I'm taking a small break from ships for a while (not a long while though), and I've got a mind to return to the Thirty Years War and associated 17th century conflicts. I have quite a large collection of mostly European troops, but I also have some Poles, Russians and Ottomans.
The collection has been pretty much neglected, and before the virus outbreak I had a strong intention to get rid of them completely, but in the end I came to my senses: this is a period I really like, and it has a lot of research & gaming potential, plus the many hundreds of figures I own.
So now I have a few things to do: first, repair and upgrade the paint on my figures to an OK standard (I don't really want to make a fuss about it, just wish to make them look better than they currently are). Then I should rebase most of them, on 40mm squares, while leaving some on single bases for smaller skirmish games. Of course smaller units on 40mm squares should be fine for skirmishes as well. This includes the ones already based in such a way, as my basing methods have improved a lot since the last of these were finished. I'll tackle this in small batches, perhaps one or two in-game units at a time, otherwise my hair would fall out. Fortunately I have plenty of time and materials.
On the rules front, things are not so bright. Maybe this is my ultimate grognardism, but I don't like stuff with very arbitrary base sizes (this is worth a rant all by itself, base sizes and unit footprint rarely having any scientific foundation within the game mechanics), and above all, I simply do not like rule sets longer than fifty pages or so, but honestly, less is more in this case.
This automatically excludes Pike&Shotte, with a core book more than 200 pages long (I might just shorten it to a readable format). Baroque has odd unit sizes, so I could just figure out what hellspawn I would summon if I played with 16cm broad units instead of 18. There's little news about Pikeman's Lament, this is an Osprey one shot like most of their rules, and it's basically a set of house rules commercially published that requires major tweaking before playability.
Maurice and Maurice Lite are absolutely not for 17th century warfare, but the general gist is fine, especially for the later period when battle formations became more linear. I like these rules a lot, as you might have guessed, they are simple and elegant, but have a level of complexity that comes with a bit more experience. Furthermore, it's a fine tool for solo gaming, being card-driven.
The other set of rules I played with is Victory Without Quarter, which is the best period ruleset for me, being only 13 pages long, and having absolutely no rule on unit sizes. VWQ and Pikeman's Lament share the same problem of an odd friction/activation system, but this can be mended, perhaps by superimposing my own very simple initiative system used in Easy Tricorne and Victorious Eagle Warfare.
So now I have a few things to do: first, repair and upgrade the paint on my figures to an OK standard (I don't really want to make a fuss about it, just wish to make them look better than they currently are). Then I should rebase most of them, on 40mm squares, while leaving some on single bases for smaller skirmish games. Of course smaller units on 40mm squares should be fine for skirmishes as well. This includes the ones already based in such a way, as my basing methods have improved a lot since the last of these were finished. I'll tackle this in small batches, perhaps one or two in-game units at a time, otherwise my hair would fall out. Fortunately I have plenty of time and materials.
On the rules front, things are not so bright. Maybe this is my ultimate grognardism, but I don't like stuff with very arbitrary base sizes (this is worth a rant all by itself, base sizes and unit footprint rarely having any scientific foundation within the game mechanics), and above all, I simply do not like rule sets longer than fifty pages or so, but honestly, less is more in this case.
This automatically excludes Pike&Shotte, with a core book more than 200 pages long (I might just shorten it to a readable format). Baroque has odd unit sizes, so I could just figure out what hellspawn I would summon if I played with 16cm broad units instead of 18. There's little news about Pikeman's Lament, this is an Osprey one shot like most of their rules, and it's basically a set of house rules commercially published that requires major tweaking before playability.
Maurice and Maurice Lite are absolutely not for 17th century warfare, but the general gist is fine, especially for the later period when battle formations became more linear. I like these rules a lot, as you might have guessed, they are simple and elegant, but have a level of complexity that comes with a bit more experience. Furthermore, it's a fine tool for solo gaming, being card-driven.
The other set of rules I played with is Victory Without Quarter, which is the best period ruleset for me, being only 13 pages long, and having absolutely no rule on unit sizes. VWQ and Pikeman's Lament share the same problem of an odd friction/activation system, but this can be mended, perhaps by superimposing my own very simple initiative system used in Easy Tricorne and Victorious Eagle Warfare.
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