Monthly Archives: February 2014

Rules published!

I have now posted a pdf version of my rules, which can be found on the Rules page of this website.

This is not a finished article. They are a modified version of the rules we used to play Vitoria last November, and as such are a perfectly decent and playable set of rules. One base is a brigade; one inch (25mm) represents 200 paces (150m), which we stretched to 267 paces/200m for Vitoria. One game period is about 30 minutes. Unit strength points are based on both numbers and quality, a bit like Grande Armée. My recommended base size is 50mm by 30mm, but you can use 50mm squares at a pinch .

I invite readers to download these rules and give them a go and let me know how they get on int he comments.

But I’m not happy with these rules, as they don’t fully fulfil the brief. Vitoria was a bit of a slog even with four players. No more of a slog than most rules (e.g. Grande Armée) would have been, but not on the spot. There are a few other things I don’t like as well – the role of artillery did not feel quite as I wanted, though the modifications should help.

So I’m contemplating a pretty major rewrite. The most radical change would be a move to a one-hour period, like Volley & Bayonet, as well as following those rules on strength points. This has pretty serious design implications, so it won’t be quick. I may produce more updated versions of my 30-minute period rules in the meantime.

Getting the rules to this stage has been a bit of a triumph, though. It has taken many versions to get to something decently playable, from the original evolution from Fast Play Grande Armée house rules. I owe a large debt to George Street, who helped me through the later iterations.