Dark Ages One Hour Wargames Rules
using 1/72 Plastic Figures

INTRODUCTION

This is how I wargame the Dark Ages using One Hour Wargaming (OHW) rules and various 1/72 plastic figures. OHW, as the name suggests gives a quick game. 

Many of the 1/72 plastic figures I use were painted quite a while ago which is why you will see a lot of the Revell Anglo-Saxons and Airfix Robin Hood figures going to make up the various armies. There wasn’t much choice back in those days.

By the way I have found the Airfix Robin Hood figures to be incredibly adaptable. I have used them, often with some conversion, to flesh out Ancients, Dark Ages and Medieval armies.

A quick look at the Plastic Soldier Review site will reveal that the Dark Ages is now well covered by plastic figures. So if I were painting up Vikings today I’d be using the Emhar Viking Warriors or Zvezda Vikings figures to do so.

The Dark Age wargaming I do is geographically limited to Britain and Ireland. The historical period is the Viking Age – say 8th to 11th centuries.

OHW RULES MODIFICATIONS

I play One Hour Wargames at a reduced scale which you can read about here.

I use the standard Dark Ages rules with some additional unit types to be able to differentiate between armies more and to inject move “flavour” into games. Because I have developed the army lists for campaigns I don’t use the selection matrix from the rules.

Standard Unit Types

I use the standard unit types as defined in the OHW Dark Ages rules –

• Cavalry

• Infantry

• Skirmishers

• Warbands

In addition I have added 3 new unit types. Measurements are for standard OHW rules.

Light Warband

I have added Light Warband to OHW to reflect a specific tactical style. The idea came from the Addicted to Lead blog where the author defines an “Irish Warband” to reflect the mobile, javelin wielding, and ambushing Irish warrior fighting style. Besides the Irish, I think that Dark Ages Welsh have a similar fighting style. To quote the description of Welsh fighting by Giraldus Cambrensis:

“In war this nation is very severe in the first attack, terrible by their clamour and looks, filling the air with horrid shouts and the deep-toned clangour of very long trumpets; swift and rapid in their advances and frequent throwing of darts. Bold in the first onset, they cannot bear a repulse, being easily thrown into confusion …. they do not display great fortitude in open engagements and regular conflicts, yet they harass the enemy by ambuscades and nightly sallies”

Movement. 9". May enter woods and marsh.

Note: these are the only units that can enter marsh.

Shooting. May fire javelins as per the Shooting procedure.

12” range and shoot at D6-2 hits.

Hand-to-Hand. Fight Hand-to-Hand with no modifiers i.e. D6 hits.

Archers

It might be anachronistic (or maybe not) but I want an option for my Welsh army to include bows. So I have adopted the Archers rule from the OHW Ancient rules but with the Hand-to-Hand ability diminished. You might also consider having an Archer unit in a Viking or Pictish army.

Movement. 6". Woods, marsh, lakes and rivers are impassable.

Shooting. May fire bows as per the Shooting procedure.

12” range and shoot at D6 hits.

Hand-to-Hand. Fight Hand-to-Hand at D6-2 hits.

Rabble

You won’t find Rabble in the Army Lists below but I have included this unit type to represent peasants armed with make-shift weapons. There are occasions in campaigns where I find it useful to represent a rabble.

Movement. 6". Woods, marsh, lakes and rivers are impassable.

Shooting. Rabble do not shoot.

Hand-to-Hand. Fight Hand-to-Hand at D6-2 hits.

DARK AGE ARMY LISTS

These army lists are highly influenced by the DBA v3.0 Army Lists, Neil Thomas' Ancient & Medieval Wargaming and ideas from the Spear To The Strife blog.

All armies have 6 units.

You can see how I’ve put the armies together in the pictures. They may not look 100% accurate but I’ve tried to give each army a distinct look and feel. In my defence: this is the Dark Ages so who is to say for sure what is right?

Generic Units to Use in Multiple Armies

It is not necessary to paint up all the units in any army. A small number of Skirmishers and Cavalry can be recycled through armies particularly if they are painted in a generic style.

November 2023