Conquerors and Kings (1999)

Conquerers and Kings is a set of ancient rules based on the "square bashing" grid system pioneered by the "Rules for the Common Man" team. The "square bashing" system, as it has been named, is a departure from normal miniature systems in that it imposes a seven by five square grid over the battlefield. This grid affects movement and combat - doing away with tedious millimeter measurements and allows the player to focus on maneuvering his units and rolling the dice. Squares can be either open (no impediment to movement) or closed (terrain impedes movement). Troops are organized into units, and graded according to type (close order foot, open order foot, close order mounted, etc), quality (elite, veteran, trained, levy), and armor. The basic system is for units roll a number of dice (number determined by the abilities of the unit) to hit, and defenders roll dice to save the hits (if they have armor). Each unit may have up to four "hit points". The rules are published in a 36 page binder, and contains army lists for Sumer to the Mognols. In addition to the usual rules for terrain, movement, and combat, C&K distinguishes itself by adding rules for the "setting" of the battle, by including pre-battle effects such as seizing key features on the battlefield prior to the battle, ambushes, and losing troops prior to the battle for various reasons.