Miniatures F&F, JR, AoF, RRtF, OtR?

Jantzen64

Sergeant
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
In COVID world, I've been able to send a bit more time miniature gaming. My preference, probably stemming from time spent on old SPI, Terrible Swift Sword games, is playing at the regimental level. I previously standardized by troops/stands around Regimental Fire and Fury at the 15 mm size, having found Johnny Reb to be more complex than I wanted, and unable to manage smaller sizes. Over the summer, I completed a RF&F game of the Battle of Belmont and had a blast.

As I pick up the hobby again, though, I know that there are a lot of rules systems out there. I would welcome folks' thoughts as to which regimental rules set you prefer and why. How about at brigade level?

Thanks in advance!
 
Can I recommend 'Picketts Charge' by veteran game designer David Brown. Pickett’s Charge is designed for Divisional and larger battles in the American Civil War, with the Regiment being the smallest manoeuvre element, the Brigade the lowest tactical command.
There is a complimentary ruleset for Napoleonic Warfare 'General D'Armee'. They use similar but not the same mechanics. You roll at the start of each turn for ADCs that you can assign to brigades enabling them to move at the double, rally, ensure orders are carried out, replenish ammunition, redeploy, activate reserves etc. We use small cards and are placed face down so your opponent may know the number of ADCs you have but they do not know how you assign them. As the game develops you are likely to run short of ADCs so you have to prioritise what you hope to do. There is also a nice twist that depending on the situation a brigade may go 'hesitant' and decide it will not advance. Each side rolls for initiative discounting brigades that are hesitant to your 2d6 score. Gaining the initiative enables you to move first and fire first. The side with initiative is also the side to declare charges first. Charges are resolved in a unique way as the dice roll determines if the melee takes place, or one side runs away, or even if the attackers halt and resort to volley fire.
There is also a website where David answers questions and every so often he publishes updates and alternatives or 'house rules'.
As they rules were printed under 'Too Fat Lardies' umbrella they also run a discussion site that answers queries or again gives suggestions and alternatives.
I used this set (plus some of my own house rules) to refight Miller's Cornfield at Antietam found here:
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/antietam-the-miller-cornfield-wargame.182780/
The forum is found here:
https://toofatlardies.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=39&sid=ecb4259e4159079c70ef67df5d5c8bee
David Brown's website is here:
http://generaldebrigade.blogspot.com/2015/12/picketts-charge-acw-rules.html
 
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