"Rules and suggestions for a small 28mm Hussite army." Topic

Many years ago I bought a copy of the Warhammer Ancient Battles book "Vlad the Impaler." It got me interested in the wars fought in Eastern Europe in the 15th century. This was an era and locale I hadn't read about previously, and it presented a nice change of pace from the more commonly seen Western Europe of the Hundred Years' War.

This led me to buy a decent amount of 28mm Old Glory figures from the "Vlad and the Turkish Frontier" line. They're a mix of knights, Hussite wagons, and flail and handgun armed infantry.

When GW dropped WAB I dropped the project – and, sadly, the models wound up in a box.

Recently I moved, and this led me to unearth the models. They're quite nice, especially considering the price I bought them for. In fact, they're nice enough for me to restart the project. All told I've got about 100 or so infantry, around 30 knights, four wagons, and a few other figures that will work as leaders. It's certainly not a huge army, but it could be a fun project.

Can anyone recommend a set of rules – besides WAB – that would work for me? I'd like something that covers late Medieval battles of the scope I described which is flexible enough to cover the odd Hussite wagons.

Any other ideas or suggestions? Any good books on the subject you'd recommend?

I've always wanted to do the same, and my interest also stemmed from WAB – both the Vlad book and Armies of Chivalry.

While I think that WAB has the right level of granularity for gaming Hussites in an entertaining way, Impetus also covers Hussite armies and wagons and I think does a decent job with later medievals. I can't recall if they are treated in War and Conquest (which seems to be the closest thing to a WAB successor).

Have fun – still on my bucket list too!

Have you considered Lion Rampant? Very easy to to play large skirmish games. I think there is an army list in the but as well (I think).

You could probably make a double sized DBA army out of them.

Does Lion Rampant cover things like handguns and war wagons?

(I have War and Conquest; it doesn't have either. I suppose I could make up something…)

For that matter – is there a smaller scale "skirmish" rules set for the late medieval era? (Or is that Lion Rampant – I've never read these rules.)

I'm using Hail Caesar Rules.

Take care

Andy

We still use Armati, and I have used it for my Hussites in both 15mm and 28mm (yes, I have a problem!). These are older rule but still a fast and fun rule set. It handles wagons very well.

The Hussite list in Impetus makes for the one of the truly unique armies of the ancient/medieval world. It is both formidable and fragile at the same time. Understand that the Hussites are a counter punching army in that it is usually the opponents that set the tempo of the game. So it could be a bit frustrating at times to plunk the wagons down and wait (which is your only real grand tactical option.) Still there would be many tactical choices to make as your opponent tries to break through the wall.

I used my old WAB figures for DBA armies.

No wagons or artillery in Lion Rampant, handguns could be proxied as crossbows. But otherwise Lion Rampant is an excellent skirmish set for late medieval. I think you would have to treat the wagons/artillery as objectives in the scale of a Lion Rampant scenario.

Hm, thanks for the info regarding Lion Rampant. I may still use it for more generic – less "Hussite" – medieval battles.

Impetus sounds intriguing, I will have to check that one out.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

If you multi-base the figures (or have them individually based and use sabot bases or movement trays) you will have a decent sized army for a big battle game that is unit based, such as DBA, Impetus, Hail Caesar, To the Strongest or Sword & Spear (of which I am the author). Depending on the number of figures you put on each unit base, you will have 8 – 12 units of infantry, 5 – 7 units of cavalry and 2 – 4 units of War Wagons. This is a good sized army.
I've played one Sword & Spear game against Hussites, and there is a brief write-up here, with some feedback on how the war wagons worked:
link

Suggested rules for War Wagons in Lion Rampant
link