WSS rules?

[aphillathehun]

Hi,

I'm looking for some suggestions about rules for the War of Spanish Succession.

I've had some good games of Ga Pa but the randomness of what uncontrolled units do sometimes puts me off.

I've looked at but not tried Beneath the Lily Banners.  It's way too charty for the games I game with and may be too charty for me.

Not sure what else is available, so looking for recommendations.  Thoughts?

I'm interested in battles with several battalions and squadrons - say 30 units on each side?

Thanks
-a

[vcina]

So for I have only used Beneath the Lily Banners. 

I also have Piquet's Field of Battle, Twilight of the Sun King, Ridiculous Vanity 2.0, Warfare in the Age of Reason ver. 3, Lace Wars, Age of Honour and Wild Geese are all rules I will be trying out over the next few months.

[fred]

I've had some good games of Ga Pa but the randomness of what uncontrolled units do sometimes puts me off.

If you like the rest of Ga Pa, could you create your own house rules for uncontrolled units?

I don't know Ga Pa but in other games that have a random movement chart for blunders or out of control units, this is something that can be adjusted very easily without having impacts on other areas of the game. You could increase the chance of the unit just standing, or drop some of the more extreme results? Might be worth trying rather than starting again with something new.

[WFGamers]

If you are interested in larger battles you can try Twilight of the Sun King - http://www.wfgamers.org.uk/resources/C18/Twilight/ToSK.htm

It is aimed at doing large battles relatively easily. Most WSS battles are 1 vs 1 player, the big ones like Blenheim, Ramillies, etc are 2 players a side. The scale is variable but using Ga Pa armies I would use a battalion and similar sized cavalry unit as a unit (a  brigade) for the rules. As long as the frontage is about the same it is fine.

With about 30 units a side you are close to being able to the big battles - Blenheim is 36 units a side plus 5/6 guns.

[SteveBurt]

Maurice works well for WSS (and works well as a doubles game, too)

[The Grim Mariner]

We use our own club rules.  Simple and, some may say, brutal in that simplicity but they do allow the player to concentrate on their troops and dispositions rather than the rule book.  Used them in games of all sizes upto some very large games of several thousand figures with players who have never used them before.

Have a look on my blog for some of the games we've played: https://grimsbywargaming.blogspot.co.uk/

PM for a copy of the rules.

[miltiades]

In every set of rules one has to clarify what he really wants. Is it Complexity? Historical feel?  Anyway, Spanish Succession is a little  odd I may say. It resmbles 7 Years War but it is different. Cavalry tactics, artillery and all that are different... I personally prefer simple rules and easy to play. I used to play Volley& Bayonet because it was simple and historically accurate. Now I prefer the Honours of War. It is more simple and very easy to play: it is also historically accurate.
Oh... I have never played the Ga Pa, or the Twilight of Sun King. I think Maurice is not suitable for Historical battles; How can you play Historical Poltava for instance if you draw a card that forces Gustavus to lose a commander due to desertion?

[mellis1644]

There are some WSS modifications for Ospreys Honors of War rules set in their forum which can be found here: http://honoursofwar.com/forum. Those are a good set of rules for mass battle and we have had fun with them so far.

[vcina]

Does anyone know of a good review for Osprey's Honors of War?

[MartinR]

I'm a big fan of Twilight of the Sun King. It encourages and rewards historical deployments, and Armies will rapidly descend into chaos if you try and do anything too fancy. It is pitched at a scale which lets you fight entire battles, and not just portions, in a manageable length of time.

[DintheDin]

There are some WSS modifications for Ospreys Honors of War rules set in their forum which can be found here: http://honoursofwar.com/forum. Those are a good set of rules for mass battle and we have had fun with them so far.

I second that! I was ready to post exactly the same!
In the Honours of War official site, in the downloads section

http://honoursofwar.com/page/downloads

one can find a QRS adapted for WSS

[DintheDin]

Does anyone know of a good review for Osprey's Honors of War?

I found a good review here:

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/690353.page

We have played 6-7 games already, but SYW, not Marlburian.
They had a good flow, giving the feeling of the period and we much enjoyed them.
Whenever we play a WSS game, I promise to keep you notified about our impressions.

[mellis1644]

Does anyone know of a good review for Osprey's Honors of War?

I'll leave it up to you to judge the quality of the review, but I posted my thoughts and give a high level after action write up of our first game with the rules on my blog. You can read it here:

https://mellis1644.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/honours-of-war-first-game/

[DintheDin]

I'll leave it up to you to judge the quality of the review, but I posted my thoughts and give a high level after action write up of our first game with the rules on my blog. You can read it here:

https://mellis1644.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/honours-of-war-first-game/

Nice review and AAR! Thank you for sharing!

[vcina]

I may have to pick up a set of Honours of War.