'Warr Without An Enemie' is a set of wargame rules for the English Civil War developed by the Wyre Forest Gamers. The English Civil War is notable because of the large number of small actions that happened during the war. These provide a variety of interesting historical battles to fight. The player commands one to three 'brigades'. Brigades are usually 3 to 6 units, with 4 to 6 bases of figures per unit. For non historical battles brigades are generated randomly to provide interesting challenges and opportunities for the players.

A base represents 60 to 100 infantry and half that for cavalry. The players decide how many figures to use per base and base size. Units lose bases of figures, not individual figures.

The emphasis on the rules is on command and managing unit disruption caused by battlefield action. Quality of the commanders and units is usually more important than numbers or weapons. Raw units will need constant vigilance to keep them in the action while hardened Veterans will sort themselves out, dust themselves off and carry on. Commanders have different command rating and also can have individual qualities to reflect their character. A commander can thus be 'Steadfast' and good in defensive situations or a 'Drunkard' and a loose cannon. Units can receive disorder from movement, manoeuvre, combat, friendly units suffering reverses, etc. Disorder adversely effects a units abilities and after the limit is reached will lead to loses of bases. High quality units and good commander have a better ability to remove disorder.

Infantry are rated in one of 7 categories, I1 to I7. The number indicates the number of muskets and pikes within the unit. I1 means the unit is an all musket unit, while an I7 unit is all pikes. Most units are of course in between these two extremes, two muskets to one pike is an I3 unit for example. All bases fire and melee so there is no need to exactly model the ratio of weapons. When firing you need to roll your I number or higher to hit, while if in melee you need you I number or lower to hit. In this way the mix of weapons within a unit is quickly reflected. For example: An I3 unit (2 muskets to 1 pike) needs to roll 3 or higher per base to hit when firing but an I5 unit (1 musket to 1 pike) must roll 5 or higher to hit. So when firing the I3 unit will have the advantage while in a melee the reverse is the case. In a close combat the I3 unit will need to roll 3 or less to hit, while the I5 unit will need 5 or less.

There are four kinds of mainstream cavalry along with lancers and dragoons. The four kinds of cavalry allow the representation of the tactics of the period that is not possible in many other rules and is, like much of the rest of the rules, based on modern research of this fascinating period. 'Pistoleers' rely on firepower. 'Gallopers' rely on the reckless speed of their charge and the sword. While the dominant tactics of the war are the Dutch and Swedish styles of fighting. Entering combat at a high speed is an advantage but runs the risk of getting more disorder. Shooting the attackers can stop the aggressors in their tracks and leave them open to counter attack. Yet if it doesn't work.........

The aim of the game is to provide a set of rules that combine modern views of the war with an innovative and entertaining game. In the future the rules will be expanded to cover other wars and work on the Thirty Years War is well on the way.

Contact us at WFGamers

A Yahoo group supporting these rules is at Warr Without An Enemie Yahoo Group.

Reviews:

The rules were reviewed in the Miniature Wargames magazine by Tim Beresford. The review is in issue 374 from June 2014.

Tim Beresford says "WWAE cleverly combines Andy Callan's inventive Loose Files and American Scramble AWI rules and Pete Berry's characterful ECW set, Forlorn Hope."

Beresford concludes his review by saying "I suspect that many will enjoy the detailed play and the interactivity of this system - I found it a fun game".

There is a battle report here - Battle Report

Scenarios:

The Battle of Southam, 1642

The Battle of Powick Bridge, 1642

The Battle of Whalley, 1643

The Battle of Gainsborough, 1643

The Battle of Montgomery, 1644

The Battle of Alford, 1645

How to get the rules:

A PDF copy costs £8.50 (£8.00 if not using PayPal)

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