Dominance

Renaissance Rules

by Tom McMillen

Dominance by Ian Wilson, is an adaptation of the WRG 2nd ed. Renaissance rules specifically for the period of the Italian Wars, both in the Italian and Anglo-Scottish theatres (funny idea, Renaissance rules which actually deal with the Renaissance, rather than the post-Reformation era!). Although its roots are not acknowledged, much of Dominance will be very familiar to WRG gamers, including most of the charts and even most of the factors, assuming one makes allowances for Mr. Gush's little glitches like making all lance factors 2 less than they should be, then giving a plus 2 for having a lance. Most remarkably the casualty chart is identical.

As would be expected with such fine tuning, several problems with the WRG rules are addressed, and some apparent improvements are made.

Foremost, of course, the narrowing of time and geographical frame allows more realistic command and combat systems. Melee rules, whether for pike vs. pike or horse vs. foot, that apply to 1500 just don't work for the English Civil War, and rudimentary order systems that work for gendarmes and Swiss pose real problems for games with Cossacks and Turks. A few specific refinements: The "Orders" section specifies that each unit must be told whether to attack, hold, or skirmish in relation to enemy troops, and goes on to explain the significance of each. Mr. Gush presumeably means to say the same thing, but never quite does, which means in this country he is interpreted as meaning, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you actually tell your troops to do can and will be used against you."

Secondly, Dominance deals with the problem of subunits by simply ignoring them. When pike blocks clash the presence of integral halberdiers or swordsmen is simply assumed and factored in, which explains, for example, why Spanish pike takes a plus 1 vs. Swiss (I). Players are encouraged to paint up and include such figures, but they just count as pike, which at this scale seems appropriate. In practical terms this is a real improvement over WRG, where pike melees are generally won by the player who can get away with the most dubious, (if not inane) use of subunits (a local favorite is having a halberd unit side step in single file, a la "A Chorus Line", down the flanks of an engaged enemy pike unit).

Thirdly, the included Army Lists, like those of Tercio, specify unit size and composition, with a specific core plus optional units. Anyonewho doubts the value of such an approach need only look at the WRG list for the French in the Thirty Years War. This being a pike and shot army, you are required to bring 10-100 pike and 10-200 musket, with virtually no restrictions on unit size and composition, which is hardly onerous. For cavalry, the author employs a truly Dickensian verbosity to essentially require 6-100 plus horse of almost any morale class, armour, or weaponry. One almost expects an errata sheet to say, "Delete lines 1-19. Substitute line 1: Oh, to hell with it. Bring any cavalry you damn please." There must be a better way. The Dominance system is particularly nice in that all core armies are of equal strength, and optional units are rated from 1-10 pts. Total value. To set up a game, you simply decide on, say, a 12 pt. game, and pick a few units. No calculator required. Unfortunately, some core armies are more equal than others, the Papal Italian being about 34 pts. while the Late French is 47.

Speaking of oddities, Swiss pike fight in a "column" - 5 figs wide by 8 deep, while landsknechts and others fight in a "square" 10 figs by 4. This seems historically unjustified, and can be confusing since on p. 14 a "square" is defined as a four sided, immobile formation. Clearly two different forms of square are intended, but the neophyte or Napoleonic gamer could easily be forgiven for wondering how a colunella could ever fight if it was to form an immobile formation before charging.

Dominance, published by Raider Games, 119 Elmete Way, Leeds, LS8 2ND, U.K., offers some interesting ideas for serious Renaissance gamers looking for ways to improve the realism and playability of their simulations.

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