| Anton Ryzbak | 28 Jun 2018 7:00 p.m. PST |
We played a game of WRG 5th Ed Ancients, it was a hoot!
Takes me back forty years! link |
| TMPWargamerabbit | 28 Jun 2018 7:38 p.m. PST |
Still have photos of the many WRG games from that era. The ancient collection started back then with 3rd edition….to 5th. |
| Winston Smith | 28 Jun 2018 9:26 p.m. PST |
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| Cyrus the Great | 28 Jun 2018 10:23 p.m. PST |
I don't think anything written in Barkerese can be described as fun. |
| Bashytubits | 28 Jun 2018 11:02 p.m. PST |
A real blast from the past. |
| Tiberius | 29 Jun 2018 4:03 a.m. PST |
These are the rules that I played my first game of ancients with and they got me hooked. I enjoyed reading about your battle. thank you |
| Darrell B D Day | 29 Jun 2018 5:13 a.m. PST |
I'm tempted – very tempted. Thanks for reviving lots of memories. 5th Ed was my favourite – played many games, lost most but great fun. They are fancy looking copies of the rules you've got there. Mine were just plain brown covers with black lettering. I still have a sheet of paper in the back with answers from PB himself to rules questions. In those far-off days, Phil would only answer question if you sent them to him formulated in a specific way. I think my "ancients" are still based for WRG 5th – should I do it? DBDD |
 aegiscg47  | 29 Jun 2018 10:00 a.m. PST |
That is awesome! I remember those heady days of 5th and 6th where the discussions about tactics and rules took longer than the actual games! Definitely not sure I want to go back to that, but it's always good to see these kinds of remembrances to remind you of how good things are now in the hobby. |
| Anton Ryzbak | 29 Jun 2018 10:47 a.m. PST |
Darrell
For a short time Heritage (who remembers them?) had a distribution deal with WRG and added the fancy covers as the original British ones were too plain for the US market Dig them out and play a game, if only to remind yourself of a more innocent time. |
| Major William Martin RM | 29 Jun 2018 11:46 a.m. PST |
Anton; Yep, I worked for Heritage during that time, about 1977-78. They actually had quite a bit of printing done at the time, Heritage products, WRG, Dave Millward rules, a few independent reference books, and the Yaquinto stuff. Good times! I played my first game under 3rd, became dedicated under 4th and played through "early" 7th before deciding that Phil had lost his mind. I still love both 5th and 6th, and there is a pretty active group still playing 6th world-wide, with the biggest concentration being in the UK. They still have an annual championship at the World's in Derby (? maybe Chester). Bill |
| arthur1815 | 29 Jun 2018 2:19 p.m. PST |
I agree Wholeheartedly with Cyrus the Great. I don't want to spend my leisure time trying to comprehend rules written as if they were a piece of complex legislation. |
| Cyrus the Great | 29 Jun 2018 3:56 p.m. PST |
Fifth edition, was that the edition that boasted Phil's love affair with Assyrians and 4th-5th Late Romans? I still have a sheet of paper in the back with answers from PB himself to rules questions. In those far-off days, Phil would only answer question if you sent them to him formulated in a specific way. There was a gamer who kept a notebook with all Phil's answers. When he wanted to do something that was not clear in the rules, he'd produce a letter written by Phil. The problem was that Phil changed his mind all the time. Luckily, the gamer had letters written by Phil to cover all interpretations. |
| DOUGKL | 29 Jun 2018 6:19 p.m. PST |
We played a game of 5th a couple of months ago and will be playing again this month. |
| altfritz | 30 Jun 2018 4:31 a.m. PST |
We tried to do a game at the club back in the 90's. We even had a veteran WRG tournament player but we couldn't figure out the terrain setup rules! |
| Maldini1966 | 30 Jun 2018 8:22 a.m. PST |
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| Anton Ryzbak | 30 Jun 2018 10:38 a.m. PST |
Maldini,
Those are some good looking Carthaginians, go whip some Roman tail! |
| Maldini1966 | 02 Jul 2018 12:17 p.m. PST |
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| Maldini1966 | 05 Jul 2018 9:28 a.m. PST |
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| colin knight | 16 Jul 2018 2:49 a.m. PST |
Used to have fantastic games with 6th. Really gripping. Not sure if it was all new and exciting because of new to gaming and all the new figures and sculptors coming out.
Would love to know 5th was better for chariot armies as very weak and costly in 6th |
| Maxshadow | 21 Aug 2018 3:43 a.m. PST |
I've always been tempted to go back. But first I thought I'd percentage the casualty charts to give the possibility of whole figure removal and it needs an easier moral test! |
| Anton Ryzbak | 21 Aug 2018 6:10 p.m. PST |
Maxshadow, What we did was to use 1d20 for those pesky left over casualties, just roll to beat the remainder (i.e. 29 casualties, remove one figure, beat a 9 on a d20) if you beat it he stays, if you don't he dies. We also broke the moral tests out by circumstance so only the relevant factors are considered |
| Maxshadow | 22 Aug 2018 1:10 a.m. PST |
Good ideas Anton. I'm going to keep them ready for when one of my current projects wind down. |
| Maldini1966 | 08 Oct 2018 3:33 a.m. PST |
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| Elenderil | 15 Oct 2018 7:36 a.m. PST |
I don't recall ever thinking that the rules were difficult to understand. What I do recall is that they were slow to play and lots of games ended in well I was about to do x and I was going to counter with y discussions because we rarely finished a game. The rules mechanics gave a great feel as units degraded rather than disintegrating all at once. If only computer moderated rules had been a thing back then. |
