, does it?

I see it as Osprey's attempt at a "premium" line.

I am keen to hear more about Black Ops though.

Ronin is great, however On the Seven Seas is an absolute waste of paper

Yes, World Aflame was simply awful.

Dang!

I bought them, thought they looked quite interesting and have been toying with the idea of putting some armies together. Maybe I shouldn't

What was/is so bad about them ?

I also bought several others – Lion Rampant is the only one that's had much play, and I'm looking forward to Dragon Rampant.

I really liked the idea of IHMN – but despite getting the rules and first supplement I've done very little with them. I think its because there's so much competition – Strange Aeons, Gothic, Space 1899, etc – rather than any true fault in the rules. I wasn't a huge fan of the army lists – seemed like something that would have been more fun to do myself.

"I really liked the idea of IHMN – but despite getting the rules and first supplement I've done very little with them. I think its because there's so much competition"

You don't say. My friend and I bought IHMN and EOTD, I painted up a gang, and now I can't even remember which set of rules I painted them for!

Dang!

I bought them, thought they looked quite interesting and have been toying with the idea of putting some armies together. Maybe I shouldn't 

What was/is so bad about them ?

I was also quite excited to play them, as they appeared ideal for a 1930s second ECW. Sadly, something just didn't work. If I remember correctly the fascination with ammunition, both tracking usage and resupplying was not only odd and off putting (Dammit Jim, I'm a wargamer not an accountant!) but mid way through the game we realized that it was utterly pointless. Unless we were reading something wrong – which is quite likely – running out of ammunition was damn near impossible. So all those ammo donkeys we painted were useless!

Mortars also used the old school "estimate ranges" mechanism. Guess I've got a good eye for that, because I was able to drop mortar rounds right onto the hoods…err…bonnets…of his trucks bringing up his troops. My opponent was a bit nonplussed about that.

If memory serves, there was also order writing. It's perhaps a matter of personal taste, but I've never liked order writing. Which might be a result of being exposed to "Shock of Impact" when I was an impressionable lad.

Again, personal taste, but I like Toofatlardies "Triumph of the Will" much better. An early set of their rules, and not too well written or explained, but quite fun. Wish they would do a second edition of it!