Maxims and Mausers is a set of free wargames rules for European Wars from the 1870s. From the website:
Maxims and Mausers covers European Wars at the moment. Inclusion of Colonial Conflicts is planned. These are very simple rules. That may be played either as a board game on a hex map or as a miniatures game on large hexagons decorated as terrain.
Tim’s Miniatures Blog has some Age of Sail House Rules for Savage Worlds. He also has some Savage criticism of those who wrote the Pirates of the Savage Main rules.
The Perfect Captain Yahoo Group has a variant for their Red Actions game for the Indian Wars called Crazy Horse’s Fury.
Fred Diamond offers a free and simple set of miniatures rules for playing pony wars — US Cavalry vs Indians.
These rules are just what they say they are: Simple Rules for Musket Era Battles. John Michael Fisher writes:
Years ago in England, men such as H. G. Wells and Don Featherstone wrote rules for fast-moving, fun wargames with toy soldiers (military miniatures). They were eventually eclipsed by players who wanted more sophistication and realism in their games. Unfortunately this led to tedious gaming sessions that were as enjoyable as calculating one’s income taxes. The rules here are a return to the simple game, using playing cards instead of dice, a new way of resolving combat, and individual figures rather than groups of men on stands. They work for any number of toy soldiers and are fine for solitaire games.
I agree with his sentiments exactly, and as I get older, my tastes move away from simulations and more to games with the right “feel.”