New to Dark Ages... Small scale skirmish rules?

[Cypher226]

Hi all,

Inspired by playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla I'm expecting santa to bring me some Victrix Saxons and Vikings.

I want to get these on the table as quickly as possible, so I'm looking for a set of rules which let me get bands of a dozen to twenty warriors per side on the go (I reckon with contrast paints I can bash out a couple of small bands in a weekend)

Is there anything out there in the more purely historical sense, or should I go look at Song of Blades & Heroes or LOTR or similar?  I'm intending to ramp up to Saga pretty quickly.

I'm hoping to get cracking on a Saxon village this weekend as well - strike while the iron is hot and all that!

Cheers!

[has.been]

I would recommend the Fist Full of Lead family of rules.
Simple to learn & lots of fun. You can start with a few (4 to 6) figures per player,
then build up using their 'Big battles' set of rules.

[Hobgoblin]

Dan Mersey's Song of Arthur and Merlin (a Song of Blades variant) is well worth a look. It's Song of Blades but with a Dark Age twist and three settings (historical, Welsh, High Medieval).

If you've got to 12-20 a side, though, you can play Saga.

[SotF]

I'' second Song of Arthur and Merlin. It tends to work well in small model count and has a lot of expansion and extension abilities, it also provides an easier bridge for getting other players into it

[Malamute]

I would recommend the Fist Full of Lead family of rules.
Simple to learn & lots of fun. You can start with a few (4 to 6) figures per player,
then build up using their 'Big battles' set of rules.

Yes to this, start with Fistful of Lead Core rules, In this thread you will see a number of AArs and reports on the game play which will give you some ideas.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=121380.0

 There is a new supplement coming out in early 2021 called Might and Melee, the first book of a three book fantasy set which deals with medieval combat.

They are ideal for fielding 4-7 figures per player with any number of players.

[Atheling]

Some oldies but goodies......

Pigwars- great fun. aimed specifically at the "Dark Ages". Used to be available through old Glory USA and UK.

WAB! Yes, Warhammer Ancient Battles! If you use the Light Infantry rules then you can have units skirmish and move back into more organised formations such as Shieldwall and Boars Snout/Svinfylking. James Morris (author of Age of Arthur WAB Supplement)  ran a brilliant Arthurian skirmish game as part of the Age of Arthur WAB Campaign weekend which was great fun and sticks in my mind all these years later.

Guy Bowers, now the Editor of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy, wrote a WAB supplement called Siege and Conquest which dealt with sieges on a micro and macro scale. It is full of ideas for skirmish games and is found reasonably easily on eBay at a not very silly price.

[Juan]

"Fistful of Lead" is my first option but "The Barons War" from Footsore Miniatures is also very, very interesting and easy to adapt.

[Atheling]

"Fistful of Lead" is my first option but "The Barons War" from Footsore Miniatures is also very, very interesting and easy to adapt.

Unfortunately I haven't yet seen a copy of The Baron's War, I was going to be sent an early draft for a Siege of Shrewsbury 1069 skirmish (and large battle) game I was scheduled to put on but unfortunately Covid put pay to that. The rules do seem to have had very extensive playtesting and are more or less aimed at the 11th CE to the 13 CE so I'm guessing they would make a good set too.

[Cypher226]

Thanks for the suggestions, I wasn't aware of Song of Arthur & Merlin.  Barons War and Fistful of Lead sound promising - especially the forthcoming medieval version.

WAB - I suppose in that vein I could probably adapt Warhammer Skirmish or Mordheim... That has potential now I think of it....

[Atheling]

WAB - I suppose in that vein I could probably adapt Warhammer Skirmish or Mordheim... That has potential now I think of it....

I'm not very familiar with Mordheim so can't really comment though i imagine it is very derivative of WHFB. Odd really as I used to play a lot of WHFB up to 6th Ed.

[SBMiniaturesGuy]

Dux Britanniarum is a great warband level game with a good built-in campaign system.

[Tonhel]

The Barons war ruleset is perfect. The pdf send to backers has only unit lists for late 12th / early 13th century. But soon there will be free armylists for various Dark Ages factions (Normans, Saxons, Vikings, Irish and etc.. .)

The retinue list building is fantastic and very immersive.

Imo, the best ruleset I've seen in a long time.

About small scale: Here is an extract about it:

Miniatures
The Barons' War is a skirmish game designed to
be played using 28mm miniatures. You can play
with as few as 15 Warriors on each side to get
you started. As the rules are very flexible this
number can be increased to 40 or more Warriors
a side. The main difference being games with
more figures take longer than games with fewer.
Warriors are mounted on 25mm round bases for
infantry, or foot troops, and 25mm x 50mm pillshaped bases for cavalry, or mounted troops.

[SteveBurt]

The GW Lord of the Rings rules work really well for Dark Age skirmishes - which is what LOTR skirmishes basically are. Available free these days I think.

[Cypher226]

Baron's War is sounding more and more interesting.

I'm sure I've got an old copy of the GW LOTR rules knocking about.  Never played it barring a single demo when it first came out so I don't really remember much about it!

[mellis1644]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Blood Eagle from The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare. I have never played it but thought this was popular. That seems to fit the request...