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Ancient Rules Reviews
Note, each set is accorded a value for money rating. 1 = terrible; 10 is extremely good - must have.
Positive Points
The rules are actually simple as far as the mechanics go but require intense thought and are very absorbing. They thus provide an intriguing game.
There are extensive army lists (but see below) which make competitions easier to handle.
The games are over quickly so it is perfectly possible to have two games a night between players who know what they are doing.
The mechanics specifically stop excessive manoeuvrability and punish people who break up proper formations.
There is a website devoted to this and an extremely active world-wide Yahoo Group (but I warn you there are some people who have behavioural problems on that Group). This is an up and coming game.
Negative Points
This is a game, not a wargame. There are really weird aspects that make using realistic tactics a bit silly and pointless. The effect of missile fire is far too strong with bows in large numbers completely dominating games when in reality they didn't.
The army lists are based on the points system (sort of) but not all armies are equal by a very long way. The number of heavy and light divisions is critical and so some armies are very much more powerful than others due to differences in this alone. Greek armies had better beware as they are extremely inflexible and get run around and destroyed. The points system doesn't reflect the power of the different troop types very well with missile troops being seriously under-pointed (most SI types needing at least quadrupling in their points value in my opinion).
There are also individual rules that have such draconian impacts that they dominate the game. One of these is the consequence of being hit on the flank (do-able but not easy) which is often game winning. So the unit that gets contacted is destroyed and also possibly half the army with it!!
Having said that, I have played a few games with some of these things simply missed out. For me at least, the games were much better. I think that with a very few changes, a really good system would emerge (though not really suitable for competitions anymore I do confess). Those changes wouldn't suit everyone perhaps.
For me, the firing desperately needs cutting back, the points system/army lists need radical change and the flank attack rule changing before this gets to be a really good game.
Overall Value for Money: 3
Reviewer: TC
Positive Points
These old rules have sufficient substance to allow expert players to simulate even the most difficult battles to a good degree. They cover things like the crumbling of parts of armies as panic spreads through clever arrangement of factors. In fact the rules generally reward the use of good tactics and supported actions etc.
Firing mechanisms and results are well balanced with the better results from actual combat. Winning is all about hitting a weak spot and exploiting the resulting rout. Just like the history book say.
Once you have understood the mechanisms, the play-sheet is all you need (but see below).
These might be the best battle re-enactment set of rules ever written. They are accompanied by a separate army lists booklet which allows for competition play.
Negative Points
The rules are complex and, despite the title, quite slow (if you get 8 moves in a night that is good going). They are difficult to get to know well and inexpert players are at a very significant disadvantage against experts - detail matters. This is because there are a lot of factors involved, all of which are vital to know. Additionally, experts can combine situations to significant advantage.
The rules don't cover all behaviours seen in battles. For example, Roman Legionaries are impossible to get to behave like they did at Cannae.
Whilst the army lists are a good starting point, they should in no way be considered the only possible army of that Nation. There are lots of problems in the lists (inevitably) and many important armies are not well covered. Unfortunately, like all booklet army lists, some folk take them as Gospel and so ruin an otherwise good game.
In reality you have to use the rule clarifications and amendments in the Army Lists. They are very significant.
Overall Value for Money: 7 (If you can still get them at all)
Reviewer: TC
Field of Glory is a rule set by Richard Bodley-Scott, Simon Hall and Terry Shaw. Richard worked with Phil Barker to develop DBM and Simon and Terry are both national champions - so they know a few things about wargaming.
The rulebook itself is very pretty, being published by Osprey. The layout is pretty good and while it is a struggle at first to find the right section of the rules, it does become easier. If you are buying, go to Amazon or some of the US book sites. List price is £ 25.00, I paid just over £ 13.00 from Amazon.
The rules can be played with any scale of troops and use DBM base sizes. There is enough flexibility that it is possible to adapt Warhammer based troops with a bit of ingenuity. All measurements are listed in movement units (MUs) which can be varied according to the figure scale. Normal MU is 1 inch.
Troops are organised into units (called Battlegroups BGs). They are distinguished by troop type (e.g. Knights, Cataphracts, Cavalry, Light Horse etc.), drilled, armour, quality and weapons. Superior, Drilled, Heavily Armoured, Knights, Lancers, Swordsmen cost 26 points an element. Poor, Undrilled, Unprotected, Light Foot, Bow cost 4 points an element. A unit will consist of anything between 2 and 12 elements - determined by the army list.
The army list books are being published. So far there are five and I believe ten more are planned. This is definitely a money-spinner - but the lists are good and again there are plenty of pretty pictures. Borrow the lists from someone else if you don't wish to splash out.
The basic turn sequence is alternate movement. A nice touch is that charges and any combat that results from a charge is handled in the "Impact Phase". This takes place before movement, shooting and then melee (so troops may fight twice in one turn). The final phase known as the "Joint Action Phase" is when routers move and generals can rally or bolster troops.
The movement rules are pretty standard. Drilled troops and skirmishers can do fancy stuff such as turns and expansions far easier than un-drilled troops. Anything complicated needs a "Complex Move Test" to be passed. Generals make it easier. A general can also move several units together in a "battleline" and can make second moves (a bit like marching in DBM).
Shooting and combat mechanisms are easy to pick up. The main aim is to force your opponent to take cohesion tests. If he fails these he goes from disrupted to fragmented to broken. You can also lose elements to "Death Rolls". Thus small high-quality units may eventually be destroyed from losing too many casualties instead of from loss of morale. Neat!
Overall, the rules are moderately complex. The mechanisms are simple but the interactions are quite subtle. About as complex as DBM, simpler than DBMM I would suggest. The luck factor appears to be quite high, but competition experience suggests that good players will win more often than not. With over 80 entries at Britcon this year, FOG is already proving very popular. A must try for anyone interested in ancient wargaming.
Reviewer: R J-C
Positive Points
The rules are very simple. It is highly likely that with only a little practice, the games can be completed very quickly even with hundreds of figures on the table on each side.
The rule mechanisms are clean with each command being activated in a sequence decided by dice rolling and the actions of each unit completed before moving on to the next unit. At first, this takes a bit of getting used to but actually results in a significant amount of overall "utility". It provides also for some units moving very much faster (albeit at the risk of becoming disordered).
The games look good with proper formations being rewarded. There is less incentive to break up the units into tiny blocks to improve manoeuvre.
Negative Points
The really big issue is that lack of a system of points that allows the users to create their own armies etc. The forum now has the official version of the points system in its current provisional form. You can obtain this with the button below.
There is surprisingly little problem from translation into English from the Italian original. However, it is good to read them fairly carefully.
Overall Value for Money: 7
Reviewer: TC