"WRG Ancients rules - what was your favourite?" Topic

I'm talking about the pre DBX series rules. This assumes that you played more than one of course. I started with 3rd and finished with 6th, but played mostly 4th and 5th. Of those 4 5th edition was my favourite. I never got into 7th at all as I was taking a break from ancients at the time.

6th

On the subject of WRG, I could't play them now because I have not got the patience, but they were (are?) the best written set of rules I've ever come across.

5th.

7th. I have to agree with Olicana, they remain the most well written ruleset I've encountered.

5th. I think.
Was that the last one that made you roll before you decided you were impetuous?

"Best written?" They did not make up the term "Barkerese" for nothing.
I well remember the Friday night rules seminars before the tournaments, with dueling "letters from Phil".
And then there was the ammendment that said "Delete MUST. Insert CANNOT."

I came in at the end of the 3rd. In general the mechanisms kind of blended together.
Written orders were countered by "standing orders" that basically allowed you to do whatever you wanted to do.

To me they were all fun (!), but all were really failures too. They did not really need all the editions or the ammendments. All they really needed was someoen with the guts to shoot the white-knuckled rules lawyers.

7th came in just as I was beginning my 10 year marital sabbatical from wargaming, so does not really count. By the time I got back in, Warrior had taken its place and I was pretty well through with tournaments anyway.

If it has to be pre DBM then it is 6th for me. We know the rules inside out including most of the charts and tables :O We also played with no record keeping, just rolling a D20 whenever there were an odd number of casualties.

7th totally turned me off Ancients for most of a decade so that con't be a good thing :?

Started with 2nd, then the 4th was a major improvement, but the 6th actually let me use my favorite army somewhat historically!

All they really needed was someoen with the guts to shoot the white-knuckled rules lawyers.

They would be lawyers playing in tournements?

I once went to the Derby show which had hundreds of 'em in the same room. None had the guts to land a punch on the others – though I would have held all their coats. Fortunately, I've never felt the urge to join that crowd, who have now moved on to sueing each other over different rule sets – see FOW tournements, etc.

3rd still use it but much modified as we use it for fantasy games.

x42

7th inspired me first – but then I found 'other interests' for a decade, and couldn't get into DBM when I came back so went elsewhere.

But I understand completely why the 'pre 7' guys hated everything it stood for.

DB-R2D2, The Empire Strikes Back…
VR
James Mattes

Later versions of 3rd. Possibly because it was the edition I learnt first and had to act as umpire the most….

7th – but only because that was my first exposure to WRG.

Doug

I was OK with 3-6th. 7th killed Ancients for me as I have never regained my former interest in the genre.

WRG killed my interest in gaming ancients.
It's never recovered.

5th was my favorite. I too ended up umpiring most of my groups games so knew them inside out. They did'nt kill ancients for me but I did end up with a good long sabbatical.

They all kept me away from Ancients til DBA came along.

My first Ancients rules were 4th Ed. WRG. My favorite WRG was 7th Ed. Really, really, really do not understand why some people hate those rules. I loved 'em. I'd still play Warrior if I could find an opponent. They were definitely an aquired taste.

I never liked ANY of the variants. Barkerese was a real turnoff, and that was sad because I liked the good gentleman.

We used "Once Upon A Table" and "Chainmail" and got along famously in my club.

4th for me, all seemed to work fine without being too silly.

Really, really, really do not understand why some people hate those rules…They were definitely an aquired taste.

I think you answered your own question there chap.

WRG 5th. They weren't (too) broken.

I loved both 5th and 6th.

I had a lot of fun with both of them, but I didn't like 7th Ed. much. After a few games of DBM I never played WRG rules again.

Of the WRG rules I used, and liked, also "1685-1845, "War Games Rules" by G. Gush and "Armour and Infantry 1950-1985".

Wow, I'm old.
Luciano

6th for me. I remember 30 minute "discussions" about the meaning of one clause in the rule-book; standing orders that had every unit attacking to their oblique front; and forcing mandatory pursuit and disorder as a basic tactic.
And yet, I believe that a great game would result from these rules if you ignored the letter of the rule-book, and played them with a gentlemanly spirit.
BO

Played whichever version was available in 1973-75. I remember we argued a lot about ambiguous orders and simultaneous movement.

5th, then gave up until DBA came along.

WRG 6.1(a)/4.1

6th. Finally returned to them this year after trying umpteen other rulesets.

The 5th. Mid seventies, great gaming every week at the Montreal club !

Only briefly played 5th, played 6th quite a bit and then 7th a bit until I found myself in an area where it wasn't popular. Flawed though it was I think 7th was my favourite, partly because it started moving away from casualty recording and long winded morale tests – which may explain why I took to DBx so much when it appeared. had good times with 6th and 7th back then, but am glad it is all in the past for me now :-)

6th – still use 'em.

6th edition. Got them at the same time as my first "proper" army. Almost knew them by heart. Never bothered with standing orders in our group and that seemed to be the only bit that was broken. Best moment was a Viking ally general being wounded…his men deciding to finish him off rather than escort him off the field (first time player asked if he could..we said "why not")…testing morale for death of general..going impetuous and rampaging through the opposition.
Only Impetus is anywhere near as much fun whilst being playable from memory.

For me, for some bizarre reason, 7th.

Sadly sunk beneath a combination of player preconception and endless rule-lawyering. Inevitable on the tourney/convention circuit, no doubt.

Great fun to be had. I'd still give someone a Warrior/4H game tomorrow – for a laugh.

Just me, I suppose.

Started with 5th, enjoyed them, then went to 6th, but main opponent moved away and I stopped ancients for years; now Armati, though occasional dip back into 5th, copy of which I still have. Never had any problem understanding them, though did see a friend and his opponent have a stand up row at a competition in London over different interpretations of a rule in 6th, only time I've ever thought there was going to be a fight between players at a wargames table!

At around 20 pages, I don't think you could go wrong withe 1st or 2nd edition. Certainly this is all sensible people need to play. I once owned a copy of 7th. I could not get through the rules.

What I remember most between the 2nd and 3rd, was rebasing heavy infantry. 2nd heavies on any frontage you could manage, some players were using 7.5 mm frontage, 3rd had to be 10-to-15mm frontage. Never played 1st, John you have to be older than me!

Started with 4th, moved on to 5th, loved them both and had countless enjoyable games with a greaat group of people. Sadly, I never could grip to grips with 6th and with a widening set of period interests outside of Ancients I left WRG behind at that stage.

Started with 2nd, ended with 6th.

7th

Warrior for me.

Peter C
Sword and Sandal Gaming Blog
link

5th thru 7th. Liked 6th the best. Finally learned 7th, and everybody had switched to DBX.

This is kinda like answering "what was your favorite illness when you were young?" I played 4th and 5th, tried one tournament with 5th, and the experience was enough to make me swear off ancients until Bob Bryant did his Might of Arms rules.

I have no fond memories of these rules.

I was introduced to Miniature wargames at 15 by playing 5th. If did not put me off and played with 5th for a few games and then 6th when it came out for a couple of years. But drifted into Tractics and (back then) it was so much more fun than 6th. Seven years later tried to re-enter the ancients scene and everyone was playing 7th. It just seemed so hard for little reward, but part of that I think was the 'power-gamers' in ancients at the club at the time. So, my favourite is 6th, mainly due to the ordering system compared to 5th.

But if I was to go back, and I am thinking of having a go with this genre of rules again just for old times sake, I would use Warrior.

Hi

7th was my favourite but was pretty much 'ruined' by venturing into competition side of things for a period.
Amongst a group of like-minded friends we had some excellent games/times.

Cheers

"but they were (are?) the best written set of rules I've ever come across."

Wow. A comment like that is almost sig-file worthy.

I have read copies of the Fairfax County Yellow Pages that were more exciting than anything written by Phil Barker. In addition, the authors of most of the entries in the Yellow Pages can actually cite their work and supply facts to support it: this includes the ads.

WRG 6th although I liked the set which gave a -1 for facing horrible huns (the 3rd?)

5th and 6th; 7th were too awful and full of complications and "open to interpretation"….

This is kinda like answering "what was your favorite illness when you were young?"

Ain't it the truth! Struggled with 6th (after a game I never felt like I had played it the way the author intended, what ever that was), head exploded with 7th.

6th. If I had regular opponents I'd buy a 25mm army (oh how I regret selling my old 25s) and play them regularly. Sadly I don't so it's 15s in FoG and Impetus for me.

5th.

But I keep menaing to play with the 1st version now it's a free download.

I started with 6th, moved to playing 7th. That was the big change with WRG, as 7th was the first set of rules to do away with removing figures and all units had just a number of stands. No removal, just recording of FATIGUE. Many previous WRG gamers did not like this major change, but I didn't have a problem with it.

I now play some Warrior games, but I also play FoG and now a lot of IMPETUS ancients, which also has no removal of stands until a unit is destroyed.