Harold's Rangers

54mm Rules

Reviewed by Tom Desmond

This set of rules created by James Delson purports to cover the periods between ancients and 19th Century warfare. When flipping through the material there does seem to be a large amount of information being covered in the 48 pages and 5 cardstock summary charts. The rules are provided in a three ring binder for easy access.

Figure scale, as befits 54mm figures, is 1:1 with a ground scale of 1" = 1 yard. Turns, which the author refers to as phases are roughly 5 seconds with 6 phases per turn. During this time, a figure can carry out an activity be it move, draw his weapon, fire, or melee. Firing and melee use percentage dice for effects and wounds reduce a figures point value. Point values seem to based on troop quality.

For large amounts of figures, a "mass combat" system can be used which allows firing and melee in groups rather than individually. The rules are annotated with footnotes that give examples of play, and Mr. Delson has a section or organizing and building armies. For those of us who remember the many battles we fought by ourselves as kids, there is also a section on solitaire play.

The rules are well organized and can be easily followed. For those gamers with large collections of toy soldiers, these rules provide an opportunity to fight organized battles. At $9.95, the cost is not excessive. Available from The Toy Soldier Company, 100 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10024

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