"Alea Iacta Est Ruleset" Topic

Here's a message for Justin Taylor,

Aloha! I've been playing your rules covering the Roman period and they are one of the best I've played. Easy, smooth and no technobabble. They're a bit WRG 6th Edition which is perfect for an old giffer like me. Obviously not the best choice for tournaments but if used with like-minded chum's then they are great for an evening's play. My only gripe is that I often play the barbarians – I think the rule book should be retitled 'How The Romans Kick Everyone's Butt' because I get my botty battered more often than not. The number of times my Dacian's have swollen the slave markets of Rome ain't funny. Unless you happen to be my opponent, in which case it's hilarious.
ANYWAY…I read a couple of references you have made to a 2nd edition. Do you have an update on when these might be appearing?

Many thanks,
Greg

Is there a link to a website of the rules? Never heard of them before…

DwarfMan

Thank you for the kind words. First the link

3vwargames.co.uk/rules2.htm

However don't rush and download yet. The third edition is to be published as pdf (free of course) soon. If fact it should have been this weekend but other stuff got in the way.

On Monday we should release the 4 historical battles published in Alea Iacta Est and then on Wednesday the lastest (and complete) version of the rules. Including the new combat table which makes combats with smaller numbers of figures more interesting.

But all that is a stop-gap until the more professional layout for the rules is complete – I don't know how much longer that will take but lets say a month.

So new rules and battles next week. Improved rules next month.

OK so all that being said, why are your Dacians losing? (and I will ponder the problem and see if a fix is needed).

Oh, yes the rules are also going to be renamed 'The Die is Cast' because even the ancient players have no idea what Alea Iacta Est means.

Justin,

Thanks for the quick reply. It's a hot Saturday night, man, why aren't you down the pub?!!
Third edition to be published? The set I have is from 1995 and I'm not sure if it is 1st or 2nd edition. Releasing the latest version as a free download is a commendable act of munificence. I for one would gladly buy them. I'm a bit of a rule buyer and must have a huge collection, but yours are the only set I regularly play. I suspect that the new set might include a pinch of Warhamer Ancients? No bad thing if they do.
Forgive me for implying that there may be a problem with the rules. The issue is that I'm crap at deploying, so by the time I manage to wheel a warband out of an ambush the Roman's have out-maneuvered them. Also I sometimes try to shoot the Romans into the sweet hereafter with massed bow fire, but the limited ammunition rule prevents this. Curses. So as you see the problem is crap general-ship. I think I should retire to the Iron Gates and role boulders onto the wretched invaders from my mountain fastness.

Cheers,
Greg

Justin,
if I can give a simple suggestion for the new edition, please save it as PDF. I just downloaded Alea Iacta Est but I have Open Office and the Word document opens in a weird way…

I wouldn't rename the rules, a little Latin won't hurt the readers…
A.

Ah the first edition was in 1992, revised and published again in 1995. Since then it has been mostly available on the net (I think it was just last year that I ran out of hard copies).

Yes pdf is the way to go – keeps everything simple for printing out. The ancients rules are a trial run of what we intend to do for the new WW2 rules in the pipeline. Basically a test run for how graphics can be put into rules – now we learn what the big boys have been doing.

This is a link to the first pdf we have created from the battle of Bagradas 255 BC. What do you think?

Two complaints about the rules; the name (OK I can change that) and the fact that the rules do not have points values. Well at least in the short term, the lack of army lists will remain (I suggest to people that they use army lists from another set of rules).

Lots of stuff WAB could learn from the Die is Cast (DIC or DC would be better, what do you think); better morale system, more advantage to overlapping troops and of course simultanous play. A local ancients gamer will not play WAB simply because he hates standing still and being charged/ shot at and doing nothing at all about it.

Sorry link here (time to go to bed)

PDF link

And the other ones

Carrhae 53 BC

PDF link

Cannae 216 BC

PDF link

Argentoratum 357 AD

PDF link

Oh and my jstification that the overlap is so important, is that at the battle of Zama, Scipio thinned and widened his line to avoid it being overlapped by Hannibals army. If such a good soldier thought that being overlapped was so important, I think it should be in the rules.

On one glourious occassion, a unit of my Romans was charged by some Numdidian cavalry and think it was a waste of pila to throw them, I elected to receive them with swords only. The Romans were destroyed because I had forgotten to take the 3 overlap on each side into account.

Its very embassing to be beaten with your own rules.

Actually, I have 2 or 3 hard copies of the 92 edition if anyone is interested…….

TNP1939, are you certain they are the 1992 edition (yellow cover with black strip down the side) or the 1995 edition, bright yellow cover?

All done, now ready for downloads (including rules)

3vwargames.co.uk/rules2.htm

Justin, that's great. Just downloaded them. Nice photo's in the rules.

Many thanks,
Greg

Justin,
I started studying the rules today, great stuff.

My only complaint: please have the book proofread/edited. There are a lot of comma faults and funny typos (the kind that an automated spellchecking software does — such as concussive weapons becoming "concessive" weapons, or Alexander being renamed Alexandra). They are quite confusing, especially for non-native English speakers like me.