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Miniatures Adventure => Medieval Adventures => Topic started by: Gibby on February 09, 2012, 09:45:31 PM

Title: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Gibby on February 09, 2012, 09:45:31 PM
Hi all,

I'm a bit bored of the Ganesha Games formula. It always feels like a re-skin of the same game regardless of what era/models you use (and this includes the variants such as Flying Lead and Drums & Shakos). I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for exciting rules that I could use for a bit of War of the Roses skirmishing?

Cheers,

Gibby
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Vinlander on February 10, 2012, 02:19:57 PM
I'm quite fond of the Lord of the Rings sbg. Its got everything you'd want for medieval skirmishing  :D.

If you want to stat your own stuff there's a useful points calculator here:

http://membres.multimania.fr/l01c/lotrcostcalc.html (http://membres.multimania.fr/l01c/lotrcostcalc.html)

Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Paddy649 on February 10, 2012, 04:58:52 PM
I use a very old set called "Retinue" - I'm not sure if they are still available.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Patrice on February 10, 2012, 05:08:45 PM
I would say "Argad!"...

 ...if the supplement for the 15th century period was already rewritten and translated but I still haven't finished that ! :-[

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Pentaro on February 10, 2012, 05:25:35 PM
Last month we tried a variation of "In the Heart of Africa". It may sound odd but it worked great!
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: janner on February 10, 2012, 05:52:43 PM
I'm quite fond of the Lord of the Rings sbg. Its got everything you'd want for medieval skirmishing  :D.

If you want to stat your own stuff there's a useful points calculator here:

http://membres.multimania.fr/l01c/lotrcostcalc.html (http://membres.multimania.fr/l01c/lotrcostcalc.html)


Seconded - LotR really catches the feel of mighty six-foot killing machines like Edward IV dominating the swirling melee and the glave rules work well for bills.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Golgotha on February 10, 2012, 09:48:08 PM
Agreed "Retinue" was great and had an elegant percentage system. Any colour and atmosphere was however up to the creativity of the players.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Stecal on February 10, 2012, 10:25:11 PM
I use a very old set called "Retinue" - I'm not sure if they are still available.

Another vote for Retinue.  I have very fond memories of that game from the mid-1980's
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Nighthawk on February 10, 2012, 11:08:26 PM
Now I know that this is a Historical gaming site. But I have to agree with Janner. I find LOTR very easy to adapt to almost any period. I've done it.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Schogun on February 11, 2012, 01:30:23 AM
Pig Wars?

TFL are working on a new game, but the rules are in early development.

Hmm -- maybe these are too Dark Ages.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: dm on February 11, 2012, 11:21:48 PM
Affray were quite a good a set of Medieval skirmish rules from way back and remember they played very well, think they may have been published in Wargames Illustrated in the mists of time and they were online at one time :)
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Gibby on February 12, 2012, 02:00:35 PM
Thanks for all these ideas guys :) I'm leaning towards converting the Lord of the Rings rules.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: blacksmith on February 18, 2012, 11:36:31 AM
You could try Chain reaction Swordplay from Two Hour Wargames. It's skirmish oriented and free.
http://store.twohourwargames.com/chre3sw.html (http://store.twohourwargames.com/chre3sw.html)
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Faust23 on February 23, 2012, 11:10:23 PM
Hi all,

I'm a bit bored of the Ganesha Games formula. It always feels like a re-skin of the same game regardless of what era/models you use (and this includes the variants such as Flying Lead and Drums & Shakos). I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for exciting rules that I could use for a bit of War of the Roses skirmishing?

Cheers,

Gibby

You can check out my rules as noted in this thread http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=38423.0

They work very well for Medievals.  You will like the granularity.
Thanks,
Faust
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Momotaro on February 26, 2012, 07:11:56 PM
Big fan of LotR rules - the LotR Yahoo group has a number of mods for the base game, including "Age of the Trebuchet" for medieval games.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Dan on February 27, 2012, 05:50:55 AM
I'm quite fond of the Lord of the Rings sbg. Its got everything you'd want for medieval skirmishing  :D.

If you want to stat your own stuff there's a useful points calculator here:

http://membres.multimania.fr/l01c/lotrcostcalc.html (http://membres.multimania.fr/l01c/lotrcostcalc.html)


Thanks for that link, its just what I needed to point up my Robin Hood project. ;D
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Poiter50 on February 27, 2012, 08:26:27 AM
Just found my Simon McDowall "Goths, Huns & Romans" - now for a read while SWMBO is out tonight.  :P
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: blacksmith on February 27, 2012, 09:19:33 AM
CR Swordplay final version has just been released. Here you can see a step by step demo of how it works: http://2hourblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/john-carter-step-by-step-swordplay.html (http://2hourblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/john-carter-step-by-step-swordplay.html)
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: HerbyF on February 27, 2012, 09:26:41 AM
I am still kind of partial to "Pig Wars". Dark Ages but not much difference for skirmish level gaming.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Lowtardog on February 27, 2012, 09:46:28 AM
Steve Barbour rules arent too bad for small skirmish
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: CyberAlien312 on May 29, 2012, 04:39:45 PM
I was looking for medieval rules too, and due to this topic, I've found it! Thanks!
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Mainly28s on May 29, 2012, 09:20:27 PM
I'd say Chainmail (the original set, not the "re-imagined" one), or Rules According to Ral.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: charla51 on May 30, 2012, 10:28:03 AM
Ah! Retinue...fond memories. I doubt I'd have the concentration span for them these days.

I do remember that shooting with a bow at long range, it was easier to hit your intended target if you actually aimed at the figure NEXT to him.

More recent rules found on the Internet are:

Chevaucee [spelling?]
Knights and Knaves
Baron Wars

I always like Bill Lamming's Medieval Rules, an old set. Perhaps soon to be reprinted by JohnCurry?
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: max on May 30, 2012, 04:55:44 PM
I've tried many rule sets and i find LOTR the best, less calculation and stats to add to this dice roll and that. In a nutshell, more streamline (for me of course  :)).
You could try a SAGA variation, but i've never played this game so i don't know how it'll turn out.
Max
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Mattias on June 01, 2012, 12:51:29 PM
We have been playing some 15th c skirmish lately using LOTR. It is a great rule set for that purpose. One thing that we do is using the rules for handweapon and shield for our guys with halberds/bills. As a majority of LOTR models comes with a sword and shield combo and we didn't want to many sword/buckler guys in our 15th c - but alot of polearms instead - this modifaction gave us the look we were after in a very simple way, without upseting the balance of the game.

If you like you can see some examples of game play here http://northern-wargaming.blogspot.se/search/label/Lord%20of%20the%20Rings (http://northern-wargaming.blogspot.se/search/label/Lord%20of%20the%20Rings).

/Mattias
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: DonVoss on June 01, 2012, 04:01:27 PM
Thanx, Matthias for the AAR-Link. Some great games, very imaginative.

My vote would go for LotR and SAGA. But I am a big fan of the "Songs..."-engine, too. Never tiered of these rules... :D

DV
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: max on June 01, 2012, 06:35:23 PM
We have been playing some 15th c skirmish lately using LOTR. It is a great rule set for that purpose. One thing that we do is using the rules for handweapon and shield for our guys with halberds/bills. As a majority of LOTR models comes with a sword and shield combo and we didn't want to many sword/buckler guys in our 15th c - but alot of polearms instead - this modifaction gave us the look we were after in a very simple way, without upseting the balance of the game.

If you like you can see some examples of game play here http://northern-wargaming.blogspot.se/search/label/Lord%20of%20the%20Rings (http://northern-wargaming.blogspot.se/search/label/Lord%20of%20the%20Rings).

/Mattias

Mattias, first off, like the blog (following even :)). Just a quick thought, you could use pole arms as just spears. For me, weapons became more developped as armour became tougher, so i don't really use them as double handed weapons (no point wearing lots of plates to be killed on a 5+...).
have you ever seen the yahoo group for LOTR? There is a PDF file Age of Trebuchet with stats that provide a good starting point for gaming in this period.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: commissarmoody on June 06, 2012, 05:30:16 AM
is the LOTR yahoo group still active? I sent the a message requesting membership 4 days ago and no responce as of yet.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: CyberAlien312 on June 06, 2012, 07:08:11 AM
is the LOTR yahoo group still active? I sent the a message requesting membership 4 days ago and no responce as of yet.

I had the same thing! I sent the membership request about a week ago, and still no reply.   :(
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: commissarmoody on June 06, 2012, 08:49:39 AM
Boo group fail!  ;D
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: theoldschool on June 06, 2012, 09:36:52 AM
Same here. I applied to join the Yahoo group several weeks ago and David Imrie has been waiting since January for approval!
I'm keen to try the medieval variant. If anyone has a PDF of Age of Trebuchet they could let me have please drop me a PM.
Pat
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: commissarmoody on June 06, 2012, 09:40:05 AM
Add me to the PM also, just because there Moderator dropped the ball is not resin why the rest of us can't enjoy it :D
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Pentaro on June 06, 2012, 10:32:09 AM
Try here:

http://laarmada.info/index.php?topic=15831.0
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: theoldschool on June 06, 2012, 10:56:10 AM
Many thanks
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Stahlfürst on June 06, 2012, 11:14:42 AM
Thanks for the link.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: CyberAlien312 on June 06, 2012, 05:38:58 PM
I recently made a few wars of the roses profiles for medieval skirmishes, based on the LOTR rules. I think it works really well.
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=42520.0
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Mick_in_Switzerland on June 06, 2012, 06:43:09 PM
I wrote "Age of the Trebuchet".  If anybody has any comments or needs a copy you can contact me by PM.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Lowtardog on June 06, 2012, 06:48:10 PM
I wrote "Age of the Trebuchet".  If anybody has any comments or needs a copy you can contact me by PM.


Ive used them and they work very well :)
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: commissarmoody on June 06, 2012, 08:37:28 PM
Thanks for the link Pentaro, and thanks for the rules Mick
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: dbsubashi on June 07, 2012, 05:30:44 AM
Thanks very much for the link! I am trying to get my gaming group to play Game of Thrones games using LotR rules, and these will be a great help!
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Pentaro on June 07, 2012, 08:33:08 AM
I am trying to get my gaming group to play Game of Thrones games using LotR rules

A guy I know is doing the same:

http://laarmada.info/index.php?topic=18636.msg246102#msg246102
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: katie on June 07, 2012, 05:09:28 PM
Actually, I wrote a 1-page summary of Mick's rules (basically a big table of values) along with a couple of extension bits -- if Mick's OK with me distributing them, I can make a PDF available for downloading.

Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Mick_in_Switzerland on June 07, 2012, 05:34:00 PM
@Katie

I will be very happy if people use and develop the rules - the more the better.  I made them so that I could play historical battles with my kids. 

Mick
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: katie on June 08, 2012, 09:14:08 PM
Oh super! Cheers! In that case, I've made it available at:

http://www.fysh.org/~katie/wargames/downloadables/lotme.pdf

Opinions welcome. Well, niceish ones anyway.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: max on June 09, 2012, 07:36:20 AM
Are all the rules on the summary sheet real, or did you invent some? I've been out of the LOTR circle for some time and when i came back i saw things like warbands and the like.
If you happen to know about the new rules/organisation, please say.
Excellent sheet BTW, wraps up the weapon rules nicely.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Barry S on June 09, 2012, 11:58:16 AM
Pig Wars?

TFL are working on a new game, but the rules are in early development.

Hmm -- maybe these are too Dark Ages.

Richard Clarke of Too Fat Lardies wrote a set of skirmish rules for a Medieval setting called 'Bashing the Bishop' that were published in Wargames Illustrated some years ago.

They can be found here -
http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/Documents/WargamesIllustrated/Bashing-The-Bishop.pdf

Cheers,
Barry
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: Gibby on June 09, 2012, 12:19:43 PM
I love their design philosophy but their game names are a bit juvenile.
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: katie on June 11, 2012, 10:46:36 AM
"Are all the rules on the summary sheet real, or did you invent some?"

I think the only ones I added are shields being able to work like parrying (to give them something else to do) and the hooked attack, although that may have been nicked/inspired from somewhere. (Legends of the high seas maybe?)

I've put refs to the full version of the rules in RotK (which is the latest LotR rulebook I've got).
Title: Re: Favourite Medieval Skirmish Rules?
Post by: max on June 11, 2012, 05:13:05 PM
Ok, cheers