NEWCASTLE QUITE DECENT ANCIENT SKIRMISH RULES

The full rules for this game go on for twenty four pages, Each turn a man is in contact with an enemy fighter, he
and include details of many weapons, types of armour, can roll to determine the outcome of melee. Keep taking
characteristics of fighters, and include rules for sneaking, turns for Eric and Sven until one hits the other. Then roll
cowering, dodging, morale, fire, chariots, cavalry, 5d20 to determine the damage caused by the successful hit.
fumbles, critical hits, initiative, and much more. This You know to do this because under “D” for Damage, you see
document contains just the basic core rules, and enough the number 5, which is the number of twenty-sided dice you
to have a pleasant enough bash with a one or two dozen roll to determine damage. Look at the results and see how
figures per side. Follow the instructions below and you many dice show equal to or greater than the “T” for
should fairly quickly get the hang of it. Toughness of the opponent. In our example case, this is 15.
Find yourself some figures to represent fighters. Here are the possibilities:
These should be based individually. One force will have
1. No dice equal or exceed the T of the opponent. The
six spearmen, and the other will have three axemen and
man is unharmed.
three archers. Here are their statistics:
2. One die only equals or exceeds the needed score. The
Spearmen man is driven back half a move (half his M). The victor
W D T S M R Notes may choose to follow up.
Sword X12 4 13 +3 5 -1W versus non-X 3. Two dice are up to the mark. The opponent is wounded
Spear 10 4 5 1 -2W per neighbour, and marked as wounded in some way. From now on he
+2 closed. Long. moves two inches more slowly, uses one die less when
Archers rolling for damage, and all his skills such as W are at
W D T S M R Notes +4.
Dagger 12 3 12 - 6 Short weapon. 4. Three dice are hits. The opponent suffers an
Bow 12 4 6/18/30 Two of: incapacitating injury. Perhaps he is knocked
move, load, shoot. unconscious. Perhaps he falls over and can do little
Axemen more than try to staunch the flow of blood from a gash
W D | T S | M R Notes in his thigh. He is out of the fight.
Axe 9 5 | 15 | 5 5. Four or more dice are hits. The opponent is killed
instantly.
You see that the archers are also armed with daggers and
the spearmen carry swords. Before we pit these two This is the basis of the combat system. Simple enough, I
forces against each other, we will fight one axeman hope you’ll agree. Now let us fight the two forces against
against another. Place two axeman figures a foot apart. each other. Set the up the spearmen in a line, and opposite
We shall call them Eric and Sven. Eric will have his turn them, two feet away, set up the axemen and archers in a
first. He can move the number of inches listed under ragged mob. Between them, put down something to
“M” for Move, which is 5. Move him five inches straight represent a bit of hedge, and something to represent a patch
towards his foe. Since he is not in contact with his of difficult ground. The spearmen will be in formation: a
enemy, he cannot fight a melee with him, and he has no formed up group that fights as a unit. When formed up like
missile weapon, so this is all he can do with his turn. this, they all move one inch slower than usual.
Now it is Sven’s turn. Again, he moves five inches Let the mob have the first turn. We shall assume that
towards his foe, and now the two are two inches apart. In the archers all start the game with their bows loaded. They
Eric’s turn, contact is made, and so melee can be fought. may move and then shoot, or shoot and then move. They
Roll 1d20 for both fighters to see how well they do in the may not move a bit, then shoot, and then finish their
fight. Each has a “W” for Weapon Skill of 9. There is movement allowance. They may not see targets through the
one factor to take into account, however, which is that hedge, and so in order to get a shot at the spearmen, must get
each carries a shield. We know this because under “S” into a position where they can see them. Keep playing turns
for Shield we see the statistic “+2”. This is the number to as you did before until an archer can get a shot off. Keep the
be added to the W of an opponent. So, each must try to spearmen together in a line. If anyone moves over the
roll higher than 9+2=11. A skilful fighter has a low W difficult ground, subtract two inches from their movement
score. There are four possibilities of what will happen; rate. Make the men walk around the hedge.
Measure the range for the shots. Under “R” for Range
1. Neither roll is 11 or higher, in which case neither
(and Reach) you will see 6/18/30. These are short, medium
has harmed the other.
and long ranges. Most likely, the archers will get a first shot
2. One roll is 11 or greater (a “hit”), while the other is
when they are between 18 and 30 inches away. This is long
10 or lower (a “miss”). The man who rolled a hit
range, and so you add +5 to their W. The spearmen are
causes damage to his enemy.
shielded too, which adds +3. Another factor is that the
3. Both rolls are 11 or greater, but the rolls are
spearmen are in a group. For a group between three and
different numbers. In this case, the lower roll is a
seven strong, the factor is –2. The archers’ skill is W12, so
hit, and the other is a miss.
the archers need to roll 12+5+3-2=18. If they hit, determine
4. Both rolls are 11 or greater and both are the same
randomly which spearman is hit, and determine damage to
number. Both fighters have hit the other.
him just as with axe blows.
In other words, each fighter must try to roll equal to or After shooting, the archers have to think about when to
above his modified W, but lower than the roll of his foe. load. If they moved and then shot, then during their
This system is very efficient. With one die roll it opponent’s turn they are not loaded, and will start their next
determines both the attack and the defence of a fighter, turn unloaded. They might like to stay where they are and
and it takes into account the skill not only of one fighter, load and shoot each turn, or perhaps move forwards and load,
but also the relative skill of his opponent. closing the range. Each turn they may do two out of these
three things: move, load, shoot. For them, 6-18” is defence rolls with his new weapon. Swords are extra-wieldy
medium range, in which they shoot at +2, and in the weapons, and get the X-factor. The spearmen’s sword skill is
range bracket 0-6” they are at short range, and suffer no “X12”. This means that they get –1W (which is good) when
penalty for range. fighting against foes whose weapons do not also have the X-
Try to get your axemen to attack in melee. factor.
Remember, you are not trying to play this game well in Also, shields do not apply to all opponents. A shield
order to win - you are just trying out the rules. Note that covers 180 degrees around a man. Therefore, if three men
the spears have a reach (listed under "R") of one inch. attack one man, then one man might be able to get round the
Because they have a reach, it is possible for a spearman back in his turn, and would not count the shield of the single
to attack an axeman from a range of up to an inch away, man in the fight. Also, if two archers shot at one man from
while the axeman cannot strike back. In the notes, they two directions, the defender could turn to face one archer, but
are described as "long". When a fighter is up against a not both, and one archer would get an easier shot.
foe who has a weapon that out-reaches him, such as an If a man in a formed up group gets a “move back half a
axeman against a spearman, to get a blow in, the axeman move” result from damage (one hit), then he only goes back
will have to "close" with his spear-using opponent. The one inch. A second similar result will drive him away from
same goes for users of "short" weapons (such as daggers) the group. If casualties open up a two-man wide gap in a
against longer weapons such as axes. For the sake of formed group, then it is now two smaller groups. It takes a
example, we will assume that two axemen (X and Y) minimum of three men in a line to form a group, so melee
charge the centre of the spear formation (ABCDEF). can break a group up.
So, you have now tried moving, shooting, and fighting,
ABCDE F both individually and in groups. There are just two more
XY rules I’ll tell you about and you can try a small simple game
X fights C, but also will have to defend himself out using the rules so far. Get three spearmen in a line, and
against C’s neighbour B. Y fights D and will have to place one archer five inches in front of these. It is the turn of
defend also against E. D will not attack X, because he is the spearmen, and they are going to charge the archer to see
busy fighting Y. him off. The spearmen move at M5 -1 for being a formed
X attacks, and tries as usual to roll above his group = 4” per turn. The archer is therefore just in range of
weapon skill (W9) modified by the shields of his foes them, because you must remember that they have a reach of
(S+3=12). C fights too, but he has the advantage of 1” with their long spears. Move the spearmen forwards to
fighting in a coordinated group. For each neighbour in attack the archer. The archer has a few options.
the line (he has two neighbours, A and F have one each) 1. He could drop his bow and draw his dagger. If he
he would normally get –1W, but because he is using chooses this, he will fight the melee as usual, but against
spears, particularly suited to this sort of combat, he gets three spearmen he would have little chance.
minus 2W per neighbour =-4W. The axemen are 2. He could shoot at the spearmen as they charged. This is
shielded, though, so the final sum is W10 –4 for called “opportunity shooting” because it occurs in the
supporting neighbours in group +S2 for shields = 8. If turn when the spearmen move. The archer would need
the spearman hits the axeman, the axeman takes damage. to have a loaded bow for this. If he shoots, he does so at
If the axeman wins the fight, the spearman takes no +2W because this is a panicky snap-shot. He cannot see
damage, because the axeman has not closed. off all three spearmen with one shot. If he shoots, then
Furthermore, B also fights X. In this contest, the axeman when he is contacted in melee he will have to change to
gets a “defence roll”. A fighter only gets one “attack his dagger while in melee, and will lose an attack roll
roll” (chance to hurt an opponent in a turn) per turn. If (not that he’d get an attack roll anyway, because a
two fighters attack one fighter, the out-numbered fighter dagger is short, and so he would have to close with the
makes a “defence roll” against the second foe. If he spearmen), plus he hampers his ability to evade (see 3,
wins, he has defended himself, but inflicts no damage. below).
Let us imagine that with luck and fury, X beats both 3. He could try to run away. This is probably his wisest
C and B. He has then closed with C. A good way to choice. This is called “evading”. If he tried to
mark this would be to stand the figures with overlapping opportunity shoot this turn, he halves his movement
bases. Though C has suffered no damage so far, he is rate. The spearmen are moving as one, and so make just
now in trouble. His notes say that he is +2W versus foes one roll for all three men, and move one inch slower
who have closed with him. We shall assume that D is because they are in a group. Compare the M of the
still busy fighting off Y. This turn, X rolls as usual to hit, archer with the spearmen (6 vs. 4) and add the
but C now loses the special –2W per neighbour, and is difference to the faster side’s roll and subtract it from
down to the usual –1W per neighbour in a formation. He the slower sides. In this example, the archer (assuming
is also +2W because he is trying to use a long weapon he didn’t shoot) rolls 1d20+2 and the spearmen roll
against a man who is right next to him. X is still 1d20-2. Higher roll wins. In the case of a draw, evader
shielded, so the roll to hit is now W10 –1 –1 (two gets away. Move the spearmen to where the archer was.
neighbours) +2 (foe closed) +2 (enemy’s shield) = 12. If the archer got away, he is moved one full move away.
One thing this example shows, is that groups are If not, he is in melee and in a lot of trouble.
difficult to beat, but if the spearmen had suffered a few
You now know enough to play a game. Fight with the above
hits from archery, and if the axemen all charged one
forces again, but this time choosing sensible tactics. There
spearman on the end of the line, things would be rather
are many refinements to the above in the full rules, such as
different. A spearman on the end of the line charged by
the risk of hitting friendly forces with missiles (for the
three axemen would have to win all three contests in
moment, just rule that you can’t shoot at a man involved in
order to keep all three at a distance, and would only be
melee, nor through anyone), but this is enough to get you
supported by one neighbour. One option a spearman has
started. Fight it out until one side has twice as many men
is to drop his spear and change to using a sword. When
who are fine (not wounded) than the other, at which point the
doing this, he gets no attack roll that turn, and only
loser flees.
Here is a summary of everything you have learned so far: 1. Movement and shooting. May move then shoot or shoot
them move. Archers may do two of: move load and
W = Weapon skill. Roll equal or above this to succeed. shoot per turn. Group target 3-7men –2W.
D = number of Damage dice rolled versus T of opponent 2. Opportunity shooting (–2W, lose attack roll that turn,
(Toughness). One hit = driven back half a move (1” if in half move rate if evade).
group); two hits = wounded (+4W, -1D, -2M); three hits 3. Evading (1d20 +/- difference in modified M, draw =
= incapacitated; four or more = dead. evader wins, evaders evade full move).
S = effect of Shield on opponent’s W. Shield covers 180 4. Melee. One attack roll per fighter. Must close versus
degrees. users of longer weapons. Only defence rolls while
M = number of inches Movement per turn. –2” over bad closing. In melee, roll equal or above modified W to
terrain, -1” moving as a group. hit. Win fight if roll above needed score, and if
R = Reach of melee weapons and Range of missile opponent does this too, below opponent’s roll. Both roll
short/medium(+2W)/long (+5W). above and the same number = both hit. -1W per
neighbour of formed up group (minimum three to form
Turn sequence: group), -2W when out-reaching spears. X-factor = -1W
versus non-X weapon.