Gripping Beast and Robert W. Jones launched their new Kickstarter this week for the 15mm-28mm scale Medieval skirmish wargame, Écorcheurs. You can dive in right now and get your hands on the rules, miniatures and more for starting with this game.

Écorcheurs // Gripping Beast & Robert W. Jones

For those who haven't seen Écorcheurs yet or didn't watch our Cult of Games Indie of the Week from a while ago, it's a game inspired by the Hundred Years' War and the battles between the English and the French (as well as the allies on both sides).

At the centre of the game's concept is that it has been designed for smaller tables, where you feature twenty to forty figures per side. Games are scenario-driven and narrative in nature, where it's not simply a case of butchering your enemy but instead a situation where you might be raiding enemy positions, fighting to secure supplies or fighting snapshots of larger battles in the skirmishes before the main forces meet.

Custom Dice // Écorcheurs

The game makes use of unique melee rules, which make use of the custom dice that you see above. The dice feature different faces which mimic the style of fighting from the period, including basic strikes and stuns but also fine feints and shoves, which turn your combats into a swirling dervish.

The idea was to emulate the real feel of Medieval combat, including the strength of armour and how the decision to charge in and fight hand-to-hand was not made lightly. You can use normal d6 to play Écorcheurs but Robert W. Jones was impressed with how the unique dice stopped people considering the odds and instead got into the cut and thrust of the moments playing out on the field of battle.

If you'd like to hear more about the game and see a demo in action, you can check out these videos below...

Playtest Game // Graham's Wargame Vault

Chatting with the Author // Medieval Wargame

The Rulebook will feature all of the rules you need for playing your games, suggested retinues for you to field, plus a full list of scenarios and a mini-campaign focused on Edward III's 1364 campaign that eventually led up to Crécy.

I'm really impressed by what Robert W. Jones has built with Écorcheurs and you can hear more about our thoughts on the intricacies of the game's mechanics in our Indie of the Week segment. I like the idea that it has been designed with narrative at the forefront and the melee rules sound great fun for brutal and cinematic clashes on the tabletop.

Miniatures & More

If you're seeking to dive into Écorcheurs, then the campaign, run by Gripping Beast, features chances to get the book plus accessories like the dice and tokens you'll need for your games. Plus, they have included miniatures to start you off in the game, covering the English and the French.

English Retinue // Gripping Beast

As there's no real army building in Écorcheurs, these retinues give you a good mix of different troop types that can be used to craft Retinues that suit different scenarios you might be playing. The figures all come from Front Rank and are available in metal and at 28mm scale.

French Retinue // Gripping Beast

French Men-At-Arms // Gripping Beast

As well as both the English and the French, you can also get your hands on a band of the Genoese who could be drafted in as mercenaries. The miniatures look great and the majority of them are going to be just one or two-piece figures, so you could get them built very quickly for use in your games.

Genoese Retinue // Gripping Beast

More from Front Rank Figures can be found HERE if you'd like to go and take a closer look at the range to see if something else takes your fancy. As well as all of the miniature-based rewards available as part of the campaign, there is also a Kickstarter Exclusive PDF for those who back Écorcheurs.

The Combat of the Thirty, 1351, will be available as a PDF later on down the line to all backers of the campaign...

"The Combat of the Thirty was one of the most famous chivalric pas d'armes, or deeds of arms' of the Hundred Years' War. During an interlude in the War of Breton Succession, two rival garrisons - one pro-English, the other pro-French - each put forward thirty of their best knights to fight for nothing more than chivalric kudos and bragging rights."

Sounds perfect for the kind of game that Écorcheurs is trying to bring to the table. I didn't even get to mention the awesome rules for traits for your commanders and the chivalric underpinning that drives your campaigns in Écorcheurs.

Make sure to go and check out the Kickstarter campaign for more information and the Écorcheurs website.

Are you tempted to give this game a go?