Feedback on list of Medieval rules?

[braxenk]

Hello,

I have shortlisted an number of medieval rules for the HYW or gaming hypothetical barony conflicts and was wondering whether some you have tried these?

Any feedback on any of them, good or mixed, would be greatly appreciated:

• Flower of Chivarly
• Arrowstorm: Battle Games in Medieval Britain
• Days of knights
• Sword Point
• Midgard
• Triumph!
• To the Strongest!
• Marching Banners
• Test of Resolve HYW
• Tactica II
• Blood & Droppings

Thank you

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

You could add Lion Rampant also Barons War, and Saga with the corret suplement.

[Big Insect]

I suppose it depends upon what scale & style of game you are looking for.

Many of the above are skirmish style (1 figure to a base) type games, even though in some of them you need a lot of figures. So they tend to work best at 28mm scale.

'Nevermind the Billhooks' is another popular set. It's a bit of a hybrid between small size set battle & skirmish.

But if you want a bigger massed battle game, using 2/6/10/15mm or 20/28mm figures you've missed a lot of the more popular sets of rules off your list.
Such as:
Art de la Guerre (ADLG)
Field of Glory (FOG A&M)
DBM / DBMM
Mortem et Glorium (MEG)
etc.etc.
NB: is there really a set called 'Blood & Droppings'     

But some of the older sets such as the WRG DBA and even Hordes of the Things (HoTT) will produce fun, quick, games in almost any scale. With relatively few figures.

If you can find a set, the old Dave Millward* 'God's Acre' medieval rules was always fun, more like a huge rugby scrum than a formal battle. But if you were looking to reproduce some of the more formalized HYW organized 'combats' (mid- HYW) mostly between knightly retinues (such as the 'Battle of the Thirty', for instance) this would be ideal. the 3rd edition used to be available online as a free PDF download, but I cannot find it. Compared to 'modern' rules sets it was viewed as (& I quote) "pretty dire". But it actually had some good mechanisms for a certain type of battle.

Also, although aimed primarily at Wars of the Roses era, the Lance & Longbow Society set - 'Poleaxed!' - was very good, and would work well for later HYW.

So, lots to choose from.

But your rules set is probably going to be best determined by:
A). figure scale,
B ). choice of skirmish, small scale action or massed battle,
C). which bit of the HYW you are looking to replicate, as early, middle & late (broadly split around the changing army compositions) are quite different.
There is also HYW naval combat as well, but that's a very different subject matter - but an interesting side-line of the war.

These 3 factors are what would mostly dictate my choice of rules, personally.
I'd be interested to hear where you get to with this project.
Cheers
Mark
NB:* Dave's 'Voltigeur' Napoleonic skirmish rules were supposed to be very good - a precursor to 'Sharp Practice' (if not better - allegedly).  He was also the founder of the Pike & Shot Society and quite a 'colourful character' by all accounts

[sunjester]

I have only played two of those rules sets, so I can only comment on those.

To The Strongest - I have only played these with ancient armies (up to Late Roman). I expect they would work, but I'm not sure how they would reflect medieval combat.

Midgard - to be honest these are my go-to rules these days. I have used various rules for medieval games over the years and these and Soldiers of god are my favourites (but SoG is limited to the Crusades). I have played several Wars of the Roses games with Midgard and I'm very happy with them. It feels that the balance between the longbow and the melee units is good. I'm sure they would work for 100YW.

I know other people are using them for other medieval periods like The Barons War and 100YW. There is a Facebook group which is really friendly and very helpful, plus lots of people have posted army lists there. The author has posted lists for Agincourt on his website https://mogsymakes.net/resources-for-midgard-heroic-battles/

[Gwydion]

It's Blood and Horse Droppings by Rob Jones a professional historian of the period who used to give talks at Crusade in Penarth when that show was running.
Very different from the 'popular' ancients sets above as they are designed to match his research and reflect that in the mechanisms. Tactical command of the 'Wards' and the mixed nature of them with the companies inside them is more the focus than manoeuvre of small units.
Full talk through (1hr) here:Blood and Horse Droppings talk through

And the best thing is: They are free! Blood and Horse Droppings Rules

[braxenk]

thanks for the comments.

To be precise, I am not looking for new rules, I am simply asking for opinion on those specific ruleses, if you played.

It might not have been obvious but I will play with in 10mm.

[Big Insect]

thanks for the comments.

To be precise, I am not looking for new rules, I am simply asking for opinion on those specific ruleses, if you played.

It might not have been obvious but I will play with in 10mm.

Sadly then, I cannot assist you.
I have played Armati,the 'sister' set to Tactica. If they are similar they work ok for medieval, but the massed Longbow can be devastating. The shooting & movement ranges are however more realistic (IMHO) than a lot of more modern sets.
10mm scale massed battle style? That might negate some of the more skirmish sets.
Cheers
Mark