Bob Cordery offers a set of Modified Morschauser 19th Century Rules. They’re based on the original set by Joseph Morschauser. It’s played on a gridded battlefield
De Bellis Indica is a DBA variant for simulation of warfare in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. The basic scale is 1 figure = 50 men and 40mm = 100 paces
Imagine Image has released a new version of its Hex Command Gunpowder rules. These free wargames rules for the Horse and Musket period are played on hex grids.
Black Powder Tactical COMMANDER (BPT COMMANDER) is a set of war game rules that allow you to re-create military operations of the Black Powder warfare period (roughing 1705 to 1899) using miniatures on a tabletop. Players each take command of a Battle group, which can be anything from a reinforced regiment right up to a Corps. The rules attempt to provide a good balance between playability and historical accuracy, allowing players to perform like their historic counterparts with a game system that is easy to use and fast to play. The rules are suitable for solo, two-player and multi-player games, at home, at the club, or at a tournament.
Toy Soldiers is a set of free wargames rules for the Horse and Musket period. The author writes:
Abstracted rules for battalion combats in Horse and Musket period. A unit is a battalion. A single player might have 2-5 units under his command but only one commander. The intent of the rules is to allow players to bring a small command to the table of generic troops with no points system or national characteristics. The balance that I am aiming for is that a cavalry unit = an infantry unit = an artillery battery.
Infantry battalions are represented by 6 stands of several miniatures. In 15mm, 4 wide seems to work. Artillery batteries are represented by 3 stands. Limbers should also be included.
Units and commanders will always have at least a single D6 placed behind them. For units, this represents their disorder value (1 is well ordered, 6 being disordered). Commanders will have a Chaos dice which will always be at least 1 (well coordinated command) and may go as high as 6 (Ineffective command control). Often, units will also be marked by a single red die marking their stress. Stress goes from 0 to 6.
Jeu Des Batailles is a set of free wargames rules for the horse and musket era. The author writes:
Jeu des Batailles (Game of Battles) is a tactical set of rules that simulates any sized battle during the musket and bayonet era. The basic unit scale is the multi stand battalion or regiment. The core rules are designed for the Napoleonic era but rule adjustments are given for all periods from the musket and pike era through the American Civil War. The rules are intended for 2mm scale, but virtually any figure scale or basing can be used, and various adaptations are suggested in the rules. The rules are fairly simple but provide historic results.
Jeu des Batailles has two unit scale versions, one for corps to army sized battles and one for smaller Brigade to Corps sized battles. The two version have virtually the same mechanics, and rules include a unique phase move system. Emphasis is on ease of play and and avoidance of unnecessary complexity. While these rules are not complex , they have shown to produce consistently historic results.
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.
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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.