The Age of Rifles system is a fast, low to moderate complexity, brigade-level game of mid-19th century battles, combining a grand tactical perspective (battle strategy, not micromanagement) with a focus on a historically sound use of your units. It is a descendant of the Napoleon's Last Campaigns system, incorporating a modern, fire-based combat system, an interactive chitpull sequence of play, and an orders system. It is intended to provide the feeling that order-based systems of much greater complexity and playing time provide, by omitting tactical detail such as formations and facing. Seen from the other side, it is intended to be "Blue & Gray" but with a historical feel in play.
As with the Napoleonic progenitor, I want to do some new games with the system and I hope to eventually cover all major European battles of the 1848-71 timeframe. However, I also want to be able to provide refits for existing "Blue & Gray" style games and as a result for this page will focus on the American Civil War since that is where a host of games at this level have been published.
The Napoleon rules already had an optional rule for dealing with orders that did not require writing. This time I'm going a different route: the rules are available in two versions, one with written orders, one with orders based on markers. (The latter version will require you to mount more counters so there is a tradeoff.)
There is again a set of basic rules (no chitpulls, simple orders) for those who don't dare dive into all changes right away and want to dip a toe in first.
(Since chitpull may interfere with PBEM games, I have also included an optional rule on how to deal with PBEM.)
Basic Rules: PDF format. Four and a half pages of rules total, plus fire and terrain effects table. No additional counters needed.
Full Rules (PDF Format):
Current version, written orders (Version 0.1.0, August 2007). Nine pages of rules, two of optional rules, plus game
tables and design notes. Modified passages compared to the Napoleonic version are in blue text. See next section below for individual game refits.
Current version, marker-based orders.
Blank order template: PDF format If you want to edit your own initial order files, just start from the Word template for the Napoleonic rules.
PDF Format - usable with all refits
