Franco-Dutch and Nine Years Wars

What is the measure of a good set of wargames rules? Ask 100 'gamers and you'll likely get 100 different answers, although I suspect 'fun' might feature highly on their lists. For me, it's a set of rules that gives largely historical results from historical scenarios, is adaptable to my interests, is playable in an evening without cognitive overload (remember those '80's rules sets with 93 pages of tables?).

In my wargaming universe. that's Volley and Bayonet. A regular conversation to be heard amongst my 'gaming friends is the incredible ease with which VnB adapts to a wide range of sub-periods with the smallest of rules tweaks. For example, the transition from linear to massed bases, and the change away from early firelock drill, completely changes the game dynamic, and effectively models the transitions in warfare, without overloading the player with a whole new set of rules. In doing so the rules allow players to fight battles anywhere from 1700-1900 with ease (and we have).

So it is no surprise that Jon Harding and Adrian Powell should follow up their first VnB scenario book with this their latest offering covering the Franco-Dutch and Nine Years Wars from 1672-1697.

The book follows the pattern set with their first volume, offering a brief historical overview of the period, including comment on the technological transitions that are such a mark of warfare in this period when infantry, for example, transition from pike to bayonet. They offer some suggestions for scenario and period  specific modifications (for example, allowing an army commander to be replaced if killed in action), and a comprehensive guide to their layout and nomenclature in each scenario.

The body of the book offers 18 well researched scenarios across the period, each with a copyable roster sheet for each army, a beautiful scenario map, and any specific instructions for each player that ought to be kept secret from their opponent. The authors do acknowledge that often sources are vague, contradictory, and even misleading, and that they have therefore in some cases made their 'best guesses' as to how things unfolded. In one case in particular, (Killiecrankie 1689) they go so far as to offer maps for an 'alternative narrative' based up their own interpretations of the available sources. What matters most here is that they do not set themselves up as 'the experts', but rather as contributors to a possible debate in which they are open and honest about where they have attempted to make evidence based deductions. I value this honesty.

The scenarios begin with the battle of Sinsheim in 1674 and conclude with Torrorella in 1694, and range from small affairs that players could fight in an hour and a half through to others that would more likely take four players the best part of a day to fight to a conclusion.

As the saying goes, fact is often stranger than fiction. So it is that one of the many other attractions of these scenarios is their adaptability to other periods, if you don't happen to have suitable miniature armies, simply because the specifics of the battle are so bizarre that it would take quite the creative brain to conceive of such tactical challenges. One of the other beauties of these books is that the detail on offer is such that, if on the off chance Volley and Bayonet is not your thing, then the scenarios could most probably be adapted to other rules sets.

One thing I can say for certain is that every scenario has been playtested, and almost all of them at least twice. I know because I was privileged to participate in many of those games. This means that as one-sided as many of them seem, victory conditions have been constructed so that both players 'have a chance'. In my experience with other periods and rules systems, neither of these two things is necessarily the case.

The book is well illustrated with 'creative commons' images of paintings and drawings from the period, as well as photographs of their own beautifully painted miniatures.

For Volley and Bayonet players, the book is a 'must', and for players of Horse and Musket games more generally it is a very valuable reference. The book can be purchased from Lulu here. I highly recommend it.