Chaaaaaaarge!! Mounted Character Rules for Ruckus

 

Chaaaaarge!

-Mounted Character Rules Arrive for Ruckus-

Hi-ho Silver away! Sorry, different genre…

Wargames Illustrated issue 441 contains the Ruckus Mounted rules in an article entitled “My Kingdom for a Horse!” Mounted Characters bring a new aspect to Ruckus, they cover a lot of ground very quicky and they deliver a potentially devastating charge. Players can use their speed and manoeuvrability to overwhelm opponents very quickly.
They add a new page in the Ruckus book of tactics and will no doubt change the way you play your games. You can mount your whole Retinue at no extra cost which may initially seem to be Over Powered, however, there are inherent weaknesses that are not immediately apparent and as with all elements of Ruckus there are risks!

 While providing a swift approach in to melee AND a bonus extra attack AND a reroll AND a negative factor to your opponent’s saving throw (if armed with a Lance) charging on a steed also provides a way for you to lose your steed before the enemy has had a chance to raise a weapon! As in all aspects of this game, to succeed you just need not to roll a one! Ruckus will always offer you a chance to f**k things up! 

While bringing increased speed and more attacking options the close packed, terrain-strewn nature of the average Ruckusian table will limit the usefulness of horses, and will cause problems for them as well as offering protection to your vulnerable Shootists. Regular Jump tests will unseat Riders, particularly the Mounted Retainers who lack the Equestrian skill and a fall from a horse can have serious consequences for the rider

 If your opponent has Archers and is fortunate enough to draw his Hero cards first, it might be that you just don’t get to be where you want to be, as horses are vulnerable to missile fire and are very likely to run away in a random direction when shot. Against an opponent who has Shootists deployed behind an Obstacle, you may find it better to dismount, and seek cover yourself. 

Mounted Characters cannot enter buildings, and so there are scenarios in which Mounted Characters will not be able to reach the Objectives. One tactic might be to force your opponent to Dismount by placing Objectives in buildings

  You can frustrate your Mounted Opponent by occupying areas of Hard Going and defending Obstacles to deprive them of their Charge Bonuses, using Supports where possible to bring in an extra Attack

 Using Mounted Characters brings a lot of advantages but can represent an increased investment of money, time, and effort for the Ruckusteer! Mounting your Retinue don’t come cheap as you will need a dismounted figure for every Mounted Character you use.

 

Future supplements to Ruckus will include new Retinues, some of which will have restrictions to Mounted Characters, limiting then to certain types and there are some Retinues who by default will have all the Characters mounted, such as the Reivers. There will be new Characters who can shoot more effectively while mounted, the Jinetes and Horse Archers for example and some with very powerful charges, those Retinues that feature heavily armoured horses ridden by knights, the French, Burgundian, and German Retinues for example. More Horse Skills will also become available to certain Retainer Profiles and possibly as a fifth Skill Set for Heroes.

Ruckus has been through a lot of changes in its short life. Every game is a playtest, every play a school play, and brings forth new ideas and highlights strengths and weaknesses in the rules. This is equally true for the Mounted Character rules which have been through several transformations. Initially, the Steeds had only one Health but this seemed too weak and, in some games, they dropped like flies, especially when playing against Retinues with Archers. 

Playing HYW French against Rob Squires English was like being at Agincourt. And in one WotR game against Ben Mallet’s dreaded de Lynne faction my horses dropped like they had been machine gunned and was reminiscent of the cavalry charges of WW1! Three of my Characters were dismounted where they deployed and they did not even move!

  The Horses also bolted more easily in the early versions of the rules and further, up to 2D6”. One hilarious incident in a Robin Hood game had the Sherriff of Nottingham bolting three times in one Turn as successive archers shot at him. As he rolled double 6, a 6 and 5 and a 6 and 4 he bolted a total of 33”, in every different direction, was it amusing?

 We were sobbing…

Clearly this was unbalanced and so I came up with the rules that have been printed in Wi 441 in the “My Kingdom for a Horse” article. 

However…

 Playtesting since the article was accepted for publishing has shown that these rules have over compensated somewhat. Horses are less likely to be wounded now and are never killed outright by missiles, this in effect, gives the Rider another Health as the Horse can soak up quite a bit of damage that would otherwise land on the Character. 

 I do think that historically, a single missile was unlikely to kill a horse outright or even cause significant injury, after all, an armoured man and his heavy solid saddle sat over and protected the heart and lungs of the horse, however, for the purposes of game play its far more fun and presents more challenges to have less bullet proof mounts! 

SO…here are two new Horse Casualty Charts, please use these instead of those printed in the article and please do give feedback via the FB page or as comments in my blog or as messages through Lead Adventurers Forum

Mounted combat-Horse Casualties

Addition Characters mounted on Wounded Horses cannot use the Charge or Counter charge Movement Gambit

Use these two new Wounded Horse Tables

These tables I think cut a nice middle path between the original brutal rule and the newer, more forgiving table which will restore balance and add nuance to the game.These new rules will be available as a file to download on the Here's the Ruckus FB page