peter johnstone | 09 Jun 2016 8:40 a.m. PST |
Having come hot foot from the 19th century and 18th century for the last thirty years, I thought I would have a go at the Anglo Saxon/ Norman wars but, to my surprise, I am struggling to find some nice simple,old school rules for this period. I have the excellent Dux Bellorum and Lion Rampant rules from Osprey but one ends at 793AD and the other starts at about 1200AD! Some other rule sets seem to require a Phd to understand and are well above my pay grade. Even the great Don Featherstone didn't have a lot to say about this period. I would value any suggestions with thanks. Peter |
MajorB | 09 Jun 2016 8:43 a.m. PST |
I have the excellent Dux Bellorum and Lion Rampant rules from Osprey but one ends at 793AD and the other starts at about 1200AD! I wouldn't let that detail stop you trying them. Warfare didn't change that much betwen 793AD and 1200AD. |
Hobhood4 | 09 Jun 2016 9:01 a.m. PST |
There is a Dark Age variant for Lion Rampant by the author Dan Mersey in Miniature Wargames May 2015. It has a number of army lists including all you would need for your stated interests. |
Pan Marek | 09 Jun 2016 9:23 a.m. PST |
I believe there are also later Dark Age mods for Dux. |
lkmjbc3 | 09 Jun 2016 9:25 a.m. PST |
I am quite partial to DBA 3. It does very well for Brunanburh, Stamford Bridge, and Hastings…. Here is an article on it. TMP link You can find my scenario for Brunanburh in "Great Battles of History for DBA 3"… Found here… link This was a period that didn't work particularly well in DBA 2.2. We worked very hard to change this for DBA 3.0. I think we succeeded. Joe Collins |
Marshal Mark | 09 Jun 2016 9:47 a.m. PST |
Any generic ancient & medieval rules will cover this period. Here are some which you don't need a Phd to understand: Sword & Spear (of which I am the author, so that would be my top recommendation). Here's a battle report from a game from this period: link Impetus (both of the above are unit based games in the same manner as Dux Bellorum) To The Strongest WAB (if you want old school) |
Porthos | 09 Jun 2016 12:39 p.m. PST |
Doug Larsen (active re-enactor, Saxon) had a website about 1066 (but not working anymore), and a ruleset mentioned here: link |
lkmjbc3 | 09 Jun 2016 2:56 p.m. PST |
Ugh… broken link in my first post… Here is the link to the Dark Ages Article for DBA 3.0 link Joe Collins |
peter johnstone | 11 Jun 2016 9:20 a.m. PST |
Thanks Marshal Mark and others for your suggestions. I will research as you suggest. The Sword and Spear stuff looks pretty comprehensive to me and I need to re read the Dan Mersey books. Has anyone tried the Neil Thomas rules in his AMW book? |
bobm1959 | 16 Jun 2016 10:28 a.m. PST |
I have….They make for a relatively dull game because they don't bring out any differences between the belligerent parties. This may be historically accurate though. I would suggest the popularity of Saga and the like is down to their "Hollywood" versions of the participants. |
CATenWolde | 19 Jun 2016 12:08 p.m. PST |
We've used AMW for "Arthurian" Britons vs Saxons, and with a little tweaking (easy to do with these rules) you can make some interesting unit types. I really like the simplicity of the interaction between armor, morale, and the number of fighting dice against different foes in different terrain. For instance, the local militia have crap armor (6) and poor morale (5-6), and aren't really trained enough to hold a real shield wall, but will gain +1 armor when stationary. However, they have some local boys in the rear ranks who can shoot javelins or bows for 1-2d. The bulk of the Briton warriors have a solid core of well equipped veterans (armor 5-6, morale 4-6), perhaps with some Roman training: they can choose a defensive shieldwall (armor 2-6 but fight at -1, make a morale check to shake out of stationary shieldwall or remain stationary for the turn), or a more aggressive sort of overlapping shieldwork (armor 4-6, no other penalties). The elite hearthguard (armor 4-6, morale 3-6) are superb fighters and can fight in shieldwall with no penalties. Perhaps the warriors have trained archers that can volley over their heads. Sounds great – but the Saxons have an overwhelming charge (double dice) and a huge advantage in the woods … Add in a suitable mix of cavalry, and some simple leader attributes (re-roll morale checks is a big bonus), and you're all set. |