Reply To: The Best Ancients Game ( aka the best forum topic in the world..( a tribute)

[phaidknott 7023xp 1]

One set of rules that has always stood out from the crowd in Ancients was the “THE IRREGULAR MINIATURES RULE BOX – ANCIENTS” (only £4.40) from Irregular. An extremely fast play set of rules printed on postcards (with the rules on one side and examples on the other).

Granted some of the tables are a bit “wierd” (like +1 for wearing greaves), but the game uses different dice to reflect moral/class (D4 up to D12), and your class reflects the ability to withstand casualties (rather then A class troops having sharper swords than anyone else). So you calculate the damage total, then you “save” on the class dice (so if you cause say 8 damage on a D6 class unit that’s 1 strip dead and you need to roll over 2 on a D6 to save the second. If fighting a class A/D12 unit those 8 damage means no automatic casualties and you need to roll over 8 on a D12 to save a single strip). This along with the rule that “regulars” become unformed on rough ground (while irregulars/war hosts do not, which gives them a fighting chance), all just means the rules just “work” in a way I can’t easily define.

The system works on single rank “strips” of infantry (so really only good for 6mm/10mm), and we’ve played some really big games and been satisfied with the overall results. And for £4.40 for rules in a box it’s well worth a punt (although you’ll have to provide the dice).

PS however the other three THE IRREGULAR MINIATURES RULE BOX rules for eras (Naps, Ren, Malb, and FPW) don’t seem to work as well as the Ancients set, it’s just weird how this particular set gets the job done. Just use army lists/points from just about any rank and file games (DBM etc) and you’re set to go 🙂