Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames - a framework for my collections

When I moved to Bristol a couple of years ago I brought quite a few unfinished projects with me spanning a number of historical periods, but I found myself a bit lost in my hobby with no clear direction regarding what I exactly wanted from my plastic hordes. In early 2015 I purchased One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas and was pleasantly surprised to find a very basic set of rules for a number of historical periods. As a former 40k player the sheer simplicity of the rules was a welcome break from counting points and customising individual models with their own special equipment. Instead the rules have just four different categories of unit and army composition is randomly generated (by throwing a d6 and looking on a small chart).

The rules I am looking to use first are for WW2 and the Machine Age (i.e. WW1) so I can field and use my collection of Boer War, Great War, and WW2 units. It is a case of painting up and basing the appropriate number of units to have a game with. Over the past year I have only managed to finish two armies - a late 1800s Colonial British force, and a Boer army to face them, but I haven't got round to playing the Machine Age rules with them. 

I will change Thomas's rules slightly to represent the nature of Boer War fighting - mainly by replacing the "Heavy Infantry" category with Elite Infantry for the British (represented by Scottish kilted infantry) and Pom-Pom Gun Teams for the Boers (giving them some extra firepower against their oppressors). The Gun Teams will bolster Boer firepower in an area of the battlefield by having an increased range and slight damage bonus over normal Boer rifles, but they are vulnerable if not attached to another Boer unit, taking only 10 hits to kill rather than the usual 15. Comparatively the Scots will be able to take more damage than the regulars (20 hits over the usual 15 - "It takes twice as much to kill a Scotsman!") and they will fire a deadlier volley (+ 2 damage when shooting). I will have to play-test the rules and see how they work. The one thing missing in One Hour Wargames is morale and leadership. As I am used to using the Warhammer 40k Leadership tests this might be transferable to the Boer War rules, but I may simplify them further, with a morale test after 2/3 casualties, where a 5-6 enables them to stay in position, a 3-4 has them fall back 2D6" and a 1-2 has them wiped out (not regrouping). I have also made Commander bases to convey leadership bonuses, and am tempted to use these in larger games (no morale tests for units within 12" of the commander, for example).  

I want to write up my Boer War rules as soon as possible on the blog, so stay tuned!

This is the front cover of the Wargames rules: