The Men Who Would be Kings: Rules Intro and Solo Play

The Men Who Would be Kings: Rules Intro and Solo Play

I finally picked up a copy of the new colonial wargaming rules from Osprey "The Men Who Would Be Kings." I have heard a lot of good things about them thus I figured I would give them a try.  For colonial the only rule sets I have is Black Powder and Sharps Practice(which I hear is getting a supplement for the period).  At first glance TMWWBK is a mix of both of these games and at the same time very much its own game,

Now what I normally do is read through the rules then bust out a few minis and play around with the mechanics  before I try to play a game with Kati.  Nothing bores her more than me saying "hold on I'm not sure if you can do that. Let me look at the rules" 50 times(15 to 20 is the limit).
But! luckily for me this game comes with a built in solo mode. This is a pretty rare find these days and while not everyone's thing it's a nice thing to have on a lonely night.  Normally I don't bore people with my solo testing but since its "in the rules" I say it's justified and it gives me a chance to dive more into the rules as a kind of review.  I do not plan to cover every rule in the book I like to use the "fence post method" where I cover a few things in detail and skim the stuff in between.

I went ahead and played a generic 24 point(it has a point system) British list which I will list below but first I'll talk about the leaders.  Each unit has a leader with a leadership value.  this value is a number between 5-10(from what i've seen)  this value is what you need to roll above to get said leaders unit to do an order.  So if the leader has a leadership value of 7+ you must roll a 7 or  higher on two d6 to perform the action.   Interestingly you roll for the leadership value of every leader after you make your army and its semi random.  Based on the troop type you roll a d6 and get assigned a value then you roll a couple of dice and get assigned a leader trait.  These traits can be anything from a coward to lucky and give you either a positive or negative affect.  A coward for example must always move to stay beyond enemy move distance.

The force I had was as followed
3 groups of regulars with a leadership value of 5+, 6+ and 7+
1 group of Irregular cavalry NNH 5+
1 group of Tribal infantry that are unenthusiastic(-1 discipline)   NNC 9+ (lead by a dunce)

While I didn't add any you can had traits to you units for extra points like sharpshooters or fierce fighters to give your units bonuses.

  

For the basic game on your turn you give each of your units one of ten different actions which are:
At the Double
Attack(melee)
Fire
Form close Order(regulars only)
Go to Ground(Tribal infantry only)
Move
Rally
Skirmish(move have speed in shoot with half dice)
Stand to
Volley Fire(unit in close order only)

A few comments here.  I like and dislike the simplicity to the system.  I like it because you get a lot of options but do not feel like its overwhelming.  It is obviously meant to trade some(not all) realism for speed of play, which is fine if done right.
 I like the inclusion of the go to ground rule, in all the first hand accounts I have read about the zulu war this was a common occurrence when the Zulu warriors were met with a harsh fire.
The rule that feels strange is Skirmish all it does is make you move at half your units speed and fire with half dice...that's it and you must do it each turn its an order not a stance.
To do any of these actions a role a leadership check trying to get equal to or higher than the leadership value of the units leader.  A units discipline can effect this roll.
Each unit only does one thing each turn move or fire or rally etc this is fine just feels weird to me after playing other games.
An interesting feature is that each unit type has one order that they can do for free(do not have to make an order test for)  Regulars fire for free, Tribal units move for free etc.  I like this as it adds some flare to each unit    

all unit have a stat line that includes both fire value, melee, movement etc.  each type also has certain things it can do that others can not such as Tribals getting to move through terrain at no cost to movement.

Now on to the start of the game.

As far as the solo rules go they work very well.  They are very simple and basically as you move enemy units can appear on the battle field based on a roll on a couple of charts.   On the non player turn you again roll on a chart to see what each unit does.  not these charts are overruled and supported but a list of rules that explain that if X happens then do Y.   I enjoyed it it was not hard to figure out and it didn't feel to off.

So as I moved my first group of regulars up and some Zulu appeared right in front of them. Other than the adjacent unit moving up to join them all my other units failed their order test.

The Zulu units each had an action(the non player units always pass order test except to rally) the first unit went to ground.

The second unit advance on my line

The unit was then given some sharp fire by my men.
Firing is very simple: if your unit has a fire value of 5+ then you roll dice equal to the models in the unit and any that are 5 or higher hit.  At short range every hit is a kill and at long range every 2 hits is a kill.  Terrain can also effect the results in the same manner.
Every time a unit suffers a hit it must roll a leader value test or get a pinned marker.  the test is modified by the number of casualties taken from the hit so the more men you lose in a volley the more like you will get a pinned maker.  A unit accumulates pinned markers the more its hit.  Once pinned a unit has to attempt to rally(which causes them to shake the markers, retreat a half move or rout)

My last set of regulars which are a naval company used the skirmish order to move 3" and fire with 6 dices...,mostly just to use the rules.  My NNC did nothing again because they have a leader value of 9+ and a discipline of -1 so i need a 10 or higher or do anything. 

The NNH moved up and spotted another group of Zulu on the right flank.

On the Zulu turn the first unit failed its rally test and retreated.

The second unit advanced while the third broke and ran(solo rules only) and the last unit went to ground.

the poor saps that advanced then felt several volleys from my men.

The NNC finally moved at the double and just to do it ran over the hill.

At the Start of the Zulu turn the 4th unit pulled of a charge at the double and slammed into my NNH.  Melee works just like firing only both units roll at the same time.

They scored 10 hits

My boys really dropped the ball scoring only three.  

Lucky for them it takes 2 hits to take done a horsemen so ten hits equals 5 deaths.  They stilled ended up pinned and retreating.

That is where I ended the game as it was getting late and I felt like I had seen a good portion of the rules.  

Overall I enjoyed the game, everything I felt weird about was mostly just because it was different than other rules.  I think this ruleset is going to make for  great "pick up games"  It's small, fast and very scenario driven.  The leader traits add another level of variation as well.  The order system reminds me of BP but the  leaders having traits is closer to SP.  The scale and model removal is also more akin to SP.

As for the solo rules I think they work fine.  You are not going to end up with a super tactical opponent  its more of a "can you survive the hoards attacking you" style.  This style could also be a fun thing to do with another player both playing one side and seeing who holds off the longest.

A final thought on the rules I wonder how the game would play if instead of me moving my whole force then you doing the same each player took turns activating one of their units back and forth.  I think skirmish games feel more real when its less units going at a time.  If one side had more units than the other the side with less could get a couple of passes to fill in the gaps.  I don't know what it would do its just a thought 

Disclaimer: As I am posting this solo the grammar is a little less elegant and more me talking at you as Kati likes to be the editor(I'd be lost without her)