"Newbie browsing, need insight" Topic

So I've been looking into FIW wargaming.

Now mind you, I'm just browsing for the moment. Time, money and players are always scarce, I have a backstock of battletech minis to paint and I'm locked in a major 15mm WW2 project since I unfortunately came across the battlefront starter kits the boxing day before the recent one. I don't think I'll have time for building/painting anything else for a year at least and my "tabletop session time" is already overextended as is.

Still, having relatively recently been forced to get the internet, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that FIW wargaming was actually a thing, if unfortunately very, very niche.

This era speaks to me for a number of reason and seeing miniature soldiers sporting metis sashs caught my fancy immediatly.

Now as I said, I'm just browsing, but I figure the first step in my browsing would be to select a potential rule set.

I've spotted a few…amongst the easiest to obtain I'm aware of blood and plunder ( feels too "pirate themed" for my use) and black powder: a dark and bloody ground (looks like what I'd be interested in but the price is astounding, not to talk of the minis)…I've also seen "muskets and tomahawks" mentionned alot on this forum.

Of course I'm looking mostly for a "skirmish level" rule set, which is far more adapted to the FIW then big epic battles and more budget friendly.

Contextualisation being accomplished, here be my question(s):

What are the rule sets you would recommend? Why? How do they compare?

Also, for the minis, I really like warlord games offering but the prices are…offputting. Looked a bit on this forum for ideas but it's all a bit overwhelming (much like the different rule sets). What could be a good choice for a canadian not looking to pay hundrerds of $ on shipping?

All I can say is look into 3D printing for troops.
Etsy is an excellent source for buying.

U-tube is also a excellent source for battle reports.

Blood and Plunder is a nice set of rules for FIW era-skirmish. Yes, it's certainly pirate-themed but there are plenty of North American / New England / Canada – focused troops and army lists.

Case in point… played some last weekend.
link

For true skirmish; 1:1 I suggest a ruleset that I have had numerous very enjoyable solo games with: One Hour Skirmish Wargames.

It does not use dice but uses playing cards. Small footprint. Unique and cool.

John

Muskets and Tomahawks is a nice rules set, very enjoyable games. As for figures? Sash and Saber have beautiful French and Indian wars figures.
It always starts with " browsing" 😃

I enjoy Song of Drums and Tomahawks.

Old Glory are about as inexpensive as you can get for 25s.

The best way to start is with a few figures and play a skirmish style game. For that, Song of Drums and Tomahawks would be really good. Quick and easy set of rules.

Muskets and tomahawks is a very good set. Plays well and has plenty of period flavour.
Sharp Practice is also good, although it plays a bit slower than M&T.
Blood and Plunder is ok but very fiddly; lots of things to keep track of and lots of special rules for certain units.

Overwhelming.

As my experience with table top wargames is fairly limited (save BT), I'd never realised how many different and differing rule sets could be available for a given time period and/or region of the world. Astonishing.

Now, through my dizzyness of having too many options, I've got a specific question so as to rule out one of said options (what's more, nobody's commented on it so I take it it's not all that appreciated).

Contrary to what the free scenario "battle on snowshoes" from warlord games would have me think, black powder is simply not designed for skirmishes.

Is this correct?

Black Powder isn't actually a skirmish set of rules. If I were you I'd get a pdf copy of Fisrful of Lead Horse and Musket from Wiley Games. The rules are excellent and work very well for small skirmishes of up to about 10 figs a side and I enjoy using them for FIW. If you like the rules you can then move up to Fistful of Lead bigger battles which is a sister set of rules using more or less the same mechanisms but which lets you run forces of around 5 or 6 units of around 8 figs each.
The pdfs for these sets of rules as very cheap so you should be able to afford to buy both and the only special equipment they need is a pack of standard playing cards and some tokens which you can print and cut out from the pdfs.
For figs use a box of Warlord Games plastic AWI militia. Since they are in civilian or frontier clothes they will do for FIW as well as AWI. Pair them with a box of Warlord Games Woodland Indians. That will give you enough figs to run any game from a small skirmish to a bigger one and a good basis for expansion.
If you find you really like gaming FIW then you can expand your collection with metal figs for other kinds of units or try other rules like Muskets and Tomahowks (which uses about 40 figs a side, or more)

Huh, now there's a trifty option for a first contact.

Well thanks for all the answers, many options to look at in the future, but the trifty "starter kit" of horse and musket and blackpower AIW minis will definitely be the first step.

Wiley Games often runs sales. Sign up for their email list. A fun set of rules. Their Horse and Musket book and Red Hatchets set give the full FIW experience. I love them.

Cool thing about FFoL is that you can use it for gaming many genres.

Another option is Rebels and Patriots from Osprey.

18mm Blue Moon is excellent option.

Galloping Major minis are my go-to for FIW. fantastic metals minis in all the French, British and colonial models you will need.

I am a fan of the Muskets and Tomahawks rules. You can play with a single unit per side, it will be fast and furious since the unit will be the only activation cards in the deck.

If you are looking for individual model skirmishing=, I can't help you with rules that fit that.

I'm looking for a system that enables small group fighting, something between 5 to 10 men per side, for starters. I'm used to "single" units for table top. While I play computer games with many figures making up one "unit", I've never experienced it on the tabletop so it feels too "unconventionnal" for a first contact.

Ideally, I'd also like something not too complicated so my daughter can play by the time I'm equipped to do so (though I'll most assuredly get the rules first and test out with some proxy minis).

Wiley games looks like a hot ticket, its cheaper and from what I could rapidly make out of the rules compared to the other options, it felt more "conventionnal" to me, considering my usual wargames. The activation rules for the other games made me raise an eyebrow. The concept of activation will be completely new to me and horse and muskets for now feels like the most comprehensible (again, considering past experience) option for said first contact.

Still waiting to make a purchase of course, as long as information keeps coming, it gives me things to consider. As I said, I'm in no rush considering I accumulated too much at the start of last year. Getting miniatures is exciting, but they don't get painted while you're not at your table, and there's always a window or a car to siphon out the money.

You really need to look at 'One Hour Skirmish Wargames'. It is card driven and very easy to play and perfect for 1 miniature = 1 man.

You are 100% correct; miniatures do not paint themselves. I don't paint as much as I used to but Saturday and Sunday mornings work very well now for painting for an hour or so.

Good luck.

You know, I overlooked One Hour Skirmish Wargames in my serach for the set of rules that would suit my needs, but looking at it, it just might be the perfet thing for me. Oh not personnally of course, but reading reviews, I'm starting to think I might be able to teach it to my daughter…

While I'm at it, thank you all again for the reply, and a comment.

I was stunned in my search by the sheer number of different rules that were worthwhile, all with different pros and cons. Sometimes, choosing one over the other in a process of elimination came from very specific details.

Take "a song of drum and tomahawks" versus "Fistful of lead: Horse and muskets" for example. Both games had, at first look, pretty much the same complexity and"seduction" value as far as basic mechanics were concerned, but aSoDaT dealt in a much more satisfying way with rifles then FfoL:H&M. Oddly, I found myself heavily challenged by this fact.

Inevitably I favored FfoL due to my preference for the playing card driven activation and the fact that FfoL: Bigger Battles will probably (altough I've got time to think upon it, got my hands on a first version of muskets and tomahawks and it is intiguing even though the activation mechanic is a bit alien to me) one day be what I'll want to go with (will need a few years before that of course).

Also the fact that the scalping mechanic of aSoDaT didn't seduce me at all. I mean, I understand how Amerindians viewed war a bit like a sport and how they felt about "scoring points"…but the scalping mechanic, by trying to add flavour, ends up adding a spice that spoils the dish for me.

Having very little in terms of fellow miniature enthousiats in my entourage I will also share the fact that I'm finding the painting of 28mm historical miniatures quite fastidious compared to 15mm WW2 stuff or 6mm sci-fi. I yielded to temptation and bought a "starter kit" of the 2 warlord games miniatures graciously recommended by another forum member, but I have a real problem with motivation. The fact that I use enamel paint is probably part of the problem, but I'm hoping getting a brush more adapted to 28mm hitorical miniatures will aleviate my issues with the models.