ONE HOUR SKIRMSH WARGAMES
"MUSKET TO RIFLE" VARIANT AND RESOURCES
General: This variant is not intended as a stand alone but as a supplement to the One Hour Skirmish Wargames (OHSKW) rules by John Lambshead, which the reader will need in order to play. On this resource page I'll provide a summary of the variant and introduce the resources (some of some of which will work with standard OHSKW). I have provided an explanation of the variant which will need to be read to understand the player reference. It is only three pages and will work as a stand alone in place of this web page once downloaded, link below:
Rationale in brief: My primary interest with this rules system was post-Napoleonic (mainly continental) skirmish gaming. Specifically, for each of the “Chocolate Box Wars” era armies I've built, I've done up a handful of singly mounted figures--and the small figure count of these rules is provides a means for using them in games.
Given this rationale, this variant only involves infantry, and it is envisioned to end at 1900 (roughly), thus avoiding all the complications of 20th century skirmish level action (machine guns, mortars, etc, etc). For the same reasons, it also eschews cavalry and cannons/gatlings, only dealing with dismounted soldiers. While putting this together, I recognized that my approach (further explained in the variant pdf) would facilitate gaming a much wider timespan, going all the way back to matchlocks, and also asymmetrical conflicts (ie, colonial). But given that my main interest is in the later era (and that this was the original intent of the variant), I just stuck with the catchy, if not completely accurate, “Age of Muskets to Rifles” name.
Variant Player Reference: As with most home supplements/variants, this began with the production of a player reference for my own use. The variant pdf was produced to help someone else understand the player reference (which is specific to the variant--although you could probably use the player reference if playing standard OHSKW provided you recognized the terminology). The player reference is intended to be one-sided--all the in-game functions are on the front. The reverse has notes, optionals, and an explanation of the terrain. Download link below the thumbnails.
Custom Deck: Rather than using a standard deck of playing cards, I produced a custom deck. These are not variant specific but can be used with standard OHSKW. Below is a sample of them: the actual card and suit is included in the upper left. The rank of the suit is in the upper right (more stars = higher rank). The number the card is worth is in the center (for initiative, action points, combat and moral resolution) . Below the number is the casualty check outcome). The Jokers are two period soldier portraits.
OHSKW Squad Roster Card: As the name suggests, I produced a squad roster card. This is specific to the variant, but could be easily used for standard OHSKW by leaving the shooter and rifle classes and M# boxes blank (same goes for pistol).
FINAL NOTE
As usual, I offer these things at an appropriate cost: nil. If you do download these resources, all I ask is that you please take a moment to drop a note in the comments to let me know that you've visited. And even better, if anyone actually plays the variant, I'd be very interested to hear how it went.
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