ECW: Time to make war

Firstly I want to set some basic criteria for the rules I want to use. As I prefer unit “bases” rather than individual figures I picked up a copy of Principles of War: Renaissance many years ago which use this concept.  This basing approach is common to other rule sets, such as Impetus or Kings of War and appeals to me.

So the standard base is 18cm wide for all arms. This also allows for a “diorama” base rather than just several rows of figures in rank & file formation.  That said in the ECW most Pike & Shot units would be in this more rigid format, but irregular troops and artillery lend themselves to some artistic discretion (see pictures).

There will be no fixed number of turns, unlike some games (e.g. Bolt Action 6 +1 turns, or KoW etc.) unless the scenario dictates this, so there does not need to be any restriction here.

It’s a “game” not a simulation, so I am not too concerned about ground scale, although the base frontage could be used for standard movement, something common in other rules, such as LaSalle or Impetus.  I am not yet fixed on this at the moment.

There will not be a wide range of weapon options. At this time musketry was still developing and all troops were similarly equipped.  So, essentially muskets will fire at “such and such” a distance, pistols similar, cannon split into 2/3 types, but that’s about it.  “Effective” ranges and long range should be considered as an additional factor as they are in most rule sets, but that’s as far as I want that consideration to go.  No multiple range options.

The biggest challenge for me is the command and control issue. There were some outstanding commanders in this period, but also some absolute duffers, add in frequent political and religious interference in army command and the variety of command levels increased. How to factor these in is something to think over.

Two final considerations; unit “morale” and unit “quality”.  Again the aim is to make this as straightforward as possible without oversimplification. At the moment to take the latter, I envisage three troop qualities: Raw, Trained, Experienced (I guess an Elite class is also possible, but very few units would be considered this good, so I’m not sure it’s worth doing, but I’ll see).

For morale I am thinking instead of what I refer to as “Cohesion” rather than morale alone.  This would also include their on-going ability to fight well, rather than simply their desire to remain on the battlefield.  As the cohesion reduces, the unit becomes less effective in combat, so needs to be reflected in the rules somehow. At a certain point when cohesion drops to a critical level, the unit simply routes.  This would be similar to the KoW approach with ‘wavering’ and ‘routing’ levels. Although exactly how that would be in practice, I’ll have to think through.

So, the plan is to take the rule concepts piece by piece and publish my thoughts as I go, concluding with sharing a final rule set once it’s done.  I will “borrow” ideas from many other rules sets, so I doubt any of the ideas will be truly unique, but you never know.

Comments and thoughts are of course welcome. Wish me luck.