"Ares Fantasy Skirmish game from Majestic12" Topic

Hi there,
Just wonder if anyone out there has played the Ares skirmish game and can offer a review?
Thanks,
Jonathan

I like it quite a bit. There are some minor nigglings, but overall its a very good skirmish game. IMO there needs to be more negative modifiers to reduce troops costs.

I use Ares to play Lord of the Rings BIG and fast Battles (and small) with 1 wound being the standard rather than 2 or 3. They work EXCEPTIONALLY well. I also am planning on using them for WHFB style games with reduced wounds too. The sequence of play rocks! You can never be sure when you'll get it so constant decision making is the order of the day.
The system is simple to pick up yet has LOTS of subtlety designed into it (ala the morale rules). The co-designer of the rules (Kevin Smith) and the MJ12 yahoo group are GREAT assets also. Pick them up. You will be glad you did!

I own these rules and I like them too. If I described a system that allowed a player to make actions with their figures during the activation of figures by an opposing player, you would think it would be complicated and clunky. But ARES does this and it is simple and the game turns flow quite smoothly.

Another positive is the rules that allow for creating a profile for any kind of figure you might have. This could be a drawback to those who like a great deal of detail, as it by necessity abstracts the qualities of weapons, armor, etc. But to me it is a strength.

Interesting. Can anyone give a brief run-down of how the interaction of players in a given turn works? That sounds promising for all sorts of game!

Being familiar with the ARES system, I thought I'd jump in here and give a brief overview, without going into a lot of detail.
ARES uses a card-based activation system, using a standard deck of 52 cards. Each force is organized into units, and these units can as big or as small as you wish. Models can also operate as individuals.
Each turn begins with a number of cards dealt to each player, one card for each unit or individual. The activation of all units is then based on high card to low card, with the suits also being ranked.
Units are not tied to specific cards though, so when you have the current high card, you nominate a unit or individual and activate it.
Each model gets two actions, and you must finish with one model before moving to the next in the unit.
The basic attack mechanic (both close and ranged) is an opposed die roll, typically two dice against two dice. And the die types used range from d4 through d12. The amount by which the attacking roll exceeds the defending roll determines the number of wounds caused.
Typically, ARES models have multiple wounds, with the average human model having three or four.
To show you the versatility ARES has, for some LotR conversions I reduced the number of wounds to be that of the models in the GW game of the same name.
It made for a faster playing game, where you could have more models on the table. I've been told of games using 50-60 models per side being played in less than two hours.
As for morale, it is handled on an individual unit basis. A unit's morale is equal to the sum of the morale of all of the models in a unit. As the unit takes losses, this overall morale level is reduced. Assuming a unit takes heavy enough losses, it will usually panic and rout off the table before all of its models are killed.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me off the list.
You can reach me at:

kevin.l.smith@boeing.com

OR

ksmith19@cox.net

Kevin

Oh...
I thought I'd better clarify something John posted earlier.
And before Dan slaps me. :)
Although I put together the ARES bestiary, I'm not a co-designer of the ARES rules.
Dan (Kast) did that all by himself.
I'm just a lackey.
:)
Kevin

The one thing that Kevin didn't mention is the concept of 'held' and 'borrowed' actions (which I think are the heart of the game, personally...) Basically, each figure has two actions to use each turn. A figure may choose to hold one of them for later on in the turn, reacting to the actions of an opposing figure. Also, certain actions can be 'borrowed' from the next turn -- mainly defensive in nature, like parrying an attack. These make for a very fluid game, and aren't nearly as confusing in practice as you might think... :)