Blaze of Glory is a free set of wild west minaitures rules. The authors write:
BLAZE OF GLORY is a miniature based, Wild West Skirmish war game. It is intended to be a fast and enjoyable game, with quick learn rules, so that both experienced wargamers and novices may get to grips with it as soon as possible. It is a quasi-historical game, aiming to capture the atmosphere of the movies and popular imagery, rather than give an accurate simulation of Wild West life (Which let’s face it, must have been pretty grim) However there is room for historical research, many of the games we have played are based on real events that occurred in a number of places in Colorado during the 1860/70s. There is something here for all gamers, so go on don your spurs, load your six shooter, give a rousing ‘Yippee Ky-ay!’ and give it a go.
Arofan Gregory offers Republic and Empire, a set of free wargames rules for 19th Century warfare.
Gregory writes:
These rules are intended to be used for any land conflict from the Napoleonic Wars through the Second Anglo-Boer War. Encompassing both colonial actiosn and conflicts between technologically advanced powers, they are intended for those who wish to recreate the lesser known conflicts of the period, for which specifically tailored rules sets are often not available. They are designed as a framework that is easily modified to fit the specific situation being recreated. Alternately, these rules are good for those who wish to play battalion-level games that move quickly, as a change of pace from more complicated games ... Toward this end, any consistent basing system can be used ...
Voice of the Guns is a set of free wargames rules for playing miniatures games set in Europe from 1850 to 1914. The authors write:
VOTG started out as a set of rules for the Franco-Austrian War of 1859 under the working title of the War of the Emperors. As with other sets, it quickly became apparent that the range could be extended to include all the later nineteenth century and the early twentieth, not excluding the first years of the First World War, provided that the gamer had no need of such esoterica as aircraft, tanks or armoured cars.
The rules are element-based, where one base represents 100 infantry, 50 cavalry or two rapid-fire weapons. Artillery is frontage-based according to the number of pieces in the battery. The rules cater for all figures sizes, from 5/6mm right up to 25/28 mm.
Ground scale is 1mm = 1 metre, although if you intend to game the later eras, when small-arms ranges increased dramatically, I would recommend going to 1mm = 2 metres, otherwise your infantry will be picking off the enemy before they even get on the table!
The Perfect Captain’s Battle Finder is a set of 64 cards—done in the usual high quality graphics—that you use to generate terrain for your miniature wargames battles. There also are rules for using the cards to create linear campaigns, and maneuver campaigns using the downloadable force counters, order and control markers. There are even revenue and siege rules.
Truly innovative stuff, and something that I’m going to use almost immediately.
Days of Iron is a set of free wargames rules for playing battles set in the Franco Prussian War in 15mm. The author writes:
These rules have evolved from the WRG rules 1685-1845 (1978) by Phillip Barker and the Élan Napoleonic rules (2002) by Phillip Jones. I would like to acknowledge both, while stating it was from those experiences I wanted to design something original specifically for the Franco Prussian War period. As with all rules there is a balance between attempting to achieve historical accuracy and developing a simple but fun game. Days of Iron may not meet the historical accuracy required by some people nor the simplicity of play for some gamers, but I do hope you enjoy using these rules for what they are rather than what they aren’t.
Corpen: 1889 is a set of free miniature wargames rules
for simulating naval battles in the late 19th century. It was inspired by GDW’s excellent Ironclads and Ether Flyers (I&EF) supplement for the Space:1889 role-playing game. It tries to preserve the “flavor” of that era that I&EF conveyed, while at the same time requiring less dice-rolling and record-keeping than I&EF did. It is based upon my earlier Corpen 18 WWII surface naval combat game, with significant alterations which were required to take into account the much different nature of naval combat in the late 19th century.
BLAZE OF GLORY is a miniature based, Wild West Skirmish war game. It is intended to be a fast and enjoyable game, with quick learn rules, so that both experienced wargamers and novices may get to grips with it as soon as possible. It is a quasi-historical game, aiming to capture the atmosphere of the movies and popular imagery, rather than give an accurate simulation of Wild West life (Which let’s face it, must have been pretty grim) However there is room for historical research, many of the games we have played are based on real events that occurred in a number of places in Colorado during the 1860/70s. There is something here for all gamers, so go on don your spurs, load your six shooter, give a rousing ‘Yippee Ky-ay!’ and give it a go.
Adam Stone’s Days of Empire is a set of free wargames rules for playing the Crimean War. The author writes:
These rules have evolved from the WRG rules 1685-1845 (1978) by Phillip Barker and the Élan Napoleonic rules (2002) by Phillip Jones. I would like to acknowledge both, while stating it was from those experiences I wanted to design something original specifically for the Crimean War period. As with all rules there is a balance between attempting to achieve historical accuracy and developing a simple but fun game. Days of Empire may not meet the historical accuracy required by some people nor the simplicity of play for some gamers, but I do hope you enjoy using these rules for what they are rather than what they aren’t.
These rules were derived from The War Game by Charles Grant and though not quite the same they are inspired by the thought of this great man. The intention is to develop a fast fun set of rules with no paperwork, readable in under an hour and of less than a mere 30 pages. I hope my small contribution provides something you will enjoy.
Players will find that the emphasis had been placed on the American War of Independence and American Civil War. This was done to get the particular troop types of that conflict vetted in these rules. There is no reason why these rules cannot suffice for any European war of the same period.
A basic set of war game rules must provide a vehicle for troop movement, a procedure for deciding combat and a method for accounting for the results of combat (casualties and routed units). Laid over all this, the war gamer must be confounded with command and control issues and logistics problems. All this must be done without unduly complicating the rule system and maintaining game playability and realism.
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.
