freewargamesrules blog

These were the next set of rules based on Bernard Garaty fast play moderns. They are designed for the wonderful Oddzial Osmy figures available from Fighting 15s in the UK and Picoarnor in the US.

The ranges had to be altered for 3mm and the size of a base now represents a company not a single vehicle. I got rid of the spotting rules as this was another dice roll that slowed the game down and altered to the To Hit rules.

Like the France 1940 rules I used different armour and gun types to reflect better the vehicle capabilities. A few extra modifiers were added to represent the problems the Arabs had in fighting the Israelis.

The last variant for these rules are for the 1973 Yom Kippur war in which the sides were more balanced.

Download rules

The first variant I found for the Fast Play Modern rules were these. I attended a Wargames show several years ago and a couple of gents were putting on a France 1940 game in 1/200. It was a cracking little game and i managed to blag the rules off the lads.

This was pre-computer so the rules were typed via a typewriter. I still have the rules though they are a little worn now. The main changes to the rules were they left out aircraft and AA fire and the infantry rules were completely changed. I believe they are taken from another game, but I can’t recall where from.

The last change was different move classes and armour classes for vehicles. These changes gave a good flavour to the period and moved the rules on from the original.

Battle for France Rules

Many years ago a set of fast play rules by Bernard Garaty appeared in one of the glossy Wargames magazines. These rules were very inspirational to me as they were simple for the period but gave a decent fast play game, which did not happen with many of the Commercial modern rules.

Since reading these rules I have erred on the side of simple rules and shied away from over complicated ones for al my periods.

Since finding them these rules have been used for a number of different periods and scenarios. I have seen versions at shows in participation games and variants in other magazines. I have also used them as a basis for WW2 and other specific conflicts.

The original rules are available below
Download Rules

Andy Watkins has a NATO variant here N.A.T.O.

I will present some of the other versions I have over the next few entries. I hope you enjoy these rules as much as I have over the years.

I had an email recently asking where they could the old Alienstar rules. The website is now long defunct. I had a look through some old discs and found I had a copy of all the rules.

The rules cover Ancient, Fantasy, World War 1, World War 2, Modern, Horse and Musket, RPG and naval.

Over the next few days I will be uploading all the rules to the main site.

15th January
Update: All the rules have now been added.

Foundry have just announced a new set of rules on their site for the Napoleonic Period which look very much like a GW layout.

No reports yet on pricing or publish date but these could be interesting, I wonder if they will be similar to WAHB or a different kind of system

Napoleon also features articles on painting and collecting Napoleonic models plus many other sections detailing uniforms and historical background. This 232 page full colour A4 sized hardback has over 400 colour photographs and illustrations, including many Knotël prints, plus numerous diagrams, maps and other illustrations.

More info at the Foundry Website

I have just been sent a set of Convention WW2 rules that were used in Nashcon 2009. These look interesting and are ideal for Club games.

Our Nashcon 2009 game is a tactical encounter during the might-have been German invasion of Great Britain. The Germans believe that seizing selected airfields coupled with random troops landings will force general panic and compel a British surrender.

The battlefield is a 6 X 12 foot table with 28mm troops. Each player commands a company

You can download them here

The other day I purchased the Warcosm from Precis Intermedia. They are only $6 as a PDF download.

Steve Holland and I played the two starter scenarios that came with them, we found they played very well. Quick and bloody.

Each side rolls a dice and the lowest roll moves one of his ships first then the other player moves a ship and players alternate moving ships. When all movement is done the player with the highest initiative then shoots with one of his ships first. Players alternate shooting until done.

Each ship is represented by 4 lines of stats that show the shields, plate armour and hull (called frame). Drives: hyperdrive, tactical and manoeuvre. The third line shows subsystems (e.g. Point Defence Systems etc) and the fourth line are the weapons.

Shooting mechanism is by use of rolling a target number on a D10 depending on the range of the target and the weapon used. If hit the target may roll to see if the shields etc absorb the hit or they go through. Some weapons ignore shields and are applied to the frame.

The rules have 4 scenarios with plenty of ships to get you started and a ship construction section. These rules are definitely are going to be become my rules of choice. They remind me of the old Starfire rules before they over complicated them.

I have written an excel spreadsheet to help calculate the construction of ships.Download Spreadsheet