"5 x 5 table max, 28mm figs. Hail Caesar or War & Conquest?" Topic

Ancients in 28mm. Have Greek v. Persian; Rome v. Celt/ Gaul/ Dacian; Arthurian English v. Everyone else in the English Isles at the time. Only have room for max 5x5 foot table w/ 12 fig inf units (could possibly go between 8 to 16 figs) and 8 fig cav units ( could possibly go 6 to 10 figs).

Which rules to use and why? How many units of each on the table?

Thx for your advice in advance.

Mike

I like Hail Caesar a lot and it is what I use. I think it would work well for Rome vs. Barbarians and the Arthurians but it is not a great system for Greeks. It just doesn't handle phalanx combat very well.

I really think it handles light cavalry well, probably better than any other system I have played and it is a lot of fun with Arthurians, which is what I've mostly used it for.

That being said your games with Greeks and Persians are going to look and feel sort of wonky.

The size of the table could be larger but with 12 man units you should be fine.

We typically play Arthurians with about 8 units of infantry with 24-36 men in them and 6 12-man units of cavalry plus skirmishers, commanders and so forth.

Arthurian screams out for Dux Bellorum, I like them a lot!

War and Conquest – take a look on the forum to see the reasons why.

Raglan

I have to say 5x5 seems mighty small for Hail Caesar; that's a set that "likes" big armies on a big table. (Types Dom, in the midst of expanding units from 4 bases to 6 bases so they "suit" Hail Caesar better….)

I will second War and Conquest. I have played it on as small as a 32 inch squa table with 28mm figures.

I have to say 5x5 seems mighty small for Hail Caesar; that's a set that "likes" big armies on a big table.

Hail Casar woks fine on a small table (mine is even smaller than 5 by 5!). Just make your units small (about 12 figures) and away you go.

With movement being 6" and 9" there is no reason why HC won't work on a 5'x5' table. As there is no specified size for units they can be as big or small as you want really.

I think either could work, depends on your taste in terms of game play. I think they are both very good and could be adapted or rescaled to play on a 5 x 5 with a dozen or so units you describe per side.

HC is much more "fast-play" style (units live and die as units) with while WaC has additional detail that you expect with a figure-removal casualty system that has its roots in WAB.

I think 5 x 5 is on the small side for HC in 28mm. The way the orders work in HC is that one can risk making fairly long and aggressive moves. A small table constricts those too much. Pretty much forces you to march straight into each other.

I think 5 x 5 is on the small side for HC in 28mm. The way the orders work in HC is that one can risk making fairly long and aggressive moves. A small table constricts those too much.

In that case just halve all move distances and ranges. Works fine.

Sure, you can halve the move distances, etc. But the rules as written generally favor big tables and large armies. Part of what's nice about them is the sweeping moves they allow. By halving the distance you lose that spectacle.