"Getting started in ancients. EIR and Dacians?" Topic
9 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
Please remember not to make new product announcements on the forum. Our advertisers pay for the privilege of making such announcements.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the Getting Started with Ancients Message Board
Areas of InterestAncients
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Link
Featured Ruleset
Featured Showcase Article Beowulf  paints the prototypes for the Eureka Amazon Army.
Featured Profile Article Four and last of the Wild Creatures series.
Current Poll
Featured Book Review
|
Please sign in to your membership account, or, if you are not yet a member, please sign up for your free membership account.
| Field Marshal | 30 Apr 2026 8:14 p.m. PST |
I am mainly a horse and musket player (ACW, Napoleonics, Am Rev) I have always wanted to get into Ancients and particularly Early Imperial Rome. I will more than likely have to supply both sides and I was thinking Roman's and Dacians or Germans. I want 28mm and looking for simple rules which don't need tons of models ( that will come later with my usual wargamers megalomania ) FM |
| d88mm1940 | 30 Apr 2026 10:54 p.m. PST |
Clash of Spears! Good detail without being overwhelming!
Planty of good videos (which really seduced me!) and good examples throughout the book!
Along with 2 boxes of Victrix plastics and you are off!
Although you'll, later on, want a box of cavalry, then the Roman generals, oh ya, and an elephant box, and… |
martin goddard  | 01 May 2026 2:38 a.m. PST |
A very good choive for a first ancients pair. Well matched, plenty of figure availability and some good books etc.
martin
|
Shagnasty  | 01 May 2026 1:28 p.m. PST |
|
 John the OFM  | 01 May 2026 4:12 p.m. PST |
Don't limit yourself to plastic.
Both Foundry and Old Glory cover the period. In Old Glory's case the figures may even be cheaper. |
| korsun0 | 02 May 2026 4:24 a.m. PST |
Clash of Spears is good but more a large skirmish, it's a great game.
Midgard appears to be a popular Ancient game without needing a shed load of figures. |
| pfmodel | 02 May 2026 5:16 p.m. PST |
If you do not wish a lot of figures i assume you are look at skirmish rules. If so Clash of Spears is a good choice. Other options are Infamy Infamy. If you want to reproduce a battle and base several figures on a single base then you could consider DBA. That would require about 48 figures per side. Possible the most popular set of ancient rules are ADLG, but that will require more than 96 figures per side. There are some free options, but most are very complex, such as DBM. This video lists skirmish rules; youtu.be/9D01l8qJOwk |
| Field Marshal | 02 May 2026 11:25 p.m. PST |
Thanks for all the answers. I shall have a look at all recommendations. |
| Ran The Cid | 04 May 2026 5:50 a.m. PST |
Many rule sets have a "unit size" meaning that you set the size of the unit. For example, Hail Caesar/To The Strongest can work with infantry units 80mm wide with 8x2 figures on 20mm bases and 75mm cavalry units with 3 figures on 50mm bases. At starting army is roughly 12 units divided into 3 commands or about 140 figures per army depending on your mix of infantry, skirmish units and cavalry. |
|
