What does Chainmail do poorly?

[cooper]

I don't play wargames. Chainmail was my first stab at learning one and I love it, but is this love born out of ignorance? Those of you who have some knowledge of other wargames, both old and new could you tell me where Chainmail comes up short? What are it's flaws?

[jacar]

1) Shooting is too strong. Stronger than melee!
2) Gun fire is stronger than bow shooting.
3) Post melee resolution is needlessly complicated.
4) Cannon fire requires a special painted stick.

It is a great game still! Had many hours of fun playing it. When I start up my old school campaign, I plan on using my re-write of the rules for the larger battles.

[cooper]

Interesting. Thank you very much for the response:

1-2) Historically speaking, if gun fire wasn't stronger than bow shooting, why did people abandon the bow for the gun?
3) I havn't looked at the post melee morale resolution in enough detail to comment yet.
4) I think I understand the reason Cannon fire requires a paper towel roll. Some things like fireball, cannons, even poured hot oil over men climbing ladders is not done as, "effects x troops", instead it effects an area on the map in inches and however man troops are in that area, that's how many are effected. What could take the place of the paper towel roll and still have the same effect?

[aldarron]

Oct 26, 2010 12:11:04 GMT -6 cooper said:

Interesting. Thank you very much for the response:

1-2) Historically speaking, if gun fire wasn't stronger than bow shooting, why did people abandon the bow for the gun?

Depends on what bows and what guns and what distance etc. But, generally speaking it takes years to train disciplined, accurate archers cabable of accurately shoting bows (or crossbows) strong enough to penetrate armor. They are expensive. You can put a matclock smoothbore in the hand of a 12 year old schoolgirl and she can kill a knight at 60 yards on her first shot. Cheaper, all the way around. Guns turn rabble into armies.

I posted this link a long while back, www.thortrains.net/armymen/wargames.html but I think you'll find his stuff, and his toy soldiers store interesting. He doesn't go into much detail about CHAINMAIL, his main argument being that it was complicated yet unrealistic.

[jacar]

Regarding the cannon, the stick is painted with alternating colored stripes of various widths...say black and white. If memory serves, you call the color and place the stick. This was to simulate the bounce of the cannon shot. Anything that falls on line with the color you called is killed. The ball would "bounce" out to the range of the cannon so if anything else was in line and fell on a stripe, it was also hit.

Aldarron is spot on with the reason fire arms took over. In the Medieval time, however, they were known as hand cannon...for a reason. They looked like a cannon on a stick. You needed a slow match to fire it. It was horribly inaccurate. However, if you hit, it would go through the best armor.

[arcadayn]

Cooper - when you say "wargames", are you referring to only miniature wargames?

[cooper]

Anything really, heck compare it to Starcraft/Warcraft! What do you have in mind? Risk?