Warfare in the Age of Reason
Please be warned that I know nothing of SYW wargaming! The preferred club rules for this era are currently Warfare in the Age of Reason and, from a limited browse around the net, they seem to be quite popular. Is Die Kriegskunst aimed at a similar level of game? If it is, what are the key differences between Die Kriegskunst and Warfare in the Age of Reason? Or am I asking you to compare chalk and cheese?

With my limited experience with these rules the main difference is command. AOR simplifies it with the flip of a card to randomize brigade movement. You may then do as you see fit with that brigade. These rules you must declare the brigades intentions at the start and can be hard pressed to change those orders in the course of play. You are also tied to restrictions based on their orders. There are other differences I see from my read-thru, some I am waiting to play through to understand better. First game coming this Sunday.

Warfare in the Age of Reason
I have used AOR for many years and have recently tried Die Kriegskunst. To me, the most obvious difference is scale. Typical battalions in AOR are 12 figures, in DK they range from 16 to 24. I like the larger units. AOR uses a lot of dice. The charts have you add or subtract dice that indicate how many casualties are inflicted. I use AOR with the kids that take a miniatures class I do during the summer (with the bigger units and some slight modifications to the rules). I have only played a couple of DK games against a live oppontent, but I enjoyed them. I like having to issue orders to units and then leave them to do their best. Changing orders is difficult. I think artillery is a little too powerful in DK. It's almost impossible to attack a position frontally that has a battery deployed in it. But maybe that's how it really was. Overall, I am going to stick with DK when it comes to my personal gaming, and use AOR with my young students.

Lasalle, These guys are quite right - in theory AOR is a simpler game, at least until you want to charge into contact. We landed up making a flowchart, to help us figure out what to do next. While charging in DKK is a little more straightforward, its also the area of any horse and musket rules where things bog down, or situations arise which the rules writers didn't cater for. Apart from that the big difference is at the command level. You really have to plan your battle with DKK, and can't react to events nearly as quickly as you can with AOR. As I mainly play with Russians and French, I usually have real command problems, so it pays to make a plan and stick to it. Finally, while AOR has one-size fits all units, DKK is based on hisotric sizes, so units can vary from 12-24 figures on the tabletop. the miniatures are also based two deep, which to my mind looks a lot better, but of course this is a personal thing. The secret is, try 'em both out, and see which set you prefer! Best Wishes, Angus Konstam www.edinburghwargames.com

Since I have both the question posed here has caused me to flip back in forth between the books to compare and contrast. I like the DKK hostic modeling of unit. The "One size fits all" SP/Unit was something I disagreed with. The issuing of orders in DKK in my mind compared with the reading I have done seems to fit the historical model.

Thanks for the information.