Warlord is an offshoot of my Day of Battle II (DoBII rev2) rules that concentrates on playing bigger battles without any of the role-playing that DoBII contains. Warlord maintains the accepted figure ratio of 20:1 and ground scale of 10 paces to the inch. Emphasis is on the combat unit itself. Armies and personalities are easier to generate. Comments may be addressed to the author at dayofbattle@mediaone.net. Supplements and rules updates can be found at www.dayofbattle.com. WL includes a Domain for the Wars of the Roses. Additional Domains found in DoBII rev 2 can be used for Warlord.
VICTORY
The battle ends immediately when:
One army loses its last personality.
One army loses 1/3 of the AP based on the unmodified stand cost through stands lost or exiting (off) the table.
No unit has come within 15” of an enemy unit for three consecutive turns.
No unit has had combat for five consecutive turns.
THE BASICS
ACCESSORIES: Paper, pencils, an English-measurement ruler, and beads or poker chips for marking events and scores.
TWENTY-SIDED DICE: Five or more twenty-sided dice (D20). Any rule in the game that requires a die roll will list the highest number, or less, you need to roll on a D20. This number may be modified. Also, regardless of modifiers, a roll of 1 is always successful; a roll of 20 always fails.
ROUNDING: Always round fractions down to the nearest whole number. This means that fractional values such as ‘7.5’ or ‘7.99’ are rounded down to ‘7’.
UNCONTROLLED ACTIONS (UA): Throughout the rules, this symbol indicates an uncontrolled action. These take place immediately, forcing a unit to act out of turn. Units that are forced to perform such actions may still be ordered to perform that same action once during their turn.
A UA is an event that occurred, or an action that a unit performed on its own in reaction to an event. If an event is marked as an uncontrolled reaction, a marker, such as a bead, is placed next to the personality that commands the unit when it occurs. These markers reduce that personality’s initiative by one each when he is rolling to draw command cards. Once used as a penalty, all UA markers are removed. These markers are never carried forward past the personalities initiative phase after they occur. If a personality is dead, lost or routed from the field, the penalty is applied to the next highest Social Rank (SR) personality remaining on the table.
The following actions trigger uncontrolled actions. All these circumstances are explained in the “combat” section.
- Charged by an enemy and reacting, or supporting a charge.
- Returning missile fire.
- Failing a morale check.
- Defending in a melee.
- Halting a charge.
PLAYING CARDS: One deck made up of 54 playing cards (including jokers.) The values and meaning of the cards are dependent on when they are drawn in the game. The values and meanings are listed in the appropriate rules sections and on the Quick Reference Sheet (QRS).
CARD RANDOMIZER: Black cards are plus, red cards are minus. Ace - 3; Face - 2; Numbered - 1; Joker - 3 unless noted in the rules.
RESHUFFLING THE DECK: Cards that have been played or discarded are reshuffled when the entire deck has been played through or when a joker is played or drawn and played as a random card.
MEASURING: You may measure at any time during a battle.
- 25mm figures - in inches, with values as written.
15-20mm figures - multiply all measurements by 0.50, or use the same as with 25mm figures, but mount twice as many figures per stand.
2-10 mm figures - multiply all measurement by 0.33, or use the same as with 15 or 25mm, mounting multiples of figures upon the stands in groups.
TROOP BASING
STANDS 1-4 painted figures are grouped together on a base called a stand.
TROOP TYPES 3 Kn-knight, 3 Fkn-feudal knight, 3 or 4 Sp-spear, 3 or 4-Men-at-arms (Maa), 3 Cv-cavalry, 3 or 4 Lb-longbow, 3 or 4 Xbw-crossbow, 3 Bw-bow, 2 Sk-skirmisher, 2 Lc-light or skirmish cavalry, 2 Ha-Horse Archers, 2 Art-artillery, and 4 Lv-levy. Example - 3 Kn means there are 3 figures on a stand of knights. Personalities and banners are based singly.
TROOP ORDER
UNFORMED: 2 Art, 2 Sk, 2 Ha, and 2 Lc.
FORMED: All others including Lv.
| TROOP TYPE/STAND SIZES | 25MM | 15MM |
|---|---|---|
| Frontage (combat stand width) | 60mm | 40mm |
| Depth if mounted or Artillery | 40mm | 30mm |
| Bow, Longbow, Crossbow | 30mm | 20mm |
| Men-at-arms, Pike, Spearmen | 20mm | 15mm |
| Skirmish foot | 30mm | 20mm |
| Frontage (personality or banner width) | 20mm | 15mm |
| Depth if Personalities | 40mm | 30mm |
MOUNTED: Mounted include all units on horseback.
MORALE GRADES (MG): There are three morale grades, Knight, Trained and Untrained.
TROOP QUALITY (TQ): Each morale grade has three quality levels, Elite, Average and Poor. Their quality is converted into a numerical value ranging from 6-18. Example - Elite knights have a morale value of 18 while untrained levy are 6.
- KNIGHTS (KN): troops from feudal states whose military ideals stress the individual. Combat is viewed as an individual effort by men accustomed to weapons and warfare. Refers to all knight regardless of armor and includes feudal knight.
TRAINED (TR): some units in this period were trained as units. Often they were town militias and mercenaries. These rules reflect the special abilities of these troops.
UNTRAINED (UT): the majority of soldiers on the feudal battlefield. They were competent in their roles but not up to the individual proficiency of knights. They relied upon their massed groups and mutual cohesion to support each other in melee rather than on their individual skills.
| MORALE | ELITE | AVERAGE | POOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| KNIGHTS | 18 | 15 | 12 |
| TRAINED | 15 | 12 | 9 |
| UNTRAINED | 12 | 9 | 6 |
THE DOMAIN
The following information is found on each army domain list. The Wars of The Roses Domain can be found at the end of these rules. Other domains will be made available. Players may also use any domain printed for Day of Battle II (rev 2).
MOVE: This is the maximum the soldier may move straight ahead in a single game move. This distance can be modified by terrain and other special rules (see Movement)
COST: The price in army points (AP) per stand.
STANDS: The minimum (1st number) and maximum (2nd number) number of stands of this type allowed army.
SPECIAL RULES: May apply to one or more troop types.
TERRAIN FEATURES: The number of terrain pieces a Warlord will place on the table if the battle is fought on the ground of his choosing.
GENERAL ORGANIZATION
Army: Made up of a number of units.
Unit: Smallest group in an army. Stands of troops are organized into group of like stands called a unit. 1-12 stands are combined to form a unit. Basically, a unit is made up of one or more stands of identical troops.
Composition: Both infantry and cavalry units are composed of like stands with the same weapons, morale, and number of figures per stand.
Unit Integrity: All stands that make up a unit must be in contact with another stand of the same unit and face in the same direction in a straight line. Units in cover may bend their formation to meet the outline of the feature.
UNIT SIZE Formed Cavalry: 1-6 stands; Formed Infantry: 1-12 stands.; Skirmishers: 1-6 stands; Artillery: 1 stand.
UNIT FACING, FRONT - FLANK - REAR: All stands are assumed to be facing forward to the front. Units can see a full 360 degrees around themselves. The front facing of a unit is 45 degrees to its left and right. The flank and rear of a unit are one and the same and begin where the front angle ends, goes around the unit and ends on the opposite front angle side.
UNIT FORMATIONS
Units are deployed in formations made up of 1 or more stands and deployed up to 4 deep. .
LINE: A formation that is wider in stands than it is deep. A unit must attempt to have the same number of stands in each rank. If there are not enough stands to do this evenly, the rear rank will have the lesser amount. A 2 stand unit may form 2 ranks deep.
HERC: This is a hollow wedge formed by English archers at times during the Hundred Years War. Placing a single stand in the first rank and increasing the number of stands by one, in each rearward rank to a maximum of 4 ranks deep forms it. The benefits to being in this formation are two. The unit can extend its arc of fire over a greater area. It is measured from the left flank edge, all the way around to the right flank edge. It may fire up to 4 ranks deep. Fire may be split and is measured from the front stands. Only trained English longbows from the Hundred Years War Domain may use this formation.
BLOCK: (Sp and Pk). All stands form as square a shape as they can, all facing outward. Divide the number of stands in the unit by 4. This will be how many ranks deep each side should be (common sense needed here). Move at 1/2 speed. They may move in any direction, but they must remain in open terrain. No flank or rear facing and cannot be threatened. May not charge. Melee with all stands, they may be overlapped. Cancel out the WOC modifier for an attacker. Untrained troops take 1 move to form. Trained troops take 1/2 move to form.
COLUMN: This formation is 1 stand wide and any number deep. There are no movement bonuses for moving in these formations. They are used only to conserve space or cross over a bridge.
PERSONALITIES
There are two types of personalities, Warlords and Leaders. If a rule calls for a personality to do the action, then the rule applies to both types. Rules for creating personalities and their use are detailed in the rules later. Personalities can be captured.
SOCIAL RANK (SR): In the medieval world, every person had a place on the social ladder. This was usually determined by birth, with a child assuming the social rank of his parents. Each personality has his social rank determined when the army is bought.
Social ranks range from 1-10 in the following order. 1 Knight, 2 Banneret, 3 Baron, 4 Great Baron, 5 Count, 6 Earl, 7 Duke, 8 Grand-Duke, 9 Petty King, 10 King.
THE WARLORD (WL): He is the army commander. Though he commands the army, once the troops are deployed he commands only those in his own BL.
THE LEADER: This is a person who, like his WL commands multiple units that are organized into what is historically referred to as a battle line.
THE BANNER and BANNER UNIT: This is a marker that shows where the personality is supposed to be. He may leave it but it is there as a rallying place to his men. This is mounted a single based model which is attached to unit for the duration of a battle. This unit is referred to as a Banner Unit. Banners can be captured.
MOVEMENT: Personalities may move up to 30” once each active turn. This move does not require a command but must be performed according to the movement rules (explained later). Once he stops he is finished moving unless he is attached to a unit and moves with it.
PLACEMENT WITH A UNIT: Personalities an banners that are attached to a unit are placed at the center-rear of the unit.
NEXT IN COMMAND: It is possible that a WL will be lost. If this happens, the Leader with the next highest SR takes command of the army. He may start acting as a Warlord during the next friendly initiative phase of his turn. If a Warlord was lost during his turn, any remaining Leaders may finish their turn. Should a Leader be lost, his BL is taken over by his Warlord (see Battle Lines.)
COMMON RETAINERS (CR): The number of CR a personality has is based on his role on the battlefield. Each turn a personality may use some, none, or all of his remaining CR to perform one task. Regardless of outcome, the CR is gone for the battle.
Warlord: page, squire, and sergeant.
Leader: page, and squire.
SAVING ROLL: Used to help his personality escape capture, injury, or death. This CR is used after a failed PCS check but before a card is drawn from the Wound Table. This attempt may be used any time the personality is required to draw a card on the Wound Table.
SUCCESS ROLL (1D20)
- Page: 1-10
Squire: 1-15
Sergeant: 1-19
ISSUE A COMMAND: The command may not have already been performed this turn. If the command is reorder, it may be used only during his turn, unless it is used to reorder a unit before an actual melee, or after the melee is over.
RE-ROLL/RE-DRAW: A single die roll or card that the personality rolled or drew, or that was rolled or drawn and affected him personally. The new value replaces the original. This may be done after any such die roll or card draw before the result applied. This does not require a success roll. This may be done any time during a turn.
CAPTURED PERSONALITIES and BANNERS: If a personality or banner is capture they remain with the unit that captured them. They may be recaptured (explained later.) Though no longer physically present their staff is and therefore keeps playing however since the personality is gone his troops lose the advantage of his presence.
RETURNING TO THE FIELD: Personality swept from the field may not return.
ARMY CREATION
Point values are helpful to create somewhat balanced games. Each stand and Leader has a per-stand cost. Army Points (AP’s) are spent buying troops and organizing them into units. Players should agree ahead of time on the size of the battle they will fight. This should range from 30-120 AP per side. 60 AP is an average size for 1-2 players per side. An army commander, the Warlord, and his Leaders, command each army. Each unit must be under the command of only one such personality. Each army will have a, which is 6” square. This will be deployed within 6” of the Warlord’s banner unit at the start of the game. It must be on open or gentle slope terrain. Its occupation by an enemy will count as the WL’s SR equivalent in AP lost. A camp is considered area terrain (see Terrain.)
RANDOMIZING ARMY SIZE: Once players have determined how many AP they will play with and the SR of their personalities they secretly draw 1 or more randomizer cards to modify their AP total. One such card is drawn for every 20AP per side in the game (round up.) This rule brings a random effect into a battle so that players will never know exactly what they are facing. It can also be considered to simulate the uncertainty of raising medieval armies.
PERSONALITY TYPE and CREATION: Once players have determined their final army size (see Randomizing Army Size) they must determine the SR of their Warlord. The SR of the WL may never be higher than the agreed-upon number of AP in the army divided by 10 (to a max of 10) nor lower than 3. The SR of the WL will determine the types leaders he has in his army.
LEADER CREATION: To create a Leader use the two rules below. Remember that a Leader costs 2 AP and must command a battle line (see Stand and Unit Costs and Battle Line.)
LEADER SOCIAL RANKS
A Leader may not be of =/+ SR than his Warlord.
The combined SR of all Leaders in the army may not be greater than that of the Warlord.
Unit Size
Kn and Cv: 1-6 stands; Sk and Lc: 1-6 stands; All other foot: 1-12 stands.
- Stand Cost
Warlords are free.
Leaders cost 2 AP.
Kn cost 2 AP per stand, mounted and on foot.
Artillery cost 2 AP.
Lv cost 1/2 AP per stand.
Sk cost 1/2 AP per stand.
All others cost 1 AP per stand.
Stand costs may be modified by a Domain list.
Additional Unit Cost: Some units will have their final cost modified. Each item listed on the domain list that applies to a troop type must be paid for.
UNIT COST: The number of units a WL may have in his army is unlimited however the number he can easily command equals his SR.
- Mercenary: +2 to the total unit cost.
Unit Cost: +1 for every unit greater than the Warlord’s SR.
More Warlord Medieval Rules
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