There has been some confusion on Elephants and the effect escorts have. The Formations document has been updated, so clarify the intent of escorts. No rule change per se, but clarifying intent.
2023 Release now available The Renatio et Gloriam release for 2023 has now been uploaded to the site. This is full refresh of the all the rule items and the lists. For existing purchases its simply a case of visiting the download section in you account and re-downloading your files. You will get the latest versions of the PDFs.
Just as note the Core rules haven’t changes much at all. If you have printed out the core rules you may may wish to check the errata page, as its only the errata found during 2022 that have been included. There is a single core rule change that is detailed on the errata page also.
The QRS has been comprehensively redesigned, based on another year of play, and there have been changes to the terrain and PBS documents. So please check them out!
Print on DemandBased on feedback we’ve been receiving there is now an option to get the core rules printed on demand. So, is you do want a physical copy of the core rules then you can head over to Lulu.com and purchase there. This is a global POD service, so you will get your books locally to you.
Please note this is not the complete rules package. It does not include QRS , PBS etc. This is just for those who wish to have a physical copy of the core rules. The purchase of the Rule materials package is still required to play the game
In this next spotlight we turn our attention to the later western horse formations. In the mid mid/late 17th century there is a move towards linear horse formations, and generally speaking by 1650~ in ReG Solid Horse is disappearing. In its place the standard Horse type becomes Formed Linear Horse, which has Pistol/Pistol and Stock. The characteristic Shock grants the following –
Free charge at 3BW.
Combat claim in charge combat.
Must pursue routers.
Has Shove in the charge and melee phase
An example of this would be
The next evolution is the introduction of Drilled Linear Horse. This first occurs in around 1660/65 for the French & British (and other innovators). In addition to beneficial prompted actions, the characteristic Shock is replaced by Squadrons. Squadrons grants the following –
Free charge at 3BW.
Combat claim in charge combat.
Has Shove in the charge and melee phase.
“Engaging Directly” When fighting a frontal Charge Combat, files throw a Black dice in addition to their normal Charge dice. Engaging Directly Black dice – Are never modified by any combat claims. Do not cause Shove or Shatter
So, similar to Shock with the added benefit of no longer having compulsory pursuit and has an additional black charge dice.
An example of this would be
The last evolution we see is the addition of the characteristic Disciplined, an extra 2 wounds before break. This first comes in at 1675. By the Nine Years War most Linear Horse will be Disciplined.
The very best horse may also be Sword and Pistol in addition (but still get shock rather than squadrons)
Final example
Note that the increased characteristics do come at some cost!
One amendment to the core rules is around shooting at chargers. In the 2023 the arcs if fire have been somewhat relaxed when it comes to shooting at chargers. In 2023 all files will most likely be able to shoot at frontal chargers, no matter of the charge path. Here is an example of the change
As part of the 2023 release we have reorganised the armies somewhat, this has allowed us to create a searchable /sortable index. As an early release you can see this here
You may notice that the army names have changed. They all now contain a regional/country component. They also have a ‘house’ where applicable.
To use the search you can enter any criteria from the index (it searches all columns). So, for instance if you were looking for Venetian armies, just can just enter ‘Venice’
This is the first of the spotlights articles for 2023 changes. Let’s start with the largest change, that being the classification of Western Horse. European horse was originally split into either ‘Horse’ or ‘Western Horse’, we have now divided that up further into Horse, Solid Horse and Linear Horse. The classification for the new types are as follows –
Solid Horse
Horse squadrons in close formation, often in deep ranks. Solid Horse make deliberate manoeuvre to maintain cohesion. Solid Horse discharged pistols prior at impact and attempt to use inertia to disrupt their opponents. For example, cavalry trained in the Dutch style in the Thirty Years war.
Linear Horse
Horse in shallower formations, where the ability to rally back or reinforce by squadron was advantageous. Linear horse is subdivided further dependant on being Formed or Drilled (more on that later) For example, cavalry trained in the Swedish style in the Thirty Years War
Linear horse have no restriction on table formation width. Solid Horse however is limited to being 2 wide at all times. The close proximity of the solid horse formation does have a benefit. These types are reliant on disrupting their opponents with pistol fire. As such during the charge phase Solid horse throw an additional black dice to their normal charge dice.
Another change, is the ability of cavalry now to ‘Shove’ their opponent. As shove is where an ‘S’ or ‘Skull’ is rolled on the combat dice which confers and additional bonus of adjacent file combat. This shove is typically a characteristic of solid horse. It its either gained through the ‘shove’ characteristic itself or via the characteristic ‘shock. (Those familiar with the 2022 rules, Shock is simply Elan renamed)
As with all these things its best to illustrate with an example.
Solid Horse is a major type in the Thirty Years Wars and those types have now been greatly expanded. Horse sections for many armies now have many more options
Next time we’ll look at how Linear Horse changes over our period.
