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File Leader by Peter Berry, Parizan Press, available from Caliver Books Reviewed by David Heading |
What size were most actions in the English Civil War? Of course everyone knows the big ones - Marston Moor, Edgehill, Naseby and so on. But what was truly vital was control of territory. That was carried out at the company and troop level. And this is the only set of rules I know of which does that in a sensible way.
The rules focus on command - company command, with troops represented in an approximate 1:10 scale. As with most of Mr Berry's rules, playability is the rule and they are not for 'rules lawyers' or folk who like everything taped down.
You basically get foot, horse and guns, armed with the usual assortment of weapons, and your companies are graded as raw, trained or veteran. Combat is decided by checking a factor on a table adding and subtracting various factors and comparing the result against 2D6. A 'hit' results in either a figure being removed from a tray (6 to a tray for foot, 3 for horse) or a recoil.
As I said, the focus is on command. An officer has a command range and a command span - a unit is commanded if it is in the oficers range, and he can deal a number of units up to his span. Units out of command generally hang around doing little. Trays may be joined in a 'brigade' under the command of a given officer, who concentrates exclusivly on that job.
The best bit of the rules are the officer incidents. Each turn an officer rolls 2D6, and if a double 1 is rolled, something has happened. Another 2D6 are rolled to decide exactly what. The incidents may range from falling over your sword, getting rusted into your armor or heroic and inspiring (or embarassing and demoralising) death. Great fun.
In sum, recommended for those smaller ECW actions, which you should be having if you are playing ECW properly!
