Picquet: What’s it All About ?

In the world of historical wargaming, the Picquet family of rules seems to be on the fringe of an already niche hobby. Picquet has its raving fans, as well as its detractors who positively hate it. I personally am not an experienced veteran of the system, but I have played in several games, at least enough to formulate an opinion. 

Picquet is a gaming system which is based on the underlying foundation of fog of war. Each side has its own sequence card deck that can be based on leadership or national military philosophy (for example. Imperial Romans and Germanic warriors have very different decks). Each unit and leader is meticulously rolled for in the areas of Firing, Combat, and Morale (in the Classic Picquet system - see below). The game then begins with a roll-off to determine how active one side is and for how long. I won’t go into nitty-gritty details, but turning cards to see what units can do and then actually executing these actions per unit burns up these actions. When the actions are completed, another roll-off determines the next set of actions. At the end of a total number of actions (20 in Classic PK), the turn ends and the card decks reshuffle and a new turn begins. 

Fans of the systems say that the games play like a story and that the fog of war provides true realism when it comes to control of the flow of battle. Detractors state that the cards dictate the game and too little control is left to the players. In addition, the biggest criticism is that one side can continue rolling for actions at the expense of the other side. In theory, the turns should balance out, giving each side equal opportunity to make their moves. In reality, these “swings” can happen. 

The Picquet family is further split into the afore-mentioned “Classic PK” (originated by Bob Jones) and what I’ll call “evolved PK” under the ownership of Brent Oman. “Classic PK” has master rules and separate period rules for more grit and flavor. The period rules like Hallowed Ground (ACW), Archon (Ancients/Medieval), and Les Grognards ( Napoleonic Wars) are just a few examples that cover almost every period in history. Field of Battle (covering the horse and musket period and a WW2 version), Pulse of Battle (covering the Ancients period), and Din of Battle (covering colonial actions) are rules based on the principles of “Classic PK,” but the criticisms of that system have been addressed. No longer does one side go on an extended streak of actions while his opponent sits there idly as his army is destroyed before his eyes. The initial rolls dictate the number of impulses for both sides in an alternating fashion. There is now more decisions to be made with each card that puts the wargamer in the driving seat. The cards provide a context; the original concepts of the cards providing a “storyline” and fog of war remain, but the gamer is now in control of how to use the cards. This “evolved PK” has been refined even further with release of Battle Command. My initial reaction to these rules is that it’s an even more refined and improved version of Field of Battle. I’m excited to play my first game this weekend. 

So, in summary, Picquet has a reputation among wargamers. Some love it, some hate it. But I really think there’s a brilliance lurking in the system that many rules do not contain. I think Classic PK is more suited to 1-2 players of like-mindedness; it is especially entertaining as a solitaire platform. I do think that the series of rules under the leadership of Brent Oman are improved versions of the classic system. I highly recommend the Field of Battle family of rules for solitaire or group games. I do think the many detractors of the “Classic PK” series would be mildly surprised at the improvements. Give them a try and join me in traveling down this path.