The 3 Best (& Worst) Osprey Historical Games

[@ericfarrington366]

Thanks for the shout-out guys. I am glad you think the Men of Bronze rules improved a lot with Wars of the Republic. I took the feedback from my readers to heart.

[@keithflint7243]

As the author of Honours of War, I thought your critique of Osprey's editorial policy was justified. I had an excellent experience with Phil Smith, and felt very fortunate to get published, but I am the kind of guy who is very particular about things like getting my grammar and punctuation right, and producing readable explanations of the rules. HoW was also extensively playtested as a hobby project before publication became a possibility, which helped immensely. There is a more general point here - editorial support in the wargames and military history world is often non-existent - unless you happen to be a well-known professional. It's common to find book reviews asking why editors didn't pick up on obvious spelling errors, mistakes and poor organisation. The answer is, that these editiors don't exist. Authors are very much on their own in this world. As for 'Beer and Pretzels', I guess that sums up the majority of the books, but I think Osprey should get some credit for producing what these days are called 'big battle' rules that fit into a small book, rather than a A4 hardback with innumerable supplements. I would like to see more of these. You are quite right about support as well. With such a well-known series of books, Osprey should really have a website providing some support. Personally, I was glad to set up a site for HoW (honoursofwar.com), which was a very positive experience for me. The game has been out there for a while and some changes and updates are available on the site. Plus a ton of great scenarios provided by participants. Finally, I like to see a channel willing to criticise as well as be fan boys. There's too much sycophantic blowing of sunshine out there! Thanks for this content. 😍

[@bishop2k7]

Good choices for both the good and bad. Thanks for calling out Mark Latham and "Chosen Men". I remember going to his blog and looking to see if there was an errata (which it badly needed) and seeing him tell all the fans of the game to basically take a hike. Made a note to never to buy anything with his name attached.

[@LittleWarsTV]

To be fair, every author has a different attitude on what to do in terms of ongoing support. The issue with Osprey is that they do zero and push all of that onto the author, which I always found a bit odd for a company with their resources.

[@jasoncross4165]

To my mind, it feels like if I'm the author, and Osprey are offering my game a high quality print run, and market access I would want to get people loving the game and buying loads of it... it a niche hobby like this forums etc don't need to cost huge amounts of money... or effort really. And a supportive base will probably be helpful in improving your work... past and future... increasing revenues?

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

What I’ve always wondered: how long does a rules author have to support their game? Answering game questions can become a second job.

[@jasoncross4165]

@@WARdROBEPlaysWWII or "your job"? I guess it depends on why you wrote/ published the rules in the first place? And why you choose a publisher like Osprey (or whoever) Vs home brew PDF / self-publish type route?

[@JSteplyk]

Chosen Men is unfortunately the only Osprey wargame title I’ve purchased-I snapped it up because I’m a big Sharpe fan. I didn’t put much effort into studying the game mechanics. What jumped out to me were the scenarios terribly basic, with no story or lore to jazz them up.

[@steveholmes11]

I really don't want to criticise Osprey excessively. For many years they where a bulwark of the hobby with their relatively low cost uniform and history guides. My shelf of Napoleonic and ACW uniforms (one third of the plates Zouaves and one third musicians) WAS the best resource I could access at the time. These days the Internet provides far more material than a 60 page uniform guide. And the reader avoids getting purchasing several books with 90% common text (The Napoleonic French Cavalry series), or disappearing down the rabbit hole of excess specialisation (Parodied as "Underwear of the Wehrmacht May-June 1941, volumes 1-6"). The venture into rules was a welcome development. Relatively short and affordable rules covering a range of subjects. But quality control was uneven, producing some classics and some real stinkers. But hats off to Osprey for going there, and providing us with some great material.

[@LittleWarsTV]

The reference Ospreys are a staple for any wargamer! And their foray into rules with the blue books has been a huge net positive for the hobby. The books are very affordable, short, and accessible. That goes for all of the titles, because Osprey enforces a standard page count limit.

[@1nONLY_DRock]

Osprey is doing it right. Make a ruleset that's model neutral, and make 'em cheap! And if one ends up being a runaway success like say... Gaslands or Frostgrave/Stargrave you expand on that with hardcovers, expansions, and product lines. Other publishers could definitely learn from Osprey. My only criticism is the rules could use more polish and game balancing at times. Gaslands is great! I also love that you can use Hot Wheels or Matchbox toys. Makes it really accessible. I also heard A World Aflame (Interwar Period skirmish game) can be a little janky too.

[@Ed-Irvin]

this is the video I didnt know I needed...I side-eye Osprey titles every now and again, but hadn't had any context so just stick with what I already play. Thank you.

[@Michael-ws7rc]

Nice review. I agree Men Who Would be Kings is a really good rule set.

[@montroyalbynight8107]

Great review concept. Really appreciated you guys pointed out some bad titles and why you thought so. It feels like people lose their mind whenever anyone has concrete criticism for any game, no matter how badly concieved, derivative or lazily put together it may be.

[@oscarvi3232]

Great report, lads. I love Lion Rampant and the Men Who Would be King and like you, I couldn't make head nor tail of Men of Bronze. Absolute Emperor was extremely disappointing.

[@LittleWarsTV]

It’s all so subjective of course. Every gamer and every group undoubtably has their own pros and cons for these games. But we do play a lot of Ospreys here!

[@simondrury7941]

Absolute Emperor has been one of my favorites, been popular down the club as we actually get games finished. The Osprey quick refrence sheet was very poor though, found a better one online.Though since playing have added bits to give it more Napoleonic flavour. Own 12 blue books, have stayed away from some as was told they were just a variation on another book. Really liked Ronin and Wars of the Republic.

[@colinspeirs]

Thank you Miles and Greg. I have some of the Osprey sets, and you can tell that there is not a lot of editing or back and forth from the company and the author, so you are reliant on the author, e.g. Daniel Mersey, working hard and producing a good ruleset

[@johndesch7251]

Excellent report. Agree Men Who Would Be Kings is great. Also agree that Poseidon needs something. But it’s a fun con game and you get some command and control issues just by having multiple players and their personalities. The hardest part of the game is keeping track of ships, but I tell players this is what admirals do. 😊

[@AA-pd7xf]

This is nicely done, and I believe quite fair. I own several of the "good" and have checked into some others, and this appears to be a very fair summary of the Osprey business model with rules.

[@michaelwedding9077]

The great thing of TMWWBK is that you can use it as a single figure skirmish level or as you demonstrated in the Zulu game, in can be used with stands of figures... so whatever you like, you can play!

[@friendlyneighbourhoodnerd]

I've been thinking about playing Lion Rampant with single-figure units as you mentioned, as I'm rather impatient and a bit cheap, but I'm thinking, wouldn't it look a bit strange if one peasant fella could take 12 hits?

[@deathmagnetic300]

Great review! I will deff look into some of those. I am still rooting for a custom Samurai LWTV rule set. I'm working on my own rules for a "Thunderdome" of eras clash. Keep up the great work!

[@earlgrayman982]

I'm new to wargaming so I've been enjoying reading and playing through the Osprey blue books even if they're not all winners. I particularly enjoyed Black Ops.

[@collin4592]

Men Who Would Be Kings is a gem and fantastic game for the price. I am really excited to get into Pikemen’s Lament and Dux Bellorum.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Men Who Would Be Kings is brilliant! Very flexible in terms of scale and scope, so you can use it for all kinds of battles and skirmishes in the era. We love it

[@paskodaniel]

Do you think you could do small skirmish with the rules? Never done anything like this and looking to try it out with just a few minis if possible. Thanks!

[@collin4592]

@@paskodaniel Dux Bellorum lends itself towards larger battles as each base represents 50-ish men. Dux Britanniarum is much better suited towards skirmish.

[@jerrymail]

Very interesting, even though I've never played any Osprey rules. I'm a Historical gamer but... Paradoxically, I think I'm more interested in their Sci-fi and Fantasy rules. 🤔

[@FelixstoweFoamForge]

Glad Ronin made it in there. I love it. Plus, I've never bought into the idea that BIG Samurai battles really used formal-single-arms-units, certainly before about 1570 ish, so this just works for me. Oh, and nice to see "Car Wars" get a mention, trip down memory lane time!

[@tonys4341]

I've played pretty much all the Osprey rules. They remind me a bit of the old SPI S&T magazine games - 25% of them are crap, 50% are OK, and the last 25% are great. By the way, Rebels & Patriots works very, very well in European Warfare too. And I think the one of real strengths of the "Rampant" series of Blue Books is the endless flexibility of them. I'm using R&P for the Vendean Rebellion, Pikeman's Lament for the Morean War and Xenos Rampant for the completely historical Vietnam War. (Hanoi Rampant?). And Lion Rampant 2nd Edition goes back to ancients very well. We've played the Punic Wars with them, albeit using the monster rules for elephants from Dragon Rampant.

[@ostrowulf]

I would love to see you guys try Blood & Plunder Also, I have been tempted to pick up En Garde and use mu B&P minis for it. By your words, sounds like that would work well.

[@aaronsomerville2124]

I haven't tried any of these but I do have the sparkly Lion Rampant hardcover and it seems very approachable. One thing I would like to hear about in reviews, even quick ones like in this video, is what sort of scale and basing the game is aimed at (or if it supports multiple styles).

[@DMKleinArts]

Lion Rampant is for a medium-large skirmish, 30-60 models or so? There is no basing guideline, squares or rounds don't really matter, so long as it's agreeable w your opponent. Units are either 6 or 12 models in size. Rule of thumb (w a couple exceptions) cavalry are 6 models, infantry and archers are 12 models. Units cost 2-6 points, plus any unit upgrades or leader skills. Standard force being 24 points. Coherency is blob style, so facing and being ina specific formation aren't required. You could play them rank n flank for flavor, but not needed. You could also proxy, say a unit of crossbow 12 men is represented by two ballista with a handful of crew, so long as you can track wounds .

[@davefranklin4136]

Rebels and Patriots are without question my favorite Osprey "blue book" rules. I feel it's a little unfair to refer to them as "Daniel Mersey rules" without mentioning the other author Michael Leck. Like several other Osprey authors, Daniel Mersey seems to have washed his hands of supporting his rules, but on the Dux Rampant forum, a person with the screen name Dalauppror, who I believe is Michael Leck, still supports R&P very well.

[@catcannon9064]

talking about chosen men. has any one heard of Song of Drums and Shakos, are "song of" series worth a look at?

[@captainnolan5062]

You are spot on regarding Absolute Emperor. I was also really looking forward to Absolute Emperor, but alas, when the rules arrived, they were poorly written and ambiguous in many places. I contacted the author with my many questions and he asked me 'where I was during the development of the game when the input would have been useful.' I had not heard about the game until it was being released by Osprey, so his comment did not sit well. We went back and forth with more rules questions and I got some clarifications. When the author started a Facebook group I joined, and attempted to get even more questions answered (it seemed like the more answers I got, the more new questions would arise - as if I was a developer, rather than a player). At some point he banned me from the group. After further discussion with him, he unbanned me from the group, but by that time my enthusiasm for the game was gone, and I have not looked at the rules since. Unfortunately, Absolute Emperor is a poorly drafted rules set, with an author who blamed his readers for asking clarification questions; he apparently has poor judgment and a temper to boot. No thanks.

[@totalburnout5424]

I can heartly agree with "Lion Rampant" and the other Mersey games and I completely overlooked "Ronin" and "En Garde!". I'll probably take a look. Bute with "Absolute Emperor" I must disagree. It has its layout problems and I already use some house rules to adjust some problems, but it has its advantages. Like many Osprey blue books, it's a good introduction to playing with fewer miniatures and without the usual "how to base" problems. In my opinion, not a crown, but a solid key to this periode.

[@manjr]

Thank you for calling out Osprey's sloppy quality control. The typos are bad enough, but some books have come out functionally broken, with sections of rules missing or just wrong. I'm no Osprey hater (all you have to do is look at my bookshelf), but I think they sell enough books now to employ an editor.

[@richardklug822]

Great job guys. Per your reviews, I'm batting 0.500...having three of your top picks, but unfortunately also three of the "not so goods". Would appreciate your opinion of " In Her Majesty's Name"...thanks!

[@knight-protectorofsadgirls8685]

The Men Who Would Be Kings was the first ruleset I could actually understand.

[@scarfacejosh123]

Great to see this video out! I'd love more rules reviews!

[@petercooman1234]

i love the 'men who would be kings' and the lion rampant ones! (and dragon rampant too) I have made it common practice to check lots of reviews before i buy any of them though! (wich i always do anyway before i buy, to check if it's solo-friendly)

[@steveholmes11]

Dragon Rampant, is my all time favourite fantasy set. I love the opportunity to do Elves and Goblins in a couple of hours without an encyclopedia of special rules and alternate lists. I also use it for historical Medieval Renaissance outside Europe. Its Warbeasts are a decent match for elephants, and a few of the special effects can replicate primitive black powder weapons. I've played many enjoyable games with the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean, with Somalis, Abysinnians, Deccan Sultanates, Mughals, Indo/Malays....

[@katywalker8322]

While very similar to Lion Rampant, I prefer Pikemans Lament. But we play both

[@crhkrebs]

I cannot disagree with anything you both have said. I’m so glad you picked both of Craig Woodfield’s books (Ronin and En Garde) for your top 4. They are my personal favourites, albeit their sales come no where near the work of Daniel Mersey. I admit I have a soft spot for both Men of Bronze and Poseidon’s Warriors, even if I admit they have their weaknesses. Thanks for the heads up about Wars of the Republic. As for non-historical books I can recommend Zona Alfa and A Fistful of King-Fu. On the other extreme, I will warn people away from Pulp!. This is, without question, the absolute worst rule set ever published by Osprey. Ymmv.

[@joeparvana9549]

Thanks for the reviews. Our group enjoy the same rules you gave a thumbs up. I have PW for a club week night game. We'll see how it works

[@michamalinowski8015]

I own Dux Bellorum- has some cool mechanics and ideas, some stange choices, but feels like a cool way to go from dark ages skirmish to mass battle. Also by Dan Mersey. I really like it's simple army building that has still a lot of place of adding flavour to your army.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Dans games-and there are many-are always solid. He’s a very good designer

[@michamalinowski8015]

@@LittleWarsTV Maybe I would noy go so far. For instance I really wanted to love Age of Penda but found after the first game that we will probably never play it again. :P But overall I see Dan as a very passionate designer who mostly write about things that inspire him and writes the rules in a way that are clear and never overly complicated. It's really cool he promotes arthurian times - very often they are under the same umbrella in rules as ancients and medieval but I think Dan digs this idea of small warbands that are led by a warlord from the front who tries to inspore his men where there is not a lot of combined arms or tactics but a lot of guts.

[@tabletop.will.phillips]

Daniel Mersey's core engine has been so well received (and manifesting in so many games) that I think you could consider all of them as extensions of a single game. I'm curious how this list would have differed if you just counted all his games as a single grouping and then dove into the rest of the Osprey catalog (similar to Ronin and En Guard being essentially the same system in different settings).

[@peteenglish8773]

Big fan of Lion Rampant and En Garde. Guy in the club just picked up Rebels & Patriots, but we haven’t played yet. Good review. Several times I had picked up off the shelves a couple of the titles you were not so enthusiastic about, placed them back, but was always thinking of purchasing them. Thanks for saving me some cash.

[@markbrown8154]

My mates and I love any and all of the Frostgrave titles and variants and supplements, and two of us have taken a shining to Dragon Rampant.

[@thetabletopskirmisher]

Nice to see En Garde! and Dragon Rampant score so high as i enjoy those games a lot. TMWWBK is also on my list but the numbers needed to play is daunting. (Even at the reduced numbers.)

[@normtrooper4392]

Lion rampant is used a lot in my club. We also use Dragon Rampart for fantasy games. I feel like Dan Mersy is a great author. I would like to see if his next project. Have you played any of their sci fi games?

[@steveholmes11]

Dan Mersey was a published rules author before Osprey. I think he is one of their best authors, and they have provided him with a reliable publisher.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Gaslands and Dragon Rampant are the two non historical titles that come to mind right away as ones we’ve played (and very much enjoyed)

[@alans3023]

I own several sets of Osprey rules (because I’m one of those old school wargamers who loves to read new rulesets) and I agree with you - they are a mixed bag. But Men Who Would be Kings and Dux Bellorum stand out for me.

[@neillennon5694]

Love these little blue books! They are a great introduction to wargaming different historic eras. One other one worth a mention is Outremer: Faith and Blood. It feels a lot like old school Warhammer and includes more roleplaying elements than say, Lion Rampant. Does anyone know what happened to the Cold War skirmish game, Flashpoint? It was announced ages ago but never seems to have been released.

[@carlothecoffeeguy3778]

Outremer has been a favourite of mine since it came out but its potential was never properly tapped into. I tried writing a few campaigns and special rules for it during lockdown, even got in touch with the author at one point but he seemingly went off the wargaming grid two years ago now.

[@ericfarrington366]

The publications date for Flashpoint was pushed back due to the Ukraine War. No new date set that I am aware of. I believe this was confirmed by the books author online. However, you may want to double check for yourself as my memory is no what it used to be. :)

[@carlothecoffeeguy3778]

​@@ericfarrington366 Thanks, I hadn't heard the reason but that does make sense

[@slapdash5740]

Fighting Sail, even from this rather negative review, actually seems like a game I could get on the table for my student gaming club. I find that simple games such as this - games without chrome - work much better in the short lunchtime sessions I run. I personally play Lion Rampant frequently, and loved Ronin the one time I played it. I own En-Garde too but haven't gotten that to the table. My next big project will be Aztecs & Conquistadores for Pikeman's Lament.

[@ET-mr4iu]

Thanks for the reviews, I just bought a second hand copy of World Aflame, looks like I'm going to have to revamp it😔

[@andypanda4927]

Speaking of Napoleonic Sail, "Beat to Quarters" was interesting. Never won, but, was fun doing with friends.

[@atlasallen-manning6092]

Thanks for this! I’m excited to check out ronin and en garde. I enjoyed the bashing of fighting sail too

[@gsigs]

I remember when Osprey only published books, and good ones at that. Little known fact: GDW published a game called En Garde! in 1975. You'd hate it - 46 pages of rules and a few tables, nothing shiny at all.

[@raincoast_bear]

GDW En Garde is unique in being a grand strategic rpg. You don't decide what your character does this round - you decide what they do for the next week!

[@SpringfieldFatts]

I think Frostgrave would be their biggest hit so far. It and it's derivatives (RoSD, Stargrave, Silver Bayonet) are great fun if a little broken if you just power game them. Dracula's America is, to me, more fun than What A Cowboy. Horizon Wars is actually pretty interesting and very fast playing, you can leave out the sci-fi stuff and do some interesting modern or near future combat with it.

[@gregorythompson1510]

Enjoyed your review! I really like all the "Rampant" titles. I have Ronin, but it's not hit the table yet.

[@dillonrinehart8319]

I agree with all except the Chosen men review. Me and my friends have really enjoyed it. But to each there own

[@Vaultboy-ke2jj]

I love Ronin, it’s a very underrated game

[@nickjones2470]

Great to see you guys back.

[@ethanmckinney203]

You mentioned that you were only covering historicals. Have you played Castles in the Sky? Love to hear what you think about it.

[@amtmannb.4627]

We are using Fighting Sails alhtough it's strange that the game makes you to sink the enemy's ships instead of capturing them which would be a lot more plausible.

[@j.b.macadam6516]

I recently purchased 'Absolute Emperor', and I was somewhat disappointed. I agree that a brigade size scale would have been more playable. Thanks for the video!

[@kingscarbine]

What do you recommend for 19th century European wars from the 1830's until the 1870's?

[@patricpeters9716]

You guys hit all the nails on the head, even though you didn’t cover the scifi rule sets but that’s out of the purview of this channel. I am fond of TMWWBK, Lion Rampant(especially the expansions for the crusades) and anything in the musket era. I’d really like to see a similar review of this style for other rules publishing companies, like Too Fat Lardies, and maybe even the defunct Warhammer Historical line(of which I am an avid player and collector of).

[@get_the_lead_out]

Fighting Sail does have its warts, but at its core I think it has possibilities. I do like the fact that record keeping is kept to a minimum and that it is very streamlined. The morale rules are good in that you don’t have to sink all the opponent’s ships to win - just do enough damage to force a withdrawal. I have been tinkering with that maneuvering oddity that you mentioned, trying to make the larger ships a little more cumbersome. You have definite peaked my interest in the Rampant series - definitely will check them out.

[@steveholmes11]

I think several of the weaker offerings contain the basis of a decent game that is struggling to escape. Some might say that the £8 (from discounter) isn't a bad price, if you're willing to invest some salvage effort. I guess it depends whether you see yourself as a rules writer.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Fighting Sail is one we had such high hopes for-and as you said the bones of a good system are there! But there are some big holes that are hard to overlook

[@thewannabepainter]

Absolute emperor is a book that i take out the shelf with the intention to finally get into it and build up some armies for it but then i read 4-5 pages of it and remember why i put it to the shelf last time. It wants to be something that it can't reach imo

[@redmist1122]

Another awesome overview of the "Blue" books from Osprey. I have three of four books...not Ronin. Have you guys come up with your QRS versions for the four game systems? I especially like the Lion Rampant series of "Crusader States" and a "Viking in the Sun". I bought ver 2 just because I like the game system. I just recently bought the The Men Who Be Kings to get some Apache War action. Also hope to use 'en Garde for some musketeers I bought from Old Glory 25s. Have you guys come up with your QRS versions for the four game systems? Thanks again...and take care.

[@brainpolice5016]

Men who would be kings is really nice. However, Rebels and Patriots streamlines and improves some of the clunky rules and we found that R&P was a great fit for New Zealand Wars (1840s) and French Indian Wars

[@Gerhard_Schroeder]

Looking for a naval battle system around 1200-1300 in Europe / England. Any suggestions?

[@Yashu1105]

Ronin is still one of my favourite rule sets

[@johnchristie823]

En Garde! has been around since the 70's, as I loved playing then!

[@raincoast_bear]

Same title, different game.

[@johnchristie823]

@@raincoast_bear The game was set in the time of the three Musketeers, and it was a social climbing game, but thanks for that...!!

[@chrisrobinson196]

Like many, I find all the Dan Mersey rules to be useful, fun rules. Someone below mentioned Outremer, and while I haven't played it, after reading it I bought the figs, they're just...in the queue.

[@arathaemaxus5250]

Fighting sail. The ships have sail dice. Smaller ships have more this more maneuverable so not sure what he’s getting at

[@AzraelThanatos]

With En Gard, Craig did release a document that at least popped up on the LAF that converted all of the stuff from Ronin into it (including the additional Buntai from the mythological web enhancement). I'm also surprised that you didn't list the 2e version of Lion Rampant there rather than the original early on. You also have the sub games in the Rampant line

[@Ragnarok_494]

Honestly, what I'm hearing about the Blue Book series is its more like a pilot program than an imprint. They throw stuff out there á la vanity press and if anything really kicks off they pursue it further otherwise its just left to its own devices

[@LittleWarsTV]

They throw a lot of darts at the wall with very little editorial or playtesting oversight. The result has been interesting overall-some really good games have come out of this series.

[@KortanDruid]

I own (and like) Honours of War, what's your opinion on that title? Love you guys!

[@LittleWarsTV]

That’s one of the titles we have not yet tried so can’t offer an informed opinion. But our patrons ranked it in the Top 10

[@KortanDruid]

@@LittleWarsTV i hope to see a review (and a game) in the near future!

[@ralphdutton9334]

Brilliant video!

[@markhenderson6389]

Appreciate your list, with thoughtful rationale on why you chose each game. On the non-historical side, another vote for A Fistful of Kung-Fu. This mashup of kung-fu masters, action movie hero cops, Chinese demons and Yakuza gangsters is too much fun! You can easily make your own custom characters and factions, as well.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Funny you mention this one. When we interviewed Phil Smith, head of Osprey Games, and asked for his favorite under the radar title, it was Fistful of Kung Fu!

[@jonmcintosh1737]

Do have your clubs house rules for men that would be kings? I’m trying to recreate your islandwana game.

[@LittleWarsTV]

We sure do! They are available for free on our website. Just go to the Free Stuff page!

[@FrozenMurican]

Love to see you guys try and review some simple rulesets, like FUBAR or one page rules(tm)

[@LittleWarsTV]

Great suggestion!

[@danielcaramagno6597]

Totally agree with your critique of Mersey rules. As an Age of Sail nut I bought Fighting Sail. Played several times and threw it in the garbage. Most unrealistic. Do you plan to play Honours of War? I have 28mm SYW armies and played it several times. Nice mechanics but felt more Napoleonic than SYW. Want to know what you think.

[@Carl-MGR]

I think Rebels and Patriots has the same problem as Men of Bronze, which is the inability to decide if it’s a skirmish or mass battle

[@BigMrFirebird]

Re: Fighting Sail. The author reckoned he knew so much about the subject and yet when it came to the list of original ships that can be visited, he neglected to mention both HMS Trincomalee and HMS Unicorn.

[@JBurdoo]

While I like TMWWBK, I didn't like the activation system, which meant most of my turns ended quickly because even the "no rolling needed" choices were useless. (You can shoot for free? Great - IF you're in range.) The Rampant games have steadily improved on that initiative system.

[@rechnin6680]

I agree with you about Absolute Emperor, it is far ore suited to Brigade style games which is ideal for my 6mm games. As for the basics of the rules, I see that as an opportunty for my group to add any falvour they wish.

[@LittleWarsTV]

As an easy, generic system it definitely worked. And if you want to use that as a tool kit or starting point to layer on your own game, it seems very mod-friendly. But I have to admit, as a standalone big battle game it was crushingly underwhelming

[@rechnin6680]

@@LittleWarsTV Fair comment.

[@hyp3r-systems838]

im VERY surprised OUTREMER didnt make the video alongside LION RAMPANT those to books go hand in hand together if youre 1st getting into Medievel Historical Wargaming coming from 40k or Warhammer Fantasy/AoS/ LoTR

[@martinevans9757]

Mark Latham's own website has free PDF lists for Russian and Austrian forces for 'Chosen Men', which is more than can be said for some authors of gaming rules. I quite like the rules, if only because they are a sort of 'Warhammer 1.8K' system, which feels familiar to someone of my gaming background.

[@LittleWarsTV]

The GW comparison is a good one-very strong influences from Warhammer mechanics in Chosen Men. For better or worse, depending on your perspective!

[@mwc1707]

I would love to see you guys do a game of Gas Lands. Maybe make your cars based on your preferred historical war eras using bits from whatever left over bits you guys have about your shops and club. Another non-historic game I enjoy is Last Dayz by Ash Baker. Its Zombie survival skirmish. Could easily be modified for a one time game in different eras. You could have a German unit vs an Ally Unit fight for supply drop during a zombie outbreak on the front. Or a British and French Units during the Napoleonic era needing to work together to survive a crowd of zombies.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Badlands is really solid. A fun game! Thanks for the zombie suggestion, too. Never heard of that one!

[@SpringfieldFatts]

Xenos Rampant also has some nods to WW2 gaming in it, there's a whole section on how to adapt it to different periods / genres.

[@horuslupercal9936]

Is there a light set of Naval Rules that you favor over Poseidons Warriors?

[@danielcannon9893]

I see a video with Miles, I watch a video with Miles.

[@Lessons_from_the_front]

Unfortunately, I agree Men of Bronze is a mess. Writing is hard and writing games in unusually hard, and all the successful rules I know have a lot of hands involved doing a lot of editing.

[@robandrosehobden3344]

Favourite book is men who would be kings and have you tried the new rules for a.c.w from osprey yet 🤠🤠🤠👍👍

[@Grordonblixt]

I find Dragon Rampant to be the best of the XX Rampant series of games by Daniel Mersey. While written for fantasy, the rules can be used with a minimum of modification for anything from fantasy, historical to sci-fi.

[@watchfulistudio1201]

Its not a blue book but I enjoy Land of the Free but maybe I am bias. :)

[@carlothecoffeeguy3778]

I'm very fond of Outremer but I feel it's been totally neglected by Osprey and the author. I'd be very interested to see how En Garde works for the crusades though, do you have a video on that ruleset?

[@PaulGoldstone-fm2rx]

A really good review. Lion Rampant is superb. On that basis, I was looking forward to Absolute Emperor. But Absolute Emperor was just unprofessional. Quite apart from the fact that it is not remotely an army level game, it is just not acceptable for Osprey to produce a game that has been done without proper development, presentation, or even editing.

[@DylanSwayneHughes]

Hey, that new little wars fm podcast still isnt available anywhere

[@LittleWarsTV]

It’s one of our oldest episodes of the podcast! So scroll back to the early episodes!

[@DylanSwayneHughes]

@@LittleWarsTV oh sorry it read like you had just published it alongside the video. Thanks!

[@LittleWarsTV]

@@DylanSwayneHughesWe will add a link here!

[@scarfacejosh123]

I have to add, I'm very curious to see what the club thinks about With Hot Lead and Cold Steel!

[@LittleWarsTV]

We haven’t tried it yet but we do have a copy!

[@TheGlobalNobles]

Might want to do a video about answering the question what makes a good role playing war game

[@housecaldwell]

Dan Mersey's Xenos Rampant is quite good for sci-fi (and actually for modern warfare, too, if you strip out the more exotic sci-fi options). Totally agree on Seven Seas -- such a disappointment.

[@battledummie5656]

Will you guys be reviewing the other Osprey games?

[@LittleWarsTV]

We’ll definitely keep talking about Osprey rule sets. They constantly come out with new ones and we try most of them. And there are plenty of old ones we haven’t played or fully reviewed yet! Black Ops is one I would like to run.

[@PaintedThumbVids]

Just want to mention the non- historical blue book games , Dragon Rampant, Of Gods and Mortals, and Rogue Stars. RS is almost a Sci-fi RPG system while still being a solid skirmish game.

[@LittleWarsTV]

We have not tried Rogue Stars yet!

[@TheBunnan]

Great reviews, very fair. Not historical game but I think the most mechanically interesting game Osprey has produced is Kobolds & cobble stones... it's like Mordheim meets Terry Pratchett and is driven by a deck of standard playing cards!

[@LittleWarsTV]

Haven’t played this one (but do own a copy)!

[@crikeymiles]

“Indifferent editorial oversight” 🤣😭😭

[@crikeymiles]

Thanks for the special shout-out for Gaslands. I really appreciate that. ❤

[@LittleWarsTV]

Great game!!

[@joshuawilson8804]

Zona Alfa: Salvage and Survival in the Exclusion Zone.

[@misomiso8228]

What about Dragon Rampant? Do you think that is any good?

[@LittleWarsTV]

Very very similar to Lion Rampant, with a few fantasy tweaks. If you like one, you’ll like the other. So for us, yes!

[@Flamethrower1942]

Have Ronin sad to say never got round to playing it , have some nice miniatures for it too , might give it a whirl.

[@LittleWarsTV]

You really should. It’s excellent and has a slick duel mechanic with attack and defend dice.