Although there is relatively little published about military engagements around Tangier before the period known as the Siege of Tangier, there were enough skirmishes and battles to provide information for enjoyable war-game sessions.
I have played skirmishes based on Ghailan's ambush of Fiennes in May 1663, and I am aware of two games based on the final battle of the Siege which took place on 23rd October 1680.
Skirmishes - General Rules
I set out to devise scenarios that would offer an enjoyable and satisfying game with the relatively small garrison force defending English Tangier 1663-1679.
I found Donnybrook Essentials from League of Augsburg the most suitable for skirmishes with up to about 500 garrison troops and several thousand Moors. With 1 miniature for 25 men, the garrison has 20 miniatures or fewer, the Moors generally outnumber the English by at least 4:1, and so about 80 miniatures are needed. Played on a table of about 16 ft2 the skirmish scenarios described under ‘Wargames Scenarios Fought' can be completed in 3 hours.
Donnybrook is a card based turn system using dice with different numbers of faces to determine outcomes thus obviating the need for frequent calculations. I spent 3 - 4 hours designing and printing a card for each unit and character for the first scenario - 15 cards in all using 2 sheets of A4 photographic paper.
Weapons rules conveniently include lance, carbine and grenadoes along with the usual suspects. Raw recruits throw a 6-sided die, highly skilled troops use a 10-sided die, both need to roll the same score to achieve a hit.
The Tangier environs are almost all open grassland, allowing the use of minimal terrain that can, nonetheless, be attractive. I used green faux fur material to cover various objects placed on the table. The scenarios as described use a fixed number of units with given abilities, often with set starting positions.
This all makes for simple rules and quick-fire action. The order of play is determined by a deck of cards representing the various units and other possibilities. which provides unpredictability, but tactical awareness and appreciation of possibilities are significant contributors to success.
Donnybrook allows for the introduction of: characters such as religious leaders, spies and heroes; particular scenarios such as cattle rustling, ambush and defended retreat, and Donnybrook encourages gamers to add their own special rules for specific scenarios.
Some scenarios are better played on a 5' x 3', others on 4' x 4' as suggested in the Donnybrook rules.
For some scenarios I have included ideas from Victory Without Quarter also devised by Clarence Harrison.
Where Donnybrook offers a choice I generally use simpler options.
I use few special characters.
I rarely use Turn Over or Reload cards or special events.
For Ability Dice, Garrison troops are usually all Veteran (d10), Moorish skirmishers and lancers all Raw (d6).
With the exception of the Haymaking Scenario, Moors always fight open order in units of 10 (250 men) and fire in any direction. Being jihadists, Moors only test morale when a unit is reduced to 25% of its initial size.
The Garrison gain the benefit of volleys if in close order, but have restricted arc of fire. Usually being surrounded and far from the safety of Tangier city walls, Garrison soldiers cannot break, and only retreat as a body
Battles
I only have details of the rules used in the Wargames Illustrated account of his battle. For his 'Old Tangiers' Siege of Tangier battle Pete Brown used Pike and Shotte Rules, On p. 32 of Wargames Illustrated #350 he lists the fighting strengths he used for the Sultan's forces and those of the British (incorrectly said to be under Sir Percy Kirke). On p.33 he lists Four Special Rules he added covering trench fighting - of which there was plenty in this battle - and undermining the forts, British mobile artillery, garrisons of the forts - as he freely admits these three are additions of his own to this battle rather than historically accurate. Nonetheless the rules for undermining and for the garrisons would be useful in some earlier battles.