The following mechanics will allow you to create a game of feudal warfare that features knights, men-at-arms, and archers. The scale of the conflict pits baron against baron. Small private wars of plunder and battle set in an ahistorical feudal setting. The game flows through a series of map moves over your own and enemies territory. When armies come into contact there will be a "day of battle" in which the Barons will enact their right of "'Commission of Array," and assess their assembled armies. While it is nearly certain that the loyal retainers of the Baron will be present to enforce their liege lords acts of violence, the militia and archers are assessed per conflict to see if they are present in numbers sufficient to affect the battle. The "Battles" are fought with a handful of miniatures or counters used to represent the "battles" present on the field. The game can include any number of Barons and their holdings. The maps are created randomly and will have a direct impact on the ability of the owning Baron to protect his lands. The game is based on a six sided dice (D6). The lands are created on a six by six grid of one inch squares. The grids are placed randomly (decide by die rolling) butted up against each other so that they share a common edge. This edge is obviously where one Baron's holding ends and another begins. Let us now go on the "progress" of the Baron as he rides across his lands and assess his tenants and their value. The Lands and their Worth Begin with a grid of squares 6" x 6" divided into 1" blocks and two D6. One of the D6 will be rolled to reference the column and the other will be rolled to reference the row. The cross reference will dictate the location of the randomly determined square. There are on the baron's lands three villages. These villages occupy one square and are considered urban centers of trade. Randomly place three villages on your baron's map. Re-roll any duplicate locations.) The gentry and tenants are fed by three agricultural centers. These are rural pastoral areas which occupy one square. Randomly place three farming communities. Re-roll duplicate locations including areas already assessed for towns. Much of the barony is given over to rough terrain and woodland. Tracking these larger areas of terrain is similar to the progress thus far with the following additional considerations: Dense forest occupies several connected blocks of terrain. Five blocks of terrain are connected in the form of a cross. The center piece is our reference point and the terrain extends to all vertical and horizontally adjacent spaces. Randomly place three areas of forest terrain using the center square of the cross as the rolled location. When placing forest terrain it is not necessary to re-roll duplicate locations. Forest can coexist in a village space but not in a farmland space. Plot the location of the forest and apply the result to the squares affected. Likewise, wooded areas randomly generated that protrude outside of the boundaries of the barony are disregarded. Mountainous terrain is also a part of the Baron's land. Impassable to armies, the three adjacent spaces of rocky outcroppings are assessed in the following manner. The center square of the ridge line is our reference point for locating the terrain on the map. The two adjacent squares of mountain may run vertically or horizontally; which will need to be rolled randomly (1-3 vertical, 4-6 horizontal). Place the mountains on the map with this in mind: mountains can coexist with forest but are displaced by all other terrain features. There are two mountainous ridge lines to randomly locate on the map. These terrain elements are common to all barony generated in this game. There are however, several distinct terrain features that may or may not be on the baron's holding. We will randomly determine first if the terrain exists and then discuss placement. On the D6 roll of 1 or 2 there is a river running through the barony. To place the river on the map roll D6 with 1-3 vertical and 4-6 horizontal. Now roll one die to dictate the column or row the river runs through. The river can coexist in a space with all terrain except mountains. If the randomized process puts a river through a mountain square then the mountain terrain is displaced. A river that runs through a farm or village or one space from such terrain creates a ford or bridge at these locations. There are also lD3 worth of other crossings which may be added to the map. The river will not have more than three crossings. The river is only passable at a ford or bridge. There may be evidence of previous civilization upon the land. On the roll of a "6" on a D6, there is one space of ruins. Ruins are crumbled remains of walls and roads, overgrown with vegetation. Ruins are located on a vacant square; re-roll all locations except forest. The presence of a religious center is dictated by a roll of 5 or 6 on a D6. Religious centers can coexist with all terrain types even mountainous (hermitage). Religious centers can dictate the local population's faith. If location of the religious center is in a village or farm area then the faith of the population is decided and the value of the terrain doubles. The final piece of terrain is the Baron's residence. The castle of the holding is placed at the players discretion. It cannot be on a town, farm or mountain. The tenants are the baron's wealth and measure of status. The baron is considered in control of his holding and any cities he has plundered and taken under his control. Cities are worth one point of status. Farm communities are worth two points. Religious centers are worth one point alone and they double the point value of all other population centers. The Commission of Array "You will answer upon your personal peril." Calling together the tenants for a military campaign. This involves a series of die rolls upon the eve of all combat. The baron may have one band of loyal knights to guard his person and household - all else is rolled for with the appropriate modifiers that are under the baron's control. Let us describe the height of martial skill that we are modeling. A Battle is fought between two forces that come into contact over a bit of terrain that each is bent on controlling. We will model this activity by rolling opposed die rolls and counting up casualties until one force is required to withdraw. A baron's force is composed of three 'battles". The term is used to describe the amount of force that will be in the center of the fight and the amount portioned out to cover the left and right flanks respectively. In each "battle' there will be present: archers, men-at-arms, and knights. The center 'battle" will be the strongest and any lesser forces will be put on the flanks. When the baron rolls up his forces on the eve of battle they will follow a set of modifiers to see if all of the army has arrived on the site to be present in force to effect the battle. This is fairly harsh and would not work well when players are controlling the forces but you must remember that we are solo gaming this era and should take the view of a spectator reading a history of a long ago feudal war. The table of Charts for rolling up each battle on the eve of combat. One Army consists of three "battles". The left/center/right each 'battle" is made up of archers/men-at-arms/knights. The entire army can be written up on a control roster that might look like the following example: +, -, + / +, +, + / +, - - The shorthand reads from left to right and the plus symbol means that the unit is present and the minus tells us that not enough of that type of warrior has shown up for the combat. Each battle is read as: Archers, Men-at-arms, knights/...... the example above reads left flank: archers, no infantry, knights/ center: archers, infantry, and knights (strongest)/right flank: only archers. The Commission of Array consists of a random roll to count all of the Baron's force present for the Battle. Archers will be present in force on the roll of a 5,6. Men-at-arms will be present on a roll of 4,5,6. Knights will be present on a roll of 3,4,5,6. A die roll is made for each type of warrior and for each 'battle" of the army. Roll for both opposing sides - the Baron's and whomever he is attacking or defending against. The following modifiers-are used in determining the roll call for the army. Inside your own Barony: +1 to the lD6 roll. Replacement forces after a Battle + 0. Outside of your Barony + 0. Replacements after a Battle -1M A charismatic leader (Popular-Baron on a roll of 5,-6) +1. Once the armies have sorted out how many men have shown up on the "day of battle", they can be lined up opposing each other. I use three ½ inch by 1 inch counters to represent each "battle" of the army. They oppose each other across a 6 x 6 inch grid of terrain. Tactical movement can be left very simple, or you can devise a method of dicing for movement and maneuver. I line them up and fight. Each type of warrior brings to the battle a certain number of attack dice. Archers add lD6, Men-at-arms 2D6, and Knights 3D6 to the ""battles"' opposed die roll. From our example above the center "battle" would roll 6D6 total for all of the warriors in their formation. Roll the appropriate number of combat die for each side and count the 4,5,6 results. Hits cancel each other out from high die down to low die. Casualties are recorded from low number to high number. Archers are casualties on a 4 or higher. Men-at-arms are casualties on a 5 or higher. Knights are only casualties on a 6. The game mechanics are: Combat rolls are opposed and compared. Count 4,5,6's as hits. Cancel hits (4,5,6) from high hits down to low hits. Casualties are scored from low to high. Archers die first. Men-at-arms die second. Knights die last. Once a side has lost one of its "battles" compare the leftover strength points. Archers are worth 1. Infantry worth 2. Knights are worth 3. Any difference of 3 points or greater and the low scoring army will retire the field and retreat one space on the map. The Game Turn Sequence: Sides roll a D6 with the High score moving his field army on the map first. Roll a D6 and count the spaces on the map as movement from the die roll. Add 2 spaces in your own Barony, subtract 2 in hostile country, neutral forces +0. Move the army vertical or horizontal by squares. When armies come in contact conduct a Commission of Array and dice out a battle. Town/Farm/open spaces count 1 point of movement. Woods count 2 spaces of movement. Mountainous spaces may not be moved through. Rivers may only be crossed at fords/bridges. Points possible for a Baron's army at full strength : 18. Smallest size force would be 3 points (you need at least one group of knights as the Baron's retainers and loyal troops.) Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #123 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com