"18th Century Rulesets: Are You Satisfied?" Topic

Have you found the ruleset(s) for 18th Century gaming that make you happy? Or are you still looking for something "better"?

Always looking for something better. I love Age of Reason but sometimes it gets a little clunky while a simplistic rules set like Maurice I feel does not give me enough flavor.

I am hard to please I know.

IMHO, no one's ever completely satisfied with ANY ruleset for any period, and are always on the lookout for something better. I read a lot of blogs where the authors write their own rules, and they're ALWAYS tweaking the rules after every game…

Very happy with Volley and Bayonet. I use it for both SYW and AWI.

Age of Reason and TSATF.
Yup. I'm happy.

Beneath the lily Banners is great for the earliest years. I haven't found one for the latter eras that satisfies.

Might and Reason rocks! Volley and Bayonet have great scenario books. Soldier Kings is a good campaign tool for Might and Reason.

We used Fire and Discipline which at a 1:15 scale was perfect for the small American wars. For the 1800-50 we used them at a 1:20 scale.

NO

One Hour Wargames

Really happy with Might & Reason. Don't really look for a replacement.

Field of Battle is the grail for us!

Really happy with our home grown rules.

Happy with Might and Reason. Have had four battles in last few months. No reason to change.

I'm still hoping that the missing pages from TSR's Valley Forge rules 1976 get published one day. That would make me happy.

I'm happy with the rules I've settled on for the AWI, but pretty unhappy with the choices for any other 18th C. war. So…. is that a yes or a no?

- Ix

Currently very happy with playing late 17th/ early 18th with the revised version of Twilight of the SunKing. Perfect for any battle of 20000 plus per side, as it is " brigade" level. For smaller actions, I still love "Charge", but modified to play with multi- based figures.

Have been happy with Koenig Krieg smaller SYW battles, and recently Age of Honor (from the Fire and Fury / Age of Eagles stable) has settled me on a rules set for larger battles.

So yep, very happy with the rules currently available.

I am very satisfied with the rules´"Tin Soldiers in Action" from Rüdiger & Klaus Hofrichter. It is using square grids and you can play the big European 7Years – battles as well the smaller Awi battles using different scales besides other periods. A great advantage is that you can finish even great battles in some hours.

If I ever get around to actually playing all the 18th Century rules I've accumulated I'll let you know!

Beneath the lilly banners for 1700-1721

Might and reason for big battles of the 18th century.

Not sure I've found one for battalion level games though

Very happy with Black Powder and the 18c supplement LAOK….and a few inhouse amendments!

Yes, happy with Batailles de l'Ancien Regime for medium size 28mm big battalion games; with Quick Tricorne for large size 15mm games; and with The Sword in the Forest for small to medium size 28mm skirmish games.

Jim

Always in the market for the elusive "perfect rules." However Batailles de l'Ancien Regime gives us our old school fix with big battalions of 28s and Final Argument of Kings more than satisfies our desire for 40 battalions a side in 15mm.

Like Beneath the Lily Banners and also have my own homemade set.

Volley and Bayonet. And for small and colorful actions Maurice.

I actually find the 18th Century to have the best rule sets. Might and Reason, Twilight of the Sun King and Maurice are all excellent. It's other eras that I find don't have it quite figured out.

I do the early period, so I've got BLB, Captain General, Asquith, as well as Age of Reason, and the Ospray book. I've ordered Twilight of the Sun King so looking forward to big battles using them.

I still think there s room for more, so looking forward to BLB v.3.

Also, just acquired the Pikemans Lament ( yes I know not strictly 18th C) but I fancy trying them out for my Williamite/Jacobite forces.

I've written lots of my own rules, for everything from neolithic to 20th century. SYW is the set I'm happiest with.

I have been using the Carnage and Glory computer moderated rules for both GNW and the SYW/AWI rules for over 10 years…I will be running three GNW 28mm games using the rules at Cold Wars.

happy with American War of Independence.
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Echoing what other have said, there is no perfect rules set and all games have scope for improvement.

That being said, my local club has recently been experimenting with Gå På for GNW and WSS. So far we've been quite pleased with them. They combine an elegant system in which most mechanics are based off a Troop Quality check with enough "crunch" and period flavor to make them interesting. I honestly don't get some of the comments I have seen online about it being "too fiddly" or having "too many charts".

I'm also still a fan of the old WRG 1685-1845 set. It does what it should and I use it for AWI with little problem. It was on our short list of rules sets to try for GNW before we got turned on to Gå På. Full disclosure: these were my first set of proper wargames rules back circa 1980 or so. So I freely admit that my positive opinion of the rules is colored by nostalgia.

Happy with "warfare in the age of reason" by Todd Kershner and Dale Wood.

No ruleset is perfect but I am tired of buying rules I don't use. I also have to deal with the players in my area who have their own tastes.

Right now I am happy with Might and Reason and Muskets and Tomahawks. Fun games and people near me are willing to play them.

For my AWI games I love using "Guns of Liberty" by Eric Burgess. I haven't found a set for WSS yet. Although I have about 5 or 6 I want to try out.

I hope to soon in the shape of the 'just' mentioned Guns of Liberty 3.0 expected out this year. And that's per Eric himself – not, expected, not promised. He, like most of us, has a real life besides gaming.

Probably create my own for FIW, maybe inspired by GOL. That coves me.

Beneath the Lily Banners for late 17th century, and KoenigKrieg for 7YW.

In between, I am really enjoying Lace Wars by Stephen Danes.

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Reasonably happy with several sets that have been mentioned, but still looking for one that will reflect period limitations, resulting in "proper" linear formations at army level: Far too many games look like Napoleonics with tricornes…

Very much sow. Wrote them myself. They work fine. Wrote the tactical Rules Oh God! Anything But a six! Wrote a Naval Supplement "Yo-Ho-Ho: Small Battles with large ships on the table top" also wrote a campaign system "Functionaries, Flunkies and Munchkins" a Siege system "Have I told you how the Viennese Bakers Saved Civilizaton" and a role playing Supplement for role playing in the very top of the scoeity in the 18th century (no combat) called "Persons of Condition."

For my money, where 18thC rules fail most glaringly is when they try to cover – often with a casual appendix or some such – unusual theatres/periods (principally F&IW and AWI) which had atypical forces (eg no heavy artillery, little/no cavalry, exceptional terrain). Equally, above the skirmish/Sharp Practice level, F&IW/AWI rule sets will not do a good job replicating big battles in Europe or India either.

The King of the Battlefield rules are superb – well worth searching out.

Still enjoying Maurice a great deal, particularly now that we are running a Succession Wars campaign. I find it builds a colourful narrative that perfectly fits the era.

We keep skipping around, and any of those below are fine:
Maurice – best with just 2 players
Might and Reason
Field of Battle
King of the Battlefield – very good for large multi-player games.

Steve

yes , absolutely Might &reason.