A really good place to start this page is with the question: What is a frizzen? It is an L-shaped piece of steel used in flintlock firearms. It pivots to a position over the flash pan and strikes the flint when the trigger is pulled. It creates sparks that ignite the priming powder in the pan which then (hopefully) ignites the main charge which propels the bullet.
Though Frizzen Bun is intended for the flintlock era, it could also be used for earlier matchlock or later percussion lock/caplock fighting without any modifications.
Like David’s Saddle Bum rules, these use common six-sided dice. You roll 1-3 dice at a time depending on the figures skill level for the item being attempted. There are also 3-6 re-roll dice per game (called Action Dice), so you may want to have a total of 9 dice per player. There are not any dedicated scenarios for these yet, but the ones in Mice-at-Arms or similar games can be easily employed in the meantime.
There are lots of reasons you should play this game: Small play area needed (2’x2′ min.), low figure count (5 per side), quick/easy/free rules, wide range of troop types (infantry, cavalry, sailors, Native Americans, frontiersmen, green/regular/ elite troops, etc.), plus it includes rules for solo or cooperative game play. That last one is especially great for those with younger children that are just being introduced to tabletop games.
A print copy of the rules, minis, terrain, etc. can be found in each of these period listings:
FIW – French & Indian War
AWI – American Revolution
1812 – The American War of 1812
Remember – The Alamo
CW – Crimean War
ACW – American Civil War
Rules:
A free pdf copy of the rules in E-viewing format are here.
Extra QRS & Pose 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 mark the backs so you never have an upside-down token) are here.
Rules Revision History:
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 David’s Davestown Gazette.
Optional Rules:
For later percussion lock/caplock weapons being used by experienced troops, shooters are only considered unloaded if the roll to hit is a “6”. This represents the higher rate of fire that was able to be achieved.
RRB Minis & More 