Britons 2

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BRITONSOne Brain Cell Wargame Rules for

Tribal Skirmishes in 1st Century Britain Version 1 – November 2004 © Jim Wallman 2004

These are rules for playing awargame with toy soldiers. It isintended for several players -say 4 or more, but can be playedwith fewer.

Players control heroes (and, of course, heroines), who in turnhave contingents of fightersunder them.

The setting is the constant inter-and intra-tribal conflict thatcharacterised Celtic society in

ancient times. There isn’t roomto give you a full analysis of howCeltic tribal society probablyworked, even if you wanted toread a 20 page essay at thisstage.Put simply, the tribes were runby a noble warrior elite, we cancall them chiefs, who themselveswere organised in family clans.The tribe was, in effect a bigextended alliance of these familyclans. Status between clanswas important, and rivalryconstant. The ‘King’ (or Queen)of the tribe would be the head of the foremost clan – though thenotion of King is more one of ‘first among equals’ rather than‘supreme ruler.

Tribes would go to war occasionally, calling out theWarband (i.e. all the fightingmen of the tribe) and fightingpitched battles. But this wasfairly rare. By far the mostcommon form of military activitywas raiding.Raiding happened all the timeand was regarded as acceptableby everyone. It was importantfor a number of reasons:

a. It gave the warrior chieftains thechance to show how tough theywere in a fight

b. It provided loot for thechieftain’s followers, thusincreasing his status within theclan and with his followers.

c. It gave young, new warriors achance to kill their first enemy,and take a head. Collecting thesevered heads of worthyenemies was an important markof manhood and prestige.

These rules concentrate on theactions in a raid. Raids couldinvolve anything from a fewdozen to several hundred, andcould involve considerablefighting.

Why 'One Brain Cell'? Well,many sets of wargame rulesthese days are horrendouslycomplicated, with big thick rulebooks to read, dozens of additional books to get (atunreasonable expense) andexceptionally complicated rulemechanisms that take ages towork out.

My brain is too simple for this, soI tend to write rules that onerequire a single brain cell to use

and understand. This tends tomake games easy to learn andplay, and, amazingly, are just asmuch fun as the dense andcomplicated game rules for which you have to pay a King'sransom. Odd, isn't it?So read on, and, hopefully,enjoy.

Jim Wallman

Streatham 2004

Setting up thegame

To set up a game you need areasonable sized playing area. Alarge table or floor area is ideal.Depending on the story youhave in mind, this can be laid outwith terrain. A green cloth makessuitable ground. Model trees,lichen etc makes woods, hedgesand undergrowth. Roundhouses,

farms etc be easily made out of cardboard.This is the playing area.Next assemble the toy soldiers(sorry, I mean finely craftedmilitary miniatures…).

The players should have at leastone Big Chief each. Thisrepresents the Player. They cantake control of more than oneeach - but this might make theplay more difficult in some ways.

Each Big Chief has acont ingent of chiefs that aretheir followers in the battle.The way these followers areused is described in the rulesbelow.

I suggest groups of followersshould be between 6 and 20figures strong. The status of theBig Chief usually determines thesize of the contingent (see rulesfor the Campaign Game, later)

Actions

In each game turn everyone getsto perform Actions. All actions are assumed tohappen simultaneously.

The Sequence of working thingsout each turn goes like this:

1. Players declare what ACTION they are doing (seebelow). They do this byplacing an action card facedown by their personal ‘BigChief figure.

2. Players can move their personal hero and anyfollowers under their

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command in accordancewith the ACTION they saidthey were going to do.

3. If movement brings groupsof followers into weaponrange then work out whokilled who. Work outslingers/javelins first. Then

work out melee.

At the end of the turn, all groupsof followers that have beenfighting have to take a test tosee how they are feeling (calledthe Morale Test )

These are the actions you cando:

• Heroic Combat (againstanother specific named BigChief). If you choose this

you cannot move your followers around that turnbecause you are too busyconcentrating on your immediate enemy to tellthem what to do.

• Shout your Battle Cry (obviously your clan willhave decided on it’s BattleCry beforehand) Your followers will then followwherever you go - lead your followers towards the enemy

(assuming that's whereyou're heading). All your followers within 8" of your Big Chief figure will followyou by the most direct routeto the limit of their movementdistance (See Movement below)

• Insult your enemy. This isgood for your followers’morale and might impact onthe enemy’s morale, if it is agood insult. The player must

actually think of an

announce an insultingremark directed at theenemy. These will vary from‘You ugly bastard!” – whichwould be a fairly feebleinsult, to something showinga little more imagination, like“Hobble back to your firesideyou feeble excuse for a

motheaten worm”. Only agood insult really counts. If the enemy is within 8” thenthe insult will count for morale purpose.

• Inspire Your Followers.Sometimes they might get abit downhearted (especiallyif they've been takingcasualties and their moraleis low). You can make themhappier by stopping andgiving them a stirring speech

(See below for Morale Test ).

• Shout a message / Listen.Sometimes you need to tellsomeone something. If youare not within 6" of thatperson you can't talk tothem. This is an action.Listening is an action too –so if the person you’re tryingto talk to is in a fight, theyprobably won’t hear you.

•

Shout "Attack them!" Thisis where you can send your followers to attack a specific,named, enemy group. Youdon't have to accompany theattack. All your followersmove towards the enemyyou point at as fast as theycan move until they getwithin weapon range - thenthey fight. If you are not withthem they might not fight aswell though (see Morale

Test ).

• Take A Head. A Big Chief can stop at the body of afallen enemy and sever their head. Heads areimportant status symbols.Obviously, only the head of someone you havepersonally killed counts.

Movement

Each individual figures move asdirected by their leader, up to thefollowing maximum distanceeach turn:

TypeDistance(inches)

Unarmouredfreemen or slaves

6

Chiefs on foot 5

Chief on Horseback 16

Chariot 12

Carts, women andother slow stuff.

3

Obstacles can't be easilycrossed. If crossing a low wall or hedge, take one move delay.Wading though a ford or shallowstream, lose half the movementdistance.

Slingers andJavelinsIn order to use the sling or throwa javelin , the fighter may notmove in the same turn.Roll 1d6 per figure shooting andconsult the ‘Shooting Table’

The score in the table is the

chance of a hit.Hit on a horseman/chariot, roll1d6, score 4,5,6 and rider/crewand horse out of action, anythingelse and the rider/crew can fighton, on foot.One hit kills most people, but ittakes 4 hits to kill a Big Chief

Shooting TableWeapon Ranges

Sling -Upto

10”

Upto

20”

Upto

30”

JavelinUpto

10”

Upto

20”

- -

Target

Unarmoured 4,5,6 5,6 6 6

Chief 5,6 6 6 -

Horseman 4,5,6 5,6 5,6 6

Chariot3,4,5

,64,5,6 5,6 5,6

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EXAMPLE OF MELEE4 Armed Freemen fight 2 Chiefs. So, this breaks down into two fights, each of 2freemen fighting one chief. We'll ignore morale for this example.

FIRST TURN

Fight One

Chief rolls 4+2 for being a Chief -2 for being outnumbered

total score = 4 Freemen roll 6

No additions, total score = 6 Result is +2 win for the Freemen,which against a Chief is a 'pushback result.

Fight Two


Total score = 3 Freemen roll 5

No additions, total score = 5Result is +2 win for the Freemen,which against a Chief is a 'pushback result.

TURN 2

Fight One


total score = 5 Freemen roll 3

No additions, total score = 3 Result is +2 win for the Chief,which against Freemen is a killresult. One Freeman falls.

Fight Two


Total score = 6 Freemen roll 1

No additions, total score = 1Result is +5 win for the Chief,which against Freemen is a killresult. One Freeman falls.

TURN 3The knights are no longer outnumbered, so it becomes two one-on-

one fights.

Fight One

Chief rolls 6

+2 for being a Chief

total score = 8 Freeman rolls 1

No additions, total score = 1 Result is +7 win for the Chief,which against Freemen is a killresult.The remaining Freeman falls.

Fight Two

Chief rolls 5

+2 for being a knight

Total score = 7 Freeman rolls 4

No additions, total score = 4Result is +3 win for the Chief,which against Freeman is a killresult.The remaining Freeman falls.

Combat over and all the Freemen are dead, and the Chiefs have won.Not surprisingly.

Morale test

Things can make your followersless keen to fight.The entire contingent is affectedby the morale rules, whatever their type.Roll 1d6 when:

• The contingent takes a

casualty.• The contingent is surprised.

• If the player in commandwants the group to take atest

Add or subtract the followingfactors:

-1 for each non-chief casualtythis turn-2 for each Chief casualty thisturn-1 for each Chief casualty in

game-1 visibly outnumbered.+2 having a stirring speech froma friendly Big Chief this turn-1 having been directly andspecifically insulted by an enemyBig Chief within 8" this turn.-1 if the group's leader is notpresent

The check the result in this table:

Result

Score Outcome

3+ Morale is fine - carryon as desired.

0-2 Contingent may notmove closer to anyenemy forces. It hasto pass a morale testnext turn to movecloser to the enemy.

Under

0

Contingent mustmove away from the

enemy as quickly aspossible. It mustpass a morale testnext turn to stoprunning away.

The figure representing thehero/player leading thecontingent is not bound by theseresults and may fight or runaway as desired.

Melee(or hand TO HANDCOMBAT)

STEP ONE:

Break the combat up into 'fights'. A fight is one fighter vs one or more enemies.

STEP TWO: For each 'fight' roll 1d6 per side,add the factors below andcompare the scores

Factors in Melee :

Slinger -1Freeman 0Chief +2Big Chief +4Outnumbered 2-1 by unengagedenemies -2Outnumbered 3-1 by unengagedenemies -3

Outnumbered 4-1 or more byunengaged enemies -4

The highest scorewins

If they win by 1 or more meansthe loser is pushed back 2"

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If fighting Unarmoured freemena win by 2 or more is a killIf fighting Chiefs a win by 3 or more is a killIf fighting a Big Chief a win by 4or more is a HIT (it takes 4 hitsto kill a Big Chief)

If the outnumbered side wins, it

can kill/hit only one of itsenemies that turn. Winner chooses which one.This seems complicated, but is,in fact, very simple.

Heroic Combat

Big Chiefs are special cases(nutcases, some might say -though not within earshot).If they fight just the followers of other Big Chiefs, then use the

rules above.If they fight other Big Chiefs,then these rules apply.Big Chiefs never outnumber other Big Chiefs.In the event of a multiple fightbetween big Chiefs, those notinvolved will watch and cheer from the sidelines until their turncomes.Each game turn of combat isthree rounds of paper - stone -scissors.The player with the best of three

inflicts one hit on their enemy.Big Chiefs may break off combatand try and run away - but thenthat wouldn't be very heroicwould it? Whatever would their followers think?

MountedCombat

Whilst the tribes use horses for rapid movement to and from

raids, the Celts style of fightingdid not suit fighting fromhorseback. Some tribesmanaged to create fightingcavalry, but for the purposes of this game, and to keep it simple,we will ignore this.

There are no advantages tofighting from horseback in themelee rules above, and horsesare more vulnerable to missilefire – so in general you are

encouraged to do what they didhistorically, and tether the horsebefore getting into a fight.

ChariotsIn this period, the chariot hasvirtually disappeared from Celticmartial life everywhere except inBritain. Here in Britain, the

chariot is the ultimate statussymbol – like owning a Porschemight be today. The Big Chiefsand aspiring chiefs who hadchariots would use them to race,perform stunts, tricks and daringfeats. In battle their job was toshow off in front of the Warbandand illustrate to the enemy howfeeble their charioteers werecompared to them. The chief riding in the chariot would largelydismount to fight (leaving thecharioteer to drive off

somewhere safe until needed),unless they were able tointimidate their enemy to runaway without fighting bycharging towards them at highspeed. [Footnote – this hasprecisely no effect on theRomans who just laughed atthem].When not at war, the chiefswould use them to race, performstunts, tricks and daring feats inorder to raise their standing inthe clan or tribe. A bit like

skateboarders in an urban skatepark.I suspect that Chariots wererarely, if ever used on raiding.They were just not appropriateor particularly useful.However if you want to bring ona Chariot just to show off thenthat’s probably fine.

BRITONS: FIGHTAT THE FARM

Typical RaidingScenarioSituation. A border faming community isthe victim of a raid. At thehamlet are cattle, some freemenfarmers, women and children etcand a few slaves.

A short distance away (off theplaying area) is the roundhouse

of a local Big Chief, whosefarmland this is.

The Defending force must delaythe raiders long enough for thelocal Big Chief to turn up. If theBig Chief turns up, he willobviously wish to drive theraiders off.

Raiding Force:

Big Chief Muradoc of theCatuvellauni and his contingentof 12 Chiefs and 4 slingersObjectives (in priority order)

1. Kill more fighting enemythan Carannix does.

2. Capture cattle and get ithome

3. If possible, take thehead of an enemy Chief,preferably a Big Chief

Big Chief Carannix of theCatuvellauni and his contingentof 12 Chiefs

Objectives (in priority order)

1. Capture slaves and getthem home

2. Kill more fighting enemythan Muradoc does

3. Take the head of anenemy Chief, preferablya Big Chief

Defending ForceHeadman Willix and his family(10 armed but Unarmouredfreemen, 2 slingers)Objectives (in priority order)

1. Survive2. Hold out until Big Chief

Boracix arrives3. Do not lose cattle or

slaves

Big Chief Boracix of theTrinovantes and his contingentof 12 Chiefs, all on horseback.He arrives on turn 10.

Objectives (in priority order)1. prevent the Catuvellauni

from taking slaves andCattle.

2. Take the head of anenemy Chief, preferablya Big Chief

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ACTION CARDS : Print on card and cut out

HEROIC COMBAT

Cannot move contingent –must concentrate on fight

INSPIRE YOURFOLLOWERS

Must be stationary and not ina fight at the time.

SHOUT “ATTACKTHEM”

Your group will charge theenemy you point at.

BATTLE CRY

Your followers will follow youwherever you lead, at their

best speed.

SHOUT AMESSAGE

Cannot be doing anythingelse.

TAKE A HEAD

Cannot be doing anythingelse. Only heads of warriorsyou have killed personally

count.

INSULT YOURENEMY


LISTEN TO AMESSAGE


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