Historical Wargaming

[Avatar]

I was just curious about what historical tabletop wargames you people play, and your experience with them. So, anyone?

[adamparsons]

We play De Bellum Multitudonis (sp?) DBM.

It is good fun- quick to learn and play. reflects quite well the power of a legion based army, but the damage a native attack can do if successfull.
Legions can very easily beat say a warband, who get beaten back, and occasionally destroyed. It is very hard to get a warband to defeat a legionary unit, but when they do they utterly destroy the unit.

Legionaries are easy to control and manouvre, and disciplined.
Warbands are impetuous, cost lots of movement points to manouvre around, and can start attacking the enemy automatically if they get close.

It isn't perfect, but none are, and its quick to set up play, and easy to modify and add in bits yourself.
cheers
Adam

[taira1180]

I play DBA (de Bellum antiquitatis), a shorter version of DBM (only 12 bases) with less rules (and less time consuming: in 20 minutes you finish a game). By the way, the roman army is one of the best to play in antiquity.

[Narukami]

Taira 1180,

Very nice kabuki avatar.

Narukami

[Caius Fabius]

I play "Warhammer Ancients" for a fun battle, or "Piquet" for a challenging battle, or DBM for an accounting battle, or DBA for a game like checkers. For small individual figure battles, I like "Pig Wars", which is only about pigs because they were like money!

I mostly like 28mm figures, although I have had huge armies of 15mm figures in the past.

[Praefectusclassis]

Hi Caius,
What's the Piquet system like? Never heard of it before.

[Caius Fabius]

What is Piquet like? It's like being a commander, with the frustrations and surprises of combat confusion. You do NOT have a move - counter move system, you don't always get yout troops to move or fire or attack like you want them to. The better your troops, the better you can keep control, and prevent them from either charging when they should be in formation or just standing there when they should be charging.

here is the updated company link, they have explanations.
[url:ocfz219l]http://www.piquet.com/news.php[/url]

It is the closest to being a real world combat commander that I have found, other than being a real world combat commander. The only difference is that you can stay in a climate controled building and you don't have to write letters home to the families......

I have had people play this system once or twice and refuse to ever play again, because it is too unpredictable, but then war is not a chess game.

For a fun game with handfulls of dice, try Warhammer ancients. For a combat simulation with factors that make keeping a reserve important, having a good battle plan, and using correct, period tactics, try Piquet.

[Avatar]

A friend of mine has recently gotten his hands on GHQ's TO&E. Looks like a great game, though the division between modern(1946-2007) and WWII means there might be some discussion before we get gaming.

[Gaius_Calvus]

Brother,

I played WRG 7th Edition Ancients in 15mm and 25mm for years and years -- was pretty good at it, too.

Alas, it has been supplanted by DBM IIRC, and I never liked DBA or DBM. 7th Edition was complex, but it definitely required a lot of thinking and generalship. The others dumbed it down too much for me.

Once 7th Edition lapsed (and my Army career got very busy), then I stopped playing.

I still, though, have my armies proudly displayed -- Imperial Roman (naturally :wink: ), Hohenstaufen Sicilian, Norman, Early Ottoman, Alexandrian Macedonian, Pre-Feudal Scots, Hsiung-Nu.

My favorites were my Norman, Hohenstaufen, and Ottomans.

Edge

[taira1180]

Taira 1180,

Very nice kabuki avatar.

Narukami

Thanks! It was complicated to find one suitable. Yours is also nice

Does anyone plays arcane warfare? It's a new system (similar to DBM but a little more realistic).

[Severus]

HI!

I have played the online version of DBA (or is it DBM?) tabletop games I have played are tactica and warhammer ancients.

Tactica seems a bit too simplistic for my liking to win with Romans you have to deploy them in a quite unRoman fashion. Although the skirmish rules are fun and great for siege battles!

Warhammer ancients seems suitable more for very small battles where you have a handful of men (100-150)

Any games out there that represent cohort level combats?


Matt Webster

[taira1180]

Well, you have several boardgames: in Great Battles of Caesar each counter represent a cohort or some other unit (cavalry, skirmishers, etc); the same in SPQR (both are games of GMT).

[Severus]

True enough. Are these games also in a computer format? I think I've played them in the mid 90's. Not bad from what I remember.. . .

I prefer table top with painted lead figures as opposed to counters. Something about the figures and scenery is impressive, although the time wasted painting the little bastages borders on insanity. I have 250+ raw lead Romans & allies waiting to be painted and only 50 of them are done. :?


I heard good things about WRG ( a lot more detail and "realism" but a lot of chart work to play)


Matt Webster

[taira1180]

Yes, Both those game existed in Pc version.
In DBM i painted a "small" graeco-bactrian army of 60 bases of 400 points (something as 180 figures), and it took a lot of time...
I'm playing now AWR (arcane warfare), a game invented by a friend: it's a bit more realistic than DBM (and i'm helping to make the lists, so it's more work :? ).

[Commilito]

Well, you have several boardgames: in Great Battles of Caesar each counter represent a cohort or some other unit (cavalry, skirmishers, etc); the same in SPQR (both are games of GMT).

I too play most of the GBoH series. Actually, even though I used to play the full game, now I usually play Simple GBoH, not only because it is less of a chore, but I think some of the ways units work seem more realistic eg; having the roman legionaries shock combat higher instead of setting them up as "javelin troops" to simulate the pila.