Bad War
Bad War is the fourth set of wargame rules using the AB One system. Previous titles include Father Tilly which covers the Thirty Years War and Bloody Kingdom, a set of English Civil War rules. Bad War is designed to cover warfare in the sixteenth century, a period which seems from this distance to offer the wargamer a terrifically interesting and colourful selection of gaming opportunities. Full of garishly dressed soldiers, colourful and exotic troop types and with the introduction of the firearm, the beginnings of modern warfare. Armies struggled to find a way of incorporating this new technology, much time was devoted to experimentation with battlefield tactics and still the tried and tested methods of medieval warfare produced dramatic victories. Few could stand against the awesome charge of the French Gendarmes nor face the ferocious onslaught of the Swiss pike-square. And yet warfare did evolve during this period. The arquebus and musket do replace the bow and crossbow, knights begin to put aside their lances and take up the pistol.
What I have attempted with Bad War is to bring out the qualities of some of these more exotic troops, the Doppelsöldner, the Aventuriers, the Black Bands, the Gendarmes, the Landsknechts, the Stradiots and the Condottieri. Rather than a simple factor rating their quality, these troops have different characteristics that shape and modify their actions. Gendarmes are likely to disobey orders and attack their nearest opponents, the Swiss will seek out any Landsknechts and visit bloody slaughter on their foe and any Stradiots can certainly be relied upon to loot the baggage train - either their opponents or their own!
– catalog listing
- Designer
- Stephen Danes
- Publisher
- AB One Games
- Status
- In Print
- Contents
- Available online (Wargame Vault) (65-page PDF)
- Basing
Bad War can be played with either 25/28mm or 15mm figures and a wide variety of popular basing is allowed.
– catalog listing
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Renaissance Wargame Rules
Supplements
The French Wars of Religion
The supplement contains army lists and scenarios for the French Wars of Religion and the later Italian Wars. The scenarios included are for the battles of Ceresole, Dreux and Coutras and include background and terrain details, maps and unit cards detailing the profile of all the units involved. Also included are a number of new War Tokens. These are the event/action cards that Bad War/Father Tilly players will be familiar with - and these include tokens for capturing enemy standards and dealing out treacherous moves to the opponent - all highly appropriate activities for sixteenth century commanders!
– catalog listing
Available online (Wargame Vault) (26-page PDF)
Tudor Warfare
As the title suggests, the armies and battles of the Tudor and Elizabethan wars are covered here. Inside players can find army lists for the Anglo-Scottish Wars as well as details for the Royal and Rebel armies of the Western Rebellion. Also featured is a French army list to provide opposition for Henry's continental adventures. There are also details for the armies that fought in Ireland, both native Irish, "Old English" and the English Elizabethan army.
Three scenarios are also included, for the battles of - Flodden, Pinkie and Yellow Ford. These detail the background, orders of battle, unit deployment and maps, and also provide unit cards for all of the participants in the battles.
This period offers players the chance to fight a variety of battles, from the massed conflicts in the open terrain of the Scottish Wars to the smaller more chaotic encounters in the dense terrain of Ireland. It also takes players from the medieval weapons and tactics at the beginning of the sixteenth century, to the gradual introduction and eventual dominance of the firearm towards the end of the period. Whichever battles players choose to fight, they will find an interesting, enjoyable and often overlooked period of early modern warfare.
– catalog listing
Available online (Wargame Vault) (24-page PDF)
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