New ECW rules - ‘Warr Without An Enemie’

[WFGamer]

'Warr Without An Enemie' is a set of wargame rules for the English Civil War developed by the Wyre Forest Gamers.

The player commands one to three 'brigades'. Army's are generated randomly but brigades are usually 3 to 6 units, with on average 4 to 6 bases of figures per unit. The players decide how many figures to use per base.

The emphasis on the rules is on command and managing unit disruption caused by battlefield action. Quality of the commanders and units is usually more important than numbers or weapons. Raw units will need constant vigilance to keep them in the action while hardened Veterans will sort themselves out, dust themselves off and carry on.

Infantry are rated in one of 7 categories, I1 to I7. The number indicates the number of muskets and pikes within the unit. I1 means the unit is an all musket unit, while an I7 unit is all pikes. Most units are of course in between these two extremes, two muskets to one pike is an I3 unit for example. All bases fire and melee so there is no need to exactly model the ratio of weapons. When firing you need to roll your I number or higher to hit, while if in melee you need you I number or lower to hit. In this way the mix of weapons within a unit is quickly reflected.

There are four kinds of mainstream cavalry along with lancers and dragoons. The four kinds of cavalry allow the representation of the tactics of the period that is not possible in many other rules and is, like much of the rest of the rules, based on modern research of this fascinating period. The 'Pistoleers' rely on firepower, while 'Gallopers' rely on the reckless speed of their charge. The dominant tactics of the war of Dutch and Swedish styles of fighting are more common and rely on combination tactics.


For further details at http://www.wfgamers.org.uk/WWAE.htm

Contact us at wyreforestgamers@yahoo.co.uk

A Yahoo group supporting these rules is at https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/WWAEECW/info

[mollinary]

Copy ordered in my never (at least so far!) ending search for a set of rules to get my ECW collections onto the table.

Mollinary

[Techno]

And a very warm welcome WFG.
Cheers - Phil

[WFGamer]

Mollinary: Good and I hope you like them when you get them. Please get back to use with comments/questions/etc.

Techno: Thanks but I, and indeed many of the WFGamers, have been here for a while as individuals. The rules are a group effort and the WFGamer account is to post on behalf of the group.

[paulr]

'Warr Without An Enemie' is a set of wargame rules for the English Civil War developed by the Wyre Forest Gamers.

Infantry are rated in one of 7 categories, I1 to I7. The number indicates the number of muskets and pikes within the unit. I1 means the unit is an all musket unit, while an I7 unit is all pikes. Most units are of course in between these two extremes, two muskets to one pike is an I3 unit for example. All bases fire and melee so there is no need to exactly model the ratio of weapons. When firing you need to roll your I number or higher to hit, while if in melee you need you I number or lower to hit. In this way the mix of weapons within a unit is quickly reflected.

That is a very elegant mechanism 

I will be having a look at these rules, ECW is a period I keep looking at but have yet to find good rules I like for. 

[Nosher]

It would be good to see some reviews of the game in action - overview is helpful, but seeing how games flow and how mechanisms work is equally important.

Are there any reviews anywhere?

[Fenton]

I think  I would like a bit more info before buying

[WFGamer]

paulr: Thanks for that. It seems to work well and brings out the differences in the various ratio. Unfortunately it wasn't actually my idea but some one else in the group came up with it so I can't claim any of the credit.

Nosher/Fenton: Hopefully their will be reviews in the future but the rules are brand new so I guess it will take some time. Meanwhile I am happy to answer any questions you have?

I guess an obvious thing to say on this forum is it works well in 10mm. Everything works on bases and you put as many figures on a base as you like.

As paulr mentioned liking the infantry ratings perhaps a little on them. As mentioned you need to roll higher or lower than the I number depending on if you are firing or meleeing. Normally you roll one D6 per base but this is minus the number of 'DP's' you have. You get Disruption Points (DP's) for combat, moving, manoeuvring, seeing routs, etc. So if a unit has 6 bases but 2 DP's it rolls 4 dice instead of 6. Any hits taken are then rolled to save with the roll based on unit quality - so basically good units should, the dice gods permitting, save more than lesser quality units.

DP's are a key idea in the game. Units can get rid of them by having generals rally them or better quality units can get rid of them on their own. But if you get 5 each extra one means you lose a base. Good units and good commanders can avoid/take away DP's better than bad units/commanders.

[steamingdave]

Wyre Forest Gamers will be at the Alumwell show on Sunday. We will be doing a demo ECW game, using these new rules. Why not come along to the show and see how the rules work in practice? We are a friendly bunch and would be pleased to answer any questions on the day. Details by following the link below.

http://www.alumwellwargames.co.uk/index2.html

[paulr]

Wyre Forest Gamers will be at the Alumwell show on Sunday. We will be doing a demo ECW game, using these new rules. Why not come along to the show and see how the rules work in practice? We are a friendly bunch and would be pleased to answer any questions on the day. Details by following the link below.

http://www.alumwellwargames.co.uk/index2.html

Would love to but the airfare is probably a bit step for just one day 

[Leman]

These sound very interesting.

[Redstef]

Tried to order a pdf copy but on the payment page no item shows with a payment due of £00.00. Also no way of putting in my email for delivery.
Is there a problem with the site or have I missed something?

[Hwiccee]

Hi Redstef,

Contact us at wyreforestgamers@yahoo.co.uk and we will sort it out.

[Redstef]

Thanks for sorting that out so quickly. 
Had a chance to read and solo play test and on first impressions I love them. I was a big fan of forlorn hope and these have managed to keep the flavour of the period provided in them with a bit more playability.

Also I've done a bit of moding and converted them to use for my 1690's Low which seem to work well.

[Hwiccee]

I am glad you like the rules. It might interest you to know that we are also working on extending the rules to the 1690's and indeed even up to 1720. I am afraid we haven't actually done much as yet but I think the idea should work well.

On a similar subject we have provisional amendments for using the rules for doing the TYW, which might be useful. They are in the files section of the Yahoo group or send me a provate message here and I will send them.