ECW Skirmish rules?

[PaulJB]

Like many I am collecting the Bloody Miniatures releases as they come out and I’m looking for a suitable skirmish rule set. By skirmish I thinking no more than say 20 figures on a side. Pikes should be pretty no existent.

So Pikeman’s Lament is out as I’m looking for something lower level, as is Sharp Practice, En Garde apparently gets bogged down after about ten figures I’m told. I have Legend of the High Seas from warhammer historical, I’ve also been thinking about Once Upon a Time in the West Country but can find little about it on line - I’m wondered if it still holds up after all the years?

I have the SoBaH variant but that doesn’t work for me, you win by outnumbering and ignoring the other models.

Looking for something that might have more period flavour and do the figures justice.

Any thoughts

Thanks in advance.

[Cat]

I have Once Upon a Time in the West Country in an archaeological layer someplace, but never actually played it.  Maybe it still holds up?
 
Donnybrook makes for a very fun game and covers the period nicely.

[Atheling]

EDIT: Pikeman's Lament already pointed out as being too large in scale.....

[tikitang]

There's Witchfinder General: Days of Revelation. That has more of a horror theme, rather than strictly historical (though the book is full of 17th century atmosphere). I believe this is long out of print, and doesn't exist as a PDF, bizarrely.

My tendency would be to combine Mordheim with Warhammer Ancient Battles: English Civil War. Using the rules from the former with the profiles from the latter.

I've heard a lot of people praising Fistful of Lead, which I think can be adapted to this setting, but I have never played it.

[Elk101]

Fistful of Lead is easily converted to an ECW skirmish setting.  Ots normally about 5 or 6 per side but you can have groups ofb3 minor characters (henchmen, goons, etc) in place of one of your figures, so 8 or so per side. We often play with 4 players so you can easily have 16 or more per side.

There's also Bigger Battles where you effectively substitute a figure with a unit, so you can have 20-25 a side.

[Radar]

Both Once Upon A Time In The West Country and File Leader are still available from Caliver. Both give an entertaining game. OUATIWC is for 1:1 skirmishes, so probably more up your street. FL for company sized actions (figure scale 1:10). For  £7 you can't really go wrong. Avoid fleabay, as they cost considerably more than new copies.

Witchfinder General is fun too, but as already mentioned out of print.

[NickNascati]

Fistful of Lead has a Horse and Musket version, that works quite well for ECW and even Three Musketeers.

[Inkpaduta]

Songs of Blades and Heroes has a English Civil War variant? Where?

[has.been]

Another vote for Fist Full of Lead.
Simple, easy to modify (if you want) & great fun.

No-one has mentioned Osprey's 'En Guarde' , but as I
haven't played it I can't comment.

Friends have played Donnybrook & rate it highly, but again I
haven't played it so...no comment.

[carlos marighela]

Donnybrook? I have the rules but will admit I ‘ve never got around to playing them. Small scale skirmish, aimed at the period in question.

[SteveBurt]

Donnybrook is very good. Works well for 17th and 18th century. The way characters work is particularly good

[Oldgamer]

One Hour Skirmish Wargaming Rules by John Lambshead is one option, l have been mulling over some Bloody boys myself. The rules are fairly generic but cover cavalry and black powder firearms, they can handle 20 figures per side, fast paced, no detailed charts, allow for character figures and use playing cards instead of dice.

[PaulJB]

Songs of Blades and Heroes has a English Civil War variant? Where?

They are called Flashing Steel, its a generic swashbuckling set.

Paul

[PaulJB]

Donnybrook? I have the rules but will admit I ‘ve never got around to playing them. Small scale skirmish, aimed at the period in question.

I've owned Donneybrook in the past and sold it on, I didnt get on with the rulebook, the spine going didnt help.

Figures apart from "heroes" are activated in groups, I'm looking for single figure activation.

Paul

[frank xerox]

Didn’t TFL produce a sharp practice supplement in one of their specials?
“In the buff” wasn’t it called