Rules by Ian Godwin King of the Battlefield saw these rules advertised in the February issue of Miniature Wargames magazine They are £9 and are available from Pireme Publishing Ltd. Suite 10 Wessex House, St Leonard's Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH8 8QS or www.miniwargames.com There was no description so I went on line and found a reference to them on the SYWA site. The words quick play sprang out at me. I have played a number of SYW rules over the years and enjoyed most of them but I have been looking for a set which will allow me to field 50-60 units a side and still get a game finished in 3-4 hours. With fingers crossed I sent off for the rules. The scales The rules are written with 15mm in mind but conversion to other scales would be a simple matter. Ground scale is 1" = 75 yards. The system is alternative bounds with a pair of bounds equalling 15 minutes. Units represent a regiment of two battalions of line infantry, one battalion of light infantry or 4-5 squadrons of cavalry. Artillery is one battery. Basing for infantry and cavalry is three bases each 30mm x 30mm. Artillery is based 30mm by 40mm deep, with a limber stand of appropriate size. The author has two ranks of three infantry on the base with the exception of the third base which has two infantry and a battalion gun with crew. Cavalry are three to a base in a single rank. As long as both sides have the same basing it is not too important how you do it. I originally based my 6mms for Konieg Krieg using Irregular Miniatures so my base frontage is 20mm, which is one strip of figures wide - two strips to a base. I have been using KotB rules as printed but using a 2/3 scale ruler. The rules are 30 pages long, ring bound, with a colour cover. The writing style is casual, friendly, and very easy to read. The core of the rules are contained on two facing pages. I photocopied the two sheets and laminated them, as a separate play sheet is not included. As said previously this is an alternative bound system. Infantry in line move 4" and cavalry 10". If moving by column and more than 10" from a visible enemy, infantry can move 10" and cavalry 15" and there is a road bonus, so rapid movement is possible. This allows pre battle manoeuvres to be carried out quickly and easily. The two main mechanisms are the Control Test and Morale Test. The Control Test uses a D10, with modifiers, in order to attempt a charge, change of formation, manhandle artillery and so on. A roll can be made for one unit, or if the units are touching each other, a whole command. The morale test is used to resolve melee, firing and rout-throughs. This test uses a D8 as plus and a D6 as a minus with modifiers applied. Firing is quick and easy. One unit fires with additional units adding modifiers to the test. The defenders rolls for a morale test and if he fails he receives a waver marker. There are three classes of troops; 2nd class rout immediately. 1St class (the bulk of the infantry) can take one marker, and on receiving a second they rout. Guards can take two markers, routing on a third failure. Routed units flee a random distance causing morale checks if they interpenetrate friends. They then disperse. You may want to use the optional rule for smaller games where routers stay on table until rallied or they run off table. If artillery take a waver marker their limbers are removed as the civilian teamsters flee with the horses, stranding the guns. Melee is slightly more complicated until you have worked through a few. First the attacker takes a control test to charge. If he succeeds then in the melee phase the defender tests morale. If he does not rout the attacker checks morale. IF the defender took a waver marker in his test then he has to test a second time. This gives the attacker the chance to break through steady troops in one turn. There are specific rules for troops vs infantry or artillery bouncing off (probably not closing with them). For cavalry vs cavalry there is a more involved process if neither breaks the other. Each, starting with the defender, can feed in extra units into the back of the melee. If there is still no decision both sides retire a random distance with their backs to the enemy. This makes 2nd line support vital, both to cover your own troops or to catch the enemy in the rear. This makes for wild, fast and exciting combats. There is a generic army list giving maximum percentages of each class type allowed, together with a sample lists for 1000pt Prussian and Austrian armies. Finally, at the back is "wheely widget" for measuring wheels accurately, which can be photocopied and cut out. I found the rules easy to read but a bit vague or too abbreviated at times. For example under cavalry "weight" Trotters are mentioned as being the only cavalry with mounted fire capacity. For those not familiar with the period there is no explanation of what trotters are or when or who used them. Another example is in one of the diagrams illustrating forward, flank, and rear lines, there is a note saying that Prussian Dragoons can charge in column after "Fred issues his instructions". Again for new comers this is a bit too cryptic. I personally would also have liked to see sample national armies for those new to the period, as the points system is quite generic. I liked Age of Reason's percentage maximums for each troop type such as Dragoons, Cuirassiers etc. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from what is clearly stated in the introduction to be fast and simple rules, but this is only because I think these rules deserve to do well. Having said that I have greatly enjoyed the games I have had with these rules. I have tried a game with 50+ units a side and reached a conclusion in under 4 hours. We have refought Lobsitz and achieved a more or less historical outcome. The cavalry melees are exciting and fire combat burns up infantry quickly, so have a second line to plug the holes. After the first few games to get used to the rules I recommend using the optional order system as this encourages you to have a proper battle plan. The rules are simple enough that changes can be made to suit your tastes or to model the specific part of the century you are gaming in. The use of pikes is not mentioned for the early period but would be easy enough to add in. At the other end of the period the author says that he has used the rules for Napoleonic battles by adding in extra amendments. Remember the KISS Principle though. We started messing with extra rules to give national characteristics and more detail, before coming to our senses. It just slowed the game down without adding to the enjoyment. Prussians (or any nationality) do not get favourable treatment. If you want early war Prussian infantry to be superior then make more of them elite. This allows them to fire, melee and change formation better than regular troops. The only rule we added was a modifier for infantry moving and shooting. As the rules stand they favour aggressive action as infantry can move and fire without penalty. I recommend these rules for anyone wanting an enjoyable quick-play set with a good historical feel for the period. They are written in a friendly and enthusiastic style and after the first few moves you will have memorised the mechanics. Having seen my copy in use three other club members have sent off for them. These will be my Eighteen-Century rules of choice for some time to come! Back to MWAN # 123 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com