This is another in series of fun, fast, and easy to learn games from David Bezio. With a low figure count (3-11 depending on their weapons, armor, and quality), and a small battlefield needed (2′ x 2′) being all that is needed to get started, this will be a great gateway game into the hobby. Don’t dismiss it as only that; it is tons of fun for veteran gamers as well. The rulebook contains 3 scenarios. The whole set can be packed up in a small box for easy transport/storage, and it can be played on a kitchen table for those who have space concerns. Easily taken to a convention for pickup games. It would also be great fun as a tournament game. Our first time playing took 1 and 1/2 hours, but that included reading/learning the rules and making up our forces. We are very happy that David gave us permission to share these rules with you.
Like many of David’s rules, these use common six-sided dice. You roll either 1 or 2 (and a rare case 3) dice at a time depending on troop type and the item being attempted. There are also a maximum of 6 re-roll dice per game, so you may want to have a total of 8 dice per player for your first game. If you play this as a continuing campaign (and honestly, why wouldn’t you), then you might need as many as 10 dice per player (more on that later).
For our first play session, we threw down some general terrain show in the overhead photo above.
A difference here from the other Bum rules is that figures have Hit Points. Not a lot: Peasants have 1 and Knights have 4 (5 if mounted). We assumed the +1 for being mounted was that the horse actually was taking some of the damage instead of the rider from some attacks. This lead us to brainstorm our Optional Rule: Instead of giving +1 to the rider, whenever a mounted figure takes a hit, roll 1d6… on a 1, the horse is hit/killed instead of the rider taking the hit. The rider must use 1 move action to get up and proceeds on foot (unless he can find another horse).
The next step was to determine our forces. Each is a knight and their retinue. First, you roll randomly to select your knight (based on their coat of arms). I got the Bull knight. His hits cause two Hit Points of damage which is enough to kill a peasant in a single blow. He makes very quick work dispatching other soldiers, too. I was facing the Lion knight who gets to make two attacks in melee. He also is able to dish out a lot of damage to all those around him. I knew back when I was initially preparing for this game that I would want the 6 knights painted with the correct coat of arms. We just started our faced on opposite sides of the battlefield and went at it… the scenario wrote itself: Both of our proud knights refused to yield the road started a mass melee there. Arrows flew around the edges to try and keep the rest of the opposing retinue at bay, and a small side fight popped up for a round or two. The battle was over when one knight lay dead on the road. Below, looking at the ending carnage from a long way back down the road, William the Slow was glad that he took his good old time getting to the battle. Even using double moves every turn, he never managed to move more than 3″. I’ve never seen so many 1s come up! Of course when it was time for the lone survivor of Sir Red the Lion to turn and flee, he makes an 11″ move.
One super fun/cinematic rule in Chivalrous Bum is the Noble Sacrifice. These is where, a hit on the knight can be transferred to any of his loyal henchmen. That’s right!… some poor sap dives in front of the weapon swing, or of an incoming arrow, to protect his liege lord. When was the last time you’ve seen that in a wargame? We loved it!
At the end of the battle, the winner gets to roll for a random boon. I was the winner in our first game, and my roll said that I will get +2 Muster Points for the next battle (the point cost for the basic force is 10 muster points so +2 is quite a bonus). There are other boons as well which include +1d6 to an attribute, or +2 Hero Dice. And since you only can get one boon for the next battle, this means that the most dice a player would ever needed is 10 d6. We decided on an Optional Rule for our campaign: The boon would go to the knight’s retinue and not to the player. This means that at our next game session, I may not happen to get this knight and my opponent might. That will help keep thing mixed up a bit more.
A print copy of the rules, minis, terrain, etc. can be found in each of these period listings:
DA – Dark Ages; the minis we use for this period are primarily the 20mm Norman & Viking figures by Stan Johansen’s Warlord line which are listed on the webstore.
Med – Medieval; the minis we use for this period are primarily the 25mm 100 Years War figures by Phil Murphy. More will be coming but you can see the beginning of them on our webstore. Phil will also be listing them in his store Company D Miniatures in the UK here. These figures are from around 40 years ago, and we are proud to be working with Phil to get them back onto tabletops where they belong, once again.
Rules:
A free pdf copy of the rules in E-viewing format are here.
Extra QRS & Retinue Roster (8.5×11 paper, prints 2 copies on 1 sheet of paper, print 2-sided, flipped on the short edge) is here.
Game play tokens (8.5×11, 2 sets on 1 sheet of paper; we like to apply the image to both sides so you never have an upside-down token) are here.
Our Optional Rule:
Spoils to the Victor – The boon goes to the knight’s retinue and not to the player. This means that at the next game session, the winning player may possibly not get this knight with the reward, and their opponent might.
Rules Revision History:
10-02-25
· Added 2 new knights (Bear and Stag) with their own special abilities.
· Added Scenario #4: Desperate Stand at Duncan House by Mike Demana.
05-21-25
· Added Easy Going as simply the reverse of Rough Going. Traveling a long a road is easy going; count 1″ for every 2″ moved.
· Added an Opportunity Shooting action. A figure that picks 2 “Do Nothing” actions in a turn, may take an opportunity Shoot action later the same round on another figure’s turn.
· Solo rules changed match to those in Saddle Bum: David’s Davestown Gazette.
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