Renaissance battle (new battle added)

[BaronVonJ]

Howdy gents,
For years I've collected miniatures for the Italian Wars. They've sat alone in boxes for a long time. But no more, I say! I'm trying out several rulesets, trying to find one I'm sold on. The first battle is here:
www.baronvonj.blogspot.com
A taste of the photos:

Stop by with any comments or helpful advice. And for all you Old Glory haters, this is probably one of their only decent lines.
-J

[Aaron]

Nice collection! You might consider Impetus / Basic Impetus. You can try out BI ("light" version) for free here http://www.dadiepiombo.com/basic2.html . There is even a set of lists for the Italian Wars down toward the bottom of the page.

[BaronVonJ]

Thanks. Tried. No.
-J

[Aaron]

Thanks. Tried. No.
-J

I take it you don't like them, eh?  Haven't tried them yet myself but I like a lot of things l see in them. I'm more geared toward Etruscans through the second Punic Wars though so I imagine our requirements are rather different.

How about the Perfect Captain's "Spanish Fury"? http://perfectcaptain.50megs.com/SpanishMain.html They're also free (although he asks you donate to charity).

I'll be interested to see how you fare in your search. Good luck!

[BaronVonJ]

Hichcliffe? God no! Foundry, Old Glory some GW stuff too from Empire range.
I love Spanish Fury, but too small a scale. More than 4 units a side slows down. I have a group that regularly has at least 6 players, something that will accomadate that. The Captain's larger scale rules "Pisolado" are great for the period, but completely unplayable.
What I want (in any ruleset): Easy rules for large battles that give a flavor for the period but don't take more than 3 hours to play.
I'm really picky. I spent a lot of time on these figs and removing single figs isn't an option.
Rules I have:
-Warfare in the Age of Discovery: Complete disaster, way too many modifiers/charts. Do I really have to keep tract of how many guys in the front rank have heavy armor?
-Tactica: Simple, almost too simple.
-Almost every free set you can name.
-Maximillain: No
- Warfare: all those markers on the battlefield...
-DBR and all the DBA-esque variations: Stomach beginning to turn...
-Don't say Piquet Band of Brothers.
All is lost....
-J

[Mad Doc Morris]

Very nice staging of one of my favorite periods.
Not too keen on the Old Glory stuff myself, but seems to work for units.

Ruleswise I'm surely not of much help as I'm also questing for the holy grail here.
Ever tried Warhammer Historical for that period? If played gentlemanly (that's with casualty markers and not arguing about units' frontages etc.) it might work.
Another one is Black Powder; there's a supplement for the ECW in the making, but still could be 'too shooty' for earlier armies.

Anyway, keep it coming.

[BaronVonJ]

Ahhhh, forgot about Warhammer. Roll to hit. Roll to wound. Roll to save. I think you know where I'm going with this.
Sorry I'm such a turd about this. These tiny little fellas are dear to me, as this is a favored period. I written and published rules before. Maybe this is another case where I do it myself.
-J

[Aaron]

Nothing wrong with being picky! We invest a lot of time and effort collecting and painting the troops and nothing kills the enjoyment quicker than bad rules.

[odd duck]

We use Armatti in my group.we've had over 300figures a side games for the italian wars with 3to4 players a side and get a result in 3hours or so! There is a version specificly for the renaisance coming out soon

[BaronVonJ]

Out soon? 2008 was when they said it was due. But hey, I've been waiting for Tactica II since 2003. Arty always says it will be out for the next Historicon, but it never is.
I'll give them a re-read, but from what I remember you were very restricted on what you could do. How you set up your "divisions" could make or break you. It's set up as a competition rules set.
-J

[Galloping Major]

NICE     Great blog 

[odd duck]

How you set up your divisions is crucial(sp?) but i think that is historical.Also the deployment restrictions are based on history but mainly for open field actions, we have modified them for historic recreations. The guys did Tuetonberg wald at our last con using armatti each of the Roman divisions had it's own breakpoint. (more details  than that i can't add as i did'nt take part in the game or it's planning).My point is that you can modify/ignore the initial deployment to recreate historic battles, to do pavia for instance you'd have to.

[fastolfrus]

We used to play WRG, the George Gush rules.
Very much an acquired taste, but we enjoyed them.

More recently we have played a lot of Peter Pig rules, but they don't have a renaissance set, although they do have a War of the Roses set that might adapt to Italian Wars without a lot of work.

[BaronVonJ]

No insult taken. Hinchcliffe is very old school, and tiny by today's standard. Next week I'll be posting a new battle, played with a new set. I'm also ordering Renaissance Principles of War. The guys over at the Renaissance warfare Yahoo group hate it, so it should be right up my alley. This shall be my last attempt at buying new rules before write my own.
-J

[Calimero]

Really nice army. As for the rules, have you try to search the web for free sets? Sometime we find what’s suit us best in the least expected places…