MEDIEVAL LAND WARFARE:
Revenge

I would have to recommend these rules.  If you are into playing an historical simulation, this is the game you are looking for. It has good detail and good mechanics and feels like a Medieval Battle.

Only downside is that there is only one supplement, and that is the Normans. The ruleset does have supplements for Siege and Naval rules.

I love this set of rules and use it all the time. I enjoy the wide scope of the game--everything from infantry charges, pikemen, and heavy horse, on up to siege and even naval warfare are all bundled up into what I believe to be an easy, playable system.

It has a few problems, but find me a system that doesn't. In all, I personally think this is a great set of rules to hack and be hacked by your opponents.

My two cents...

Our Thursday night club is currently playing our third playtest of Revenge (yes, we are so lucky as to have a gamer who can let us keep games set up in his basement from week to week!).

Our general impression of the rules has been quite favorable. It has the weapon-type versus armor-type detail you're looking for. The large number of modifiers for each of the various charts seems intimidating at first, but you quickly learn that most of them will not be applicable most of the time.

My only quibble with the rules is that they call for simultaneous movement, without mandating written orders. This requires far too much faith in human nature. I'm going to recommend trying simple written orders, or (perhaps better) order chits a la Johnny Reb. Shouldn't add much time, but ought to remove the temptation to move that critical unit last, in order to see what the enemy is doing.

Revenge takes into account armour and weapon types - roughly, there are six grades of protection, as well as a variety of medieval weapons (including heavy and light lances).

It has a 1:20 figure scale, and features simultaneous moves.

There are two combats per turn, and the combat system allows you to feed more troops into the melee. Missiles tend to be more disruptive than casualty-inflicting. You need big units, as small units will be chewed up very quickly.

Troops may adopt a variety of medieval quirks:

• Nobles may ride down troops in their own army (if they are inferior).
• Infantry with shield can form immobile shield walls. These are pretty tough to crack.
• Knights tend to be very effective, but at the cost of not much control. They enjoy racing off and attacking your opponent when you least want it.
• Skirmishers, if they don't get out of the way, are eliminated by the enemy riding through them. You can't win by skirmishing your opponent to death. In a couple of moves, he'll have your skirmishers pinned to the edge of the table with nowhere to go but Hades.
• Generals must be suitably heroic, and get in there swinging their swords.

The rules have high enjoyment value, but strike me as overly complex in places. Some points remain a mystery to me - such as can you actually kill elephants. Not that I see many! Works best for late dark ages-early medieval period. Rules don't have army lists, so you have to cobble something together based on other lists. Terrain needs to be fully defined as to effects prior to the game.

I played Revenge over the weekend again and still like it. It is strictly historical, but it is fun. Fatigue and disorganization of units are key factors in a battle outcome, and archers are more powerful in melee than with bows (which I disagree with), but the combat system is realistic without being overly complicated. Movement is also pretty easy but the turn sequence can get complicated. Unfortunately, there is no points system so getting two evenly matched forces is very difficult.