"A Tactica Ponts vs Romans game AAR" Topic

Blog of our Groups long running Chronicles of Minimus Gluteus with another mis-adventure in the East: strategikonii.blogspot.com

That looks really great – I especially like the maps and the comic strips!

One very, very minor pet peeve of mine – your use of "Ponts" in the title reminds me of all those largely history-free tournament players whose use of short forms like "Teuts" and "Vikes" suggests what seems like a lack of serious interest or respect for the army in question. Since you obviously have an actual interest in the crazily mixed, briefly victorious army of Pontus, don't use what seem like dismissive nicknames!

Thanks for posting, Mitch. Are you going to give us some of the history of Minimus in the north at one point?

Mitch, where are the new rules at????????????? Mike Adamm P.S. Hi Paul

Hi Mike! I'd love to see these published…

Working on next chapter of Strategekon now in which Minimus inadvertently redeems himself. Got a note from Arty in which he said it has been a hard year. We can only hope the rules will eventually get published.

Thanks for the update, Mitch. Minimus redeeming himself? Has to be hilarious – how does he manage that!?

Mitch, thanks! Mike Adams

Are you familiar with the "Flashman" series of novels. Well think Flashman in Afghanistan and you'll get the idea.

For a simpler AAR of Romans vs Armenians, go here westsoundwarriors.blogspot.com

I'm also working on 2nd AAR of the same Armies we did recently with a similar result.

Very fine example of an AAR. Maps and pictures were very easy to follow the action with.

An enjoyable read. Thanks for posting!

I've never played Tactica but have heard/read a little about it.

How many turns did the battle last? Is Tactica dice heavy?

Again, thanks for posting. The multi-media presentation was nicely done.

Regards,

Chris

Not sure how many turns, maybe 10, but it took about three hours to play. I know that from the time stamp on the photos.

Dice Heavy? I would say yes. Missle fire and Melee, you essentially throw on die per figure in the front rank. In some case you add dice for depth bonus. On other rare occasions you roll double dice for impetus. So a 48 figure Warband in 4 ranks with Impetus would get to throw 24 dice in first round of melee. Those dice have to be split evenly against all opponents. Also,for every rank deeper than their opponent, a Warband gets an extra dice. Is that what you mean by "dice heavy"?

Only certain units can get Impetus, (e.g. Cataphracts, Warbands, Scythed Chariots, Elepants)and they don't automatically get it. Target unit has to fail a morale check, but you can see how it can be deadly.

Dice heavy, yes, but at least you only throw them once – no armour saves or saves against wounds. We find that a reasonably large game of over 300 figures per side can be played in an evening.

The games at my house with large armies take about 3 hours max to play out! It has maybe 7 to 10 turns to finish! I also agree with Caliban about the dice rolls to us this system is a great set of rules IMHO!!! Mike Adams

Bandrsntch,
How did you obtain the rules you used? Are you a play tester?
I have heard about these for the past six years but can not seem to obtain a set. As my friends and I have been playing the original Tactica rules since it came out, we would really like to see the second version before we pass on. Any idea on when or why Arty has not printed them?
Greg

Yes, I lucked into getting into last part of play testing. Yes, I know it's very, very frustrating to hear about these rules and not be able to obtain them. It's also very frustrating for those of us in the playtest group to not be able discus them fully. Not having ever published anything commercially, I have no idea of the problems involved. I think Arty has had some personal problems over the last year and like anything else, Life gets in the way of what we would really like to do. I think they will eventually get published, hopefully sooner than later. In meantime, contact me offline with name above the "at"sign and wavecable.co. Maybe there is a chance for a demo game.

Mitch,
Thanks for the info. And yes, that is what I meant by dice heavy. Does not seem so terrible, however. (I am currently using HC and find this to be heavy on the dice side, especially as I like large games and tend toward historical refights.)

Ahh . . . to be able to finish a large game in an evening.

I wonder if I could find a set of these rules somewhere. They sound very promising!

Regards,

Chris