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An hours worth of free rules

     The following is what i believe the youth of today refer to as a....er.....'mash up', that is i have used the rather simple and fun rules produced bu a Mr Neil Thomas in his book:

 And mixed them in with my current fantasy setting of Olde Albilande to create a very simple system with the flavor of warfare i'm after.

  Readers of my normal prattle will know i have been rather taken with this little bundle of highly workable rules, they are a great tool box from which you can add your own custom units and ideas with just a few simple tweaks allowing you to get the game you want with very little effort (which if you know me at all you will know is my favorite type of effort!). I have been so distracted by them i have decided to custom build my own fantasy pike and shot era rules compatible with my forces from my ongoing fantasy campaign:


   What follows is a set of highly unofficial rules not in any way endorsed by Mr Thomas. It requires a copy of Mr Thomas' One Hour Wargames' to use (which is fair enough if you ask me!). I have used the rules for the Pike and Shot era as presented in the book (chapter 8, page 34 onwards) with a few minor tweaks and adjustments to make the setting fit the rules. I have not reproduced the rules presented in the book just the ways in which they have been bodged by myself so this will only make sense if you have a copy of the base rules to hand. Where the following contradict the original rules use my new material, if not follow Mr Thomas' rules.

 With that out of the way i give you...................

ONE HOUR IN OLDE ALBILANDE
(or 'Neil Thomas is gonna kill me!!!)

A Fossestershire Cavalry force attacks an Offenhammeshire gun line!

The following uses Chapter 8 and 9 of 'One Hour Wargames' by Neil Thomas, adapted to fantasy wargaming by a moron. A copy of the above book is required to use the material below. Please use the rules in chapter 8 of 'One Hour Wargaming' as is, only use the rules below where required within those rules, as my work is 'bolted on' not a reworking of the original rules. Where my material contradicts the rules in the book use my rules.

UNIT TYPES
   All 4 unit types from chapter 8 are used. In addition the unit types Skirmishers and Artillery from chapter 9 (Horse and Musket) are also used as presented in that chapter.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY
   The main sequence is used as written but the last part eliminating units is replaced by Test unit morale rules for which are detailed in the section of the same name below.

MOVEMENT
   Is unchanged, Remember that the rules for Skirmishers and Artillery from chapter 9 are also required.

 Artillery may not fire if they have moved that turn.

 Artillery may never make a charge move.
Skirmishers may only charge enemy Skirmishers.

Units that are marked as being able to FLY can move up to 12'' and may ignore terrain effects during movement (but must follow the main rules regarding ending their move within terrain areas). They may interpenetrate any other unit.

INTERPENETRATION
 Applies to Skirmishers as detailed in the Horse and Musket rules.

Offenhammeshire skirmishers attack from the trees!


SHOOTING
  Is also unchanged, note however that both Skirmishers and Artillery are not required to check ammunition when firing.

RALLY
 Any unit that chooses not to shoot in the shooting phase that is more than 6'' from an enemy unit may attempt to rally. To do this they roll 1d6 and add their Class Rating (see CHOOSING A FORCE below). for each point the dice roll + units Class Rating is over 4 the unit may remove 1 hit marker. (for example a unit of infantry chooses to rally, it rolls 4 on the dice and adds its Class rating of 2 for a total of 6. This means it looses 2 hit markers (6-4=2).

HAND TO HAND COMBAT
  Is unchanged.

Outnumbered Offenhammeshire swordsmen stand before the blades of Crivenshire!.

TEST UNIT MORALE
   Any enemy unit that has received one or more hits this turn is required to test its morale. Roll 3d6 and compare the result to the number of hits the unit has received in total so far. Cavalry add 2 to the roll, Skirmishers and Artillery must minus 2 from their rolls. If the final total is the same as or greater than the total hits the unit has received the unit remains in play. If the total is lower the units morale has failed and it is eliminated, remove the unit from play.
If a unit rolls 3 sixes on the dice it will always remain in play regardless of the number of hits it has received.

When a unit is Eliminated in this way any friendly unit of the same or lower class rating (see choosing a force below) as the eliminated unit that is within 6'' and can see the eliminated unit must receive 1 hit and test its morale if it is yet to do so already during this turn.

 Note: the above replaces the rules for Eliminating units.

CHOOSING A FORCE
   Forces are chosen using a points system, this replaces the random rolls in the rules.

 Each unit type has a CLASS rating, representing its standing and worth among its peers. The class ratings of the unit types are as follows:

INFANTRY : Class rating 2
SWORDSMEN: Class rating 2
CAVALRY: Class rating 3
REITERS: Class rating 2
ARTILLERY: Class rating 2
SKIRMISHERS:Class rating 1

 Each player chooses which units he wishes to field by adding up the total class rating of his force until the total is equal to the total agreed by both players. A recommended total is 8 for a smaller game, 12 for an average sized one and up to 20 for a large scale bloodbath!.

Burkenshire troops ambush a Crivenshire column.

SHIRE SPECIFIC FORCES
    To follow are a number of lists of troops for the individual Shires currently at war in Olde Albilande. These are Only to be used by forces from the stated shire the list refers to. These will be added to the rules as the lazy git writing this finishes them.

RESTRICTIONS
   The following are guidelines for picking a force to keep them balanced (to a degree). Discuss any other restrictions you wish to use with your opponent.

For each unit of the following type you have on your force:

INFANTRY, SWORDSMEN OR REITERS.

 You may choose one of the following :

 ARTILLERY,  CAVALRY, SKIRMISHERS or a SHIRE SPECIFIC UNIT

A Fossestershire patrol guard an important river crossing.


(oh ho ho its ) MAGIC!!

  There has always been a magical presence in Olde Albilande, however where some fantasy lands let it roam free to be used willy-nilly by any Tom, Dick or Harrison in Olde Albilande its use is rather more controlled. Use of magic in any form is highly regulated and policed by the ever watchful Spellcasters Trust for the Protection of Wizards everywhere ( the S.T.P.W.T. You can read about their formation here). Magic users must hold a valid licence to practice, be they a simple village crone or a haughty court wizard and the use of so called malicious magics is tightly regulated. Magic suited to warfare is only allowed in the form of sanctioned spell scrolls produced and sold by the S.T.P.W.T in their manufacturing center off the coast of Crivenshire, scrolls are ordered in advance and delivered before battle by the companies army of oversized mutated two headed carrier Chaffinches.
     Any magic users not holding the valid licence to perform rituals, rites or other related magical practices are normally given 'cease and just bloody stop it' orders by the S.T.P.W.T. as a first preventative measure, if the caster continues they are normally hunted by the S.T.P.W.T's small but dedicated force of witch hunters, a trained group of sometimes magic immune bounty hunters employed by the wizards for their innate violent outlooks, Ability to swing a big stick and inability to question the morality of their work. Thus very few illegal spell botherers tend to survive for long in Olde Albilande and those that do are normally shunned and hunted creatures surviving on the fringes of polite society but with powers of such a level as to keep the hunters at bay.

In game terms there are two types of magic available to a force, only one may be included in an army. They are:

 TYPE ONE:  S.T.P.W.T regulated spell scrolls:

  A general may appeal to the S.T.P.W.T. manufacturing and distribution center before battle for a delivery of spell scrolls. To do this costs 2 points of the armies Class rating total, deducted when choosing the force. A player may only appeal once to the S.T.P.WT before any given battle.
To work out if the appeal was successful roll 1d6 and consult the table below:

        1d6 roll        number of scrolls delivered
1               No scrolls received!

2-3               1 spell scroll delivered

4-5               2 spell scrolls delivered

       6                   3 spell scrolls delivered!

TO see which type of scrolls were received roll 2d6 and check the type of spell below for each scroll. You may roll the same spell more than once.

2) Finnagrees fogg of fuggish forgetfulness No 27
    Cast this spell at the start of the opposing players Movement.
    It is cast on one enemy unit within 10'' and sight of the casting unit.
  This spell creates a foul smelling mist of forgetfulness around the feet of the target. They become confused and generally forgetful when it comes to what they are doing and how to go about doing it.
The effect on the unit is that any dice they roll this turn are halved as is their maximum move distance.

3) Steffanos old salve of soothing serenity No 118
   Cast this spell at the start of your movement phase.
   It is cast on a friendly unit within 6''.
   The target feels a wave of soothing overcome them, calming them and healing their wounds.
   This spell allows the target to remove half their hit markers (rounding up).

4) Delganos' Dark blast of darkest darkness No 6
   Cast during your Shooting phase.
   This spell is cast at an enemy unit within 12'' and line of sight.
   The target is engulfed by a blast of black fire that burns, flays and does other things of an unpleasant nature.
  The targeted unit receives 1d6+2 hits.

5) Winnifreds wonderful winged wind of wonder No 84
   Cast at the start of your own movement phase
   The spell is cast on a friendly unit within 6'' and line of sight.
    The target unit may move up to 12'' and can FLY this turn.

6) Webbertons wild whooshing wind of wildness No 49
    Cast during your shooting phase.
    Cast at an enemy unit within 12'' and line of sight.
    The target unit is moved 1d6 backwards in a straight line away from the casting unit. They maintain their facing when moved. If the move takes the unit into contact with a friendly unit the movement stops and both units receive 1d6-2 hits. If the unit is moved into contact with a terrain type it may not move through or end its turn within it stops on contact and receives 1d6-2 hits. If it contacts an enemy unit the moving unit stops once in contact and is now in combat but will not attack this turn.

7) Barratonies bonkers bravery most exceedingly brave No 154
    Cast when the target unit is required to take a moral test.
    Cast on a friendly unit within 10'' and sight of the caster.
    The target unit will be assumed to automatically pass their Moral test this turn.

8) Ronnefagies reviving of raging reanimated reavers No 22
   Cast at the start of your movement phase.
   Cast on a clear patch of ground at least 5'' square within 6'' and sight of the caster.
   When this spell is cast the sun hides behind black clouds, the earth shakes, lightning flashes and thunder rumbles. Spooky organ music rings out and a cackling can be heard on the breeze. The earth in the area the spell is cast on gives way as long dead hands pop out of the ground, pulling the long dead back to the surface. Before anyone knows it a unit of undead swordsmen stand in the casting area, totally under the control of the caster!. These warriors are now part of your force. they work exactly like a normal unit of swordsmen. The unit is destroyed if it fails a moral test OR if the casting unit is eliminated. 

9) Dolcilanos Dome of dithering disharmony No 77
  Cast at the start of the enemies shooting phase.
  Cast on one enemy unit within 12'' and sight of the caster.
  The unit targeted by this spell cant work out how a musket actually works!. They may not fire this turn.

10) Rochelle the Reds rather rapid recipe for rather rapid rapidity No 6
  Cast at the start of your movement phase
  Cast on a friendly unit within 6'' of the caster.
 The target unit may move twice during this movement phase. These are two moves so the unit can turn before and after each move as normal.

11) Horace Hoppanitys' Hue of horrors most horrific No 10448374998
    Cast at any time during your shooting phase
   Cast on one enemy unit within 6'' and sight of the caster.
  The target unit must take a moral test right away, even though it is the shooting phase. If they pass but take further damage this turn they must still take a moral test in the check moral phase as normal.

12) Self writing scroll.
       Pick any one of the above spells.

 USING THE SCROLLS
    Once you have rolled your scrolls you must allocate each one to a unit. Make a note of which unit has which scroll. A unit may have more than one scroll if you wish. When casting the spell on the scroll it is the unit holding the scroll that casts it so measure any ranges from that unit. Once a scroll has been cast it is discarded and may not be used again. If the unit is eliminated any scrolls they hold are lost.
No spells can be cast by a unit that is in combat.

DEATH FROM ABOVE!!!!!!

MISSPELLINGS
    As the S.T.P.WT mass produces its scrolls, often using scribes and lowly apprentices to do the donkey work sometimes the odd misspelled scroll slips through the organizations quality control procedures. This can produce dire effects on the caster.
    When you declare your intention to cast a scroll roll 1d6 before you apply the spells effect. If the result is a 1  The scroll has been misspelled!. Do not apply the effects of the spell, instead roll on the table below to see what happens!.

1) The casting unit are turned into a rather noisy collection of frogs!. They are removed from play, presumed looking for a gullible princess to snog!.

2)  Purple smoke spills from every orifice of the caster, engulfing the unit in a foul smelling mist. When it clears all that is left of the bloke reading the scroll is a pair of smoldering boots!. The unit may not make any further actions this turn.

3) A bolt of lightning flashes to earth, hitting the closest unit (friendly or enemy) to the casting unit. It causes 1d6 hits. If more than one unit are closest and are the same distance from the caster both are hit by separate bolts!.

4) Nothing happens right away but a silent magical wave is released that wipes all the other scrolls held by any unit on the battlefield. All scrolls are now useless and must be discarded.

5) The unit causes a small shift in time, all troops stand around wondering what the hell is going on. Your turn ends immediately and your opponents turn begins. Move directly to your opponents Movement phase.

6) the casting unit explodes in a massive ball of magical flame. It is removed from play and any units within 6'' receive 1d6 hits.

The effect rolled takes place immediately.

TYPE 2: Natural magic.

 These are abilities belonging to unlicensed wizards. The rules for the natural magic abilities the caster has will be detailed in the list entry for that caster in their Shire specific list. The caster may use one of their abilities per turn as detailed on their profile. They do not discard their ability once it is used but may continue to use it each turn if the rules allow.

NOTE: If your army includes an unlicensed spell caster the S.T.P.WT will not listen to any appeals for spell scrolls, they may even send a strongly worded letter denouncing the unlicensed caster and demanding he is turned over to them forthwith!.




   

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