Fog of War Rules For Horse and Musket Games

Phil Johnson and Les Benoot offer a pdf download of fog of war rules for the horse and musket era. These are a generic add on for other horse and musket rules sets, and are intended to reflect the problems offered by visibility and scouting on command control.

Hex Command Gunpowder Rules

Hex Command Gunpowder are a set of free wargames rules for the horse and musket era. They are designed for a 1 stand = 100 men scale. The authors write:

These rules were designed to bring a simplification to wargaming with miniatures because it resembles a board game more than a complicated historical simulation. These rules are intended for any horse and musket era and with slight modifications can be used for any conflict in that range.

These rules do not consider formations as influencing the outcome of battle, other than if a unit is ordered or disordered, because the system compensates for the effects of various tactical realities. The game is intended to be played on hex grid pattern of 4 inch hexes, though this is
not required (numbering each hex is essential for playing via the internet), with the top left corner being a whole hex, and the hexagon orientation being that the flat top and bottom are parallel with the long sides of the surface (hexes are not “pointed up”). Game Mapper is
recommended to assist scenario creation and game tracking.

Bravado Horse and Musket Rules

Bravado is a set of free wargames rules for the horse and musket period. There are guidelines for both the American War of Independence and Napoleonic Wars for play. The rules employ an interesting mechanism where the players compete for initiative, deciding how much they will risk disaster in order to have another phase of movement or attack or time to reform their regiments.

Steve’s Horse and Musket Rules

Steve’s Horse and Musket Rules are designed to be a simple set of rules emphasizing the three arms (horse, foot, guns) and command.

Free Black Powder, Hail Caesar and Pike & Shotte Rules

For a limited time, Warlord Games is offering free digital copies of Black Powder, Hail Caesar and Pike & Shotte