Gunpowder skirmish rules?

[Ithoriel]

Have not played them, and I have a bit of a problem getting my head around the card-playing combat mechanics.

There's also the fear (a personal phobia) that a "slow" player, who takes over a minute to roll dice, will reduce 5 cards of whist (with wildcard suits) to a whole evening of abyssal staring.

To be fair, when I ran my little hominid campaign one potential player, well known for "analysis paralysis," was not able to join in due to the evening we played on. It might be that that night was chosen for a reason.

Card play: Each combat lasts five rounds ..... unless one side is eliminated!!

Each player has their own card deck. Draw 1 card for each hit the unit has remaining, normally five if undamaged. Warriors are in groups of five and have a card per remaining warrior. Heroes are normally five hits all on their own.

Play one card per round.

If a player has no cards left to play in a round they draw the top card of their deck and count as Panicked!

Black cards are attack cards and count as one higher if the suit matches the weapon used. Long weapons Spades and short weapons Clubs.

Red cards  are defensive. Hearts let you change the suit of the next card you play, Diamonds the suit of the next card an opponent plays.

High card wins and takes effect.

Winner inflicts one hit on opponent or two hits if they score twice as much.

Simples!

[steve_holmes_11]

>> Red cards  are defensive. Hearts let you change the suit of the next card you play, Diamonds the suit of the next card an opponent plays.

This bit - Head Asploded about there.

I guess my point is "There must be an easier way".

[mmcv]

Sounds like it could use custom cards to explain the actions for each for the memory challenged!

[Ithoriel]

There's a QRF at the back of the rules to summarise the various options.

[steve_holmes_11]

I guess different mechanisms simply suit different branes.

Mine tends to cope well with all manner of die-based shenanigans, but checks out pretty early when it comes to card tricks.

[goat major]

Interesting, didn't realise they'd a horse and musket variant. Though they look more like a big multiplayer game when I'm likely to need something more for one or two players. Or at least adaptable to solo play. I'll look further into it though, cheers.

The main rulebook is now period/genre independent and has all you need for horse and musket. However you can still get pdfs of the H&M rules and FIW which add a few scenarios and extra items of flavour.

They work for 1 or 2 players very well. The randomisation from the cards helps with solo play. The mult player aspect comes from them easily being able to scale up to 6 or 7 players without everyone having to hand around d,

[mmcv]

The main rulebook is now period/genre independent and has all you need for horse and musket. However you can still get pdfs of the H&M rules and FIW which add a few scenarios and extra items of flavour.

They work for 1 or 2 players very well. The randomisation from the cards helps with solo play. The mult player aspect comes from them easily being able to scale up to 6 or 7 players without everyone having to hand around d,

Ah makes sense. Had a look at some reviews and do seem like simple and fun rules. The playing card mechanic does fit nicely into the wild west theme if the original game

[Leman]

Glory 1861 available from Caliver Books, looks like it might fit the bill. It is an ACW set in which you build and command a single regiment of 10 companies. The minimum size for a company is four bases (single figure in 28mm or indeed any scale, but can be multiple figures in smaller scales). The regimental commander has particular characteristics, as does his first and second in command. Each company has its own commander, again with characteristics, and the company itself has its own characteristics. The regiment is taken through its service life, be that 3months, one year, three years or duration. As it progresses you can train it to become more efficient, improve its armament and replace losses. It takes part in various regimental actions related to its particular part of a large battle or in small scouting, holding or rearguard actions. Its actions will always have a goal related to the battlefield it finds itself on ( which can be constructed from using the half battlefields in the rulebook - put two halves together to get your field). So, there's another possibility for C19th skirmishing.

[mmcv]

Glory 1861 available from Caliver Books, looks like it might fit the bill. It is an ACW set in which you build and command a single regiment of 10 companies. The minimum size for a company is four bases (single figure in 28mm or indeed any scale, but can be multiple figures in smaller scales). The regimental commander has particular characteristics, as does his first and second in command. Each company has its own commander, again with characteristics, and the company itself has its own characteristics. The regiment is taken through its service life, be that 3months, one year, three years or duration. As it progresses you can train it to become more efficient, improve its armament and replace losses. It takes part in various regimental actions related to its particular part of a large battle or in small scouting, holding or rearguard actions. Its actions will always have a goal related to the battlefield it finds itself on ( which can be constructed from using the half battlefields in the rulebook - put two halves together to get your field). So, there's another possibility for C19th skirmishing.

Thanks, I'll take a look into it. Sounds interesting.

[Jim Ando]

Wouldn't use another rules set apart from rebels and patriots and TMWBK for those periods now. You can even use them for big battles  if you tweak the figure scale 1-2 or 1-3 for 10mm and make each command roll for a brigade/ company . Love them .

Jim