Newbury Rules

Medieval and Renaissance

Reviewed by Tom McMillen

Having never seen any of the Newbury "Warfare Through the Ages" series of rules reviewed or discussed in THE COURIER, I don't know if readers are familiar with them. While basically similar to WRG in format, Newbury prides itself on better specificity and more detail. For example, for the period in question how does one differentiate between the "knights" of various nationalities -- the stolid British gentleman, the rash, powerful Frenchman, or the cautious but skilled condottiere? WRG Ancients ties in maneuverability with morale, relying on the dubious assumption that anyone capable of a frenzied charge must not be very well drilled, thus ignoring the likes of the French gendarme or the Teutonic Knight.

WRG Renaissance, conversely, tries to pigeonhole everybody into only terribly rash, heroically disciplined, or mediocre, leaving the condottiere in the same group as the demi-lance. Under Newbury, however, a Teut is 'A', knightly, fanatic, seasoned, disciplined; a gendarme is 'A', knightly, seasoned, tribal; a condottiere is 'B', regular, seasoned, disciplined, etc. Obviously many of these can be upgraded at extra cost but you get the idea. This is not to make a value judgment on whether or not such increased complexity is a good thing; it isn't clear that the world is crying out for a more demanding rules set than WRG, but this system certainly allows for troops to be better defined and to act in a manner more consistent with historical performance. Your typical, scruffy, uninspired foot soldier runs about 6 pts., elite Swiss, English long-bowmen, or average heavy cavalry about 25, and a first class knight close to 50, so there is plenty of room for fine tuning slight gradations of improved capability.

Another distinction of these lists, written by T.J. Halsall, R.G. Boss, and G.J. Hyland, is their choice of period. The Italian Wars were, of course, transitional from the Medieval to the pike and shot eras; one of the two main combatants, the French, being the final glorious culmination of the Age of Chivalry, while its major opponent, the Spanish, surely belongs in the later period. Traditionally, other systems have followed WRG in making Fornovo (1494), the dividing line, so that the French and Italians end up as fish out of water fighting Gustavus and Cromwell with the superior firepower of a later age. Both approaches have their merits, but at least Newbury's approach avoids the annoyance of rules for the period 1500- 1700 called "the Renaissance". By any definition, Lorenzo de Medici lived during the Renaissance, Oliver Cromwell did not.

The Newbury Lists offer tremendous variety. There are 139 Lists, though at least 30 are duplicates. Under systems like WRG and Tercio, you really only have to prepare for a handful of opponents, especially if playing more or less in period. Here, however, there are a large number of new and different armies, such as Scots Islemen orthe various peasant revolts, that appear fairly formidable and would pose unique challenges to an opposing (or commanding!) general.

The Lists are very lengthy and detailed, allowing as much leeway as can reasonably be argued, and often somewhat more. For example, the Swiss, always deficient in the cavalry arm, can bring up to 48 allied knights and armored cavalry, apparently without being forced to hire any allied foot as well. As these Lists have a large numberof provisions forthe use of allied contingents from other armies, (an excellent idea), this could be better handled. In looking for glaring omissions, it's nice to see that Maximilian's Germans finally get some notice, but still missing are the Papal armies of Cesare Borgia and Julius II, both interesting and significant armies, not only for the charisma of their leaders but also because these primarily condottiere armies contained large amounts of French, Swiss, and Spanish troops, making them tactically unusual as well. It seems odd that they are always overlooked in list compilations that abound with hordes of Nigerials, Cambodians, Tlaxcalans and the like. (Can't somebody write us a decent list for Julius II? This was the Pope who carried around a large stick so he could beat people who said things which displeased him, thus making him my kind of commander. "Excuse me, your Holiness, but the left flank seems to have misinterpreted your Order and refuses to move." "Oh, yea? Well Holiness THIS!" Whap!!)

In summary, this is a comprehensive set of nicely thought out lists which will give the serious gamer many new ideas for using Medieval and Renaissance troops, whether or not Newbury is their rules set of choice. Like most sets of lists, it is also simply fun to read. Highly recommended. Available from Wargames, Box 278, Route 40 E, Triadelphia, WV 26059. I don't recall the American price, but it was quite reasonable. -- TOM McMILLEN

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