Recommending rules is like recommending a movie or a restaurant – it can be a hit and miss thing, but here goes…
I've looked quite awhile for 1700-ish rules for sometime and have settled on Beneath the Lily Banners (version 3 – aka The War of the Three Kings) is the latest version. There's also a supplement for the Great Northern Wars and other conflict in Eastern Europe/the Balkans. The rules are intended to cover the period 1660-1720 – keeping in mind that pikes and even matchlocks are still in use in the WSS.
The author, Barry Hilton, and his key collaborator, Clarence Harrison, have gamed the period for along time so have a great feel for it.
In general…
Infantry battalions have three bases of 6 figures (although the number of figures aren't strictly speaking important if you use a marker to record hits) and can be all pike, pike and shot, regulation (some pike) and all musket.
Cavalry units (large squadrons or small regiments) have two bases of 3 figures and can be 'bullet' or 'blade' depending on their colonel's doctrinal choice – Austrian cuirassiers have an option to reflect their unique doctrine.
What's good about BLB3 is that some thought has been put into how they represent dragoons. They can fight mounted or choose to dismount – it reflects the flexibility of dragoons and works well. They are not just poor quality cavalry – e.g., the Dutch Guard Dragoons rated as Veteran – Elite.
The combat system is based on each troop type uses a different dice type – raw use D6, drilled D8 and veterans D10 – as high numbers are good it gets rid of a lot of modifiers. It's actually quite an elegant system.
One thing to note is that typically a player will not be able to move all of their units every turn – in keeping with the slow, ponderous maneuvers of the period. I mention it because it's not to everyone's liking, but I think it is correct for the period.
There's a number of '4Play' scenarios with 4 or 8 units per side to help get one used to the rules and ease someone into the period if they don't have miniatures already.
You can get the rule book and the supplement in hard copy or a downloadable pdf from either their UK or US websites as well as scenarios, painting guides and 28mm miniatures (Warfare Miniatures). Links to both sites are below:
leagueofaugsburg.com
warfareminiaturesusa.com
Here's also a flip through, by Wargames Illustrated, of both the rules book and supplement as well as a hard copy of scenarios:
YouTube link
YouTube link
YouTube link
A couple of tutorials:
YouTube link
YouTube link
Hopefully that's enough for you to decide if BLB3 is worth a look or not.
Cheers,
Paul
is back from Council of Five Nations.
