God's Acre (1974)

Rules for wargames in the Early Medieval Period, 100 -1300 A.D. These rules borrow many of their mechanisms from the Wargames Research Ancients rules. The scale is 1 figure equals 20 men, one inch equals ten yards, and one turn equals approximately 30 seconds of elapsed time. Troop types are classified by armor protection, formation, social order and experience, and weapons. For example, an 11th century Norman knight would be classified as HC (heavy cavalry), Order (slightly loose formation), K (knights, very high on the social/experience scale), and light lance (used overarm, not couched). One interesting aspect of the rules is that it includes a section of guidelines for modifying troop performance based on campaign factors. For example, if troops have force marched, been previously defeated by their opponent, are out of supply, they will suffer minus factors to their die rolls for testing morale, missile fire, and melee resolution. The rules include four pages of army lists that provide sample ratings for troop types by nationality. Despite being almost 40 years old, God's Acre is still a good game system based on solid "Old School" mechanics for miniature gaming.