Axemen and Allies

The Rules

Background: These rules are intended to be used for a fun and easy fantasy/Medieval version of Axis and Allies, to be played on a game table at a convention, using miniatures. Right now I just have a few very basic troop types in place, for play-testing. I'll be adding more types as we work out the kinks. The Game Table: The game table is usually of green felt. 8 feet by 6 feet is a good size. Use tape (colored is best) to mark off the game table into irregular-shaped areas. Use blue tape to denote rivers. You can also use small pieces of tape to write the names of the each area. Types of Areas: Clear: No special properties City: Worth tax points. Denote by a group of houses in the area. Castle: Worth tax points, and defensible. Troops defending a castle area suffer only 1/2 hits, rounded down. Represent a castle by a walled city area, etc. Rough: Costs more to move through, some troops are at a disadvantage. Represent rough areas by trees or hills. Sample 8' X 6' game table layout for a game. Troop Types: You can use 25mm or 15mm troops. Using stands for convenient groups of figures is fine; make sure you have some smaller groupings, or casualty rings, available. The current troop types are as follows: Knights Mounted Sergeants Foot Knights Spearmen Archers Game Setup: At the start of the game, give each player his starting forces and the areas that make up his "nation". Victory and setup conditions may vary, but usually a good condition is the first player to start his turn with 3X the tax base as he had at the start of the game is suitable. Each player writes down his setup, then all players place their troops on the table. Roll dice or draw cards to determine the first player to move. Play proceeds counter-clockwise around the table from there each turn until the game ends. You may wish to set a time limit on movement for each player. Sequence of Play: Each player in turn is the "active" player. All the others are "passive". Here are the actions for each turn: All players in order place the troops they bought at the end of last turn, or place unspent money. Each active player in turn moves all desired troops and fights combats. After all players have moved and done combat, all players collect taxes for the towns and castles they control. Unspent money must be placed on the table. It may be moved by any troops or left in place. If its area is captured, the capturing player gets the money. Troops bought with that money must be placed in that area. Troop Capability Table: This table shows the movement, combat "to hit" scores, movement rates etc. for all troop types. Troop Type Cost Movement Pts/Turn Hit On Notes Knights 6 2 3-6 -1 to hit if in rough 2 dice to hit vs. infantry-only enemy force, in a non-castle clear area (incl. cities). Mtd. Sergeants 4 4 4-6 -1 to hit if in rough 2 dice to hit vs. infantry-only enemy force, in a non-castle clear area (incl. cities). Foot Knights 3 2 4-6   Spearmen 2 2 5-6   Archers 2 2 6 2 free shots before start of combat, passive side, then active side. Combat: To conduct combat, move one or more of your troops into an area containing troops of another player. If you enter an enemy-occupied area, your movement ends with those troops and you must fight. When troops strike or shoot, roll one six-sided die (D6) per figure. If the score is in the "hit on" range, then one hit has been done to an enemy figure. The player taking hits may remove any desired figures, one figure per hit. If you enter such an area, you must attack. Combat continues until one side's troops have all been wiped out. The attacker is the active player who moved into the area. The defender is the passive player whose troops were in the area. Combat rounds proceed as follows: Shooting: Before "melee" combat rounds start, the defender may make two free shooting strikes with any archers he has in his force. The attacker removes his losses from these hits, and may then take two free shots back at the defender. The defender removes his losses from these attacks, and play proceeds to melee combat. Each melee round, each player rolls for each of his troops, scoring a hit if the die score is high enough (see the capabilities chart above). Hits are simultaneous each round. Melee rounds continue until one side has been wiped out. Both sides must strike or shoot with all their troops every round. Terrain Effects: Rough: Knights and mounted sergeants get a -1 to hit if in a rough area. It costs two movement points to enter a rough area. Rivers or Mountain passes: Troops who moved across a river or mountain pass into an enemy area get a -1 to hit on their first round of shooting and/or melee combat. You may need to group these troops separately if you are attacking from several directions. There is no additional movement cost to cross a river or move through a pass. Castles: Troops defending in a castle area cut their hits each round by half, rounded down (for example, 3 hits are rounded down to 1 hit). Mountains: Mountains may divide areas, running along the edges of the areas. Mountains are impassable except by mountan passes. Controlling Cities and Castles: You control a city or castle if you are the last one to occupy it with troops or move through it. If it is undefended, you get it at once. Players should be given markers to show which city-type areas they control. The markers in Kingmaker are ideal for this. Miscellaneous Rules: There is no limit on how many troops may occupy an area. Optional Rules: Leaders: Mounted knights act as leaders. A force must have a mounted knight present in order to move. Pro-rate movement if the leader must move to join a force (e.g. it costs half a turn for footmen to move one clear area).