An age of sword & arrow - free rules looking for playtesters!

Over the past couple of months I've been in touch with Tyler Bembenek, a fellow member of the WWPD.net forum, who is currently spending one summer working on a research project for the College of William and Mary. Tyler is taking an unorthodox approach to his task and decided to put together a miniature wargame that may be used to teach about history and warfare during the middle ages.

The rules which have already gone through rewrites are highly playable at this point and having read them they seem to blend both smooth gameplay and good tactics. It's also a game that uses a points system to build armies and will thus allow players to build matching forces if they so wish - or at the very least give them an idea of the strength proportions between them.

Personally I found the traits for generals one of the most interesting aspects, as it reminded me of the Total War series for PC. As it turned out Tyler too was a Total War fan and shared my liking for the traits that generals in that game could accumulate in battle or in between campaigns. Feats of bravery or laziness were soon making their mark on generals, which in turn added variables on the battlefield - such as increased morale, greater endurance, or the direct opposite. This minor role-playing aspect is present in An age of sword and arrow and should offer some fun for those who like this sort of thing, but can also be ignored if you think it isn't your cup of tea.

The game is based around 6-15mm miniatures grouped on bases and using D10 to resolve combat situations. Latest version of the rules included all types of ranged and close combat weapons, tactical modifiers and rules for terrain. In fact the rules are as good as finished, the only thing left to do for Tyler is to expand the beta testing of the game outside of his local group.

This is where Tyler hopes that you guys could help out if you are interested and have armies for the period. The rules are 100% free and can be downloaded on Tyler's website. I really recommend checking them out, being his very first attempt at writing rules they are both very clear and very well put together! And if you do, give him the courtesy of some feedback, he'll be more than happy to listen.

His site has numerous resources for download, besidet the rulebook you will also find army lists for both biblical and dark ages armies. I can't recommend this enough, so check it out HERE