Your Favourite Rules

[Highlandbevan]

Asking for the best rules is problematic with so many different sizes and types of game.

But which is your personal favourite rule set to play in this period, and what makes them great?

[Belisarius]

Maurice by Sam Mustafa. Clear , precise, fast playing and FUN . 😁

[juergen c. olk]

Ken Bungers Tricorne,

[Atheling]

Black Powder is not a favourite of mine, though to be fair I don't really have one as such as it's not a period of history I collect. I will just jump into the odd game.

The reason that I mention BP is that at the Durham club we were using a hybrid of BP and WRG!

I couldn't say exactly what mechanisms had been adopted from WRG.

For ACW then there have taken part in a few games Johnny Reb V.2 which seemed to reflect the style of warfare very well. Fun too. 

[Mad Gadgeteer]

For the 'Age of Big Battalions' I like Bruce Quarrie's Napoleonic Rules As well as 'In the Grand Manner' and Tricolor.

[vtsaogames]

My favorite set of grand tactical rules is Bloody Big Battles. Fast, simple but not simplistic, allows very large battles (and mid size ones too) to fit on a 6 X 4 table that end with a clear result in an evening. Some larger battles might take two sessions, or start early. Basic units might be brigades, divisions or even small corps. Results on the table make sense, even if they aren't what you wanted. None of those "how the hell did that happen?" moments. Infantry cavalry formations are road column, line or deep.

I'm still shopping for smaller tactical rules, right now considering Rank & File on one hand and Keith Flint's work-in-progress Post of Honour on the other.
These are more your traditional basic units are battalion/cavalry regiment/artillery battery.
Columns, lines, skirmish lines, squares, etc.

[SHARPE52]

During this year I am enjoying Rebels & Patriots rules.
They are simple enough for being played with some friends not acquainted to this set and allowing to play a wide span or interesting periods.
Besides with very little customizations I have even enlarged its scope.
Marco

[has.been]

Another for Rebels & Patriots.
As the rules are not complex, it becomes possible to not spend those precious
wargaming hours with your head stuck in the rule book. No doubt looking for
some obscure point of law. Instead I  find myself thinking more
about the battle. It is also nice to be looking at, & enjoying, the spectacle.

[tallyho]

Black Powder.

Easy to learn, customisable, and gives a good game and result.

Theres some snobbery against them, but the arguments of historical accuracy, period feel etc are all pretty much nonsense. It's just complexity added that boils down to the same thing.

Oh and Glory.

My own grand tactical rules that allow the big battles of history to be fought out in an evening with a clear result not resorting to breakpoints and other artifical game ending mechanisms.

[Atheling]

Theres some snobbery against them, but the arguments of historical accuracy, period feel etc are all pretty much nonsense.

Just to play devil's advocate for a moment but are not rules with a written with limited time scale in mind more representative, in as far as that is possible, closer to reflecting the warfare of a specific period then rules that are designed for longer time scales?

For example, some ancient rules go from the Ancient Egyptians right up to the Late 15th Century.

As I say, I'm playing devil's advocate

[Cat]

Depends on the scale of the engagement.

For Napoleonic, quick playing full sized battles in an afternoon are great: DBN, with Snappy Nappy a close second.

For skirmish SYW, card systems for my enjoyment of more unpredictable command control: Donnybrook, and soon to Try Muskets & Tomahawks.  I suspect both will stay in the running.

Mid-sized battles: Black Powder is OK and I'll play as long as there are some sort of house rules to avoid the inevitable one player who always fails command rolls and doesn't get to do anything significant all game long.  Even if I'm not that player in any given game, it's no fun when anyone isn't engaged in the action.  Haven't tried any other mid-sized games to compare it to.

[Jemima Fawr]

Napoleonic: Napoleon's Battles, with some General de Brigade on the side.

ACW:  Fire & Fury

AWI:  British Grenadier

SYW/WAS:  Shako with some fairly hefty modifications

[FifteensAway]

Rank and File from Crusader.  Ease of use, decisive results, fast play, extraordinarily flexible.  I have locked them in as my go to rules for most of my periods - very adaptable and just about impossible to 'break'.

[Morts]

Maurice by Sam Mustafa. Clear , precise, fast playing and FUN . 😁

Another one for Maurice - excellent set of rules - lots of fun. If you can’t get the full set the free LITE version Sam has on his website were great too.

[Leapsnbounds]

I enjoy Piquet