10 mm rules for any period of warfare

Started by robert, 24 June 2012, 11:48:09 AM

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robert

24 June 2012, 11:48:09 AM Last Edit: 24 June 2012, 11:53:21 AM by robert
Apologies to all you veterans who already know what I am about to post but I thought I would share my 'discovery' as if this thread was not obvious to me it may not be obvious to other new 10 mm players either.

10 mm gaming was given a huge boost by Rick Priestley's WARMASTER ancients/fantasy/medieval rules which led to supplements specifically for historical Warmaster Ancients and Warmaster Medieval.

Peter Andrew Jones used these rules to develop the brilliant series: Blitzkrieg Commander, Cold War Commander and Future War Commander.

Rick Priestley parted company with Games Workshop - he now has his own website:        http://www.ricks-warmaster.com/index.html

which in turn leads to the Warmaster Historical site:

http://games.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/histori...

lo and behold -

Wars of the Roses Commander
Thirty Years War Commander
ECW Commander
Seven Years War Commander
Napoleonic Commander
American Civil War Commander
Franco-Prussian War Commander
Colonial Commander

All variants which can be tacked onto Warmaster core rules - a free download linked on Rick's site.

As Nik has said somewhere - the core rules mean you CAN play any period (in addition to BKC, CWC and FWC) without learning new concepts and playing methods for each period.

At last - one set of rules to rule them all :)
That is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put - Winston Churchill

Luddite

If i were to pick 1 10mm ruleset for ALL periods, it certainly wouldn't be the 'Commander' rules.

Also, i'm very suspicious of rules that claim to cover all periods.  They generally suffer from the old adage, 'a man who chases two rabbits catches neither'.

Personally my group uses all sorts of rules, but we're currently gravitating towards the following for 10mm gaming:


Ancients/Medeival = Phil Barker's DBA v3 playtest draft

Horse/Foot/Guns = Fire&Fury / Age of Eagles / conversions of...

'Modern' = Spearhead

http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/
http://luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/

"It is by tea alone i set my mind in motion.  It is by the juice of Typhoo my thoughs acquire speed the teeth acquire stains, the stains serve as a warning.  It is by tea alone i set my mind in motion."

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - Gary Gygax
"Maybe emu trampling created the desert?" - FierceKitty

2012 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

"I have become inappropriately excited by the thought of a compendium of OOBs." FSN

Duke Speedy of Leighton

Whereas we're rather enjoying the Black Powder/Hail Cheesey family of games, as well as the mighty Volley and Bayonet!
You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

nikharwood

24 June 2012, 12:32:14 PM #3 Last Edit: 24 June 2012, 12:42:51 PM by nikharwood
I'm (unsurprisingly) with robert here - it's important to note that the WM 'engine' doesn't claim to be able to capture all periods - but it has proved versatile enough to do so - with enough differentiation to give appropriate 'flavour' to different periods I think.

I think the success of WM (which is still a great game in its original iteration) is that, by design, it is simple, fluid and subtle. It produces a result - and models command and control nicely.

For me, I love the fact that I can essentially remember a single core system - with plenty of additional subtlety and variety for various periods - and don't forever have to reach for rulebooks when I'm playing just to remember what happens next. I've got exceptions which  prove this rule for me - but I can list those on one hand (Mordheim, Strange Aeons, Ambush Alley, Empire of the Dead, Maurice).

robert

Cheers Nik and thanks for clarifying that Warmaster does not cover all periods but by using the variants it is indeed possible to do so.

I agree that Maurice is totally different and an excellent game in its own right - for me Maurice is the game of choice for my 28mm 'imagi-nations' but the 'Commander' series and variants
will do very nicely for all 10mm historical and fantasy gaming in any period and 10mm is all I will be doing in future.

Looking forward to meeting you Nik at the Birthday Bash :)
That is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put - Winston Churchill

Hertsblue

As with most things in life, no-one does everything well and mechanisms that work for Napoleonics don't necessarily read across to Ancients - or vice versa. Add to this personal preference - one man's meat being another man's poison - and you begin to see that the universal set of rules is yet to be written.

If you've found a set of rules you like then stick to them. It's your choice and nobody can tell you you're wrong.  ;)
When you realise we're all mad, life makes a lot more sense.

www.rulesdepot.net

Nosher

24 June 2012, 08:39:00 PM #6 Last Edit: 24 June 2012, 08:41:01 PM by Nosher
Quote from: Hertsblue on 24 June 2012, 06:45:37 PM
If you've found a set of rules you like then stick to them. It's your choice and nobody can tell you you're wrong.  ;)

Although there are those that try...

and I find that if I refer to the 'Pointy Stick Rule' (applied liberally to the eyes/hands/genitalia) they generally drop their claim ;)
I don't think my wife likes me very much, when I had a heart attack she wrote for an ambulance.

Frank Carson

Luddite

Quote from: Hertsblue on 24 June 2012, 06:45:37 PM
If you've found a set of rules you like then stick to them. It's your choice and nobody can tell you you're wrong.  ;)

Except those who play Flames of War.  They're wrong.

;) ;D
http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/
http://luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/

"It is by tea alone i set my mind in motion.  It is by the juice of Typhoo my thoughs acquire speed the teeth acquire stains, the stains serve as a warning.  It is by tea alone i set my mind in motion."

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - Gary Gygax
"Maybe emu trampling created the desert?" - FierceKitty

2012 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

"I have become inappropriately excited by the thought of a compendium of OOBs." FSN

Duke Speedy of Leighton

You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

Hertsblue

Quote from: Luddite on 24 June 2012, 08:47:05 PM
Except those who play Flames of War.  They're wrong.

;) ;D

No - misguided, perverse, masochistic, wrong-headed, bloody-minded, disfunctional perhaps - but we're never wrong.  :D
When you realise we're all mad, life makes a lot more sense.

www.rulesdepot.net

Duke Speedy of Leighton

You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

Hertsblue

Yeah. You're not so far away. PM me and we'll fix something up.  8)
When you realise we're all mad, life makes a lot more sense.

www.rulesdepot.net

Duke Speedy of Leighton

Cool! Might have to wait until my self-enforced paternity wargames drought is over mind!   :D
You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

i_am_win

Quote from: robert on 24 June 2012, 11:48:09 AM
Apologies to all you veterans who already know what I am about to post but I thought I would share my 'discovery' as if this thread was not obvious to me it may not be obvious to other new 10 mm players either.

10 mm gaming was given a huge boost by Rick Priestley's WARMASTER ancients/fantasy/medieval rules which led to supplements specifically for historical Warmaster Ancients and Warmaster Medieval.

Peter Andrew Jones used these rules to develop the brilliant series: Blitzkrieg Commander, Cold War Commander and Future War Commander.

Rick Priestley parted company with Games Workshop - he now has his own website:        http://www.ricks-warmaster.com/index.html

which in turn leads to the Warmaster Historical site:

http://games.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/histori...

lo and behold -

Wars of the Roses Commander
Thirty Years War Commander
ECW Commander
Seven Years War Commander
Napoleonic Commander
American Civil War Commander
Franco-Prussian War Commander
Colonial Commander

All variants which can be tacked onto Warmaster core rules - a free download linked on Rick's site.

As Nik has said somewhere - the core rules mean you CAN play any period (in addition to BKC, CWC and FWC) without learning new concepts and playing methods for each period.

At last - one set of rules to rule them all :)


Being a new player of Warmaster, I didn't know either, so thanks for that line of enquiry! I had a look at FWC and I really do like the look at that. Do you know if its only a PDF copy thats available or can you get a print copy (I know you can print on demand with the pdf, but just wondered if an actual book existed!)
Check out The Grinning Skull for Grinning Skull 15mm Miniatures rangehttp://www.thegrinningskull.co.uk/


Luddite

Quote from: i_am_win on 25 June 2012, 02:24:26 PM
Being a new player of Warmaster, I didn't know either, so thanks for that line of enquiry! I had a look at FWC and I really do like the look at that. Do you know if its only a PDF copy thats available or can you get a print copy (I know you can print on demand with the pdf, but just wondered if an actual book existed!)

As i understand, no.  Unless you can pick up a second hand copy.  I believe Pete has stopped selling hard copies.

FWC is pretty good, although i know people who reckon that the Cold War Commander version is the best rules wise.  Not sure why since i thought they are all pretty much the same.

Given the...um...'abstractions' of the system, i've felt that it sort of 'works' for sci-fi in a way it doesn't for WWII.

Funnily enough, the same happened for me with the original rules.  Warmaster 'worked', but the same basic rule system when transferred to Warmaster Ancients/Medieval just sort of didn't. 

I'm fully prepared to accept the reality that it was me and not the rules...   ;D :D  ...since, as others will attest, they are pretty good as achieving what they set out to.

The quirks of the system never really gelled with me though.  E.g. the WMA/WMM tactical neccessity of fighting in column (as opposed to a more realistic and satisfying line) never really sat well with me.   :(

And given the 'grand sweep' of the rules, and elegant command and maneouvre system, the fiddly combat res and casualty recording never sat well with me. 

These problems wetre ironed out in the 'Commander' rules variants though - more due to the type of war being represented than anything.

http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/
http://luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/

"It is by tea alone i set my mind in motion.  It is by the juice of Typhoo my thoughs acquire speed the teeth acquire stains, the stains serve as a warning.  It is by tea alone i set my mind in motion."

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - Gary Gygax
"Maybe emu trampling created the desert?" - FierceKitty

2012 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

"I have become inappropriately excited by the thought of a compendium of OOBs." FSN