Collecting a Wargames Army 105

I have been immersed in this project for over two months now and during that entire time, when I haven't been painting, I've been reading rulesets. None of the published sets I own fit what I want. This isn't a knock on those sets because they were designed around specific principals and they seem to be sound. I have no gripes with how they portray the period, but none seem to match what I want. The solution is either to modify an existing ruleset or write my own. Ignoring for a moment the difficulty of the later, here's what I want:

1. Fast Play - I want to be able to finish a game with 6-12 units per side in an evening. Most of the commercial sets I have do have this in mind as well, so this isn't where my problems begin.

2. Stand Organization - If you look at my ECW gallery, it is obvious that I prefer the look of mini-diorama units. Not only does this speed up play, but it looks great on the tabletop. Three stands is ideal for me, although I intend to use two stand units for dragoons or commanded muskets and variable two to four stand units for horse. My scale is roughly 120 infantry and 60 cavalry per stand which will allow me to refight the smaller battles like Cropredy Bridge. A few of the larger foot regiments could be represented by fielding an extra stand and large cavalry regiments (like Waller's) could be fielded in several "squadrons".

3. No Figure Removal - As I have mentioned in other articles, I want to keep the models on the table for as long as possible. This means either a roster system or battlefield markers. The former might be an alternative to fix some of the problems I have with several of the published sets, but as much of the combat relies on counting figures/rank bonuses/etc. it might not be practical. I would prefer a system that utilizes hits/stand (maybe like Piquet), but rather than removing stands, a casualty figure could be placed behind the unit. Each casualty figure would represent a penalty for combat and morale. I understand this may produce a "just married" effect as units trail their wounded, but I think it would be an efficient and characterful way to represent battle loses.

4. A Card Driven Turn System - I have never been a fan of "I move/you move" systems. Too much of the strategy comes in knowing exactly when and how far the enemy can move. Wargames Foundry has a set of free SYW rules that has a great card system that might be an option. Basically, each regiment has a card (each cavalry regiment has two) and they act when their card is drawn. Officer cards allow generals to give additional orders to units. I also like the combat resolution system in this game so I may just start with this system and adapt it for the ECW. The main obstacle with this is the standard unit size is four to six stands and the combat conventions take this into account. I think simply reducing the standard unit to three stands would have undesirable effects on the combat tables. The basic card system would still be adaptable though. There is even a one-page examination of using the rules for the Age of Marlborough and incorporating pikes.

If you have never tried to write your own rules (or modify an existing set) you have no idea how hard it really is. Even something as simple as changing the figure ratio has consequences that alter the ground scale and thus increase or decrease the range of weapons and movement. I have an enormous amount of respect for game designers as the amount of work to produce even a "fast play" set of rules seems daunting.

Whether I end up writing my own or modify an existing set, I'll post the results here. I'm still a few months away from even having play-test armies ready so there's plenty of time to figure it all out...