15mm Medieval rules for mass battles?

[HothJim]

Hello,

Thinking of trying 15mm in the New Year, would anyone be able to recommend a preferred ruleset and/or minis?

Thanks,
Jim.

[robh]

Impetus.
http://www.dadiepiombo.it/images/stories/dp/impetus2.html

We have switched from various different rule sets per era to Impetus for all our pre-Napoleonic (and also Fantasy) Mass Battle gaming. Outstanding set of rules, very well supported on the forum with hundreds of available army lists and variants. Works especially well for Ancient/Medieval battles.

Impetus is the "full" version of the rule set with slightly more advanced options but there is a free intro version "Basic Impetus" on the same link which has smaller, less intricate army lists. It is ideal as a trial.

Bases are units so you can make up stunning diorama bases and get away with using 15 or 16 figures in a unit that in other rules would require 24 or more castings.

[HothJim]

Exactly what I have been doing with Kings of War, so this does sound instantly up my street.
Thanks for suggesting this, especially as this is not one I have heard of before.
Do you have an army yourself that you use with this rule set?

Cheers,
Jim.

[julesav]

If you like Kings of War there are some excellent options for historical play here:

http://www.hourofwolves.org/?view=articles

[Polkovnik]

For rules I recommend Sword & Spear, but then I would as I am the author.

To see what other people have to say about the rules, you can read extracts from reviews and go to the full reviews on my website:
http://polkovnik.moonfruit.com/sword-spear-reviews/4586094213

And there are plenty of battle reports (mostly of games played in 15mm) on my forum:
http://polkovnikproductions.freeforums.org/battle-reports-f9.html

Here's a couple of photos from a 100YW game, to give you an idea of what a game in progress looks like:




Sword & Spear uses similar sized units to Impetus (we normally play with 80mm frontage units in 15mm) so if you base figures for one game they will work for both.

For figure recommendations there is an excellent supplier directory on www.madaxeman.com.

[HothJim]

Thanks to you both.

Nothing wrong with a bit of self-promotion, your game looks smashing mate!

That 15mm directory is very handy, not surprised to see Essex Minis highly recommended as they seem to pop up everywhere in a favourable light.

Keep em coming.

Cheers,
Jim.

[Menhir Games]

Could i convince you to test this simple , fast paced ruleset? that is seeking betatesters? The measrures are for 20mm - 1/72 scale but you could simply adjust them to fit 15mm.. or 28mm.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=85252.0

[A Lot of Gaul]

My favourite rule set for 15 mm Ancient/Medieval wargaming is Hail Caesar by Rick Priestley. Although my own 15 mm gaming with Hail Caesar is BC rather than AD, I have read quite a few very positive battle reports from other, medieval-era players. Here are some links to a few of them:

https://wargamingraft.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/spanish-songs-first-game-of-hail-caesar/
https://ncc1717.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/medieval-hail-caesar-aar/
http://rabbitsinmybasement.blogspot.com/2014/01/some-hail-caesar.html
http://dalauppror.blogspot.com/search/label/Hail%20Ceasar
(The last link above is for 28 mm rather than 15 mm, but they are nice AARs all the same!)

Basing for Hail Caesar is very flexible. In fact, many players simply keep their basing from their old rule set, or base their figures so that they can play both Hail Caesar and other rule sets they enjoy.

Cheers,
Scott

[A Lot of Gaul]

Accidental duplicate post - my apologies.

[robh]

Exactly what I have been doing with Kings of War, so this does sound instantly up my street.
Thanks for suggesting this, especially as this is not one I have heard of before.
Do you have an army yourself that you use with this rule set?

I really like the fact that it works so well for several different periods and styles of warfare that I only need to remember one set of rules. As we game infrequently trying to recollect a different set of rules with each era once or twice a year was crazy.

[HothJim]

Some lovely minis there, thanks for sharing.

Both Sword and Shield and Impetus look really strong.

Can Lion Rampant be played with 15mm minis?

Menhir- I need to get some minis first mate, but someone down the local club may be keen, will let you know if any playtesters surface.

[shandy]

Can Lion Rampant be played with 15mm minis?

I've played Lion Rampant several times now with 15mm figures - we use multi-based units (the same as for Hail Caesar, which I also like) and just mark casualties with a small marker. Looks fine and works a treat.

Here's a sample AAR: https://wargamingraft.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/the-messenger-lion-rampant-aar/

[Phil Portway]

A couple of us at our club heard about Sword and Spear, tried it, loved it. Now there are about 20 S&S players in the club.

And we have only started playing since about April/ May of this year

[smirnoff]

Armati 2
Excellent for the period

[Neldoreth]

Hey all!

Thanks julesav for mentioning Kings of War Historical Ancient Combat!

Guys, if you're looking to add historical flavour into Kings of War, I'd love to hear your ideas! If we can work together to make it more detailed and characteristic for historical games, that would be awesome!

I am just finishing up the conversion of the Kings of War Historical Ancient Combat supplements for 2nd edition. It really turned out to be a lot more work than I thought it would be Mantic changed some things with the lists and how points are assigned to units; now units actually get cheaper as you go up in size So I had to rework everything.

And honestly, with the new human lists - the one in the core book and the couple in the expansion - I wasn't sure there was even a need to re-do the supplements. But in the end, I felt there was enough flavour in special rules and army lists to make the effort. Not sure how Manitc feels about it though...

Thanks
n