I'll 'ave an hours worth me ol' china!.

     Over Christmas i have mostly been working on my pike and shotte fantasy rules and messing around with the Eliza Doolittle of wargaming that is:

One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas

   For those that may not know the book offers some very simple mechanics to run games in most historic eras from ancient to ww2. It also is stuffed to the gills with simple yet great scenarios you can use for any era. Its a great resource for playing quick hassle free games and is fantastic as an introduction to the hobby. However it really comes into its own as a starting point for an era, giving basic rules and 4 unit types just begging to be fleshed out and adapted in small and subtle ways to bring out a little more flavor and character.

    To this end i have been playing around with the Medieval rules to create an set of rules for the kids to campaign with over the holidays. The adaptations to the rules i have come up with are as follows:

(Note, you will need a copy of the book for these to make sense!).

     The rules in the book are used 'as is' with the following small changes, where the new rules contradict the old the new rules apply.

    The 4 troop types are still used, in addition an extra type is added: Light Cavalry. This works in exactly the same way as Cavalry from the Dark Ages rules.

    Shooting: Archers no longer get +2 to shooting rolls.

    The turn sequence is changed, the Troop Removal phase is replaced with the morale phase which follows the rules below:

        All units that have taken damage this turn test their morale. This is done by rolling 2d6. Knights and Men at Arms add 2 to the roll, Leve -2 from the roll. If the total is the same or greater than number of hits the unit has taken so far the unit holds and remains in play, if the total is lower than the units total hits so far it has routed and is removed. 

Generating forces is handled differently. They are still rolled at random using the tables below. An army consists of 7 units rolled at random. 

      To generate an army follow these rules:

  1: Each player chooses which table they roll on first, they then roll 1d6 and compare the result on the table, this is the number of that type of unit that has mustered for battle.

 2: the player then rolls 1d6 to pick the next table using the numbers in the top left of each table (e,g if you roll a 4 you get Leve). Once you have the table roll 1d6 to see how many of that type have answered your call.

    Once you have rolled on a table you may not roll on it again. If you roll a 6 for the type of table you are to roll on you may pick any table you have yet to use.

3: Once you have 7 units your army is mustered and ready for battle. You may not have more than 7 units. If your final roll puts you over this number reduce the number of that type of unit accordingly.

  As i said above This has been done so the Sprinklings can have a campaign to play during the hols that will work as an intro to gaming and hopefully be fun too!. The campaign is set in a faux medieval setting (so far with no name) and involves the ruling houses of an island presumably off the coast of a larger kingdom who have set out to conquer the place!. The Houses of Loaf, Wolffe and Zeppelin ( ruled by the lords Peter, Stephano and Theodore respectively) have been held in check by several agreements and treaties but these have been cast aside, each lord claiming this is due to 'creative differences'!.

    The workings of the campaign have been almost totally nicked from Peter over at the rather bloody good Grid based Wargaming-but not always, i lifted the idea of a map divided into areas, each player being allowed to pick an area to fight over with one opponent of their choosing. A battle is fought using a scenario from One Hour Wargame and the winner claims the area. Once all the areas are claimed (and if the enthusiasm is still there) the houses will then challenge each other for areas and try to take over the map!.

YE MAPPE!!

  Speaking of which the first game has been fought!

    House Wolffe Vs House Loaf (scenario 2)

      Musterings:

 The ever moving Lord Loaf inspects his troops!

His army consists of : 3 men at arms, 2 knights, 1 light horse, 1 leve.

Lord Wolffe hovers over his line of battle!.

He rolled: 2 knights, 3 men at arms and 2 archers.

  The scenario gave us one hill in the Wolffe deployment zone and a cross roads in lord Loafs, both had to be held to secure victory.

Note: The colours on the bases match the colours of the houses flag on the map. Each unit type has a different pattern to make it easy to identify them in battle.

 TO BATTLE

 I will not give a full report, just a few pictures and a summary:

The action begins as both sets of knights have at it!!!!

Things also get tasty in the center as lord wolffe charges off the hill to head off the advancing enemy.

The knights of house Loaf are victorious at the crossroads! (huzzah!!)

The battle for the hill is in the balance!

The Hand of Lord Wolffe is everywhere!!

 Archers are assaulted by men at arms on the hill!. 

But they rout the enemy and hold the hill for house Wolffe!.

 The end of the game!, House Loaf holds the crossroads and contests the hill, a minor victory for them and one area claimed!.

Not that the noble lord would gloat of course!.

  That was lots of fun and the Sprinklings are eager for the next game!. I'm counting that as a success!.

......'till next time........