Knyghte Pyke and Sworde

Blood, mud and shining steel. It's medieval warfare so personal, you might catch the plague!

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Knyghte Pyke and Sworde is a set of miniatures gaming rules for "mass skirmish" games ranging from 4-5 figures on each side up to battles with 30-40 figures each.

As the name suggests, the rules are intended for dark age through medieval battles though I have included provisions for early firearms as well.

The game play is simple and straight-forward, allowing you to focus on the drama unfolding instead of digging through the rulebook every 17 seconds. The rules are strictly "1 figure equals 1 combatant" meaning the game is about raids, skirmishes and patrols. The stuff where we get to know each soldier and naming our heroes matter. 

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Core game mechanics include:

* Alternating turn sequence.

* Opposed rolls between individual figures for hand to hand combat and a straight roll vs target number for missile combat.

* Injury rolls and morale checks are both taken by rolling 2 dice and seeing how many dice roll over a target number (meaning instead of troops always being okay or dead/routed, we have a third option as well)

* As exhausted troops are vulnerable to close combat, counter-attacking can help turn the tide after an enemy charge.

* Each troop type receives a straight forward mechanic allowing them to be differentiated on the table. Chargers are powerful on the attack while Polearm troops can engage horsemen more effectively. 7 base troop types are included.

* 3 types of individual figure is included: Scouts that can be used for delaying in the turn sequence, fighters are mighty with a sword while captains can inspire your soldiers to enhanced actions.

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Of course no Nordic Weasel game would be complete without some extra goodies including:

* Advice and mechanics for playing on a big map.

* Campaign rules with simple experience and casualty mechanics.

* Tables to award your leaders with rewards and to grant advantages and drawbacks to future battles.

* A weather table.

* Points values to build your own troops.

* A scenario system to set up a battle with multiple ways to play.

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The game can be played with any individually mounted figures. You can get started with as little as 4 miniatures each, with a typical game being about 20-40. If you have existing armies, odds are you can dive right in. If you don't, you won't need to buy very much.

The game was written with figures from 15-28mm in mind. 6mm and 10mm skirmish is gaining in popularity. Players should simply take all measurements and read them as centimeters instead (so 5" becomes 5 cm).

Solo mechanics are not specifically included, though the game is fairly easy to solo.

As the mechanics are very simple, this is also a good choice for resolving battles in your RPG campaign.

Fantasy rules are not specifically included but may be added later, if sales are good. However, the author knows from experience that fitting elves, orcs and dwarves into the rules is very very easy to do.