My first game

Early this summer I was invited to play a game using the Medieval Warfare (MW) Rules (SAGA Publications, copyright 2001, Terry Gore) at a friend's house. Since I had played “American Rev” with them before, I decided to give it a try. At the game I was handed a Quick Reference Sheet (QRS) and told I was the CiC of the Hungarian side. While it was a lot of fun I believe we lost. After the game I got hold of an old set of rules and the latest QRS. For me the best part of the rules was the Army Lists in the back.

Selecting an army

I joined the Yahoo Discussion Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoreAMwar) and got the latest rules updates. Terry even had some snapshot army lists for different battles throughout history. Via the Discussion Group I was able to order the latest rulebook from Terry.

The Army Lists for Medieval Warfare contain the description of the troops, their armor, weapons, morale, number of figures per stand, cost per stand along with minimum and maximums per army. Also included with the lists is some background information, tactics used and even historical enemies. Selecting my army to build was easy.

My background is of Polish Heritage and I have numerous books on the Armor and Weapons used. I even have some personal history (ancestors) at some of the more interesting battles. I had several ancestors take part in the battle of Grunwald in 1410. And as luck would have it one of Terry's Snapshots was of this famous battle, both the Teutonic Knights and the Polish/Lithuanian side. Historicon was set to be a battle between 525 point armies. So a little adjustment to the snapshot army was required. The question as to what army to model? Solved!

Painting

Next came ordering the figures. Again back to the Discussion Group and my friends whom introduced me to the game. The 'Net is a beautiful thing. Five days later the first figures arrived and the army was started. Being an engineer, painting is not my strong suit especially horses. To spend time with my wife, Karen, and help me out she agreed to paint the horses I would need. I only ordered a few so I could see the figures before spending a lot of money on ones I did not like.

Before she finished painting the initial set, I had ordered the rest of the figures I needed. Over 70 mounted figures! We spent a good two months painting. I forgot to mention to her that I had entered the yet unpainted army in a tournament at Historicon in July.

1st Tournament

At Historicon my Late Medieval Poles (1410 Polish) were first pitted against an army of Later Crusaders. I gave them a good run for their money. I used the Lithuanian SC to out flank him and drove home the attack with my Knights in Full Plate. The pictures of this battle can be downloaded from the Yahoo Discussion Group. After the game I asked Paul Dobbins what I could have done better. He had several suggestions, as this was only my third game ever using this rule system.

His comments were very helpful. With them I was able to win my next round against Alex Aimette's Albigensian Crusaders. Alex then enlightened me as to some tactical advice concerning the size of my units and the breaking point of the army. Armed with his great tactical advice I was able to tie the last round against Jevon Garrett's Medieval Indians. My mainly mounted army did have a little bit of problem with his elephants but my use of generals in close combat along with the full plate of my knights held their own. Jevon and myself tied for first place. It came down to die roll to determine the winner. I had only one really bad die roll that day. You can guess which one it was! 2nd Place is not bad for a first timer. All the games were fun and the opponents were great! I was awarded the NASAMW prize for the “Most Historical Army” but the credit goes to my wife who painted all the great looking horses.

In all, the Medieval Warfare Rule System made for very playable and fun games. At Historicon I picked up several books and additional figures to round out my army with great looking banners and artillery. Since returning from the tournament I have introduced the rule system to several of my friends. In addition I am looking to do a demo game or two at a local hobby shop. I found MW to be a rule system that works and am now showing it to others.

1st Tournament

At Historicon my Late Medieval Poles (1410 Polish) were first pitted against an army of Later Crusaders. I gave them a good run for their money. I used the Lithuanian SC to out flank him and drove home the attack with my Knights in Full Plate. The pictures of this battle can be downloaded from the Yahoo Discussion Group. After the game I asked Paul Dobbins what I could have done better. He had several suggestions, as this was only my third game ever using this rule system.

His comments were very helpful. With them I was able to win my next round against Alex Aimette's Albigensian Crusaders. Alex then enlightened me as to some tactical advice concerning the size of my units and the breaking point of the army. Armed with his great tactical advice I was able to tie the last round against Jevon Garrett's Medieval Indians. My mainly mounted army did have a little bit of problem with his elephants but my use of generals in close combat along with the full plate of my knights held their own. Jevon and myself tied for first place. It came down to die roll to determine the winner. I had only one really bad die roll that day. You can guess which one it was! 2nd Place is not bad for a first timer. All the games were fun and the opponents were great! I was awarded the NASAMW prize for the “Most Historical Army” but the credit goes to my wife who painted all the great looking horses.

In all, the Medieval Warfare Rule System made for very playable and fun games. At Historicon I picked up several books and additional figures to round out my army with great looking banners and artillery. Since returning from the tournament I have introduced the rule system to several of my friends. In addition I am looking to do a demo game or two at a local hobby shop. I found MW to be a rule system that works and am now showing it to others.