A Quick Look at Swta's War Game Rules

Over at The Wargames Website, Swta (aka Stephen Wicker) posted a link to rules that he is selling. I decided to check them out and post my impressions.

Notes:

• the author has replied to this post. See the comments for his clarifications.
• As of 2/17/22, the author removed his comments but has provided a link to his blog.

First Impressions

• On his YouTube page, Swta offers several sets, but I understand that they are all the same and all cover the period 300 - 1850 AD. This seems a bit misleading so beware.
• The rules come in a 9 page PDF. Six pages are informational tables that aren't needed to play the game. The tables seem like unnecessary padding.
• I found that the paragraph format made finding specific rules difficult. The rules need more bullet points, tables, etc. to streamline reference.

Set Up

Here is the process to get ready for the game.

• Set up a board gridded into a minimum of 32 squares (4 x 8) with additional areas on the flanks and rear.
• As desired, place terrain, which is simply classified as impassable or fortified, which provides bonuses to defenders.
• Place armies of 16 - 24 units in each rear area. Units are designated as veteran or trained. Note - raw and militia are optional.

My board. Hills represent the flank area.
The squares in between are the actual battlefield 

Ordering Units

Now let's jump into gameplay. First, you must order your units.

• On your turn, you select a unit to order, then roll a modified D6 to see if it performs as commanded. Generally, you need a 4 or more to succeed. If you fail, your turn ends. 
• I'm not fond of activation systems where failure is so common and most units don't get a chance to do anything, so I modified the order rules after just a few turns.
• If you do succeed, there are 11 different commands you can issue, although they are all some variation of move or attack.

Movement

• Units may only move to an adjacent space, with diagonals counting as adjacent. Essentially, all units have a movement rate of 1, regardless of troop type.
• Units may move into or from the flank area. This seems to represent flank marches, but it seems too easy to pull off and bypass the enemy line. It also generated some questions. For example, can opposing units both occupy a flank area or do they fight?

Combat

• Units can shoot or attack (melee), but combat resolution seems the same. Roll a modified D6. The result indicates if the attacker or defender retreats, or nothing happens. 
• Like movement, there is no differentiation based on troop type. Medieval knights will melee as well as archers.
• The rules are unclear on what happens if a shooter gets an attacker retreats result. I assume nothing happens but this is not stated.
• To destroy a unit, you must force it to retreat from its rear area. It seems like this will be hard to do because you'll need to get one of your units adjacent to the enemy's rear. You can bombard the rear with artillery, but what about armies without artillery, like my medieval forces?

Victory

There is only one victory condition - destroy all your enemy's units. 

OK, I got this wrong. You just need to get all your enemy's units to retreat to the rear area or destroy them.

No army morale or scenarios with different objectives.

Final Thought

• One poster on TWW called the rules a "toolbox" and I have to echo this sentiment. There are some interesting ideas such as flank and rear areas and supported units (which I did not discuss). Nevertheless, I feel there are too many gaps, such as troop type differentiation. Note - I'm specifically referring to differentiation between infantry and cavalry.