- "One day lad, all this will be yours..."
"Wot? The curtains?"
Raised on legends of King Arthur and fueled by knights in shining armor, our perception of medieval Europe takes on a decidedly rose-tinted aura of chivalry. Our vision encompasses the pagentry of the joust, the grandeur of castles and cathedrals, and the piety of the nobility as sovereign and nobles ride forth, lance in hand and heraldry on shield, to vanquish foes of God, King, and Country. And should there sit a scourge upon the throne, a heroic knight steps forward to lead a quest against an evil shire's reeve to help restore the rightful and merciful monarch. Er, right. History offers a slightly different account of the medieval era, one that is more ignoble than noble. The Middle Ages was a fanatical merging of arms and alms to acquire power, wealth, and possibly even honor. Nobles rarely paid heed to reading and writing — much less 'rithmatic — in favor of hunting, feasting, and especially fighting. The endless raids, counter-raids, and sieges against foes foreign and domestic could and would last generations in a series of back-stabbing, double-dealing, and often fratricidal wars among the nobility and royalty. In other words, it's the perfect setting for a miniatures game or campaign. A pair of new tactical rule sets — Medieval Warfare (MW) and Day of Battle (DoB) — have put back some of the fire in tabletop medieval battles with relatively easy-to-play systems sporting enough chrome to mimic the hand-to-hand carnage and passionate leadership of the age. We put both sets through their paces with identical scenarios, and the results came out anything but identical as each set has its strengths and weaknesses.
Medieval Warfare Medieval Warfare is written by Terry Gore, publisher of Saga magazine (for ancients, dark ages, and medieval history and gaming), and author of Neglected Heroes, a book about leadership in medieval battles. MW stems from disappointment: "I have not found a set [of rules], and this includes WRG 7th, that I have really felt conveyed the correct feel of Dark Age/Medieval Warfare." (Saga 56). With that in mind, Gore set out to create such a set: "The bottom line is the period feel. Medieval Warfare emphasized leadership, morale and skill at arms. Any rules attempting to cut it in this period has to provide for the variables of leadership, army quality and the vagaries of orders, terrain and tactics." (Saga 56) MW comes in a 44 page booklet (8.5x11") with color cover. Approximately half the pages are the rules, and the other half contains 93 army lists and 4 scenarios. A sheet of order markers and a quick reference page are included. First glance shows this to be a quick read. Each figure represents about 20 men, with an inch equalling 25 yards, and a turn about 5 to 10 minutes of real time. WRG/DBA sized stands (15mm or 25mm) are acceptable, and we conducted the playtest in 15mm using WRG-based troop stands. The charts list ranges, movement, and so on in inches for 15mm play—the rules suggest you increase all measurements by 50% for 25mm.
MW Sequence of Play
As you can see, this is a straightforward seven-step sequence that any experienced gamer will recognize and novice gamers will be able to pick up quickly. As Gore places heavy emphasis on leadership, so the better leaders will be able to do more. Each leader receives a number of "tactical orders" per turn. Once you deal them out, that's it. The Tactical Orders available are: Charge, Move, Hold, Defend, Retire, and Recover. Each is pretty apparent, although some differences in positioning are possible under Hold orders (versus Defend). Special formations like schiltrons, shieldwall, conrois, and others are included, each with the necessary rules "chrome" to provide the historical benefits and disadvantages.
The more units per side, the bigger the impact of leadership. In our playtest games, we had two leaders and only 7 or 8 units to divide between them. If you had seven or eight units PER leader, the difference in leadership ratings requires greater thought during a game.
Strategic Movement (50% to 2x faster than normal tactical movement) is much like WRG—halt when you get to a magic zone (12" from enemy). Sometimes, when you are close, it is better to move tactically. The C-n-C roll-off for initiative also mimics the WRG effort of who moves tactically first.
Missile fire is done by stands, rolling for each stand. Melee is much less probabilistic and much more unit determined, which is a fancy way of saying that you must pay more attention to the troop match-ups because the random die roll is less important than armor, morale, weaponry, and tactical positioning. Damage is in figures lost (and ultimately stands removed) as well as melee checks.
Morale is checked as a result of combat losses, charges, seeing routers, and other traditional tests. It is a simple die roll against a base number with modifiers. A nice touch is that the greater the difference in failure, the worse the result.
Optional rules include Special Figures (Heroes and Holy Men), Uncontrolled Mounted Charges (for those who like to play the arrogant nobles who try and run down anything in their path), Archer Opportunity Fire, and Ship to Ship Combat.
About half of the rules consists of 93 Army Lists, from Late Patrician Roman (mid 5th Century) to Burgundian Ordonance (Late 15th century). Each AL lists the types of troops, number of stands allowed per troop type, weaponry, and points value so you can create your own tournament army—or incorporate points into a campaign system.
At the very end is four scenarios: Mons Bodinicus (517), Hastings (1066), Durazzo (1081), and Knockdoe (1504), complete with map, order of battle, and special scenario rules.
Day of Battle
Day of Battle was written by Chris Parker, who publishes Knights Round Table and is the author of a previous set of medieval rules, Knighthood in the Middle Ages. Indeed, DoB stems from KitMA, and you can see some of the same style of mechanisms incorporated, although in streamlined form. "For many years now I have labored ceaselessly to develop the "perfect" set of rules to play Medieval battles with. Well, we all know that nothing is perfect, but to me these rules come one giant step towards that goal." (KRT #1) DoB comes in a 30-page booklet (8.5x11") with color cover, of which 4 pages are advertisements, 5 pages hold army lists, and 1 page is a set of quick reference charts.
At first glance, the layout looks absolutely delightful, with plenty of bellicose illustrations and the main rules on each page flanked by notes and sidebars on the edges. Even better, period flavor is introduced by "Brother Robert," who leads you through the rules set as if he were speaking to a noble. Each figure represents 25 men and a turn represents (15?) minutes. The charts list ranges, movement, and so on in inches for 25mm play—the rules suggest you use a special ruler, printed on the quick reference chart, for 15mm. For our playtest, we used regular inches and WRG/DBA sized stands (15mm).
DoB seeks to incorporate considerable period flavor into the command and control aspects of the game. All leaders are not created equal, being differentiated by Social Rank (from knight to King), Esteem (Unknown to Extraordinarily Famous), "Motivations" (raider, mercenary, and chivalic), and Skills (initiative, combat bonus, morale bonus, and personal combat skill). These nuances provide tangible benefits in terms of tactical combat plusses and minusses, but also bring in the possibility of placing certain leaders at a certain level of command—whether they are good at commanding or not. And since Honor Points differ from "motivation" to "motivation," you'll find yourself performing particular battle actions suited to your specific motivation. Better yet, your success is not only slugged to the outcome of the battle, but to specific actions you took DURING the battle. It's all detailed in an Honor Table and imparts a clever flavor to gaming sessions, especially if you bring your commander back to the gaming table in the future—and it doesn't have to be a campaign setting.
DOB Sequence of Play
Since DoB uses Command Points generated from a leader's Social Rank, there is no structured turn sequence. Instead, a unit requires a number of Command Points (CPs) to move, fire, and/or rally. You can expend multiple CPs on a single unit, and in the Advanced Game (which we playtested), you use a regular deck of cards to figure out exactly how many CPs you have this turn. Each Social Rank allows the turn of a card, for example, a Duke, Social Rank 4, can turn over 4 cards. A numbered card = 1CP, face card = 2CPs, and Ace = 3CPs. So, if he draws a 7 of spades, 3 of diamonds, and two Queens, he receives 6CPs for that turn. Each turn, he must draw again. An Earl, being only a Social Rank 3, may turn over only three cards, usually (but not always) resulting in less CPs. You may also "save" your CPs from turn to turn, although the number can never go above your Social Rank. In addition, leaders attached to units reduce the CPs needed for that unit, and also (usually) have a staff of officers available that can be used as "extra" CPs. Finally, a "Battle Line" is considered "one unit" for CP purposes, much like DBA. As you can tell, the use of CPs requires a little more complexity, but offers considerable flexibility — if not unpredictability — in dealing with the swirl of units in a battle. CPs, or lack thereof, will also start leaving units behind or to be ignored as commanders concentrate on the "hot sector" of the battle. DoB includes special individuals called Retainers that add combat and CP bonuses, and also function as a sort of leader saving roll. If your main leader seems to get an arrow through the eye or a lance through the guts in combat, one of these loyal men will step in front of the fatal stroke and sacrifice himself. DoB carries over the concept of telescoping movement from KitMA. The closer you come to the enemy, the slower you move. The farther you move away from enemy, the faster you move. No march segment needed. Missile fire is done by stands, rolling d20s for each stand. Different missile weapons have a different rate of fire (i.e. may fire multiple times during a turn) — a nice touch. Melee also uses d20s. The damage is in figures lost (and ultimately stands removed), as well as melee checks, although the "Yahtzee" factor is reduced as maximum figure loss is 2 from any given combat, similar to Knight Hack's maximum figure loss from a melee.
Morale is simple IF you understand one concept: you NEVER roll for morale. Morale is deterministic based on the situation, not a die roll. A unit's base number is modified and the result found on a morale chart. One clever optional rule (which we did not use in playtesting) is Harassing Morale, where players call morale checks on the enemy. The number allowed during an entire battle is double the Social Rank rating. Nothing like picking the right place and time to call doom down upon your opponent. Other optional rules include personal challenges, flank marches, and an "interrupt card" for an extra CP when you need it most. The Army Appendix lists five 12th-14th century feudal armies: English, French, Welsh, Scots, and German. Parker has subsequently released a Crusades supplement.
We played the exact same scenario multiple times, recapping the last games for our write-ups. Both of us had played Medieval Warfare before, and Lockwood had played Day of Battle before. As to be expected, rules questions came up during the initial playtests. Both Gore and Parker have e-mail addresses and responded very quickly to our queries (two thumbs up for their customer support efforts).
The Scenario
During a lull in the Welsh Wars of Edward III, Robert of Scotland, assisted by the Frenchman Robert of St. Marks, leads a raiding force south as far as Conway. However, Palomir, Earl of Conway, assisted by Mason of Llandor, collects a force of Welshmen to turn back the Scots, and sets up a defense in a place narrowed by marsh and woods. Lockwood took the Scots and Pichnarczyk the Welsh. Some tinkering of the Order of Battle was needed as the two sets' Army Lists were different, but for the most part, the battle translates well between the two sets.
Order of Battle
Robert of Scotland (C-n-C) Earl Palomir (C-n-C) More Medieval Comparison
RULES SUMMARY
"Who does he think he is?"
"I am your King."
"Well, I didn't vote for you."
1. Recovery (Rally)
2. Place Tactical Orders
3. Strategic Movement (March phase)
4. Initiative Die Roll (for Tactical Moves)
5. Reveal Orders and Tactical Move
6. Missile Fire
7. Close Combat (melee)HELMET TO HELMET PLAYTEST
"Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who."
Robert of St. Marks (sub-general)
Knights: 1 unit of 5 stands
Spearmen: 3 units of 10 stands each
Archers: 1 unit of 3 stands
Crossbowmen: 1 unit of 3 stands
Skirmishers: 1 unit of 5 stands
Men-At-Arms: 1 unit of 3 stands
Mason of Llandor (sub-general)Knights: 1 unit of 5 stands
Spearmen: 1 unit of 5 stands
Levy Spearmen: 1 unit of 4 stands
Longbowmen: 1 unit of 10 stands
Skirmishers: 1 unit of 5 stands
Men-At-Arms: 1 unit of 2 stands
Light Cavalry: 1 unit of 4 stands
Long Bows and Short Knights: Introduction
Long Bows and Short Knights: Medieval Warfare
Long Bows and Short Knights: Day of Battle
Long Bows and Short Knights: Analysis and Conclusion
Other Medieval Rule Sets
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