"Hail Caesar questions" Topic

I'm clearly on holidays to have so much hobby time.

So, in between painting WW2 British Red Devils, I'm reading my copy of 'Hail Caesar' & trying to see if I can get it to work for my Ancients' collection of armies (Bronze Age, Punic Wars & Late Roman empire). I'm concentrating on the latter for my initial examination. All figures are individually based but occupy movement trays.

Some questions- is the army list book worth getting? I did buy their 'Age of Bronze' book – beautiful but a bit superfluous.

– is there an online Army Generator? I can create my own proforma but something already done would be great.

– Cavalry & infantry base widths vary. 90mm for cavalry & 140mm for infantry. Will this be an issue? I think I could stipulate units can not be within 30mm of other units so stop unintended contact with multiple enemies in melee.

– Figure numbers don't matter? I have heavy infantry units with 20 figures, light infantry with 12, heavy & medium cavalry with 8 figures in two rows & light cavalry with 9 figures in one row. Nearly every unit, bar some skirmish foot & Horse Archers are standard size.

– the Hun & Goth barbarian army has 22 units & 5 generals. Their Late Roman opponents slightly less. Is this too much for a 3-4 hour game?

I'd like to run a solo game before I head off overseas. Any advice for a Newbie?

HC is a pretty flexible system for basing. I play with a fellow each week and we use 25mm figs on bases that are about 4x4 or so for standard infantry units. Can is a bit bigger. I am currently doing up my own version for 6mm figs with the bases being 2 inch squares for a standard infantry unit. Can will likely be the same. I will also adjust the measurements to CMs from inches.

I have not heard of an online army generator, but the HC Army lists book (which I think can be had as a download) has a ton of stuff in it for the various armies of the various eras.

We regularly do 20-25 units per side games in under 4 hours, so that shouldn't be a problem. For your first game, focus on the command system and the proximity rules, which are a bit different from other games. The shooting and melee systems may seem a bit wordy at first, but once you work out a couple of combats, things start to go much faster.

The army book(s) are worth getting. What used to be 2 books, has been repackaged by Warlord as a single book. Good selection of lists for biblical through late medieval. The period books seem to be rather limited in their value.

"90mm for cavalry & 140mm for infantry" will cause some trouble when units form up into a battle line. Keeping a 25mm buffer to the sides of the cavalry units will eliminate most issues.

3 divisions and 12-16 units is a great small game. 4 divisions and 20+ units makes for a good evening of play.

HC is a very verbal game. You need to describe each unit's movement before rolling the leadership test. You may want to practice speaking the orders out loud in your solo games. The units should move to match what you said, and not what you meant.

I do think the army book would be useful and it's not that expensive, though I can't find a pdf even on the Warlord's website.
But, TBH, I've already spent too much on 'Hail Caesar' without being certain they'll be the rule set of choice.

I think a solo game or two then subject some of my pals to a game before I open the wallet again.