Free Fantasy Skirmish Rules…

I'm something of a skirmish rule collector these days. Having had a go at designing my own rules and because I've designed a rulebook or two I'm always looking out for something new and different, or something that just catches my eye.

Just after Christmas I discovered the Iron and Honor ruleset by Red Turban Press, which is currently available as a free PDF download – be aware that the file is 30Mb. The idea is that you can use any fantasy models in your collection and include them in an army list here.

I really liked these rules for their simplicity. The basics will be familiar to most wargamers as they use generic 'roll a dice and beat the stat' approach and that's not a bad thing. I feel it makes a perfect 'cover all' set of rules when wanting to play a game with models that won't fit with other game systems, or if you want to play something a bit different. The 'fate' mechanic adds a little bonus to gameplay and a bit of resource management.

The bonus for me though was the crew creation section. You get to choose heroes, companions and followers to make up your warband, each having starting stats with the ability to tweak them slightly, then add in some traits so that each model is an individual.

Anyway, rather than run through the whole thing online, download the Iron and Honor rules yourself and have a good read.