Donovan Lambright | 20 Nov 2016 8:42 a.m. PST |
I'm getting back into gaming after a 20-year hiatus. What rules are popular for ancients and medievals these days? Back in the day, I played a lot of Armati. WRG and DBx never appealed to me (or anyone else in my group). I've been looking at Hail Caesar and Spearpoint and both look nice. I know Armati 2 is out but it doesn't seem to have a lot of traction; finding a copy of the rules for sale seems to be a challenge. Anyway, what are people playing? Is 15mm still popular or has everyone moved to 28? Thanks! |
JimDuncanUK | 20 Nov 2016 8:48 a.m. PST |
Donovan I'm still using 25's from way back, I have quite a few. I never really got into 28's for ancients but I do use them for Dark Ages. To The Strongest seem to be popular, I'm about to try them soon. Hail Caesar is OK. A lot will depend on your peer group. By the way, welcome back. Jim |
HarryHotspurEsq | 20 Nov 2016 8:49 a.m. PST |
15mm is still popular, as is 28mm and 6mm. I presume that other scales are played a lot as well, but are not as prevalent. I play 'Hail Caesar' and 'l'Art de la Guerre', both have vocal champions and large networks of players. 'To the Strongest' looks neat, but I have yet to play it. 'Impetus' and 'Sword and Spear' are also popular, but I can't say that I was overly taken with either. I think FOG and WAB are both still played alot too, but also not really my thing. |
wargame insomniac | 20 Nov 2016 8:59 a.m. PST |
Hail Casesar is great for a 2-3 hour 2-player club night game or a 4-5 hour multiplayer weekend game. It plays best if you know enough about the chosen period / army with applying the appropriate special rules, which do a lot to differentiate various units. Or if you want everything done for you on a plate then you can simply use of the two army list books. |
BigRedBat | 20 Nov 2016 9:00 a.m. PST |
There is a recent thread where this was discussed, worth a read:- TMP link |
MajorB | 20 Nov 2016 9:05 a.m. PST |
"What rules are popular these days?" Depends what you mean by "popular". |
Extra Crispy | 20 Nov 2016 9:09 a.m. PST |
I'd suggest looking locally. No good buying Hail Caesar or Impetus if all the locals only play Art de la Guerre and DBA. |
Extra Crispy | 20 Nov 2016 9:10 a.m. PST |
For what it's worth our group is excited about the forthcoming Triumph! rules (beat available now, with free upgrades later), DBA and Hail Caesar. |
arsbelli | 20 Nov 2016 9:41 a.m. PST |
My Ancients gaming is all played with 15/18mm miniatures. In my experience, Hail Caesar is unsurpassed for very large, multi-player battles featuring hundreds of figures per side. For more moderately sized 1-on-1 matchups and solo gaming, I am eagerly awaiting my copy of Swordpoint. |
Who asked this joker | 20 Nov 2016 10:14 a.m. PST |
If you like Armati, "L'art de l'guerre" is probably the set for you. Draws heavily from Armati though it also has some elements of DBA as well. Hail Caesar seems popular is some areas. Maybe in yours? It is more of a big battle set. Ideal for club games. Triumph, from what I've heard, is similar to DBA but with some different element types and so forth. There isn't a whole lot of info on how the game plays though. I use all 15mm miniatures. Others, will use 28mm. Really, you should have a look in your area to see who uses what? Rules and miniatures size. |
lloydthegamer | 20 Nov 2016 10:32 a.m. PST |
To the Strongest is a great set of rules, and this comes from having played them many times. |
10mm Wargaming | 20 Nov 2016 10:40 a.m. PST |
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mghFond | 20 Nov 2016 10:44 a.m. PST |
I own 15-18mm Ancients and 10mm Ancients too. Having long looked for a great fun set of rules, I discovered To the Strongest a couple years ago. I am so pleased with it, I have no desire to buy any other sets, which is not to say I might not try a game done by someone else at a convention. I'm like you, don't care for DBA style rules. I've put on several TtS games at various conventions and never once had a player who said they didn't enjoy it. Most immediately want to buy a set. And scale of figs doesn't matter either btw, the rules work with any size. Oh and last of all, all army lists are free downloads on BigRedBat's site. |
Dark Knights And Bloody Dawns | 20 Nov 2016 11:03 a.m. PST |
I'd go with To The Strongest or Hail Caesar. |
Cardinal Ximenez | 20 Nov 2016 11:27 a.m. PST |
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Sundance | 20 Nov 2016 11:59 a.m. PST |
We still use WRG 6th, though I've been experimenting with skirmish using THW Swordplay and Lion Rampant. |
Marcus Brutus | 20 Nov 2016 1:36 p.m. PST |
Have you dug around on TMP before posting? This question comes up a lot. Just a few days ago there was a posting for massed battle rules. Lots of other subjects related to your inquiry. TMP link |
Ney Ney | 20 Nov 2016 1:43 p.m. PST |
Seems to me the ancients gaming scene is more split now than for a long long time. Not saying a that's a bad or good thing, just there are plenty of rules getting played but nothing is that dominant. Me I still play Armati and Warhammer ancients. I know other people playing DBA and L'art de Guerre andi Hail Caesar. |
nsolomon99 | 20 Nov 2016 3:01 p.m. PST |
Notice some interest on this thread in To the Strongest. I bought a copy of these rules when they were first released and then discovered they were "area movement" rules, where you need a square grid on your table. Pretty much stopped reading them at that point and moved on. What has been people's experience with them? Sounds like they're growing in popularity? What do people like about them? I for one hate the idea of drawing/laying out a square grid on my scenic table top. I play miniatures partly for the visual effect. |
rivers3162 | 20 Nov 2016 3:02 p.m. PST |
Another vote for To the Strongest – very easy to pick up! |
aynsley683 | 20 Nov 2016 3:31 p.m. PST |
Depends on who plays what to you locally, but ADLG seems to be the most popular at the moment around here. Haven't seen any Armati, Hail Caesar or to the strongest at my local cons yet, as I said just depends on where you live as they may be a lot more prevalent than they are here. |
lloydthegamer | 20 Nov 2016 5:36 p.m. PST |
nsolomon99 You don't have to mark complete squares, you could just "dot" the corners of squares for a more subdued board. You could also use some form of physical markers for the square corners. Using squares you don't have to measure anything and there are no squabbles over flanking/rear attacks. Using the card deck for everything means the game moves along at a rapid pace. It is a well thought out system which I really like playing; you should give it a try with what ever models you have since basing is not an issue. |
TKindred | 20 Nov 2016 6:02 p.m. PST |
Impetus Warhammer Ancients (any version) Dux Bellorum Whatever your local group is playing |
Timotheous | 21 Nov 2016 5:12 a.m. PST |
No one mentioned SAGA? Still going strong for one on one Viking age skirmish gaming. Also Lion Rampant for Medieval skirmishes. Hail Caesar seems to be holding on for large battle games. 25mm/28mm seems to be dry popular in all genres, including Ancients, owing to the rise of hard plastic kits from Victrix, Perry, Warlord, and others. Personally, I like DBA, now in its third edition, but you would probably not like it if you didn't like the mechanics in the 90's. |
Dervel | 21 Nov 2016 5:57 a.m. PST |
Who asked this Joker… Triumph, from what I've heard, is similar to DBA but with some different element types and so forth. There isn't a whole lot of info on how the game plays though. You asked this question before and I thought Dave and I provided you with answers? TMP link Did you have additional questions? |
redmist1122 | 21 Nov 2016 7:29 a.m. PST |
Use to do 15mm for DBA many years ago, but in the last 12ish year, went to 25/28mm figures using my go-to Ancients rule set – Might of Arms. P. |
Martin Rapier | 21 Nov 2016 8:44 a.m. PST |
I'd find out what your local group are doing, however even within that there may be some variation (we seem to have at least three different Ancients sub groups just in our club). MY gaming buddies and I base using DBx basing, but generally play either Command & Colours Ancients with figures and Hexon, Phil Sabins 'Lost Battles', or one of the various Neil Thomas Ancients sets. I've no idea how 'popular' such things are, but we like them:) We don't play 15 or 28 (other people in the club do), but 20mm and true 25mm, as we are bit old and retro like that. It is possible we might have load of 6mm Ancients too, and possibly some 2mm. Ahem. |
madaxeman | 21 Nov 2016 4:21 p.m. PST |
1. Find out what is played locally with your pool of potential buddies/opponents. 2. erm, that's it. If – as is suggested by your original post – your figures are mostly 15mm, you should find; 1. that 15mm is still popular 2. quite a few of the rulesets suggested by people in this thread are played mainly in 28mm by people who really like and enjoy them, but as a result have very little time to carefully read posts on TMP. 3. you will probably still find that the descendents of those DBx-type rules you didn't like back in the day are still fairly popular. Sorry.. All of that probably pushes you towards Hail Caesar I guess… but it may prove to be a little loose for a former Armati player? |
sausagesca | 24 Nov 2016 11:28 p.m. PST |
As an avid Armati player (helped with its development), I was not drawn to the BP/Hail Caesar rules. I know that they are popular, but if Armati was your thing, not sure they will work for you. A very active group in my region had played Armati too and tried for months to adopt HC. They played loads of games but then returned to Armati. I find it interesting how the gaming culture of a group is difficult to change once a certain type of gaming is established. |