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Saturday 12 June 2010

Joseph Morschauser’s ‘Ancient’ period roster-system wargames rules

This morning I managed to transcribe the last set of Joseph Morschauser's wargames rules that I need ready for my session at COW2010, namely his ‘Ancient’ period roster-system wargames rules

This did not take me too long as I was lucky enough to be able to print off a copy of the relevant article about the rules that appeared in the Winter 1967 issue of MINIATURE PARADE. Thanks to HistoriFigs, who run the TABLE TOP TALK website and who are the current producers of Jack Scruby's range of figures, some of the more interesting articles from this out-of-production publication have been made available via the Internet.

These rules follow the pattern of all Joseph Morschauser's other sets of wargames rules, and use similar mechanisms. This makes it very easy to move from fighting battles from one historical era to another without having to re-learn or remember a completely new set of rules.

There is one thing that sets both the 'Frontier' and 'Ancient' wargames rules apart for the rest, and that is the point during each turn that firing takes place. In both these sets of wargames rules firing takes place before any units move, and all firing is regarded as simultaneous. In the case of the 'Frontier' wargames rules the firing refers to artillery, whereas in the 'Ancient' wargames rules it refers to missiles that are thrown.

This has given me something to think about. In my current Morschauser-inspired wargames rules units fire when they are activated. They may move and fire or fire and move. It does, however, make sense to resolve all firing by artillery and tanks before they move rather than when they are activated. I am loath to re-write my rules this close to COW but ...

2 comments:

  1. Hi Bob,

    Steady there, Bob. Keep on track.

    Keep your Interbellum rules as they are. Let the COW games give you insight on any changes you might want to make.

    As you said, it is too close to the event to be changing the rules.

    Just my two cents,

    Jim

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  2. Jim Wright,

    I doubt if I will make any changes between now and then - too little time for one thing!

    I do like the idea though, and might play around with it when I have more time.

    What is interesting is the fact that although Morschauser's rules use only a few, very simple mechanisms, they work for so many different historical periods. It is the individual, minor 'tweaks' he adds that make them period specific.

    All the best,

    Bob

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