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The Book Itself
This revised and expanded 3rd edition and 7th printing version of the book has silver covers for front and back, which fits nicely with the chainmail theme. The cover sketch depicts a mounted knight fighting two Saracens and again fits the theme of medieval warfare.
Other sketches in the book depict three more well-drawn pictures of fighting men as well as a rather cartoonish dragon. Overall, the majority of layout and art supports the rules well.
The book is broken down into three different rulesets: medieval warfare, man-to-man conflict (with a subsection on jousting), and fantasy warfare. While each section has its own rules, they all build from the same system, which is a nice touch.
Basically, combat itself in all three systems is resolved by rolling either 1d6 or 2d6 and comparing the result to the appropriate combat chart: Combat Tables or the Man-To-Man Melee Table (and Individual Fires With Missiles). Jousting results are found on the Jousting Matrix and are resolved without dice rolling.
The Fantasy reference table converts fantasy races into equivalent units found on the Combat Tables. The Fantasy Combat Table is used for special monsters like dragons.
Each table takes up only one page, making reference during play easy. Higher results are better and the Fantasy Combat Table adds in the twist that a powerful hero or monster hitting the target number exactly results in the defender being pushed back 1 move.
The Introduction is well written and clearly states the goal of the authors in writing Chainmail which is to simulate as closely as possible the battles that did or could have taken place during the medieval period. The Introduction further explains the pieces and components a would-be wargamer needs beyond the rules themselves including things like miniatures and terrain.
A few spelling errors creep in here and there but considering the book was written without the aid of a computer with a spell checker, it is remarkably low on errors and the layout is easy to follow. Little space is wasted and the tables appear to all be complete.
Rules for Medieval Miniatures
Ratio of scale is explained first, and it is usually 1:20 figures to men. With smaller miniatures, the recommended scale is 1:10. Ground scale is 1” equals 10 yards and one turn of play lasts for one minute of battle.
Two options are provided for turn sequence: either move/counter move or simultaneous movement using written orders. While the simultaneous movement is more cumbersome, it would represent the fog of war very well and result in occasional “accidental” battles as two enemy forces bump into each other unexpectedly as both try to carry out their orders.
As movement happens before combat, a table of terrain effects on movement follows. Rules on movement rates, facing, and fatigue follow.
The next few sections follow the turn sequence and explain missile fire including siege weapons and melee combat. As morale checks may follow from combat, that section comes next.
Optional rules come next including historical units and their rule-related effects as well as the option to include weather effects into the game. Historical organizations range from peasants and knights to Mongols and Japanese troops. In addition, a section on adding army commanders and looting baggage is included. Weather can be determined by a couple of d6 rolls on one table.
The next section of rule covers sieges. The author cautions that this type of battle is challenging to handle. Siege engines and castle defenses are covered ranging from siege towers to boiling oil. The section on breeching a wall and then attacking through that breech brought to mind the Battle of Helm’s Deep.
Almost all of the combat outside of sieges is handled with one chart, yet a vast range of historical units can be placed in the field. This section is well-organized, easy to follow, and even allows for optional rules.
Man-To-Man Combat
Ratio of scale for man-to-man combat is 1:1. These rules can be used for small battles and castle sieges.
The rules used in the preceding section apply with some modifications given for combat. Melee becomes more weapon-centric, with first blows being determined by weapon length (ranging from the dagger all the way up to the pike) or fighting from above. Mounted men, leaders, and Viking berserkers all receive bonuses.
Castle defenders never need to check morale while the attacking army checks after a loss of a third of its army.
A subsection follows on jousting. Resolved without dice rolls, each knight decides on an aiming point (attack) and the position in the saddle (his defense). Aiming points include seven positions on the shield or the opponent’s helm. Position involves the helm, leaning or staying steady, or shield position. Possible results range from a miss to unhorsing an opponent.
An attacker that knocks off his opponent’s helm or unhorses him gains points, but the attacker loses points for breaking his lance. If the knight is injured, he loses points.
This set of rules is easy to use but does not reflect the quality of each knight involved. For wargaming purposes, this option may be sufficient as most tourneys are fought with groups of knights in turn with total points generated determining the winning team.
Suggested point values for units follow. It seems somewhat out of place, but since it applies to both large scale as well as man-to-man battles it makes some sense to place it at the end of both sections.
Fantasy Supplement
This supplement combines medieval wargaming with the fantasy elements depicted by J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert E. Howard. Dungeons & Dragons is suggested for fantasy enthusiasts who want even more options.
Because spectacle is so important in fantasy battles, the rules suggest a 30 mm or 20 mm scale for men (and man-sized figures like wizards and wraiths). A chart provides measurements for fantasy creatures ranging from halflings to dragons in size.
Supplemental rules to the Rules for Medieval Miniatures start with fantastic characteristics of fantasy creatures. In addition to rules effects, each fantasy creature receives a point value. Typical fantasy creatures are included as well as sprites, heroes, wizards, lycanthropes, elementals, and others.
Wizards fight as two Armored Foot or two Medium Horse if mounted but their main ability is casting spells. Each wizard chooses one of two missile attacks to use during the battle, either fireball or lightning bolt. The fireball hits like a large catapult and the lightning bolt like a heavy field gun, killing everything except for a handful of exceptions like heroes and dragons.
Each wizard can also cast a counter-spell and up to seven other spells from a possible list of sixteen spells. Spells range from Conjuration of an Elemental to Moving Terrain. Less powerful wizards are an option as is spell complexity.
Spell complexity requires a wizard to roll successfully before a spell is cast immediately, next round, or not at all. The more powerful the wizard the better his chance to cast a spell.
Heroes are powerful leaders who receive a bonus to hit in combat. Rangers are hero-types with additional bonus to hit. All heroes have a chance to shoot a dragon out of the sky and kill it.
Dragons include the red and blue with further examples detailing black, green, white, and purple. They melee as four Heavy Horse and don’t check morale.
Final sections include magic items, air movement, siege weapons versus fantastic figures, combination (multiclass) figures), fantastic sieges, and alignment (law, neutral, and chaos).
Final Conclusions
Chainmail is truly open-ended, allowing for the use of various sized wargaming tables, choices of terrain ranging from cutout paper to sand tables, and even variations in the size of the miniatures themselves. Whatever miniatures or material the wargamer has on hand can be conscripted into battle, making Chainmail an extremely versatile and user friendly system.
With well-edited rules flavored with medieval and fantasy references, Chainmail hits the mark at providing the means to simulate as closely as possible the battles that did or could have taken place during the medieval period or equivalent fantasy setting.
