"First game of Might of Arms on saturday, was well pleased." Topic

Hi Guys

After much anticipation, I finally got to play MOA last saturday. Two friends called around and we set to. I played a 500pt game of Lydians Vs Persians against one of them, and then we played at 1000pts, with the two guys playing and me checking the rulebook. Lydians 1, persians 1. 1000pts seems to suit us perfectly.

Overall, I was well pleased, we picked up the rules quite quickly, and we only made a few minor mistakes. It was a breath of fresh air after years of DBM. The game went quickly enough, and was very enjoyable. It was nice to play a wargame where geometry wasnt a big issue, although we have to change our tactics, especially where light cav are concerned ! Everyone enjoyed themselves, even the losers, and we had a laugh, especially when the immortals broke and ran like little girls. The persian players face was a treat to behold.

It isnt an overly competitive system, and may not be as suitable for comps as other systems, as there is no "army break point" or similar, so we just played until one side were completely stuffed. Fair enough if its just a few mates, but could cause probs for more competitive types.

I will definitely be playing this again, when time and wife allows. Prefered it to Armatti, and leaves Dbm in the shade. Wont be everyones cup of tea, with lots of morale checks, and some record keeping ( hits on each unit, we used two coloured dice behind each unit) but worth a look for ancients or medieval.

Phil

Not having dice all over the place was one of the things I liked about DBM. Not having a current edition of the rules in print was one of the things I hated-and what killed it for me.

Phil,
Check out the MOA yahoo group. A lot of good stuff on there. One of the guys in our club also made an army break point list for those who want to play in competition. Have played many times, and enjoyed everyone of them. We also use different colored dice to keep fatigue points. Good thing is once you lock into combat, you won't normally move those dice again.
Kevin

Glad to see my newfound enthusiasm is shared as reported in my recent thread (and I don't know how to indett the link)

My own copy of MoA arrived today.

I did write some rules we use locally for army break points. As you learn the game you will find that at some point it becomes obvious who won. But, we have folks that would run around with a single skirmisher against a dozen units of Immortals and not conceed so it did become necessary to have a break point rule.

We give the Army Commander a morale rating. When the army loses 30% of it's points, it must take an Army morale check. It checks every turn at the end of the turn a unit routs after that. At 40% it's got a -1 modifier, at 50% a -3. There is a -2 if the enemy has formed infantry behind all friendly units (the battleline is broken). If I've added a base camp or a critical town, cross roads or bridge that may merit a minus also.

MOA is extensible. If you need a particular rule to make a scenario work, add it. I've done ambushes with Germans and Romans, Roman village raiding (looked remarkably like Concord-Lexington), modeled historical battles. I've also played around with command structures to add flavor to particular armies.

It's a rule set intended for having fun, fighting battles, having fun, playing with the military science, having fun, and playing with the history. Don't be afraid to experiment with it. I use it with everything from Samurai to New Kingdom Egyptians. Look at the optional rules. My favorite is the "Approach Check" for Fierce troops, Knights and Fanatics. Nothing quite like having your center tribe of Gauls go tearing at the enemy for blood leaving a big hole in your line and your battleplan.

Since I build my armies for multiplayer convention play, I work hard to build defects into all of my armies. It makes them much more fun. Historically, you fight with the army you have – NOT the army you want.

Have fun!