"New, so I seek your wisdom" Topic

Basic gist: while I finish up a French brigade (Napoleonics) I have been viewing, reading, and searching for WOTR 28 figs/battles/rules. I was wondering if one or few of you who game in this era could post herein to show your army list(s)?

In essence, I am considering a reference like the WI compilation of their WOTR topics (it's very nice, actually, tons of history, figure and painting discussion, a bunch of scenarios)… but I feel rather lost on the topic of constructing a good "battle." Even looking over some online blogs leaves me with a puzzling fog of what folks do.

And, of note, I'd very likely want based of a collection of figs (so, say, a group of billmen on a base, a group of bowman on a base, etc.)… i.e., not individually based for skirmishes.

I figured that seeing a rundown from some folks who have done army building would help me put what I see in the abstract into a more tangible mode for me.

Much appreciate any help on it!

Look at the OBs in Flower of Chivalry and I use Tactica Medieval. Lots of dice and easy to handle large battles. Never mind the bill hooks I looks good for smaller games. I have it but have not played it yet.

G'day, Mike.

Never Mind The Billhooks plays well. Units are all uniform sizes, though- 12 figures for main foot units (dismounted men at arms, billmen and archers), eight for cavalry, six for skirmishers and three for gun crews, which some people don't like. The rules are flexible enough so you don't have to do it that way, but it plays havoc if you want to use the points system.

Our units are all based for some house rules we used to use (two to a standard Perry/Renedra 45mm X 20mm base for archers and skirmishers, four to a double depth base for melee foot, cavalry mounted single or in doubles) and we use casualty markers for when a base takes hits, removing whole bases as required.

My group wanted to use them when we wanted a good, quick game rather than a big battle or historical re-fight, however we've stuck with them now. There's a group in the UK- Shed Wars- that has used them battles like Towton and 1st St Albans ( link ), well worth a look at them for lots of ideas. They even put up their special rules for some of the big battles.

If you want liveries, etc, to paint the figures then the Freezywater books are well worth getting (from the Lance and Longbow Society- http:/‌lanceandlongbow.com ).

Cheers.

Neil Thomas " Ancient & Medieval Wargaming" easy and simple.

Thank you for the thoughts and links. I'll do some exploring.

Dal Gavan, thanks for the info on the basing scheme(s). I'll assess.

Titchmoinster, thanks for the references. I'll hunt them down.

BTW, I now see what was a source of some fig--the Never Mind basing does look a bit unique compared to what I was seeing in various blogs and articles showing units.

Hi Mike, I might be a bit late to the thread but I would endorse the Never Mind The Bill Hooks Rules if you are looking for a simple set of rules that will let you play a large skirmish or small battle sized game in an evening. The rules work on the basis that all figures are based individually. However, the figures are then usually placed in movement trays for ease of movement. This allows both players to easily see the condition of units as the game unfolds.
There is no absolute requirement for this though. I have played against multibased units where dice or matkers are used to count casualties. The basing rules are extremely flexible.
The reason that we prefer individualy based figures in movement trays is that should you wish to try another set of rules, it is a simple matter to re use you figures without re-basing. So, for example, it is a simple matter for me to switch to Lion Rampant rules with the figures that I have.
You can see plenty of information on NMTBH's in my blog articles here;
link
just click into the War of the Roses caregory to see modelling tips, battle reports and painting guides.
I should declare an interest. I was very much involved in play testing and developing the rules, which were written by Andy Callan, a veteran rules writer and part of our gaming group. The rules were given away with Wargames Illustrated Magazine number 393, now OOP but you can down load a PDF from the Wargames Illustrated site. There is a follow up to NMTBH's underway. It wont change the rules but will incorporate all the FAQs and clarify some wording. Even better, it will look at variations for the Hundred Years wa through to the rennaisance and provide additional rules for these periods.
More information is available from the NMTBH facebook group here:
link

Happy modelling!

Oh! I forgot! There is of course a series of you tube videos available to watch on the subject!

YouTube link

I hope that helps!