"Rules suggestions please.." Topic

Looking for rules suggestions for a system that can handle 50 to 100 figures. I prefer to have them individually based. I was thinking of going with the old WAB but was just curious if there is anything new that is similar. Thanks

Lion Rampant.. (morphable to ancients…)
Dux Britanniarum (plays quickly as a skirmish game.. morphable to ancients…)

SAGA. Hands down best skirmish level game pre gunpowder. Mostly medieval, but many variant available.

Not the guy to ask – we still use WRG 6th.

I think WAB is still the way to go. It is gameable as a skirmish game but allows for units of almost any size. If you are looking at 100 figures a side you could have 12-16 figures units and the game plays about as well as it does with larger units, they are just more fragile.

The one tricky spot would be hoplite warfare as there are special rules in the game for that. However if you are doing Greek on Greek battles then you should still be in good shape, just waive the minimum phalanx size or lower it.

I'd also say that Hail, Caesar is a good game and can be played with units of any size really.

It handles light cav better than any other game I've ever played. It does not handle hoplites well though.

So if you are going for a period that is light cav heavy, play Hail, Caesar. If you are playing with hoplites go for WAB. For anything else it really depends on your preference for how much control you want over your units.

Dude…. Saga is exactly what you need. Great fun and it meets most of your requirements.

"…50 to 100 figures. I prefer to have them individually based."

There's also War & Conquest, by Rob Broom.

I'll have a look at Saga as well. I thought it was for later periods.

If you're looking for a WAB successor then the War & Conquest or Clash of Empires is probably what you're after. Updated versions that are supported. I play CoE and stick by it; it was very easy to adjust from WAB and has some nuances that make the game even more enjoyable. Others have love W&C, which I'd be willing to try if anyone played it near me.

SAGA has Dark Ages and Crusades…I'm not aware that it supports Ancients. Perhaps someone can address that.

Most importantly, you should consult with other ancients players around you and find out what they are willing to do. Having a rule set you like doesn't do a whole lot of good with no opponent.

What armies are you planning on using? Saga, Lion Rampant and Dux Brit are all medieval / dark ages so will not work for ancients without modifications. WAB and its successors are generally played at a higher figure count than the 50-100 you mention. Whilst they will work, you won't get many units. You might want to consider a big battle game with element or unit basing like DBA, Impetus or my own Sword & Spear rules. Even with singly based figures, you can use sabot bases to play these games. When I play in 28mm I use my figures based for Saga, with 4 to 8 figures making up a unit, so the figure count you mention would give a full army.

Another option would be the Crusader Ancients rules by Crusader miniatures. Despite the name, they're a general-purpose ancien/medieval set and are not aimed specifically at the Crusades period.

The rules assume that units are composed of multi-figure stands (40mm x 40mm, with 4 28mm figs each, or 2 cavalry), but it would be quite easy to use single-based instead as long as the frontages are roughly equivalent. Also, there's no reason (aside from aesthetics) why you couldn't use 'shallower' stand-equivalents for infantry (so 2x 28mm figs each) to get into the figure-count you're aiming at.

The Crusader rules have army list books for the Republican and Imperial roman periods, but if you're looking at a different period you'll have to develop the armies yourself fron the generic points system in the basic book.

Lion Rampant -great fun. You have a unit of blokes with spears and shields -is it 1245 or 300BC -it doesn't matter -we're fighting, throwing things or running away -fantastic!!!
I did have a game of Saga once and it was fun but it all seemed a bit random even though my Leader figure slaughtered nearly the whole enemy army all by himself (which was nice) while everyone else just stood around applauding.
You see they have something called a Dane axe which is a bit like one of these

(and you thought a hero orc on battle wyvern was bad news…)

Plus "we still use WRG 6th." the bed!!!

Now that I'm at a computer rather than a tablet so I can find and post links, here's my Norman army for Sword & Spear (rather foot heavy, but that is due to the figures I had available):

It's around 50 foot and 9 mounted figures, giving me 9 units. You can read the battle report here:
link

I love the Crusader rules, especially the fantasy variant and Impetus but I'm sure MM won't mind me seconding his recommendation of Sword and Spear!!!

Thanks everyone