Cards and Banners

Back when I tried to write commercial rules, I was doing a second edition of Blood and Chivalry.

The problems with mediaeval command and control are a tough nut. Too much player control and it's very gamey and hardly historic. Too tight in an effort to simulate the difficulties and the game is no fun and an exercise in blundering forward and rolling dice at each other.

In the first edition (now OOP), the back cover was a set of orders chits to photocopy and cut out. But I still felt it was too easy to issue or change orders.

But then I encountered the Lardy rules with cards for friction and blinds for fog of war. I also wanted to limit the way players could give their troops orders.

My thought was to only let a lord change his orders or micromanage units within his "battle" or division when or if his card came up. If the card for the battle came up first, then the units in it had to follow the last orders given.

To make it easier to identify each battle I came up with the idea to make markers from excess guys holding spears etc upright. Each figure would hold a banner matching the card for the battle. His orientation to the lord's base would also indicate the order that had been given last.

In front of the leader for 'avaunt banners' or attack/advance.
Beside the leader for hold/defend.
Behind the leader for retire.
The heralds were for rally orders.

Individual units would behave accordingly within that limited menu depending upon the specific troop type. Also in the deck were things like "Hesitant Mercenaries" (any mercenaries don't move this turn) "Pillage the Dead" (stop to loot after a successful combat) and the turn ending "Dalliaunce" card, so maybe not all lord's or battles will activate in a turn.

Some good ideas I think, that I'll hang onto.