With the release of The Barons' War Second Edition, we've refined a game that many of you love—streamlining, clarifying, and tightening the rules to make gameplay faster, cleaner, and more tactical without losing the heart of what made it great.

This isn't a reimagining. This is The Barons' War—just better. Whether you're a long-time veteran or just getting into medieval skirmishing, here's an overview of what's changed and why.

Why a Second Edition?

Following the success of the original game and its numerous expansions, we received a wealth of valuable feedback from the community. While the core mechanics held up well, a few areas repeatedly appeared to require clarity or simplification, particularly in relation to group profiles, combat, weapon interactions, movement, and retinue building. Rather than continuing to patch over these points with FAQs and errata, we decided the best way forward was to create a second edition that integrates those refinements directly into the ruleset.

Streamlined Profiles and Modifiers

One of the most noticeable changes is the interaction between group profiles and weapons. Previously, a warrior's stats could vary depending on the equipment they carried, which often led to confusion and slowed down list building, especially if you wanted to swap items.

Now, each warrior profile is fixed—Green, Irregular, Regular, and Veteran—and does not change based on equipment. Instead, weapons and armour apply modifiers to dice rolls, not to a model's underlying stats. For example, instead of a sword increasing your Attack stat, it now gives you a bonus to the Attack roll itself. We think this is much more intuitive, dramatically improves readability during play and reduces the bookkeeping involved.  

Refined Line of Sight and Measuring

Line of Sight (LoS) is now determined from the centre of a model's base to the centre of the target's base, creating a consistent and unambiguous system for seeing and targeting enemies. Anything interrupting this line—be it a piece of terrain or another model—blocks LoS.

Measuring has also been clarified. All distances are now measured from base edge to base edge, making positioning and range estimation much more straightforward during gameplay.

Renamed and Reorganised Phases

The familiar phases have received a facelift for clarity and flow:

• The Activation Phase replaces the older "Action Phase." It's now split into two parts:

  • Compulsory Activations (e.g. Broken groups)

  • New Activations for groups not previously activated.

This structure ensures both players remain active and engaged, cutting downtime and improving tactical pacing.

Compulsory Activations vs. Compulsory Actions

These two concepts are now clearly separated:

• Compulsory Activations refer to groups that must activate at the start of the round due to specific conditions, such as being Broken.

• Compulsory Actions refer to specific required behaviours whenever the group activates, such as a Broken group being forced to Rally instead of choosing another action.

This distinction removes ambiguity and clarifies activation order.

Movement and Coherency Clarifications

Running is now a distinct action in its own right, rather than a variation of standard movement.

Coherency rules have been refined. Models no longer need to be entirely within the 2" (infantry) or 3" (cavalry) bubble of their group—being partially within is sufficient. However, the penalties for being out of coherency are now clearly spelt out:

• Groups out of coherency suffer a -1 to Defence rolls.

• If activated while out of coherency, they must spend their activation to regain coherency.

Combat System Overhaul

The combat system in Second Edition has been carefully overhauled to create a more tactical, responsive, and streamlined experience. It now brings greater clarity to how ranged and melee engagements unfold while rewarding clever positioning and decision-making.

Ranged Combat

Several key changes make ranged combat feel more balanced:

• Move and Shoot actions are now fully integrated rather than treated as separate steps.

• Range is measured from all attacking models with a line of sight, creating pools of attack dice for short and long-range.

• Terrain interactions have been rebalanced:

  • Hindering terrain now applies a -1 penalty to Attack rolls rather than reducing dice pools.

  • Shooting from higher ground provides a meaningful tactical advantage.

• Hindering Corridor has been removed and is no longer part of the game. The only thing that hinders ranged combat is the terrain.

• Reaction shooting is now only possible at long range and occurs before the attacker rolls their dice.

• Casualties can only be removed from models that the attacker has range and line of sight to.

Melee Combat

Melee has seen some of the most impactful changes:

• We have clarified that Attackers must now declare their target before rolling the dice and before defenders choose a Reaction.

• A new Morale Melee Modifier Table brings nuance to the effects of combat fatigue.

• Melee Reactions are explicitly listed and easier to reference: Attack Back, Defend, or Reaction Shooting.

• Even when a charge doesn't require the full movement, players must still roll for Strength of the Charge, creating risk and dynamism in close combat. The attacker must attempt to get as many models as possible into base contact with the defender.

• When a group has varied weapons or modifiers, you now create separate attack dice pools to resolve each independently, so it’s absolutely clear what modifiers apply to which dice.

• Forced back distance equals the number of casualties, not the number of casualties +1.

Morale and Psychology

The morale system has been fine-tuned for consistency and clarity:

• A Morale check is now only conducted when a group has suffered a cumulative total of half or more of its original number of warriors.

• Morale Penalties now apply as modifiers to the dice roll rather than increasing target numbers.

• Six morale Penalties is the cap. Once you hit it, you must take a Morale check or become Broken.

• Broken groups now clearly require compulsory activation and must Rally when activated.

• Shock has been removed from the core rules.  It was only triggered infrequently and many players were unclear about how it compared to being Broken.

• Berserk, Fear and Hatred have been removed from the core rules (they may instead appear as Abilities).  

Abilities and Keywords Refined

Second edition refines the presentation of abilities:

• The previous "Passive" and "Active" classifications have been removed. Instead, abilities clearly state when and how they apply.

• We have clarified that Groups and Commanders may choose one Purchasable Ability per Action, and each Purchasable Ability may only be selected once per Retinue.  However, Groups may take any number of Retinue-specific Abilities, which may be chosen any number of times in the Retinue.  We envisage the number of Retinue-specific Abilities to be relatively modest and intended to support the historical theme of the Retinue and its natural play style.

• The overall number of abilities has been reduced to make them easier to reference and balance in play.

Terrain Rework

Terrain rules have been thoroughly revised to standardise interactions and simplify adjudication:

• All terrain must be on a base so its edges are absolutely clear. Instead of arguing whether you can see through a gap in a hedge, if the Line of Sight crosses the base, it will be affected.

• Terrain types are now categorised: Open, Area, Building, and Obstacle.

• Terrain is defined by keywords, such as Hindering, Blocks Line of Sight (LoS), Difficult, and Higher Ground.

• Cover bonuses from multiple sources no longer stack—you use the best single bonus available.

• Height now matters—models fighting from higher ground gain advantages in both ranged and melee combat.

Commanders and Retinue Leaders

The role of Commanders has been clarified:

• "Retinue Commander" is now officially referred to as the Retinue Leader.

• Clear rules now govern how Commanders contribute to combat and issue orders.

• If a Commander is in base contact with the enemy, they now generate their own attack dice pool, using their own stats and equipment.

• Enemy warriors in base contact with a Commander can direct their attack dice at him!  The death of a Commander triggers a morale check for the command group and nearby friendly groups. We have clarified what happens if the leaderless command group fights on.

• Commanders can use an Action as a Command Action to issue reactions to other groups. This change makes non-Retinue Leaders tactically more useful.

• Commanders can use an Action in combat to add Attack or Defence dice to their own dice pool. This change can help them to stick around, as they can be directly targeted in melee combat. 

Retinue Building: What's Changed?

This is one of the most significant improvements in terms of gameplay flow and list-building balance.

Unified Profile System

With equipment no longer modifying core stats, warriors now have a fixed profile, and equipment modifies rolls rather than stats. This makes comparing and selecting warriors much easier and removes edge-case combinations that previously caused confusion.

Equipment Restrictions Clarified

Equipment options are now explicitly stated as "must take" or "may take" for each warrior type. This removes ambiguous or unbalanced builds, particularly those that combine two-handed weapons with shields. If an option is no longer legal, it is clearly indicated.

Ride Down Replaces Overcharge

• Overcharge has been removed.

• Ride Down is a new Group Ability giving knights a +2 modifier when charging.

• This places the power of cavalry in the hands of the list builder, rather than tying it to warhorse profiles.

• Warhorses have been removed from standard lists due to balance concerns regarding their additional wounds and high cost.

Weapon Point Costs Adjusted

Weapon point values have been updated to reflect the revised combat resolution mechanics and weapon effects, aligning costs more effectively with their performance. Weapon effects have changed in second edition.

Final Thoughts

The Barons' War Second Edition builds on a strong foundation and transforms it into a truly polished experience. The new version preserves everything that made the original special—historical immersion, tactical nuance, cinematic action—while delivering much-needed streamlining and clarification across the board. As the rules and retinue building have evolved, we are currently working on a free bridging PDF for both the Death & Taxes and Outremer supplements to make them usable.

Whether you're rallying your Retinue for the first time or returning for a new campaign, this edition makes it easier to build lists, play clean games, and enjoy the process of medieval warfare on the tabletop.

Second edition is not a reinvention—it's a resolution. We can't wait to see what battles you fight with it.

Footnote about Warhost (the fantasy supplement for The Barons’ War)
While Warhost was written with version one of The Barons’ War in mind—and includes guidance for adapting the rules using the “Rule Changes for Warhost” section (pages 5–7)—many of you will have noticed that it aligns closely with the upcoming second edition. That’s no coincidence. Warhost was developed alongside the second edition, and as such, the changes it introduces are identical to those found in the updated core rules. This means Warhost is fully compatible with both versions, but it really shines with second edition, where everything fits together more seamlessly. I’ll be sharing a more detailed breakdown in a blog post soon over on the Hobday & Hicks website.