Keep Your Powder Dry

On a trip down to that there London, I popped in to the annual wargamer festival of mass consumption (aka Salute). Sadly no Civil War display games present this year - the one that was supposed to be there was a 'no show'.  So to 'justify' my visit I purchased the Polemos* ECW rules from the Baccus stand. Yet another ruleset from Pete Berry (he is co-author with David Heading and Edward Sturges) who was looking very hassled behind the till as the EPOS system wasn't working due to poor network coverage. The 76 page rulebook is split into five sections: set up, core rules, terrain and optional rules, army generators, and appendices. Set up and core rules taking up just 28 pages. So what do you get in the rulebook? Lots of tables; good written examples and diagrams explaining rule mechanisms; lots of art by the late Lesley Prince; copious B&W photos; and 4 pages of full colour eye candy to inspire you. All for just a tenner (which at the current exchange rate is le...

It appears that it is becoming tradition that successful 'medieval' wargaming rules have a follow up pike and shot version. And so it is with the very popular Nevermind the Billhooks, which has spawned numerous variants, and now gives us the pike and shot version Nevermind the Matchlocks. Just as Billhooks was given away with Wargames Illustrated, so it was with Matchlocks, which came 'free' with the November 2024 issue. Currently available to buy from WI as the ruleset (£5.99), or the mag and rules (also £5.99). Running at 32 pages, the rules are in a magazine format; pretty pictures courtesy of Richard from Bloody Miniatures, and just 5 simple tables to consult (6 if you include the quick reference sheet). Units described These are a seemingly easy to pick up ruleset, but I fear a hard set to master. Designed for small battles/big skirmishes of about 150 figures a side, lasting up to two hours. The game utilises six-side dice, and game specific tokens and cards. The r...

Any excuse to drop a Dexy's song title into a blog entry... hopefully the earworm doesn't last too long. This post takes a long hard look at the new brace of supplements for For King And Parliament. Neither of these supplements were penned by Mr Miller, instead their authors are Bill Linhart, Peter Page, and Paul Reynolds. And they are to be commended for pushing the conflicts from the other two kingdoms (that make up the Wars of the Three Kingdoms).  Scotland and Ireland, in particular, are very much the poor relations in comparison to the English components of the Wars. The first volume is "The Celtic Fringe", a 26 page book of supplementary rules. Whilst written for For King And Parliament, they could well be an excellent starting point for those who play other rulesets. There are rules for the different troop types associated with the various Scots and Irish armies, so archers, highlanders, lancers, 'rabble'; and rules covering associated terrain for these...

Along with their new range of 'true15mm' Epic sized figures for the Wars of the Three Kingdoms/Thirty Years War, there's also a new version of the Pike and Shotte rulebook. Let's take a look inside and see what is different... The young pretender Now before I begin, what do I expect from the new rulebook? Different pictures, layout, distances (movement and ranges), the errata and some of the 'new' rules from the supplements being incorporated into the main body of the rules. What don't I expect? A major revamp of the rules. They ain't broke, they don't really need fixing. The odd tweak maybe, but nothing major.  The original, and still the best? The most obvious differences are size and price. The original rules are hardback A4-ish sized and cost £35 (supplements are an extra £25 each). The Epic version, A5-ish, softback and £22. A different cover, in keeping with the Epic box set artwork, and the photos of beautiful set pieces of 28mm sized miniatu...

The latest ruleset to come under the KeepYourPowderDry microscope will be the last rules review for a wee while (until I purchase some more).  The writers of the Spanish 30 Years Wars rules Liber Militum: Tercio have tweaked the rules so that they can be used for a number of other conflicts within the pike and shot period with the Kingdoms expansion booklet. Described as a 'ruleset for large scale battles with miniatures set in the Thirty Years War' the rules have been translated into English. The publisher keeps changing website (currently Tercios Miniatures), and  has a  free slimmed down version of the game to download: Brevis Editio: Tercios Finding a printed copy might need a little shopping around: North Star currently have the core rules book, but not the Kingdoms expansion.  The rules are intended to be fast play so the basic mechanics are pretty simple. Turn order is alternated, and each turn consists of two elements: planning and action phases. Units are al...

We should be used to 28mm Civil War figure manufacturers publishing their in-house rules, Warlord's Pike and Shotte, Foundry's 1644. The Kingdom is Ours is Bicorne's foray into rules publishing. Whilst it is to be expected that these rulebooks become glossy showrooms for their figure ranges, The Kingdom Is Ours has a stronger whiff of it being Bicorne's catalogue with some rules tacked on, rather than a set of rules that showcase figures from a particular range. As appears standard, there is a very brief timeline and introduction to troop types encountered in English Civil War battles. The ever splendid Peter Dennis providing the cover artwork Then follows an explanation of the 'unit trackers', a frame to hold a number of dice (10 D6 per tracker). And yes you are going to need one for each unit. Coincidentally, or not, these are for sale on Bicorne's website. You will also need a command tracker for each general (just 5 D6 for these). Shares in a D6 company ...

What's this? Thin A5 booklet of 'skirmish' rules written by Pete Berry? Haven't I recently reviewed a set of thin A5 skirmish rules written by Pete Berry? Well yes I have. But these are slightly different from "Once Upon A Time In The West Country".  Whereas "Once Upon A Time" are for 1:1 skirmishes, "File Leader" is designed for slightly bigger engagements at 1:10. So you might field a troop of horse to take a bridge from a detachments of dragoons, and there may be up to 50 figures, in total, on the table. Those of you who worry about basing requirements, well there aren't any. If you have been around the block a bit, these rules will feel in many ways familiar. The morale tables are a direct copy of WRG 1685 - 1845 Rules. The move sequence is "I Go - You Go". Troop classification is entirely normal, with no fancy twists. The firing system is simple and effective, but the close combat rules are a bit too labour intensive. The...

As I have recently reviewed Field of Glory: Renaissance , it is only right and proper that I review FoG:R's forebear De Bellis Renationis (henceforth DBR) DBR grew out of De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) a hugely successful set of rules for ancient and medieval game play. DBA has spawned a whole host of variants which are collectively referred to as DBx. The rules were originally written by the Wargames Research Group (WRG).  It has been hugely influential in wargame rules development, as so many rules clearly show that they share DBA DNA.  For the English Civil War gamer the DBA variant volumes that are relevant are:- De Bellis Renationis - the core rules DBR Army Lists Book 2 De Bellis Civile 1642-1643 - scenarios for the English Civil War De  Bellis Civile 1644-1645 - a second book of scenarios Both the scenario books are published by Keep Wargaming (no relation), who regular readers will know have a few remaining packs of Naismith ECW figures listed for sale on thei...

Next rulebook to come under the KeepYourPowderDry microscope, is the gateway drug that is Warhammer English Civil War.  But first, a story... way back in the mists of time, almost everyone who was a wargamer who lived in Nottingham worked for the behemoth that is Games Workshop. A disparate group of individuals who liked all types of wargaming (not just space marines, orks, and eldars) banded together and formed what would become Warhammer Historicals. From this group a series of rules would be written, all incorporating Warhammer game mechanics.   But enough story telling. In the eighties Rick Priestly wrote a very successful, and influential, set of English Civil War rules called 1644 (see my review here ). Fast forward 15 or so years later, John Stallard was part of the group of Nottingham gamers who become the nucleus of the Warhammer Historicals group. (If you recognise the name, John would go on to found Warlord Games, and write their Black Powder rules.) John...

Next set of rules to come under the KeepYourPowderDry microscope are Twilight of Divine Right: From Defenestration to Restoration. They already have bonus points for shoehorning the much under used* word 'defenestration' into the subtitle. Published by the Pike and Shot Society you'd hope that they have a degree of authority and historical accuracy. Originally written as a set of rules covering the the Marlburian Period, Twilight of the Sun King was rewritten, then tweaked to give Twilight of Divine Right covering the 30YW and ECW.  Grandly self proclaimed as 'radical' the rules focus on morale rather than casualties as the key to deciding battles: do your men stand and fight, or do they flee? There are two main phases to play each turn. The first phase is movement, which involves all standard manoeuvre as well as charges into combat. Certain aspects of movement require an action test, a simple d6 roll; more complicated movement can require multiple tests. Movement...

Rules wax and wane in popularity, the release of a new set of rules usually makes the gaming community giddy with excitement and a rush of buying ensues. For King And Parliament is a fairly recent addition to the ECW rules library, and looks like it will be a popular ruleset for quite some time. Another set of 'pike and shot' rules that have grown out of a popular set of ancients/medieval rules - in this case To The Strongest ( henceforth TtS!). The difference between For King And Parliament (FK&P) and those rules that have taken the same path, is that FK&P is not a generic pike and shot rulebook, they are specifically for the ECW. Game mechanisms are quick to learn, and once you are familiar with the rules, gameplay is fast and furious. The rules are very well written, and have clearly had a lot of play testing. The rules are well explained, you don't need an old hand, an explanatory video or a thesaurus to understand them. The rule book is spiral bound, has full c...