NORMAN CONQUEST Interview: Ralph Shelton

 

The Normans, and their successors, had a large impact on history. Normans, from Nortmann (northman), were originally Viking raiders that settled in what would now be northern France. Normans gained territory as far away as southern Italy and Sicily, and modern day Syria. They were Crusaders, they were Kings, they were princes, and they were scoundrels. They began as raiders from the north that fought on foot and transformed themselves into Dukes, Kings, and princes that fought from horseback.

The rules and images shown here are not final

You can find it in P500

1-Who are you and your favourites wargame/s?

I’m Ralph Shelton and I’ve been playing wargames for over forty years. I was the developer of the last four Men of Iron games (Infidel, Blood & Roses, Arquebus, and Tri-Pack – which reprinted the first three games, Men of Iron, Infidel, and Blood & Roses with some changes) and am the designer of Norman Conquests, the fifth game in the series. I am also the developer of the Next War game series, having joined that team for Next War: Poland.

My favorite wargames are the Men of Iron and Next War series, which is why I became the developer for them. I have a lot of other wargames that I also like to play, too many to mention them all!

2-Why did you decide to do this game?

I listened to an audio book on the Norman invasion of England and realized that the three battles in England in 1066 had not been done in Men of Iron. I started reading about them and decided that they could be made into fun battles for the game. Looking around for other battles to include in the box, I remembered that the original designer, Richard Berg, had self-published some games using the system back before the first Men of Iron came out. I have all of them and looking through them, decided to adapt the battles from Simon Says, which contains two battles from the Baron’s War in England in the 1260s. Richard died in 2019 and I felt it would be a cool idea to include something he had created in the first game in the series after his death so that he was still a part of the series.

3-Can you talk about the mechanics?

The game uses the Men of Iron system. Men of Iron games are hex and counter wargames. Instead of an IGO-UGO turn sequence, there are no turns in Men of Iron. Instead, one player activates one of their Battles (a medieval term for a division of an army), moves and attacks with those units, and then makes a die roll to activate another of their Battles. If a player fails the die roll, play passes to their opponent. That opponent then activates one of their battles. This repeats until the game ends.

The game ends when a loss check occurs, and a player fails. When units are eliminated or Retired (routed back to a rally location called a Standard) that side accumulates Flight Points. At certain times each player simultaneously conducts a loss check by rolling a die (the game uses 0-9) and adding their Flight Points. If this number exceeds the sides Flight Level that player loses, if both players exceed their sides Flight Level the game is a draw.

4-How the different factions work?

In the earlier battles, the Normans are the only ones with mounted knights, which makes their army play differently from the Saxon and Papal armies they face.

The Papal army includes German two-handed swordsmen that we are modelling as dismounted knights due to the ferocious fight they put up during the battle.

Both the Saxons and Norwegians have housecarls, axe armed foot troops that were the social equivalent to knights. The Saxons only have their housecarls in two of the three battles they appear in, while the Norwegians have them in both battles they appear in.

The armies of the Baron’s War period are very similar in composition, but the Royalist side has more knights.

5-Scenarios and/or length of the game?

There are seven battles in the game. Civitate (Italy – 1053), Fulford (England – 1066), Stamford Bridge (England – 1066), Hastings (England – 1066), Tinchebrai (France – 1106), Lewes (England – 1264), Evesham (England – 1265). Each battle is different; either the terrain involved, the circumstances of the battle, or the composition of the two armies clashing.

Play time ranges from less than one hour to around three hours.

6-Do you have another game/project in mind?

I will undoubtedly work on another Men of Iron game once this one is done. Right now, I’m not sure which battles or medieval time period will catch my interest.