Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of the Big Battalions => Topic started by: FreyaSophie on 08 February 2025, 10:58:17 PM
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What sets do all of you use?
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I'm having difficulty posting a response to this for technical reasons (LAF apparently "terminated the connection" the first time, the disappearance of my second effort being unexplained) so I will simply mention a few sets that spring to mind without much in the way of additional comments or the links I initially provided.
The first is Donnybrook by League of Augsburg. It is aimed at the period 1650 - 1750 so definitely appropriate for those conflicts. Unfortunately OOP though I believe a streamlined version can be downloaded.
More general Horse & Musket skirmish rules that should be adaptable with relative ease include Fistful of Lead : Horse & Musket by Wiley Games and Sharp Practice by Too Fat Lardies. If you haven't already done so I suggest visiting the respective publishers' websites for further information and perhaps posting any queries on the TFL forum and / or messaging Jaye at Wiley Games. These games are very different, not least in terms of scale, but as you don't mention the type of engagement you're interested in I have no means of knowing which, if either, you may prefer.
Another possibility might be One Hour Skirmish Wargames by John Lambshead, though this has a very broad remit, covering "small- unit actions from Napoleonics to Sci-Fi".
Assuming this comment is successfully posted, other forum members may be able to add more useful suggestions, though it may help if you specify what exactly you envisage as a skirmish and what particular aspects of the period you are interested in gaming as otherwise any responses are likely to be as general as this, which may tell you little you don't already know.
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Thanks for the response!
I did just now post to the TFL forum. Of course with their website having vanished, it's hard to know what resources had been available or not. And Donnybrook is available as a PDF still.
I mean, on one level I was literally just asking what people use. I'm thinking about getting started in this era, but it would probably take years before I could field battle sized forces, so I'm just looking for a way to start playing in the era.
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At the few models a side level, you have games like Fistful of Lead and Songs of Blades and Heroes, both a generic skirmish rules, but have many period specific supplements.
You then have games like Pikeman’s Lament, Sharp Practice and Donnybrook - which are several small (6-12 fig) units a side.
I expect most ECW skirmish games would work as well.
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I would say Pikeman´s Lament but nowadays I use One-Hour Skirmish Wargames for everything and anything. It is a superb system, flexible, fast and smooth ;)
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it would probably take years before I could field battle sized forces, so I'm just looking for a way to start playing in the era.
With only a handful of figures (if individually based) on each side and some terrain elements, you can try a few moves and shots with Argad, so your first figures will see some action before you paint bigger numbers.
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At the few models a side level, you have games like Fistful of Lead and Songs of Blades and Heroes, both a generic skirmish rules, but have many period specific supplements.
You then have games like Pikeman’s Lament, Sharp Practice and Donnybrook - which are several small (6-12 fig) units a side.
I expect most ECW skirmish games would work as well.
FoL and SoBH could handle your needs quite easily. I would probably make shooting a bit less accurate in FoL. Long range shooting by militia still hits 12.5% of the time causing at least a shock. I think even close range shooting by well regulated veterans did not produce that rate of effect historically, and they hit at close range almost 60% of the time. I find that confirming the hits so that only half succeed is more realistic. Firepower is quite nasty in FoL.