Archery in DOK

Handling missile units in late medieval games is precarious. If archery is too destructive, it can ruin historical replays where, despite significant numbers of archers, battles were decided by desperate hand to hand fighting. If missiles are too ineffective, then of course the equally unsatisfying opposite occurs. I had many early disappointing DOK games where slightly hot rolling would see one side gut the other before contact was made. This was particularly a problem for Wars of the Roses contests, where both sides would field an appropriately high percentage of Longbow units. What to do? Given the robust Chipco mechanisms, for me the answer is always house rules.

First, let’s review the most important one. The John Hills rule. This oldie but goody suggested that longbows and crossbows performed as “bows” (on the 1 instead of the 2 column and short range only) whenever demoralized. Full disclosure, I loved this rule. I’ve always felt that robust archery capability tended to cancel out when both sides possessed it. We see evidence of it in the Wars of the Roses and at Shrewsbury. I like to believe it could have been possible at Crecy if the Genoese were properly prepared.

This rule wasn’t present in DOK1, and DOK2 only allows a similar effect when double demoralized. An improvement, but simply not enough in my opinion. Obviously an unopposed missile contingent can do far more damage.

Two more significant advances came via Age of Hannibal. These rules alter the 1 Table to make a roll of 8 a hit. They also never allow skirmishers to combine fire with any other units. These two changes seem to generate the right feel, although that’s admittedly subjective. With freedom of movement, a handful of  these guys can be anything from mildly irritating to dangerous. Can be.

With that all being said, what are my latest house rule? Skirmishers are handled. They never combine and hit on 8+. As I’m using a grid, measuring in squares should be easy. Let’s review all the other missile troop options with regard to their capability in the shooting phase.

Longbows use the 2 column out to 4 squares, and the 1 column from 5-7 squares. I make them shoot at anything directly ahead or up to one base width to the left or right if a target is available, and they must target any unit in their ZOC. If no targets are within these parameters, they may then select any target within range and within a 45 degree angle, but it will only be on the 1 column even if within 4 squares. Demoralized or doubly demoralized units may only fire out to 4 spaces on the 1 column. Longbows may combine their shooting at will.

Crossbows work exactly the same, except that they may never combine shooting at long range of 5-7 squares. Experienced players will note that they now have a similar range to longbows, which I feel is warranted. They may not move if they shoot, as is traditional.

Light Artillery. Oh, the models. Love them. If you feel it’s warranted that they be different than crossbows, then here’s my current house rule. They fire out to 10 squares on the 1 table. They cause a panic check on units Subject to Panic. They are demoralized after firing, and may not fire again until they rally off demoralizations they received for any reason.

CF 0, Move 2/0, Rally 6+, Cause Panic, Subject to Panic

Boy, these need testing. And probably only inclusion in scenarios designed to accommodate them.

Finally, what have I done to the Bowfire table? Not much. As discussed, allowing rolls of 8 to hit is a major improvement from Age of Hannibal. The second house rule used is that the first K result in each row is changed to a double demoralization or DD. I just like reducing the “bang, yer dead” feeling. I also think that singling out units in the enemy line for saturation is a powerful gaming tool that shouldn’t be overly rewarded.

Skirmishers in DOK

Whether armed with bows, slings, javelins, handguns, or crossbows, skirmishers in DOK haven’t always worked for me. It usually hasn’t mattered, as they often don’t feature significantly in many of the most iconic Western European battles of the 14th and 15th century. As I explore DOK in more detail, I can see situations where skirmishing units should have opportunities to make more of a difference, particularly in the early stages of the battle. And yet they still shouldn’t matter much with regard to the overall health of the army’s morale. A rules conundrum for sure.

Enter Age of Hannibal to the rescue. In their efforts to adapt Chipco mechanics to ancient warfare, the authors really made some nice adjustments with regard to how skirmishers impact the game. I mentioned a few of these in my archery ramblings. Let’s see if I can come up with a skirmisher stat line that meets my needs.

CF 0, Move 3, Rally 8+, Skirmish

Skirmish: Skirmishers may move and change direction without penalty. Skirmishers have a range of 4 squares, always use the 1 table, may never combine missiles with other units, and must always shoot at the closest enemy unit.

How skirmishers affect Army Morale will vary depending on the scenario.

As an aside, I thoroughly support Chipco’s decision to no longer allow Bows (DOK’s skirmisher equivalents) to attach as in DOK1. It has a better feel and Age of Hannibal followed suit.

Rallying

While I might go on and on about proposed house rules, DOK wouldn’t inspire me so if Chipco hadn’t created such a great core. So this short post is to say that the rallying phase is just right! -1 to the rally roll when doubly demoralized works well within the system.

Note that I do allow singly demoralized units to engage in combat, but that’s in another phase. Shhh!

The Ubiquitous Man-at-Arms

If I’m going to so carelessly apply house rules, then it would make sense that I clearly define the most important building block in DOK. That to me would be Men-at-Arms (MAA), armored horsemen capable of fighting on foot. Their target cost is approximately 40 ecus. Here’s the line I’m going with:

Mounted MAA: Combat Factor 4/2, Move 3/1, Rally 7+, Charge Bonus +2, Cause Panic, Shock, Pursuit

Dismounted MAA: Combat Factor 3, Move 2/1, Rally 6+, Heavy Armor, Special Support

Cause Panic: Any unit subject to panic must immediately make a rally roll when charged by a unit that causes panic. Failure results in a demoralization, which is added prior to the combat roll. Modifiers include leader rally bonuses (+1 or +2), single or double demoralization (-1), support from MAA (+2 per side), and support from any other units (+1 per side).

Shock: Any unit with shock that is able to apply its charge bonus causes an additional demoralization marker if it wins combat with a natural roll of 9 or 10.

Heavy Armor: Any K or DD is treated as a D on the Archery chart.

Special Support: MAA add +2 per side supported when checking units subject to panic. MAA support allows any number of continuous Longbow units to support normally. If MAA support is lost due to retreat or destruction, then Longbow units immediately lose this bonus. NOTE: This rule allows the long wings of archers at Agincourt and Verneuil to fight effectively in close combat (which they did), and it makes the MAA supporting those archers an even more desirable target to engage and eliminate (as they were).

Pursuit: I’m thinking this over for Verneuil, currently handled as in DOK.

Options where historically appropriate:

Elite: +1 CF (unless mounted in difficult terrain), +1 RF (+20 ecus)
Rash: +1 CF which is permanently lost when demoralized, must follow up even if demoralized or double demoralized and not already engaged, +1 RF (free)
Dismounting: I’m hesitant to include this option unless the historical replay demands it.

Astute readers will notice that my house rules only slightly vary from the official version. So why bother? Cuz it’s fun! Chipco’s leniency towards home rules is one of their finest qualities, so I take liberties.

I certainly do seem to be throwing out a lot of oddball special rules. Hopefully I’ll properly think through them all prior to the next game time. After reading Little Wars TV’s outstanding effort with Age of Hannibal, I definitely think they nailed how to introduce special rules to a unit’s basic stat line. 1. Keep it short. 2. Keep it simple. In fact, Age of Hannibal probably deserves its own detailed discussion on subtle adjustments to the basic Chipco engine that are well worth considering. Another time.

My Gridded Gaming Mat

This is a picture of the gridded game mat I got from Big Red Bat’s store. The mat is 8’ by 4’ with squares of 150mm. It just happens to allow the magnetic stands I use to fit in any of the four quarters, as they’re a hair under 3”, and I’m currently using 75mm magnetic canvas squares from Hobby Lobby for basing all of my newest projects. I’m very curious to try DOK on a grid.

Incidentally, the wagons are on 150mm by 75mm bases, and I hope to feature them soon.

Revisiting Verneuil

Long ago, I happened upon some interesting articles on the pivotal battle of Verneuil, and knocked out a quick DOK version that turned out to be a fun refight. Ken Blackley very kindly added it, along with a superb pre battle situation brief and the historical results, to his venerable DOK Homepage. Sadly, and predictably, I was wrong on a number of issues. My first series of articles will try to address these missteps. Stay tuned!

So what’s this blog?

From the very first moment I bought it in 1997 at an Austin hobby store, I had a feeling that Days of Knights (hereafter DOK) was special. It’s 2019 and I was right. Look at me!

This blog will probably propose an infinite amount of awful house rules, a tiny proportion of working ideas, and hopefully some interesting scenarios and game situations. We’ll see.