Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Interwar => Topic started by: CaptainHaddonCollider on October 13, 2020, 04:41:38 PM
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Hi chaps and chappettes,
I'm about to embark on a 10mm or 15mm project for Spain and the Civil War, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for rulesets?
I want to play games at company/battalion level with some support. I'm okay with any one base= one platoon systems, but so far I've only seen Blitzkrieg Commander and that looks pretty complicated (I'm a simpleton, at least when it comes to wargaming rules). Any suggestions?
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I will admit that I don't play SCW but I do know of the following rulesets. Peter Pig produce "Bayonets and Ideology" and Two Fat Lardies produce "Triumph of the Will". I think the PP rules systems are pretty marmite....you either love 'em or hate 'em. I believe Triumph of the Will are one of the Lardies older rulesets and as such not may not be as well written as their newer offerings.
Maybe someone else can comment more definitively.
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I would recommend Arc of Fire, which you could get from Brigade Games for only $20 (at least when I bought copies). Unlike many skirmish level rules, there's no need to buy a main glossy rulebook and 3 glossy supplements to play. There is just the one rulebook. If you don't like it, you're only out the $20 plus shipping.
Another option is Triumph & Tregedy. You can see that here under the Pulp Forum on the line that says Child Boards: Triumph & Tragedy. That's a whole forum in itself. There's an SCW supplement named Libertad O Muerte.
The more popular skirmish rules systems such as Bolt Action or Chain of Command might have SCW supplements.
For a base representing a fire team or squad or platoon, there are other options. There is the well known Flames of War. Not my cup of tea, but you might be able to find someone to try it with before committing. I tried Command Decision III but didn't like it. Fireball Forward and Crossfire both have their fans. I haven't tried those, but would if I could get into a convention game. And one might be able to adapt cardboard wargames such as Squad Leader.
What other scales and periods do you collect? It's good to be able to reuse buildings, roads, bridges, rivers, trees, etc.
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Good morning. I note you said you have seen Blitzkrieg Commander. If you don't know, they have just released a SCW supplement called "Libertad". May be worth looking at as a "resource" even if you don't like the rules. Having looked into SCW myself a few times I think you need to be careful about thinking it is just WW2 set 3 years earlier! That's why I mentioned the SCW-specific Company level rules that I did...even if they do have potential blemishes!
Good luck.
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Most of these suggestions seem to be skirmish level. I was actually thinking of trying Red Actions for other Civil War type games between the wars. Of course works best where platoons are basically all rifle, MG, etc. Which is what I am leaning towards with trained military (ones with a squad support weapon in each squad) being a squad or two as a single base as opposed to platoon bases. Since I know nothing of organizations and training of units during the SCW I do not know if this would apply.
Just thoughts.
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Iam also doing SCW in 10mm. I found that Irregular Miniatures has a nice set of rules for the war.
If you like Rapid Fire there is a SCW supplement out there. It also looks like a good set for 10mm.
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Hi all,
thank you for all the excellent replies to the post, I've looked into some of your suggestions and I'm currently swimming between I ain't been shot mum and the 2004-lardies-special with some additional rules and lists, and Blitzkrieg Commander IV and the expansion Libertad. I've never played Rapid Fire, but I've seen the name pop up quite a few times in here - what makes it so popular when compared to the myriad of other bolt-action-era wargames?
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BKC is really a fairly simple rule set at its core. There are some extras that make it more complex, but there are two core mechanisms, the command roll, and the shooting process. If you focus on these two to start with, I think you will understand the rules pretty quickly. You can skip stuff around recon and close combat to start with.
Pendraken have a big range of 10mm figures for SCW
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The other thought could be to look at the new 'O-Group' rules coming from the boys at Lard Island.
From what I've seen it seems to be focused on battalion level engagements, with each company represented by a command stand and 9x 'section' stands.
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Splod, an interesting thought. I guess the issue is how well a set of WW2 rules represents the specificities of the Spanish Civil War. I’m no expert on the period but I do sense that there is more to SCW than just viewing as WW2 minus 3 years!
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There is an excellent Crossfire Variant for SCW if you want to keep battles fairly small and appropriately Infantry centric.
http://balagan.info/wargames-rules-for-the-spanish-civil-war (http://balagan.info/wargames-rules-for-the-spanish-civil-war)
There is also a good summary of some of dedicated SCW rules on the same page. I played "Arriba Espana" several times. Bit old school now with lots of tables but did give a really good game that felt very different to a WW2 scenario (something which most generic sets fail to capture)
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Chaps, I thought I recognised the title "Arriba Espana" and sure enough I found a copy on my bookshelf. They are Brigade/Division level with a 3-figure base representing a company. They date back to 1989 and my copy is a stapled, card cover job. The author Bob Cordery also wrote "La Ultima Cruzada" wargamers guide to the SCW. 72 pages of facts about all the Combatants on land, sea and in the air. Alas, long out-of-print I suspect .
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Chaps, I thought I recognised the title "Arriba Espana" and sure enough I found a copy on my bookshelf. They are Brigade/Division level with a 3-figure base representing a company. They date back to 1989 and my copy is a stapled, card cover job. The author Bob Cordery also wrote "La Ultima Cruzada" wargamers guide to the SCW. 72 pages of facts about all the Combatants on land, sea and in the air. Alas, long out-of-print I suspect .
Well, I haven't done SCW so it is always on my possible "to do list." These rules sound mighty interesting as does the wargamers guide.
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Ray, although out-of-print I recently saw the rules on E-Bay so there are still copies out there somewhere .Caliver also produced a booklet "Tanks and Trucks of the SCW" by John Wilson which is still available from them. From memory lots of weird home-made armoured lorries and so-called tanks.
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La Ultima Cruzada is available on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08L7QFM1S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08L7QFM1S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)
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Krieghund, thanks for pointing this out. The version I have is a card-cover 70-odd page book. The one on Amazon is a much bigger revised version. Looks like one I need to buy.
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Iam also doing SCW in 10mm. I found that Irregular Miniatures has a nice set of rules for the war.
If you like Rapid Fire there is a SCW supplement out there. It also looks like a good set for 10mm.
I can second Irregular Miniatures ‘Que!’ rules - had many entertaining games with them. Their systems are forgiving as far as unit composition is concerned, will suit any scale, and retail at £1.10 for both pages ;-) SCW is attractive to me for the juxtaposition of old & new tactics & materiel, volunteer and professional troops, and the general lack of efficiency on all sides. The wide variety of uniforms doesn’t hurt, either!