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Текст
A MEDIEVAL SKIRMISH GAME
Written by Andy Hobday Developed by Andy Hobday with George Asling & Mark Farr Artwork: Peter Dennis & Steve Beckett Book design & production: Steve Beckett Photography: Daniel Wegmann (HVM workbench) & Andy Hobday Editing: Dom Sore & Mark Farr Miniature design: Paul Hicks Painting: Daniel Wegmann (HVM workbench), Darren Linington, Jez Allum & Ben MacIntyre (Brush Demon) Terrain: From Mark Farr's collection – 1st Corps, Lost Valley, Perry Miniatures, Tabletop Workshop, Iron Gate, Tablescape, and by George Asling A huge thank you to Peter Dennis, Paul Hicks, Mark Farr & George Asling and a special thank you to Leila, Ginny & Amélie. Finally, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported the Barons’ War Kickstarter and the playtesters without whom there would be no rulebook. Copyright © Andy Hobday 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in reviews permitted by copyright law. Second Printing 2021, First Printing 2020 ISBN 978-1-9999514-1-2 www.warhost.online WARHOST is a trademark of Andy Hobday . Footsore Miniatures & Games is a trademark of Andy Hobday & Mark Farr 1
FOREWORD Welcome to the Barons’ War skirmish rules which have been written to accompany the Barons' War Kickstarter project by Paul Hicks and me. These rules aim to enable narrative-driven tabletop games to be played out between two retinues resulting in closely fought skirmishes that are both equally captivating to behold as well as a playable, historically themed representation of the period. 2 A key focus during development has been that, after only a couple of sessions, you should be able to play without this rulebook regularly in hand, with the contents of the quick reference sheet enough to answer most questions or settle disputes. At every possible opportunity I have traded acute realism for simplicity and fun, I hope you find during your games that this approach has not impacted on playability or your enjoyment. Finding a balance between authenticity and simplicity is tricky when it comes to a recreational wargame. If complexity and realism are what grants a game the wargame moniker, let’s call what's included here a tabletop game, as I am more than happy to settle for that. During our sessions we have found both players to be always involved in the action and where your tactics are usually the deciding factor on the day, games will be won and lost by players who carry out the most appropriate Actions and Reactions when the best opportunities present themselves. Activating the correct group of Warriors at the right time is a simple concept to learn presenting you with a myriad of in game options, which in turn makes it a challenge to master. Hopefully after a few games, when you are ready to share your thoughts, you will come and join our WARHOST community, you will find me at www.warhost.online, a place we have made available to share extra resources and discuss the game. I’d like to sign off by taking this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who backed the Barons’ War project helping to bring it to life, we wouldn’t have got this far without you. These are the first tentative steps of what I hope will be a long journey for these rules, my goal is simply for us all to start playing games and have a lot of fun while doing it. Andy Hobday 2020
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CONTENTS 5. Introduction 6. The Barons’ War 8. What You Need To Play 11. General Principles & Rule Conventions 16. Miniature Warriors & Their Groups 22. The Game Round 28. Movement 34. Combat 44. Morale 48. Building You Retinue 70. The Knight Commander Generator 73. Command 74. Equipment 78. Abilities 88. Historic Characters 100. The Merry Men 106. Choosing Your Scenario 114. Terrain & The Battlefield 122. Glossary 4
INTRODUCTION The rules here have been written to enable players to fight out tabletop battles against the backdrop of the First Barons’ War between rival Barons or rival factions who find themselves on either side of the conflict. You will need this book, some dice, both ten-sided and six-sided, a measuring device in inches, miniature soldiers and a tabletop with scenery. A standard 1000 point skirmish between two players would see each retinue made up of approximately 40 figures, where one figure is equal to one warrior. This is not a game for armies of massed ranked units but is very scalable allowing you to fight out a small skirmish to a larger battle with the only difference being the larger the game the longer it will take to play. The game is historically themed, gameplay is fast paced and tactical with plenty of narrative and where force building presents you with lots of options enabling two players to muster very different retinues. However, as intended, this is an initial core set of rules which does not include rules for siege warfare, although rules for fighting in buildings are included. Campaign rules are something that will be addressed at a later date and released online. and Plantagenet. And that’s just when looking at it from Great Britain. With warriors of this period being pretty similar, it would be easy to use the profiles in this rulebook to play out tabletop battles in any setting. Over time we see these rules evolving with additional warriors, characters, abilities and scenarios being added starting with the Dark Ages, the Anarchy and the Crusades and shared to www.warhost.online, which has been set up to be the community website for the game. If you want a particular troop type included, have feedback or want to share your ideas, please get in touch via the website, we are all ears. This is the start of a journey for these rules, take them and play the games you want to play! Future Plans Having grown out of the Barons’ War Kickstarter project, the intention is for this ruleset to develop into a system that could be used throughout the Medieval period. Starting with England from when the Western Roman Empire withdrew around 410 AD to 1485 AD when Richard III died at the Battle of Bosworth Field. This presents us with a huge span of history for gaming which can be broadly divided into Romano-British, Anglo-Saxon and Viking, Anglo-Norman, Angevin 5
THE BARONS’ WAR The First Barons' War provides the background and inspiration for our games. Civil wars mean the collapse of law and order and provide the nobility with the confidence to break the rules without fear of reprisal. Not that they were ever that conscientious about any rules governing their behaviour. Each noble was continuously on 'the make' and paid 'lip service' to the higher authorities, when it was advantageous for them to do so. A civil war was the perfect opportunity to grab land and power while settling some old scores along the way. This vying for land and power hadn't stopped since the invasion of 1066 with only the strongest of kings being able to keep their nobles in check. Our narrative focuses on small groups of warriors brought together under a lord or baron to raid and steal or defend land and property. With the strong, wise, cunning and lucky aiming to rise out of this civil strife in a better position than when it started. The First Barons’ War The rules in this book are set against a backdrop of a Civil War that lasted for two years, 1215-17, as a result of the issuing of Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was signed by King John under duress as he used the time it bought him to try and get the Barons under control. This did not work which encouraged Prince Louis of France to take his opportunity to place a claim to the English throne through his marriage. 6 In the Kingdom of England by 1215, a group of powerful barons of the North had reached breaking point due to King John's despotic rule, high taxes and failed leadership. These major landowners decided to rebel and, initially led by the Baron Robert Fitzwalter, they marched on London calling themselves the 'Army of God'. After the rebels successfully established London as their base, King John wisely agreed to negotiations and on June 15, 1215 at Runnymede, a neutral site just outside of the city, the Barons forced John to sign the Magna Carta. This Great Charter was a document stating the king was no longer above the law and not above protecting the rights of the people. King John's refusal to accept and abide by this agreement, even though he had reluctantly put his seal to it resulted in a civil war which escalated when the rebels were later joined by a French army led by Prince Louis of France. After John's death in 1216 the war continued. The ongoing ambitions of the French Crown Prince to the English throne saw the war dragging on. With John out of the way, many of the rebels switching sides to join his son Henry. These loyalist forces were now led by his regent and The Greatest Knight, William Marshal. The war ended after French defeats at Lincoln, a battle of equal importance to England’s history as Hastings, and a final battle at Sandwich both taking place during 1217. These crushing defeats forced Louis, under William Marshal’s direction, to sign the Treaty of Lambeth which formalised the end of the civil war. The Prince agreed to withdraw his claim to the English throne and the departure of the French from English soil. History tells us that by late 1216 a large majority of the barons were in revolt with only the holders of one quarter of the baronies and just under one third of the greatest barons remaining loyal to the King.
This means there is a lot of scope when creating your retinues to include the many interesting characters involved during this conflict. Many of them are available as models with the rules included here to use them as well as rules that enable you to create others. This rich background offers up many possibilities for scenarios to game the frequent skirmishes that were the order of the day when troops weren’t besieging a castle. Finally, it might surprise you to hear that I'm not dogmatic about the actual history when it comes to gaming, what interests me is the rich tapestry it weaves. It fires the imagination to create colourful backdrops for our games to take place. Not that you need my permission but if you want to create fictional barons and knights be my guest; I will happily take to the field against you and enjoy every game that we play. You might also find I have snuck one or two made up knights into my retinue as well. Book Recommendations These are the books I found helped paint the best picture of the period for me. I have shared links from the UK Amazon website, I am sure they are available on other Amazon sites as well as other booksellers. Please note these links may not work for everyone or if Amazon move things around. BLOOD CRIES AFAR by Sean Mcglynn https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-CriesAfar-Invasion-1215-1217/dp/0750963913 LOUIS, THE FRENCH PRINCE WHO INVADED ENGLAND by Catherine Hanley https://www.amazon.co.uk/Louis-FrenchPrince-Invaded-England/dp/0300217455 THE KNIGHT WHO SAVED ENGLAND by Richard Brooks https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knight-WhoSaved-England-Invasion/dp/1849085501 FIXER AND FIGHTER by Brian Harwood https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fixer-FighterHubert-Burgh-1170-1243/dp/1473877369 There are many others and I am more than happy to share a further list of books, just get in touch via the website www.warhost.online. If you have any book recommendations of your own, even better! William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke 7
WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY Before we get started there are a few things needed to play a game. This section explains what you need and why you will need them. Miniatures The Barons' War is a skirmish game designed to be played using 28mm miniatures. You can play with as few as 15 Warriors on each side to get you started. As the rules are very flexible this number can be increased to 40 or more Warriors a side. The main difference being games with more figures take longer than games with fewer. Warriors are mounted on 25mm round bases for infantry, or foot troops, and 25mm x 50mm pillshaped bases for cavalry, or mounted troops. Dice The game uses three different dice; a tensided dice or d10, an ordinary six-sided dice or D6 and the Morale Dice. Most game actions are resolved using a d10; the game uses these ten-sided dice numbered 1 to 0 (d10) to regulate play. A d10 dice test is made by rolling a d10 and comparing the result of the roll against a test value. When rolled if the score on the dice is equal to or more than the number you are testing against the result is a success. If the number on the dice is less than the number, the test is failed. Keep in mind a 0 (d10) is a ten and the more of these you roll, the better! In general high is good and low is bad when you roll and the other way round when it’s your opponent. When making tests for a Group, it helps to roll all the dice together. Where it is necessary to distinguish a separate score roll separately or use different coloured dice for those different Warriors. The Morale Dice is a special six-sided dice representing the group’s current state of morale during the game and can be affected by a number of different things making this number go up and down. 8
The value can never be greater than 6 and if it goes below 1 the dice is removed. The faces are numbered from one to six and placed by your Warriors on the tabletop so both players can view it easily during play. However, if you both agree they can be placed on the Group’s entry in your Retinue List. Measuring Device The game is played out using inches, and both players will need a measuring device such as a tape measure to measure distances. These measurements are for movement and shooting, as well as measuring ranges for giving Commands and other such Actions when prompted. The d6 is used primarily for Combat Move Actions where you charge an opponent. Uses for both the Morale Dice and the six-sided dice is described in more detail in the relevant sections of this book. Players may measure distances on the tabletop at any time during an action. Pre-measuring, in this way, reflects your Warriors' experience and ability to judge distances. Action Tokens Retinue List During play, your Warriors are given different instructions resulting in the carrying out of either an Action or a Reaction. Five types of Tokens are used to represent the various Actions; these are Move, Attack, Defence, Command and Ability. There are three types of status Tokens: Weary, Broken and Shocked Tokens used to indicate current states. We use a full-colour token placed next to each Group of Warriors to show the Action or Reaction they have performed and what is their current state. Before each battle, you will need to assemble your retinue based on the parameters you have agreed for the game. Each Group you select will have a points value; these points values are used to enable us quite a lot of freedom when making your choices while aiming to balance the game as much as possible. DEFENCE ATTACK MOVE WEARY Every Group fighting for you has a stat line which is used when you need to test the outcome of an action you are carrying out. All tests involve the rolling of at least one ten-sided dice (d10), and in all cases, success will be indicated with a score equal or more than the ability shown on the Warrior Profile. The number of Warriors involved in the action usually indicates how many d10 dice should be rolled for a given action, for example, if the Group that is attacking consists of five Warriors, then 5d10 are rolled when making an attack. This number can be adjusted for a number of reasons which we will cover later, however, for now the number of Warriors involved indicates the number of dice you roll. ABILITY COMMAND SHOCKED BROKEN All of this handy in-game information is entered onto a retinue list for referencing during a battle. Example lists are at the back of this book with a blank version for you to use when building your Retinue. You can also download blank retinue lists from the WARHOST website, www.warhost.online. 9
The Battlefield Most commonly played on a 4' by 3' area, you will need to add buildings, woods, hills and other terrain pieces to represent medieval Europe or battlefields in other parts of the world. For bigger games, you can scale up to a 5' by 3' area or even 6' by 3', but for now, to get started we suggest you requisition the kitchen table, immediately. Once Retinues are prepared, set out the battlefield and deploy your Warriors as described for the scenario you are playing. Quick Reference Sheet & the Rulebook There is a Quick Reference Sheet or QRS at the back of this book which provides you with all the most common and useful rules at a glance. Each player having one of these and a copy of this rulebook to hand during a game will find them extremely useful indeed. The Code of Chivalry Developed between 1170 and 1220, this varying code of conduct was born out of popular stories of the legendary companions of Charlemagne and his men-at-arms, the paladins, and Geoffrey of Monmouth's legends of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. What our medieval readers of the time absorbed from these stories was an idealisation of these heroic men based on their military bravery, individual training and service to others. Initially, the term referred simply to horse-mounted men, from the French word for horse, cheval, but later it became associated with a holistic concept of knightly ideals. With the passing of time it became more refined throughout Europe, emphasising the more general social and moral virtues of the mounted warrior. This code of chivalry, as it stood by the Late Middle Ages, had become a moral system which combined the warrior ethos, knightly piety, and courtly manners, establishing it as a notion of honour and nobility. 10
GENERAL PRINCIPLES & RULE CONVENTIONS There are ten key principles that drive The Barons’ War. The principles drive the main mechanics and philosophy of the game. Establishing them up front will provide a good basis for the rules and for gameplay. They are important. 10 Key Principles 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 All measurements are in inches and distances can be checked at any time. Each figure represents one warrior representing one dice. There is no group facing. Distances measured between groups of warriors are measured from your closest warrior with line of sight to the closest visible enemy warrior. Line of Sight is always drawn from the centre of a warrior’s base to the centre of another warrior’s base When attacking you must target the nearest visible Group. Passing a Morale Check, or an ability, allows you to choose another target. Separate Groups must always be 1” apart unless engaged in melee, including the initial charge. This applies to friends and foes. When rolling dice high numbers are good, low numbers are bad. Natural dice rolls of ‘1’ always fail and a ‘0’ always succeeds. Round all fractions up. Use good sense if you cannot agree during a game, roll a dice with the player who rolls the highest deciding the outcome for now and consult the rules once the game has finished. The rest of this section covers other general principles, some of which will touch on the list above as well as introducing and clarifying others. These general principles can be affected by specific rules, abilities, and situations; where this happens, it will be clearly indicated. Basing Infantry should be based on 25mm round bases and Cavalry should be based on 50mm x 25mm pill bases. This is not to say other base sizes are not allowed but they will impact the game and the interactions between Groups. Measuring Distances All distances are measured in inches from a Warrior’s base edge. Pre-measuring is allowed, and you may pre-measure as many times as you wish during your turn. After measuring for an Action, you may change your mind and choose another Action. However, once you start an Action you may not stop and change for another. All measurements between Warriors are performed from the closest base edge to closest base edge in all instances. This covers shooting, charging, Group Coherency as well as measuring for the effectiveness of abilities such as issuing a Command. Dice During a game, outcomes are determined by the roll of a dice, or lots of dice! The majority of your dice rolls will use ten-sided dice or d10 as they are known. When multiple dice are needed they will be referred to using shorthand; three tensided dice is 3d10, five dice would be 5d10. There are a number of things you need to know for dice rolling in The Barons’ War. Rolling Dice You should always roll your dice where your opponent can see them. Not only does this promote openness it adds a little drama into the game; whether that is the look of horror on your 11
opponent’s face as you roll well or the look of glee on their face as you roll badly! Dice don’t always land flat, known as a cocked dice, so where there is any doubt of the score shown the dice must be re-rolled. Both players should agree to the re-roll; be fair and honest. Any dice that escape the table and end up on the floor does not count and must be re-rolled. Feel free to curse the dice gods as the 0 you needed is shown on the floor. Modifying Dice Rolls During a game dice rolls have modifiers applied due to situations that unfold during the battle. The most common cause of this is attacking a Group of Warriors in terrain; these Warriors receive a defence bonus. Or they are using a particular weapon that grants an attack bonus. In these instances, the modifier is applied to each affected dice roll. EXAMPLE: A knight needs 5 or more on a d10 to successfully attack his opponent and scores a 6, success! Normally the defender needs 7 or more on a d10 to defend however they are defending behind a stone wall. The stonewall provides a +2 modifier to their Defence Roll so now any dice roll of 5 or more will be successful. Rolling Multiple Dice As Groups attack other Groups during a game a lot of time is saved by rolling dice together for a Group instead of rolling for each Warrior individually. EXAMPLE: A group of five Warriors attacks a Group of six enemy Warriors. Each attacking Warrior is eligible to be involved in the combat. The Group of five Warriors roll five ten-sided dice (5d10) as their Attack Roll; one d10 for each of the Warriors involved. All Warriors have the same Attack value so all five dice are rolled at the same time. You may have to roll more than a single dice and take the highest score, which is exactly as it sounds. If you are rolling 3d10, and using the highest score, roll the three dice at the same time and the single dice with the highest value is used. Sometimes Warriors who belong to the same Group need different scores to succeed. When rolling multiple dice for a Group use different coloured dice to differentiate between them. EXAMPLE: A group of five Warriors is led by a Commander whose attack score is different to his soldiers. The sergeant needs a 5 or more to successfully attack an opponent whereas the other Warriors need to score 6 or more. For this attack roll 5d10 for the five Warriors involved, 4d10 of one colour needing 6+ and a single d10 of a different colour for the Commander needing 5+. This way you can easily identify the result. Re-rolling Dice or Re-rolls In some situations, you will be entitled to, or forced to, re-roll your dice. No single dice can be re-rolled more than once. To re-roll simply pick up the dice in question and re-roll them. The second result counts even if it is worse than the initial roll and is the final result. 12
Roll Off Players will be required to roll off against each other, such as for who has initiative each round. Each player rolls a d10 the player who rolls the highest value wins. In the event of a tie, the roll is carried out again until one player wins. Any modifiers apply to all rolls. • Passes through the formation of another Group. You cannot shoot or charge through one Group to engage another. • Passes through an intervening piece of LoS blocking terrain lying between the shooting or charging Group and their target. Line of Sight (LoS) Being able to see the enemy and engage them in combat is essential during a game. You have to be able to see a Group to be able to shoot at them or to engage them in melee. This is called Line of Sight or LoS. LoS is calculated by using the centre of one base to centre of another base. A Group has LoS if one of its Warriors can draw a straight, unobscured line over the tabletop from the centre of its base to the centre of the base of at least one Warrior in the target Group. Your Group has clear LoS if it can be measured from the centre of the base from any Warrior in the Group to the centre of the base of any Warrior in the target Group where the line is unobscured. Range is always measured from the closest Warrior to the closest Warrior where a clear LoS can be achieved. This accounts for different sized bases being used to base your warriors; we know you won’t be able to help yourself. This method also doesn’t penalise those who want to mount their leaders on elevated bases. We all like an elevated, heroic base right? LoS is obscured if it: • Passes through the base of another Warrior from either side who is not in their Group. You can't shoot or charge through a Warrior to engage another! 13
Hindered - Other Warriors in the Way Hindered Charge Both ranged and melee attacks can be Hindered if LoS is established but there are other Warriors close to the path of the shot or impeding the charging Warrior. To determine if anything is in the way after establishing LoS; mentally draw a straight path between the Attacker and target, with the path width being the same as the attacker's base. Warriors cannot charge past enemies that are Hindering their charge; in these cases the action is not allowed. Warriors may charge past other friendly Groups that are Hindering their charge. Friendly Warriors are nudged out of the path the minimum distance needed. For each friendly Group Hindering the charge, the Attacking Group suffers -1 Attack Dice. • If the path is clear of other Warriors then the shot or charge goes ahead as normal. In all situations Warriors from the same Group do not hinder each other or block each other’s Line of Sight. It is assumed they move out of the way during the action with the whole Group acting together. The LoS for the whole Group is determined from the closest Warrior in the Group to the closest enemy Warrior. You do not measure for each and every Warrior in a Group. • If another Warrior's base (or a combination of bases) cuts completely across this path LoS is blocked and the Action is not allowed as the enemy is not visible. • If a Warrior lies in the path but not all the way across to block LoS then they are only Hindering the shot or charge. Housekeeping You are responsible for the upkeep of your retinue during play. Outside of the Housekeeping Phase at the end of each round there are other areas you are responsible for. When issuing an Action or a Reaction you must place the correct token next to the Group that is activated, indicating that they have acted. This prevents Groups using a single Action more than once in a single game turn. Hindered Shooting Warriors who choose to shoot past friends and foes alike are Hindering their shot. For each separate Group hindering a shot, the attacking group suffers -1 Attack dice. Any natural 1s that are rolled on the Attackers dice will cause one casualty to any friendly Group that hindered them. Note this will not harm enemy Groups in the way. 14 When casualties are caused to one of your Groups you must indicate this with the addition of a Morale Dice to the Group face up on the correct number where appropriate. You can change an existing Morale Dice attached to the Group to represent what has just happened to the Group. As Groups move around the battlefield you are responsible for ensuring any Action Tokens or Morale Dice move with them. It should be clear to all players who the tokens and dice belong to.
You are responsible for making sure that each individual Group stays at least 1” apart from all other Groups, friend or foe. The only exception to this rule are Groups involved in Melee. All Action Tokens are removed at the end of a round where applicable and returned to each player. All Morale Dice remain in play and adjusted if applicable before the next round begins. If an Action Token is missed and not removed during Housekeeping the group is counted as already activated in the following round due to 'fog of war'. Each player is responsible for their own tokens and dice! 15
MINIATURE WARRIORS & THEIR GROUPS Retinues, Groups and Warriors 16 Your force is known as a Retinue; mustered under the command of a noble, or not as the case may be, warrior. This Retinue is formed from a number of Groups; loose organisations of fighters. Groups are the building blocks of your Retinue. Each Group is made up of a number of Warriors; individual fighters, equipped in a variety of ways, ready to give their all for their Commander. The game has been designed to be played with 28mm miniatures and one figure is one Warrior. The size of a Retinue will be determined by the number of points a particular scenario is being fought with. This can range from 500 points to 1000 points, and beyond.
Groups The figures that represent your Retinue are organised into Groups. Like-minded warriors tend to fight together. As they experience battle, bonds are formed and trust earned. Groups have been drilled and trained together or been levied from the same locale and are fighting side by side with their friends and family. Adding an identity while creating your Groups of Warriors helps make them yours and they can be many and varied. Don’t forget Groups are established on a battlefield as it is a scary place to be on your own! How Many Warriors in a Group? The idea is for the game to allow you as much freedom as possible. Enabling you to build your Retinue how you want to build it. A freedom to collect, build, paint and play with a force that appeals to your hobby interests. In this period there were very few “standard” formations, therefore Group sizes are flexible. The only requirement is that Infantry Groups have a minimum of three figures and Cavalry Groups have a minimum of two figures. Beyond that the choice is yours and only limited by your figure collection and points. You may include as many Warriors in your groups as points allow. Commanders brought to the field any available warriors that could be mustered and Retinues were invariably a bit of a ‘mixed bag’ when it came to the quality of equipment and the levels of experience. Groups are comprised of infantry or cavalry, not both, and all figures will be of the same experience. Command Groups are the exception to this rule and will be covered later. 17
Group Coherency, Managing Your Groups Coherency: The state of sticking together, a state of being connected, a group with a common purpose. A Group fights in a loose formation with gaps between each model. This allows freedom of movement for the Warriors during the battle, modelling the constant motion of soldiers on a battlefield. Members of a Group can move and shoot through other members of the same Group. When mustered a Group of Warriors in a Retinue act, and remain, as a Group for the entire battle observing the rules for coherency. A Group is only effective when it sticks together. If a Group is ever out of coherency then their next available Action must be a Move Action to bring the Group back into Group Coherency. This can mean you need to move a Group into a worse position on the battlefield so beware! GROUP COHERENCY (INFANTRY) 18 A group will try its best to uphold Group Coherency at all times. If they find themselves out of coherency at the end of a turn they must move back into coherency using a standard move action before they do anything else in the next turn. If a Group for any reason cannot regain coherency with their next action they are removed from play as if destroyed. Setting Up Your Groups When setting up a Group on the tabletop one Warrior is placed in the location where the Group will start the battle. The remaining Warriors of that Group are placed within 2" of the first Warrior. If placing a mounted Group of Warriors, they can be within 3" of the first. When Groups take an Action, they must start and finish their Action maintaining this Group Coherency.
enemy attacks. This base score is affected by armour, tactics, abilities and terrain. Mustering Your Retinue, Model Warriors The 28mm miniatures which these rules are designed for can be purchased from the Barons’ War section of the Footsore Miniatures website (www.footsoreminiatures.co.uk). You will see a selection of these shared throughout these rules; where appropriate these miniatures will be referred to as Warriors. Infantry figures should be based on 25mm rounds, Cavalry figures should be based on 50mm x 25mm pill bases. Morale: The base score needed on a d10 to pass a Morale Check. This is affected by the Morale Dice, covered in the Morale Section. It is also affected by the abilities of both attacker and defender. Actions: The number of actions a When building your retinue, each model you choose should accurately reflect each Warrior in the game. This means they should be wearing the armour and be armed with the weapons you have chosen. The game is WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). warrior can take during a single game round. • single Warrior to your retinue. • • The characteristics of our Warrior Profile are explained below: Movement: The base distance moved in inches. This is affected by armour, by terrain, and the mount a warrior has, like a horse or camel. Abilities: These are traits, skills or gifts a group has that transform them from the basic Warrior. These either come as part of a warrior’s points cost, such as ‘Chivalry’ for Knights, or they are added by paying extra points. Every model in your Retinue is a single Warrior. Each Warrior has an individual profile containing their attributes as a handy in game reference. These attributes are: Movement, Attack, Defence, Morale, Actions, Points, Abilities, Equipment. Warrior Attributes Points: The point cost to muster a Equipment: Each Warrior comes with at least one weapon and possibly armour. You can equip them further by paying the points for the available equipment options. This allows choice in the arms and armour of your Warriors. Attack: The base score needed on a d10 to successfully attack an enemy. This is the score all Warriors in the Group will need to roll. This number is affected by weapon type, tactics and abilities. Defence: The base score needed on a d10 to defend a successful enemy attack. You roll the number of dice equal to the number of successful 19
Warrior Profiles A Warrior’s profile shows the information that describe a Warrior’s abilities, the equipment they have and any special rules. Below is an example of a basic Spearman: Movement Attack Defence Morale Actions Points 6 6+ 7+ 3+ 1 17 This Warrior Profile tells us the spearman: can move 6” as a basic move action successfully attacks if the score rolled is 6 or more successfully defends if the score is 7 or more will pass a morale check on a 3 or more can make 1 action per round • costs 17 points to muster. At this point we haven’t included any abilities or equipment. A Warrior Profile applies to every Warrior in the same Group. The points value is for a single Warrior; each additional Warrior added to a Group costs the same points as a single Warrior. EXAMPLE: Our spearman above is in a Group of four, this will be 68 points (17 points for each of the four spearmen), each of these four spearmen use the same profile. Warrior Types 20 There is a comprehensive selection of warriors available for muster, however, you can also take any of the warrior profiles provided tailoring them to a specific class of soldier you wish to include, possibly adding an ability or two. Over time we will be adding more and more options at www.warhost.online, but for now there are plenty to choose from for the Barons’ War in the ‘Choosing Your Retinue’ section of this rulebook. Warriors are classed either as Cavalry by being mounted on a horse or Infantry on foot, and their level of training can be identified at one of four levels, Green, Irregular, Regular and Veteran. A Retinue also needs a Commander, and history shows their ability to be varied. We can’t all be William Marshal. There are three levels of Commander to choose from; Baron, Lord, and Veteran Sergeant. If you decide to take a particular named character, you use them warts and all. Removing Casualties and Coherency When casualties are caused figures are removed from the tabletop and placed to one side. Position casualties from the same Group together to make totalling victory conditions easier. A player removes their own casualties and, in most cases, can choose which are removed. Most figures can only sustain one undefended hit; therefore, each undefended hit will cause one casualty. However, sometimes it will take more than one undefended hit to remove a Warrior. This will be because of equipment or a special rule and will be clearly indicated. It is important to note that no excess wounds caused are carried over; if you do not deal enough hits to cause a casualty they are spent.
EXAMPLE: Five Men at Arms attack five mounted knights on war horses. Being mounted on the best of horses each knight has two wounds. The round of combat ends with the five Warriors scoring three wounds. This results in the knights suffering one casualty for two undefended hits resulting in one casualty to the mounted knights. The remaining undefended hit is discarded as it is not sufficient to cause a casualty. Which Warrior Do You Remove? When a Group suffers casualties the owning player chooses which Warrior to remove. The Warrior selected must be in base to base contact, for melee casualties, or the nearest visible target, for ranged attacks. Group Coherency must be maintained if possible. For ranged attacks once all visible casualties are removed then remaining casualties are taken from the non-visible figures. When all models are removed from a Group it is destroyed and your opponent can claim the victory points. This also causes your Retinue Commander to increase their Morale Dice by +1. If a Group of Warriors leaves the tabletop due to being broken, they are removed as if destroyed and your opponent claims the victory points. However, fleeing troops do not cause an increase to their Commander’s Morale Dice in the same way as a group removed through combat while they are still in the board. When Pushed Back Warriors are always pushed back into coherency whenever possible. Where this is not possible, the Group’s next action must be a Move to bring them back into coherency. The Cost to Equip a Knight in the 13th Century Not taking into account their training an estimated cost of horses, armour, and equipment for our mail-clad knights of this period was extremely high especially when compared to other warriors. Their key trappings were as follows: • A quality horse and tack - A minimum of ten pounds, easily up to fifty for a top of the line warhorse. • Mail armour fashioned to fit the wearer - Five to eight English pounds • A heater shield - Five to ten shillings • Padded gambeson and other fine quality clothes - Five to ten shillings. • Sword and Lance - Two pounds. NB: Where one pound is equal to 20 shillings, The total cost would easily be twenty-five pounds (but usually more), or the equivalent of twelve years’ worth of good wages for an unskilled labourer at the time. In today’s money it would amount to in the region of £350,000 for a knight to take the field of battle. 21
THE GAME ROUND Games are won by carrying out the most appropriate Actions and Reactions when the opportunity presents itself. A simple concept at the heart of this game with plenty of options available. These Actions are performed as turns within each Round with each game lasting a predetermined number of Rounds. EXAMPLE: In the Initiative Phase the player chooses to spend one of their Commander’s Action Tokens to give an extra dice, enabling them to roll 2d10. They place a Command Token next to their Commander’s Group to show they have used an Action already. They roll a '5' and an '8'; their initiative score for this round is '8'. The Game Round During each Game Round, players alternate turns assigning Action Tokens to Groups. Players choose the Action they wish their Groups to make; be it Movement, Combat, etc. until each Group has used all of their Actions. Each Game Round consists of a number of phases • Initiative Phase • Compulsory Action Phase • New Actions Phase • Housekeeping Phase Within the various phases, players will alternate taking an Action and each Action is completed before moving onto the next. Initiative Phase At the beginning of each and every new Game Round initiative is determined by a Roll Off (see page 13). Each player rolls a d10 and the person who rolls the highest number can choose to go first or force their opponent to go first. Players can use Command Actions from their Commander to roll extra dice for initiative. A maximum of 2 Actions can be used this way; place these Actions Tokens on the Commander’s Group to indicate they are spent. For each Token used in this way add a d10 to your initiative roll and choose the highest dice rolled. 22 Leader’s Morale Dice Both players deduct the current score of their retinue Commander’s Morale Dice from their initiative roll when testing for who has initiative. Compulsory Action Phase Both players must make all Compulsory Actions first. This means all Groups a player does not currently have control over must be activated before any others. These Groups will start the Game Round with a token indicating their uncontrolled state. There are likely to be Groups who are currently Shocked or Broken. However, they can also be Groups who have been triggered due to an Ability, Berserk for example. When all Compulsory Actions have been carried out the Game Round moves on to the next phase; New Actions. It is possible for one player to still be in the Compulsory Actions Phase while the other player has moved into the New Actions Phase. New Actions Phase In this phase players alternate Actions, Reactions and Passes. Actions drive this phase with Reactions played as a response to an opponent’s Action. At any time during the New Actions Phase of a Game Round a player may choose to Pass their
turn and not make an Action. This hands initiative back to their opponent. A single player can only Pass their turn three times in a row before having to take an Action. When one player has Actions remaining they continue to take their turns until all their Actions are spent. Once all Actions have been taken the New Action Phase is complete and players move to the Housekeeping Phase. At any time if there are three alternating consecutive Passes the New Action Phase ends and the Game Round moves to the Housekeeping Phase. Shocked there is no change to their Morale Dice during a Housekeeping phase. Groups who are Weary must take a Morale Check, if successful, their Morale Dice score is reduced by one. Any time a Morale Dice is reduced to 0 it is removed. Changes to Morale Dice in Housekeeping Phase Normal Groups Reduce Morale Dice score by 1 Broken Groups Reduce Morale Dice score by 1 Weary Groups Must pass a successful Morale Check to reduce Morale Dice score by 1 Shocked Groups No change to Morale Dice score Housekeeping Phase When all Actions are completed it is the end of the Game Round. First check victory conditions for the scenario you are playing and if either player has won the game ends. If neither player has won the game continues with Housekeeping. Once current Morale Dice have been addressed; all Weary Tokens are removed ending the Housekeeping Phase and the current round. Housekeeping Activating Your Retinue • Collect up all Action Tokens from Groups who are still under your control. Your Retinue during a game activates via the use of Actions and Reactions. These activations are either standard Actions and Reactions, Command Actions, Compulsory Actions or Abilities. • Leave Action Tokens in play for Groups who are currently not under your control,this includes Weary Tokens. Actions • Adjust Morale Dice that are in play. Take Morale Checks for all Groups who are Weary adjusting these Morale Dice where appropriate. • Remove all Weary Tokens where appropriate. Take a moment to make sure that all Groups are at least 1” away from any of their enemies and friends. This Game Round has now ended and a new one begins. Your retinue comprises of Groups who have opportunities to either take an Action or perform a Reaction to an opponent’s Action each Game Round. All Groups have an Action characteristic on their Warrior Profile which denotes the number of Actions they have each Game Round. Most Groups have one Action, however, Commanders and the Group they are part of may make two or three Actions per Game Round. You can continue to assign Actions up to the limit indicated on their profile. Being able to act more than once a round is what makes them truly heroic! Morale Dice During the Housekeeping phase of each round, all Groups who currently have a Morale Dice reduce its score by one. Where a Group is Actions and Reactions To activate a Group a player decides the Action to be taken and assigns the appropriate Action Token. 23
The Action Token is placed next to Group, indicating both the Action they will perform, and that they have taken their Action. Before this Action is carried out, your opponent has the opportunity to React, by using an available Action of their own. Only the targeted Group can React and only if they have an available Action; either their own or from a Command Action. If they do React, they place the appropriate Action Token next to their Group. Starting with the player whose turn it is they carry out their Action, moving figures and rolling dice as necessary. Once completed their opponent carries out their Reaction. Once your Action, and any opponent Reaction, is completed initiative is passed to your opponent and they decide on their next Action. Play passes back and forth between players until all Actions are complete. Standard Actions/Reactions This list is an overview of the standard Actions and Reactions your Groups can perform. We will dive into more detail when we cover each individually in their respective sections. Actions Reactions • Combat: fight back in response to a melee attack or return fire in Response to a ranged attack. • Defend: a Defensive Action taking cover if needed where there isn’t any, shields up! • Command: Commanders can use their Actions to give orders to other Groups as a reaction. • Ability: traits, gifts, skills by another name, special abilities are Special Actions. Reactions are triggered in response to an opponent’s Action. Only an eligible Reaction can be carried out and only if the Group has an Action available. Eligible Actions Not all Actions may be carried out by all Groups. For example, a ranged attack Combat Action can only be made by Groups armed with ranged weapons; while an Order Action can only be given by a Commander. • Move: your Group moves or runs Compulsory Actions • Combat: your Group charges into a melee attack or commits to a ranged attack • Defend: a Defensive Action, taking cover • Command: Commanders can use their Actions to give orders to other Groups • Ability: traits, gifts, skills by another name, these special abilities are Special Actions 24 Groups can be forced to act due to the following circumstances: • Broken: indicates the Group has failed a Morale Check and is running • Shocked: indicates a Group who can do nothing but try and recover their Morale • Psychology: a Group affected by fear, or hatred, or some other effect. (see MORALE) Groups subject to Compulsory Actions have Actions forced onto them and not freely chosen by the player.
When it is your turn select a Group that must make a Compulsory Action and take a Morale Check, if the Group passes they have rallied and come back under the players control. This is indicated by the removal of the current Action Token. As they have rallied you now assign the Group a new Action of your choosing. These Groups are either activated using their own Action or can be activated using a Command Action if they are in range of your Commander. Phase of the Game Round and while Shocked can do nothing else. Shocked Groups do not take Morale Checks when in Combat. When a Group contains three or less Warriors before losing any casualties, they are no longer eligible to become Shocked. These Groups become Broken if they fail a Morale Check. Broken If a Group fails a Morale Check the current Action Token remains and they carry out their Compulsory Action. Once completed initiative passes to your opponent. Warriors will reach a point where they have had enough; whether that is through casualties or overwhelming fear. This is known as Broken. While Groups are Broken they are forced to Run towards the owning players table edge as a Compulsory Action. Shocked Groups become Broken when: Groups must take a Morale Check when: • They take at least 25% casualties from a particular type of weapon, as noted in the weapon's abilities • Or they lose a total of 50% or more of their current Warriors as casualties during a single Combat Action In either case, if the Morale Check is failed the Group becomes Shocked. Place a Shocked Token next to the Group, the Group loses any unused Actions for this round. While Shocked: • A Group cannot Move • Attackers gain a +2 modifier to their Attack Dice (this affects both Ranged and Melee Combat) • Shocked Warriors defend without any Shield Rolls • Shocked Groups can only be given Rally Actions Shocked Groups also suffer fatigue and become Weary when they become Shocked. To remove their Shocked Token the Group must Rally as a Compulsory Action in the Compulsory Action • They lose a Combat Action and suffer a cumulative total of 25% casualties from the total number they started the game with • And fail a Morale Check Place a Broken Token next to the Group who are then immediately moved their full Movement directly away from their attacker. In subsequent rounds if the Broken Group does not rally, they Run directly towards their own nearest table edge. This is the only allowed Action they can make each Game Round unless a successful Rally Action is made. A Broken Group must attempt to rally as a Compulsory Action at the beginning of each round and remain Broken unless they pass a successful Morale Check or leave the player's table edge, whichever happens first. Broken Groups that are charged by an enemy are automatically hit by their attackers; Ranged Attacks must still roll to hit as normal. The Broken Group do have the chance to defend each of these successful attacks, but do not receive a Shield Roll. Broken Groups do not take Morale Checks when in Combat. 25
Rally The Rally Action presents you with the opportunity to stop your Groups in their tracks, turn them around, and get them back into the battle. All Rally Actions must adhere to the following rules, unless otherwise stated: Even if a Group has more than one Action they can only attempt one Rally Action per Game Round to recover from being Broken or Shocked. However, the Retinue Commander can use a Command Action to order them to test again during any phase. Groups must use their Action to attempt to Rally or they may be ordered to Rally by your leader using a Command Action if the Commander is within range during the Compulsory Action Phase. These warriors have movement 6” so while broken they run 12” towards the players table edge. Using an Order action your Warriors are halted in their tracks. To Rally the Group makes a Morale Check. If successful, remove the Broken or Shocked Token replacing it with a Weary Token if the group does not already have one, you can now carry out any Action available to the Group e.g. Move, Charge, Shoot etc. If a Morale Check is failed during the Compulsory Phase, the Group remains Broken or Shocked. A Broken Group is now given a Run Action and must move towards your table edge. Any Broken Group that reaches the players table edge is immediately removed from the table. They are counted toward the opponent’s Victory Points for determining the Scenario winner. 26 These warriors while broken run 12” as they are only 8” from the table edge they are removed.
Weary Troops cannot go on forever, at some point they will become tired; either mentally or physically. This affects their ability to act and react on a battlefield. During a game when Warriors reach that point we say they are Weary. Weary Effects In all these cases when a Group becomes Weary they receive a Weary Token. Any Weary Group now receives -1 to all dice rolls while it remains in play. Weary Tokens are the last thing to be removed during the Housekeeping phase. Weary Tokens do not stack; a Group can only have a single Weary Token at any one time. Warriors become Weary for four reasons: Psychology • They perform a Run Action (see MOVEMENT) • When they perform more than one Action during a single Game Round • They have been Shocked (see MORALE) • They successfully Rally after being Broken More Than One Action When a Group is given a second Action they will become Weary. Place the Weary Token before the Group performs their second Action as it comes into effect straight away. Command Groups do not become Weary when using multiple Command Actions, they are far too heroic to get tired just from giving orders, but they still get Weary from Run Actions or performing two or more other Actions themselves. A sense of self-preservation, outright fear and pure hatred can all affect a Warriors’ actions. These different states of mind are represented by the psychology of morale where different Groups react in different ways based on the circumstances they find themselves in on the battlefield. Warriors who can find themselves controlled by different aspects of their psychology may act differently to how a Commander wants them to which will be detailed in their Warrior Profile. The Rules for Psychology can be found in the Morale section on page 44. Rally Warriors also become Weary in stressful circumstances from a sudden rush of adrenaline, rallying after being Broken or when Shocked. 27
MOVEMENT Moving your Groups around the tabletop is a vitally important part of the game, and the game would be boring if they didn’t move at all! Having the right Groups in the right place at the right time is instrumental for victory. Movement Attack Defence Morale Actions 6 6+ 7+ 3+ 1 Terrain will affect your Group’s Movement this is covered in the Terrain and Battlefield section on page 117. Coherency is determined once a Group has finished moving, not during a Move Action. The player determines which Warrior to move first, and once moved, the rest of the Group use their Movement allowance to end their movement in Group Coherency. 2” The Movement column on the Warrior Profile indicates the basic distance in inches a Group can move. A Group’s Movement is calculated on the armour they are wearing plus any mount they may have. There are three classes of Group based on their armour: Heavy, Medium and Light. Group Coherency When Moving or Running Move or Run the first Warrior in the Group; all other Warriors must end their move within 2" of this initial Warrior moved. Movement Actions are either Move or Run; Move uses the base Movement rate and Run doubles the base Movement rate. 3” Move and Run Actions must adhere to the following common rules: • Groups cannot Move or Run through other Groups, friendly or enemy • Groups are blocked from moving by any, and all, Warriors except Warriors of the moving Group • Groups must not come within 1” of any enemy Group at any point of their move • Groups cannot voluntarily leave the battlefield • Warriors from the same Group can move through each other when they move or run. 28 Cavalry can finish within 3", to maintain coherency. If a Group ends a Move Action out of Coherency and they are unable to regroup, their next Action must be a Move Action bringing them back into Coherency. This only happens when moving into Combat all other movement must end in Coherency. A Group cannot be in Coherency unless its entire Group is in Coherency.
Move Action A Move Action is the standard way to move your Groups around the tabletop without incurring a penalty. A moving Group may travel in any direction, regardless of facing, with any number of turns up to their maximum Movement characteristic. A Group changing directions many times during their movement • A Group must have Line of Sight along the whole distance they wish to run. • A Group must be able to see their destination before they commence their run. • Groups can only move in a straight line when they run. Running is a direct movement from A to B Groups who run are classed as Weary until the end of the round unless otherwise stated and must be given a Weary Token to indicate their current state. Place a Weary Token as close as possible to the Group who have just run. You must avoid all enemies during any and all parts of your move action. A Group can only run once per round. If a Group has run, they cannot be ordered or use one of their own Actions to run again this round. Other Types of Movement Run Action A Run Action enables you to double your Group’s base movement at the cost of becoming Weary for the rest of the round. This increase is identical for both infantry and cavalry. All Run Actions must adhere to the following rules, unless otherwise stated: There will be times that you wish to carry out a specific type of movement covered by either a Move or Run Action which carry with it extra considerations. You may also use the following specific types of movement as part of a Combat Action as Groups charge into melee combat but only if the Group has a clear Line of Sight to their enemy. 29
Climbing, Vertical Movement As part of a Move or Run action as well as charging into melee, Groups can move up and down stairs, use a ladder or attempt to climb any vertical distances players have agreed are passable. When moving up and down steps or stairs, measure the distance you wish to cover as a normal Movement Action and move your Warriors as if carrying out a Move or Run Action. When moving up and down a ladder measure the vertical distance you wish to cover as a normal Movement Action and move as if carrying out a Move or Run Action. If you have any extra movement available at the top of the ladder you may use it as part of a Move Action. If you have extra movement left as part of a Run Action you must stop at the top of the ladder unless you had a clear line of sight to go further from your starting position. A Group may declare a Combat Action to charge up or down a ladder, they must have clear line of sight to their enemy, charge in a straight line and be able to reach their intended target. When using a ladder, at least one of the Warriors must be able to reach the top or bottom as part of that Action if they cannot they end their movement at the ladder. To traverse the vertical distances players have agreed are passable measure to make sure warriors can successfully climb the distance as a single Run Action. The terrain is classed as difficult terrain and the warriors receive a Weary Token when they have scaled up or down the surface. Jumping As part of a Move or Run Action, as well as charging into melee, a Group can attempt to jump any distance up to their Movement value minus two inches - this initial 2” is used to indicate the minimum run up needed to get airborne even if there isn’t two inches between the warrior and the gap on the tabletop. Examples of maximum jumping distances: Movement of 4 is 2” Movement of 6 is 4” Movement of 8 is 6” Movement -2” = Maximum jumping distance Measure the jump distance in inches as part of your Movement or Combat Action and determine if your Group is able to jump the distance. To make the jump roll a d10 for each Warrior in the group where a score equal to or higher than the distance you are jumping is a success. Move your successful Warriors as normal the full distance. These warriors are able to charge up the ladder and into their enemy as they had line of sight, if the enemy is at the top of the ladder make room for the attacking model so they are in base to base combat. 30 If you roll lower than the distance you are jumping you have failed, and your Warriors fall into the gap, place them below the jump as close to the side they were starting from as possible. Your Warriors are now subject to an Uncontrolled Fall, see Falling, Controlled or Uncontrolled. Please note as in all things a ‘0’ is always a success and a ‘1’ is always failure.
If you have used a Run action to jump, your Group receives a Weary Token if they were successful or not. Falling, Controlled or Uncontrolled All warriors are able to move vertically straight down one inch without any penalty as a conscious controlled fall and continue a Move action. A Group must climb down any greater distances using the rules for climbing vertical distances if the players have agreed the terrain is passible. passable is difficult to move through, Groups not in mail have a movement penalty of 25% moving at 75% of their normal movement. Heavy Warriors who are in mail have a move penalty of 50% or half distance and this is applied in all cases as soon as the first Warrior’s Move or Run Action takes them into the area terrain. Groups sometimes end up taking an uncontrolled fall, this usually happens when they have failed a jump, or they are pushed back in combat. Uncontrolled falls cause a warrior to be removed from the battlefield either due to severe injury or death. Uncontrolled falling is not advised and should be avoided at all costs. Terrain and Movement Terrain refers to woods, hills, bridges, rivers, villages and other types of model scenery placed on the tabletop to create a battlefield to fight over. Many of these features’ hinder movement due to their very nature and in some cases can be impenetrable to one, many or all types of warriors. These Heavy Warriors have their movement halved as they move into the wooded area See the Choosing your Scenario and Battlefield for further details see page 108. Area Terrain Area Terrain is exactly that, an area that models can be placed within, such as a wood, rocky ground or even a fordable river. Anything that both players agree is passable to Groups must be clearly marked on the table top with an area base or any other method as agreed. It is assumed that this terrain although These Light archers with movement 6” can run through the wooded area at 9” 31
Area Terrain is impassable to all types of cavalry and therefore they cannot enter under any circumstances. Groups inside area terrain can see through it to perform a Run Action whist inside the physical area as it does not block Line of Sight within. It also does not block Line of Sight from inside the area to outside the area so Groups starting their Movement action inside a piece of area terrain can charge Groups on the outside as long as they have Line of Sight. Rivers, lakes or any other type of area terrain that is clearly defined as impassable cannot be moved through. Obstacles, Linear Terrain Obstacles can be walls, fences or hedges or any other linear object where Groups can be placed on either side but not on top and have a footprint up to 2” wide including its base. All Groups can cross obstacles that are up to 1” high, reducing their movement by 2”, cavalry movement is reduced by 1”. All Warriors must clear the obstacle if not then the Group is classed as crossing and will have their movement reduced by 2” the next time they take a Movement action. EXAMPLE: Heavy Warriors with movement 4” have a Move action of 2” whilst crossing a hedge. Groups cannot cross obstacles that are over 1” in height without using the rules for climbing. Obstacles Within Area Terrain Movement penalties for Area Terrain and Obstacles are cumulative, if Groups are crossing a linear obstacle while inside a wood, first reduce their movement by 2” then apply the penalty for moving through difficult terrain. 32 EXAMPLE: Light Warriors with a movement of 6” whilst moving through a wood need to cross a hedge, the distance they can move using a Move Action this turn will be 3” Linear Obstacle: 6” - 2” = 4” Area Terrain: 75% of 4” = 3” Buildings Any construction with walls and a roof is considered to be a building, this includes palisade and castle walls. Buildings block line of sight just like area terrain and have the following rules. Entering Buildings If you want Groups to be able to enter buildings during a game, it helps immensely if you can remove the roof and place your models inside. This will enable use of the normal rules. Ensure all players agree where the entrances are positioned before the game starts. If your buildings do not have detachable roofs, you will have to assume they have been locked and barred from the inside and are treated as impassable terrain. You should also decide if it is possible for Groups to climb onto the roof of a building. This is fine if it’s possible to balance your figures, but if there is no space or the roof is too steep then we suggest you disallow it. Unless a scenario states differently or players decide otherwise, assume the following: • Groups cannot see into or out of a building unless the Group inside has taken up a defensive position near a door or window, meaning they must be in base to base contact with the window or doorway. • Groups cannot run into a building as they do not have line of sight to the inside. Once inside a building all normal rules for movement apply.
Defence Action Sometimes you may not want to move a Group preferring instead for them to take cover where they stand. If a Group spends an Action to Defend, they receive a +2 bonus to their Defence Roll as they interlink their shields or hug whatever cover is available to them. This defensive position taken up on the battlefield is shown by all the warriors in the group moving together converging on a single Warrior with their bases touching. When Defending as an Action, but not a Reaction, a Group regains one point of Morale back on their Morale Dice if appropriate. Feudalism Feudalism was the dominant social system in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries, where the nobility of a country held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service. Vassal lords were in turn tenants of these nobles forming the retinues of the elite. At the same time, willing peasants and serfs lived on the lands of these lords, providing both labour and homage, to then share their produce, notionally in exchange for military protection. An excellent example of a feudal monarch is William the Conqueror who, postHastings, considered all the lands of England as his personal property. Once conquest had taken place, he gave parcels of land to his nobles who became his vassals promising loyalty and service when called upon by the new King. Place a Defence Token next to the group which now stays active until the Housekeeping phase, unless the group is given a different Action during the same round. The most common and needed service William asked for was one of a military nature; fighting in his army or protecting his newly acquired assets such as castles. His vassal barons received any and all income from their land, had authority over its inhabitants and on their death could pass the same rights on to their heirs. The word 'feudalism' derives from the medieval Latin terms feudalis, meaning fee, and feodum, meaning fief. The fee signified the land given (the fief) as a payment for regular military service. 33
COMBAT All warriors face the uncertainty of combat with many factors deciding if they will survive each encounter. Warriors more capable than their companions, through feats of bravery and skill, may rise, to be called heroes among their peers. The Rules of Combat There are two types of Combat Actions, Ranged Attacks and Melee Attacks. The target of a Combat Action can React using an Action of their own. The Combat Action initiated by the Attacker and Reaction initiated by the Defender are the two sides of combat. The Combat Action Token is used for both Ranged and Melee Attacks. Combat is between individual Groups only; a Group cannot attack, and cannot be attacked by, more than one Group during a single Combat Action. No contact with more than one Group at a time is allowed. Line of Sight (LoS) and Combat You must be able to see what you want to attack. This is Line of Sight (LoS) which is covered in General Principles and Rule Conventions on page 11. Attacker and Defender The Group that declares a Combat Action is the Attacker. The target of that Combat Action is the Defender. Attack Dice Attack Value The Attack Value from the Warrior Profile differs depending on experience, skill, and weapon characteristics and is used by the Group when Attacking. Commanders, Veterans and Named Characters will often have a lower Attack Value and are capable of great feats on the battlefield. Movement Attack Defence Morale Actions 6 6+ 7+ 3+ 1 Defence Value The Defence value from the Warrior Profile is calculated based on the Armour they are wearing and their experience level. Warriors can be equipped with only one type of Armour, but may also have a shield. All Warriors in a Group must be equipped with the same Armour. This gives all Warriors the same Defence value. 34 Movement Attack Defence Morale Actions 6 6+ 7+ 3+ 1 This is the number of dice rolled corresponding to the number of Attackers involved in the Combat Action. Where a Group gains or loses Attack Dice, the player who owns the Group chooses which dice this affects. This is important where you have Groups with mixed Attack scores such as Command Groups. You will probably want to subtract from the weaker Warrior’s dice and add to your Commanders dice! The Combat Process Combats follow the same steps; with some differences between Melee and Ranged Actions. When a Combat involves the throwing of an object at an enemy, like a javelin, or firing a weapon, like a bow, then that is a Ranged Combat. A Combat that involves standing toe to toe with your enemy and smashing them with a weapon, or a fist, is a Melee Combat.
1 Declare Attack Select the Group that will attack and declare their target. Check the Group has LoS to the target. The Attacker must have LoS to at least one Warrior in the Defending Group. If the chosen target Group is not the closest, viable enemy Group then a Morale Check must be taken. If this check is failed the Group will attack the closest, viable target instead. Remember a Group can only be targeted if it can be seen and there is a passable route to them. 2 Measure Range Measure the range between the two Groups; from the base of the closest Warrior from the Attacking Group to the base of the closest Warrior of the Defending Group. These Warriors must have LoS. For Melee Attacks this is the Charge distance, this cannot be greater than the Group Movement rate +6”. For Ranged Attacks it is the Range, this cannot be greater than the maximum range of the weapon. 3 Defender Reaction The Defender declares whether or not they intend to use an Action to react to the Attack. This Reaction must be declared before the Attack is resolved. Defenders can choose to Defend (either Melee or Ranged), Return Fire (Ranged and if equipped with a suitable weapon), or Attack Back (Melee). 4 Line of Sight Check the number of individual Warriors that have LoS to the Defending Group. Only those Warriors that have LoS to the Defending Group will provide dice to the upcoming combat. When moving into Melee, those Warriors that do not have LoS will still move with their Group into the combat as best they can but do not take part and their dice are not counted. 35
The diagram below shows closest viable targets 36
5a Determining the Charge! (Melee only) If the distance between the two groups is less than the attacking Group's Movement characteristic, as shown on their Warrior Profile, then the Charge is successful, and melee commences. When the distance is greater than the Group’s Movement characteristic then the Attacker rolls a d6 and adds this to the base Movement rate. Where this number is greater than or equal to the Charge distance the Charge can proceed. Where this number is less than the Charge distance the Charge fails. You cannot declare a charge you cannot make. 5b Morale Melee Modifier (Melee only) As well as affecting Morale Checks, Morale Dice also affect Melee Combat. Warriors whose Morale is high will often perform better in melee combat than Warriors whose Morale has taken a dent. Attacks are either augmented or depleted based on current values shown on the combatant's Morale Dice. Before any Attack Dice are rolled in anger, subtract the current score shown on the Attacker’s Morale Dice from the score on the Defender's Morale Dice. Cross-reference this difference in Morale and apply the Attack Modifier from the table below. Morale Melee Combat Modifier Table Difference in Morale Attack Modifier -4 or more Must pass a Morale Check to charge, -1 Attack Dice -1 to -3 -1 Attack Dice 0 No effect +1 to +3 +1 Attack Dice +4 or more +2 Attack Dice EXAMPLE: The Defending Group’s Morale Dice currently has a value of 5 and the attacking group’s Morale dice currently has a value of 1, 5 – 1 = +4 which means for this Combat Action the Attacking Group receive +2 Attack Dice to reflect their vastly superior Morale. In a different Combat melee, the Defenders Morale Dice currently has a score of 2 and the Attackers Morale Dice has a score of 6 2 – 6 = -4 which means our Attacking Group must first pass a Morale Check to even initiate a charge, and if successful they receive -1 Attack Dice, this was probably not the best Action to take. 5c Failed Charge (Melee only) When a Charge fails due to a failed Morale Check then the Charge stalls and the Group stubbornly refuses to move. When a Group does not get enough distance on their Charge (see 5a) they will stumble forward towards their initial target. Roll a d6 and move the Group directly towards the Defender that number of inches. 5d Strength of the Charge! (Melee only) Not all charges are equal. When rolling for the Charge distance a 1 is bad and a 6 good. A 6 gives the Attacker an extra Attack Dice; conversely a 1 causes the Attacker to lose an Attack Dice. You must still roll a d6 even if all that is needed is one extra inch to reach the enemy for this reason. 5e Charge! (Melee only) On a successful Charge the Attacker is now allowed to shout “CHARGE!” and move their Group into base to base contact with their intended target. As part of this Move at least one of the Attacking Warriors must be able to reach a Defending Warrior. This Charge is similar to the Run Move from the MOVEMENT section and follows the same rules (other than distance travelled and they do not cause a Group to become Weary); and yes, you can jump into Combat! 37
Select your first Warrior from the charging Group and move them towards the enemy; this Warrior does NOT have to reach base to base combat with an enemy. Charge the remaining Warriors from this Group individually using the same maximum charge range for all. At least one Warrior must reach base to base contact with an enemy Warrior. All Warriors that are in charge range and can reach a Defending Warrior must be moved into base to base contact. For Melee Attacks, Warriors count in the melee if: The Charging Group maintains Group Coherency if you can position all Warriors from the same Group within 2" of the first Warrior who charged, or within 3" for Cavalry. When a Group charges into combat it does not have to stay in Coherency. The Group can carry out melee even if members lose coherency during to the charge. Groups out of Coherency suffer -1 Attack dice during the Combat Action. • Started their charge with clear Line of Sight of an enemy Warrior. 6 Generate Attack Dice For Ranged Attacks, all Warriors with LoS at the start of the Attack will fire. Add up their Attack Dice, this is the number of dice that will be rolled. Remember if the shot is Hindered then remove 1 Attack Dice from the pool for every Group Hindering the Attacking Group. 7 Roll to Hit The Attacking Warriors' Attack Characteristic indicates the number needed to score a successful hit. Each dice rolled that equals or is greater than this number is a hit. Apply any dice modifiers that apply after the dice are rolled. • In base to base contact with an enemy • Within 1" of any Warrior from their Group who is in base to base combat with an enemy. An element of common sense is required here. If warriors are only fractionally apart due to the vagaries of scenery, they count as being in base contact. Add together the Attack Dice of all Warriors involved in the Combat then apply any modifiers that apply. Remember to remove an Attack Dice if the charge is Hindered and to add or subtract any Morale Melee Modifier or Charge Strength Modifier. This is the number of dice to be rolled. All natural '0s' rolled count as successes which can only be defended by rolling a natural 0 and are put to one side. 8 Defence Roll The Defender now rolls the number of d10 equal to the number of successes the Attacker has rolled. The score needed to defend successfully is determined by the Defending Warriors Defence Characteristic. Each successful Defence Roll blocks one successful Attack Roll. Defence Reaction If the Defending Warriors choose to react by spending an Action as a Defence Reaction, they receive a +2 bonus to their Defence Roll. Place a Defence Token next to the Group; which now stays active until the Housekeeping phase, unless 38
the Group is given a different Action during the same Game Round. At the conclusion of the Combat Action, unless Broken or Shocked, the Defending Group takes up a defensive position on the battlefield shown by all Warriors in the Group moving together with their bases touching. This is carried out during Combat Resolution after any Forced Back moves or Morale Checks have taken place but before Regrouping. IMPORTANT: Attack Rolls of 0 verses Successful Damage Rolls Natural 0 attacks are only nullified if the defender also scores 0s in defence. When defending against any attack, successful Defence Rolls are first attributed to any 0s scored by the attacking player even though they fail to defend the attack. If Defending Warriors have been equipped with shields any failed Defence Rolls can now be re-rolled as Shield Rolls. 9 Shield Roll If a Warrior is armed with a shield they may re-roll any failed Defence Rolls. The size of the shield, small (9+), medium (8+) or large (7+) determines the score needed for success with the 'Shield Roll'. A '0' is always a successful roll. Note: Shield Rolls cannot block a natural 0 hit and Defence Action bonus’ do not affect the Shield Roll. A Defence roll of a natural 1 It is important to note that you may not use a Shield Roll for any natural 1s rolled on a Defence Dice and you cannot re-roll successful Defence Rolls; only Shield Rolls for unsuccessful defence scores are allowed. EXAMPLE: The Attacking player rolls five d10 in attack needing a 5+ and scores 0, 0, 8, 6 and 3. Four of these dice are successful. The Defender now rolls four d10 to defend; needing a 6+ scoring 0, 9, 6 and 1. The Defender only managed to block one of the Attackers 0s with their own 0, the 9 is used against the other 0 but does not block it, and the 6 successfully blocks one of the other hits. The 1 fails to defend and leaves two successful hits. If the Defender had shields, they would now be able to make a Shield Roll. However, in this example as the only failed defence roll was a 1 it cannot be rerolled as a Shield Roll so is ignored. 10 Defender Reaction If the Defender has chosen an active Reaction, Return Fire or Attack Back, then this takes place now. If they have chosen not to React, or were unable to do so, then it's time for Combat Resolution. Return Fire Defending Groups who are shot at, and armed with ranged weapons, can spend an Action to Return Fire if the Attacker is within short range. Once this initial Ranged Attack has been concluded any surviving Defending Warriors now Return Fire at their Attacker. Return to the Line of Sight Combat Phase and shoot back carry out a Ranged Attack as above. Attack Back Defending Groups who are attacked in melee can spend an action to Attack Back. The Attacker carries out their Attack first and all casualties are removed. Once the initial Attack has been concluded any surviving Defending Warriors who are counted as in melee can attack back. Return to the Line of Sight Combat phase (see 4) and carry out a Melee Attack. Defensive Attacks will gain no dice from the Charge, or lose any, but are affected by the Morale Melee Modifier so that does need to be accounted for. They do not need to check to Charge as they are already involved in Combat! 11 Combat Resolution If there are no successful hits then a Ranged Attack ends now. No Groups are moved. 39
Once all Attacks are resolved total up the number of casualties each side has suffered. The Group that has caused the most casualties wins the Combat and Forces Back the opposing Group. If casualties are equal then this is a draw and both Groups are Forced Back. Morale Effects Whenever a casualty is caused, it has an impact on Morale as represented by a Morale Dice. Each time a Group takes a casualty increase the score on the Morale Dice by 1, multiple casualties are counted separately. If a Group does not have a Morale Dice, due to having taken no casualties, take one and place it next to the group. Indicating the number of casualties. Forced Back When Forced Back a Group moves 1” plus 1” for every casualty they have taken in that Combat. i.e. a Group that takes 2 casualties and is Forced Back will move back 3” (1” +2”). A Group that is forced back must move away from their attacker. If there is a friendly Group in the way of a Forced Back move, move those friendly Warriors the minimum distance needed to allow the compulsory move to take place and make sure both friendly Groups finish at least 1" apart. position after being Forced Back), the Warriors are Trapped. If there is nowhere else to go they gain a further casualty. The new casualty must be recorded on a Morale Dice, increasing the score by one. Forced Off The Table A Forced Back move can send Warriors partially or entirely off the edge of the battlefield. If this happens, the Warrior is removed from play as they are considered to have fled. Please note that 'partially' means exactly that; if any part of a base from a Warrior leaves the table, they flee. At this point check to see if the Group needs to take a Morale Check. See the Morale section on page 44 for more details. Morale Check Once Groups have finished their Forced Back moves check for Morale. A Morale Check is needed if a Group has lost a cumulative 25% of the number of starting Warriors in the Group. Once a Group has lost 25% they will check Morale after every subsequent casualty. If no Morale Check is needed the Combat Action is completed and players move onto the next Action. If a Morale Check is failed the Group is Broken, place a Broken Token next to the Group who are then immediately moved their full Movement directly away from their attacker. Regrouping Trapped! 40 Enemy figures, on the other hand, do not move out of the way and prevent the full compulsory move taking place. If enemy Warriors lie in the path (or would be within 1" of the Warriors' final Winners of Melee Combat are allowed a free Move Action to regroup as the final part of their Combat Action. The intention behind this extra movement is to enable winning Groups to take objectives, grab cover and more importantly regroup to maintain coherency after a frenetic melee. In all cases the Group must finish this consolidation move 1" away from any enemy Groups. After the losing Group is Forced Back, select a Warrior from the winning Group to move up to
their maximum basic movement in inches then move the remaining Warriors establishing Group Coherency. Terrain and Combat Terrain refers to woods, hills, bridges, rivers, villages and other types of model scenery placed on the tabletop to create a battlefield to fight over. Many of these features' hinder combat due to their very nature and in some cases can be impenetrable to one, many or all types of combatants. The least exciting type of terrain, for us, is open ground which is represented by the flat table surface and is usually the predominant terrain type on the tabletop; it does not impede combat at all. Why is terrain important when it comes to combat? Simply put, it provides your warriors with much-needed cover and defendable positions, increasing their chances of survival in the face of ranged attacks and also in vicious hand-to-hand melee. It also gives bonuses when warriors attack from a height, allowing them a chance of victory in a situation they might otherwise be unable to win. See the CHOOSING YOUR SCENARIO AND BATTLEFIELD section on page 109 for more details. Ranged Attacks Terrain hinders Ranged Attacks in precisely the same way as if enemy Groups were blocking LoS unless the shooting Group is touching the terrain. Every individual piece of terrain that is partially inside the base width path causes an attacking Group -1 Attack Dice. See Hindered Attacks on page 14 in the GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND RULE CONVENTIONS section. Melee Attacks If impassable terrain lies in the path of a Group’s charge, then the charging Group may not attack. Some terrain will block LoS; any Warrior that charges through LoS blocking terrain can NOT be included in the combat. Forced Back and Broken Barriers cannot be crossed, and buildings cannot be entered during a compulsory Forced Back or Broken move. Groups must stop when they reach this type of terrain, leaving them no retreat if there is an enemy within 1", causing an extra casualty. Difficult terrain does not affect Force Back moves. Broken moves are reduced to half distance if they go through area terrain and this adjustment is made as soon as a Group enters the area. Defence Bonuses for Occupying Terrain Groups would be wise to make good use of terrain to protect themselves. Taking up defended positions behind an obstacle, in a wood or a doorway grants them a defence bonus and increases survivability. Area Cover Warriors are within cover if the centre of their base lies within a terrain area that offers a Cover Bonus to their Defence Roll. More than half of the Group must be inside the area terrain to receive the Defence Bonus. While a Group remains in cover they will receive a bonus to their Defence Dice. When a Group is Forced Back they will continue to receive the cover bonus if the cover rule still applies. Defensive Positions When a Group is placed behind an obstacle, with their bases touching it, that Group is in cover from any enemy drawing LoS over the obstacle. Groups in a defensive position remain so as long as they keep the obstacle between them and their enemy! As soon as a Group makes a Move Action, or are Forced Back, away from the obstacle, so that less than half the Warriors in the 41
Group have bases touching it, they are no longer in a defensive position. This is covered in more detail in the Choosing your Scenario and Battlefield section on page 118. Higher Ground Higher ground always grants the Attacker an advantage; if shooting or charging from a position that is clearly higher than the target, such as on a hill, a Group adds +1 to the result of their Attack Dice. A Group defending a melee attack while on higher ground adds +1 to their Defence Dice. In both cases common sense is needed here. Hills block Line of Sight only if the two Warriors are on opposite sides and at ground level with the hill between them. Warriors on hills can see and be seen over barriers negating a Defensive Position if the obstacle is below the Attacker. 42
43
MORALE You have spent your time carefully mustering your retinue, you’ve formulated a cunning plan to ensure victory against your opponent, and then morale rides onto the battlefield messing everything up for you. When to Test Warfare is an unpredictable business, and it is a very lucky Commander whose Warriors perform as expected in every single battle. Surrounded by the general din and clamour of melee, where friends and foe alike become casualties; Warriors can quickly become demoralised. Frightened, fatigued, and disorientated Warriors decide that self-preservation is far more appealing than being a hero. • Losing a cumulative total of 25%casualties: When a Group loses a Combat Action and suffer a cumulative total of 25% casualties from the total number of Warriors the Group started with. After the casualties have been removed and the Morale Dice is changed to represent the outcome of the combat The good news is for every Warrior who runs one will stand in the face of all the horror unleashed upon them; these are the Warriors that bring victory. What Do Morale Checks Represent Morale Checks represent how your Groups react when called upon. Morale Checks are the response to a particular battlefield situation, such as acting on an order issued by their Commander, to Action one of their Abilities or to losing in combat. When needing to take a Morale Check roll a d10 and compare the result to the Morale characteristic on the Warrior Profile for the Group taking the test. • If the score is equal or higher than the Warriors’ Morale, they have passed. • If the score is less than the Warriors’ Morale, they have failed. The outcome determines how the group may now act. 44 During a battle, your Groups will be called upon to take Morale Checks. These instances are covered in the relevant rules sections; however, they are also included here in the Morale section for ease of reference. • Respond to an Order Action: When a Commander issues an Order Action the Group receiving it must take a Morale Check using their Morale. When successful the Group is issued the Order; otherwise it is ignored, and the Action is lost for this round • Action specific Abilities: Some Abilities require a Morale Check to activate • Psychology: Fear, Hatred, and being Berserk all cause warriors to take a Morale Check, each for different reasons • Rally when Broken: As a Compulsory Action a Morale Check is needed to halt Broken Groups running towards your table edge. • Rally when Shocked: As a Compulsory Action a Morale Check is needed to stop Shocked Warriors from huddling down and re-join the battle. • Improve current Morale: During the Housekeeping phase, Groups who currently have a Morale Dice, and are Weary, must take a Morale Check. If successful, the dice score is reduced by one or removed where appropriate.
• Losing your Commander: When your designated Commander is removed from the battlefield, a Morale Check is needed for another Warrior with the Command ability to take over and stop the Retinue from running • Group Casualties: If a friendly Group is removed completely any friendly Groups within 6” must take a Morale Check. If their Morale Check is failed they become Broken receiving a Broken Token. Using the Commanders Morale Groups can make a Morale Check using any Commander’s Morale characteristic when they are within a 6” range of a Retinue Command Group. This demonstrates their desire to perform well in front of these Warriors of renown (no one wants to look bad in view of the boss). If a Command Group contains a Banner Bearer this range is increased to 12”; it is easier to identify these heroes at greater distances on the battlefield. If a Command Group is Broken or Shocked, Groups cannot use that Commander’s Morale for Morale Checks, this includes your Retinue Commander. When the Command Group rallies their Morale characteristic can be used as normal. Groups do not use a Commander’s Morale when testing to carry out an Order Action. Morale Checks in this instance are carried out against a Group’s own Morale characteristic as you are testing to see if their Morale allows them to follow the Order or not. Modifiers Certain situations make it harder or easier for a group of warriors to pass a Morale Check. This is represented by applying modifiers to the Morale characteristic before the Morale Check is made. In most cases, modifiers will be indicated by the Morale Dice, although other modifiers may also apply. Regardless of these modifiers, a roll of a 1 will always fail, and a 0 always passes. Morale Dice All battles ebb and flow, favouring first one Commander and then the other. A large part of this is down to the morale of their Warriors. When things are going well, their blood is up fighting on against all the odds; if not so well the next situation can easily be the one that causes fighting men to turn tail and run! Unless a catastrophic encounter happens, the loss of morale will usually occur over the course of a battle. As easily as a Warriors’ morale degenerates, it may equally improve as the fight goes in their favour. To indicate this, we use a Morale Dice, this Morale Dice indicates the current modifier to a Group’s Morale. Casualties caused through a Combat Action are the most common reason for a Morale Dice to be added, although not the only 45
reason. Every casualty a Group suffers increases the value of their Morale Dice by one. The maximum value on a Morale Dice is six, any further additions are ignored. Where a Group currently doesn’t have a Morale Dice their value is 0. cause fear but also the terrible stories around particular warriors whose heraldry is amongst the enemy troops. Fear applies to the Group that is affected, not the Group that causes the fear. When opposing a fear causing Group a Morale Check must be taken when: When a Morale Check is taken, the player applies the current value shown on a Group’s Morale Dice as a modifier to their Morale score before testing. • Groups wish to shoot at a Group that it fears, and that unit is in charge range EXAMPLE: My unit of spearmen must take a Morale Check, their Warrior Profile shows a Morale characteristic of 4, they currently have a Morale Dice showing a 2. The Morale Dice (2) is added to the Morale characteristic (4) which means to pass this Morale Check they need to roll a 6 or more on a d10. The Morale Dice impacts Groups in other ways, and while in play, these modifiers are applied to any Group that has one. Losing a Group When a Group is totally destroyed, during a Combat Action, the Command Group containing the Retinue’s Commander adds +1 to their Morale Dice as losing Warriors has a negative effect on a leader’s Morale. The Psychology of Morale A sense of self-preservation, outright fear and pure hatred can all affect a warriors’ actions. These different states of mind are represented by the psychology of morale where different groups react in different ways based on the circumstances they find themselves in on the battlefield. 46 Fear The expectation or anticipation of an unpleasant or disastrous grisly end usually causes trembling, heart-pounding, short of breath, vision blurring fear. Not only the first battles for the uninitiated • Groups want to charge a Group that it fears, if failed they may do nothing for the rest of that Game Round • Groups are charged by a Group that it fears. If failed, they are Broken and make an immediate Run Action directly towards the player’s table edge • When a Group takes any casualties during combat from a Group it fears Hatred Backstabbing, feuds and territorial disputes are the sorts of things which cause Hatred to grow. Where there is Hatred, there is usually hotheadedness and grudges plenty, so when the opportunity to attack presents itself; it is difficult to resist the urge to charge! • Groups must always charge a Group that it hates and do so as soon as they come into range. This can only be stopped if the Group successfully passes a Morale Check. • When not in charge range of a visible, hated Group, a Group armed with missile weapons, must use their Action to shoot, if possible, unless they successfully pass a Morale Check. • A Group in Melee Combat with a hated foe can re-roll all missed Attacks. They do not take a Morale Check if they lose a Combat Action and are Forced Back as they will never run from a hated foe.
Berserk Working themselves up into an absolute frenzy of bloodlust and carnage, the sole intent of these warriors is to destroy everything around them with little care, if any, to their own personal wellbeing. • Berserk Groups never take Morale Checks as they can never be Shocked and are never Broken. They continue fighting on against all the odds • Groups who are Berserk add +2 to their Attack rolls to represent their combined fighting prowess. However, they also suffer -1 to their Defence rolls as they make no attempt to defend being purely focused on attack • Berserk Groups MUST move towards the enemy and charge the nearest Group at every opportunity 47
BUILDING YOUR RETINUE During this period force sizes were not fixed, Commanders brought to the field any available warriors that could be mustered. These were raised from their own estates or paid for mercenaries, and often a mix of both. This ‘mixed bag’ was invariably reflected in the quality of equipment and the levels of experience these warriors brought with them. With this in mind force selection allows a lot of freedom, enabling you to build your Retinue; a freedom to collect, build, paint and play with a force that appeals to your hobby interests. All players need a Retinue with which to fight their way through their upcoming skirmishes. Before the game starts, players agree on the number of points available for the game you are about to play. This is the amount each can spend on Warriors. By giving everything a Points Value, we have tried to ensure balance; basic Warriors are a cheap option with more seasoned, battlehardened Warriors being expensive. The Retinue A Retinue is a body of Warriors ‘retained’ in their service making them ‘retainers’; we are using the term to indicate the armed Warriors who follow a Commander of note. These Warriors have an affinity with their Commanders and are usually those whom a lord has surrounded themselves with. Having a retinue was considered a fundamental aspect of feudalism and acted as a means of tying Barons to the lower nobility and the people who work their land. Each player fights their skirmishes and battles using their Retinue. In game terms, Retinues are created from the groups of figures chosen by a player from the options available to them. All the 48 figures that take to the tabletop making up a Retinue are classed as Warriors, from Barons to lowly peasants this term is used to describe them all. These Warriors are organised in Groups; loose organisations of Warriors with similar skills and equipment. Besides Warriors the only other class is Commanders. These are Warriors that have the 'Commander' Ability as part of their profile. You may include any number of Warriors with the 'Commander' Ability; however, only a single Commander can lead your Retinue at one time. Commanders are attached to Groups to form Command Groups. Retinue Composition When it comes to creating your Retinue, there are a few simple rules to adhere to: • Infantry Groups are a minimum of 3 Warriors, excluding a Commander • Cavalry groups are a minimum of 2 Warriors, excluding a Commander • You must include at least one Command Group • You can spend up to 50% of your total points for your Retinue on Command Groups • You must spend a minimum of 10% of your Retinue points on Green Warriors • There can only be one of each Named Character on the tabletop at once. Not one for each Retinue, just one in total! Where a Retinue has more than one Command Group; one of the Commanders has to be nominated as the leader before a game begins.
It must be clear to your opponent which figure is the overall Retinue Commander and which Group they are part of. Building Your Groups (Warrior Selection) A Group is a collection of individual Warriors, assembled together. There is a lot of freedom when it comes to putting your Groups together and creating them is quite a satisfying experience. This is especially true if you provide each with its own story as you then have the building blocks for the narrative of your Retinue. The options available have been included to reflect the period. These choices fill a variety of battlefield roles and enable you to customise your Groups to suit your style of play, a planned scenario, or just simply the figures you currently own (or want an excuse to own). Spend points to equip each Warrior; choosing from their options listed. The cost of each item is added to the starting points cost and the Warrior Profile changed as indicated by the modifier column. Each Warrior in a Group must purchase their Equipment at the points costs per Warrior. The game treats each Warrior when costing your Groups as an individual, one figure is one Warrior. Warriors can have starting equipment included in their basic points, when you change their equipment, using the options available; pay any extra points and replace the starting options with these new choices. When you start building your Groups, a Warrior Profile indicates the starting points cost for a single Warrior of that type. This profile gives you their raw ability which can be modifed by adding Equipment. Each Warrior type has a variety of different options available in keeping with their social standing and battlefield role. EXAMPLE: Knights have access to the finest mail armour and swords, whereas the levy does the best it can with crude hand weapons, farming implements and if they are lucky a spear. 49
SPEARMAN WARRIOR PROFILE POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 6 5+ 7+ 3+ 1 19 BRACE! REGULAR 6 6+ 7+ 4+ 1 16 BRACE! IRREGULAR 6 7+ 7+ 5+ 1 12 - GREEN 6 8+ 7+ 6+ 1 9 - EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SPEAR EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE REACH - cannot counter attack against spears unless armed with a spear ALL MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE BILL +2 REACH - cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill. Result of 10 causes 2 damage ALL LEATHER/PADDED +1 MAIL +2 -1 Defence -1 Movement Irregular + -2 Defence -2 Movement Regular + SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll ALL MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll Irregular + MODIFIER ABILITIES Brace! Forming Groups Group Size Limits Warriors feel encouraged when they belong to Groups; fighting with comrades increases survivability and enables them to pack a bigger punch when attacking. Groups are made up of Warriors of the same type. For example, you could choose to put five Knights together in one group and seven Crossbowmen in another group. There is no set maximum limit to the number of Warriors you can include in a Group; but do consider the rules for group coherency plus bear in mind in most cases each group only gets one Action. Therefore a few, large Groups will have fewer Actions than a Retinue composed of a lot of smaller Groups. Groups are decided when building your retinue and before deployment. Once deployment begins you cannot dissolve or form new Groups. Once formed into a Group, each Warrior does not activate separately and follows the Group rules. See section ‘Miniature Warriors and their Groups’ on page 16. 50 There is a minimum limit to the number of Warriors in a Group: • Infantry Groups are a minimum of 3 Warriors excluding a Commander • Cavalry groups are a minimum of 2 warriors, excluding a Commander Both large and small Groups have their merits, and different Warrior types will perform differently in different sized Groups. The choice is yours!
Experience Not all warriors are created equal. Any training they have received or battles they have participated in combine to determine their prowess on the tabletop. We have used quite generic terms to determine the different experience levels which are choices on the individual Warrior Profiles. Veteran: Warriors who have direct experience of numerous battles and campaigns. Regular: Warriors who are full-time soldiers who have some military skill. These different levels of experience are reflected in the stat lines and abilities of the different Warriors, and reflected by their different points value. Choosing Your Warriors, Building Your Retinue Before a game each player must choose from the Warrior profiles to build their Retinue. The size of the Retinue is dependent on the points limit agreed by both players, in some cases it can be stipulated by the scenario you have decided to play. Irregular: Warriors that are unpredictable, variable or even erratic. Green: Warriors who are inexperienced, untrained or new to combat. 51
KNIGHTS Sons of noble birth, who after an apprenticeship as a page and squire were raised to the rank of knight. They were bound by military tenure measured through military service. A knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter, a bodyguard or a mercenary for a lord. Payment came in the form of land holdings, with those with greater military experience being much sought after. Trained in the use of all knightly weapons, sword, axe, mace and lance, to fight in heavy mail armour and the use of shield and to expertly ride a horse these warriors were rightly feared. The distinguishing mark of the knightly class was the flying of coloured banners, to identify themselves in battle. Knights began displaying a coat of arms, as enclosed helms were developed and the need for marks of identification arose. With the adoption of unique coloured shields and surcoats, heraldry was born. FOOT KNIGHT POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 4 4+ 5+ 3+ 1 24 Chivalry, Live by the Sword REGULAR 4 5+ 5+ 4+ 1 21 Chivalry, Live by the Sword IRREGULAR 4 6+ 5+ 5+ 1 17 Chivalry EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SWORD EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL -2 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL FALCHION -1 SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL TWO HANDED WEAPON 0 SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon ALL MEDIUM SHIELD +3 LARGE SHIELD +5 MODIFIER -1 Attack 8+ Shield roll 7+ Shield roll ABILITIES Chivalry, Live by the Sword 52 ALL
MOUNTED KNIGHT POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 7 4+ 4+ 3+ 1 27 Chivalry, Live by the Sword REGULAR 7 5+ 4+ 4+ 1 24 Chivalry, Live by the Sword IRREGULAR 7 6+ 4+ 5+ 1 20 Chivalry EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE SWORD EQUIPPED PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL MAIL EQUIPPED -2 Movement (applied) ALL BARDED HORSE EQUIPPED +3 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL FALCHION -1 SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL LANCE +4 Single use, causes shock if any hits are successful. lances lost if charged. Ignores Shield rolls. Does not replace sword ALL HORSEMAN’S PICK -1 PIERCING - Ignore armour bonus (target counts as wearing no armour) (mounted only) ALL -1 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on a War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge Regular + MODIFIER -1 Attack BARDED WAR HORSE +13 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence HORSE -2 +1 Defence MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll ALL ALL ABILITIES Chivalry, Live by the Sword 53
SERGEANTS If the knight was the nobleman, the sergeant would be thought of as belonging to a middle class. They fulfilled a role junior to the knight in the medieval hierarchy. Sergeants fought either as heavy to light cavalry, or as well-trained professional infantry, either spearmen or crossbowmen. Medieval mercenaries were part of this sergeant class, most notably the high-quality Flemish spearmen and crossbowmen, who were universally regarded as extremely reliable troops. FOOT SERGEANT POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 5 4+ 6+ 3+ 1 22 Martial Respect REGULAR 5 5+ 6+ 4+ 1 19 Martial Respect IRREGULAR 5 6+ 6+ 5+ 1 16 Martial Respect EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR FALCHION EQUIPPED LEATHER/PADDED EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL -1 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL SWORD 0 PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon Regular + POLEARM/BILL 0 REACH - cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill. Result of 10 causes 2 damage ALL Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range. Slow - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Bodkin - ignore one Defence die if target is wearing mail at short range. Causes shock at short range if 25% casualties are caused. ALL MODIFIER CROSSBOW 0 +1 Attack at long range SPEAR -2 +1 Attack REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill ALL ALL TWO HANDED WEAPON 0 -1 Attack SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon MAIL +1 -1 Defence -1 Movement Regular + MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll ALL LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll Regular + ABILITIES Martial Respect 54
MOUNTED SERGEANT POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 8 4+ 6+ 3+ 1 25 Martial Respect REGULAR 8 5+ 6+ 4+ 1 22 Martial Respect IRREGULAR 8 6+ 6+ 5+ 1 19 Martial Respect EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE FALCHION EQUIPPED SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL LEATHER/PADDED EQUIPPED -1 Movement (applied) ALL HORSE EQUIPPED +3 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL SWORD 0 PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon Regular + Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range. Slow - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Bodkin - ignore one Defence die if target is wearing mail at short range. Causes shock at short range if 25% casualties are caused. ALL Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range ALL REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill ALL MODIFIER CROSSBOW 0 +1 Attack at long range BOW -1 +1 Attack at long range SPEAR -2 MAIL +1 -1 Movement Regular + MEDIUM SHIELD +3 -1 Defence 8+ Shield roll ALL LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll Regular + BARDED HORSE +2 -1 Defence Regular + ABILITIES Martial Respect 55
CROSSBOWMEN The crossbow was the first ranged weapon to be simple and cheap as well as physically undemanding enough to be operated by large numbers of untrained conscript soldiers. This enabled Barons to field an extremely potent ranged force with little expense beyond the cost of the weapon. The downside was the time it took to reload, as even in the hands of a skilled arbalester it could still only manage a rate of fire of two bolts per minute. CROSSBOWMEN POINTS ABILITIES REGULAR 6 6+/5+ 7+ 4+ 1 17 - IRREGULAR 6 7+/6+ 7+ 5+ 1 14 - GREEN 6 8+/7+ 7+ 6+ 1 11 - EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range. Slow - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Bodkin - ignore one Defence die if target is wearing mail at short range. Causes shock at short range if 25% casualties are caused ALL MODIFIER CROSSBOW EQUIPPED NAME COST PER WARRIOR MODIFIER EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE LEATHER/PADDED +1 -1 Defence -1 Movement Irregular + MAIL +2 -2 Defence -2 Movement Regular OPTIONS ABILITIES - 56
BOWMEN A medieval archer often described as a bowman, one skilled in the use of the bow, were a necessary part of every medieval army and special attention was paid to their training by their Lords. This training was extremely time consuming as it was necessary for the archer to become an expert marksman and because of this these lower-class men were required to practice archery by law. BOWMEN POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 6 6+/5+ 7+ 3+ 1 19 Every Bloody Sunday REGULAR 6 7+/6+ 7+ 4+ 1 16 Every Bloody Sunday GREEN 6 9+/8+ 7+ 6+ 1 9 - EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE BOW EQUIPPED Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range ALL NAME COST PER WARRIOR MODIFIER EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE LEATHER/PADDED +1 -1 Defence -1 Movement Regular + MAIL +2 -2 Defence -2 Movement Veteran MODIFIER OPTIONS ABILITIES Every Bloody Sunday 57
SPEARMEN A Spearman is any warrior that fights with a spear and more often than not wearing a helmet, carrying a shield and a secondary weapon in the form of an axe, long knife or sword This type of infantryman was much cheaper to outfit and maintain than the noble knight and the Crusade era saw a rise in the importance of infantry when large numbers of men were required for distant battlefields. Clever Commanders with drilled warriors can use a group of spearmen wisely, having them kneel on the ground with braced spears planted in front, forming an effectual 'hedge of steel' against the charging enemy horsemen stopping them in their tracks. SPEARMAN POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 6 5+ 7+ 3+ 1 19 BRACE! REGULAR 6 6+ 7+ 4+ 1 16 BRACE! IRREGULAR 6 7+ 7+ 5+ 1 12 - GREEN 6 8+ 7+ 6+ 1 9 - EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SPEAR EQUIPPED NAME COST PER WARRIOR BILL +2 LEATHER/PADDED +1 EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE REACH - cannot counter attack against spears unless armed with a spear ALL MODIFIER OPTIONS MAIL +2 SMALL SHIELD +2 MEDIUM SHIELD +3 EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE REACH - cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill. Result of 10 causes 2 damage ALL -1 Defence -1 Movement Irregular + -2 Defence -2 Movement Regular + 9+ Shield roll ALL 8+ Shield roll Irregular + MODIFIER ABILITIES Brace! 58
MILITANT MONKS We have included Monks as an opportunity for you to use your imagination to field those brothers who took up arms to defend their faith. Or simply their abbey or church such as the Abbey of Evesham who, led by Abbot William de Andeville, “possessed the military spirit” living as feudal lords. Although monks such as these felt capable of defending themselves, with the addition of knights to their cloisters, do not confuse them with the trained members of the Holy Orders as rules for using these Warriors will be added at a later date. MILITANT MONKS POINTS ABILITIES REGULAR 6 6+ 7+ 4+ 1 15 Faith IRREGULAR 6 7+ 7+ 5+ 1 12 Faith GREEN 6 8+ 7+ 6+ 1 9 Faith EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR HAND WEAPON EQUIPPED MODIFIER EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE ALL OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MODIFIER EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE SWORD +3 -1 PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon Regular REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill ALL SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon Regular 9+ Shield roll ALL 8+ Shield roll Regular SPEAR +1 TWO HANDED WEAPON +3 SMALL SHIELD +2 MEDIUM SHIELD +3 -2 Attack ABILITIES Faith 59
LEVY The infantry was raised in one of three ways, as members of a lord's household, mercenaries or levied from a town or the countryside. Levies were not unarmed serfs expected to leave the fields; the harvest was too important to the landowner. The warriors we are levying were armed, had some training, and came from the upper peasantry; the tenant farmers who would have at one time had prior experience of a battle. LEVY POINTS ABILITIES IRREGULAR 6 7+ 7+ 5+ 1 12 Sorry m’lord GREEN 6 8+ 7+ 6+ 1 9 Sorry m’lord EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR HAND WEAPON EQUIPPED MODIFIER EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE ALL OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE SLING +1 10" range. Quick shot - Can fire twice if stationary. May move full distance and fire once ALL SPEAR +1 REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill ALL IMPROVISED TWO HANDED WEAPON +3 SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon ALL SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll ALL MODIFIER -1 Attack ABILITIES Sorry m’lord 60
COMMAND GROUPS After Groups are chosen, a Warrior with the 'Commander' Ability can be added to any Group turning that Group into a Command Group. Once a Command Group has been established, you have the option of purchasing various upgrades adding bonuses to the Commander’s abilities. As a general rule, you can only include one Warrior with the 'Commander' Ability to any one Group. You cannot form a Group of four Barons, not for now anyway! As with Groups, each Warrior in a Command Group does not activate individually. Instead, the whole Group activates using the Action characteristic of the attached Commander. In most cases your Commander will have a separate entry included as part of the Warrior Profile to indicate their improved stat line. Whenever this is the case, and Warriors within a Group have differing stat lines, roll different coloured d10 for each value or make separate dice rolls where a different number is needed for success. You can only spend up to the maximum of half of your total points on Command Groups which includes Warriors and any additional Abilities or upgrade choices such as a Banner Bearer, Musician, or Priest. Choosing Your Commanders A Commander is someone who is lauded for their actions, a warrior of distinguished courage and ability, admired for their outstanding deeds and noble qualities. Bravery, martial prowess and military skill are the most significant traits of these heroes, unless you are King John of course. To be classed as a Commander, a Warrior must have the ‘Commander’ Ability. There are two Commander options: Knight Commander, which can be a Baron or Lord, and Veteran Sergeants. A Knight can join to command any Group except Levy, a Veteran Sergeant can join to command any Group except Knights. You can include as many of each as your points total allows and one of the Commanders that you select must be nominated as the Commander of your Retinue. 61
KNIGHT COMMANDER Knights had many different titles Lords, Earls, Barons, Knight Bannerets, Knight Batchelors being good examples, but for the purpose of our Knight Commanders we have only two options Barons or Lords. Once you have selected you can title your Commander in any way you choose to fit your narrative. BARON POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 4 3+ 5+ 2+ 3 47 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword REGULAR 4 4+ 5+ 3+ 3 44 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword IRREGULAR 4 5+ 5+ 4+ 3 40 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SWORD EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL -2 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL FALCHION -1 SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL TWO HANDED WEAPON 0 -1 Attack SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon ALL LEATHER/PADDED -1 +1 Defence -1 Movement ALL SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll ALL MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll ALL LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll ALL MODIFIER COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword 62
MOUNTED BARON POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 7 3+ 4+ 2+ 3 50 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword REGULAR 7 4+ 4+ 3+ 3 47 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword IRREGULAR 7 5+ 4+ 4+ 3 43 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE SWORD EQUIPPED PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL MAIL EQUIPPED -2 Movement (applied) ALL BARDED HORSE EQUIPPED +3 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL FALCHION -1 SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL LANCE +4 Single use, causes shock if any hits are successful. Lances lost if charged. Ignores Shield rolls. Does not replace sword ALL HORSEMAN’S PICK -1 LEATHER/PADDED -1 SMALL SHIELD MODIFIER -1 Attack PIERCING - Ignore armour bonus (target counts as wearing no armour) (mounted only) +1 Defence -1 Movement ALL +2 9+ Shield roll ALL MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll ALL LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll ALL BARDED WAR HORSE +13 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence HORSE -2 +1 Defence -1 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge ALL COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword 63
LORD POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 4 3+ 5+ 3+ 2 37 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword REGULAR 4 4+ 5+ 4+ 2 34 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword IRREGULAR 4 5+ 5+ 5+ 2 30 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SWORD EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL -2 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL FALCHION -1 SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL TWO HANDED WEAPON 0 -1 Attack SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon ALL LEATHER/PADDED -1 +1 Defence -1 Movement ALL SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll ALL MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll ALL LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll ALL MODIFIER COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT PENNANT +7 Increase order and inspire range to 9” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword 64
MOUNTED LORD POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 7 3+ 4+ 3+ 2 40 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword REGULAR 7 4+ 4+ 4+ 2 37 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword IRREGULAR 7 5+ 4+ 5+ 2 33 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE SWORD EQUIPPED PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL MAIL EQUIPPED -2 Movement (applied) ALL BARDED HORSE EQUIPPED +3 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL FALCHION -1 SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL LANCE +4 Single use, causes shock if any hits are successful. Lances lost if charged. Ignores Shield rolls. Does not replace sword ALL HORSEMAN’S PICK -1 LEATHER/PADDED -1 SMALL SHIELD MODIFIER -1 Attack PIERCING - Ignore armour bonus (target counts as wearing no armour) (mounted only) +1 Defence -1 Movement ALL +2 9+ Shield roll ALL MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll ALL LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll ALL BARDED WAR HORSE +13 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence HORSE -2 +1 Defence -1 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge ALL COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT PENNANT +7 Increase order and inspire range to 9” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Live by the Sword 65
VETERAN SERGEANTS In medieval European usage, a sergeant was simply any attendant or officer with a protective duty. Over time this evolved into "soldier-sergeants" becoming landowners, fulfilling a more junior role to the knight in the medieval hierarchy. Sergeants would fight either as heavy cavalry riding alongside the knights, light cavalry as scouts harrying the flanks or as trained professional infantry. Over time these sergeants who were Veterans of many battles would be trusted to lead warriors, men whose respect they would have earned purely by their deeds and actions. VETERAN SERGEANT POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 5 3+ 6+ 3+ 2 35 Martial Respect, Inspire, Commander REGULAR 5 4+ 6+ 4+ 2 32 Martial Respect, Inspire, Commander IRREGULAR 5 5+ 6+ 5+ 2 29 Martial Respect, Inspire, Commander EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR FALCHION EQUIPPED LEATHER/PADDED EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL -1 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL SWORD 0 PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon Regular + 0 REACH - cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill. Result of 10 causes 2 damage ALL CROSSBOW 0 +1 Attack at long range Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range. Slow - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Bodkin - ignore one Defence die if target is wearing mail at short range. Causes shock at short range if 25% casualties are caused ALL SPEAR -2 +1 Attack REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill ALL TWO HANDED WEAPON 0 -1 Attack SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon ALL MAIL +1 -1 Defence -1 Movement Regular + MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll ALL LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll Regular + BILL MODIFIER COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT PENNANT +7 Increase order and inspire range to 9” PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Martial Respect, Inspire, Commander 66
MOUNTED VETERAN SERGEANT POINTS ABILITIES VETERAN 8 3+ 6+ 3+ 2 38 Martial Respect, Inspire, Commander REGULAR 8 4+ 6+ 4+ 2 35 Martial Respect, Inspire, Commander IRREGULAR 8 5+ 6+ 5+ 2 32 Martial Respect, Inspire, Commander EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE FALCHION EQUIPPED SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL LEATHER/PADDED EQUIPPED -1 Movement (applied) ALL HORSE EQUIPPED +3 Movement (applied) ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL SWORD 0 PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon Regular + Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range. Slow - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Bodkin - ignore one Defence die if target is wearing mail at short range. Causes shock at short range if 25% casualties are caused ALL Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range ALL REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill ALL -1 Movement Regular + MODIFIER CROSSBOW 0 +1 Attack at long range BOW -1 +1 Attack at long range SPEAR -2 MAIL +1 MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll ALL LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll Regular + BARDED HORSE +2 -1 Defence -1 Defence Regular + COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS PENNANT +7 Increase order and inspire range to 9” +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks PRIEST UPGRADE EFFECT ABILITIES Martial Respect, Inspire, Commander 67
68
The Barons Previously, in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, the king's companions held the title of earl and in Scotland, the title of thane. After 1066 William the Conqueror introduced the rank of baron* in England to distinguish those men who had pledged their loyalty to him under his feudal system. This act established his favoured followers as barons by enfeoffing them as tenants-in-chief with great fiefdoms to be held under this title. All who held this feudal barony "in-chief of the king", that is with the king as his immediate overlord, became equal barones regis ("barons of the king"), bound to perform a stipulated annual military service, and obliged to attend his council. Such barons were not necessarily always from the greater Norman nobles but were selected often on account of their personal abilities and usefulness. For instance, Turstin FitzRolf, the relatively humble and obscure knight who had stepped in at the last minute to accept the position of Duke William's standardbearer at the Battle of Hastings, was granted a barony comprising well over twenty manors (fees). In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's manor or fee was a unit measure of land deemed sufficient to support a knight. Out of necessity, it would not only provide sustenance for himself, his family, esquires and servants, but also the means to furnish himself and his entourage with the horses and armour needed to fight for his lord in battle. It was effectively the size of a fee (or "fief" which is synonymous with "fee") sufficient to support one knight in the ongoing performance of his feudal duties, his knightly service. A knight's fee created by the king himself or by one of his Barons was produced by separating off an area of land from his own. This action would establish therein a new manor for the use of a knight who would by the process of feudal freehold becoming his tenant by paying homage and fealty to his new lord. This homage and fealty were a vow of loyalty, with a corresponding vow of protection received, and an undertaking to provide a specified form of service commonly due under feudal land tenure in England. Broadly speaking such service was a military service generally to a maximum of 40 days per year, signifying that he would have to fight for his lord in battle. No cash rent was payable, although military service was later transformable into scutage, you could pay not to fight. A knight was required to maintain the dignity of knighthood, living in suitable style and be well-turned out in battle, with the required number of esquires to serve him and with horses, arms and armour for all. The size of a force a Baron could muster depended on how many manors or fees he presided over or how many mercenaries he paid to join him in the field. *The word baron comes from the Old French baron, from a Late Latin barō "man; servant, soldier, mercenary" (so used in Salic law; Alemannic law has barus in the same sense). The word is presumably of Old Frankish origin, cognate with Old English beorn meaning "warrior, nobleman". In the kingdom of England, a feudal barony or barony by tenure was the highest degree of feudal land tenure, namely per baroniam (Latin for "by barony"), under which the land-holder owed the service of being one of the king's barons. Those who held land directly from the king by military service, from earls downwards, all bore alike the title of baron, which was thus the factor uniting all members of the ancient baronage as peers of one of another. The title of baron was mostly, though not always, hereditary and passed from one generation to the next. 69
THE KNIGHT COMMANDER GENERATOR If you wish to create your own characters, and your opponent agrees, we have included a set of basic rules for you to “Build a Baron” as a way of creating any of the many nobles and named knights who took part in the war Create Your Own Knight Commander The Knight Commander generator allows you to make a custom Baron or Lord to lead your Retinue. Used to create a character which isn't already covered in the main Army List, or you may choose to create a custom Character that suits your play style or Retinue theme. The method for character creation is a three-step process. Step 1 - Baron or Lord, stat increase First decide the profile stats for your Commander. Decide if you are creating a Baron or Lord. A Baron can have up to 8 individual points of stat increases; a Lord may only have up to 5 single points of stat increases. You can increase a stat by as many points as you wish as long as you don't exceed the maximum stat number or the number of increases allowed. Once you have finished improving their stats, add the points cost to the base value. Step 2 - Equipment After increasing the base stats you need to add their Equipment. Unlike entries in the standard list, a custom Commander does not start with any Equipment as standard. You select Equipment from the armour, weapon and mount tables. Once you have made your choices, apply any modifiers to their stat line for equipment choices and add the points to their current points total. 70 Step 3 - Abilities As well as any Inherent Abilities received for being a knight; you can now choose extra Abilities to give your Commander character. A Baron can select up to three additional Abilities, and a Lord can select up to two additional Abilities. Add the points cost for any extra selected Abilities to their current total points to give you the final value of your character. Make sure you make a note of any new Abilities and their effects on their roster entry. It’s important to note that any Abilities added to a Commander only affects them, for example, if you paid for the ability Castle Forged it only applies to their weapons and you would roll a different coloured dice during a combat action to indicate their attacks using this ability. Your new Knight Commander is now ready to take to the field and lead your retinue to victory. Don't forget to give them an appropriate name and title fitting for The Barons' War.
BASE PROFILE POINTS Max number of Stat upgrades allowed ABILITIES BARON 6 7+ 7+ 7+ 3 30 8 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry +3 Abilities from the Ability table LORD 6 7+ 7+ 7+ 2 20 5 Commander, Inspire, Chivalry +2 Abilities from the Ability table STAT UPGRADES NOTES MAXIMUM SCORE 3+ 5+ 2+ POINTS COST PER INCREASE 2 2 1 CANNOT EXCEED THESE NUMBERS MOUNT POINTS NOTES Requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge BARDED WAR HORSE +2 +1 Dice per Warrior -1 - - +16 BARDED HORSE +3 - -1 - - +5 HORSE +3 - - - - +3 ARMOUR POINTS NOTES SMALL SHIELD - - - - - +2 +9 SHIELD ROLL MEDIUM SHIELD - - - - - +3 +8 SHIELD ROLL LARGE SHIELD - - - - - +5 +7 SHIELD ROLL LEATHER/ PADDED -1 - -1 - - 1 MAIL -2 - -2 - - 2 71
WEAPONS NAME MODIFIER HAND WEAPON 0 DANE AXE / TWO HANDED WEAPON -2 SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon. Cannot use mounted +3 MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round +2 SWORD -1 PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon +3 FALCHION -1 SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded +2 SPEAR 0/-1 Mounted REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill +1 POLEARM / BILL -1 REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill. Result of 0 causes 2 damage +3 LANCE (Mounted Only) -2 Single use, causes shock if any hits are successful. Lances lost if charged. Ignores Shield rolls. Does not replace sword +4 0 PIERCING - Ignore armour bonus (target counts as wearing no armour) (mounted only) +1 -1 SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon +1 HORSEMAN’S PICK IMPROVISED TWO HANDED WEAPON EFFECT POINTS +0 ABILITIES COMMANDER - Must join a Group before deployment creating a Command Group. Can be the leader of your force, if so can use an action to issue a Command Action to another group within 6" INSPIRE - Other groups within 6" gain +1 Attack dice and +1 Defence dice. CHIVALRY - Do not need to make a Morale Check to charge knights if they are not the closest target. 72
COMMAND Each Game Round your Commander may use up to two of their Actions to issue Orders as Command Actions. Eligible Groups are able to receive a single Command Action each Game Round. Command Actions can only be given to Groups within the Command Range of the Commander; Command Range is 6” in most cases. If the Morale Check fails, the Action is lost and the Group does nothing. Place a Command Token next to the Command Group containing the Commander indicating the use of one of their Actions, and the turn is over. A Retinue Commander must use at least one of their Actions on their own Command Group each round. No Morale Check is needed for this Action to work. Command Action These Command Actions are treated as additions and used in the same way as any other Action or Reaction. To issue a Command Action, make sure that the nearest Warrior model from the Group is within Command Range. If in range the Group being given the command must successfully pass a Morale Check against their own Morale to follow the Command Action. If successful they are issued a Command Token and may take an Action. Command Actions do not count as actions when determining if the Retinue Commander’s Command Group becomes weary, they do count towards a group that successfully received the Command Action and activated. Command Actions can be used at any point during a Round to attempt to rally a Broken or Shocked Group even if they have already tried and failed using their own Action during the Compulsory Action phase. COMMAND ACTION DISTANCES 73
EQUIPMENT A Warrior without equipment is someone without a weapon or armour. Giving your Warriors arms and armour and possibly a mount will make them more effective on the battlefield. Weapons All the weapons included here have been chosen to be fitting for the period. Rules for each have been based on historical knowledge with the idea being to be able to represent how they would be used during a skirmish on the tabletop. All Warriors will be armed with at least one weapon type. You may choose to add, swap out weapons, or in some cases add extra weapons such as a lance for mounted knights, this is done by paying the extra points for each Warrior in the Group. EQUIPMENT NAME 74 MODIFIER EFFECT HAND WEAPON 0 DANE AXE/TWO HANDED WEAPON -2 SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon MACE -1 BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round SWORD -1 PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon FALCHION -1 SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded SPEAR 0/-1 MOUNTED REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill BOW +1/0 Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range CROSSBOW 0/-1 Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range. Slow - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Bodkin - ignore one Defence die if target is wearing mail at short range. Causes shock at short range if 25% casualties are caused SLING 0 10" range. Quick shot - Can fire twice if stationary. May move full distance and fire once JAVELIN 0 6" range if the warrior(s) remain stationary, 6+d10” range if warrior(s) end their Movement closer to target than their original position POLEARM/BILL -1 REACH - cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill. Result of 10 causes 2 damage LANCE (mounted only) -2 Single use, causes shock if any hits are successful. Lances lost if charged. Ignores Shield rolls. Does not replace sword HORSEMAN’S PICK 0 PIERCING - Ignore armour bonus (target counts as wearing no armour) (mounted only) IMPROVISED TWO HANDED WEAPON -1 SLOW - will always act second if counter attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon SMALL SHIELD 0 9+ Shield roll MEDIUM SHIELD 0 8+ Shield roll LARGE SHIELD 0 7+ Shield roll
The Crossbow When the crossbow first began to be used, it was hated by a number of influential people. The Pope declared that if a person used a crossbow they could be excommunicated and demanded the weapon to be banned. As a weapon the use of the crossbowmen was viewed as having no honour making warriors hesitant to use the weapon and as a result, crossbowmen were paid almost double the pay of others. Armour & Shields Personal armour was a protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted by weapons during combat, the manufacture of metal armour was a skilled art and drove the development of better weapons designed to pierce it. In this period mail armour was the pinnacle of protection and remained so until the gradual addition of small plates or discs of iron being added to protect vulnerable areas, ultimately developing into full plate armour. Hardened leather and padded coats were also worn as well as full coats of plates which was an armour made of larger metal plates sewn over leather coat. As well as being fully armoured knights carried the more traditionally shaped heater shield, both the longer and standard shaped being common. Kite shields and the smooth teardrop shaped shields along with large and small round shields would also be carried on to the field by the many different class of warriors. Helmets Helmets ranged from conical pots made from boiled leather, traditional nasal helms to the introduction of full helms for the knights. Kettle helms were prolific as they afforded a great field of view, allowed air to circulate and were relatively simple to make in large numbers, it was The crossbow was a lot easier to aim, did not take a lot of skill to use and did not require the years of training that a person needed to use the bow. It could even be used by children or injured soldiers. This was the real moral problem as it could be used by an untrained soldier to injure a heavily armoured warrior. In truth, the nobility felt that commoners should not have a weapon that could so easily injure a knight. said Prince Louis favoured a helmet of this design while on campaign for these very reasons. Mail Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings joined together using an interlinking pattern to form a mesh. Worn as an armoured coat it was referred to as a hauberk. Knights and more affluent Sergeants of this period would wear a suit of mail where their entire body would be covered with this metal mesh, including mail mittens and stockinged feet, with only sections of their face being visible. Padded / Cured Leather A padded defensive jacket which was worn by knights under their mail was often worn separately as armour by the lower classes. The Gambeson, as it was known, was a quilted jacket constructed of linen or wool stuffed tightly for protection with various things from horse hair to scrap cloth. Shields For the period the large and small heater shaped shields were preferred by knights, developed from the earlier kite shield. Smaller in design than the kite shield this made it more manageable in combat making them usable both on foot and mounted. 75
The heater was used by other warriors too as well as large and small round shields, kite shields and the older teardrop shaped shields. Shields give their users a Shield Roll allowing them to reroll any failed Defence Rolls, the size of the shield depends on the number needed for success. Shield Rolls Medium Shield Heater and Large round shields are classed as Medium Shields. Medium shields perform a successful Shield Roll on 8+ on a d10. Small Shield Bucklers and small round shields are classed as Small Shields. Small shields perform a successful Shield Roll on 9+ on a d10. Large Shield Large Heater, Kite and large Teardrop shaped shields are classed as Large Shields. Large shields perform a successful Shield Roll on 7+ on a d10. ARMOUR NAME COST PER WARRIOR LEATHER/PADDED +1 -1 DEFENCE -2 DEFENCE MODIFIER -1 MOVEMENT MAIL +2 SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ SHIELD ROLL MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ SHIELD ROLL LARGE SHIELD The Destrier The destrier is the best-known war horse of the medieval era, although highly prized by knights and men-at-arms, the destrier was not very common and this rarity further made the sighting of one in battle a remarkable occurrence. The word destrier does not refer to a breed, but to a type of horse: the finest and strongest warhorse. Like a knight the destrier was trained from the earliest days of its life making them preferred in combat. Being typically quite intelligent it could easily sprint, stop, turn around and make other movements as required by the rider with perfect ease and speed, understand the rider’s commands and responding to them accordingly. 76 EFFECT -2 MOVEMENT 7+ SHIELD ROLL A Destrier was trained to inflict damage and injury on the enemy it could bite or kick on the command making use of its very powerful hindquarters to strike out.
Horses A Medieval knight would own several horses which were bred and used for his different duties. Ranging in a variety of sizes the biggest and strongest were required as war horses, called destrier, and were owned by only the wealthiest knights. The more common horses to be found in battle were the Coursers, a swift and strong horse, ridden both barded and un-barded by sergeants and knights. HORSE PROFILE NOTES BARDED WAR HORSE +2 +1 DICE PER WARRIOR -1 - - Requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge BARDED HORSE +3 - -1 - - - HORSE +3 - - - - - For these rules we have only covered horses, but there is no reason why your warriors cannot be mounted on other animals such as camels which will be included for Outremer retinues in the future. For now, use the standard horse profile if you wish to include them. War Horse Abilities Riding a destrier into combat has its advantages, these great war horses enable knights to press forward any advantages they gain in the heart of a battle. Although rider and mount are one, after many hours of training together, there are certain situations knights may need extra focus to take control of their steeds before they can act again. If a Group mounted on war horses win a Combat Action, and they initiated the melee by charging, they are subject to Over Charge brought on in the enthusiasm of battle. rearmost base in the defeated Group. If this move brings the cavalry Group into contact with another enemy Group, count this movement as a second Charge. With the attackers now treated as Weary, place a Weary Token next to the Group to indicate this. If the defenders are destroyed Over Charge occurs from where the Combat Action took place. When this Over Charge is resolved the cavalry Group are treated as out of control and given an Ability Token to indicate they must Reign-in at the beginning of their next action. Infantry who charge cavalry using a Combat Action can cause them to Reign-in if the Combat results in the cavalry Group being Forced Back, if this happens place an Ability Token to indicate it has occurred. Reign-in Over Charge The Over Charge takes the Group through the enemy Group they were fighting. Roll a d6 and add the number of casualties from the combat to determine the distance the Group Over Charge. Once the enemy Group has been Forced Back, measure the Over Charge from the back of the When a cavalry Group is out of control they need to Reign-in. At the beginning of their next action they must take a Morale Check to take control of their mounts. If successful, they take their Action as normal; if failed, they do nothing until their next Action. Remove their Ability Token in both cases as the Group no longer needs to Reign-in to act. 77
ABILITIES Ability Action Some Warriors have the means or the skill to do something that distinguishes them from other Warriors. They could have a real talent for archery, a real aptitude for defending against cavalry or be proficient with all two-handed weapons. They may also be negative; the Commander who is always ready to retreat, the Warriors that fear a particular enemy, or the overly cautious veteran scarred by one too many battles. Having these Abilities indicate competence in an activity due to skill, training, or some other qualification, and can be best described as traits, skills and gifts. Traits A distinguishing characteristic or quality, of a personal nature used to indicate a passive skill or ability. Traits are usually passive abilities that are always in effect. Traits can have a positive or negative effect. Token next to the Group indicating that an Ability is being used. The player activates the Group as described by the Ability. The duration of an Ability Action lasts for the length of the Game Round in which it is activated unless explained otherwise in its description. A passive Ability is always activated. Adding Abilities To Your Groups Any Group can have Abilities as long as you pay the correct points and follow these rules: • You can give Abilities to as many Groups as you have Commanders in your Retinue plus three. If you have two commanders, for example, you can include up to five abilities. • You can purchase as many extra Abilities for a Group as the Group has Actions, so if a Group has one Action it can have one ability. Skills The ability to do something well coming from knowledge, practice or aptitude usually triggered by using an Action or Reaction. Gifts An item bestowed or acquired by the recipient. Often a physical piece of equipment that gives Warriors a bonus. Gifts are usually activated by using an Action or Reaction. A good example are knights who are Warriors of exceptional ability as they possess more than one Skill, are likely to have received a martial Gift of some description, and evidence of Traits that make them knights. Using an Ability as an Action Unless classed as passive, Abilities are activated by a player using an Action. Place an Ability 78 • When an Ability is added to a Group all Warriors in the Group must be given the same Ability. The cost of an Ability is per Warrior so you will need to multiply the cost of the Ability by the number of Warriors in the Group. If the Ability costs 5 points and there are 10 Warriors in the Group, the total points cost to include the Ability is 50 points. • When an Ability is added to a Commander, they are the only Warrior who has the Ability and the cost is for them only unless stated otherwise. • Where applicable Abilities stack and can be used together.
ABILITIES NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS AGILE Never tiring always ready to move at speed towards their enemy. May use a Movement Action to run and not become Weary. ACTION GROUP 1 ATTACK BACK These warriors believe the best form of defence is attack. If this Group is charged and wins the Combat Action by using a Reaction, after everything is resolved will immediately charge the defeated enemy Group and fight another Combat Action as a free Action. This Ability causes the Group to become Weary before the second Combat Action takes place. ACTION GROUP 2 BLESSED Believe they have been gifted with divine protection. A single Defence Roll can be rerolled once per game the result of the second roll stands. This takes place before any Shield Roll. PASSIVE GROUP 2 BORN FOR WAR Natural fighters who enjoy the thrill of melee. Choose a Defence or Attack Reaction when charged as a free Action but only if they have no Actions left. If they have an unused Action, it must be used first. ACTION GROUP 2 BRAVE The many battles witnessed have instilled them with nerves of steel. +1 to all Morale Checks. PASSIVE GROUP 2 BULWARK Feet firmly planted and shields raised these warriors know they can stop anything. Gain +1 to Defence Rolls this round but cannot make an Attack Action next round. PASSIVE GROUP 1 CALTROPS Scatter caltrops on the ground to hinder a cavalry charge. Litter an area 3” in front of them with caltrops with a diameter equal to 1” x the number of warriors in the Group to a maximum size of 6”, once per game. Place an appropriate marker to delineate this area which is now counts as impassable. The caltrops remain in play for the rest of the game, if a Group is forced back into the area, they suffer an extra casualty. ACTION GROUP 3 CASTLE FORGED These melee weapons are forged by a master smith. Results of 9 and 0 count as 0 results on the Attack Roll. The points cost is in addition to standard cost of the weapon. ACTION GROUP 3 CHOSEN It seems they are protected by their faith. When attacked during a Combat Action choose to re-roll all Defence dice. Must accept the result of the second roll. PASSIVE GROUP 3 CLOSE RANKS A formidable wall of horse and mail charge their foe. Mounted knights can close their ranks, moving base to base. This causes fear in any infantry groups they charge. These Groups must take and pass a Morale Check to stand and fight or become Broken once contact is made. ACTION GROUP 1 79
80 NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS COUNTER CHARGE Quick reactions allow the bearer to meet the enemies charge. Cavalry are trained to respond to an Attack, if they have an Action left this round, they can use it to react by counter-charging an enemy cavalry group who have charged them. Move both equally into base to base contact with both Groups resolving combat at the same time. The Group that loses the most casualties loses the combat and are pushed back taking a Morale Check. A Group carrying our an 'over charge’ cannot be counter charged. ACTION GROUP 2 COURAGEOUS Mighty in adversity, they live for war! Automatically passes Morale Checks when testing for being Broken or Shocked. PASSIVE GROUP 2 CRUELTY The battlefield is a fickle place every opportunity must be taken to win, this Commander is a master of inflicting pain. Targets must reroll one successful Defence Dice. PASSIVE COMMANDER 1 CRY HAVOC This is the tipping point, victory at all costs! Once per game the Commander calls ‘Cry Havoc’ all friendly units gain the ‘Glory Seekers’ ability for that turn (any Groups with Glory Seeker gains ‘Reputation’). ACTION COMMANDER 3 DAMASCUS STEEL The finest weapons Christendom has to aid its valiant warriors. Opponents do not receive Shield Rolls. PASSIVE GROUP 2 DRILLED ‘Train hard, fight easy’ has been hammered into this unit. May perform a Defence Action for free but not as a Reaction during a Combat Action. This does not count as an Action. PASSIVE GROUP 2 EVADE Quick wits or skill allow these warriors to dodge an incoming charge. May use an unused action to move their movement value away from an Attacker after they have been charged. ACTION GROUP 2 EXPERIENCED TACTICIAN Years of experience allows this commander to choose the ground. When determining initiative your Commander adds an extra d10 without spending a Command Action while their Group does not have a Morale Dice. PASSIVE COMMANDER 3 FAST These warriors have trained for speed and endurance. Gain +2" to Movement when not running. ACTION GROUP 2 FAITHFUL The good book is all that’s needed. Treated as if they have a Shield Roll of 9 or 0 without having shields. If equipped with shields this ability does not work. PASSIVE GROUP 2 FEALTY Loyalty brings its own reward. Ignore the first failed Morale Check of the game when testing to follow a Command Action treating it as passed. Available to Knights and Sergeants only. PASSIVE GROUP 1 FEAR Imposing warriors strike fear into the hearts of their foes. Opponents must pass a Morale Check to charge you. PASSIVE GROUP 1 FEARLESS These warriors fear nothing on the field of battle. Not affected by Fear or Horror. PASSIVE GROUP 1
NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS FINISHING BLOW A relentless torrent of challenging blows rained down upon them. All 0s scored during an Attack Roll cannot be defended. ACTION GROUP 3 FOLLOW ME Experienced in the art of war, friendly units will follow the bearers lead. A single Group of warriors may be moved at the same time as a Group using this Action for free if within 6". Can be used once per round. ACTION GROUP 2 FORMIDABLE Able to shrug off wounds that would kill a normal Warrior. Ignore the first successful casualty caused against this Commander’s Command Group. PASSIVE COMMANDER 3 FRIGHTENING Their reputation proceeds them. Opponents must re roll all 0s scored on both Attack Dice and Defence Dice. PASSIVE GROUP 2 GLORY SEEKERS Gaining a ‘reputation’ is everything. Ignore negative effects of Morale Dice in Melee Combat. PASSIVE GROUP 2 GUTTER THUG Raised by the streets, natural brawlers. Each successfully defended Attack is rolled as an Attack back at the end of the Combat Action as extra Reactions. ACTION GROUP 2 HARDENED Experience tells them running away is not an option. Does not run when Broken becomes Shocked instead. PASSIVE GROUP 1 HEARTH GUARD Chosen Men a Lords own bodyguard. The Group can add +1 to either an Attack Roll of Defence Roll but not both, once per round. PASSIVE GROUP 3 HEROIC A dynamic leader, a true Warlord whose battlefield prowess are inspiring. Every time this Commander wins Melee Combat, all friendly Groups within 6” remove 1 pip from their Morale Dice. ACTION COMMANDER 3 HOLD GROUND This is the most important spot on the battlefield, they will not yield one foot to the enemy. Gain +3 to Defence Roll while performing a Defence Action. ACTION GROUP 2 HOLY RELIC A token of faith carried by the warrior. Automatically remove 1 extra pip from Morale Dice in the Housekeeping Phase. PASSIVE GROUP 1 HORSEMAN A master of horse, man and beast are as one. Gain +2 to the dice roll when taking a Morale Check to Reign-in. PASSIVE GROUP 2 HUNTERS Natural understanding of the battlefield means these warriors wield the terrain as well as the sword. Deploy in a piece of area terrain big enough to fully contain all Warriors in the Group. Remaining hidden until activated. ACTION GROUP 2 ICE HARDENED MAIL The master armourers’ years of knowledge allow him to make an exceptional mail shirt. Ignore piercing effects of weapons. Must purchase mail for all Warriors given this Ability if they are not already equipped with it. PASSIVE GROUP 2 81
NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS IMMOVABLE It’s a ‘tactical withdrawal’. When Forced Back in combat can choose to only be moved half the distance away from the enemy rounded up. PASSIVE GROUP 1 ACTION GROUP 1 INFILTRATE 82 Adept at stealth the bearer can sneak up on their foe. Always deployed last, may deploy anywhere on the board at least 8” away from an opponent. INSPIRED LEADER Armour gleaming, banner fluttering, the way they carry themselves all add to their aura. All Warriors with Line of Sight to this Commander gain +1 to Morale Checks. This does stack with other bonuses. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 LAST STAND Believing this is the end, they are not going down without a fight! If annihilated, make a free Attack Action for all models who started the Combat Action even though they have been removed as casualties. ACTION GROUP 2 LOYAL RETAINER Loyal to the last, these warriors will not fail their lord. If your Retinue Commander would be killed within 3" remove a warrior from this Group as a casualty instead. PASSIVE GROUP 2 MARTIAL TRAINING Can always be found on the training ground. Automatically pass any orders given via a Command Action by the Retinue Commander. PASSIVE GROUP 1 MASTER FLETCHER Skilled fletchers make all the difference. Bows and crossbows used by these Warriors gain an extra 5" range at long range. PASSIVE GROUP 2 MASTER SWORDSMAN Trained since birth to wield the sword, considered exceptional swordsmen by their peers. Parry counts against all weapon types, must be armed with a sword. PASSIVE GROUP 1 MEASURED SHOT Taking extra time to aim can make all the difference. By choosing not to Move, gain +1 Attack Dice to a Ranged Attack for that Action. ACTION GROUP 2 MOMENTUM ‘Success brings success’. If successful in Melee Combat must activate again straight away if they have an unused Action. Will become Weary at the beginning of their second Action. ACTION GROUP 3 NIMBLE Used to hunting or poaching in the wild, no terrain is too difficult. Can move across difficult terrain as if it is open ground. ACTION GROUP 1 OLD SOLDIERS Wily, gritty and battle worn these warriors are the survivors of many conflicts. Entitled to a free Attack Reaction whenever they are charged and engaged in a Melee Combat Action. PASSIVE GROUP 2 OPEN UP! A feint and the foe’s shield is misplaced, a flick of the wrist and it becomes a useless piece of wood. Opponents do not receive any bonuses for a Defence Action in Melee Combat and their Defence Token is removed. ACTION GROUP 1
NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS OUTFLANK Attack from the sides to achieve an advantages position over the enemy. Can be given to a Cavalry Group who are deployed off the tabletop. During round one when activated, must enter from either short table edge at a position of the player’s choosing. ACTION GROUP 2 POWERFUL CHARGE The momentum of a charge is carried forwards into the attack. Gain +1 Attack Dice on a roll of 5 or 6 on a d6 when Charging into Melee Combat. ACTION GROUP 1 PROTECTOR Honour bound to protect the levy brought from their estate. Enables a Knight Commander to create a Command Group with Levy. Cannot be the Retinue Commander. Can only be taken once per Retinue. PASSIVE COMMANDER 1 PUSHED BACK Skilled at forcing the enemy backwards in combat to exactly where they want them. Success in Melee Combat allows you to Force Back the enemy in any direction you chose. PASSIVE GROUP 1 RAGE Adrenaline flows and blocks the pain. When counter attacking, do not subtract casualties from your Attack Roll. ACTION GROUP 3 RAISE SHIELDS As skilled with the shield as they are with the sword and spear. When using a Defence Action gain +2 to Shield Rolls as well as Defence Rolls. ACTION GROUP 2 REASSURING Nothing seems to perturb this commander, seeing him or his banner has a calming influence. Remove the Morale Dice of any Group suffering from Shock within 6” during the Housekeeping Phase. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 RELENTLESS Experience tells them success should always be re-enforced! After winning Melee Combat choose to immediately charge the same enemy Group again fighting a second Melee Combat Action for free. Gain a Weary Token before the second Combat Action commences. ACTION GROUP 2 REPUTATION Fearsome warriors known to their enemies. Always count their Morale Dice as 1 better than any Group they are fighting. PASSIVE GROUP 1 RESILIENT Never affected by the horrors of war and will fight on regardless. Cannot be Broken or Shocked therefore not subjected to Morale Checks as a result of casualties. PASSIVE GROUP 3 ROBUST A stronger constitution or just chunkier than the average Commander? It takes one extra successful hit to remove this commander from the battle. Ignore this ability if riding a War Horse. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 SAVAGERY Only blood can satisfy this warrior. If there are more enemy warriors than friendly warriors within 6” fight with added savagery and gain +1 Attack Dice. ACTION GROUP 1 SIDESTEP Nimble on their feet, they are happy to step aside to let others ‘grab the glory’. Friendly Warriors do not Hinder this Group when they charge the enemy. ACTION GROUP 1 83
NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS SKIRMISHER Harrying the enemy is their job. +1 to Defence Rolls against ranged weapons. PASSIVE GROUP 2 SPITE No time for mercy, the enemy must be killed. If an enemy inflicts a casualty, whenever you charge them you charge as if you had a higher morale score. ACTION GROUP 1 STEADFAST These warriors only reluctantly relinquish ground to their enemies. Can choose to move half distance (rounded up) when Forced Back during a Combat Action. PASSIVE GROUP 2 STEALTH Cunning can be effective as courage on the battlefield. After deployment can make a single free Movement Action before the game starts, this can be a Run Action. ACTION GROUP 1 STRONG A mighty Warlord whose physical strength is almost legendary. May use two handed weapons and a shield together enabling Shield Rolls. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 SUPERIOR SHOT This unit has an uncanny ability to hit whatever it has aimed at. Reroll any 1s scored when shooting (result of the second roll counts regardless of score) ACTION GROUP 2 SUREFOOTED Fleet of foot these warriors will catch out the unwary. May reroll failed charge dice. ACTION GROUP 1 VETERAN CRUSADER Back from over the sea, few men will ever see what he has seen. Ignore Morale Dice when making Morale Checks. PASSIVE COMMANDER 3 WAR CRY An inspirational shout to rally the men. Once per game the Commander shouts their ‘War Cry’ all friendly Groups within 12” reduce their Morale Dice by 1. ACTION COMMANDER 3 WARRIORS OF GOD Ordained by God to fight his holy wars, victory is inevitable. During Melee Combat Actions gain +1 to Attack Rolls with the enemy receiving -1 to Defence Rolls (1s and 0s are treated as normal). ACTION GROUP 3 WAR WISE I thought you were a goner! Once per game may choose to ignore a single casualty. PASSIVE GROUP 2 WEAPON CHOICE Skilled in multiple weapons. May fight with ranged or melee, must use the chosen of weapon for the remainder of the round. Pay the cost for both weapons. ACTION GROUP 0 ACTION GROUP 1 WOLFHOUND 84 Never miss the chance to drive the enemy from the field. The Warriors must charge a broken group if they are within charge range, roll 2d6 for charge distance and choose the highest result when chasing down Broken Groups.
Inherent Abilities Listed below are Abilities that are already included in some Warrior Profiles, usually this is for Named Characters, Commanders and particular types of Warriors. These Abilities are fundamental to who or what these Warriors are. You may not select from the list of Inherent Abilities unless you are using the Knight Commander Creator to build your own Commander and only if your opponent agrees. INHERENT ABILITIES NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS BLOODLUST The thirst for blood is never sated. Roll 2d6 for charge range and use the highest result for this Commander and their Command Group. ACTION COMMANDER 1 BRACE! Prepare for the impact of the cavalry charge. If armed with spears or bills, when being charged by cavalry you may spend an unused action as a reaction to brace. The cavalry Group does not make a follow up move and you Attack back, as a Reaction, as if no casualties were caused. ACTION GROUP 1 CHARISMATIC LEADER A Man among men, held in high esteem by his retinue. May reroll a single failed Order Check once per round. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 CHIVALRY The glory of defeating other knights is all that matters. Do not need to make Morale Check to charge knights if they are not the closest target. PASSIVE GROUP 1 CALMING PRESENCE A calming beacon in the storm of war. During the Housekeeping Phase anyone within 6” automatically reduces their Morale Dice by 2 if eligible. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 COMMANDER Heroic characters, experienced warriors or just born into the right family. Can be chosen to lead your Retinue. Must join a Group before deployment creating a Command Group. Can be chosen to lead your Retinue, if so, can use their Actions to issue a Command Action to other Groups within 6". PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 CRUEL KING Will stoop to the lowest depths to achieve their selfish goals. If a group fails a Morale Check when receiving an order, they take a casualty, if the order is successful, they may reroll two Attack Dice. ACTION COMMANDER 3 CUNNING TACTICIAN The rules of war are there to be broken and bound to your will. May give one additional Order Action for free to another Group, this is not taken from the Commander’s Action allowance. ACTION COMMANDER 3 DIVINE INTERVENTION Believes the hand of God helps his most devoted followers. Any Broken or fleeing groups within order range do not have to try and rally as a compulsory action but may choose when to try and rally. As soon as they become outside of Order Action range, they become subject to a Compulsory Action and must activate next. PASSIVE COMMANDER 3 DEVOTED FAITH Believes that God is on the side of the righteous. Any Group this character joins gains ''God protects - ignore the total on your Moral Dice when making Morale Checks.'' PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 85
86 NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS DISHONOURABLE No tactic is too barbarous for this Commander. Do not need to make a Morale Check to charge non-knights if they are not the closest target. PASSIVE COMMANDER 1 EVERY BLOODY SUNDAY By law of the King of England we are drilled and drilled again, until archery is second nature. Can move and fire even if at long range. ACTION GROUP 1 FOR THE LION To honour their leader and Prince. If a group successfully charges as a result of an Order Action from this character, they gain +1 to their Attack Roll. ACTION GROUP 2 FOR THE REALM Unending devotion to the realm. This Commander and his Command Group do not gain Weary Tokens. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 FRIENDS OF THE FOREST Living in the woods these warriors gain a natural ability to find cover anywhere. All groups within 6” gain the bonus to their Defence Roll as though they are in Soft Cover against Ranged Attacks. PASSIVE COMMANDER 3 FAITH Belief overcomes their current Morale. Ignore the score on the Morale Dice when making Morale Checks. PASSIVE GROUP 1 REVERED HEIRLOOM SWORD Passed through the generation of the same family this sword has become almost mythical to the bearers. Scores of 9 and 0 count as 0 results for all Attack Rolls. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 HOLY ORDER God protects us and strengthens our sword arm. The Group may reroll all Attack Dice from any Attack Roll once per game. ACTION GROUP 2 HORROR Abomination!, all will to fight is sapped. Attackers suffer a -2 penalty to all Attack Rolls. PASSIVE GROUP 2 INSPIRE Looked upon with great regard and awe, friendly warriors will fight with extra vigour in their presence. Friendly Groups within 6" gain +1 Attack Dice and +1 Defence Dice. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 INSPIRING PRESENCE Truly a sight to behold on the field of battle. If this Commander and his Command Group win a Combat Action, all Groups within 6” can reduce their Morale Dice by 1 at the end of that Combat Action. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 KINGS JUSTICE Not all justice is ‘fair’, when this is the case this is the man for the job. Any '0' scored for Attack Rolls cause two successes regardless of weapon. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 LIFE IN THE FOREST The paths and shortcuts of the forest are known like the back of their hand. The Commander’s Group and all groups within 6” are not affected by difficult terrain. PASSIVE COMMANDER 2 LIVE BY THE SWORD There are few equals to knights in combat. Reroll one Attack Dice against Groups who are not knights. ACTION COMMANDER 1 MAN OF THE CLOTH A man of god. Also counts as a priest Command Group upgrade. PASSIVE COMMANDER 5
NAME DESCRIPTION ABILITY TYPE POINTS MARTIAL RESPECT Veterans of war and well respected. When taking a Morale Check within 6" of a sergeant, roll 2d10 and use the highest result. PASSIVE GROUP 1 MERRY MEN Member of the Merry Men. Can form a Command Group which has Robin Hood or Maid Marian as the Commander and any other Warriors with the ‘Merry Men’ ability. Little John counts as Bannerman Will Scarlet counts as a Musician Friar Tuck counts as a Priest. PASSIVE SPECIAL 0 REGENT A regent of the realm, their word is law. May give an order to the same Group twice during the same round using Command Actions. The Group will receive a Weary Token as normal. ACTION COMMANDER 1 RESOLUTE DEFENDER A master in defence no attack is undefendable. The Commander’s Group or one other Group within 6” may make a Defend Action as a free Action once per round. This cannot be stacked with other Reactions. ACTION GROUP 1 SORRY M'LORD Fear of their lord’s retribution is worse than death. If Broken and testing to rally, ignore Morale Dice if within 6" of a friendly Command Group. PASSIVE COMMANDER 3 STEADY SHOT Steady, aim, loose! Reroll any missed Attack Dice for attacks made with a bow. ACTION GROUP 2 STEAL FROM THE RICH Always helping those that need it. If contesting an objective with an enemy knight, lord or baron, it always counts as being held by this Commander. PASSIVE COMMANDER 1 THE GREATEST KNIGHT The paragon of chivalry. Groups within 6” do not need to roll a Moral Check to pass a Command Action and follow orders. PASSIVE COMMANDER 1 THE LION Ferocious on the field. Roll 2d6 charge dice for your Command Group and choose the highest result. ACTION COMMANDER 1 TO THE KING Protect the king! The Command Group gains +1 to its Defence Rolls as long as this Commander is still alive. PASSIVE COMMANDER 3 WEAPONS MASTER Skilled with their chosen weapon. Roll an extra Attack Dice when initiating a Combat Action, but not when Reacting. ACTION COMMANDER 2 WITHIN REACH Trained to slip inside the range of a long weapon to make a devastating strike. May use a Reaction to counterattack against Groups armed with reach weapons, spears & bills for example. ACTION COMMANDER 1 Ranged Effects for Abilities If the Ability has a Ranged Effect the Range is determined from the figure which is activating the Ability. This is the Area of Influence. EXAMPLE: A Commander can affect Warriors who are within 6” so we say the Area of Influence is 6” measured from the edge the Commander’s base. 87
HISTORIC CHARACTERS The First Barons’ War is full of colourful characters whom are thought of as both heroes and villains depending on which side of the argument you sat on, however, disagreements were never just black and white and in almost all cases deadly powerplays by nobles involving themselves as a way to increase both influence at court and personal riches. This section provides you with a list of Character Profiles and the opportunity of including some of King John of England After unsuccessfully attempting to rebel against his brother's royal administrators whilst Richard was participating in the Third Crusade, John was proclaimed King of England in 1199 after Richard's death. War broke out with France (again) in 1202, where John achieved early victories, but shortages of military resources and his treatment of Norman, Breton, and Anjou nobles resulted in the loss of his empire in northern France by 1204. Much of the next decade was spent attempting to regain these lands, resulting in the raising of huge revenues via taxes and rebuilding of continental alliances. John's attempt to defeat Philip in 1214 failed at the battle of Bouvines due to a French victory 88 the giants from the period in your Retinue, if both players agree. They must be fielded as their profile indicates, warts and all and you may not give them any extra abilities. To be included they must join a group of your choosing creating a Command Group and they do not have to be your Retinue Commander unless they are King John of England or Prince Louis of France. Please only ever have one of each on the tabletop at a time, not one for each retinue, just one. This character list is by no way exhaustive and the aim is for more to be added over time. over John's allies. Returning to England, John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, unhappy with his taxes and his treatment of many of England's most powerful nobles during the campaign on the continent.
Although both John and the barons agreed to a peace treaty in 1215 (the Magna Carta), neither side had any intention of complying with its conditions. Civil war broke out with the northern barons who, aided by Prince Louis of France, causing John's initial successes, most notably the Siege of Rochester Castle, to descend into a stalemate. By the time of his death in 1216, John was regarded as the worst King ever to have sat on England's throne due to his treacherous, tyrannical and cruel nature. It is recorded that John took part in numerous battles and engagements which goes against his cowardly portrayal, finding success with siege warfare in particular. King John had substantial dealings with the Knights Templar. At the time of Magna Carta, not only did Aymeric de St Maur the Master of the Temple accompany him at the signing, but King John was also residing with the templars when the Barons first presented their demands. KING JOHN OF ENGLAND CHARACTER 4 4+ 5+ 4+ POINTS ABILITIES 51 ALL 3 EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SWORD EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL -2 Movement ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR MODIFIER HORSE +3 +3 Movement n/a BARDED HORSE +5 -1 Defence +3 Movement n/a BARDED WAR HORSE +16 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence +2 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge n/a SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll n/a MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll n/a LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll n/a COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Cruel King, To the King!, Cunning Tactician 89
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke William the Marshal was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman who in total served five English kings. Knighted in 1166, he spent his younger years as a knight errant and a successful tournament competitor and was eulogised by Stephen Langton as the "best knight that ever lived". Before him, his father's family held a hereditary title of Marshal to the king which involved management over the other Marshals and functionaries of the crown. William, however, became known as 'the Marshal' and because he was an Earl, the term 'Earl Marshal' was commonly used where this later became an established hereditary title in the English Peerage. All Monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom since James VI have been descendants of William Marshal through his great-great-grandson Robert the Bruce. True to form William supported King John when he became king in 1199 and became heavily engaged with the defence of Normandy against the growing pressure of the Capetian armies between 1200 and 1203. He and the king had a falling out in the aftermath of this failed campaign when he was sent with the Earl of Leicester as ambassadors to negotiate a truce with King Philip II of France in 1204. The Marshal took the opportunity to negotiate the continued possession of his Norman lands. Causing offence to King John for having paid homage to King Philip of France, this became outright hostility in 1207 when John moved against several major Irish magnates. William stayed in Ireland defending his lands in a war with the Braose and Lacy families until being taken back into favour in 1212. He was summoned in 1213 to return to the English court and despite their differences, William remained loyal throughout the hostilities between John and his barons which culminated on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede with the sealing of Magna Carta. 90 William was one of the few English earls to remain loyal to the king through the First Barons' War. It was William whom King John trusted on his deathbed to make sure John's nine-year-old son Henry would get the throne. It was also William who took responsibility for the king's funeral and burial at Worcester Cathedral. On 11 November 1216 at Gloucester, upon the death of King John, William Marshal was named by the king's council (the chief barons who had remained loyal in the First Barons' War) to serve as protector of the nine-year-old King Henry III, and regent of the kingdom. In spite of his advanced age (around 70) he prosecuted the war against Prince Louis and the rebel barons with remarkable energy. In the battle of Lincoln, he charged and fought at the head of the young King's army, leading them to victory. He was preparing to besiege Prince Louis in London when the war was ended by the naval victory of Hubert de Burgh in the straits of Dover. At the end of the war William was criticised for the generosity of the terms he accorded to Louis and the rebels in September 1217, but his desire for an expedient settlement was dictated by sound statesmanship. Self-restraint and compromise were the keynotes of Marshal's policy, hoping to secure peace and stability for his young liege. Both before and after the peace of 1217 he reissued Magna Carta, in which he is a signatory as one of the witnessing barons. Marshal's health finally failed him only a couple of years after the end of the conflict early in 1219. By fulfilling the vow, he had made while on crusade, he was invested into the order of the Knights Templar on his deathbed. He died on 14 May 1219 at Caversham and was buried in the Temple Church in London, where his tomb can still be seen.
WILLIAM MARSHALL CHARACTER 4 3+ 5+ 2+ 3 POINTS ABILITIES 51 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SWORD EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL -2 Movement ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE +3 Movement n/a MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR HORSE +3 BARDED HORSE +5 -1 Defence +3 Movement n/a BARDED WAR HORSE +16 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence +2 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge n/a SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll n/a MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll n/a LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll n/a MODIFIER COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, The Greatest Knight, Regent, For the Realm! 91
Battle of Lincoln William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, a knight of great skill and prowess, now serving as regent called all nobles holding castles in England to muster at Newark in Nottinghamshire. There a force consisting of approximately 400 knights, 250 crossbowmen, and a large auxiliary force of both mounted and foot soldiers assembled. Marshal marched this force to the city of Lincoln to break Prince Louis's siege. Arriving at Lincoln Marshal's main force initially secured the north gate, while crossbowmen took to high positions raining volleys of bolts from the rooftops causing death, damage and confusion on Perche's besieging forces. Chaos reigned and at the grand age of seventy Marshal took this as a sign to personally lead the knights and foot soldiers in a devastating charge into Perche's siege forces overwhelming the rebels during fierce hand to hand fighting through the streets of the town. Thomas Comte de Perche as fitting a knight of his stature was offered quarter which he declined and fought on to the death as the siege collapsed into a scattered rout. Those of Louis's rebel army who Prince Louis of France, The Lion The English Barons offered the throne to Prince Louis VIII of France and he willingly accepted, landing unopposed in eastern Kent at the head of an army in May 1216. With little resistance on entering London, Louis was proclaimed king at Old St Paul's Cathedral with great pomp and celebration. Although not crowned, nobles as well as Alexander II, King of Scotland, gathered to give homage. A month later, Louis captured Winchester and pressed on with his campaign. His military prowess earned him the epithet 'The Lion' and he 92 were not captured fled Lincoln, by the south city gate, to London. Inhabitants of towns between Lincoln and London ambushed and killed some of the escaping French soldiers on their flight south. All in all, the battle had lasted for about six hours. The call of ‘Cry Havoc’ was given and the city of Lincoln was pillaged by Marshal's victorious army, on the pretence that it was loyal to Louis, the looting that followed the battle later became known euphemistically as 'the Lincoln Fair'. This battle was the turning point of the war. Many of Henry's enemies’ barons who had supported Louis, and who helped supply, organise and command Louis's military forces were captured at Lincoln. This included Robert Fitzwalter, the former leader of the Army of God. As a footnote, the battle of Lincoln is the second most decisive battle fought on English soil but unlike Hastings is almost completely unknown. Thomas Comte de Perche's body was found in the aftermath stabbed through the eyes of his visor when William Marshal heard he wept. soon controlled over half of the kingdom. Just as it seemed England was his, the death of King John in October 1216 caused many of the rebels to reconsider their position. A number of them deserted Louis in favour of John's nine-year-old son, Henry III the new king of England. This change of heart was inspired by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and regent to the boy king, who joined the war calling for the English "to defend our land" against the French. With Marshal at the helm, the English experienced a reversal of fortunes on the battlefield beating Louis’s army at the Battle of Lincoln in May 1217.
This combined with the defeat of the French naval forces at the Battle of Sandwich, forced peace on the French under English terms. under the dominion of the kings of England by marriage since the 12th century. It is believed that revenge was the motive behind his attempt to rid England of any claim to French land once and for all. The War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Lambeth which granted amnesty for the English rebels, a pledge from Louis never to attack England again, and 10,000 silver marks to be given to Louis. In return for this payment, Louis agreed he had never been the legitimate king of England. Returning to France in 1217 with his tail between his legs, Louis embarked on the conquest of the duchy of Aquitaine; a region that had passed PRINCE LOUIS CHARACTER 4 2+ 5+ 2+ 3 POINTS ABILITIES 54 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SWORD EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL -2 Movement ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE +3 Movement n/a MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR HORSE +3 BARDED HORSE +5 -1 Defence +3 Movement n/a BARDED WAR HORSE +16 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence +2 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge n/a SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll n/a MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll n/a LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll n/a MODIFIER COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, The Lion, Inspiring Presence, For the Lion! 93
Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury In 1207 Stephen Langton was chosen by Rome to be the Archbishop of Canterbury which upset King John greatly. There followed a hard political struggle between John of England and Pope Innocent III with the King proclaiming anyone who recognised Stephen as Archbishop as a public enemy which included expelling the Canterbury monks, who were now unanimously in support of Stephen, to France. In May 1213 John yielded and Stephen and his fellow exiles were allowed to return to England. Stephen now became a leader in the struggle against the King and with his energetic leadership and the Barons’ military strength by 1215, John was forced to grant his seal to Magna Carta, the great charter the Arch Bishop had produced. As the kingdom of England was a fief of Holy Rome and under its jurisdiction, the Pope supported King John and excommunicated the barons. For refusing to publish the excommunication Stephen was suspended from all ecclesiastical functions a sentence confirmed by the Pope. Highly respected by the Roman Church he was released from his suspension the following spring on condition that he keep out of England until peace was restored. STEPHEN LANGTON CHARACTER 4 4+ 5+ 2+ 3 POINTS ABILITIES 53 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MACE EQUIPPED BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round ALL MAIL EQUIPPED -2 Movement ALL NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE MODIFIER OPTIONS MODIFIER HORSE +3 +3 Movement n/a BARDED HORSE +5 -1 Defence +3 Movement n/a BARDED WAR HORSE +16 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence +2 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge n/a SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll n/a MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll n/a LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll n/a COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest MUSICIAN UPGRADE EFFECT ABILITIES 94 Commander, Inspire, Man of the Cloth, Devoted Faith, Divine Intervention Priest - Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group and including the Command Group ignore Morale dice for Morale Checks
Robert Fitzwalter, Marshal of the Army of God The leader of the baronial opposition against King John was Robert Fitzwalter or to give him his full titles, Marshal of the Army of God and Holy Church, Baron of Little Dunmow, Constable of Baynard's Castle, Castellain and Chief Banneret of the City of London and member of the Security Council of the Barons as enshrined in Magna Carta. According to Robert, the reason for his revolt had been the king's attempt to seduce his eldest daughter Matilda, however, his account of his grievances varied. It is believed these stories of Matilda recorded by monastic chroniclers and added to by several other barons making similar accusations developed into the legend of Robin Hood with Matilda morphing into the Maid Marian. ROBERT FITZWALTER CHARACTER 4 3+ 5+ 2+ 3 POINTS ABILITIES 52 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SWORD EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL -2 Movement ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE +3 Movement n/a MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR HORSE +3 BARDED HORSE +5 -1 Defence +3 Movement n/a BARDED WAR HORSE +16 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence +2 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge n/a SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll n/a MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll n/a LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll n/a MODIFIER COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Heirloom Sword, Charismatic Leader 95
Hubert de Burgh Hubert de Burgh the Earl of Kent also held the titles Chief Justiciar of England (prime minister) and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports both important titles indeed. Cinque Ports is Norman French, meaning the “five ports" of Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent Hubert de Burgh was one of the most influential men in England during the reign of King John due to his loyalty to the crown, his might at arms and his political prowess. De Burgh remained loyal to King John during the barons' rebellion and in the early stages was sent to London with the Bishop of Coventry in an attempt to command the people of London to resist the Barons' military advance. De Burgh along with Philip d'Aubigny brought together the king's troops ready to face the rebels, but John chose to make peace by signing Magna Carta. De Burgh is listed as one of those who advised the king to sign that charter as well as being listed to act on John’s behalf in the King's absence due to holding title Chief Justiciar of England. During the ensuing war of 1215-1217, de Burgh served John as sheriff of Kent and Surrey, as well as castellan of Canterbury and Dover. De Burgh defended Dover Castle during the siege that lasted until 1217 where the English defenders tunnelled outwards and attacked the French. Following on from his success on land Hubert almost 96 Dover and Sandwich all with origins that can be traced back to Anglo-Saxon times. This historic series of coastal towns were originally formed for military and trade purposes due to geographically lying at the eastern end of the English Channel where the crossing to France is at its narrowest. immediately set sail to intercept the French fleet which had arrived off the coast of Sandwich in Kent, in order to provide Prince Louis with soldiers, siege engines and fresh supplies. During the resulting Battle of Sandwich, he succeeded to scatter the French and captured their flagship The Great Ship of Bayonne, commanded by Eustace the Monk, who he promptly executed. De Burgh’s victory made it nearly impossible for Louis to continue fighting the war resulting in the French Prince asking William Marshal to negotiate terms for peace.
HUBERT DE BURGH CHARACTER 4 3+ 4+ 2+ 3 POINTS ABILITIES 52 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR SWORD EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PARRY - Gain an extra defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL -2 Movement ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE +3 Movement n/a MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR HORSE +3 BARDED HORSE +5 -1 Defence +3 Movement n/a BARDED WAR HORSE +16 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence +2 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge n/a MODIFIER SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll n/a MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll n/a LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll n/a COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” MUSICIAN UPGRADE +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest PRIEST UPGRADE +5 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group ignore Morale Dice for Morale Checks ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Chivalry, Resolute Defender, Within Reach 97
Falkes de Breauté An Anglo-Norman soldier, possibly a mercenary, of dubious parentage with no particular aristocratic standing. Described mostly as the illegitimate child of a Norman knight and a concubine, possibly a knightly family from the village of Bréauté. Most chroniclers describe him as from common stock often referring to him by his first name which was derived from the scythe he once used to murder someone as a sign of contempt. During the First Barons' War as an unquestioning subject of King John, he earned both the title of the king's steward and the hate of baronial and monastic leaders alike. In November 1215, under orders of the king, de Breauté captured Hanslope, Buckinghamshire, a castle of William Mauduit, and soon afterwards he captured Bedford Castle belonging to William de Beauchamp. In reward John allowed him to keep it. As one of John's four captains of the loyalist army when Prince Louis of France invaded de Breauté was tasked with holding Oxford against the baronial forces. 98 In reward for exemplary service, King John gave de Breauté the hand in marriage of Margaret the daughter of Warin Fitzgerald, the royal chamberlain. This took place after the fact that Falkes had already kidnapped her to improve his standing. Falkes received not only Margaret's dowry from her father, but also as the widow of Baldwin de Revières, former heir to the Earl of Devon he inherited as her son’s regent the estates connected to the title when his grandfather William de Revières died in 1217, making him a powerful man indeed. Under Henry III, de Breauté continued to fight with the same loyalty he had shown John. That Christmas he was holding in total seven High Sheriffdoms including Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire and was proving to be a major obstacle to Louis and the rebel barons, although he lost Hertford and Cambridge in 1217. Falkes seemed to be everywhere, at the end of February he led a royalist force in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the
port of Rye and after this, he captured the Isle of Ely. He joined the Earl of Chester to besiege Mountsorrel, and in response, the rebel Barons were forced to divide their forces, with Prince Louis and half the force remaining at the siege of Dover while the rest marched north to relieve Mountsorrel. This proved to play a critical role in the whole campaign leading up to the Battle of Lincoln. After successfully relieving the siege at Mountsorrel the rebels marched to Lincoln to assist their besieging force at Lincoln Castle; while the town had fallen to the rebels, the castle garrison had remained loyal to the King. When the rebel relief force finally got there they found William Marshal, the leader of the royalist forces had already arrived forcing a battle in the streets of the town itself. Before the battle began de Breauté had led his own force into the castle itself, where his crossbowmen shot down at the rebels from the walls causing panic and chaos. During the battle, Falkes sallied out with such force that he drove deep into the enemy lines ending up first being captured before being rescued by his men. He fought on until the rebels fled with even the loyalist leaders acknowledging his role in a critical victory against superior forces. FALKES DE BREAUTÉ CHARACTER 4 3+ 5+ 2+ 3 POINTS ABILITIES 51 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR FALCHION EQUIPPED MAIL EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/padded ALL -2 Movement ALL EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE +3 Movement n/a MODIFIER OPTIONS NAME COST PER WARRIOR HORSE +3 BARDED HORSE +5 -1 Defence +3 Movement n/a BARDED WAR HORSE +16 +1 Attack dice per warrior, -1 Defence +2 Movement, requires 2 damage to cause a casualty when rider is mounted on War horse. When charging subject to Over Charge n/a SMALL SHIELD +2 9+ Shield roll n/a MEDIUM SHIELD +3 8+ Shield roll n/a LARGE SHIELD +5 7+ Shield roll n/a MODIFIER COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS BANNERMAN UPGRADE +9 Increase order and inspire range to 12” +4 Any warrior(s) within order range of Command Group roll two dice for the Morale Check to follow out orders and choose highest MUSICIAN UPGRADE EFFECT ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Dishonourable, Fear, King’s Justice, Blood Lust 99
THE MERRY MEN The real Robin Hood – was there ever such a man, our best guess is that Robin is an amalgamation of various outlaws from the Saxon to early medieval times. Men who with guile and strength had managed to outwit the omnipotent rulers of England who had almost endless resources available to them, a resonating ‘underdog’ story for the down trodden masses. Robin Hood must have been a very popular tale as in a time of rare literacy various versions were written down from around the middle of the C14. Robin though is never by himself and is surrounded by his close allies, Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlett and of course Maid Marian. Again, their character varies with each tale and it is not uncommon for them to fall out with Robin who is himself a fallible character in many of the stories. A theme though does run throughout, Robin is both clever and cunning plus skilled with the bow, Little John is strong and likes a good fight, Friar Tuck is both smart and witty and likes his food, Will is short tempered and good with a sword and Marian is the sensible one an equal to Robin, a rare thing in the patriarchal world of the middle ages. The popularity of his story is almost undoubtedly a sign of the times, pre-Norman conquest Saxon England was a well-managed land with a wellfunctioning legal system based on ‘folk right’ and hierarchy a structure that had managed to maintain the equilibrium and therefore peace and relative affluence for the majority. The Battle of Hastings was to destroy the fabric of Saxon society and reduce every Englishman to little more than a serf who lived or died at his conquering masters’ whim. 1066 wasn’t the ‘conquest’ it would take William and the Normans ten years to subdue England and the resistance would have continued festering 100 making characters like Robin ‘heroes’ in the eyes of the general population. The Normans were rapacious and used every means at their disposal to gain more land, power and wealth at the expense of the inhabitants. Saxon laws were discarded and Norman laws such as the Forest Laws (which at one point had a third of England designated as royal forest) replaced pre-conquest laws. Before 1066 anybody could enter a forest for resources such as wood, berries or hunting (some Saxon Lords and Kings did have their own designated forest areas) after the invasion even collecting wood or berries was considered theft and Norman punishment was brutal. The introduction of Feudalism to England consigned the ‘moot’ and ‘Wittan’ and its collective laws to the pages of history and most Englishmen had not only lost their freedom but were also starving, fertile ground for stories of the likes of ‘Robin’. The success of the Robin Hood tale meant that the ruling classes had to appropriate it and make it their own so in later ‘telling’ Robin can be a disposed lord (possibly of Saxon origin) and Maid Marian is elevated from shepherdess to ‘lady’. You can choose your own ‘origin’ story for our Robin Hood and his band of ‘Merry Men’ and they make a strong addition to your force. Just taking Robin is good but it is better to spend the points and take some of his friends, just like in the tales he works better as part of a team.
Robin Hood Robin is excellent value for 50 points his normal command abilities, Commander, Inspire and Command Group make him very useful but his other abilities Every Bloody Sunday (used by regular archers) and measured shot make him a deadly archer that the enemy will try and stay out of the line of shot of. Steal from the rich and life in the forest makes him excellent for taking and holding objectives, overall a very effective choice as force commander and something different to the usual Knight Commander. ROBIN HOOD CHARACTER 5 5+/4+ 6+ 2+ 3 POINTS ABILITIES 50 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE BOW EQUIPPED Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range ALL LEATHER/PADDED EQUIPPED -1 Movement ALL MODIFIER ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Merry Men, Every Bloody Sunday, Steal from the Rich, Measured Shot, Life in the Forest Maid Marian Based on the numerous tales the character of Marian is an independently minded and clever lady and the counter balance to her hot-headed compatriots and an equal member of the ‘Merry Men’. She is a good at shooting with Every Bloody Sunday and Steady Shot (gets to re roll misses) but she excels at keeping her companions out of trouble with Calming presence (reduces morale dice by two during the housekeeping phase) and Friends of the Forest (all groups count as in soft cover against enemy shooting while within order range). Although she is not a fighting machine the enemy should not underestimate her battlefield worth. MAID MARIAN CHARACTER 6 5+/4+ 6+ 2+ 3 POINTS ABILITIES 53 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR BOW EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range ALL MODIFIER ABILITIES Commander, Inspire, Every Bloody Sunday, Calming Presence, Steady Shot, Friends of the Forest, Merry Men 101
Little John Little John will add some extra hand to hand combat ’bite’ with weapons master to any unit he joins. If he joins Robin’s Command Group using his ability Merry Men, he increases Robin’s command range just like a Bannerman. LITTLE JOHN CHARACTER 5 4+ 6+ 3+ 1 POINTS ABILITIES 25 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE STAVE EQUIPPED REACH - Cannot counter Attack unless armed with spear/bill. Result of 10 on Attack dice causes 2 damage ALL LEATHER/PADDED EQUIPPED -1 Movement ALL MODIFIER ABILITIES Merry Men (LITTLE JOHN), Weapons Master Friar Tuck Friar Tuck is a good choice, (not as tough as you would expect as Little John) but a Group he joins will stand its ground due to Devoted Faith. If Tuck decides to join Robin’s Command Group, he counts as the Priest. FRIAR TUCK CHARACTER 5 5+/4+ 6+ 3+ 1 POINTS ABILITIES 23 ALL EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR BOW EQUIPPED LEATHER/PADDED EQUIPPED EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range ALL -1 Movement ALL MODIFIER ABILITIES Merry Men (FRIAR TUCK), Devoted Faith 102
Will Scarlet Just like in the tales Will Scarlett is a fighter, and a songsmith, if he joins Robin’s Command Group with the ability Merry Men he becomes their Musician. Whatever your choice he brings fighting prowess (even owning a sword), weapon choice allows him to fight with either the sword or the bow for the whole turn. Master swordsmen allows him to parry against any weapon and Open Up means his enemies do not receive any bonuses for a Defence Action in melee. All in all, a serious threat to anyone, nobility included, who choose to go ‘toe to toe’ with him. WILL SCARLET CHARACTER 5 5+/4+ 6+ 3+ POINTS ABILITIES 26 ALL 1 EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR EFFECT REQUIRED EXPERIENCE BOW EQUIPPED Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range ALL SWORD EQUIPPED PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon ALL LEATHER/PADDED EQUIPPED -1 Movement ALL MODIFIER ABILITIES Merry Men (WILL SCARLET), Weapon Choice, Master Swordsman, Open Up Robin and his Merry Men will make a quick shooting, hard hitting, and tough to pin down force that will give any group of knights a good run for their money an excellent choice for the underdog commander that wants to give ‘the high and mighty’ a ‘bloody nose’ and teach them some ‘respect’. “May you always hit ‘the bullseye”. 103
William Marshal A brief history of William Marshal, prior to 1215 William's father, John Marshal, started as a supporter of King Stephen when he took the throne in 1135, but in about 1139 he changed sides to support Empress Matilda in the civil war of succession between them which led to the collapse of England into "the Anarchy". On besieging Newbury Castle in 1152, King Stephen used the young William as a hostage to ensure that his father John kept his promise to surrender the castle. His father, however, used the time given him to reinforce the castle and to alert Matilda's forces. When ordered to surrender immediately or William would be hanged, John replied, "Go ahead, I still have the hammer and the anvil with which to forge still more and better sons!". This outraged the attackers, who created a pretence to launch William from a type of trebuchet towards the castle however Stephen could not bring himself to harm young William and kept him as a hostage. 104 skirmish he received a nasty wound to his thigh luckily someone in his captor's household took pity on the young knight. He received a loaf of bread in which were concealed several lengths of clean linen bandages with which to dress his wounds. This act of kindness by an unknown person perhaps saved Marshal's life as an infection setting into a wound in this period would have killed him. After a period of time as a hostage, he was ransomed by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was impressed by tales of his bravery. He would remain a member of Queen Eleanor's household for the next two years, taking the opportunity to attend as many tournaments as he could. William was knighted on campaign in Upper Normandy, at a time when it was being invaded from Flanders. His first experience in battle received mixed reviews. Everyone who witnessed the young knight in combat agreed that he had acquitted himself well. However, "War in the twelfth century was not fought wholly for honour. Profit was there to be made..." In this regard Marshal was not so successful, as he was unable to parlay his combat victories into profit from either ransom or seized booty. In 1170, Marshal was appointed as Young King Henry's tutor-in-arms by the Young King's father, Henry II. During the Young King-led Revolt of 1173-1174, little is known of Marshal's specific activities besides his loyalty. After the failed rebellion, Young King Henry with Marshal, travelled with Henry II for eighteen months, before asking for, and receiving, permission to travel to Europe to participate in knightly tournaments. Both Marshal and Young King Henry gained much prestige from many victories. These tournaments were dangerous, often deadly, staged battles in which money and valuable prizes were to be won by capturing and ransoming opponents, their horses and armour. Marshal became a legendary tournament champion, and, on his deathbed, he recalled besting 500 knights during his career. In 1167 he was taken by William de Tancarville to his first tournament, where he found his true calling. Quitting the Tancarville household he switched to the household of his mother's brother, Patrick, Earl of Salisbury. Unfortunately, in 1168, his uncle was killed in an ambush by Guy de Lusignan. Injured and captured in the same In January 1183 Young King Henry declared war against his brother, Richard the Lionheart, however, the Young King became sick and died on 11 June 1183. On his deathbed, he asked Marshal to fulfil the vow he had made in 1182 to take up the cross and undertake a crusade to the Holy Land, and after receiving Henry II's blessing
Marshal left for Jerusalem in late 1183. Nothing is known of his activities during the two years he was gone, except that he fulfilled the Young King's vow, and secretly committed to joining the Knights Templar on his deathbed. During Henry II’s last days, he had promised the Marshal the hand and estates of Isabel de Clare but had not completed the arrangements. King Richard however, confirmed the offer and with this unison, William became the Earl of Pembroke acquiring large estates and claims in England, Wales, Normandy and Ireland. The marriage transformed the landless knight from a minor family into one of the richest men in the kingdom, with power and prestige at court. They had five sons and five daughters and have many descendants. William made numerous improvements to his wife's lands, including extensive additions to Pembroke Castle and Chepstow Castle. William was included in the council of regency which King Richard appointed on his departure for the Third Crusade in 1190. He took the side of John, the king's brother when the latter expelled the justiciar, William Longchamp, from the kingdom, but he soon discovered that the interests of John were different from those of Richard therefore in 1193, he joined with the loyalists in making war upon him. In spring 1194, during the course of the hostilities in England and before King Richard's return, William Marshal's elder brother John Marshal (who was serving as seneschal) was killed while defending Marlborough for the king's brother John. Richard allowed Marshal to succeed his brother in the hereditary marshalship. The Marshal served the king in his wars in Normandy against Philip II and on Richard's death-bed, the king designated Marshal as custodian of Rouen. True to form William supported King John when he became king in 1199 and became heavily engaged with the defence of Normandy against the growing pressure of the Capetian armies between 1200 and 1203. He and the king had a falling out in the aftermath of this failed campaign when he was sent with the earl of Leicester as ambassadors to negotiate a truce with King Philip II of France in 1204. The Marshal took the opportunity to negotiate the continued possession of his Norman lands. Before commencing negotiations with King Philip, William had been generously permitted to do homage to the King of France by King John so he might keep his possessions in Normandy; land which must have been of sentimental value due to the time spent there in his adolescence. However, once official negotiations began, Philip demanded that such homage be paid exclusively to him, which King John had not consented too. When homage was paid, John took offence causing a major row at court which led to cool relations between the two men. This became outright hostility in 1207 when John began to move against several major Irish magnates, including William. Though he left for Leinster in 1207 William was recalled to court and humiliated in the autumn of 1208, while John's justiciar in Ireland Meilyr fitz Henry invaded the Marshal’s lands, burning the town of New Ross. Meilyr's defeat however by Countess Isabel led to her husband's return to Leinster. He was once again in conflict with King John in his war with the Braose and Lacy families in 1210, but once again managed to survive. He stayed in Ireland until 1213 when he was summoned back to court by the King and taken back into Royal favour. 105
CHOOSING YOUR SCENARIO We have created The Barons’ War to be a skirmish game where taking the time to choose a scenario and set up your battlefield are both key factors to the quality of the game you will play. Nothing is stopping you getting started by merely deciding how big a points game you and your opponent wish to play and picking your Retinue. After which just set up a 4’x 3’ table with terrain and just go at one another until you remove your opponent’s Commander from play to take the victory! A straight-up fight is a great way to get going and learn the rules. Setting up a Scenario Once the rules are familiar, we recommend choosing a scenario complete with objectives and victory conditions. Added to this a structured force set up on a table that has been crafted uniquely for the encounter and you are set for a great game. Choosing a Scenario With fifteen scenarios in this rulebook players decide which scenario they will be playing before moving on to the Setting Up phase. Players can either agree on the scenario they wish to play between themselves or can each roll a dice with the highest roller choosing. SCENARIOS NUMBER 106 TITLE 1 BEHIND ENEMY LINES 2 THE PRIZE 3 ATTRITION 4 FIELD OF GLORY 5 STRATEGICAL SITES 6 TEAR IT DOWN! 7 KILL THE TRAITOR 8 TAKE AND HOLD 9 GLORY SEEKER 10 HIDDEN TREASURE 11 HERO SLAYER 12 CHOSEN WARRIORS 13 RAID THE VILLAGE 14 STOP THE MESSENGER 15 ATTACK THE HILL CAMP
Alternatively, you can play a scenario from elsewhere or play one you have written yourself. Keep in mind the number one priority when choosing a scenario is for it to add a narrative to your encounter, to have clear victory conditions, and for both players to have fun. We will be making more scenarios available on the WARHOST website (www.warhost.online) to provide you with more choice. Placing Terrain and Scenery It is a skirmish game, after all, so as far as we are concerned, more terrain the better; much more terrain is better still! Normally games take place on a 4’ x 3’ table and we divide this into 1’ x 1’ square board sections. We advise one piece of area terrain or line of sight blocking terrain per board section. A 4’x 3’ table comprises of twelve board sections and would have twelve pieces of terrain. Players take turns in placing the terrain, being mindful that the scenario you are playing may require specific terrain pieces placed in particular places. Once all pieces of terrain are placed both players should discuss and agree the table set-up. At this stage extra pieces may be added, pieces moved, turned, or even removed. Whatever the players feel would make for a better battle. 107
Deployment Maps Below we have twelve diagrams showing deployment maps from which you can select your battlefield. They represent a gaming area of 4’x 3’ made up of twelve 1’x 1’ squares, each giving two different areas: Area 1 (Red) and Area 2 (Blue). Both players deploy their Retinue in their chosen area, remembering to follow the Setting Up rules above. 108 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Setting Up Your Retinue Both players roll a ten-sided dice, rolling again in the event of a tie. The player who rolls the highest number may choose from this rulebook which deployment map option to use for this encounter. Both players then roll for a second time, rolling again in the event of a tie. The player who rolls the highest number chooses on which of the areas shown on the deployment map they wish to set up in. In essence, they are choosing red or blue. Their opponent deploys in the remaining area. The deployment map assumes you are playing on a 4’x 3' table; if this is not the case, adjust measurements and set up areas to fit your playing area. The players then alternate deploying Groups, by choosing one at a time, starting with the player who won the first dice roll. Players must deploy their Groups in their deployment area and more than 3" away from any enemy Groups. If a player's area has several separate areas, Groups may start in some, none or all of those areas. Objectives Some scenarios require one or more objectives to be set up. They are placed on the table top before any Groups are deployed. Each objective should be represented by an appropriate piece of terrain mounted on a 40mm round base. When measuring distances involving objectives, always measure from the centre of the objects base. If both players are required to set up objectives, take turns placing them, one objective at a time, with the player that won the second dice roll going first. All Groups must be deployed a minimum of 3" away from any objective when setting up their retinue at the start of a game. First Turn: Starting The Game When all Groups are placed, and both players are ready to start each rolls a d10 for initiative and the one who rolls the highest can choose to take the first action or defer to their opponent to start the game. Who Has Won? The player who achieves the victory conditions as described in the chosen scenario secures a major victory. If neither player completes the scenario’s victory conditions then players work out their losses. The player who lost the smallest percentage of their Retinue, based on the points value of removed warriors, wins a minor victory. Any other result is deemed to be a draw. Killing Your Opponents Commander Unless stated in the scenario, an objective is controlled by the player who has the most individual figures within 3" of a particular objective at the end of a round. Once a player gains control of an objective, it remains under that player’s control until their opponent can take control. If at any time you remove your opponent’s Commander from the game the remaining Retinue must take an immediate Morale Check. This check is taken using the Morale stat of all surviving Warriors who have the Commander ability in your Retinue. Work your way through 109
these Commanders until one of them takes command by successfully passing a Morale Check. The first one who is successful becomes the new leader of your Retinue and the game continues; if the player fails all their Morale Checks and none of their Commanders rise to the challenge the remaining Warriors in their Retinue make the decision, enough is enough. At this point they run from the field of battle to fight another day. The game is over, and your opponent claims the victory. 3 Attrition Amidst the horror and carnage of battle, victory is sometimes a question of simple butchery where survival comes second to the slaughter of the foe. Scenarios 4 Field of Glory You range across the chosen field, a territory of such value that to merely hold it is to seize victory from the foe. 1 Behind Enemy Lines You must advance into the enemy’s territory and capture their heartlands. But beware! The enemy means to do the same to you! Both players roll a ten-sided dice; starting with the player who threw the highest number, both players take it turns to set up one objective each anywhere in their territory. All objectives must be more than 6" away from the edge of the table top. A player secures immediate victory if they control both objectives at the end of any round. 2 The Prize No matter how much blood is shed, how many lives are lost and what hardships must be endured, nothing else matters but to seize the prize. Place an objective at the centre of the table top. A Warrior ending its movement in base-to-base contact with the objective may pick it up. The objective moves with the warrior’s Group from that point onward. The Warrior can drop the objective at any time. The objective is dropped if the Warrior carrying it is dispatched or removed from a Group. If dropped the opponent places the objective within 1" of the fallen Warrior. The player whose Warrior is carrying the objective at the end of the fifth round wins the encounter. 110 Each player calculates the total points value of all enemy Warriors their Retinue slays. At the end of the fifth round, the player with the highest total wins the battle (even if their own Retinue has been wiped out!). Place one objective at the centre of the tabletop. Both players then roll a ten-sided dice; starting with the player who threw the highest number, take it in turns to set up one objective each, anywhere in their area but more than 6" from the edge of the tabletop. The player who controls the most objectives at the end of the fifth round wins the battle. A player wins immediately if they control all three objectives at the end of any round. 5 Strategical Sites You face a battle on several fronts, for in this region strategical sacred sites must all be seized to secure victory. Both players roll a ten-sided dice. Starting with the player who threw the highest number, both players take it in turns to set up two objectives each anywhere more than 12" from the centre of the table top, more than 6" from the edge of the table top and more than 18" from another objective. Each player scores one victory point at the end of each round for every objective they control. The player with the most victory points at the end of the fifth round is the winner.
6 Tear it Down! Spread ruin through the enemy’s territory leaving nothing but heaped corpses and fallen rubble in your wake. Both players roll a ten-sided dice. Starting with the player who threw the highest number, both players then take it in turns to set up three objectives each. The objectives may be placed anywhere in their area that is no more than 6" from any other objective and the edge of the tabletop. A player can burn and pillage any enemy objectives that they control at the end of a round; remove those objectives once burnt and pillaged. The first player to burn and pillage all three enemy objectives wins the encounter. 7 Kill the Traitor Whether they carry significant orders or maps, the traitor must be slain, and their voice choked into silence. At the start of the first round and before determining who will take the first turn, each player lets their opponent know which Warrior their traitor is. The Warrior chosen cannot be the Retinue Commander and must already be set up on the table top. The first player to slay their opponent’s traitor wins the encounter. 8 Take and Hold Whether a command post or warning beacons, a holy place or abandoned armouries, these assets must be seized at any cost, for with them comes victory. Place one objective at the centre of the table top. Each player then places one objective in their area, more than 10” from the edge of the battlefield. At the end of each round, they score one victory point for each objective they control. If an objective is controlled by a player at the start of the last round, that player scores three victory points. The player with the most victory points at the end of the fifth round is declared the winner. 9 Glory Seeker It is not enough to defeat your foe; they must be humbled, their leaders slain, and their greatest heroes butchered to demonstrate your might. Each player calculates the points values of all the enemy Warriors their Retinue slays during the battle, doubling the amount of any enemy Warriors that are Commanders. The player with the highest total wins the encounter at the end of the fifth round (even if their army has been wiped out!) 10 Hidden Treasures Somewhere upon this mist-shrouded field lie precious treasures hidden by the local populace to avoid paying their taxes! Find and claim these riches for yourself! The players take turns to place six objectives. Each objective must be set more than 6" from any other objective and the edge of the table top. At the start of each player’s turn, they must roll a six-sided dice for each objective they control, in any order they wish. If they roll 6, they have found the hidden treasure; remove the other objectives. The player that controls the hidden treasure at the end of the fifth round wins the battle. 111
Both players receive an extra 100pts to spend on a Group of 'Chosen Warriors' who they believe will win them the favour of their Lords; this can include abilities and gifts for them. This Group must be declared as they are the target of your opponent’s wrath for this battle. The objective for both players is to remove the opposing 'Chosen Warriors' from the game, if a player succeeds and still has at least one of their 'Chosen Warriors' on the tabletop they win a Minor Victory. If they still have all their starting 'Chosen Warriors' they win a Major Victory. Special Note: 'Chosen Warriors' can be any Group of Warriors from the lists. 13 Raid the Village Short on supplies you have decided to raid a local village. When you arrive, you discover you weren't the only Commander to have this idea. 11 Hero Slayer Draw your blades and cut a path through your foes, for no matter what the cost their leader must fall! Each player calculates the points value of all enemy Warriors their Retinue slays, doubling their total score at the end of the battle if one of the Warriors they have killed is the enemy Retinue Commander. The player with the highest total at the end of the fifth round wins the encounter (even if their army has been wiped out!) 12 Chosen Warriors In battle chosen warriors make their names becoming heroes and leaders by their very actions alone. 112 Place one objective at the centre of the tabletop in the village. Both players then roll a d10; starting with the player who threw the highest number, take it in turns to set up one objective each, anywhere in the village but more than 6” from the edge of the tabletop, until six objectives have been placed. These objectives can be placed in buildings if warriors are capable of entering. The player who controls the most objectives at the end of the fifth round wins the encounter. A player wins immediately if they control four or more objectives at the end of any round. Special Scenario Rules: While setting up the tabletop you will need to create a village which contains at least three buildings, at least one of these building must be in the central square of the table and the others cannot be placed closer than 8" of another building. You may want to add walls, animal pens, trees, and so forth, to the village as well as colourful scatter to give it character.
14 Stop the Messenger You have a vital message that needs to get through to your army’s leader but beware that your opponent is trying to stop you. Each player rolls a d10. The winner can choose whether they want to play as the messenger. Whichever player is the messenger takes three Message tokens; one will be the actual message while the other two are blanks. Assign the three messages to three groups of soldiers by placing the Message tokens under their bases. The messenger player secures victory if the message leaves their opponents table edge. Their opponent gains the victory if they stop the messenger by removing them from the game. The game lasts five turns, with a sixth turn played if the messenger has a chance of exiting the table with the message. (rather than points cost) in the camp with their Commander. The remaining half of the retinue must be set up within 6" of the base of the hill. The attacker then sets up their Groups up to 6" in from any table edge. The winner is the player who has the most warriors on the hill by the end of turn five. Special Scenario Rules: A hill must be included in the middle of the table, it must fill the entire 1’x 1’ central square of the board. Special Scenario Rules: The messengers must set up within 12" of your table edge and must be at least 6" away from another messenger. Besides this exception, all other set up rules apply. 15 Attack the Hill Camp Scouts inform you that your archnemesis has set up camp on top of a hill in your territory, how dare they! Now is your chance to surprise them and claim the day by holding them for ransom. Each player rolls a d10. The winner can choose if they want to set up as the defender in the hill camp or as the attacker. The defender must set up at least half their retinue, calculated by totalling actual number of miniatures 113
TERRAIN & THE BATTLEFIELD Your games will look great with 3D model terrain to represent the woods and hills, villages and chapels of the medieval era. Why is terrain important? Simply put it provides members of your retinue with much needed cover and defendable positions increasing their survivability from ranged attacks and vicious hand to hand melee. It gives your warriors bonuses when attacking from height potentially enabling them to win a fight that they would normally not be able to win. When it comes to terrain the easiest to define is open ground. This is the meadow, village green, flat desert, scrubland, that neither impedes movement or provides cover. For large movements of troops it is ideal but for our games we want to add some variety. This is where terrain comes into it. It will be Open, Area or Obstacle and will provide Hard, Soft or No Cover. Open Terrain Often the majority of the tabletop will be Open Terrain. This neither helps nor hinders movement and in game terms has zero effect. Area Terrain Area Terrain is exactly that, an area that figures can be placed within, such as a wood, rocky ground or even a fordable river. Anything that both players agree is passable to Groups must be clearly marked on the table top with an area base or any other method as agreed. Impassable Terrain Rivers, lakes or any other type of Area Terrain that is clearly defined as impassable cannot be moved through. As long as it does not physically block Line of Sight it can be shot over or into without any penalty. 114 Obstacles, Linear Terrain Obstacles can be walls, fences or hedges or any other linear object where Groups can be placed on either side but not on top. They have a footprint up to 2” wide including its base. No Cover Like Open Terrain, No Cover has no particular effect in the game, it neither hinders nor improves the Defence of Groups in it. Hard Cover This is substantial hinderance to either troops or projectiles. Things like stone walls, ruined buildings, and rocky outcrops. This provides the best Defence Bonus. Soft Cover Often the most common cover type on the battlefield, this accounts for wooden fences, hedges, crop fields. The players agree the terrain and cover types on the battlefield before the game starts. For example, a wood would be Soft Cover, Area Terrain and a stone wall would be a Hard Cover, Obstacle. A ploughed field would be No Cover, Area Terrain whereas a swamp with lots of scrub might be Soft Cover, Area Terrain. Buildings are a special kind of Hard Cover, Area Terrain and have some of their own rules covered later. Terrain Effect on Movement It is assumed that terrain although passable is difficult to move through. Groups not in mail have a movement penalty of 25% and will move at 75% of their movement. Heavy warriors who are in mail have a move penalty of 50% or half distance and this is applied in all cases as soon as the first Warrior’s Move or Run Action takes
them into the area terrain. The penalty applies to the remainder of a Group’s movement as soon as they enter Area Terrain. can see out of it to perform a Run or Combat Action. Groups outside Area Terrain can see into it to perform a Run or Combat Action. Imagine the feature isn't there when working out LoS from or to Groups that occupy terrain. Groups can draw LoS over a single Obstacle up to one 1” high but not a second intervening Obstacle. All Groups can cross Obstacles that are up to 1” high by reducing their movement by 2”; cavalry movement is reduced by 1”. Obstacles over 1” high must be climbed using the Climbing rules in the Movement section. These Heavy warriors have their movement halved as they move into the wooded area All Warriors must clear the Obstacle to cross it. If all Warriors do not cross the Group will have their movement reduced by 2” the next time they take a Movement action. These Light archers with movement 6” can run through the wooded area at 9” Area Terrain is impassable to all types of mounted Warriors and therefore they cannot enter under any circumstances. Line of Sight in Area Terrain Area Terrain blocks Line of Sight being drawn through it. Area Terrain does not block Line of Sight into or out of it. Groups within Area Terrain Heavy warriors with movement 4” have a Move action of 2” whilst crossing the hedge 115
Obstacles Within Area Terrain Movement penalties for Area Terrain and Obstacles are cumulative. If Groups are crossing a linear obstacle while inside a wood, first reduce their movement stat by 2” then apply the penalty for moving through difficult terrain. EXAMPLE Light warriors with a movement of 6” whilst moving through a wood need to cross a hedge, the distance they can move using a Move action this turn will be 3”, Linear Obstacle: 6” - 2” = 4” Area Terrain: 75% of 4” = 3” Battlefield Effects of Terrain Area Terrain Groups that position themselves within Area Terrain, are said to be occupying that terrain feature and can see and be seen while in there. Groups that occupy terrain will benefit from cover, making them harder to kill. Occupying Area Terrain Warriors are within cover if the centre of their base lies within Area Terrain that offers a cover bonus to their Defence Roll. More than half of the Warriors in a Group must be inside the Area Terrain to receive the defence bonus. While remaining in cover they will receive a bonus to their Defence Dice. Even if a Group is Forced Back they will continue to receive the cover bonus if the cover rule still applies. Warriors receive this cover bonus for both Ranged and Melee attacks. If both you and your opponent’s Warriors occupy the same piece of Area Cover, and qualify as in cover, both of you receive the cover bonus! Defence Bonus for Area Terrain Only terrain that has some substance to it provides a Defence Bonus; there must be something in the way or to hide behind. Any and all terrain that is identified as Soft Cover give the Defender a +1 bonus to their Defence Roll. Any and all terrain that is identified as Hard Cover give the defender a +2 bonus to their Defence Roll. This bonus is not added to Shield Rolls. Defensive Positions When a Group is placed behind an obstacle with their bases touching it, that Group is in cover from any enemy drawing LoS over the Obstacle. These Groups are in a Defensive Position and remain so as long as they stay put with the obstacle between them and the enemy! As soon as a Group makes either a Move Action or are Forced Back away from the Obstacle, so less than half the members of their Group have bases touching it, they are no longer in a Defensive Position. Groups can take up a Defensive Position in the following places: 1. Touching a barrier up to 1" high 116
2. Inside a building, touching the wall in a position to see out of a window When the Obstacle is positioned between the attackers and the defenders, the defenders still receive their Defensive Bonus. 3. Inside a building, within 1" of a door A Group is assumed to be in a Defensive Position if they meet the above criteria. Being in a Defensive Position means: • The barrier or building does not block the Group’s Line of Sight or hinder the Group’s own shooting or charging • The Group counts as being visible and can be shot at or charged • The Group are treated as though they have taken a Defence Action without using one of their Actions When attacking a Group in a Defensive Position it is not necessary to cross the Obstacle first to attack them. As long as the charging Group has enough movement to reach the Obstacle, and the Obstacle is no higher than 1”, they are counted as in combat with the defenders. Groups cannot be given a Defence Action while they are in a Defensive Position as they are already defending. Obstacles cannot be crossed by the enemy if defended. Defending an Obstacle: if warriors are in a defensive position behind an obstacle, they are in a more defendable position and being 'shielded' by its environment. While a group of warriors remain they are treated as though they have been issued a Defence Action for free. Ranged Attacks Terrain hinders ranged attacks in exactly the same way as an enemy Warrior being inside the fire corridor hindering a shot, unless the shooting Warrior is touching the terrain. Charging If Impassable Terrain lies in the path of a Group’s charge, then the charging Group may not attack. A Group must have Line of Sight to the target before a charge move can be declared, any warrior who starts a charge move without Line of Sight can NOT be included in the combat. Higher Ground If shooting or charging from a position that is clearly higher than the target, such as on a hill, the Group gains +1 Attack Dice. The higher ground always grants the attacker an advantage. Conversely, if you are defending a 117
charged attack and have the high ground your Group gains +1 Defence Dice. enable use of the normal rules. Ensure all players agree where the entrances are positioned before the game starts. Force Back and Loss of Nerve Barriers cannot be crossed and, as normal, buildings cannot be entered during a forced back move or a Broken move – Warriors must stop when they reach the terrain, leaving them no retreat if there is an enemy within 1”. Rough terrain has no effect on Forced Back moves and the full distance is moved into the terrain. Moves by Broken Groups of Warriors are reduced to half distance if they go through area terrain. If a Group is Forced Back into a terrain type that they would normally find impassable and have nowhere else to go then they receive an additional casualty and their attacker is moved back 1” away from them to maintain the distance rule after the combat has concluded. Groups who fail their Morale test and run into area terrain or become shielded from their attackers by an obstacle receive a second chance to rally when the group completes their Compulsory Movement, the cover provided by the terrain emboldens the fleeing Group to try again. Buildings Any construction with walls and a roof is considered to be a building, including palisades and castle walls. Buildings block Line of Sight just like Area Terrain and have the following rules: Entering Buildings If you want Groups to be able to enter buildings during a game, it helps immensely if you can remove the roof and place your figures inside. This will 118 If your buildings do not have detachable roofs, you will have to assume they have been locked and barred from the inside and are treated as impassable terrain. You should also decide if it is possible for Groups to climb onto the roof of a building. This is fine if it’s possible to balance your figures, but if there is no space or the roof is too steep then we suggest you disallow it. Buildings, Doors and Windows Unless a scenario states differently or players decide otherwise, assume the following: • Groups cannot see into or out of a building unless the Group inside has taken up a defensive position near a door or window, meaning they must be in base to base contact with the window or doorway
Open Ground – No Cover The open areas of the tabletop battlefield are called open ground and represented by any flat surfaces which do not contain an obstacle, a piece of area terrain or a building. Roads, tracks, bridges and fords are also classed as open ground being designed by their very nature to help movement. Warriors can travel through open ground with no penalty and offers no attack or Defence Bonuses. • Groups cannot run into a building as they do not have Line of Sight to the inside unless they have taken up a defensive position If Groups are inside the building, and can see each other, they can attack each other following the normal rules. A consolidation move can be used to enter a building if the occupants have been Forced Back enough to allow entry. Terrain Examples We use the term Terrain to mean, woods, hills, buildings, rivers and other gaming scenery that make up our tabletop battlefield. Besides setting the scene for the upcoming encounter these features have their part to play and can have both a positive and negative outcome on each battle depending on how both players use them to their advantage. This is after all a skirmish game, where one man equals one man with each having a lot of freedom of movement with the idea being, they will be ducking, diving, hiding and defending areas as needed. The following is intended to introduce a variety of different types of terrain that you may choose to use. It is no way near exhaustive, and if you have a piece of terrain that you would like to use which isn't covered then the idea is the players agree between themselves any special rules it may have or the impact it will have on the game. Hills – Area Terrain, No Cover Hills impose no penalty to movement and block Line of Sight only if the two Warriors are on opposite sides at ground level with the hill in the middle. Warriors on hills can see and be seen over obstacles and other terrain pieces, players decide which before the battle begins. Hills are classed as Higher Ground when determining Combat bonuses. Marshy and Rough Ground – Area Terrain, No Cover or Soft Cover All types of difficult ground are included here muddy fields, bogs, rubble, dangerous ruins, thick crops, shifting sand and marshy soft ground are good examples. All of these are Area Terrain and classed as flat so do not interfere with Line of Sight and should be thought of as a handicap to movement for Groups, both infantry and cavalry. Any warriors moving through this type of terrain move at half distance from the moment they enter to the moment they leave and offers no Attack or Defence bonuses unless they also contain substantial shrubs. Woods and Tall Shrubs – Area Terrain, Soft Cover A dense area of trees or thick tall shrubs, woods count as area terrain and are impassable to cavalry. Infantry entering the area move at half distance from the moment they enter to the moment they leave. Warriors inside woods receive a Defence bonus if targeted from the Warriors from outside of the terrain piece. Some woods can be classed as Harder Area Terrain giving a +2 to Defence bonus if both players agree. 119
Forests - Impassable Are thick wooded areas and impassable to all types and if desired perfect for creating areas on the tabletop that no Groups can enter. Walls, Fences and Hedges – Obstacle, Hard or Soft Cover All linear obstacles are included here and are the type that are constructed to form property boundaries, dividing fields and also for confining animals. Infantry can cross these obstacles where they are up to 1” high by reducing their movement by 2” and cavalry have their movement reduced by 1”. Neither can cross obstacles that are over 1” in height. These obstacles make perfect defensive positions offering Groups a free Defence Action. Streams and Shallow Rivers – Open Ground or Area Terrain, No Cover Like hills and open ground these types impose no penalties on movement and warriors can move through without any hindrance. If you include rocky sections these areas could offer a Defence bonus to infantry, but not cavalry. 120 Rivers and Deep Water – Area Terrain for Skirmishers Impassable Otherwise, No Cover Only infantry classed as skirmishers can move through rivers and deep water, however, if they end their movement in this type of terrain they will become overpowered by the current and swept away. Movement is not halved through these water features, but warriors are unable to use a run action to pass through. Ravines and Deep Pits – Impassable, No Cover If either is included on the tabletop both are classed as impassable Area Terrain and if any warriors are Forced Back into them, they are lost and removed from the game.
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GLOSSARY The Barons’ War rules uses terms that are specific to the mechanics of the game which can sometimes be confusing and overwhelming when you start. This glossary is intended to define and explain some of the most common terms used in this book in order to facilitate a better understanding and appreciation of the rules, although it will be far from exhaustive. Attack Dice Determined by the number of individual Warriors involved in the Combat Action. For Ranged Attacks it’s the number that have LoS to the Defending Group. For Melee Attacks it is the number of Warriors in base to base combat plus any within 1” of another Warrior from their Group who is in base to base. Total these Warriors, this is the number of Attack Dice that are rolled. Attack Roll The aim of listing these frequently used terms here is to help in the articulation of the rules between players and the bringing to an agreement of what is meant by their use. Used to attack. The Attacking Warriors' Attack stat indicates the value needed on each individual Attack Dice when rolled. A score equal or greater than this number resulting in a successful hit. Apply any dice modifiers after the dice are rolled. Abilities The means or skill to do something distinguishing one Warrior from another. Positive examples could be a real talent for archery, a real aptitude for defending against cavalry or a proficiency with all two-handed weapons. Negative examples; the Commander who is always ready to retreat, the Warriors that fear a particular enemy, or the overly cautious Veteran scarred by one too many battles. Abilities indicate competence in an activity due to skill, training, or some other qualification. Attacker Actions Casualties All Groups have an Action characteristic on their Warrior Profile denoting the number of Actions they have each Game Round. Used as a turn to either perform an Action or a Reaction to an opponent’s Action, an Action Token is used to indicate the Action taken. Occurs when successful attacks are not successfully defended resulting in the removal of Warriors from the tabletop. Unless otherwise stated, a single undefended attack is enough to cause one casualty, resulting in a single figure, representing one warrior, being removed from a Group. A Group that declares a Combat Action is called the Attacker. Broken When Warriors reach a point where they have had enough; whether that is through casualties or overwhelming fear. While in this state, Warriors must Run towards the nearest friendly table edge. Indicated during a game by using a Broken Token. Action Tokens Used during a game to indicate the Actions taken by individual Groups. Standard tokens are Command, Move, Combat, Defence and Ability. 122 Charge Decision to attack another group in Melee Combat (automatically achieved if within the attackers move range and there are no other
tests required) or achieved on the result of the movement range plus the score on a six-sided dice (d6) equals or exceeds the distance between the attacker and the target. Combat Action An action where a player attacks an opponent’s Warriors either via a Ranged Attack or a Melee Attack. The target can react using an Action of their own, called a Reaction. A Combat Action Token is used for both Ranged and Melee Attacks. Command Action Each Game Round a Retinue Commander may use up to two of their Actions to issue Orders as Command Actions. Eligible Groups can receive a single Command Action each Game Round. Can only be given to Groups within the Command Range of the Commander. Indicated by using a Command Token, a Group must pass a Morale Check to use this extra Action. Commander The heroes and leaders of Warriors with the 'Commander' Ability as part of their profile. Any number of Warriors with the 'Commander' Ability may be included in your retinue; however, only a single Commander can lead at one time. Commanders are attached to Groups to form Command Groups. Command Group Groups that contain a Commander. A Warrior with the 'Commander' Ability can be added to any Group turning that Group into a Command Group. Once a Command Group has been established, you have the option of purchasing various upgrades adding bonuses to the Commander’s abilities. Compulsory Action Carried out by Groups a player does not currently have control over which are activated before any others and start the Game Round with a token indicating their uncontrolled state, likely to be Shocked or Broken. This can also refer to Groups who are triggered due to an Ability. Defence Action Taking up a defensive position on the battlefield improves a Defence Roll indicated by placing a Defence Token next to the group who have been moved so their basses touch. This represents the troops doing the best to defend themselves at all cost. Defence Dice A number of ten-sided dice (d10) equal to the number of successes the Attacker has rolled as Attack Dice. Defence Roll The value determined by the Defending Warriors Defence Characteristic needed to defend successfully on the roll of each dice. A score equal or greater than this number resulting in a successful defence. Apply any dice modifiers after the dice are rolled. Each successful Defence Roll blocks one successful Attack Roll. Defender The target of a Combat Action is called the Defender. Failed Charge The result of a declared Melee Combat Action where an Attacker either fails a Morale Check refusing to charge or when the Attacking Group does not roll high enough when needed to reach the group they are attacking. Fog of War When an Action Token is left by mistake on the tabletop at the end of the Housekeeping Phase resulting in the Group being treated as though they have already taken their Action for the coming Round. Forced Back The movement that occurs to the loosing group at the end of a Combat Action indicating the loss 123
of ground. When Forced Back a Group moves 1” plus 1” for every casualty they have taken during that Combat Action away from the enemy. Game Round A passage of the game where players have the opportunity to use all their Warrior’s activations. During each game round, players alternate turns assigning Action Tokens to warriors where possible choosing the action they wish their warriors to make. A game lasts for a predetermined number of rounds, five is standard. Gift A type of ability, usually an item bestowed or acquired by the recipient. Often a physical piece of equipment that gives Warriors a bonus. Groups An unregimented unit of Warriors, the figures that represent your Retinue are organised into individual Groups. There are two types or Warriors, infantry who are on foot which must have a minimum of three figures and cavalry who are mounted which must have a minimum of two figures. Hindered Occurs where other Warriors or obstacles are close to the path of a shot or impeding the charging Group who have established Line of Sight. Determined by mentally drawing a straight path between the Attacker and target, with the path width being the same width as each individual Attacker's base. Housekeeping The responsibility for the upkeep of your retinue during play outside of the Housekeeping Phase. Covers tasks such as placing the correct tokens when Actions take place, removing casualties and adjusting Morale Dice and moving any Action Tokens and Morale Dice when Groups are moved. 124 Group Coherency The loose formation with gaps between each model that allows freedom of movement for warriors during the battle, modelling the constant motion of soldiers on a battlefield. When mustered a Group acts, and remains, as a Group for the entire battle observing the rules for coherency. Line of Sight (LoS) Being able to see something most often an opponent’s Warriors. A Warrior achieves Line of Sight when you can draw a straight unobscured line over the tabletop from the centre of its base to the centre of the base of at least one Warrior in the target Group. Melee Attack A Combat Action that involves standing toe to toe with your enemy and smashing them with a weapon, or a fist. A Combat Token is used to indicate it has taken place. Morale Checks A d10 dice roll to represent a Groups response to a particular battlefield situation, such as acting on an order issued by their Commander, to actioning one of their Abilities or to losing in combat. The outcome of this check determines how the Group acts. Morale Dice Indicates, if any, the current modifier to add to a Group’s Morale. Casualties caused through a Combat Action are the most common reason for a Morale Dice to be added, although not the only reason. Every casualty a Group suffers increases the value of their Morale Dice by one. The maximum value on a Morale Dice is six, any further additions are ignored. Move Action The standard way to move your Groups around the tabletop without incurring a penalty. The maximum distance moved is the value of the Movement stat indicated on a Warriors Profile in
inches. A Move Action uses a Move Token to indicate it has taken place. New Actions Phase Part of a Game Turn where players alternate Actions, Reactions and Passes. Actions drive this phase with Reactions played only as a response to an opponent’s Action. This phase of the Game Turn continues until no Warriors on either side have Actions left. Over Charge After a successful Combat Action Groups mounted on war horses move through the enemy Group they were fighting and out the other side. If this move brings them into contact with another enemy Group, it is counted as a second Charge. When this Over Charge is resolved they are now treated as out of control and given an Ability Token to indicate they must Reign-in at the beginning of their next action. Points Value Everything in a Retinue has a Points Value, by using these values we have tried to ensure fairness; basic Warriors are a cheap option with more seasoned, battle-hardened Warriors being expensive. Players agree on the number of points available for the game they are about to play, an amount each can spend on Warriors to build their Retinue. A Points Value enables players to have varied forces while maintaining balance. Reaction Actions triggered in response to an opponent’s Action. Only an eligible Reaction can be carried out and only if the Group have an Action available. Regrouping A free Move Action where the winners of a Melee Combat are allowed to regroup as the final part of their Combat Action. The intention behind this extra movement is to enable winning Groups to take objectives, grab cover and more importantly maintain coherency after a frenetic melee. Reign-in When a cavalry Group is out of control after an Over Charge they need to Reign-in. At the beginning of their next Action a successful Morale Check is needed to take control of their mounts. Success means they take their Action as normal; if failed, they do nothing until their next Action. In both cases the Group have managed to Reign-in and the Ability Token is removed. Retinue A body of Warriors "retained" in their service making them "retainers", the term is used to indicate a skirmish force of armed warriors who follow a commander of note. A Retinue is created from the groups of figures selected by players from the options made available to them based on a Points Value. Ranged Attack An attack which is carried out from distance where a Group targets and fires upon a defending Group with ranged weapons, like a javelin, or firing a weapon, like a bow. A Ranged Attack is a Combat Action using a Combat Token to indicate it has taken place. Rally The opportunity to take charge of a Group which is out of control, a successful Morale Check stops them in their tracks from running away, turns them around from being scared, and gets them back into the battle. Run Action A double Move Action, the Movement stat indicated on a Warriors Profile in inches at the cost of becoming Weary for the rest of the round. The Group must Run in a straight line and have Line of Sight along the whole path. This increase is identical for both infantry and cavalry. A Run Action uses a Move Token to indicate it has taken place. 125
Shield Roll An additional unmodified Defence Roll for any Warriors who are equipped with a shield. The score needed is based on the type of shield. Shield Rolls cannot block a natural ‘0’ on an Attack Dice and are not affected by any defence modifiers. You may not use a Shield Roll to reroll any natural ‘1s’ rolled on a Defence Dice. Shocked The result when a Morale Check is failed after a particularly brutal Combat Action causes the losers to huddle down, stunned into doing nothing else until they recover. Indicated during a game by a Shocked Token. Warriors All the figures that take to the tabletop making up a Retinue are classed as Warriors, from barons to lowly peasants this term is used to describe them all. These Warriors are organised into Groups; loose organisations of Warriors with similar skills and equipment. Warrior Profile A type of ability, being able to do something well coming from knowledge, practice or aptitude. The core information for a single Warrior of a particular type which is modified by adding Equipment and Abilities. Each Warrior type has a variety of different options available in keeping with their social standing and battlefield role. A Group share the same Warrior Profile. Tabletop Weary The area a game is played over, the standard size for The Barons’ War is 4’ by 3’, but this can be modified as needed. Running, performing more than one Action in a single Round or being affected by psychology can all cause a Group to become fatigued; either mentally or physically. During a game when Warriors reach this point it is indicated by a Weary Token, being Weary effects all dice rolls. Skill Terrain The three-dimensional scenery placed upon the tabletop representing the woods and hills, villages and chapels of the medieval era providing members of a Retinue with much needed cover and defendable positions increasing survivability from Ranged Attacks and vicious hand to hand melee. An all-important element of the game. Trait A type of ability, a distinguishing characteristic or quality, of a personal nature used to indicate a passive skill. War Horse An exceptionally well bred and trained horse for a knight in battle. This mount is way beyond the realms of ordinary folk and can only be used by knights. They so enhance the Warrior’s skills he gains an extra Attack Dice and enhances their survivability resulting in the need to cause a 126 minimum of two Casualties to remove each knight with odd numbers discounted at the end of a Combat Action.
Copy and cut out tokens for personal use only. Full colour MDF Tokens available to purchase from Footsoreminiatures.co.uk
ARMY ROSTER COMMANDER WARRIOR TYPE EXPERIENCE POINTS EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR MODIFIER EFFECT COMMAND GROUP UPGRADES NAME POINTS EFFECT ABILITIES
WARRIORS WARRIOR TYPE & QUANTITY EXPERIENCE POINTS EQUIPMENT COST PER WARRIOR NAME MODIFIER EFFECT ABILITIES WARRIORS WARRIOR TYPE & QUANTITY EXPERIENCE POINTS EQUIPMENT NAME COST PER WARRIOR MODIFIER ABILITIES EFFECT
QUICK REFERENCE SHEET ROUND STARTS INITIATIVE (p.22) COMPULSORY ACTION PHASE (p.22) Roll a d10 and subtracts the current value of their Retinue Commanders Morale Dice. The player who rolls the highest has initiative. First activate all Groups that are currently out of your control. Alternate turns, when all Groups have activated move on to the New Action Phase. Use Command Actions to roll additional d10s, up to a maximum of two extra. Use the dice with the highest value. (p.25) Broken (p.25): take a Morale Check, if pass can now take an Action, add a weary token. If fail must Run towards nearest table edge, add a Move Token. Shocked (p.25): take a Morale Check, if pass can now take an action. If fail stay put and can do nothing, add a Weary Token. Psychology (p.27): take a Morale Check if needed. Group acts according to their current state. ACTIONS (p.24) REACTIONS (p.24) Move: Group moves or runs NEW ACTION PHASE (p.22) Actions drive this phase. Alternate Actions, Reactions and Passes. Reactions are triggered in response to an opponent’s Action. Only an eligible Reaction can be carried out and only if the Group has an Action available Combat: charge into a melee attack or commit to a ranged attack Combat: fight back in response to a melee attack or return fire in response to a ranged attack. Defend: +2 Defence Rolls Defend: +2 Defence Rolls, shields up! Command: Commanders can use their Actions to issue orders Command: Commanders can use their Actions to issue orders as a reaction. Ability: use a special ability Ability: use a special ability Not all Actions may be carried out by all Groups. A ranged attack Combat Action can only be made by Groups armed with ranged weapons for example; while an Order Action can only be given by a Retinue Commander. CHANGES TO MORALE DICE IN ACTION PHASE (P.40) Each Casualty Caused +1 to Group taking a casualty per Warrior removed Each Group Removed +1 to Retinue Commanders • Collect up all Action Tokens from Groups who are still under your control. HOUSE KEEPING PHASE (P.23) When all Actions are completed the Round Ends. First check victory conditions for the scenario if a player has won the game ends. If not continue with Housekeeping. • Leave Action Tokens in play for Groups who are currently not under your control, this includes Weary Tokens. • Adjust Morale Dice that are in play. Take Morale Checks for all Groups who are Weary adjusting these Morale Dice where appropriate. • Remove all Weary Tokens where appropriate. CHANGES TO MORALE DICE IN HOUSEKEEPING PHASE (P.23) Normal Groups Reduce Morale Dice score by 1 Broken Groups Reduce Morale Dice score by 1 Weary Groups Must pass a successful Morale Check to reduce Morale Dice score by 1 Shocked Groups No change to Morale Dice score Take a moment to make sure that all Groups are at least 1” away from any of their enemies and friends. This Game Round has now ended and a new one begins. ROUND ENDS
MOVEMENT RULES (P.28) LINE OF SIGHT (P.14) Movement Actions are either Move or Run; Move uses the base Movement rate and Run doubles the base Movement rate. Move and Run Actions must adhere to the following common rules: ● Groups cannot Move or Run through other Groups, friendly or enemy ● Groups are blocked from moving by any, and all, Warriors except Warriors of the moving Group ● Groups must not come within 1” of any enemy Group at any point of their move ● Groups cannot voluntarily leave the battlefield ● Warriors from the same Group can move through each other when they move or run A Group can only run once per round. If a Group has run, they cannot be ordered or use one of their own actions to run again. THE COMBAT PROCESS (P.35) COMBAT MODIFIERS (P.12) Weary Token (p.27) -1 to all dice rolls Attacking Shocked Troops (p.25) +2 to Attack Rolls Inspire (p.86) +1 Attack Dice & +1 Defence Dice Higher Ground (p.42) +1 Attack Dice if Attacker or +1 Defence Dice if Defender MORALE MELEE COMBAT MODIFIER TABLE (P.37) DIFFERENCE IN MORALE MODIFIER - 4 or more Must pass a Morale Check to charge, -1 Attack Dice -1 to -3 -1 Attack Dice 0 No effect +1 to +3 +1 Attack Dice +4 or more +2 Attack Dice
WEAPON TABLE (P.74) NAME EFFECT HAND WEAPON - DANE AXE/TWO HANDED WEAPON SLOW - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon MACE BLUNT TRAUMA - If the target takes casualties from a mace the target Group Movement is halved for the remainder of the round SWORD PARRY - Gain an extra Defence dice against sword, mace or hand weapon FALCHION SLASHING - Target suffers -1 to Defence rolls if unarmoured or wearing leather/ padded SPEAR REACH - Cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill BOW Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range CROSSBOW Long up to 20"/short up to 10" range. Can move 3" and shoot at short range. Slow - Will always act second if counter Attacked. Bodkin - ignore one Defence die if target is wearing mail at short range. Causes shock at short range if 25% casualties are caused SLING 10" range. Quick shot - Can fire twice if stationary. May move full distance and fire once JAVELIN 6" range if the warrior(s) remain stationary, 6+d10” range if warrior(s) end their Movement closer to target than their original position POLEARM/BILL REACH - cannot counter Attack against spear/bill unless armed with spear/bill. Result of 10 causes 2 damage LANCE (mounted only) Single use, causes shock if any hits are successful. Lances lost if charged. Ignores Shield rolls. Does not replace sword HORSEMAN’S PICK PIERCING - Ignore armour bonus (target counts as wearing no armour) (mounted only) IMPROVISED TWO HANDED WEAPON SLOW - will always act second if counter attacked. Cannot equip shield with this weapon SHIELD ROLLS - REROLL ANY FAILED DEFENCE ROLLS (P.71) LARGE SHIELD 7+ on a D10 MEDIUM SHIELD 8+ on a D10 SMALL SHIELD 9+ on a D10 COMBAT RESOLUTION (P.40) Loser Forced Back 1”+ 1” per casualty away from the Winner. If losing Group suffers 25% casualties or more from their starting total must now take a Morale Check. If fail become Broken and immediately moved their full Movement directly away from their attacker. Winning Group may take a free Move Action to Regroup. Groups containing three or less Warriors before losing any casualties, are no longer eligible to become Shocked. These Groups become Broken if they fail a Morale Check.
WHEN TO TAKE A MORALE CHECK (P.44) Losing a cumulative total of 25% casualties When a Group loses a Combat Action suffering a cumulative total of 25% casualties from the initial number of Warriors the Group started with. Respond to an Order Action If successful the Group is issued the Order; otherwise it is ignored, and the Action is lost for this round. Required by some Abilities to activate. Action specific Abilities See Fear, Hatred, and being Berserk, each for different reasons. Psychology As a Compulsory Action needed to halt Broken Groups. Rally when Broken As a Compulsory Action needed to stop Shocked. Rally when Shocked Improve current Morale During the Housekeeping phase, Groups who currently have a Morale Dice, and are Weary, must take a Morale Check. If successful, the dice score is reduced by one or removed where appropriate. Losing your Commander Needed for another Warrior with the Command ability to take over Command. Group Casualties If a friendly Group is removed completely any friendly Groups within 6”. If failed, they become Broken receiving a Broken Token. TERRAIN: EFFECT ON MOVEMENT (P.116) TYPE OF TERRAIN WARRIOR TYPE EFFECT Obstacle up to 1” high Infantry -2” Area Terrain Cavalry -1” Infantry Mail -50% Movement None Mail -25% Movement Cavalry Impassable TERRAIN: EFFECT ON DEFENCE (P.118) TYPE OF TERRAIN TERRAIN CLASS EFFECT Obstacle, touching a barrier up to 1” high. Defensive Position Inside a Building touching a wall by a window. +2 to Defence Rolls (same as a Defence Action) Inside a building within 1” of a door. Area Terrain Hard cover +2 to Defence Roll Soft Cover +1 to Defence Roll More than half of the Warriors in a Group must be inside the Area Terrain to receive the Area Terrain Defence Bonus. This bonus is not added to Shield Rolls. Inspire (p.86): Friendly Groups within 6" gain +1 Attack Dice and +1 Defence Dice. indicate they must Reign-in at the beginning of their next action. Over Charge (p.77): Takes the Group through the enemy they were fighting. Roll a d6 and add the number of casualties from the combat to determine the distance the Group Over Charge. Once the enemy Group has been Forced Back, measure the Over Charge from the back of the rearmost base in the defeated Group. If this move brings the cavalry Group into contact with another enemy Group, count this movement as a second Charge. With the attackers now treated as Weary, place a Weary Token next to the Group to indicate this. Infantry who charge cavalry using a Combat Action can cause them to Reign-in if the Combat results in the cavalry Group being Forced Back, if this happens place an Ability Token to indicate it has occurred. When this Over Charge is resolved the cavalry Group are treated as out of control and given an Ability Token to Reign-in (p.77): When a cavalry Group is out of control they need to Reign-in. At the beginning of their next action they must take a Morale Check to take control of their mounts. If successful, they take their Action as normal; if failed, they do nothing until their next Action. Remove their Ability Token in both cases as the Group no longer needs to Reign-in to act.
INDEX 10 Key Principles 11 Broken 9, 21–24, 26, 27, 39–41, 44–47, 73, 79–81, 8 3–85, 118, 122, 123 Ability 9, 11, 20, 24, 45, 48, 61, 70, 77–87, 102, 10 3, 109, 122, 124–126 Broken Token 25, 40, 45, 122 Action Tokens 9, 14, 15, 22, 23, 122, 124 Buildings 5, 10, 32, 41, 112, 114, 118, 119 A Actions 2, 8, 9, 19, 22–29, 34, 46, 50, 61, 66, 73, 7 8, 112, 117, 122–125 Activating Your Retinue 23 Area Cover 41 Area Terrain 31, 32, 41, 81, 107, 114–120 Building Your Groups 49 C Casualties 14, 20, 21, 25, 39, 40, 44–46, 77, 80, 82, 83 , 85, 122, 124, 126 Cavalry 8, 11, 17, 19, 20, 28, 29, 32, 38, 48, 50, 54, 66, 77–80, 83, 85, 115, 119, 120, 122, 124, 125, 133 Armour 19, 21, 28, 34, 49, 52, 69, 70, 74–76, 82, 10 4, 132 Characters 5, 7, 34, 70, 85, 88, 100, 103 Attack Back 35, 39, 79, 81, 85 Charge 9, 11, 13, 14, 26, 29, 30, 32, 35, 37–39, 41, 46, 77, 79, 80, 83–87, 117, 122, 123, 125 Attack dice 14, 34, 37, 38, 41, 42, 72, 81–83, 85–87, 11 7, 122, 126 Climbing 30–32, 115 Attack Roll 12, 38, 39, 79, 81, 83, 84, 86, 122, 123 Attacker 14, 19, 25, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 80, 113, 118, 122–124 B Barrier 41, 42, 116–118 Basing 11 Berserk 22, 44, 47 Bowmen 57 Coherency 11, 18, 20, 21, 28, 38, 40, 41, 50, 124, 125 Combat 9, 12, 13, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28–31, 34, 35, 37– 41, 44–46, 51, 70, 75–77, 79–84, 86, 87, 102 , 104, 115, 117–119, 122–126 Combat Action 24, 25, 29, 30, 34, 37–40, 44–46, 70, 77, 79 –84, 86, 87, 115, 122–126 Combat Process 34 Combat Resolution 39 Command Action 22–27, 73, 80, 82, 85, 87, 123
Command Group 17, 27, 34, 45, 46, 48, 61, 73, 81, 83, 85–88 , 101–103, 123 Entering Buildings 118 Equipment 17, 19–21, 48, 49, 70, 74, 78, 124, 126 Command Token 22, 73, 123 Commander 12, 16, 20–22, 24–27, 34, 44–46, 48–50, 58, 61, 62, 70, 73, 78, 80–88, 101–103, 106, 109 –113, 122–125 Experience 9, 17, 34, 48, 49, 51, 52, 60, 80, 81, 83, 85, 92, 104 Commanders Morale 45 Experienced 80, 81, 85, 92 Compulsory Action 22–26, 44, 73, 85, 123 F Compulsory Action Phase 22, 25, 26, 73 Failed Charge 37, 84, 123 Crossbowmen 50, 54, 56, 75, 92, 99 Falkes de Breauté 98 D Falling 30, 31, 90, 105 Damage 39, 75, 76, 92 Fear 6, 24, 25, 27, 44, 46, 78–80, 87, 122 Defence Action 33, 39, 80–83, 103, 117, 120, 123 Fog of War 123 Defence Dice 39, 41, 42, 79–81, 86, 116, 118, 123, 126 Forced Back 39–41, 46, 77, 79, 82, 84, 116, 118–120, 123 , 124 Defence Roll 12, 33, 38, 39, 41, 47, 76, 79, 81, 83, 84, 8 6, 87, 116, 123, 126 Forced Off The Table 40 Free Action 79, 87 Defender 12, 19, 34, 37–39, 77, 87, 96, 113, 116, 117, 123 Friar Tuck 87, 100, 102 G Defending Group 35, 37, 39, 122, 125 E Defensive Positions 41, 116, 120 Game Round 19, 22, 23, 25–27, 39, 46, 73, 78, 122–124 Deployment Maps 108 Glossary 122 Dice 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 19, 21–25, 27, 33–35 , 37–42, 44–46, 61, 70, 79–87, 101, 106, 109 –111, 116–118, 122–124, 126 Green 20, 48, 51, 114 Group Coherency 11, 18, 21, 28, 38, 41, 50, 124 Group Size Limits 50
Groups 6, 11, 12, 14–18, 22–30, 32, 34, 35, 37–41, 44–50, 61, 73, 78–81, 84–87, 101, 109, 113– 120, 122–126 K Killing Your Opponents Commander 109 King John 6, 61, 88–90, 92, 94–96, 98, 105 H Hard Cover 114, 116 Higher Ground 42, 117, 119 Knight 6, 7, 12, 21, 49, 52, 54, 58, 59, 61, 62, 66, 69, 70, 74, 76–80, 83, 85–87, 89, 90, 92, 98, 101, 103–105, 126 Hills 10, 31, 41, 42, 114, 119, 120, 126 Knight Commander 61, 62, 70, 83, 85, 101 Hatred 24, 27, 44, 46 Hindered 14, 38, 41, 124 L Hindered Charge 14 Levy 49, 61, 83 Hindered Shooting 14 Line of Sight (LoS) 13, 34, 124 Horses 21, 69, 77, 104, 125 Little John 87, 100, 102 Housekeeping 14, 15, 22, 23, 27, 33, 39, 81, 83, 85, 101, 123, 124 Losing a Group 46 Housekeeping Phase 14, 22, 23, 27, 33, 39, 81, 83, 85, 101, 123, 124 Hubert de Burgh 90, 96, 97 I Impassable Terrain 32, 41, 114, 117, 118 Infantry 8, 11, 17–20, 29, 48, 50, 54, 58, 60, 66, 77, 79, 119, 120, 124, 125 Inherent Abilities 70, 85 Initiative 13, 22–25, 80, 109 Irregular 20, 51 Losing your Commander 45 M Maid Marian 87, 95, 101 Measuring 5, 9, 11, 109 Melee Attack 14, 24, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 116, 122–124 Melee Combat 29, 34, 37, 40, 46, 81–84, 122, 123, 125 Merry Men 87, 100–103 Militant Monks 59 Modifiers 12, 13, 38, 45, 46, 70, 122, 123, 126 Modifying Dice Rolls 12 J Jumping 30 Morale
8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 19–27, 33, 35, 37–40, 44–4 7, 73, 77, 79–87, 101, 109, 110, 118, 123–12 6 Morale Check 11, 19, 20, 23–26, 35, 37, 39, 40, 44–47, 73, 77, 79–87, 109, 110, 123–126 Morale Dice 8, 9, 14, 15, 19, 21–23, 33, 37, 40, 44–46, 8 0, 81, 83–87, 101, 124 More Than One Action 26, 27, 126 Move Action 9, 18, 20, 28–32, 40, 41, 115, 116, 124, 125 Movement 9, 18, 19, 22, 25–32, 35, 37, 40, 41, 76, 77, 79, 80, 84, 110, 114–120, 123–125 Moving 22, 24, 28, 30–33, 35, 39, 79, 106, 116, 119, 124 Musician 61, 87, 103 N Prince Louis 6, 75, 88–90, 92, 93, 96, 98, 99 R Rally 25–27, 44, 73, 84, 85, 87, 118, 125 Ranged Attack 21, 24, 34, 39, 41, 82, 86, 114, 117, 122, 12 3, 126 Re-rolls 12 Reaction 2, 9, 14, 22–24, 33–35, 38, 39, 73, 78, 79, 8 1, 82, 85, 87, 122, 123, 125 Regrouping 39, 40, 125 Regular 20, 51, 101 Reign-in 77, 81, 125 Retinue 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16–23, 26, 33, 44–46, 48– 51, 61, 70, 73, 77, 78, 82, 83, 85, 88, 106, 108–114, 123–126 New Actions Phase 22, 125 Retinue Commander 21, 22, 26, 45, 49, 73, 82, 83, 88, 111, 112, 123 No Cover 114, 119, 120 Retinue List 9 O Return Fire 24, 35, 39 Objectives 40, 101, 106, 109–112, 125 Robert Fitzwalter 6, 92, 95 Obstacles 32, 114–117, 119, 120, 124 Robin Hood 87, 95, 100, 101 Occupying Terrain 41 Roll Off 13, 22 Open Terrain 114 Rolling Dice 11, 12, 24 Over Charge 77, 80, 125 Round 8, 10, 11, 13–15, 19–23, 25–27, 29, 33, 39, 44, 73, 75, 76, 78–81, 83–85, 87, 109–112, 1 22–126 P Points Value 9, 20, 48, 51, 109–112, 125 Run Action 26–32, 46, 84, 114, 120, 125 Priest 61, 86, 87, 102
10 Key Principles 11 Broken Token 25, 40, 45, 122 A Building Your Groups 49 Ability 9, 11, 20, 24, 45, 48, 61, 70, 77–87, 102, 10 3, 109, 122, 124–126 Action Tokens 9, 14, 15, 22, 23, 122, 124 Actions 2, 8, 9, 19, 22–29, 34, 46, 50, 61, 66, 73, 7 8, 112, 117, 122–125 Activating Your Retinue 23 Buildings 5, 10, 32, 41, 112, 114, 118, 119 C Casualties 14, 20, 21, 25, 39, 40, 44–46, 77, 80, 82, 83 , 85, 122, 124, 126 Cavalry 8, 11, 17, 19, 20, 28, 29, 32, 38, 48, 50, 54, 66, 77–80, 83, 85, 115, 119, 120, 122, 124, 125, 133 Area Cover 41 Characters 5, 7, 34, 70, 85, 88, 100, 103 Area Terrain 31, 32, 41, 81, 107, 114–120 Armour 19, 21, 28, 34, 49, 52, 69, 70, 74–76, 82, 10 4, 132 Charge 9, 11, 13, 14, 26, 29, 30, 32, 35, 37–39, 41, 46, 77, 79, 80, 83–87, 117, 122, 123, 125 Climbing 30–32, 115 Attack Back 35, 39, 79, 81, 85 Attack dice 14, 34, 37, 38, 41, 42, 72, 81–83, 85–87, 11 7, 122, 126 Coherency 11, 18, 20, 21, 28, 38, 40, 41, 50, 124, 125 Attack Roll 12, 38, 39, 79, 81, 83, 84, 86, 122, 123 Combat 9, 12, 13, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28–31, 34, 35, 37– 41, 44–46, 51, 70, 75–77, 79–84, 86, 87, 102 , 104, 115, 117–119, 122–126 Attacker 14, 19, 25, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 80, 113, 118, 122–124 Combat Action 24, 25, 29, 30, 34, 37–40, 44–46, 70, 77, 79 –84, 86, 87, 115, 122–126 Combat Process 34 B Barrier 41, 42, 116–118 Combat Resolution 39 Basing 11 Command Action 22–27, 73, 80, 82, 85, 87, 123 Berserk 22, 44, 47 Bowmen 57 Broken 9, 21–24, 26, 27, 39–41, 44–47, 73, 79–81, 8 3–85, 118, 122, 123 Command Group 17, 27, 34, 45, 46, 48, 61, 73, 81, 83, 85–88 , 101–103, 123 Command Token 22, 73, 123 Commander
In the Kingdom of England by 1215, a group of powerful barons had reached breaking point due to King John’s despotic rule, high taxes and failed leadership. It was time to rebel! Written by Andy Hobday, these rules enable narrative-driven tabletop games set in an England gripped by civil war played out against the backdrop of the Magna Carta and the invasion by the Crown Prince of France. The historically themed gameplay is fast-paced and tactical. With warriors of this period being pretty similar, it is easy to base your medieval skirmish games using these rules in any setting. Footsoreminiatures.co.uk Warhost.online