"Skirmish Gaming rules for Ancients ! - Clash of Spears" Topic

( TMP giving me a hard time with posting this today :) )

So, we've shown a bit of this recently but the cat is out of the bag now.

For a year now we have been developing a set of skirmish rules for ancients.

By skirmish we mean 30-60 figures in units of 6-12 models that you can fight over two hours and that are truly centered on small actions, like for example scouting forces prior to a large battle…

We've posted a couple of battle reports but I thought it would be a good time to show about more about it..

We have really worked hard to provide the right feeling to the game looking at the impact of fatigue, armor and terrain on these kind of small actions and avoiding the temptation to "just to replicate artificial large battle mechanics in a small scale".

Although our idea is to extend the rules to all ancients and even to medieval times we want to be careful in the approach and that is why the main book concentrates in the western Mediterranean 4th to 1st BC. Punic Wars, Greco-Carthaginian wars etc.. So the first book will have 7 army lists centered on that theater of operations..

However, we will provide a quick compendium for other armies and full disclosure of the point system so you can try other lists of your own design if that is what you want.

Models should be individually based, could work with 15s or 28s ( but why not go 28s if you only need about 45 models ). Base shape is irrelevant.

Should be reaching people's hands before end of year..

if you are interested com have a look:
link

Interesting.

And how would one go about buying a copy?

Need to wait till second half of the year… but we will make sure that everyone knows…

We'll be showcasing until then…

( you can also keep an eye on our fb group link )

Best get cracking on with my Samnites. This looks very interesting!

Indeed.. Italian tribes is one of the lists…

I want to build that force as well.. (sample page below – not the list.. just the characters for the army )

Thanks for sharing! I'm.veey excited about this project. Love the art work. Inspired by Mr Connolly?

I did see someone do some conversions using the victrix samnites and use them as Etruscans by using some head swaps. They looked very nice

Ahh… the artwork is indeed a story of its own… we are working with an author/artist with whom we want to also release a book on the period ( the rise of Roman republic ) that has not previously been released in english…

we will also reveal more about that in due time…

Oh that would be good. That part of Rome's history is very interesting. The art work is lovely.

Please keep us updated on these rules as I would be eager to play them.

If the book is printed, how come the long wait?

That is a test print from the on-demand printer. There are still some editing passes to be finished, etc.

It is a fun game. We have really been enjoying it. The basic mechanics are simple. The weapons and special combat abilities make the armies feel and play a lot differently, even though they may seem pretty similar.

I am glad to have a game for all the beautiful 28mm Ancients out there that does not require 200 – 300 figures per side! I'm OK with painting that many 15mm troops, or even more 10mm, but whew! That's too much for me in 28mm.

This definitely looks interesting. I just wish I didn't have to wait so long. :)

(what is it about this hobby that makes one so impatient? Yet, requires so much patience to prepare …)

I understand, I'm impatient too.

We will not take a day longer than we need but we do want to make sure to eliminate erratas and typos. We are working carefully to clean it and polish it so it will be a worthy product for anyone spending any money on the book.

While waiting, you can have a glance here:
youtu.be/HiRrlD9fOys

Thank you for the link. The rules look well set up. The language is good. (yes, I paused and read through some pages)

I only noted 3 scenarios, though. Are you planning on adding more?

Hahaha… I showed more than I should.. ( thank you for the kind comment )

The book will have six scenarios, only 3 were ready when doing the test print. And we plan to support it well, of course if a community builds up. We are not serial writers that will move to other projects, so we have more material ready than you will see in the book that will come out over time.

I cannot believe you paused and read… that is funny…

As mentioned… we don't want it rushed… we've been working on it since last year and playtesting consistently by groups close ot us but also by other groups that play them without author's influence.

Hopefully it will be osomething ancient players can enjoy.

cheers
Francisco

Hello
I am am interested in a copy of these rules.
I have seen various reviews online and would love to get the group playing them
How do I go about ordering ?
( please send me a link that doesn't involve Facebook if possible)
Thanks
Steve
Cleveland , Ohio

Francisco,
Sorry I missed the expo at Gigabytes the other day here in Atlanta. I'll try to catch the next one. Any idea when it is?

Andrew

So,
rules are not out yet. The reviews are only based on a playtest pre print as we have been playtesting for over 8 months continuously now.

Release is planned for Nov/Dec, straight release, o KS :)

you can follow the development here link

We do regular demos in Austin and Atlanta, and we will be doing lots of demo games during Historicon..

cheers,

Francisco

Would you guys allow me a little bit of self promotion ?

YouTube link

:D

I played the demos at Historicon. The rules are fun and straightforward, and it was a pleasure talking to the designers.

I'm thinking of using my 54mm Greeks and Romans, probably with double movement and weapons ranges, as the rules appear capable of being used with figures of any scale. I'll certainly be getting a copy when they come out!

Chris Johnson

Thanks for your support !!

Glad you have fun, we did our best… We ended up very tired but happy :)

I would want to see ( and play ) in a game of 54mm :)

The game scales well from small games of maybe 20 figures per side, to the standard game 30-40 figures per side to large games, so far we have tried up to 80-90 figures per side. So there is a lot of room to choose your games.

Again, thanks for your comments and we'll keep working towards our release plan before end of year..

Very interested in this as wishing to do a skirmish campaign loosely based around early Rome with Samites, Etruscans, Gauls and a lost band of Celt Iberians ( I just love the Victrix sculpts). There's a host of 28mm terrain courtesy of Serrissa now to back this up. Look forward to Release.

Will Imperial Romans and opponents be in the initial book?

The book will include armies on the western Mediterranean 4th to 1st century BC.

So the latest roman army one could do with the lists in the book would be post Marian reform / Cesarean Roman.

With the release of the rules we will release available to download, the point system for people to design their own lists but also a compendium of playtest army lists covering from Biblical to Dark Ages.

In that compendium available to download for free, there will be Imperial Romans and opponents.

Francisco