"Playtest reviews: Hail Caesar, Impetus, Dux Bellorum" Topic

After a long hiatus, I decided to get back into pre-gunpowder era wargaming. My old rules seemed old school, and not in a fun, retro way, so I decided to try out three sets of more recently published rules. I set up my troops in a very simple battle (no terrain, limited tactical choices) and let 'em have at each other over and over. Sort of like Valhalla.

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Thanks, enjoyed the comparison. I have the Dux Bellorum on my Kindle but have not done anything with them yet. Interested to see that solitaire play was quite do-able with them.

Really interesting comparison – thanks! I've played Impetus, so it was interesting to see the comparison to other rules.

Just a note, the full Impetus rules do have activation rolls: every unit can move once without risk, but if you decide to try to move further you risk becoming disordered and as a result more vulnerable to casualties.

Great comparison, summarized in a nice, easy to digest format. Thanks!

I may have to check out the full Impetus rules. A few people have suggested that to me. Even if the Basic Impetus rules were not free, I still think they would be a fun and elegant set, and a great intro for noobs like me.

The Leadership Point distributions I made in DB all seemed self-evident to me. One side of the battlefield became a flashpoint, so it seemed natural that both leaders would invest there. I might roll dice to assign points in more ambiguous situations. I've never really had trouble being fair to both sides when solo gaming, but I can see someone less free-and-easy than me finding the mechanic unworkable in solitaire gaming.

Very interesting!

Yeah, well worth the read.

I plan on solo Basic Impetus. Any fun. Does it work ok?

I was not expecting much from basic Impetus, but I was pleasantly surprised by how elegant and fun the rules turned out to be. There were a few moments when I felt the "game-simulation" balance tipped heavily to "game," but if you're cool with DBA style, then that should not be a problem. And I will check out full Impetus, since my quibbles seem to have been addressed there.

Great comparison, and I appreciated the style of the individual game write-ups.

Nicely done, thanks!

I'm a little late to the thread (failed my activation rolls), but this was really interesting. Thanks for sharing this.

I enjoyed this-three rule sets I really like .
I liked the colossal Spanish house too.

Well done.