richinq | 06 Sep 2016 8:28 a.m. PST |
I am doing 54mm Sudan using Britons figures. I have 8 figures so far 4 British and 4 Dervish I am thinking of each player controls 1 British figure. I have ordered Gaslight Compendium which has skirmish and rpg rules in. Was wondering if there is anything else available. Or using a wild west set of rules? Many Thanks Rich |
nnascati | 06 Sep 2016 8:50 a.m. PST |
The old Colonial Skirmish Rules? I think they were one figure per player. |
Sysiphus | 06 Sep 2016 8:55 a.m. PST |
Fire and Sword by WRG. 6-8 man units, rules for irregulars armed with bows, spear etc. Rules do call for firearms to reload but…. Faily simple and straight forward. You could also use Bob Cordery's Colonial Rules from his Website: link |
gbowen | 06 Sep 2016 8:55 a.m. PST |
Song of drums and tomahawks. Some bodging required but a solid system for small games |
M C MonkeyDew | 06 Sep 2016 9:17 a.m. PST |
Don't know if the old Colonial Skirmish rules are still available but Featherstone's clone, "Skirmish Wargames" is. There are rules for fighting from the Dark Ages to WWII and the new edition might have added Sci Fi as well. link Paddy Griffith's Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun has a similar, but different enough to be a different game skirmish rules. Only designed for that period but weapons are easy to cater for by reducing reload time and extending ranges as desired. Also try any number of old wes rules. Might have to fudge something for swords and shields if the set chosen does not include the Army and Indians. Bob |
richinq | 06 Sep 2016 9:37 a.m. PST |
Bob, Cheers, just ordered Featherstone's book Rich |
aegiscg47 | 06 Sep 2016 11:01 a.m. PST |
The old Colonial Skirmish rules (with the blue cover) are great! We've done several skirmishes over the years and they have been a lot of fun. The rules are straight out of the 70s and fairly procedural, so you've been warned. Regardless, with each turn being something like 3-5 seconds it takes a few turns to load a rifle, aim, then fire. There's a ton of decisions about what to do each turn and the game gives a great feel for the colonial period. |
Dale Hurtt | 06 Sep 2016 12:39 p.m. PST |
Yeah I third (or fourth) the old Colonial Skirmish rules. We played them with several figures per person. Four would be no problem. Rules from Ganesha Games also work for figure counts like you are talking about. Not sure I would use Song of Drums & Tomahawks, but I could see it working. I would probably use Flying Lead (toned down). Using Battlesworn would be really interesting, but those rules are not for everyone. |
Ney Ney | 07 Sep 2016 1:24 a.m. PST |
Neil Thomas Wargaming book has colonial skirmish rules. Simple and come with plenty of other rules for different periods. |
Nick Stern | 07 Sep 2016 10:00 a.m. PST |
Rich, if you can possibly afford it, I would suggest adding two or more Dervish to your current count to even out the odds. |
richinq | 07 Sep 2016 10:30 a.m. PST |
Nick, I am hoping to add a couple of figures each month. Rich. |
Nick Stern | 07 Sep 2016 10:43 a.m. PST |
Rich, I understand. Those Britains figures are really lovely, but expensive . Have you checked out the sales items at Treefrog Treasures? They are selling the York and Lancaster Regiment firing line figures for $10 USD each. Have you considered supplementing your Dervish with Armies in Plastic figs? Dervishes are easy to paint up and they fit well with the Britains. |
richinq | 07 Sep 2016 5:18 p.m. PST |
Nick I have AIP figures for North West Frontier and was thinking of getting camels in plastic as Britians are about £60.00 GBP on eBay. But then there is no hurry, I can just play small games. As you say the Britians figures are lovely and I like the idea of not having to paint the figures, I have done a lot of that over the years. My NWF figures I am thinking of using unpainted and just spend the time playing games instead. Rich. |
Nick Stern | 07 Sep 2016 6:11 p.m. PST |
Rich, I know what you mean about the joy of just opening up the box of Britains and putting them straight onto the game table! And here in the US most of us baby boomers grew up playing with unpainted sets of toy soldiers. I agree, playing is the most important thing. One of the best games I ever played was a Plains War game using the Sword and the Flame and unpainted plastic 20mm cavalry and Indian figures. One of the most boring games I played in shall remain nameless but featured 100's of professionally painted figures and professionally built terrain and got a photo in Wargames Illustrated. |