"Good in depth rules for samnite wars?" Topic

Hey everyone, I'm on a playtesting spree with several sets, and my friends have recently become interested in my growing camillan Romans and early Latins (samnites, ubrians, oscans etc.)

As a result, we want to do an extended gaming day, and take a break from our simple rules, and try something more in depth. Something that would represent Latin hoplites well, and represent degrading troop qualities throughout an extended battle. (We want to pull of a 4 player game on a 12 ft table!)

I have " Sword and Spear" that I've been playing, and "To the Strongest!" Which I'm gearing up to play.
Both are interesting rules, and both have been fun to tinker with. For fast play, I think sword and spear are my official go-to. Haven't got to play TTS yet though… need more supplies! (Stickers for gridding)

Any suggestions for more complicated rules? I really need rules that will do hoplites justice.

Let me know
Thanks
Austin

I would suggest War and Conquest that has the complexity you want as well as specific rules and army lists for the Samnite wars. War and Conquest was printed in 2011 and is deived from the now defunct Warhammr Ancient system.

One good thing for War and Conquest is that much of its supporting material such as army lists and specific rues are found on line and can be downloaded free. You only have to purchase the basic rules. This material is available from Scarab Miniatures

scarabminiatures.com/forum

For detailed rules written specifically to capture the flavor of hoplite battles, you may want to try Hoplomachia, by The Perfect Captain:

link

The rules were written for battles of the Peloponnesian War, but it shouldn't be too difficult to adapt the unit stats for Etruscans, Latins, Samnites, etc.

The Hoplomachia rules and other game materials are available as free downloads, although The Captain does ask that you consider making a small donation to one of a number of listed, registered charities.

Cheers,
Scott

don't know about rules, but for historical background you could try 'Samnium and the Samnites' by Prof. E. T. Salmon. Livy is good too, but pro-Roman predjuciced

"SCUTUM et PILUM" written by Italian wargamers (Vitale/Bonazzi/Forte), is based loosely (?) on IronBow by The Perfect Captain but designed specifically for the Samnite Wars (or rather with playing those wars in mind).

I cannot find any site mentioning them on the web anymore, does someone know what happend to thoses rules (mybe they changed name)?

My version is from 2005, I can email them if you like.

If you join the Perfect Captain Yahoo group, they have them listed in the files section. I have just literally stumbled on them myself.

That's correct (and campaign rules etc, too!)