Tactical Rules and Campaign System from 3000 BC to 1492 AD. Written by Ed Teixeira, published by Breakthrough Games. The author introduces us to these rules with the promise that they are a departure from the usual rule systems that we are familiar with, taking control away from the player, the events on table being driven by action and reaction. This naturally got my interest, although it has to be said, it’s a promise I’d seen before. My Romans were retrieved from a friend, my Carthaginians fetched off the shelf and I sat down to do battle.
The rules themselves are clearly presented in a 50 page A4 booklet with a Black and White card cover and two QR sheets. The set up and tactical rules take up the first 14 pages or so, with plenty of examples and boxed notes. There follows rules and notes for post-battle casualties, tactics, a FAQ and around four pages of campaign rules, using the Spanish Reconquista as an example. The final section of the booklet (around half) is of army lists. The Rules requirements are certainly not restrictive, in 15mm a surface of three by four feet is adequate, and with a variable unit size, being made up of one, two or four DBA compatible elements according to taste, the size of armies are comfortable. I settled for the two element units. A further requirement is for some method of marking ‘hits’ for each unit. Units are described by their ‘Battlefield Purpose’, e.g. Melee or Missile units, and are further defined by Combat Values and Armour classes, as well as special characteristics for some troop types. For example, Romans using the Pilum have ‘Combination Weapons’ which afford them a bonus in melees. Using the provided army lists to decide upon the make up of ones army is done by taking a core group of units (In my case 11 for the Carthaginians and 7 for their Roman adversaries) which are predetermined and rolling a number of ‘Recruiting rolls’ to generate the balance. This generally doubles the size of the force although the size of game can be altered by deciding on the number of these rolls. This was a mechanism that I enjoyed as a solo player, as it added a real degree of uncertainty as to what kind of armies I would be dealing with without, it seems, creating anything too jokey or that didn’t feel right.
A set of rules help to determine the attacker and defender, the choice of terrain and deployment and the general has a ‘War Rating’ characteristic generated. The army lists assign each army a Tactical doctrine and by rolling on charts at this point the solo player is able to determine the initial deployment and tactical approach to the game. For example ‘Double Envelopment’ or ‘Feigned Flight’. It is good to see these kind of developments being presented within a rule set, but most regular readers of Lone Warrior will not be unfamiliar with these methods, many good examples being presented here in almost every issue. In order to activate units, the leaders use their War rating. Once units are set in motion, they keep going until forced to stop. I found the turn sequence took some getting to grips with at first, in that a turn lasts as long as it takes to fully play out a chain of events for each unit in action. For example, a unit testing to charge another, the charger being tested, the results of that test, the charged unit testing, the results of that test, the melee, (if firing is involved, the charger taking a ‘fired on’ test), the results of that melee, the tests for both sides for being involved in a melee, any further movement including pursuit, which could mean testing to charge again...etc. then moving on to the players next unit.
This is done in alternate turns, playing across the table from each player’s right, so a turn can take quite some time, with a lot happening. I found this focus on events quite an interesting way to play through the game, with the fate of my units almost decided for me as reactions to each test prescribed. The game can either be fought out until one side has no units left on the table, or until the players mutually agree. There is then a system to work out casualties from post-battle pursuit, a useful tool for campaigns. Overall, I found Warrior Kings to be an interesting set of rules both to read through and play. Despite a number of examples, QR sheets and a FAQ section, I did still find the odd frustrating ambiguity at first, although once I’d got into the ‘thinking’ I could usually reason an approach. A genuinely different approach to the flow of the game, rather than just the nuts and bolts of melee and firing, was refreshing and certainly useful to a solo player, but I can’t say that the result was entirely to my tastes. I was quite taken with the challenges brought about by the method of troop selection from the army lists, never being one for choosing ‘super’ armies, rather those that interest me. I am not a fan of playing to the last figure on the table so as a solo player; I would simply have to decide when things had come to a conclusion. The ‘solo’ rules for deployment/tactics are workable but a little disappointing. The campaign presented does look like fun, very minimal paperwork and basically a setting for fighting battles. I would recommend Warrior Kings to the collector of rules and suggest that there are some very good ideas in here. There are a number of advantages, such as the scale and flow of the game and I dare say that I will try them again. Unfortunately though, I’m still waiting for the next great thing.
A Punic Wars Game played using Warrior Kings
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