A set of free rules have been made available by Little Wars TV, entitled Ravenfeast. They are Viking Age skirmish rules and would make a useful adjunct to the Longships rules for those who also want to see what happens to very small raiding bands when they carry out activities away from the main army.
http://www.littlewarstv.com/
Many thanks, Andy - from a quick browse, the chaps who produced this have gone to a lot of trouble to make it look nice. I'll download all the bits and take a proper look.
1 PP base for each 28mm figure might work well?
Simon
Little Wars TV also recently released these entertaining videos on YouTube:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUXCMtpJBXs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUXCMtpJBXs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=macRgkAACBQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=macRgkAACBQ)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIoGbrTVED8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIoGbrTVED8)
Tell us how the game goes Simon and what you have to do with the movement.
Well I won't be playing just yet, Les, but it's very much a skirmish game of c. 12 - 20 bases per side as a starter.
While 28mm is the target scale, the rules explicitly discuss gluing a number of 15mm figures on to a 1"-square base instead. Peter Pig is one of the four (alongside Khurasan, Essex and Old Glory) 15mm manufacturers with which the authors state that they have "had good experiences".
The recommended table size is 4' x 4', or 4' x 6'. Half a dozes scenarios are included, as well as some paper figures to get folk started.
The document is pitched at an introductory level, and includes some basic painting and modelling tips.
While such skirmish games may not be everyone's cup of tea, this is a nicely-produced set of documents (rules, scenarios, rune cards, supplement with magical options, paper soldiers) that would work well with figures based for RFCM's Longships game and may encourage more people to join the hobby. It even include scenarios with Kind Alfred and Uhtred :)
Simon
It sounds like it is something you could play while building up a full longships warband.
Thank you and best wishes,
Martin Buck
That was always a good thing with the DBA / DBM series of rules. You could start small and get playing while you were completing the full army.
Playing some of the smaller scenarios in Bloody Barons gives a similar option. Maybe this is something we can give more thought to in future RFCM rulesets, to lower the "barrier to entry" for new players?
Simon
Good point Simon. I like the way Square Bashing, and othe RFCM rules have the small, medium and large battle options for that very reason. Keith Flint did the same in Honours of War (SYW) with his scenarios, going from a small encounter to a refight of Lobositz.