Achtung Minen | 30 Sep 2019 6:54 p.m. PST |
I've always wanted to play an Ancients ruleset that was like this… does it exist? • Works well with 15mm models based on 40mm wide bases. • Not just IGOUGO but has a good command and control system that makes the army's formation and battle lines get really bent out of shape as the battle goes on. • Works great with small armies… I'm not looking for a game where you have armies with a frontage that is half the length of the table. I'd rather the armies be a small number of stands and there be a lot of open space for terrain. • Has a mythic, heroic feel. Not looking for fantasy elements like magic or dragons, but rather personalities and heroic leaders are a part of the game, with individual traits (whether good or bad) that distinguish them and affect how the army is lead. • Is not a competitive game. A point system is OK if it is entirely optional, but I would be looking to play scenarios and stories, not tournaments. |
rmaker | 30 Sep 2019 8:34 p.m. PST |
Try Buck Surdu's "Bear Yourselves Valiantly". Works nicely with historical armies and has rules for fantasy elements if you feel like adding them. |
advocate | 30 Sep 2019 11:46 p.m. PST |
A game where you don't have a frontage of half the table will tend to mean manoeuvre is king, so battle lines may not form in the first place. That having been said, you may want to look at Dan Mersey's "Dux Bellorum". Not related in any way to Lion Rampant, it covers Dark Age combat and may have elements that you are looking for. To be fair, though, DBA also ticks quite a few of those boxes. |
Dexter Ward | 01 Oct 2019 3:48 a.m. PST |
DBA, DBM, DBMM, Field of Glory, To the Strongest |
Dervel | 01 Oct 2019 5:56 a.m. PST |
Triumph and Triumph fantasy for the mythic hero part. |
Extra Crispy | 01 Oct 2019 7:56 a.m. PST |
To the Strongest sounds right up your alley. Plays on a grid so basing is largely irrelevant. Your nits just need to fit in the squares. It is kind of IGOUGO. You attempt to activate, doing so until you fail, then it's my turn. So you may get no activations at all in your turn (rare). But you may only get one or two moves before things switch to the opponent. We have played it with small armies but as advocate noted, with so much space, battle lines rarely form in those games. Leaders are important, and give small benefits (basically re-rolls) and bonuses to morale. Also, some armies have "heroes" that allow you to sacrifice them for a re-roll. We never use points except as a guide. For example, if I want force X to be about twice as strong as force Y, I look at the points. But our games are almost never "even." Great fun and easy to neach to noobs. |
The Beast Rampant | 01 Oct 2019 10:05 a.m. PST |
"-Has a mythic, heroic feel. Not looking for fantasy elements like magic or dragons, but rather personalities and heroic leaders are a part of the game, with individual traits (whether good or bad) that distinguish them and affect how the army is lead." No DBX ruleset is going to check THAT box. Look into Sword & Spear Fantasy. It's basically regular S&S with some fantasy elements thrown in that you can use or not. It plays best with around 10 – 20 units. |
kodiakblair | 01 Oct 2019 10:06 a.m. PST |
Rally Round the King from 2 Hour Wargames ticks all those boxes. 40mm is the standard base size. It's "Reaction System" means your finely made plans go to pot when your troops make contact. Armies are 12 to 20 bases but that's not set in stone. Commanders have ratings. Armies have aggression ratings. Has points values but you don't need to use then. The rules author Ed is fond of saying "Your game,play it your way" Comes with a campaign setting,again optional. Now sold as a PDF by Rebel Miniatures for $10. USD rebelminis.com/rarokip.html |
DukeWacoan | 01 Oct 2019 2:03 p.m. PST |
I converted GMT's Simple Great Battles of History rules to miniatures, mainly just by converting hexes to inches. Matches mostly what you are talking about. The basic rules (non-"Simple") add more detail, and also work. I've done a monster Raphia game multiple times with the rules to great success, both in playtime, ease of play and historical results. Check bottom part of this page - dukewacoan.wordpress.com And here - link |
Henry Martini | 01 Oct 2019 3:20 p.m. PST |
Dux Bellorum is very period-specific (Arthurian Britain), and is almost what you require. It even has an optional rule for a variant game in which you gain victory by impressing a bard with your commander's heroic actions, no matter how well/badly your army performs. It uses Leadership Points (LPs) to propel the action. These are limited in number, so you have to prioritise your distribution of them each turn, and they reduce as you lose units. Dux B is a fast-play system with simple game mechanisms, too. It's perhaps a little more abstract than you'd like in the leader characterisation department as written. Leader quality is mainly represented by the number of LPs you have available, but amonsgst the set of 'Strategies and Tactics' optional rules at the end of the rule book there's one leader characterisation option, and I'm sure it would be a simple matter to invent more yourself without breaking the game. I should add that, despite its lack of detailed leader characterisation rules, the game engenders a sense that you're playing small, heroic battles. Indeed, the author tells us that each base represents only about fifty men, so your army numbers in the hundreds rather than thousands. The actual miniature armies are small too, averaging five to eight units, with each unit represented by one base. This means that you have plenty of space on the table for manoeuvre. The game is very much scenario-based, and a selection of them is provided in the rule book.There is a points system, but it's costed per unit. Beyond the Arthurian arena, there's actually an army list for Late Romans in the rule book, and with some work you could probably extend the coverage to other parts of the Late Roman world and create additional army lists – but you might want to check what's out there already; I know a number of variants have been posted online, and maybe published in the hobby press. |
Drone7 | 02 Oct 2019 1:16 a.m. PST |
Aside from the 'mythic, heroic' point I say DBA might be the rules you want to look at. |
platypus01au | 02 Oct 2019 2:05 a.m. PST |
No DBX ruleset is going to check THAT box. DBMM certainly does. You can have Brilliant and Inert Generals. Plus the "wingman" bonus for Generals defeating enemy. Plus other rules about how generals work. Lots of people who previously played DBM (or only played DBA), but never went on to DBMM have an incorrect impression about how the rules work. Also, DBMM has specific rules for smaller games with armies at both 200 and 100 AP (say 50 to 10 elements depending). Despite this, another set to look into is the Chipco medieval set "Days of Knights". It ticks all of those points. Generals and characters are very important for command and control. Small armies. 40mm wide bases of 15mm. They also have a "fan" version of the rules called "Age of Hannibal" available as a PDF from Wargame Vault for ancients rather than medievals. For Days of Knights I think you have to get onto their Facebook page and contact them there. Give the Chipco rules a look. I recommend them. Cheers, JohnG |
A Lot of Gaul | 02 Oct 2019 5:56 a.m. PST |
Age of Hannibal was written by Greg Wagman and published by Little Wars TV: link Many of the mechanics of AoH are based on those of Chipco's 1990's edition of Fantasy Rules!, licensed with royalties paid to Chip Harrison and Curtis Wright. In regard to Evan's 'want' list: • AoH recommends using 40mm square bases, which works very well for 15mm miniatures. • C&C includes the Chipco Morale Clock, which winds down as casualties accumulate, making it more and more difficult to control one's forces. If the clock gets too low, the army breaks. • AoH is a big-battle rule set. It works best with armies of 50-100 bases per side, but can also be played with relatively small forces. • Included is a list of positive and negative personality traits for commanders, which allows one to model the leadership characteristics of great generals from classical antiquity. • AoH is designed for historically-based scenario play. There is a basic points system for pickup games, but it is entirely optional. Best of luck in your search! Cheers, Scott |
Achtung Minen | 02 Oct 2019 11:45 a.m. PST |
Thanks all, I now have a good amount of games to check out! Cheers! |
Marcus Brutus | 02 Oct 2019 1:07 p.m. PST |
Also take a look at Basic Impetus. |
10mm Wargaming | 08 Oct 2019 3:04 a.m. PST |
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Asteroid X | 11 Oct 2019 7:21 p.m. PST |
There is always Warhammer Ancient Battles. |