ANCIENTS VOTING RESULTS:
Favorite Rules - Archon

My most recent wargame was a solitaire replay of the Battle of the Sabis (Sambre) River in 57 B.C., played with Piquet with its Archon supplement. In this replay, the Nervii successfully ambushed Caesar's legions, who were apparently too tired after their long march to organize an effective resistance. It didn't help that Caesar's allied Gallic cavalry routed right through the 7th legion! Caesar was forced to retreat into camp with the battered remnants of his five remaining legions (the 13th and 14th never showed up), his safety (and more importantly, his honor) in serious jeopardy! A real nail-biter of an Archon battle! [12 Oct 1999]

Archon: Rome vs Gauls. Got me interested in Ancients again after being "turned " off for many years by the ahistorical matchups and c competition styles of play. Not the way I like to play historicals. [14 May 1999]

I fought an ahistorical contest between an Early Imperial Roman force and Porus Indians. The battle was fought using the Archon rules and actually turned out to be rather exciting. The Indian cavalry nearly enveloped the Roman infantry, but failed to pass their courage tests at a most inopportune time. The Roman infantry then crushed the Indian infantry in the center resulting in the Indian army routing. [12 May 99]

My last game was a small one using the Archon rules - a battle between the Romans and Carthaginians. [3 May 99]

Got my Celts stuffed by Early Imp Romans, used a rosta system (archon) and felt that up until the last moment that my Celts were in with a chance, then it all went pear shaped, [2 May 99]

My last ancients game was a solo playtest of my newly acquired Archon rules set-Romans versus Carthaginians. The game went smoothly and produced very historical results. The Roman cavalry on one flank got tangled up with Numidian light horse and never got into action, while the Spanish and Liby-Phoenician horse on the other flank made short work of the Italian horse opposite them and went on to strike the flank of the Roman infantry. The Roman infantry was winning in the center until the cavalry hit them, Although the Libyan heavy infantry had managed to fight them pretty much to a draw, the Spanish and Gallic infantry weren't doing so hot. [28 Apr 99]

Greek vs Greek, around 18 units and 2 players per side using Archon (Piquet) rules. The Spartans and their allies were fighting the Athenians and their Allies. The Spartans tried desperately to engage the left wing of the army before their allies were destroyed. The Athenian side jabbed with their cav & Lt troops on the left, keeping the Spartans away from their battleline for as long as possible. Meanwhile the Athenian right swept forward at a rapid pace as their cavalry overwhelmed their counterparts on the Spartan left. Then as their flank was threatened, the Spartan Allies were hit to the front by the Athenian Hoplites. As the Hoplites clashed the Athenian Cavalry swept into the flank. Meanwhile the Spartans were just coming to grips with the Athenian allies. They closed to engage, but before they could shatter the allied Hoplites, their allies on their left crumbled and fled. The army's morale was gone with their flank. The Athenians and their allies were victorious as they managed to delay engaging the powerful Spartiates while taking advantage of their superior mounted arm to aid their hoplites against the Spartan allied Hoplites. The cavalry turned what could have been a slugfest into a one sided affair.

I have played many ancient rules for many years. Archon is on a different level altogether, in excitement, playability and it absolutely gives the best feel when related to historical accounts. [28 Apr 99]

We fought an Archon game between a combined Greek force versus Persians and Mendizing Greeks. The Greeks won, but it was a very close battle. I can't remember all the details since it was about 3 months ago. You can see pictures of the battle at the following website. http://www.garrison-clubs.org/clubs/charlottegallery.htm - Eric Burgess [27 Apr 99]

I participated in a game of Classical Hack at Cold Wars. Phil Viverito ran a game of Romans vs. Dacians. [27 Apr 99]

A typical forest action a depleted legion versus a Gallic Hoard. Nip and all the way with the Romans breaking the Gaul's morale at the very end and holding the ground. [3 Apr 99]

Two days ago. I took my 6mm travelling DBA set (everything in a small toolbox) to visit a sick wargaming friend in the hospital. I'm sure the docs must have thought we were insane. Anyway, we laid it out on two hospital patient tables side by side and had a couple of rounds of Romans (Middle Imperials, but masquerading as Eastern Later Imperials) against the Sassanids, since I haven't had much of a chance to use the little elephants. I'm afraid that I couldn't manage to lose, though, even for a sick friend. [1 Apr 99]

My last game used Piquet/Archon and was a scenario in which a rebel Egyptian army with Athenian hoplite allies were attempting to break out of a besieged island in the Nile. Their opposition was a Spartan-led Persian army which started out in a scattered position. The Athenians easily over-ran the Persian infantry opposing them but harrassment by Persian horse archers and command indecision on the part of the Egyptians allowed the Persian heavy cavalry to hit the rebel flanks and a small unit of Spartan hoplites broke the Athenians. [31 Mar 99]

My last ancients game was a hypothetical solitaire battle between four of Caesar's legions and a large German force under Ariovistus. I used the S & T boardgame Caesar in Gallia to set up a Gallic Wars scenario, and used Piquet/Archon to figh tthe battle. The Gauls drew a lot of the early impetus and charged all along the Roman front, but by judiciously exchanging lines, Caesar was able to withstand the initial onslaught and force the German warriors back. On the third turn Ariovistus drew a Courage! card, which caused no fewer than three engaged warbands to turn tail and run. This led to an overwhelming victory for Caesar, and insured that the Rhine border would be quiet for at least another year! [30 Mar 99]

My latest battle was part of a solitaire campaign using the S & T boardgame Caesar in Gallia for the strategic level, and Piquet/Archon for the tactical battles. My latest battle saw Caesar with four legions fighting Ariovistus on the German side of the Rhine. The battle opened with a furious attack by the Germans (they won the early impetus rolls). But by exchanging lines Caesar was able to keep his front intact, until three German warbands suffered a loss of heart (lost rolls after Ariovistus drew a Courage! card) and fled, destroying the morale of the entire German army. It was a total tactical victory for the Romans, and insured that Caesar would not have to worry about another German incursion - at least for this year!

I've wargamed ancients since 1979, and have played a number of rulesets, beginning with WRG 6th. By 1993 I had finally become so dissatisfied with the existing rules that I briefly dropped out of active gaming. Piquet and Archon have put the fun and excitement back into wargaming for me! BTW, the very complex ancients version of Empire is entitled "Ancient Empires" (plural). Thanks for providing such a great web site! [30 Mar 99]