Rules for King Phillip’s War 1675-1676

[Zorro]

I am used to using Matchlocks on the Warpath for skirmishes but looking for more "battle" type rules like the Great Swamp Fight or Wheeler's Surprise.

Suggestions?

[d_Guy]

First, Zorro, welcome to the forum from a fellow NA (ex) colonial.

I do a good deal of 17th C warfare (War of the Three Kingdoms mainly) and dabbled a bit (a small bit) with King Philip's war. Don't know much about available rules put have used 1676 (Rob Lusk, Jade Tower Studios). They are skirmish rules but the supplement (book 2) has army lists and suggestions about using the basic rules with larger units (multi-figure bases). Have not tried them but even something as large as the great swamp might be possible. May be worth a look. Think I got them from Wargame Vault.

Post some pics here if you can, a very interesting topic.

[mmcv]

I've actually been putting together American lists for To the Strongest. To the Strongest itself only really covers up to the early Renaissance, but there is a version in progress to bridge the gap between that and the 17th Century ECW rules For King and Parliament that will incorporate more Renaissance elements that could be adapted to the Americas. Given the relatively small number of European troops compared to native troops in a lot of early colonial actions, you will likely want something that handles the native warfare in an interesting way. Might be something to consider, though I confess I don't know too much about King Phillip's War as I'm only up to the 15th Century with my lists so far! Suspect you'll need something more aimed at "large skirmish" actions as d_Guy suggests.

Interested to see what you come up with regardless.

[Gwydion]

Possibly Irregular Wars: Conflict at Worlds End might do.
They are designed for about 80 years earlier than King Phillip's War but are aimed at the less formal wars in the periphery of the new colonial experience.

http://irregularwars.blogspot.com/p/irregular-wars-conflict-at-worlds-end.html

They have a card chance system which supposedly lends period flavour but you can make it work without or with an amended system - the chance events are in the book.

Bigger than skirmish but not aimed at large Western European theatre battles. Handles indigenous peoples vs small European armies really well.

[Zorro]

First, Zorro, welcome to the forum from a fellow NA (ex) colonial.

I do a good deal of 17th C warfare (War of the Three Kingdoms mainly) and dabbled a bit (a small bit) with King Philip's war. Don't know much about available rules put have used 1676 (Rob Lusk, Jade Tower Studios). They are skirmish rules but the supplement (book 2) has army lists and suggestions about using the basic rules with larger units (multi-figure bases). Have not tried them but even something as large as the great swamp might be possible. May be worth a look. Think I got them from Wargame Vault.

Post some pics here if you can, a very interesting topic.

Up early, decided to buy them and give them a shot.  Thanks!

[Zorro]

I've actually been putting together American lists for To the Strongest. To the Strongest itself only really covers up to the early Renaissance, but there is a version in progress to bridge the gap between that and the 17th Century ECW rules For King and Parliament that will incorporate more Renaissance elements that could be adapted to the Americas. Given the relatively small number of European troops compared to native troops in a lot of early colonial actions, you will likely want something that handles the native warfare in an interesting way. Might be something to consider, though I confess I don't know too much about King Phillip's War as I'm only up to the 15th Century with my lists so far! Suspect you'll need something more aimed at "large skirmish" actions as d_Guy suggests.

Interested to see what you come up with regardless.

Thanks for the suggestion and I will check out.  Not that a retired person in COVID lockdown who does not watch TV cannot benefit from trying out various rules, right?

[Zorro]

Possibly Irregular Wars: Conflict at Worlds End might do.
They are designed for about 80 years earlier than King Phillip's War but are aimed at the less formal wars in the periphery of the new colonial experience.

http://irregularwars.blogspot.com/p/irregular-wars-conflict-at-worlds-end.html

They have a card chance system which supposedly lends period flavour but you can make it work without or with an amended system - the chance events are in the book.

Bigger than skirmish but not aimed at large Western European theatre battles. Handles indigenous peoples vs small European armies really well.

Oooh, sounds like another to try out!  Thanks!

[mmcv]

Thanks for the suggestion and I will check out.  Not that a retired person in COVID lockdown who does not watch TV cannot benefit from trying out various rules, right?

Quite right, no harm in trying out multiple rules, most of my armies so far have had various outings with different rulesets, each with their own flavour!

[fred.]

Just had a quick google as I didn't know about King Philip's war - but now I know a tiny bit about it - I think Irregular Wars is a good shout for rules, as it is very much about this scale of conflict and also about European forces vs natives.

It has a lot to model the lack of structure and organisation of early colonial warfare, which certainly adds to the fun. The chance cards are part of the setup of the game, and while the actually deck helps, it can be replicated a couple of ways, either with normal playing cards, and referencing the printed list, or even just with dice to pick from the list. The big advantage of the cards is that you have the special rules to hand.

[Steve J]

The Pikemen's Lament by Dan Mersey and Michael Leck is also worth checking out for this level of game.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Oooh, sounds like another to try out!  Thanks!

Hello

Irregular Wars has lists for Woodland Indians - for the three Anglo-Powhatan wars 1620-1646 and the Pequot War 1634-1638, so could be modified for King Phillip's war

The army lists are random, based on dice throws, sample below:-



Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

[fred.]

It's worth pointing out that your force consists for the top two compulsory rows, then typically 5 other rows. Hence why you get lower dice values if you go for multiple picks of archers.

It is a good system - occasionally comes up with a bit of.a miss match, but feels like you are fighting with what you have, not what you want.

[d_Guy]

An additional comment about period skirmish rules. Irregular Wars: At World's End is quite good as is Ganesha's Flashing Steel. A few years ago I was experimenting with rules to use in 17th C North America. One that I liked also was Scum of the Earth, Black Powder (Nordic Weasel Games). It is very simple, wide period (ECW - Napoleonic) but some interesting game mechanics. It also scaled up easily to using bases of figures to represent single figure in the rules.

I once had a blog but only a few of the battles done are presented in an archive. The Battle of the Severn (1655 Maryland between Royalist and Commonwealth militia), shows using multi-figure bases in place of a single skirmish figure:

https://in-red-coat-rags-attired.com/tag/Severn/?order=ASC

[Gwydion]

The reason I avoid the cards in Irregular Wars is the cost.
The Drive Thru cards price at £5.90 including a plastic case is very reasonable.
The postage of £11.45, delivery time of 3-7 weeks and probable charges on arrival kind of isn't.

[fred.]

The reason I avoid the cards in Irregular Wars is the cost.
The Drive Thru cards price at £5.90 including a plastic case is very reasonable.
The postage of £11.45, delivery time of 3-7 weeks and probable charges on arrival kind of isn't.

Yikes, that has gone up, I got them a few years ago, for about £10 I think - still expensive, but not that expensive!