Iron and Steel are a set of free wargames rules for Victorian age naval battles.
The author writes:
Iron & Steam is based on a set of Victorian pre-dreadnought rules written by a friend in the late 1980s. They’ve evolved over the years though I’ve not played them recently. The game is meant to use sheets for each ship to record movement orders and accumulated damage. I had a fairly complex set up of mail-merged MS Word documents to generate the record sheets. But, of couse, they no longer function so I’ll have to come up with another system of generating them. That may take a while. Still… the game is playable if you’re willing to keep track of the statistics on a piece of paper. I know, I know… so high tech…. The methods of calculating the factors and a number of pre-calculated ships are included in the rules.
With Fire and Sword is the first of Henryk Sienkiewicz’ three volume trilogy on the Northern Wars of the 17th century during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. It’s a terrific read and a must for anyone interested in the period. The novels are long, because like Dickens, Sienkiewicz’s work first was serialized in newspapers.
Its free right now on Amazon. And you don’t need a Kindle. Most smartphones have access to Kindle software, as do laptop and desktop computers.
This is an introductory set of wargaming rules. It is designed for the novice player with little or no wargaming experience. Surprisingly, the simplicity of the rules has added some nuances of play that often escape more experienced players. The first is that this is not a simultaneous move and fight game. Consequently, deciding whether to move first or second can be a major decision, particularly for the Aztec player. The ideal situation for that player is to go second in a turn and manage to surround some of the enemy, then go first in the next turn and hustle the captured figures away for sacrifice at a later time. It is to the advantage of the Spanish player to ensure that the Aztec player never gets to move two consecutive phases. Secondly, it is important to realize that hand-to-hand combat is not simultaneous and that it is generally better to attack than defend.
There are those who will decry the simplicity of these rules. Yes, victory depends on a certain amount of “gamesmanship” rather than sound strategy. But then what do you expect for free, on the internet, and on less than two printed pages?
Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.
The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.
Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.
For pictures, visit the gallery.
Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.
