Beneath The Lily Banners-War Of The Three Kings- A Review

I'm new to the Beneath The Lily Banners (BLB) school.  I missed the first two editions so I cannot comment on changes to what went before.  I am though very interested in the Williamite War and naturally enough have read the League of Augsburg website for years.

So, when the War of Three Kings came along, I thought now's the time and I'm pleased and impressed with what I got for my money.  

First of all the production values are excellent, it's what we used to call a coffee table book.   Lovely pictures and an easy to read informative style.  It's also the complete package, as well as the rules you get uniform and flag information.  Should you know nothing of the Williamite War buy a copy on The War of Three Kings and you are good to go.

You also get an illustrated walk through a game which is very useful.  You can see a sample page below.

There is a strong sense of Piquet about these rules but it's deceptive.  BLB goes it's own way and achieves its aims by different means, no card deck for one thing. 

There are different troop types for both horse and foot and a separate one for dragoons. each has advantages and disadvantages.

Blade Horse:  Charge straight into contact.

 Bullet Horse:  Fire before contact. 

Dragoons: Not as good as cavalry when mounted or infantry when on foot, but they can nip about.

Loose Order:  Used by the Irish on both sides in the Williamite War, skirmishers pretty much.

All Pike:  The local worthy has called out his tenants sort of thing.

Pike and Shot: Pretty much as it was in earlier days.

Regulation:  Pikes are just about still in vogue.

All Musket:  The future has arrived but only for some.

To this you add troop quality, formation and circumstances. The all important first fire is well represented and Flintlocks do more damage than Matchlocks.  It's an elegant and flexible system.  The latter is nicely demonstrated in the special rules for Highlanders, you need to get these fellows quickly into the enemy for maximum effect.

Movement, firing and close combat work on the principle that the player has worked out what he wants to do and knows how best to do it.  Do so and you'll probably be lucky, neglect it and you might well fail.  For example put your troops in line too soon and they'll advance at a snail's pace, leave it too late and cavalry will route them. The solution?  Get your cavalry up there to protect your marching infantry until they form a firing line.  This makes for a thoughtful level of engagement throughout the game.  You are not going to be bored.


The dice system is familiar -the better the troops and circumstances the higher value dice you get and more of them too.  Units will often fail to immediately do what you want, a good thing in my book, so plan for it. 

Both sides place their orders at the same time using counters.  You flip them over and get on with it. Thus a world of whining and attempted backsliding evaporates before your very eyes.  This is a very good thing.

The rules are simple to learn especially if, like me, you come from a Piquet Field of Battle background. It's no longer the fashion to say rules are historically accurate but with all the caveats that come with the phrase that's what immediately came to mind in my first game.

I made a card for each unit as a player aid the front showing the unit and the stat's on the back. Not strictly necessary but helpful especially for new players.

I should add that the rules will also suit continental theatres in this period and there is a chapter on how to rate such troops.  Soon there will be a Great northern War supplement too.