(Review) Bolt Action v Secrets of the Third Reich: Rules Duel

I thought I might make this the first in a series of rule "double header" reviews.

Yes, Secrets of the Third Reich is technically "weird" WW2 with werewolves, undead and mecha - but I picked these games based on their similarities - both are based on Warhammer 40K mechanics.
(Also, I thought I'd already reviewed Chain of Command which is radically different than both - it turns out I haven't, though I kinda discussed it here.)

The Shiny
Bolt Action has a nice 250-page hardback rulebook with excellent production standards, with glossy goodness on a par with the very best quality rule books.  Although quite a solid offering,  SoTR's smaller softcover just doesn't measure up, with some hit-and-miss art. Both lack a thorough index at the back for finding things.
Winner: Bolt Action has shiny in spades

Initiative & Activation
Bolt Action is streets ahead of its 40K ancestor - you draw two colours of dice from a cup, and the player whose dice it is assigns that dice to a unit, with the face up side showing its order - you can choose Fire, Advance+Fire, Run, Ambush (overwatch), Rally, and Down (no fire, take cover, defence bonus).

In SoTR the top ranked officers "dice off" using their Leadership. The winner gets to choose who activates first, and players then take turns activating units, which is a bit more predictable than BA. Sergeants and officers have a "command range" and can issue orders Regroup/Form-up, Rally, Call off-board strikes or paratroops, ignore suppression, overwatch, and hold (save activation for later in the turn.)  They can also sneak short distances to avoid enemy overwatch fire. 
Winner: Tie. Both have pros and cons, but avoid the dreaded IGOUGO and are a distinct step up from their GW forebears.

 Chalk and cheese? Or simply two different colours of chalk?

Shooting - BA
All bar the most inexperienced troops hit on a 3+, but I like how the "defensive save" is based on the quality of the troops you are firing at - a simple way to emphasize troop skill (and probably copied from Flames of War).  Any shots that hit add "pin" markers that lower a units firepower and morale (as well as forcing it to "test" to execute orders it could normally do automatically.)

Bolt Action almost directly copies its ranges from 40K, accordingly rifles have maximum of 24", SMGs 12"and LMGs 30".  This is a huge immersion breaker for me as it just "looks" wrong and out of scale in 28mm - a 1" tall guy shooting 24" gives a scale range of about 50 yards for a rifle.  Yes, I know about "effective"ranges and how you need to "compress" ranges in some situations and some games, but this isn't one of them.  Being able to stand 25"away from a fire team in the open, immune from enemy fire which is somehow plopping 1"short, is just silly, and a sign of lazy game balancing. (Leading also to the well documented example of how forces at each end of the Warlord's Arnhem Bridge set are immune to each others' fire). 

Shooting - SoTR 
Whilst weapons have "effective" ranges, SoTR correctly points out that most small arms range would exceed the games table and thus rifles and LMGs have unlimited range on the tabletop.  Most shots hit on a 4+ , modified for cover etc like Bolt Action.  The "save" is not based on the target's skill, but if they are wearing body armour (this IS a Weird War II game), though you could easily change this with a house rule.

Troops are not pinned but "suppressed" which means they move to cover and go prone, with penalties to firepower.  There is a little more detail/complication when troops are hit - they can be "down" as well as being killed outright.   Downed models can crawl about but don't contribute until tended by a medic.  SoTR also allow units to lay down suppressing fire which don't damage but have a high chance of pinning down targets.  Overwatch (reaction fire) also works more effectively than BA's rules.  Winner: SoTR. Which is the "historical" set here?  BA's Nerf-like weapon ranges cede it victory by default.

Close Combat
BA uses similar rules as for shooting, except their are no cover saves and soldiers usually get only one dice each (more if they have special weapons). Defenders who haven't yet activated can react by hosing the attackers with fire before they close in.  Once in combat, attackers shoot, then defenders. The side with the most casualties is wiped out. 

In SoTR both fighters roll d6 and add modifiers, with the winner scoring wounds on the loser, like 40K 2nd Edition.  Terrifying monsters can really shred normal troops if they get in close. Unlike BA, the losers can fight on if they pass a morale test.
Winner: Tie. Both are simple and do the job they were intended for.

Morale
If a Bolt Action unit loses half its men from one round of fire, it must test 2D6 vs its leadership or be removed from the game. Units are also removed by losing close assaults. Units can collect increasing amount of pin markers which must be removed by pausing for a "rally" action.

Units in SoTR who take losses test 2D6 vs their leadership or retreat away from the enemy/towards their board edge.  Units who are 'disorganized' can remove their status by pausing for a "rally" action.
Winner: Tie.  Both pretty similar, in slightly different flavours.  BA is more decisive/streamlined (a fail means eliminating the unit) and SoTR is more granular, but Bolt Action troops can collect pin counters.

 Secrets of the Third Reich 'scales down' and handles smaller groups of troops quite well - here two British fire teams are ambushed by ghouls

Army Builder
Bolt Action has a 40K-style force creation list and it brings with it the same meta-gaming mentality of cheesiness - particularly annoying in a 'historical' game. You really have to approach Bolt Action with the mindset that it is a 40K game with a WW2 skin rather than a genuine attempt at historical warfare.  I won't discuss Bolt Action's balance issues here - I'm sure there's plenty of stuff on the net already about how things can be "gamed" -  but even casually reading it I find it interesting that one faction gets a 17% bonus to moving shots for all its infantry:  under difficult conditions this could mean "to hit"odds of 17% vs 3% for everyone else - i.e. 6x better.  Even though they cost the same as any other faction's infantry. This is more disturbing given Bolt Action seems set on being seen as a "competitive" rules set.

SoTR is restricted only to set Weird War units, but given Bolt Action's casual approach to realism you could probably include a SoTR unit in Bolt Action and not notice the difference.  It also allows for min-maxing cheesiness.  However, a big shout out to its Vehicle Builder - which allows you to "stat out" any model in your collection or even make your own (handy for adding awesome T-43 or DUST mecha to your games.)
Winner: Neither, really - both systems can be "gamed". But SoTR gets the nod due to its versatile and fun vehicle builder.

Special Rules
Bolt Action appears to only have a half dozen but they're found in all the army-specific codexes.  SoTR collects them all in its base rulebook, and its Doomsday supplement.   Naturally, SoTR allows for a range of "weird" units like undead, vampires, mechs and werewolves. 
Winner:  SoTR - because there's less of them in the long run (and most are simply to describe the weird units - which is fair enough), and you don't need to spend $250 on all the codexes army books to get them all. 

Vehicles
Bolt Action has pretty sensible and streamlined vehicle rules that are an extension of the infantry rules - vehicles can be pinned (i.e. reverse away from incoming fire) although armoured vehicles can ignore small arms. Scout vehicles can "react"to enemies by making a bonus move to escape (which seems pretty powerful). Shooting works the same as infantry, but hits on armour need to beat 7+ (making them impervious to small arms) - heavy weapons thus have bonuses to allow them to beat this.  Shots can stun, immobilise, or set on fire vehicles as well as destroying them. 

SoTR also has sensible vehicle rules that are an extension of the infantry rules (and even share the same table) - with small arms being unable to pierce armoured vehicles but sometimes luck out against very light armour or power armour.  Shots that penetrate force the crew to pass a "bail out" Leadership test, and unlike the linear BA damage system hit locations are more detailed - you roll 2d6 on one of four penetration charts depending on where you hit the target - front, side, rear or turret.  Mecha have their own charts.  This is one area SoTR is distinctly more complex than Bolt Action.  Probably a bit too detailed for my liking.
Winner: Bolt Action has faster, simpler rules which I prefer, though SoTR has more variety and an excellent vehicle builder.

Scenarios & Other Stuff
Premeasuring - SoTR says (and I agree) that wargames are not a depth-perception test (carpenters should have no especial advantage), and allows pre-measuring. Bolt Action makes you guess (which, given the very short range of rifles, means shots will be wasted, magically be dissipating harmlessly 1" from a target 25"away.)

Bolt Action comes with more scenarios (6) whilst SoTR has a measly three.  BA also has specific artillery rules whereas SoTR allows commanders to call in off-board strikes. 

Both games have nation-specific rules to add flavour i.e.  SoTR Soviets may fire into friendlies in close combat, and their kommisars may fire on their own units to restore "discipline." In BA, Soviets get a free unit of inexperienced "cannon fodder"infantry but get to re-roll morale checks that would otherwise destroy the unit.
Winner: Tie. Both have pros and cons. 

Secrets of the Third Reich's vehicle creation rules allows you to include awesome M.a.K, DUST and AT-43 mecha in the game...

TL:DR
To compare it them 40K from which both descended: SoTR is 40K 2nd Ed, and Bolt Action is 40K 3rd Ed+.

This means Bolt Action follows the Games Workshop trend of excessively streamlined rules, sacrificing realism for quick "pick up"games.  It also has nothing innovative at all as it copies all its systems directly from 40K or FoW (not surprising, given the authors). It's a quick, casual game, which uses mechanics derived from space fantasy with a WW2 "skin." The 40K-style army builder encourages cheesiness and gaming the  "system" - which is sure to happen given the target audience of Bolt Action is ex-GW gamers.   It also follows the Games Workshop routine of releasing "codexes" or army books which add in special rules for particular forces, some of which are more advantageous than others, and are more "gamey" than historical.  This game is designed to encourage collecting different armies through "FOTM" codexes, and is aimed squarely at converting 40K players to historical games (which it does very well.)

Secrets of the Third Reich, ironically enough, is somewhat more realistic, given its "weird"focus, though its gameplay is also pretty simple and borrows heavily from 40K. It also has cheesiness, though this is somewhat more to be expected from an alternate-WW2 setting set in 1948, where undead, mecha and weird tech runs rampant. I feel it also "scales down" better - you could have a fun game using only a couple of squads - like the older style 2nd ed 40K and Rogue Trader. There is also only one expansion (Doomsday) vs the dozen or so army books available for Bolt Action.

Recommended:  Since this is a "comparison" article I'll leave you to make up your own mind.  That said, while I happily use SoTR for Weird WW2, for historical games, I'd eschew Bolt Action altogether: Chain of Command gives a more accurate depiction of WW2 as opposed to "space fantasy WW2".

Pig Wars - Dark Ages Skirmish Rules Review

"When men were men, and pigs were... money."

This is an older (early 90s?) ruleset which is well recommended, but it used to be rather hard to order (one of those, join a yahoo group, learn a secret handshake, solve three riddles, each more fiendish than the last, and then ....) but anyway, it's now on Wargames Vault for download.   Which is good.

I'm aware there are still miniatures companies who exist without online ordering facilities (sometimes grudgingly responding to an email) - and they continue to exist without my money (or cheque, or envelope of coins, barter or however they get their hard earned).  I know, someone will say "that's how we did it in the old days" but wake up people, it's 2014, not 1964. Back in the old days I typed with a tough old typewriter that required 50-lb keystrokes, and also required me to use whiteout or rewrite the whole page if I misspelled a word. Should I be grateful if someone forced me to use it again instead of my PC?  //rant

Yes, there are tables in the game showing the best way to loot a pig...

..anyway, where was I? Yes, Pig Wars.  I was supposed to be reviewing it. 

It seems to be designed for convention-style games where you have half a dozen different players controlling warbands in a battle. A gamesmaster is recommended. Yes, that's old-school.

The Shiny
Single column pdf. The main rules are on the first ~20 pages - the remaining 50 or so are scenario examples (with quite a lot of nice colour pictures of games in action), rules variations, and a bit of historical background.  The Quick Reference Sheet has most of the relevant info and you could pretty much play off that.

Unit Classes
These are unarmoured, partially armoured (shield OR chainmail); or fully armoured (both).  When attacked from the rear or unshielded side minis count as the armour class below.  Morale goes from 0 (untrained) to 3 (elite/leader).

Initiative
A turn consists of:
1. Rally/Move
2. Shoot
3. Melee (mutual)
4. Morale checks
Pretty much IGOUGO, in other words. 

Movement
Speed depends on armour.  Difficult going slows you down, roads speed you up.  The only thing out of the ordinary is that 3+ guys can form a "shield wall" which slows you up but is great for defence with significant bonuses.  Charging adds +1d6"movement in a straight line, 40K style.   Minis are based individually but stay within 12"of their standard.   Skirmishers can "react"to a charge by withdrawing beyond range.

Shooting
Pig Wars uses playing cards, not dice.  Draw cards to hit.  For example, at close range all red suits hit, but at long range only diamonds hit.   Players can attempt to "save" hits - i.e. an unarmoured figure saves on a Ace-10, and a fully armoured figure on a Ace-6. 

Melee
Players add their morale (i.e. veteran = 2) plus weapon bonus (Charging, spear = 2) to a card (a "4"for example). If the player wins by a certain margin, he kills his enemy (i.e. 1 for unarmoured, up to 4 for fully armoured - and even more if in a shield wall.)  Spearmen can fights in rows, and add their weapon bonuses to the front rank.  Leaders get 3 wounds.

Morale
Units test when they take significant losses in a turn, or lose a leader/standard. If they fail to get a certain score they fall back from the nearest enemy or even rout entirely.

The Hold Card
Players can pick up one red face card/ace and keep it to play later for morale checks or leader melee, or for a leader to counter missile fire.  It gives either a free "hit"or ""kill" to the leader. Basically, it is a "resource" heroes can spend. A lot like Might from LOTR;SBG.  Jokers can be added in as extra hole cards with special effects like shooting bows twice. 

Variations
There are rules variations for Roman games. Also rules for Greeks/Persians. It makes sense as both used a verson of the "shieldwall"tactic. In the bibliogtaphy I learned about the 1960s movies Alfred the Great and The Warlord which I'll now be hunting down. 

There are also rules for 20 or so "Norn"cards that add heroic twists/traits such as a making a warrior "beloved of the gods" and allowing him to re-choose cards, being swift of foot, getting special armor etc.  I'd definitely add these into my game as they add fun flavour.

There is also a late Medieval variant for the 100 Years War/War of the Roses. This adds the armour categories "partial plate"and "full plate" and relevant movement distances.  There are no shieldwalls but troops can be "formed up" or in schiltron formations. Powerful longbows and crossbows are added, along with handguns that have a morale effect.  There are even cannons.

TL:DR
The rules have aged well, but I don't see the point in using cards. In fact, the rules seem remarkably similar in feel to GW's LoTR:SBG (that's not a put-down, as I think they are rather good). Pig Wars doesn't offer anything over SAGA though as there is no campaign-progression system - which is why personally I'll continue to use a mod of LoTR rather than either rulebook. A solid but unspectacular set of rules which offers nothing different from the "usual"in terms of gameplay.

Recommended: Yes.  Sound rules, even though I find the playing cards a bit unneccessary/gimmicky. However, I wouldn't bother if you already have a copy of LoTR:SBG as there are plenty of medieval/dark age house rules for it on the net for free, as well as campaign systems.

Bernard Cornwall - Saxon Chronicles - Gaming Inspiration

I recently reread the entire series after the recent release of The Empty Throne (book #8), and that is indeed why boxes of Saxon Thegns, Viking Herdman and Dark Ages Peasants are winging their way (free postage, whoopee!) from Warlord UK.

Bernard Cornwall is solely to blame for why I spent $100 on GB Plastics from Warlord. That's the story I told my wife, and I'm sticking to it.

Bernard Cornwall is probably THE premier writer of historical fiction alive,and I doubt there's many guys over a certain age who aren't aware of his Napoleonic Sharpe series.  Though I enjoyed the TV series (Spoiler: Sean Bean is the hero and he DOES NOT die, for once!) I've only read a handful of the two dozen Sharpe books, and (heresy to some) I regard it (along with the ACW Starbuck Chronicles) as his least strong work, with some rather "by the numbers" writing at times.

Not so his Saxon Chronicles series. Beginning with The Last Kingdom they detail the adventures of Uhtred, a dispossessed Saxon, raised by Danes, who ends up fighting for King Alfred the Great.  Uhtred retells the stories in his old age, and his wry awareness of his youthful arrogance, violence and stupidity (mixed with a certain low cunning) make him a surprisingly likeable character.  The stories are interesting, with historic battles woven thoughout Uhtred's life, and the battle scenes are excellent. It seamlessly blends personal narrative with the sweep and scope of major events and battles, and gives a good "feel"for the time.  In an era when writers seem to compete to turn out bloated 800+ page books, the Saxon series are excellent compact storytelling of airport-novel size.  In addition, the small-scale skirmishes and raids that permeate the series make for excellent gaming material, be it for Saga, Pig Wars (which has recently been released on Wargames Vault - I have a review pending), or a LOTR:SBG hybrid.

I find it ironic that it's cheaper for me to buy GB Plastics from Warlord than their own website.

$35 for a 44-man box works out at ~80c for a figure - that's about the same as most 15mm metals.

This series has converted me into a full-blown Cornwall fan and I have since enjoyed the Grail series (100 Years War) and the Warlord (Arthurian) stories - the latter of which I intend to re-read, with an eye to the Two Fat Lardies Dux Brittannium ruleset.

That said, this is all about the Saxon series. If all you know of Cornwall is Sharpe, you're missing out on his best work. Even if you only have a passing interest in Saxons and Vikings, go out and grab these books.  Though they can be read in any order, starting with The Last Kingdom will allow you ot better appreciate the events and characters of later books as friendships, feuds and events can form threads through the series.

If The Last Kingdom TV series can match the Sharpe series it'll be very watchable.

Note: The Last Kingdom has started filming as a 8x60min BBC mini-series, in November.  The guys who do Downton Abbey will be making it, so it should have solid production values.  I just hope they don't skimp on the awesome battles from the books.

Novels of Ancient Greece - Gaming Inspiration

I've recently taken advantage of Warlord's sensibly priced plastics and reasonable postage to indulge in a little ancients.  This was inspired by re-reading some of the historical novels in my collection, all of which I can heartily recommend.  In order of recommendation:

#3. The Macht Trilogy (Ten Thousand, Corvus, Kings of the Morning) - Paul Kearney
Whilst this is not up to the standard of his terrific conquistadors-turks-werewolves Monarchies of God series, this is loosesly based on Xenephon's Anabasis (the "Ten Thousand"title is a bit of a giveway).  This follows Rictus, the story's protagonist, as the Macht (Greeks) fight their way home through the lands of the Great King.  The follow-up novels occur years later, as Rictus fights alongside Corvus (Alexander the Great) a charismatic war leader who forges the fractured city-states into a single powerful nation.  It is labelled "fantasy" but there is 0% magic except for the fabled "Curse of God" armour, which they no longer have the knowledge to make.  Whilst most fantasy authors waffle on and on (where are the editors these days!) Kearney's novels are short, sharp and sweet, and he writes a good battle scene which gamers will appreciate.  Recommended - 4 stars.

Paul Kearney writes good action scenes and his stories are "tight" with little waffle. Although not his best work, this is still a very good series.

#2. The Long War series (Killer of Men, Marathon, Poseidon's Spear, The Great King) - Christian Cameron
Written by that most bizarre of species, a historical re-enactor, this series is actually good. Very good. Whilst the novel has a lot of interesting detail about Greek life, it is woven though the story rather than dumped on you - as I first feared - re-enactors (perilously close to LARPers) - scare me more than Napoleonic wargamers with their anal-retentive OCD....  Anyway, the hero is retelling his story as an old man, and his wry manner helps characterize the story. Arimnestos and his adventures covers many key battles of the time, from battles against Thebes and Spartans, to Marathon.  The battle scenes are excellent. I've just bought The Great King which takes the timeline to Thermopylae. An excellent series, in the top echelon of historical fantasy. Recommended - 4.5 stars.

I was surprised just how good this series was. Cameron's other "Tyrant" series is nowhere near as strong.

#1. Troy Series (Lord of the Silver Bow, Shield of Thunder, Fall of Kings) - David Gemmell
The last series written by the legendary David Gemmell before his untimely death, this is arguably his finest work.  It follows the Fall of Troy though the eyes of Heliakaon (Aeneas) and features an experienced author at the height of his powers. If you are a David Gemmell fan, you have read these already, and if you are part of the unlucky 10% of fantasy readers who haven't read a Gemmell book, rush out and get these books.  Like the Macht trilogy, this is listed as fantasy but is very light on magic bar the usual prophecies which feature in Greek texts of the time.  An excellent series, with interesting characters and twists, whilst retaining the familiar Illiad plot.  Excellent action, in a world that is harsh and gritty without being overly grimdark.  Recommended - 5 stars

Gemmell's finest work. His wife Stella finished the final book after his death, and did a great job of it.

Edit: I just found the "Gates of Fire"by Stephen Pressfield in my collection, so I'll update this list after I've re-read it. From memory it was solid and well-researched, about life in Sparta, and ended in a impressive account of the battle of Thermopylae.

(Rant) The .303 Lee-Enfield that only fires 50 metres...

Like all GW-ripoffs with a strong commercial backing, I can tell Bolt Action is going to take off.   So I'm thinking of adding to my Weird War II legions with some "normal" WW2 28mm in case the natives ever stop playing Warmachine.  But I've hit a snag.

Scale
I'm not a scale purist by any means, but I DO find it jarring in Bolt Action when a rifle fires only 24".  They say it is the "effective range" but it seems a bit silly that models are completely immune from enemy fire outside that range. In most games we would call that the "extreme range."

To put that in perspective, if we assume a standard 25mm+/1" tall model stands 6 feet, then 24" is equal to  6 x 24 feet (144 feet) - or a tad under 50 metres.  So we have a Lee Enfield .303 rifle that has absolutely no effect at all beyond 50m.  Belt feds machine guns like MG42s shoot a whopping 75 scale metres.

Given the guns do not have any effect at all past that point, that's not actually "effective range" - that's like bullets are hitting an invisible wall and vanishing. Maybe if it was a smoothbore "Brown Bess" musket...  ...but seriously.

Place two 28mm WW2 models 25" apart. Eyeball it.  Now tell yourself "they can't shoot at each other at all as it isn't effective range."  Feels silly, doesn't it?  I know scales are "compressed" to fit games on the tabletop, but some things are just stupid.

The target is outside "effective" range.  Actually, the target is beyond the maximum weapon range because he is "effectively" immune from harm. 50m? I can kick a football that far. Heck, I could probably hit him with a well-aimed rock...

This looks like a plausible combat situation....

But no, the bullets will magically vanish about a yard from him. Phew, he's safe! 


Movement vs Firing
This is, naturally, because Bolt Action has borrowed 90% of its mechanisms from Warhammer 40K and its variants (which include Flames of War and LOTR) - where the the 6" move, 24" rifle/bolter/bow range is already a staple.  Perhaps it was the sci fi setting, where they fire handwavium bolter projectiles that may well vanish at 50m, but I don't recall it bothering me back in the day.  Perhaps I've become a grumpy old man. 

Balancing weapon range to unit movement (by radically reducing it so much as to be egregiously out of scale) is one way of balancing the ratio of "fire" vs "maneuver." I'd argue it is a lazy way. If this is only way someone can balance the lethality of firearms in their game, I'd say they are a pretty poor game designer.  

But wait! Didn't you just slam modern naval games as "boring" due to the massive weapon ranges and absence of meaningful maneouvre?  Aren't you advocating the same thing here with "long" gun ranges?  Won't people just massacre each other from their deployment zones?

Two reasons - a radar-guided Exocet (whilst it may not be as accurate as the manufacturer claims) can hit far more accurately and reliably at its extreme range than an infantrymen (under a lot of stress) can hit at his extreme range, with bullets.  If the rules have infantrymen is hitting models on the opposite side of the table at 70% accuracy with each bullet, then yes, we have a problem.  But again, that is a game design fault.

The second reason is something largely absent from most naval games - terrain.  Again, I'd suggest this is often a 40K carryover - a hill, a small bunch of trees, and a small ruin on a 4x6ft table is "normal" or even generous, in 40K.  But I'd argue if players are playing with relatively open tables, devoid of interest, their games will likely be somewhat dull anyway - and not because of the rules. 

Terrain should be plentiful - both blocking line of sight, and giving benefits to the safety of units (cover "saves" or negative shooting modifiers).  Terrain adds interest, and layers of decision-making.  Occupying certain terrain becomes a desirable objective in itself, and forms a part of the tactical "puzzle" a player has to solve on the way to victory.  A well-set up board would make it unlikely players could even see to the enemy deployment zones. Lack of terrain is a player fault.  People who think terrain "gets in the way" of a game have, I think, missed a key point of wargaming.

This is evidently not an "impossible" design challenge as already we have an increasing amount of games (such as Force on Force and Chain of Command) where small arms range is unlimited on the tabletop - giving their rifles a maximum range of up to (gasp) 72" (432 feet or a  little under 150m) on the average 6x4' table. And people still move miniatures around and don't simply sit hunkered in their deployment zones....
The other option is to simply change scales.  The Two Fat Lardies in their book Chain of Command say whilst they prefer 28mm for "looks", 15mm is more "accurate" given actual tabletop ranges involved (and their rules have "unlimited" rifle range!)

In 15mm, the distance is a bit more to scale, though saying the target is completely "immune" might be stretching it.

So where are you going with this rant/ramble?

Uh... well...
#1. Mr Priestley and Mr Calvatore - stop slavishly copying 40K mechanics. You don't work for the Evil Empire anymore.  You are free. Free!
#2. Rifles can fire further than 50m!  Realistic (or at least vaguely plausible) weapon ranges are fine - problems will lie in the rules mechanics or the terrain. Games can condense down ranges - but not so it looks silly to a player. In short, Bolt Action is lazy game design. Consider the period you are gaming, please, and don't simply use rehashed fantasy rules.
#3. Whilst the models aren't as impressive, smaller scales look more realistic.  I'm giving 15mm WW2 serious consideration. In addition, $15 for 30+ 15mm infantry with support weapons and $10 for a tank or truck is pretty sweet. $50 for a complete "army" (or rather, platoon) is eminently reasonable.

So what do you reckon? Is this poor game design? Does having a "reasonable" scale matter and what is, exactly, "reasonable?"  Or am I simply turning into a grumpy old man....

"MacDonalds" Wargames Rules

Bolt Action's close adherence to the Games Workshop/Flames of War formula means it will be an easy crossover - appealing to the legions of fans of both franchises.  Without delving to deeply into the exact mechanics, I was thinking about what makes rules successful. I'd call Bolt Action a "MacDonalds" set of rules, but no one denies the money McDonalds makes.

So what makes a rules set a commercial success?

These are rules which dominate their period/genre:  
Without concrete data I'm only guessing, but there are some obvious names:
Warhammer Fantasy, Flames of War, Warhammer 40K, Warmahordes, DBx, Field of Glory.
Bolt Action is a rising star.  I'm tempted to add Infinity as it always seems to feature heavily in any online stores. 

Bolt Action, aka Warhammer 1939 aka Flames of War Skirmish. Generic, bland, unimaginatively copies tried-and-tested Flames of War/40K mechanics.  Bound to be successful.

Out of Game Experience

I don't know about you, but I spend far more time collecting, painting and assembling armies than I do playing. I'll break this down into a few subsections. 


Miniatures

Are the miniatures interesting and flavourful? Is there more than one faction?  (Not many people stop with just one army). Are the miniatures easily available?

Collecting & Army Building
A "points system" and/or "army list" is invaluable for collecting as it allows you to build acceptable armies for pick-up games or tournaments. I'm not going to go into the "scenario vs points" argument here but there is simply no reason NOT to include a points system. If you don't like 'em, ignore em. 
Scenarios rely on organization and planning - which may vary between clubs, and from week to week.  Games like Tomorrow's War who refused to do a points system for "philosophical reasons" simply hurt the long-term viability of the game - and ironically can frustrate scenario-builders who want a rough "rule of thumb" to balance scenarios. In fact, with scenario-only books like Tomorrow's War, there is little point in getting more than one rulebook for the entire gaming group.

In Game Experience

 Easy to find opponents
I have two Warmachine armies (even though I dislike the game on principle) as I know locally I can always get opponents (if I am that desparate). Again, points systems and army lists are important as it allows me to turn up and quickly get playing. These games are popular for tournaments which allow you to get in some solid gaming.

No fancy equipment  or terrain requirements
Nearly every game listed above uses the humble d6 and does not use any elaborate markers or templates. This includes things like terrain - the prime barrier to Infinity is the terrain requirements - not everyone wants to spend 3 weekends making "enough" terrain to make the game playable.

Simple, consistent mechanics, little record keeping
Not too many charts, math or modifiers, and no written orders thanks!  The game needs to be simple to learn. However some complexity is required or the game will come across as bland or shallow.  Rules are usually concrete (i.e. true line of sight, WYSIWYG).  Familiar mechanics are a bonus.  Many of the ex-GW writers continue to re-make the same game - heck Empire of the Dead is LOTR with d10s.

"Special" Rules
Sigh.  This is a personal bugbear, as games usually go overboard in this area (Malifaux, Warmachine, Infinity to name a few) which can result in players winning though having a better memory of the 157 sub-rules.  Nonetheless, "Special Rules" are important to add flavour between factions and makes your troop units unique.

Player control
One of the reasons IGOUGO is popular is it allows a high level of player control, allowing you to control your forces relatively unhindered during your turn.  All the more popular systems have very simple command and control - usually "stay within 4" of the other models in the unit" - and very basic morale systems (units test when take 50% casualties, and either pull back or flee the field).

Time
Games should fit in the 1-3 hour range. This allows you to play multiple opponents, so you do not just have to play Fred with the terrible body odor the whole evening, and prevents games from "dragging" too much.

Chain of Command. Interesting, inventive, a little chaotic. Will be popular with groups or individuals, but will never achieve mass market appeal.  Basically, is the subtitled French comedy against the latest Adam Sandler movie.

A case study:

Bolt Action vs Chain of Command

Both have many interesting factions and readily available miniatures - you can use any WW2 manufacturer. However Bolt Action is closely supported by Warlord's own miniatures line. 

Though Chain of Command has suggested platoons and strives for historical accuracy, Bolt Action has both a points system and an army builder and seems geared for competitive or tournament play. 

Bolt Action is gaining momentum so it will be easy to get opponents familiar with the rules - or to convert them over from 40K/FoW, given the familiar mechanics.  Chain of Command is a different "style" of game which may not instantly appeal - and has the usual chaotic mix of mechanics typical to a Lardies game.   Bolt Action is going with the established audience. There's a commercial reason so many movies are sequels.

Both games have a sensible amount of special rules, but Chain of Command has a much more complex activation system which is a mini-game in itself.  The focus on "friction" means units may or may not be able to activate. In Bolt Action, you are guaranteed of moving each and every unit. Bolt Action, with its familiar mechanics and streamlined feel, plays faster. 

Is Bolt Action a better game?  I'd argue that Chain of Command offers far superior gameplay.  But it would take a braver man than I to bet against the superior commercial success of Bolt Action.

The Accursed Kings - Medieval Books & TV Series

I thought I'd share a series which has inspired an interest in 100 Years War (I've got 28mm Perries sitting on my workbench as we speak...)

The author Maurice Druon (1918-2009) was himself an interesting character. He served in the cavalry and French Resistance, and co-wrote the Chants de Partisans anthem of the French Resistance in WW2 (to whistle the opening bars was often used to identify oneself) which is now an official anthem of France along with Chant du Depart and Marseillaise. He wrote the Accursed Kings from 1955-1977 and thus the books are a comfortably readable size, not the bloated 700+ page monstrosities which seems to be the current staple of historical fiction and fantasy. 

The TV mini-series (or more specifically, the 2005 remake I am watching) consists of 7 episodes, which follow the books faithfully (for once!). Gerard Depardieu was the ill-fated Templar Grand Master.  In Australia it was on SBS, but if you live elsewhere you may be hard pressed finding a copy (legally, anyway). Subtitles may annoy some people. Considering the subject matter it is quite restrained - I could only imagine the sex and gore if HBO got hold of it.

The books are a good read, without being monstrous 700+ page tomes.

A Overview

The seven books follow the reign of the last Capetian kings and the first two Valois ones - from Philip the Fair to John II. The scheming of Robert of Artois and his aunt Mahaut of Burgundy are a strong part of the plot. 

George R.R. Martin credits it as a major influence on his dark, gritty fantasy blockbuster A Game of Thrones.  We have adulterous, scheming, backstabbing characters, and The Iron Kings launches with Robert of Artois scheming with his cousin Queen Isabella of England to expose the adultery of the three Princesses of France (the Tour de Nesle Affair.)  The Princesses are daughters-in-law to the King but the reason Robert targets them is that they are the daughters of Mahaut of Burgundy, Robert's aunt and a conniving old bimbo who managed to disinherit Robert and seize Burgundy years before. King Philip (a bit of a cold fish) is less than pleased, flaying their lovers alive and imprisoning the Princesses in a fortress.

The "curse" is placed on the King's family by the wealthy Templar Grandmaster who is burnt at the stake as a heretic by King Philip when he is less than forthcoming with a loan.  The king then puts the squeeze on the Lombard bankers (he's already drained the Jews.) There is plot and counterplot.  The king's chancellors, Nogaret and de Marigny, his sons, Louis, Philip and Charles, Philip's brother Charles of Valois, and the Lombard bankers - all manipulate others (or are manipulated), although the feud with Robert and his aunt Mahaut seems to be the overarching plot line.

The books consist of The Iron King, The Strangled Queen, The Poisoned Crown, The Royal Succession, the She Wolf of France, The Lily and the Lion, and When a King Loses France. The first three have been recently reprinted in paperback and they are the ones I currently have read.

The (albeit subtitled) TV series is quite well made - here the principal protagonists Mahaut of Burgundy and Robert of Artois are shown. It's pretty restrained i.e. "wife friendly" with no overt sex or gore.

TL:DR

An eventful series which detail the lead-up to the 100 Years War. Plenty of intrigue, plots and double-dealing. A PG "Game of Thrones."  Books are a reasonable size and the TV series (whilst hard to obtain) is decent quality.  Plenty of wargaming inspiration.  Recommended.

Ronin - Skirmish Wargames in the Age of Samurai (Rules Review)

These rules have been sitting on my bench due to my enforced absence from gaming, and I am very keen on cracking them out and giving them a go.  I've got Perry samurai undercoated and ready to go, and a whole town full of chinese puzzles-cum-Japanese buildings in various states of assembly. (I'll do an article on both of the above shortly).  The small 2x2ft or 3x3ft boards recommended also appeal - both easy to make and store.

The game aims for "4 to 20 models" which is a pretty good sweet spot for 1:1 skirmish gaming and it also uses a "dice pool" which got me very interested. I am interested in dice pools which add an aspect of "resource management" and decision-making to your combat - you don't simply push models together and roll dice, but you get to decide HOW they fight. Even better, unlike the similarly-themed Bushido, Ronin allows you to make random lists from generic samurai miniatures instead of having to use special named miniatures made only for their game.

The rulebook is good value with enjoyable pictures and art

The Shiny

This is another of the new Osprey rulebooks. Like In Her Majesty's Name, it impresses in the "value for money" stakes.  63 softcover glossy pages (most of them rules) with rather small font - so pack your reading glasses.  At about $15, the full-colour (dare I say Osprey-like?) pictures and inspiring pictures of models in action break up the text, without dominating the pages. A clear table of contents and a quick reference sheet (also available as a pdf) are as useful as always. Good production values and great value, considering I often pay $25 to $30 for rules that look like they've been put together with a home inkjet printer, and $15 barely gets you a pdf at the Wargames Vault.
Good quality, great price. Two thumbs up.

The Stats

Models rank from Rank 5 (heroes), 4-3 (elite soldiers), 1-2 (regulars) all the way to Rank 0 (peasants). Their combat pool of dice varies depending on their rank - with heroes having 5 and peasants having only 1.  Furthermore stats include initiative (who hits first), fight (melee skill), and shoot, armour, and weapons do what they say on the tin. Some models have special attributes and all troop types are assigned an overall points cost. 

Northstar make the "official" miniatures but you could use any - Perry and Kingsford have some nice sculpts

Game Sequence

Priority:  Players roll a d6 to determine priority then test for morale.

Movement: Starting at the choice of the player with priority, players alternate movement between individual models.  In an interesting twist, players may opt to shoot instead.  As there is a later opportunity to shoot, player with bows may be able to fire two quick shots in a turn.

Combat: Players resolve any melee combats.

Actions: Players can perform a range of actions, such as shooting (possibly for the second time), perhaps reload a musket, pick up an object or a range of other activities.

Kingsford Miniatures' "Samurai Heroes" pack has a Yojimbo, Lone Wold & Cub and Zatoichi. Check out their gallery.

Priority & Morale

Players dice off to decide who has priority. They then test for morale depending on circumstances - if they have lost a leader, or a significant amount of their troops. Troops that are wavering must individually test to move into combat. Troops that are routing must individually test or attempt to escape off the table. As a player's "rank" is added to a d6 in tests, it follows that higher rank players have better morale.

Movement

Movement is pretty standard 6" - players who are out of contact can "run" up to 9" and wounds or difficult terrain can halve movement.  A few interesting (but sensible rules): as Japanese internal walls are flimsy, players can move "through" them counting as difficult terrain, long weapons like naginata are at a penalty when used indoors, and players who are fighting in water and are "stunned" have a chance of drowning. I also liked the ability to forgo movement to take a hurried "snap shot" with a missile weapon. 

Shooting

Basically a player rolls 2d6 + Shoot skill vs a target number (usually 6, modified for cover, armour etc).  Pretty commonsense. My only issues are modifiers which require you to remember if models have already moved or shot this turn (if you have only 10 or so models you should remember.)

There is also quite a few modifiers (11) for range, target/firer status, but they are all on a quick reference sheet.

Combat

I was looking forward to this, as I said, I am very interested in the idea of a "Combat Pool" of dice you can "spend" or manipulate.  I was a little concerned tracking dice "spent" would be a pain, but since all combat occurs at once, and you can do one at a time, this is not an issue.

The players alternate to choose a combat to resolve.

 Players secretly choose attack or defence counters before the fight, up to their maximum (i.e. a player with a Combat Pool of 4 could choose 2 attack, 2 defence - or 1 attack, 3 defence... or any combination thereof).  They then reveal the pool and place it in front of them.

Players roll a d6 and add their Initiative to see who attacks first. They can "enhance" their initiative by spending a counter from the dice pool. Striking first is good - injured opponents may not be able to strike back and dead opponents certainly don't!

 The attacker removes an attack counter from his pool. He can "enhance" his attack and add an extra d6 if he spends an extra counter. The defender gets a free d6 roll but can "enhance" it and spend an extra counter to get an extra d6 to increase his defense score.

If the attacker wins, he can stun, wound or kill his opponent - depending on how much he "won" by.  Winning by 1 simply stuns an opponent - winning by 6+ kills him outright.

Enhancing

As you can see, melee is more interesting than the usual "shove models together and chug dice" as the ability to spend counters to "enhance" moves adds an additional layer of decision making and tactics to the actual resolution of the fight (which are usually "out of your hands" and totally reliant on dice rolls in other wargames.)

Wounds

You can choose to subdue or disarm an opponent, but if, like me, you prefer your opponents to be dead, here's how it works.  If the attacker beats the defensive score, check the "margin of success". If the attacker wins by 1, he temporarily stuns the defender.  If he wins by 2-3, the defender has a light wound, 4-5 a grievous wound, and 6+ is a critical wound which takes the target out of the fight.  Each level of wound increasingly hampers the injured model, with penalties to initiative, shooting, fighting ability and combat pool.

I'm never keen at tracking wounds on models, and tokens tend to "clutter" the board.  I'm lazily using "tiddlywinks" coloured white-yellow-red to represent stun-light-grievous wounds but a more artistic person could probably decorate markers so they blend in (maybe "blood spatters" of increasingly gory-ness).

Action Phase

This is where models have a second chance to shoot, or could reload a musket or carry out miscellaneous tasks (like looting bodies and collecting heads for their daimyo) or simply rest and have a better chance of removing a stunned counter.

Perry Miniatures have a  good range and always have nice sculpts.

Other Stuff

 There are rules for mounted troops, and lists of "Attributes" (fast, tough, fearless, bodyguard etc) and "Abilities" (usually giving re-rolls to a favoured weapon - i..e Kentjutsu for swords, Jujutsu for barehanded and Bojutsu for monks' staffs).

There are also optional rules for Fatigue which can see models in close combat accumulate fatigue counters which hamper its initiative and shooting ability. A nice idea, but personally, I'm avoiding the extra counters and dice roll checks.

Factions & Army Lists

Each faction has rules for its composition (to prevent min-maxing) such as "you must have three Rank 1 troops for every Rank 2 model" as well as faction-specific special rules.  The factions are the Bushi (normal samurai), Ikko-Ikki (a religious sect of mostly peasants), Sohei (warrior monks), Koryu (a martial arts school), bandits, Koreans, and Ming Chinese. You then additionally hire mercenaries, warrior monks, ninja and shugyosha to add to your faction.

The lists are pretty "historical" with no fantasy elements.  There is a handy "points calculator" on the Osprey website which would allow you to stat up your own models or adapt it to other periods (i.e. medieval, for example.)   Personally, I wouldn't mind a few generic  templates for the common types such as human-animal shapeshifters, ghosts and demons as it could make for fun scenarios. Speaking of which...

Missions & Campaigns

There are weather rules (rain, mist, night etc) and also rules for randomly placing terrain. You have a half dozen missions. Besides the generic "skirmish" you could capture an objective, duel, assassinate a target, fight in a tournament, or defend a village (*cough* Seven Samurai).

A suggest method is that players create small warbands (or "buntai") from a master roster i.e. player play 150 point games, but players start the campaign with 400 point "roster" overall, with grievously wounded models being "rested" for a game, and deaths slowly whittling down your overall roster.

A concern: the author himself says certain factions are weak, or at a disadvantage against x faction, which sounds like poor balancing of the factions. 

There are simple progression rules, allowing lowly Ashigaru to rank up to a Samurai hero.

Wargames Factory hard plastic make cheap bulk troops (25 for $20). One pack would give you enough Ashigaru for several warbands. However I find the multi-part models a pain to assemble.

TL:DR

For those who couldn't be bothered with the wall of text:

+ Pleasant, practical rulebook, good price

+ Generic rules allow you to use any Japanese miniatures (unlike Bushido)

+ Combat rules and "dice pool" mechanic adds tactics to the melee (instead of just chugging dice)

+ Straightforward mechanics
+ Simple campaign and character progression
+ points calculator allows you to "stat up" your own models

- I'm not a fan of "markers" cluttering the tabletop

- small print - bring your reading glasses!

- quite a few modifiers for shooting
- a little slow playing
- faction balance?
- keeping track of who moved

- I'd like to have seen rules for oni, kitsune, tengu etc as they are pretty common in Japanese literature; it's pretty "straight historical" compared to some samurai movies

Recommended:  Yes. A decent game, allowing you to use any miniatures, and an interesting melee mechanic, with the ability to play campaigns. And $15 for a full colour rulebook is cheaper than most pdfs nowadays...

.....Or you could try... If you have a copy of GW's LOTR, you can try Legends of the Rising Sun for free. It is less "tactical" but plays faster and can handle more troops.

I'm not a fan of Bushido as you may have guessed - as you have to buy their special "named" models complete with stat cards - which cost $12+ each (opposed to $3 for Perry/Kingsford metals). I call this a "Malifaux" style game. 

Besides the cost, I find it irritating when three identical heroes (usually identically painted) show up at a gaming day: "Oh, my Lady Justice will fight your Lady Justice."  "Didn't she die last game?" "Oh this is a different Lady Justice." Bushido does have some nice monsters and mythical beings, though, and I like the minis.  

Instead of 28mm - Zvezda do a rather complete range of 1:72 Samurai - this was a pic I linked from aller @ CoolMiniOrNot. 

Muskets & Tomahawks: 28mm French & Indian Wars Wargames Rules Review

I've been looking for historical eras that lend themselves well to skirmish gaming. I also like those with little to no cavalry - for some reason with cavalry I always feel I need for dismounted versions which aren't always on offer.

I came across the French and Indian Wars after watching the Last of the Mohicans for the first time, being somewhat suspicious of its "realism" and reading up on the topic.  Small raids and skirmishes by the bucketload, not a cavalrymen in sight - and canoes. Canoes are cool.

I already have Sharpe Practice which is a very complete blackpowder skirmish ruleset, but I heard of Muskets & Tomahawks whilst looking through SAGA stuff. Apparently they're an earlier ruleset which were released later, presumably on the back of SAGA's success.

Whilst it does come with cards for playing the game, I'd be lying if I said I thought Muskets & Tomahawks was fantastic value for money.

The Shiny
Colour cover, black and white glossy softcover.  A sensible 63 pages.  Rather pricey at $40 for a 63 page softcover - which is similar to the highly polished, well-produced full-colour hardcover Infinity art books rulebooks, but it also comes with a set of cards needed to play the game. The book was also not written by a native English speaker - it's quite readable but has some quirks. The index is a bit generalised but it has a decent quick reference section.  In short, a bit pricey for what you get but a quite clear, usable rulebook.

Game Stats
The author's other ruleset, SAGA is driven by battleboards - the gameplay itself is rather beer-and-pretzels. Troops are in 3 broad categories - with identical stats across all factions. The differentiation comes from the different racial battleboards.  I like the tactics of battleboards and fatigue but SAGA feels a bit simple and "boardgamey."

Muskets & Tomahawks is a little more traditional.  Troops have 4 main stats:
Movement (usually 4-6")
Aggressiveness (3 to 6 - represents hand to hand "to hit")
Defence (3 to 6 - represents hand to hand "defence")
Markmanship (3 to 6 - represents ranged weapon "to hit.")

They are further classified into Regulars, Irregulars, Provincials, Militia, Indians, Artillery and Civilians who activate differently and have different reactions/morale.

There are also traits such as "scouts" (can move easily through rough terrain and use hidden movement), "sharpshooters" who can re-roll any '1's when firing, be able to use a "firing line" which does bonuses to firing and hurts enemy morale.

Units are usually 6-12 models. Interestingly, cohesion is equal to movement speed.  So rangers with 6" movement have 6" cohesion - regulars with 4" movement have 4" cohesion. This seems logical and I'm surprised I haven't seen it before.  

  

Warlord games are selling the Conquest line.  They have excellent postage rates.

Card Driven Mechanics
Each player pulls cards from a deck. He can activate any of his troops of that type. I.e. if an "Irregular" card is pulled, any of his Irregulars can act.   The cards make troops behave differently - Indians get 4 cards, each of which allows one action.  Regulars get 2 cards, but can perform 2 actions per card.  Officers and elite troops get an extra action card.  Officers can give their action to a unit within 6" and thus can influence the battle around them, rather like in GW's LOTR.

Morale cards, when pulled, cause a morale check to be made, if 50% casualties have been taken. Event cards will be added for certain scenarios.  Optional rules include allowing players to have a "hand" of three cards, allowing more forward planning. Actions include firing, moving, and reloading.

Zombie Indians? Shut up and take my money!

Spotting & Hidden Movement
Units see in a 180d arc. They can pivot around but it places a penalty on their firing. Scout units can be replaced with "hidden markers" (Sharpe Practice calls these "blinds") - tokens that replace the unit. Dummy markers can also be utilised - handy for confusing and ambushing your foes. 

Units need to "spot" their opponent before they can engage them. Dense cover and weather conditions such as mist or darkness can reduce this to very short ranges.

Terrain &Weather 
Terrain includes various levels of cover and areas of particular difficulty to traverse. There are rules for shooting into/out of/at buildings (and destroying them and/or setting them on fire).  Units can enter waterways to swim - or canoe - but current will have an effect. There are rules for shooting out of canoes - and at them - and a artillery shot into a canoe has impressive effects.  Dusk or night fighting rules are included, as are rules for rain, snow, and strong winds.

The Perry War of Independence line has perhaps the cheapest quality miniatures. I particularly like their civilian line - I grabbed them for use in scenarios.

Shooting & Reloading
If a target is spotted and in line of sight, a d6 is rolled for each firing model.  Crack units hit on a 3+, civilians on a 6+.  Obviously shots can be modified so a shot needs a 7+, 8+ etc to hit.  In that case, any natural '6' still hits, but the difference between the '6' and the actual roll needed is deducted from the damage roll.  A damage roll is then made based on the lethality of the weapon. Rifles kill on a 3+, whilst long range archery might only kill on a '6'.

Units that have fired must "reload' before firing again. The have "Black Powder" rules (annoyingly found in the Weapons section 10 pages on) which means figures who fire a musket etc have a "smoke" marker next to them which means they cannot fire until they reload and they are easier to spot.  It seems a little weird as a soldier who fires his weapon, then takes 5 move actions, would technically still have the spotting penalty, even though the smoke would logically have dissipated. 

Melee works in a similar matter - roll above a unit's "Aggression" rating to score hits, and the target rolls above its "Defence" rating to cancel the hits. 

Reactions
Any unit that suffers casualties must roll on the reaction table.  Results include "routing"from the board, "fleeing" a move away from the enemy, "recoiling" back but still facing their foes.
 Different units behave differently. Regular troops are rather steady and will recoil in good order, but seldom flee or rout.  Indians flee easily, but also seldom rout, whereas militia are unlikely to simply recoil - they will stand their ground or completely break or flee. 

Weapons & Artillery
Some key rules like "Black Powder" probably should have been in the shooting section. It includes the weapon stats for muskets, carbines, bows, rifles, pistols, sabres, thrown weapons, grenades, lances and swivel guns.  Weapons typically have a range (24" for muskets), lethality (3+ or more; die roll to kill) and a special rule, i.e. Black Powder or One Shot Weapon.

Artillery rules are available - most used will be limited number and of limited size (i.e. usually under 6lb).  Artillery shoots in a straight line from the barrel and can take out multiple troops in its path.  Cannister is short ranged, and deadly in a arc.  Artillery have their own activation cards.

These Indians are also Perry Miniatures. 

Officers
These could be labelled "heroes" in LOTR, or "Big Men" in Sharpe Practice. They are their own unit, they never react to being shot at, and cannot be individually targeted if they are close to their men. They help boost morale of nearby troops and can have certain talents.

Officers may have talents specific to their troop type (regular, militia, Indian, etc) and a few general talents.  These include talents such as "Charismatic" (bonus to troops reaction tests); "Drill" (roll d6, a 5+ means a free reload action for nearby troops); Agile (+1d6 movement). There are about 20+ all up.  Your leaders' talents add a nice RPG element - I'll probably have mine gain new talents as games progress. 

Scenario Generator, Objectives, Side Plots & Random Events
Table size depends on points of troops used - a 200 point game (20-30 per side) will play on a 4x4 table; a 600 point would require a 8x4 or a 6x6 one.  Owning enough buildings for a small hamlet is mandatory - only 2 for a small game, but up to 5-6 for a big game.  Luckily Zvezda 1/72 log cabins are very cheap ($12 for 2) and fit OK-ish with 28mm.  A random roll is made for the building placement. Other scenery is placed by mutual agreement.  There should be no scenery-free lines greater than 24".  Players roll for weather then the general objective (slaughter, raid, scout mission, protection, defence or engagement). To keep things interesting there are 36 "side plots" which could include anything from a "Romance" (protect a lady through the battle) to "Capture" (defeat enemy in melee then carry off a prisoner).  In addition, there are also 36 random events.  A random event could  herald a weather change, friendly fire, a wild animal attack, a coffee break... I guess that's why they're called random events - they're pretty random.

 

Warlord supplies a "Last of the Mohicans" pack. Must.... ...resist.... buying...

Army Lists
There are lists for British, German mercenaries, French, Indians, Americans, and civilians (who can be added to scenarios).  Force creation is pretty simple - you need one officer, and 10 troops of any given type.  Artillery is limited to one cannon per 30 models, and you're allowed one officer per 10 models.  Aside from that, it's pretty relaxed.  You can buy troops in units of any size allowed (usually 6-12). Officers can buy random talents for 5pts each. You can get free talents if you have a Commander, but if he dies, it impacts morale.  You can also buy boats. 

Each army has a little blurb about it. Stat lines are easy and pleasant to read.  Army building is simple and pleasant.

TL:DR
(-) A little on the pricey side but I suppose you do get the activation cards too
(-) "Black Powder" spotting mechanic seems a little "gamey"/illogical

(+) Spotting, hidden movement and "blinds" add layer of surprise and tactics
(+) Officers have unique talents and abilities which add tactics and storytelling flavour
(+) Card mechanic means units types (militia, regulars, Indians etc) behave and act very differently
(+) Combat is simple without being overly simplistic
(+) Scenarios are interesting with zillions of side-plots and random events adding spice
(+) Army building is simple
(+) Unit stats are simple (4 key stats) with maybe one "special trait"; you won't get ambushed through obscure special rules *cough* Malifaux *cough*

Recommended?  Yep.  A little more polished and coherent than "Sharpe Practice" (TFL games often seem like a aggregation of house rules thrown together) and I like them better than the author's other offering, SAGA (the battleboards are cool but simplistic mechanics mean the overall effect is a bit boardgame-y). I definitely find them more fluid than the other French-Indian War ruleset "This Very Ground". In the same era, Two Hour Wargames do "Long Rifle" and "Muskets and Mohawks" but I don't even need to buy them to know they will be the millionth regurgitation of their "reaction" mechanics, with a decent campaign for solo gaming offset by average gameplay and irritating if not incoherent rules editing and layout.  
So, yes, Muskets & Tomahawks will be my go-to ruleset for FIW.

Wild West Exodus: Deadlands 28mm Weird West Miniature Options

I came across Wild West Exodus by accident in my search for Deadlands miniatures.  It seems very slickly presented and raised $332,000 - a tad more than the $20,000 kickstarter goal.  I'm sure I'll review the skirmish rules when they come out, but for now I'll content myself with linking some photos of the upcoming miniatures:

The Indian "Sky Spirit" and werewolf "Sitting Bull" of the Indian faction which has a heavy shapeshifter vibe....

 

The "Enlightened" are the mad scientist faction with plenty of clockwork gizmos; they remind me of Malifaux arcanists somewhat...

Jesse James looking "hip" with body armour

 

Union soldiers also have a steampunk vibe

Anyway, I'm sure you'll investigate the link to find out more, so continuing the theme of "miniatures for Deadlands" - besides the aforementioned "Malifaux"....

No weird west game would be complete without undead "ladies of the night"

These "Guild Autopsies" would make decent undead cowboys... I just resent paying $6 apiece for a plastic miniature....

There are also a wealth of new VSF/steampunk games like "Empire of the Dead" - of whom many characters could be transplanted to the Wild West....

The Victorian civilian zombies would fix OK in the Wild West - especially if you kitbashed their caps into cowboy hats or bowlers.... there is also a "Werewolf" range that looks quite suitable

Reaper do official Deadlands miniatures for the RPG, but the line is rather limited.  

The undead cowboy and "Old Pete" were my favourites

Finally, there is also the old Rail Wars miniatures which were available through Jeff Valent studios.  I have a few and did not like the chunky model design or sculpt quality so I can't recommend them.  In addition, I hear some dubious stories about orders being (or rather not being) filled, which may simply be salacious gossip, but the fact I can't get the website to work is a bit concerning.

Ignoring monsters (which can be sourced from almost anywhere) and standard cowboys/civilians - of which there are large ranges available from Black Scorpion (my favourite) and smaller models from Foundry, among others  - I'm keen to source more "Weird West" miniatures.  Zombies/undead are a particular interest, as they tend to be rather obviously either modern, sci fi, or fantasy.   

Vikings! (& 28mm Wargames Factory Miniatures)

Initially I was unimpressed with this TV series, perhaps spoilt by the drama and production values of Game of Thrones.  But as the series has progressed I have become more and more interested.  The battle scenes are good, and the portrayal of vikings, whilst not 100% accurate, is far less Hollywood than I initially expected.

Vikings - a surprisingly good show, by..   ...the History Channel...

WARNING: MAY ALSO INSPIRE WARGAMING IN NEW PERIOD

Inspired by the small scale skirmish potential, I have decided to finally plunge into Dark Ages warfare.  I already have the interesting SAGA ruleset, and I am impressed by the flexibility and versatility of Lord of the Rings.  Although SAGA is popular and purpose-built for Viking warfare, and I really like the layer of tactics introduced by the battle-boards...  ...I am likely leaning towards LOTR.  The system is well proven in the Legends of the High Seas/Old West series of skirmish campaign games, and allows for individual warriors to progress, something SAGA currently cannot cater for.

As a bonus, terrain requirements are relatively light - I am tossing up between grabbing a few pre-painted hovels by ACE or simply scratch-building my own.

 

 The 4ground mdf prepaints are dirt cheap at $15ea, but it would also be simple to make my own. A benefit to viking warfare; terrain is not a major issue.

I have recently got a Revell 1:50 viking longship. The shields in the longships perfectly line up with the shields on the miniatures I have, which was an unexpected bonus.

 The viking longship scales (to my eyes anyway) perfectly with 28mm miniatures. 

The shields on the minis and the ship itself are identical in size.

Wargames Factory Miniatures Review (Viking Huscarls, Viking Bondi)

 Wargames Factory miniatures have a bit of an indifferent reputation.  A bit of a shame, as they are priced well (32 for $20), and make their miniatures in conjunction with wargamers (the Liberty & Union League). They even tried to recycle used sprues....

Multi-part Models... every miniature unique....

Well, I have a bone to pick with the Liberty & Union League, as they wanted the models with separate arms, legs and heads. And regular followers of this blog know how much I adore multi part models. This has enabled me to build every model with its own unique look. Unrealistic, contorted, but unique, tis true.  Although easy to attach arms and heads, the joins look a little "off."

The Miniatures look unique but most possible poses would give this girl a run for her money. The archer arms in particular are rather nasty. I'd recommend using Perry WOTR archer arms instead. 

The archers were the worse culprits for weird poses. It was hard to do a "shooting" pose that didn't look like a drunk playing air guitar

Bitz Galore

You can't complain about what you get on a sprue.  Spare heads, and enough arms to make every man look like Shiva.  The sprues are very handy for spare heads, arms and weapons - though the weapons are rather finely proportioned.

 There's so many spare arms, you could kitbash this dude if you wanted.  Admittedly, he'd have viking headgear.  

Fine Scale

They are comparable to GW's LOTR 28mm with fine proportions.  Weapons in particular are quite small, and the models are indeed 1:56 "true" scale rather than the more heroic 28mm.  A quick google around shows they do mix fine with Gripping Beast metals and plastics, which surprised me somewhat. 

You get a lot of spares. As you can see, after assembling 44 vikings, I have 20 bodies, 30+ heads, about 100 pairs of arms, and enough weapons to arm them three times over. 

Detailing

Detail is quite reasonable and again I would compare it to GW's LOTR range by the Perrys.

Detail is sound but unspectacular, and should be pleasant to paint. Weapons and arms are a bit fine and I bent/broke a few weapons when taking them off their sprues. 

TL:DR

+ separate arms & heads allow lots of unique poses

+ sound detail

+ plenty of spare parts on the sprue

+ fine scale but mixes fine with Gripping Beast 28mm plastics

+ price is good; $20 for 32 models

- multipart models as usual take ages to put together

- poses/joins look unnatural (<--this is the big concern)

Recommended: Well, I'd buy more Wargames Factory stuff (and in fact ordered some Ashigaru for my samurai project), and the sprues are solid value for the kitbashing purposes alone. I could make two SAGA warbands for $40 which isn't bad value.  I found the unarmoured "Bondi" sprues the most versatile.  The most annoying thing was the weird poses, due to the multipart nature of the models.  Apparently the customers wanted them that way. I'd like to find those customers, and force them, on pain of death, to put mine together in natural poses.