"Lost in rules choice..." Topic

Hello,

there are a number of rules that made it to my shortlist but it starts to be difficult to sort them out. Could you help me out?

The important criteria are:
-easy to play
-fast
-lower figure count (not a zillion bases)
-importance of command and control
-fun of course (not hard work, good flow)

The candidates are
-Sword & Spear
-Age of Hannibal
-To the strongest
-…other?

Any feedback? I have Hail Caesar and DBA but would like very much to try something new

thank you

Have a look at Mortem et Gloriam. There is a very good website, forum, 650+ army lists on line and tutorial videos. The game has three sizes, Pacto, Magna and Maxima (sp?). The Pacto game needs about 20 bases. All use 40mm frontage in 15mm and the basic unit of distance is the base width.

Cheers RittervonBek, I will check these as well!

I haven't played Age of Hannibal but have been intrigued by it. Will ultimately buy it as I rather enjoyed the old Chipco rulesets. I have played numerous games of TTS. I enjoy it quite a bit. I think I prefer using dice over the card draw. Every game has given a good time and has looked and felt like what I imagine an ancient battle to be.

Triumph?

Triumph, videos are available describing the rules and how to play on youtube:

YouTube link

Army Lists:
link

The rules are available as a PDF from Wargame Vault, or hard copies are available from Scale Creep, On Military Matter, Riders Hobby Shop and Michigan Toy Soldier.

Basic Impetus would work as well. Low amount of bases that you can populate how you wish, so quantity of figures is up to you. Good game, that is easy to play and learn.

Another vote for TRIUMPH.

Another vote for To the Strongest. We just played it last night and a guy who had not played the rules previously defeated a veteran player in a close fought game. Lots of fun.

Another vote for To The Strongest.

Great game, easy to learn

Armies are at that sweet spot of around a dozen units, as they are big bases it is up to you now many figures you go with.

Highly recommended.

I'll add my voice to To the Strongest, but I've also enjoyed many games of Sword and Spear. Armies for the latter will be able to play Tts as well.

Triumph fits many of the criteria you listed. It scales well from smaller games to larger ones very easily

To the Strongest is the most elegant and fun ancients system I have played--and I have played many. Go to the Big Red Bat Cave and you can order the digital version and start playing right away. It is based on a square grid that can be any size to suit you. Activation and combat are very ingenious. There are provisions for generals, leaders, and heroes to inject some role playing. You can use regular playing cards or better yet, numbered chips. No dice are used, although the cards or chips have a similar, but not identical function as a D10 because the probabilities are always changing based on how many have been already drawn. Basing is whatever you like. This gives you the opportunity to create very beautiful bases that look like little dioramas. The rules work with any scale of miniatures. In short, try To the Strongest, you can't go wrong.

I have played Sword and Spear, it is different from the way a lot of other games are ordered. It is indeed fast play and I have done large battles in only 2 hours. The dice mechanism used by the game is quite unique and leads to players having to make some interesting choices. My wargames group definitely gives it a thumbs up. Ancients wargaming is what got me into miniature gaming in the beginning Sword and Spear does an excellent job of giving an exciting game and does a very acceptable portrayal of all the common types of ancient troops. Give them a whirl, once you get the hang of them I bet you will like the system.

Another vote for To the Strongest

Sword and Spear: I have received a copy of the rules and saw some of the gameplay videos. It looks interesting and fast. Maybe they use a bit too many figures for what I have.

Triumph: thank you for the suggestion, I did not know about the rules. It possibly is a child of DBA. I like DBA but I am looking for something a bit different. I think I will get them anyway

Age of Hannibal sounds interesting but the focus seems on just one period that is not my main interest (Gallic wars, Alexander, and much later HYW)

To the Strongest: I hate the cards on the table but I suppose you could reach the same effect with D10 dice (although the odds are slightly different because your "deck" is not depleted when you roll a new D10).
I saw some gameplay, and was surprised how much nothing was happening. Lots of cards drawn, back and forth turns, but effect was very small. In terms of command and control, it looked more like the cards were driving the game than the player really taking decisions. But on the other hand TtS seems popular, so there might be a reason.

Another vote for To the Strongest. As with any system where activating units is not guaranteed, chance will interfere with your plans. However, you certainly can influence that by the decisions you make about which units top activate and when, placement of your generals, etc. It's basing independent, and can be played with very small or very large numbers of figures (and/or units, for that matter). It isn't even necessary for your troop to be based the same way as your opponents.

Another vote for Age of Hannibal.

For To the Strongest I use chits drawn from a bag rather than cards. Less obtrusive and no need to shuffle the deck.

Another vote for Mortem et Gloriam. Terrific online support from the author including video tutorials, a huge selection (650+) of well researched army lists and some unique mechanisms that give a challenging and fun game. Three different scales allow you to jump in with a minimum investment and get playing while your figure collection grows.

As mentioned, I recommend small chips drawn from a bag for To the Strongest. You can make your own or purchase nicely done small ones from the Big Red Bat store. They are really unobtrusive and much nicer than cards.

Triumph has more troop types than DBA and more combat outcomes too. And armies will be 12-16 stands, depending on the point costs per stand.

DBA 3 is super!

thanks all for the advice.

Eventually, I went for Triumph, and Sword & Spear.

Triumph because it looks like a friendly DBA (that I own as well) and Sword & Spear because of the random activation and semi-simultaneous mechanism of dice pulling that interests me.

Age of Hannibal is too much centered on a period I do not collect. To the Strongest has a very strong appeal but I cannot get past the cards on the table and the semi-skirmish aspect. I already have Lion Rampant filling this niche. I will probably try the rules anyway because many people are praising it and it should be for a reason, but there is so much you can buy at once. :)

thanks all for the advice, appreciated.

By all means try To the Strongest but use chips; not cards. It makes for a much cleaner battlefield. Cheers!

ADLG gets my vote.
If just over 20 units of 2-8 figs (12 for pike) qualifies ;)

Clash of Spears.

Warhammer Ancient Battles.

A bit late, I know, but given what most do, you will want to try some other rules in time.