A page for my adaptation of Neil Thomas' Simplicity in Practice rules. The rules have been made even more simple (I think anyway!) and have been converted to use with hexes and the scenarios from Neil's One-Hour Wargames. Essential for small 18th century wargames.
The first draft of the rules are here and the first consolidated FAQs are here.
....and now for the Emperor's Balls! A campaign game using hex maps and OHW scenarios.
Map files:
OHW 20
OHW 2
OHW 10
OHW 6
OHW 5
OHW 4
Counters:
Version 3
Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI like hex grids and the OHW rule sets and although I am not a H&M player these are very interesting.
I mainly play his 'Machine Age' rules and intend to use OHW when I go back to medieval.
I must second Nobby's gratitude for your posting of this splendid little mini-campaign. One of my friends has just painted up some 18th century style armies of RISK figures. This offers them ideal employment!
ReplyDeleteMost excellent and a ton of work on your part. Great idea to do the red / blue campaign ladder, linking into the OHW, I am going to browse through the OHW scenarios now.
ReplyDeleteThanks Norm and thanks Arthur. Still some work to do on the basic rules but I'm pleased how easy it was to produce a ladder campaign out of the OHW scenarios. It is amazing what you can do when you spend a weekend away with a copy of OHW!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Jay
Chapeau! as they say in Aix-En-Pains. Wonderful piece of work that I must try. The map resource is lovely too.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Jack, and there is more to come!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Jay
Thanks! As a (very) newbie wargames player, I love the idea of fast rules for hex battlefields!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have to ask a very basic question (sorry, I am not accustomed to rules for hex games, and english is not my first language...): the rules say "Any unit moving may change their facing as they move by one vertex.". This means that:
1) a unit can change its facing by one vertex BEFORE moving into another hex, or
2) a unit can change its facing by one vertex only AFTER it has moved in the new hex?
Jay, your Simplicity conversion is an excellent vehicle for fast play - one of the best I've seen for many years. I use alternating rows of dots instead of fully drawn hexes. I've developed a Napoleonic version, and this play-tested very nicely in 3 1-Hour Wargame Scenarios at the Durban Historygamers Club recently. Each game took almost exactly an hour, with 6 units on each side.
ReplyDeleteWill be following your blog developments on Simplicity with great interest. You have a winner here with potential for many periods!
Hi Noel,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your comments, I'm pleased it is working well for you!
I have some more ideas up my sleeve for a few weeks time so hopefully they will be of interest.
Cheers
Jay
Just discovered this - haven't read your blog for a couple of months or more. Look a handy set of rules. Another nudge for me in the direction of hexes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, let me know how you get on. I will be doing a fair bit more on this later in the year so hopefully another nudge for you!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Jay
Really like the approach you have taken with this campaign mechanism and the supporting narrative. I must have missed this when first posted. Excellent stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter, glad you like it. All the best, Jay
ReplyDeleteBefore lockdown, my two regular opponents and I fought out your Emperor's Balls Campaign and had a very pleasant and entertaining afternoon's wargaming. We took turns to play, so we each fought two battles, although this did mean some changing allegiances during the campaign. So it's only proper I should thank you again for publishing it.
ReplyDeleteOnce we can meet up again, we'll certainly be using your rules to fight further ImagiNations mini-campaigns in this style!
Hi Arthur,
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from you again and very pleased that you are enjoying the game. Let me know how you get on.
Regards
Jay
These look a very nice adaption of the SIP rules. Very timely for me to find them as I am looking for a hex-based AWI set of rules with some good scenarios!
ReplyDeleteKind regards
Simon
Hi Simon, You are very welcome. I'll be interested to see what you make of them.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Jay
I look forward to trying them. I have also left a question your AWI Glorious Morning rules but not sure if you will see it as the original thread started several years ago!
ReplyDeleteSimon
This is brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI played through a couple of games using Simplicity in Hexes tonight and thoroughly enjoyed them. I used the optional card activation, but added in the two jokers, drawing the first joker triggers an event that happens to the next card drawn, and drawing the second ends the round. Made for some really fun games.
Thank you for putting this together.
Any thoughts on converting them to ancients?
Hi Ken,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for you feedback, really glad you enjoyed it! I'll have a think about the Joker/special event card idea, sounds really good.
I haven't thought about about this with ancients. Could be a runner for Greek city battles perhaps?
Cheers
Jay
Thanks Jay. Great set of rules! I’ve run the Emperor’s Ball’s campaign today, using Simplicity in Hexes. Being a heretic I did a couple of things differently (used the OHW army lists with LI included + allowed Light Infantry to move adjacent but not charge, just fire).
ReplyDeleteWhen charging a unit which is on a hill do you count a -1 for ‘fighting and enemy in difficult terrain’? (I chose to…).
Three fun games, on my newly created/converted pinboard battlefield. I was led to your site by posts by Maudlin Jack Tar on his ‘Projects and Procrastination’ blog.
Many thanks indeed…
Martin