Twilight of the Soldier Kings - Review

 

Rules

I have played one game with the Twilight of Soldier Kings rules which I purchased from the Pike & Shot society but looking today I could not see them on their site but I did see then on Amazon.co.uk  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twilight-Soldier-Kings-Frederick-1730-1780/dp/1916343503

Scope

These rules cover the Seven years War (SYW) and the War of Austrian Succession (WAS).  You can play them with any scale but they are ideally suited to 6mm.

Design Philosophy

The rules are quite innovative and take the approach that moral is the most important factor.  For example, there are not firing rules but rather your opponent must make a moral roll when they are in firing range of your muskets.  The rules assume that your troops will engage their enemy.    The question is how do the enemy react?

“In war, moral power is to physical as three parts out of four.”

Napoleon

 Command

I like the way command works in these rules.  Wargame rules seem to fall into two schools, some such as Polemos Ruse de Guerre and Blucher etc limit the number of commands points available to a general and thus force the player to prioritise which units get moved.   Some rules allow all units to attempt to move but it’s not guaranteed, this is the approach taken by Black Powder, Honours of war etc.

In Twilight any unit making a basic “advance in a straight line” move can do so freely but as soon as it gets more complex you have to roll for the order to be performed, sometimes there may be several rolls, e.g. ignore the enemy artillery bombardment, change formation and advance over the stream would require 3 rolls and could result in a unit changing formation reaching the stream but stopping before crossing. Typically one roll is required needing a 3-6 on a D6.

 Period Specificity

Some rules can apply to a very broad period, such as Blackpower and other are more focused to their time period, such as Honours of War.  The Twilight rules are very focused on the Seven Years War (SYW) and War of Austrian Succession (WAS).  There are sister rules for War of Spanish Succession & Great Northern War and also the 30 Year war.  The rules contain lists of troops by nation and by year for the periods covered.  The stats for the troops reflect their ability in each time period. For example, the superior firepower of the Prussian infantry over the Austrians in the early years of the WAS are recognised.

 Extras

There are multiple scenario books with orders of battle, maps and battle specific rules. These are great even if you don’t play these rules. The basic rule book contains a number of scenarios to get you started.

Scale

Units are brigades rather than battalions which allow the biggest battles of the period  to be fought on 6’x4’ or 8’x4’ tables.  All measurement in the game is by base widths which means as no rebasing is necessary. (Which is always nice). ).  A small battle such as Mollwitz approx. 20,000 per side will need 12 to 14 units per side.

Combat and Casualties

Units take 2 or 3 hits before they are destroyed.  Casualties are whole units rather than figures.  

 Things I am or were not sure about…

The rules do not allow light cavalry (hussars) to frontally charge regular troops.  My initial reaction was troops will do what they are told.

A cavalry officer who isn’t dead by 30 is a coward.

– Napoleonic cavalry general Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle (1775-1809)

However having consulted far bigger brains than I, it would seem that Hussars did not go around charging formed troops in this period, at least not very often.  Frederick instructed they form the 3^rd line behind Cuirassiers and Dragoons.  There is a period record of a couple of times hussars charged like dragoons but the fact this was reported suggests it was not common.  Having considered the above I think I’m happy for my hussars to support heavy cavalry and receive charges rather than initiate them.  It will force me to use hussars as they were used rather than as a wargamer.

 The distances used in the rules for movement and firing are accurate to the scale of the units.  My infantry brigades are 120mm wide (2 x 60mm).  An advance in line is 60mm forward and enemy react to musket fire at 60mm.  My only issues with this are, a small error in measurement can have a big effect and I feel like I could fight my battle on a toilet seat rather than spread across a wide table.  I’m more drawn to 12cm moves and 12cm firing ranges.  However….I have only fought one battle so this may just me being use to other rules.

Summary

These are rules with a strong period flavour.  They play quickly and do not require much bookkeeping. They allow you to refight all of the battles of the period.  I feel they may be a "marmite" rule set, people will love them or hate them.