Featherstone's 18th Century rules | Little Wars Revisited

jenburdoo
New Recruit

Posts: 4

Featherstone's 18th Century rules May 30, 2017 5:38:58 GMT

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Post by jenburdoo on May 30, 2017 5:38:58 GMT

Just found these simple skirmish native v. frontiersman rules in Donald Featherstone's first 1962 wargames book, that I'm thinking of using or adapting for use with 54mm Revolutionary War figures in the context of a children's program. I'd welcome your thoughts or comments, especially if you have read or tried these rules:

- Terrain is scattered, heavy forest terrain, lots of rocks and twigs on the table, with a few clearings and thin trails here and there, and plenty of places to take cover and hide.
- Movement is 9" per figure. Soldiers in groups of three or more move 6". Uphill halves movement, crossing a stream loses 3", moving along paths adds 3".
- Intended for about 25 figures a side. (What table size, then? Or play on the floor?)
- Firing has a range of 12" in the open. (What about in cover?) Hits on a 6, a 5+ if firer is in cover and target isn't. Target saves on a 4+, a 3+ in cover. (Can you move and fire?)
- In CC, figures roll off (rerolling ties?). If a figure is outnumbered, he rolls once; beating lower opponents and being beaten by higher ones, with the same saving throws. Roll off for "impetus", gaining +1 to rolls if you have it, and you get it automatically if you charge into clear ground. If attacked in flank or rear, defender subtracts 1 and attacker adds 1. (Think I'd drop impetus or just give it to whoever charged.)
- Morale: Each player rolls D6 x number of survivors; loser falls back a move. 1-3 are routed, 4-6 in disorder. (Meaning?) -1/+1 to morale roll for defender/attacker if attacked in flank or rear again.

briancarrick
Corporal

Miserable old git

Posts: 81

Featherstone's 18th Century rules Jun 1, 2017 18:51:22 GMT

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Post by briancarrick on Jun 1, 2017 18:51:22 GMT

As it's for a childrens project the size of table might be dictated by how far they can stretch across it to move the figures (I uses a table 6' wide because that's as far as I can comfortably reach to the figures in the middle). If you had a table 5'wide and both players started with their figures on the baseline along the edge of the table and they both moved directly forward to contact, it would take 3 moves before they were within firing range of one another, which would probably be about right. The length of the table can be as long as you want to allow for flanking movements etc but I think it's always a good idea to base the table size on how many moves it will take for the players to come into contact - you want room for manoeuvre but the game will sag in the middle if it takes players too long to come into contact.

Generally the practice for this period seems to be to move OR fire but this adds the complication of trying to keep track of who has just moved and who has fired, I place a piece of cotton wool in front of troops who have just fired to give the visual effect of gunpowder smoke and also act as a fired marker, I remove it at the end of the turn. As they are children playing you might want to make it move AND fire to keep the game flowing fast.

As there will be a lot of terrain involved you are probably better off keeping this on the table rather than the floor as stuff will get knocked about all over the place as the kids scramble to move figures. Model trees can be pricey to buy in large numbers but a good forest look can be achieved with pine cones painted green, some use old christmass trees cut up and mounted in blocks of wood. Streams can be represented by strips of painted card with pebbles glued or placed along the edge to give weight and hold them in place. I use fine sawdust sold for pet bedding to mark out trails and paths, it's a good idea to get a base cloth to cover the table, green baize or natural hessian both work well and can be found cheaply at any haberdashers.

zuludon
General

Posts: 515

Featherstone's 18th Century rules Jun 3, 2017 3:46:08 GMT

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Post by zuludon on Jun 3, 2017 3:46:08 GMT

I have not played the Featherstone skirmish rules, but, after reading them, I plan to give them a try. I am planning to run a game for children using 54mm miniatures as well, but as the game is a re-fight of the battle of Bunker Hill, I will be using multi-figure bases (four figures to a base) and the rules from Neil Thomas's Introduction to Wargaming. I asked Thomas Foss, who runs a lot of games for children using his wooden flat figures locally (http://www.skullncrown.com/store/) for advise in running games for children and these were the tips he gave me:

Just talk to them. Kids, all people enjoy the contact

Visual aids- range and movement sticks really speed things up.

Dice- Keep it simple with a straight up 4+ to hit kind of thing. Adding more dice to hit is easier than sliding the to hit scale, I've found.

Be a director- make the story happen by stacking the deck any way you can. Example: I see team blue infantry can be charged by team red cav next turn. I stack the initiative numbers so team blue goes first and can choose to form square.

Clear goals- This is why I use medals, and put them on the table. Take that building and hold it- you get the medal.

Lastly, when anything needs to be adjudicated, either use the players, or use Rock Paper Scissors.

Of course, if you're an educator or someone experienced with interacting with children, you've probably figured this stuff out.

Good luck and thank you for sharing the rules!

manoftinblog
Captain

Posts: 259

Featherstone's 18th Century rules Jul 14, 2017 14:14:06 GMT

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Post by manoftinblog on Jul 14, 2017 14:14:06 GMT

I use the Donald Featherstone rules called Close Wars that Jenburdoo mentions but have never used them with children in this way, but have used them since a child as they were simple enough to make sense. I also liked the simple rules in his Skirmish Wargaming chapter called Wargaming in Bed about jousting and duelling. I used these when I was at school in tournaments. I don't get complex rules so enjoy early Featherstone books.

I have put some stuff about all of these rules on manoftinblog.wordpress.com and my Pound Store Plastic Warriors blog. poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com

Worth looking at the Bold Frontiers (Australia) website as well this seems every focussed on children, as does the Thor Trains Army Men / Sandpit Rules type of thing
www.boldfrontiers.com.au/index.php/using-our-products/wilderness-battle-tactics
www.thortrains.net/armymen/westgame.htm

Best wishes, Mark, Man of TIN blog