"Ancients gaming and geometry..." Topic
4 Posts
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Prince Alberts Revenge | 27 Mar 2015 3:29 p.m. PST |
Something I have noticed in many ancient/medieval rules is the amount of "geometry" and use of angles, etc to gain some (sometimes) large advantage. DBA, FOG and L'Art De late Guerre come to mind but I've seen it in others as well. It's something I'm not particularly fond of and find it incredibly difficult to settle on an ancient set. I just can't imagine Alexander the Great telling his cavalry to charge Radius, but make sure their front is at least 10 feet from touching the Immortals. I don't want to spend time thinking of the prime angle to move a unit so it can get the most possible modifiers and zone of control to cripple my enemy. That seems more like gaming geometry than wargaming to me. Is this just me? I notice considerably less "geometry gaming" in games for other periods. Is it all stemming from DBA? Is it the product of people who interpret rules (thinking in a DBA mindset)? Is it because of how we interpret ancient armies.moved and fought? Thanks for any feedback in advance. |
monger | 27 Mar 2015 4:36 p.m. PST |
Hard to say. It is an aspect of linear warfare really. It's the way we look an analyze the whole affair anyway. It seems to be common with larger scale rules that attempt to fight large battles and the movements of large bodies of soldiers. Perhaps this has something to do with it. There is no doubt that not all rules do this – focusing more on the "feel" of battle as opposed to the precise movements so focused on in other rules. I have to admit, as much as I like LADG and DBA, they do lack a certain "feel". Idk… |
Temporary like Achilles | 27 Mar 2015 5:22 p.m. PST |
There are plenty of rules that downplay the micro-positioning aspect. To the Strongest!, Lost Battles, Neil Thomas' rules, Commands & Colors: Ancients to name a few. |
BigRedBat | 28 Mar 2015 11:43 a.m. PST |
Perhaps the hand-to-hand nature of ancient warfare makes geometry more important than later periods, when ranged fire becomes more significant and there is less contact. Personally I'm not a fan of measurement (and especially wheeling) in the wargame, and I have got rid of my rulers, protractors and tape measures in order to play first Command and Colors and later my own "To the Strongest!" rules. I suppose I'm generally moving towards simpler systems. |
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