Just Talking Billhooks

Keen Billhooker Mike Peters presents a guide to the game’s core units (with a focus on the Wars of the Roses, his most played period) and highlights a few of the new treats he found in his pre-release peek at Billhooks Deluxe.

Never Mind the Billhooks, as the author Andy Callan himself declares, is a fun game of toy soldiers and is not in any way an attempt to simulate actual historical warfare. Andy says “Forget plans! Never mind the tactics! Rolling high and drawing the best cards is the way to win at Billhooks”. And, of course, he is right….

But at the same time games of Billhooks do tend to play out in a way that feels historically right. The game captures the essence of the period well and while there are sometimes entertaining routs and slaughters other battle will quite often be close-run things.

It is worthwhile, therefore, to take a moment to consider the composition of your force and think about the strengths and weaknesses of the various units in the game so that you can deploy them to your advantage. I have played some three dozen games of the original release of Billhooks and participated in all three Billhooks BASH(es) [Friendly tournaments with players fighting for a combined Lancaster or York victory - Ed]; with that experience under my belt, I have been giving the matter of Billhooks tactics some thought. With a PDF of the new Billhooks Deluxe dropping into my email I couldn’t resist jotting down my thoughts and musing on some of the possibilities new units might bring to the game.

The Foundations - Bows and Bills

While there might be a few changes between the first release of Billhooks and the ‘proper’ new Albion section of Deluxe companies of Bows and Bills remain as the essential meat and potatoes of your army. You can field a decent force that is quite able to win battles by just using them, though it might not be the most entertaining game.

The big decision is whether to deploy in Block or singly and the deciding factor here is inevitably the (randomly determined) ability of your Leaders in the game. Single units require a lot more Order Tokens to keep active so if you have higher level Leaders that will be more affordable. With enough spare Order Tokens to keep individual 12-man groups active, you might find you have more options for manoeuvre and attack and that could win the day if you carefully coordinate things.

Units in Block are stronger in melee though, through their sheer weight of numbers, and a big part of Billhooks’ appeal is chucking handfuls of dice around. In that way Blocks almost feel like THE way to use your Bows and Bills but the advantage in hand-to-hand is somewhat mitigated by the risk of failing morale; if one unit in your Block fails its morale test then both units will be affected by the result.

Overall: It’s ultimately a question of finding the right balance for your play style and not using single units if your Leaders are all Dolts lest your whole army stall! If in doubt the Bow/Bill Block is reliable, adaptable, and effective; it can deal with most threats and is certainly recommended for players who are new to the ebb and flow of the game.

Top tip: Don’t be scared to loose your arrowstorms as regularly and opportunistically as you can. The micro dice tracking a unit’s arrow supply rarely runs out before they get bogged down in melee, are evading trouble, or otherwise engaged in activities that stop them from pulling some bowstrings.

Part of Mike’s ever-growing and beautiful Billhooks collection. Here a core unit of Bows and Bills marches ahead.

Double Bows?

Archer blocks, in Line, can be deadly. Loosing an arrow storm of 48 dice makes for a mighty racket as D6s bounce around the table and will, inevitably, thin the enemy ranks. Those swarms of archers are extremely vulnerable to being charged though, so it’s very wise to attach a leader to them if any enemy start to threaten them; that will allow them to choose to Evade and get away from charges.

A double unit of archers can be a great way to offset the power of Pikes (see ‘Don’t tell ‘em your name…’) by effectively leaving a Pike Block unable to use strength in numbers to its advantage. A couple of 48 dice arrowstorms will inevitably enough casualties to reduce the Pikes’ ranks as they lack their archers to screen them from harm. That, in turn, takes away the Pike unit’s key strength.

Top tip: In Billhooks Deluxe the fast-moving, lightly armoured Swiss Pikes are likely to prove very vulnerable to this tactic.

Mike’s Line of Bows looses on… Mike’s Block of Bows and Bills. One thing’s for sure, Mike will win and Mike will lose!

Murder Machines - Men-at-Arms

Without doubt the most reliable and effective slaughter machine on the field is a unit of Men-at-Arms. They are tough to take down and reliable once they get to any action at the pointy end of things and are well worth the ‘elite’ points cost. Men-at-Arms are often game-winners, particularly if led by a hero.

Overall: Heroes on the battlefield, use these armoured men boldly and count on them to be about the most reliable unit at your disposal. If you’re going to build a plan around any unit make it the Men-at-Arms!

Top tip: Shield them with Bows or Skirmishers to stop your enemy from arrow-storming your Men-at-Arms into extinction. You must get them into combat undamaged via the most direct route you can.

Mike’s Men-at-Arms showing that you can pose a serious threat on the battlefield while looking lovely!

Don’t tell ‘em name… - Pikes

Pikes are the nearest thing you’ll get to an OP unit in the original (Wars of the Roses only) release (Nevermind) and I suspect they’ll be right up there once I have more games of Deluxe completed too. They cost the same as Bills but can count four ranks in melee; anything that takes the dice total beyond an amount that can be comfortably rolled with one hand is a very good thing in Billhooks!

Overall: I don’t like to call any unit a ‘must have’ but maybe Pikes are just that? At BASH 3 Ian Callan’s Pikemen went on a spree in each of his battles, cutting a path to the enemy’s baseline and returning by the same route on two occasions. He did not think it too many!

Top tip: Counter Pike Blocks with great blizzards of arrows from Bowmen and Skirmisher-focused fire. If melee is inevitable, try to charge Pikes with Men-at-Arms to gain the advantage of rerolling 1s along with the extra protection heavy armour gives for Save throws.

A Pike Block ready to prickle the enemy, painted by Mark Taylor.

Swiss cheese?

Deluxe gives us the mighty pike blocks of the Swiss; fast-moving, hard-hitting and fearless! I’m interested to see how these perform and will try to exploit any weakness I can when I take them on - they suffer an extra hit from each shot from a Great Gonne [that’s Artillery, for the uninitiated – Ed] and have light armour. Shooting them with cannon and arrows and harrying their flanks with Skirmishers seems to be the best plan.

Kern up the volume - Kern

I haven’t got much experience of employing or facing Kern but “shoot them full of arrows!” would seem a wise historical precedent to follow I wanted to present more than that here so I turned to Steve Wood. Steve played a huge part in the design and development of Billhooks (he also runs Arcane Scenery and Models) and has used Kern often; he offers this advice:

“Don’t underestimate the power of Kern Skirmishers! I always take a band as they can move quickly and easily outflank the enemy. If it’s available they should skulk in cover, out of harm’s way, until they are ready to pounce. They throw six dice in hand-to-hand combat and save on a 5+ (or 6s against archery) which makes them vulnerable but gives them an advantage over other Skirmishers who only throw three dice in melee.

“As Kern are as fast as other Skirmishers, they can usually catch up if their enemy attempt to evade. Kern shooting is poor, with a range of only 6” but if they get behind an enemy unit, they are a damned nuisance! The ability to charge a flank from cover or within one move means the enemy unit cannot turn and face; a mixed block of Bow and Bill will be fighting with just three dice against the Kern’s six and if the dice Goddess is kind, you can win the combat and force a morale check.

“Kern’s fragility means they tend to be a one-shot unit as they will pursue a routing unit (even if it runs off the table) and if they bounce in combat will become disarrayed. Sometimes just the threat of them can be enough to give your opponent a headache!”

A few of Steve Wood’s Kern emerge from the woods and attack.

Broadly speaking

Deluxe introduces the Herce formation, a combined unit of longbowmen and spears, used by English Armies and Free Companies. The archers in this unit can shoot twice in response to being charged, effectively reproducing the arrow storms of Crecy and Agincourt, and this will no doubt reduce the strength of the enemy before they receive the attack. One to consider!

Perry Miniatures English Archers and Men-at-Arms in Hence formation.

Rock, Paper, Scissors - Artillery

Billhooks is a surprisingly subtle game in some respects and the balance between the different types of units is near perfect. There is a kind of rock, paper, scissors element to the game with certain units trumping some but weak to others. Elsewhere, things are a bit ‘swingier’; for example, the Great Gonnes. Artillery will very often achieve nothing (or they’ll blow themselves up) but they can knock great holes in Men-at-Arms. I found this out in one of my first games; the opening shot of the battle killed five brave Men-at-Arms and took out a costly portion of my army.

A major weakness of Artillery (apart from spontaneous self-inflicted explosions) is that they must return fire at any unit shooting them. Artillery can only roll half their dice when firing at Skirmishers a band of Skirmishers can effectively harass them. This has its risks for the Skirmishers of course - they will be exposed to shooting from archer units - however, if your opponent places Artillery in an exposed position, unsupported by archers, you can inflict considerable damage upon them. In my very first game of Billhooks, against veteran Pete Harris, I’m pleased to say my Skirmishers were able to harass his artillery crew to death!

Artillery will have another important attribute in Deluxe, it now does double damage to those in Pike blocks. I suspect Great Gonnes will be the new ‘must buy’ for future BASHes where Pikes have ruled the day!

Overall: Artillery are unreliable, and you’d be a fool to expect them to effectively perform as a part of any battleplan, but they effectively counter some of the game’s toughest and most effective units when they do roll well. Take Great Gonnes in the hope they do something spectacular; prepare yourself for them inevitably blowing themselves up at the most inopportune moment!

Top tip: Artillery are vulnerable to attack from Light Cavalry and Skirmishers, but they only cost 9 points in total. Perhaps you can bait a more expensive Light Cavalry unit to your Artillery then take out the Light Horse with a counterattack?

When facing an army with Artillery wait for your opponent to set theirs up before you deploy your Men-at-Arms; place your heavily armoured unit out of the way!

One of Mark Taylor’s Great Gonnes.

Let battle commence!

Due to their long-range Artillery can quickly end the ‘pre-battle’ Manoeuvre Phase and put an end to any scouting that a unit of Light Horse might be doing as it tries to flank you! Firing with Artillery to get the game going earlier than expected can frustrate your opponent and stymie their careful manoeuvring and advancing; I know, as my regular gaming pal Mark Taylor does it to me a lot! Don’t plan for a long Manoeuvre Phase if your opponent is equipped with Artillery.

A Forlorn Hope? – Skirmishers

Skirmishers are a bit of an historical anomaly in Billhooks as there is no documented evidence of their existence in the Wars of the Roses. Bands of mercenaries bearing bows, crossbows and handguns are known to have been employed universally during this period though and not en masse in formed units, so they are at least an historical possibility.

Skirmishers are never going to be game-winners. They are frail compared to other troop types and are often wiped out by a couple of arrowstorms, they are vulnerable to Light Cavalry charges, and they will rarely survive a Morale test.

Negatives aside, Skirmishers can be a nuisance and will keep your opponent under pressure with either a steady flow of casualties or with the threat of causing casualties (should the Dice Goddess desert you).

As already mentioned, Skirmishers can nullify artillery beautifully, but they can also distract an inexperienced opponent quite nicely and draw the attention of far better and more costly units away from the important part of the battle. Skirmishers are not at risk of affording your opponent Morale Tokens when they are broken and destroyed so you can view them as expendable.

Overall: Don’t underestimate the distraction that you’ll cause your opponent by having a unit or two of Skirmishers on their flanks. Don’t forget that Skirmishers carrying crossbows and handguns, while costing the same points as those armed with bows, have the added advantage of reducing the Save of Men at Arms for no extra points! Say no more squire!

Top tip: Your Skirmishers can move and fire freely in any direction while your opponent’s units are restricted to shooting targets within their 45-degree frontal arc. Use this to your advantage and keep out of that firing angle.

Mike’s mercenary handgunners behind freehand painted pavises.

“Billhooks Deluxe introduces new armies where Skirmishers have a bigger presence, notably the Portuguese who also use Mounted Skirmisher Bands. Without games under my belt, it’s hard to predict how they will perform on the tabletop but I suspect Light Cavalry will be the antidote to their hit-and-run antics.”

The shock of the new

Billhooks Deluxe brings new armies and many surprises; it’s destined to keep me engrossed for a good while just taking in all the extras. The scenarios add a whole new dimension to the game, the Reivers look like pure fun, Helvetia is very colourful if somewhat frightening, the Irish give me an excuse to get those Antediluvian Gallowglasses that I crave, and I have no idea how to deal with a Hussite army… but I can’t wait to find out!

An unknown quantity – Knights

Knights were an expensive rarity in our early games of Billhooks; appropriately so in the world of the Wars of the Roses and its infantry-heavy battlelines. However, legend has it that Knights have a powerful, unstoppable charge which can destroy enemy units in one swift round of decisive Melee. They can be a great liability though as their high status means that all units within 12" will have to test for Morale if Knights break and they, like Men-at-Arms, can be turned to Swiss cheese by Artillery.

Overall: With Deluxe now covering the Hundred Years’ War and other Knight-heavy periods I suspect I’ll have more opportunity to put these ‘tanks of the age’ to the test in the future. With new rules for double blocks, the Knight will certainly be a force to be reckoned with but a very expensive one!

An unfortunate unit of Archers is caught out by a charging unit of Knights.

A scurrer by any other name – Light Horse

Whether they are Scurrers, Prickers, Jinetes, Ginetes, Besteiros de Garrucha, Stradiots or just plain old Light Horse they are all swift, manoeuvrable, and can turn on a groat! This means that Light Horse can disrupt your opponent’s plans with their mere presence behind enemy lines, threatening flanks or the vulnerable Great Gonnes.

A single Light Horse charge, even into an enemy’s rear, is unlikely to result in victory but their ability to ‘bounce’ off their target can lead to a series of consecutive charges that eventually bring great success. That means that your opponent will need to consider using valuable Order Tokens to turn to face and deal with the problem.

Unlike most troops, Light Horses have a double ability to Evade or Counter Charge; that means they can usually get themselves out of trouble or deliver a punch in response to threats. The prey are Skirmishers or Artillery crews who cannot move quickly enough to escape, and Light Horse can tie up several of your opponents’ units by being in the right place at the right time.

Their downside is their vulnerability to missiles combined with their high status; they can cause multiple routes if they are broken. Infamous games from BASH (Brease v Peters and Peters v Clark) saw routing Light Cavalry causing a chain reaction of collapsing Morale that lost the battle for their side.

Deluxe introduces javelin hurling Jinets and crossbow-wielding Light Cavalry - the Latch-toting Reivers or the heavier crossbows of the Portuguese - and I’m eager to annoy my enemy with these!

Overall: Light Cavalry can be invaluable, and indispensable even, but they will not win the battle and might cause you to lose it if they cause widespread routs.

Top tip: They are best used as an independent command, under the leadership of a Dolt if you have one, as far from your battle lines as they can be. Keep in mind that Light Cavalry only require four casualties to take a Morale test, and, like Skirmishers, they only roll one dice to test Morale and will fail half the time. Use them accordingly!

Mike’s Light Horse rush up a flank to threaten the enemy Artillery.

Be lucky!

Billhooks is a wickedly capricious, incredibly fun game and no two battles are the same. When you win you can take the credit for your excellent generalship, when you lose, you can blame your bad luck.

I’ll leave you with a few final tips for broader, non-unit-specific tactics and wish you luck in your gaming!

Be aggressive!

The game rewards the attacker. Archery has its place but is unlikely to win many battles and Bow units caught in melee inevitably come off worse. The rerolling of 1s in attack (because you charged) can make a huge difference so you want to ensure you’re the one on the offensive.

Get a Leadership boost

Your Leaders dole out the essential Order Tokens, of course, but don’t forget to attach them to units in melee; the automatic hits they generate are game-winners in later rounds when companies are disarrayed.

Move up

Camping in your deployment area is not only at odds with the aggressive tactics that are most fun and effective to play games of Billhooks with but also a dangerous business. If your units are Daunted, they will route straight off the tabletop and cost you dear.

Superstition is welcomed/essential

Always use your lucky dice and issue a silent prayer to the Goddess before EVERY roll.

The Italian Wars are one of various new conflicts available in Billhooks Deluxe.

We’ll have more from Mike's next issue with a deeper dive into his Wars of the Roses collection. This article will leave the tactics behind and focus on the historical research he does and the hobby techniques he uses. Want to make your army look as exquisite as Mike’s? Then don’t miss it!

By Mike Peters