http://irregularmagazine.com/

We have a jam-packed issue this month with some excellent articles and tutorials. We have an article looking at the new D8 RPG Sins, which began life at Patriot Games, written by the lead developer of the project. We also have another behind the scenes article, this time looking at the Abney Park’s Airship Pirates RPG, focusing on the artwork for the game with an interview of some of the artists involved.

There are two tutorials this month; a seasonal guide to snow basing with Dave Barker, and the first of a series of articles by Alex Garbett focusing on terrain for spaceship wargaming. The first will look at making planets. There are plenty of reviews, a new instalment of Tuk Tuk, wargaming articles and the usual plethora of written material in yet another bumper edition of the magazine.

Stalingrad 1942

A Call to Arms: Star Fleet

Sins Development Part 1

Advanced Fighting Fantasy

Tuk Tuk

Artist Showcase: Lucillia Lischetti

Blast from the Past- Mordhiem

Airship Pirates

Snow Bases

Planets, celestial bodies and space stations

Polemos S.P.Q.R

Conquest of Nerath

Discworld – Ankh-Morpork

Magic the Gathering – Innistrad

Revenge of the 47 Ronin

The Kerberos Club – FATE Edition

Ride Around Missouri – Shelby’s Great Raid 1863

City of Haven

The city of Haven is the epitome of what is right with the world, but it does have its dangerous spots. All in all, however, it is a very safe and interesting place to live. The city is growing both physically and spiritually with new technologies being invented on a daily basis. The city authorities and police force are doing their best to make sure that the people of Haven get to live in a safe and clean environment. The organized crime syndicates and secret organizations hide in the shadows that are cast by the twin illuminations of moral standards and civic responsibility. The people do not fear to walk the streets at night, scandal is almost unheard off and your private life is your own. The Empire City is the city of the future. The Haven: City of Bronze Campaign setting provides you with all the information that is needed to start you adventuring in Haven in the Neo-Pulp age.

War of Bronze

For the second time in the century, the flames of war engulf the world. In every corner of the earth, on the battlefield and in the shadows, powers old, new and unfathomably ancient jockey for control of mankind’s destiny – whatever portion survives, anyway. Russia is torn with civil war, England and America fight a cold war for superpower status, a young Kaiser-to-be dreams of rebuilding German power, Japan pounces on the Imperial powers in the Pacific, the Ottoman Empire battles rebels armed with prehuman secrets, a sinister secret society of bankers and scientists fights a shadow war with an ruthless Communist conspiracy, and much more. This sourcebook sets up worldwide warfare in the Haven: City of Bronze D20 setting.

A Pulp style RPG background that could just as easily be used for a wargame background, especially with all the great Pulp, WW1 and WW2 miniatures out there.

The initial preview book is free to download from RPGnow.com (http://lpjdesign.rpgnow.com/product_…id=28527&it=1?) and for the next couple of weeks most of the supplements and the actual campaign book are mostly $1 each, which is well worth the price.

http://lpjdesign.rpgnow.com/index.php?cPath=1308_574

Possible Miniatures

My first port of call is Copplestone Casting (http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/), this company has a good selection of suitable miniatures everything from gangsters through to high adventure. The quality of these miniatures is always excellent I have plenty of these in my Very British Civil War Army, plus several for random Pulp themed games.

The next stop is Pulp Figures (http://www.pulpfigures.com/), these are specifically designed for Pulp themed games, and well worth a look.

Artizan Designs (http://www.artizandesigns.com/list.php?man=12&page=1) produce a range called Thrilling Tales which are suitable for Pulp, and I must admit I have quite a few of these as well. They are nicely sculpted and well cast.

Brigade Games (http://www.brigadegames.com/) has a few interesting miniatures lines for the pulp era. The 28mm Adventurers are of course the first choice, with female adventurers and a “Stealth Squad” in dustcoats and body armour.

Well hopefully that wets your appetite.

So how do we build a cheap army, well the obvious choice is to go tiny, and I mean tiny, such as 6mm, but I find this scale a little too small, and it can still work out reasonably pricey, especially if you go towards the better end of the 6mm market. I mean just because I want to game on the cheap shouldn’t mean I buy a unrecoognisable lump of lead, that’s supposed to be a medieval knight, but looks like a snot drop from a metal elemental.

So what’s the alternative? 1/72 plastic scale is the answer, its cheap you get quite a lot in a box. For instance I bought some Greek Hoplites a couple of month back before my mini ban for £4 , which contained 60 figures, which I plan to build into three units of 20. Which in my humble opinion is rather cheap, the only problem with the 1/72 scale or 20mm is that some of the producers of this range are, well to be honest crap quality. Though there are some excellent producers, with some finely sculpted minis.

The Plastic Soldier Review site (http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Index.aspx) is a great place to check out the quality of the sculpts. Most manufacturers are included on the site with macro images of the minis, this gives a good indication of which ones are worth investing in. Personally I prefer the following ranges; Hat, Caesar Miniatures and Zvezda. There are some others of excellent quality.

So how cheap is it to purchase an army, well I have 300 Spartans, which cost me less than £30, in WAB terms this is around 1500-2000 points, give or take a few pts. Which is a really cheap way of buying an army, in 28mm a 2000 pts is going to cost you quite a significant amount of cash.

Well I hope that was helpful to all of you out there that are trying to game on a budget.

Issue 10 Cover Art

In our tutorial section we have a guide to painting a space ship from the Firestorm Armada range from Alex Garbett. In RPG we take a look at the current possible apocalyptic scenarios. The community section is packed with an abundance of great articles, including a showcase with the cover artist of issue 9, David North, as well as a report on IMP 2011 show. Nick Johnson looks at building a theme deck for the Legend of the Five Rings CCG and Dave Barker looks back at the Fighting Fantasy books with fond memories of playing them. We also have another great short story from Taylor Holloway, plus plenty of more great reviews, more Tuk Tuk from Will Kirkby, news and much much more.

Starting this issue is a new painting challenge – each issue we will run a miniature painting challenge in conjunction with Sheffield Irregulars. The challenge will based on the theme of the magazine, and the results will be published in the following issue. The winner will receive a prize each time. More details can be found inside the current issue.

http://irregularmagazine.com/latest-issue/

The British Government and military back in London were over-stretched elsewhere in small wars throughout the Empire, and they didn’t want nor could afford another war. The problem was that Sir Henry Bartle Frere and soon to be Lord Chelmsford, Lt.General Frederic Thesiger had decided that the only way to achieve their objective was to remove the Zulu power base, with military action. They knew they couldn’t get a war against the Zulus sanctioned by the government back in London. Instead, they decided to use the advantage of distance and the time it took for any communication to travel that distance to their advantage. They set in motion military action that would force the hand of King Cetshwayo.

Frere and Chelmsford used a minor border infraction to summon the Zulu ruling elite to a commission, where they presented an ultimatum which they knew he would refuse. One of the major points was to disband the Zulu army, which would never be accepted, because Zulu society was built upon a warrior culture. When Cetshwayo refused they insisted that he and the Zulu nation presented a danger to European colonists in Natal, and that an invasion by the Zulus was inevitable. Thus they would need to take military action to prevent this.

Chelmsford invaded Zululand with three columns and left two behind to defend Natal and Transvaal. Chelmsford assumed that the Zulu army would fight like all other African nations and would be unwilling to fight a pitched battle. He hoped that by taking a large force into Zulu territory this would force and encourage Cetshwayo to surrender.

Chelmsford crossed the Buffalo river ford at Rorke’s Drift on the 11th January, on the 22nd Chelmsford spilt his forces taking over 3,000 of the 5,000 troops he crossed the river with, chasing what he presumed was the Zulu army. At Isandlwana he left nearly 1,800 troops under the command of Colonel Durnford. Chelmsford would continue pursuing what he perceived to be the main Zulu army, even after reports proved otherwise.

Colonel Durnford was in charge of the camp at Isandlwana, in response to confused reports regarding Zulu troop movements, he sent out mounted troops, who stumbled upon a Zulu impi of 20,000 troops a mere five miles away from the camp at Isandlwana. Reports were sent to Chelmsford of the Zulu impi, but they were ignored.

At 8am Zulu’s were reported on the high ground; messengers’ were dispatched to Chelmsford, but he would not deviate from his original plan of action, convinced the report was over exaggerated and that he was following the main Zulu force.

The Zulu impi attacked the camp at Isandlwana using the encirclement tactic known as Impondo Zenkomo (Buffalo Horns). An hour later, with the camp close to being overrun, Chelmsford received word of the attack, A Colonel Harness, under Chelmsford’s command, acted upon his own initiative and dispatched a small force of infantry and artillery in support of Isandlwana, but before it had moved a mile Chelmsford had ordered it to return to it’s original orders.

The Buffalo Horns were used to trap the British and by 3pm the Zulu’s had captured the camp at Isandlwana. Due to Chelmsford’s incompetence, over 1,350 of the original 1,750 camp members were killed. Once the ammunition within the British camp was exhausted, the Zulus swarmed over the British troops. It was then down to bloody close quarter combat, which was all over very quickly. A bloody short battle that was in the favour of the Zulu warriors, it was down to bayonet versus the spear, once that had happened in was in the favour of the Zulu army. The 20,000 strong Zulu army had decimated a force of British of which only 581 were professional regulars. Though until the troops had run out of ammunition they had inflicted heavy losses on the attacking Zulu’s, but it was all over once the Zulu impi closed with the British.

On the same day Zulu reserves attacked Rorke’s Drift, the men of B company 2nd battalion 24th Foot under the command of Lt. Chard (Royal Engineers) and Lt. Bromhead (24th Foot) held out for 12 hours of continuous rifle fire. 140 men, of whom only 81 were fighting fit, held out against over 3,000 Zulu warriors.

In the aftermath of the battle Chelmsford conducted a cover up with the help of Queen Victoria, as Chelmsford was a favourite of the Queen’s. He desperately tried to bury evidence of his incompetence that proved he was at fault. He also propagated the myth that the troops were short of ammunition at Isandlwana, and placed a great deal of blame on Durnford for the disaster, who died defending the camps centre.

Both the British government and Chelmsford used the defence of Rorke’s Drift to distract the people of Natal and Britain from the disaster at Isandlwana. Its importance was over-exaggerated by the military and politicians, both in London and South Africa.

Several soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions at Rorke’s Drift, in total 11 were presented to surviving soldiers. Most of the lower ranks who were awarded the Victoria Cross died broken and penniless. Chelmsford was promoted to a full General, along with being appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London, and he eventually died in 1905 aged 78.

When news of Isandlwana reached London there was a public and political outcry, and reinforcements were dispatched to deal with the Zulu crisis. With reinforcements on the way Chelmsford reorganised his forces and planned to re-enter Zululand with the determination of eradicating the Zulu threat. On the 29th March the British repulsed an attack on their camp at the battle of Khambula, the aftermath of the attack showed that the Zulu impi was demoralised and this paved the way for the second invasion of Zululand.

Cetshwayo sought terms after Khambula, but the British wanted unconditional surrender, which Cetshwayo and his people wouldn’t accept. Cetshwayo made a last stand at the battle of Ulundi on the 4th July 1879, but the Zulu nation was defeated. In the aftermath the Zulu lands were broken up into 13 separate kingdoms, all of which were given to pro-British Africans to oversee. Cetshwayo was captured and sent into exile.

A campaign could be built around the that question, in which the first wave of German military are paratroopers, followed by beach landings. The possibilities are endless and the scenarios numerous, but an alternative campaign setting needn’t be restricted to the 2nd world war, any period can be used as a possible alternative setting. Such as the Imperial Roman military might marching to conquer ancient China, or just making the existence of magic real in the ancient world.

Tiger Tabk

In the last couple of years alternative settings have become extremely popular, especially with campaign settings around the 2nd world war, both leading up to it and during. A very popular growing setting is A Very British Civil War, set in 1930’s Britain, surrounding the abdication of the King. In real life the king abdicated, in the setting he doesn’t and this leads to a civil war, with various factions all fighting for control of the country. Much more mainstream and popular settings are those set during the war, based on the Nazi’s obsession with the occult. In the setting they discover a way to harness the power of the occult. This sees the war take a different turn, with demons, vampires, zombies and advanced technology. Lets face it anything with zombies will be popular, and these are Nazi zombies.

Though you don’t have to purchase into a background, as there are plenty of good resources on the net and they’re not all set in and around the 2nd world war, which is quite popular at the moment. There are plenty out there for free, which is always a good thing, and these delve into other areas of history. Also you could always develop your own alternative background, which could be developed with the armies and periods you already own. A possible idea could be an invasion of England by France during the Napoleonic period. A good jump off point may be the invasion of Fishguard in Wales in 1797, though in reality this invasion was a dismal failure for the French, you could decide that they manage to get a foot hold, which leads to a massive invasion of French forces.

Thin Red LIne

I’m going to look at some of the current alternative backgrounds available commercially and those which are free out on the internet.

A Very British Civil War

A very British civil war is an alternative history setting based around the abdication of King Edward VIII. In the setting it assumes that he didn’t abdicate, and this in turn sets in motion a civil war in Britain. The background is centred around the idea of wargames played with small companies of soldiers who represent factions and locals, who many assume if history had unfolded in this manner.

AVBCW doesn’t have a set of rules to play by, this is left to the players, allowing them to use a set they are already familiar with. Its become very popular over the last 12-18 months. The reason for this is the organic nature of the background, players have the ability to input their take ideas on how the background should develop. I myself shaped and developed the initial flavour of the conflict in Cornwall. This has now been developed and nurtured by other players on Gentlemen’s Wargame Parlour. Its also that element of being set in our own backyard and the ability to fight battles and skirmishes in our own towns, cities and villages which make this an interesting and fun game to play.

There’s the fun aspect of developing of new units, adding local flavour to them, being able to add fun local flavour to the background as well is a great aspect of this game. I decided to make druidry the main religion of the Cornish Nationalists, with druids joining units and factions within the nationalists. The reason being that a druid society was created during the 1930’s in Cornwall, plus I thought this would be a fun aspect to the Cornish. There is basically no restrictions to how you develop your game or factions.
More information can be found at the following websites;

www.solwaycraftsandminiatures.com
www.wargamesp.18.forumer.com

1588 and All That (Spanish Invade England)

English Pike

This is an alternative background developed by Tim Eagling over at the website www.spiritofthegame.org.uk. Set in Elizabethan England, during the period of the great Armada and the question. What would have happened if the Spanish had invaded England? it’s a period sandwiched between two hugely popular gaming periods, The War of The Roses and the English Civil War. The period of 1588, is a period of transition in war and weapons, it’s the switch from Medieval Europe through to the early modern period. It also comes after climatic change and in the wake of the black death.

Had the Spanish landed in England it would have been an interesting period in history. There was no trained standing army in England, the trained bands in the counties varied from each other. Though there would have been thousands of men, mainly peasants, equipped and ready to fight, though they would have varied in training and competency. The trained bands were provided by each of the counties, and this meant that a trained band could get held up if required at a national level.

It was during this period that saw the decline in the use of the longbow, is was slowly being replaced by the forerunner of the musket. This was a weapon that was easier to supply and train troops to use, where as the longbow required years of training to become competent in its use. The longbow would have still featured heavily on the battlefield still, it was also during this period that soldiers started to loose their armour, which made the use of the longbow more devastating.

So could the Spanish have conquered England if they had managed to invade? The Spanish would have faced problems with supply lines between mainland Spain and England. This could be a very interesting alternative history  to explore. It allows the use of both longbow and early muskets/handgun’s. Though best of all its completely free..

More information can be found at;

www.spiritofthegame.org.uk

Another alternative history idea would be one that looks at the recent riots, developing a storyline that sinks Britain into a modern civil war. The Falklands war has the potential to be used as a alternative backdrop. What would have happened if the war had escalated and Britain was forced to invade Argentina? What would have been the consequences and how would the rest of South America reacted?

Russian Infantry WW2

The possibilities are endless which is why alternative history gaming can be an interesting and fun to play.

Redruth in Cornwall has become a stronghold for socialist factions but overall control has been sought by two factions, Redruth Redcoats and Redruth Socialist Brigade (Redshirts). Until now, this infighting has only been shown through political means, debates and rallies. Now its turned ugly with small skirmishes breaking out.

The Redshirts have made a direct challenge for overall command of Redruth and all socialist factions in the surrounding area. This was been spurred on by the advice of the Russian military advisers attached to the Redshirts. They advised the command of the Redshirts that the socialist factions needed to be commanded by one group/commander if they were to make any significant advance towards a socialist-led Cornwall.

Early skirmishes have been nothing more than street fights after political rallies and speeches. These have been  mainly led by younger members of opposing factions and have been nothing more than scuffles. That was until the skirmish following the speech made by a local right wing socialist, Alfred Penversey, who advocated direct military action against the Redshirts. He indicated they were merely puppets of their Russian masters. What happened has gone down in history as the battle for Penryn Street.

Redruth Redshirts (Socialist Brigade)

This faction has backing from Russia and as a result they have been able to equip themselves very quickly with modern weapons and equipment. Their uniform is brown with a red shirt or jacket, hence the name Redshirts. They have suddenly become a potent force within the South West, which is troubling the Kernow faction and the Royalists in Cornwall.

They have developed links in South Wales and further north. It is believed by Royalist agents that members from the Free Liverpool state, along with two former Russian officers, are training them in urban warfare. They have also built a smuggling operation between Redruth and Ireland.
So far they have set up operations in Redruth taking control of the town and have implemented defences. They also send out patrols on a regular basis in the countryside around Redruth, clashing in small skirmishes with Royalist and British Union of Fascists (BUF) supporters.

The Battle of Penryn Street

A small group of Redshirt supporters attended the speech by Alfred Penversey. During the speech they jeered and shouted abuse at Mr. Penversey and this provoked some of the younger members attending to engage in scuffles. It was when Alfred accused the Redshirts of being Russian puppets that a shot rang out. No one was injured, but following this a group of teenage supporters charged the area where the shot had sounded from.

As the teenagers charged into a group of Redshirt supporters two further gun shots were heard. Suddenly the scuffle broke apart as two teenagers were shot – one was on the floor dead with a bullet hole in his head, while the other had been hit in the shoulder. After the initial shock and pandemonium had broken out, there were shouts for the murderer to be hung. The Redshirts crowded around the shooter, but as the lynch mob moved closer to them the shooter fired in their general direction. Slowly they backed down the street as more supporters came to aid both sides.

It seemed that the incident might end there as the two sides didn’t seem to want to clash. Then a petrol bomb was thrown towards the Redshirts from the socialists side. It was at this point that fighting broke out. The local socialists have always claimed that they didn’t throw the petrol bomb and suspicions have always been that the Redshirts had engineered the situation to topple over into a full-blown military conflict.

Once the news had spread across the town that the Redshirts had killed a boy, socialists and non-socialists flocked to the side of the local faction. Soon fully armed faction members on both sides were arriving. Gunshots could be heard across the town as the battle for Penryn Street began. It raged for roughly three hours with several people killed and injured. The better armed Redshirts gained control of the situation and this gave them sufficient excuse to declare the commanders of the opposition criminals.

They quickly acted on the victory of Penryn, by declaring martial law in Redruth and taking command of the town. Other local factions either sided with the Redshirts or declared against them.

After Penryn Street

With the town now under martial law, the Redshirts slowly locked Redruth down looking for various faction commanders and those who they knew would give them trouble.

The Thresweld Siege

One such person was a local former military officer and current police sergeant William Thresweld. He had been informed that some Redshirts were on their way to arrest him, so armed with a rifle and pistol, he holed himself up at his house waiting for them. As one of the Redshirts approached the building, William killed him with a head shot. He then fired four shots from his pistol at the group of Redshirts standing in the street hitting a further two. The remaining members quickly took cover and sent for assistance. William held them off for several hours until a well-armed group of Redshirts, under the command of Arthur Garrity, stormed the house under the cover of machine gun fire. Once inside the house Garrity was killed at close range by William before William himself succumbed to a hail of small arms fire.

Portreath

In Portreath, an unauthorised smuggling operation was being carried out, supplying arms to the socialist factions in Redruth and Camborne area. The authorities and BUF got wind of the operation. A Royalist infantry company, along with a section of BUF were sent in to shut the smugglers down.

A small unit of socialists had been stationed in Portreath to aid the smugglers. They intercepted the Royalists. The socialists managed to capture an officer and senior member of the BUF. Falling back to a small public house with the captured personnel, a stand-off ensued between the Royalists and socialists around the pub. This gave the smugglers time to disappear along the coast and avoid capture.

Whilst this was going on, some of the Portreath locals had armed themselves and organised a small attack on the BUF, who had taken it upon themselves to set up base in the local police station. A small skirmish broke out between the locals and BUF resulting in several deaths, mainly among the locals.

The Royalists decided to try and storm the Public House. The initial attack was unsuccessful and one of the hostages was killed in the process. The Socialists then tried to force their way through the besieging royalists using the surviving BUF hostage. This tactic worked until the BUF commander shot his own man who was being used by the socialists as a human shield. Then all hell broke loose and all sides opened fire. The intense fire fight lasted no more then 30 minutes and resulted in numerous deaths.

The Royalists had failed to shut the smuggling operation down, but they were now in control of Portreath. The smugglers moved their operation to Porthtowen.

Camborne

With Redruth in the hands of the Redshirt Brigade, a core element of other local socialist factions relocated to Camborne, setting up a headquarters there. This leaves a stand-off between  the Redshirts and rival socialist factions. The area between Redruth and Camborne has become a no man’s land being fought over in small skirmishes.

This has allowed elements of the BUF to slowly move into the area setting up small bases of operation. Their prime task is to infiltrate the local population and create more chaos. Their prime goal is the destruction of all socialist factions without becoming embroiled in the local conflict. The hope is that the socialists will destroy themselves without the BUF having to do much and not be seen as the hand that wielded the axe. The intention will be to move into the area in the aftermath and restore order and stability.

Methodists Faction

During this period another faction rose within the boarders of Cornwall, the Methodists. No longer able to tolerate the rise of the BUF and the Druid-led Kernow factions, they decided to act against this intolerance and paganism. They also wanted to bring about prohibition within Cornwall, banning the demon drink and closing down all public houses. This, their prime goal, is something they’ve managed to do around the area of Helston and Hayle. They have modelled themselves along similar lines as the Anglican League, mobilising several small units within the southern area of Cornwall.

A leading figure within the faction, Thomas Trevellian, saw the incident at Redruth as an opportunity for the Methodists to make their mark on the political landscape of Cornwall. He has led a large group of fighters up to the area around Praze-An-Beebie establishing a base camp there. His aims and strategy are unknown at this point but it seems like they plan to make a impact on the situation that will make everyone sit up and take notice of the Methodists.

Pulp cover by David North

This issue our theme is Pulp.
Cover artist David North has created a superb cover which includes many of our favourite Pulp themes.

As usual we have reviews, tutorials, articles and a two short stories plus another episode of our comic Tuk Tuk.

Time to get reading – go on, download your copy now.

Editorial
IMP 2011 Show
Dungeons & Dragons Competition
Tablets in Wargaming
The Campaign for Redruth and Camborne
On a Wing and a Prayer
Tough Love
Tuk Tuk
Pin Up
The Empty Mirror
Triples 2011
Artist showcase
A Means to an End
Oniwiban
CD Base Terrain
City Scum
Action Dude
Exercises in Imagination & Scratchbuilding
Force on Force
Til Death Do We Part

download

Lesser outbreak occurred in the aftermath of the initial disease, and by 1400 the population was only some where around 2.5-3 million. The plague didn’t die away quickly, it didn’t hit and disappear, as quickly as it arrived, it didn’t vanish completely until around 1480’s. The population during this period were demoralised and whittled down over a number of years, leaving villages deserted right across the country.

Ploughing

It was during this period that farmers changed the way they used the land. Arable farming prior to this disaster was the mainstay, but with the reduced manpower and customers, there was no longer any profit in cultivating crops. So many farmers turned their land over to grazing, sheep farming  was now expanding, due to the increase in the wool trade, and it was also less labour intensive.

Rabbit farming after the Black Death increased, They were farmed before the epidemic, but were raised and eaten as a luxury meat.

“After the Black Death, when landowners find themselves with idle grassland or wished to put arable land to grass and make the best profit by the change, the idea of rabbit warrens lay to hand as an ideal solution.” Alternative Agriculture, Oxford 1999

Rabbit farming became a lucrative form of agriculture, they represented 21 per cent of all manorial receipts between 1350-1399 and 40 per cent between 1386-1387. Methwold warren supplied 9,450 rabbits in 1390. Rabbit meat was now no longer a luxury item, the price had fallen due to the explosion of farming them. The building of warrens lodges needed to due to poaching, and it wasn’t only the meat that was valuable, the skins became a profitable commodity as well.

Another change was to dovecotes, prior to the disease outbreak, a dovecote was only allowed to owned on manorial land. Yet after the Black Death there was a growth in dovecotes across the country, this was partly because less grain was needed by a medieval human population, whose numbers had been reduced by the epidemic. Therefore there was more grain that could be used for animal feed.

A dovecote at Blackmere in Shropshire yielded 1,222 pigeons to Lady Talbot  in 1410, we can readily understand how she was induced to pay for a new expensive building for them in 1431-1432. Alternative Agriculture.

Willington Dovecote

It is during this period that we see the fish Carp first appear in Britain, possibly brought here via the Netherlands. They were brought over here for the purpose of developing a fresh water fish market, Carp are hardier and faster growing than native species. Which makes them ideal for commercial fish farming.

During the medieval warm period, the cultivation of grapes in parts of England had been successful and highly profitable, but with a change in climate, the ability to grow a reliable crop was impossible.

Land redistribution became common place after the epidemic, large estates were broken up, and fell into the hands of the yeomen and herdsmen. One of the most important lessons gained after the Black Death by farmers was the leaving of arable strips, which were not needed, to rest for several years.

So why use the kit, well its gives you the core elements of the system. You can change the descriptions, add new elements, or remove existing ones. Basically it there for you to use, and make fit to your planned end product. Recently there has been a glut of retro clone D&D RPG’s, all of which have an old school feel to them. They have achieved this by adjusting elements within the D20 system, either by removing aspects or tweaking them to give the rpg a more old school flavour.  My plan is to change some of the descriptions, so that they sit more comfortably within a historical setting. I also intend to add new elements that will provide a more historical/Roman flavour to the campaign.

As this is going to be based on an historical time period, I’ll be taking a closer look at the magic system and adjusting it so that it more historical than fantasy. There will also be a reduction in races, as most only existed within myth and folklore, that’s not to say they won’t be ruled out. As I plan to allow players/GM’s the ability to run a mythical Roman campaign, but it will based on the myth, folklore and stories of the Roman/Greek world rather than high fantasy.

So what does the D20 allow me to do?

Basically the D20 licence will require publishers to exclude character creation and advancement rules. You will also be expected to apply certain notices as well adhering to particular content policies as well. Though if you publish under the OGL (Open Gaming Licence) licence this isn’t required, as OGL isn’t bound by the same restrictions as the D20 licence. This is because the D20 system still requires you as the player/GM to need the Dungeons and Dragons core books published by Wizards of the Coast. It must also be noted that all products published under the D20 licence, also come under the OGL as well.

When Wizards released the D20 licence, this helped to jump start the then fledgling PDF market. Many of the small publishers at the time, were simply put amateurs, gaming fans who decided to develop their own companies and publications. Using the PDF format allowed them to publish products very cheaply, which didn’t require the minimum returns that larger print publishers needed. Some of these small companies eventually became fully fledged game publishers, moving into print