Hi all,
I'm looking to get into Medieval/Ancient wargaming and I'm after a bit of advice. A bit of background first, I'm a long time 40k player and have also played a lot of modern historicals such as 'Seven Days to the Rhine', 'Team Yankee' and 'Fistful of TOWs'.
I'm really interested in Medieval and Ancient warfare so I'm looking to try something in these eras. I'm wanting to start with a couple of third crusade forces initially. And then in the future maybe look at some late Roman Empire armies as well.
There's so many rulesets and It's a bit daunting. After some extensive research I've narrowed it down to ADLG and MeG. Both of these games seem to offer interesting tactical choices (playing the period not the rules etc), whilst also having fairly large playerbases in the UK. MeG in particular seems to be really well supported.
Unfortunately I haven't actually played either of them yet as I can't really afford to be buying the books purely to read them. So if I list a set of things I'm specifically looking for in a Medieval game, would you guys be able to recommend which ruleset works best? Or even recommend a different set altogether if it fits better?
- A relatively simple and elegant ruleset. I've played complex games before, and I'm no stranger to them. But these days I'm after something we can quickly pick up and play without spending half the game consulting pages of special rules and tables.
- Supports 15mm or maybe 6mm at a push. I'd like to stick to 15mm as that seems to be the 'go-to' scale for these games and I'd like to play a game I can actually get games of. Also the figures look nicer painted up. I am going to be buying two armies though and slowly trying to introduce this to my group, so I could do a different scale at a push. But I'd prefer 15mm.
- Visual appeal. This is a big one for me. I've seen some video's and pictures of medieval/ancient games and sometimes what is supposed to be a full army ends up looking like a small skirmish. I'm aware that compromises need to be made here but I'd like a game that makes it look like I'm commanding an army, with some depth and 'fullness' to the units. I suppose a decent set of terrain rules plays into this too, as it makes the board look more complete.
- 6'x4' table maximum. Unfortunately I just can't go bigger than this. Not in my current house. I'd like a game that plays well and gives me plenty to do on a table this size.
- Space for maneuver. I'd like a game that allows us to play a decent sized game but also has space for flanking and maneuverers rather than every game being a line up slugging match. I'm aware that this one sort of contradicts with the points above, so what I'm really looking for is a game that strikes a good balance between army size, visual appeal, table size and maneuver room. A tall order I'm aware!
As I mentioned. Based on my research both ADLG and MeG seem to satisfy the above conditions. I'm leaning more towards MeG than ADLG as the visual appeal is better (the units look 'fuller'). But I've played neither of them so I'd like to get some first hand accounts from grognards who have!
Any help would be much appreciated. Cheers!
finally paints the first of his Gauls...
