Well, that's what I hope. I have an article in Wargames Illustrated 460 (April 2026), entitled 'Too Many Rules?'. In it I argue that there aren't really too many rules, as having lots of rules is, and has always been, part of the hobby. We're a creative bunch and the process can't be stopped, even if we wanted to.
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However, there's no denying that having lots of rules, and having more coming out all the time, can create some issues. I'm sure you will be aware of many of them, and I run through these issues in the article. I also consider how they might be mitigated, and making rules cheaper is, to me, an obvious way to help things along.
The internet provides a wealth of information on available rule sets, including reviews and examples of play, but sometimes there's no substitute for buying a set and trying them out. However, doing a taste test between 3 sets of rules can be problematic if they cost £30 or more a pop. That's maybe a hundred quid gone before you even make your mind up. How much easier it would be if rules cost less than £20 - or even better if you can get them for less than £10. How about £5? Well, in my ongoing quest for new WW2 sets I have recently got hold of 2 very interesting rule books for £5 each. How can that be?
My first success was a few months ago. We had been playing Rapid Fire! Reloaded at the Cirencester club, and I found that the standard printed edition of these rules does indeed retail at £5. Now, I'm not entirely convinced by these rules, as some of the mechanics don't really suit me, but you can have a fun evening game with them. Of course, stuff like OOBs and scenarios aren't included, but get this - all that stuff can be downloaded from the Rapid Fire! website for free, even the info I need for my 1939 Poland games. There is a supplement, Rapid Fire! Reloaded Extra, which gives additional rules for stuff like amphibious landings and parachute attacks, and this little booklet is also just £5. Brilliant.
My other find was more recent, just a few days ago. On one of my trawls through the internet, up came a WW2 rulebook called Iron Cross. Now these date from 2015, and I think I've come across them before, but this time I took a better look and liked what I was hearing in the online reviews. So I checked out the Great Escape Games website and found that the PDF version was currently available at just £5. As you can imagine, within 10 minutes a copy of the rules was on my desktop. Another very interesting and original set, especially the activation mechanism. And also some initial reservations (for example, off-table artillery only features in a preparatory barrage), but this is definitely a set I want to try out.
Rapid Fire Reloaded is a 15 page softback book, by the way. The Iron Cross rules are just 33 pages. This is what I'm talking about - we need more, much more, like this. Of course, this kind of thing doesn't suit companies like Warlord Games or (I must admit) Partizan Press, the latter of course being the publishers of Shadow of the Eagles. Even private publishers like Barry Hilton's League of Augsburg love the big coffee table books - Beneath the Lilly Banners 4th edition currently retails at £35 (and has 180 pages). I guess it's all about profit margins, or maybe in Barry's case he just likes big, colourful books. But these are not what the hobby needs right now. If we're to have more rules, let's have more cheap and simple rules.
Another great example here is Valour & Fortitude, which most of you will be familiar with. A totally free, well supported, 15 page set of rules for the horse and musket period. Very popular and a good set of rules.
And now let's turn to those lovely guys at Little Wars TV. They have produced a couple of short, simple and cheap tabletop game rulebooks themselves, Age of Hannibal (ancients) and Live Free or Die (AWI). Both have short page counts, and can be bought in PDF format for about £12 and £10 respectively. Even the printed copy of Live Free or Die is only £15. And LWTV have free rules also available from their site, like Ravenfeast (Dark Age skirmish), or Ruthless (Wild West gunfight). Check out the situation HERE.
But LWTV have something even better comming soon. They are creating an online free rules library which should be live in a month or so. Yes, a whole bunch of existing free rules on a separate site called Wargames Library. Check out their video here. Can't wait to see it - and I may well upload a couple of free games to the library myself.
It's really interesting (and frustrating) to see these two sides of rules availability co-existing in our hobby. The bloated (IMHO), full colour, expensive hardback coffee table book, vs. the free or cheap short and simple rules. The latter don't have be dull, black and white publications. Both the £5 sets I have already mentioned are full colour and feature good graphic design. And simple and short doesn't mean dull rules either - I have looked into or played every simple set I have mentioned in this post, and their gameplay is just as interesting, or sometimes more interesting, than the big books.
Rules that are designed to be short, simple and inexpensive will make choosing between rules that much easier - with a much reduced barrier to entry, you can purchase a few sets and compare and contrast. And you won't fill your bookshelves (or block up your wargames table) with A4, hardcover blockbusters. Let the revolution begin.
'Til next time!
P.S. - the promised post on my continuing Airfix Nostalgia project will be next.
