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being a variant thereof, primarily for play with miniatures by Andrzej Cierpicki with a little help from my friends
Introduction This
variant is not meant as a criticism of Richard Borg’s excellent and
eminently accessible game of Ancient warfare, it is just that we are
inveterate tinkerers who could not resist adding a bit more flavour,
particularly to allow us to make use of our extensive collections of 15mm
DBM and 25mm WAB Ancient miniature armies. The
most significant addition to the 2nd
Edition rules is the introduction of facing and,
whilst we have endeavoured not to meddle with the core rules, some changes
were necessary, particularly with regard to the rules governing retreat.
Where any of the original rules have been changed (as opposed to just
added to), these are shown in italics. In
all instances, in the case of ambiguity between these and the core rules,
these rules prevail. Facing All units must at all times face toward a vertex of the hex they occupy. See the diagram below, where the arrow indicates the facing of the unit in the hatched hex.
All
units have a zone of control (ZOC)
extending into the front two hex-sides, marked Z
in the diagram. All units must
stop the instant they enter an enemy ZOC and move no further that turn,
except as a result of combat. Units
may, at the beginning of a turn, voluntarily leave an enemy ZOC but may not
end that turn adjacent to an enemy unit. Units
may only instigate close combat with enemy units occupying hexes marked Z
in the diagram. Each
unit has flank and rear hex-sides, marked F
and R respectively in the diagram. Units
with missile firing capability have an arc of fire extending through their
front hexes, Z, outwards into
(and, in the case of artillery, beyond) the shaded arc shown in the diagram. A
unit attacking an enemy flank F
gets an additional bonus die-roll if it commenced its turn below line A
in the diagram. A unit attacking
an enemy in its rear R gets two
additional bonus die-rolls if it commenced its turn below line B
in the diagram. Units
attacking an enemy flank or rear do not get the above bonuses unless they
commenced their turn as stated above. However,
a unit commencing its turn below line A
but above line B would still get
a single bonus die-roll if it attacked an enemy in its rear.
For
the purpose of determining bonuses applicable during momentum advance, a
unit’s position at the commencement of the advance is applied.
Thus, for example, if a unit commences its turn above line A
and attacks an enemy in the flank, it does not get a bonus roll, however,
should its attack result in the elimination of that unit, the position of
the advancing unit at the instant of momentum advance (as opposed to where
it was at the commencement of its turn) is used to determine whether any
bonuses apply to any subsequent bonus close combat. A
unit does not get a flank or rear bonus attacking an enemy unit if, at the
instant of attack, it is itself in an enemy ZOC, A
unit battling back against an enemy that has attacked it in the flank or
rear (irrespective of whether or not the attacking unit gained any bonus
dice in its attack) forfeits -1 and -2 dice respectively. Retreat and Evade All units must retreat or
evade away from the enemy attacking unit.
This may result in a unit retreating toward the enemy board edge.
For the first flag rolled, after
taking into account bolster morale provided by leaders, adjacent units and
terrain, the unit falls back one hex
and remains facing the enemy that attacked it.
For the second flag rolled the unit retreats the number of hexes
indicated on the reference sheet and
ends facing away from the enemy that attacked it. For
each third and subsequent flag rolled, the unit retreats an additional hex,
still facing away from the enemy. Losses
are taken per the core rules in situations where units cannot retreat their
full allowance. Note that,
whilst retreating units may retreat through enemy ZOCs and end adjacent to
the enemy (including enemy ZOCs), evading units may not voluntarily evade
into or through an enemy ZOC. Momentum Advance and
Bonus Close Combat A
unit making a momentum advance must, if possible, make its bonus close
combat attack against the retreating unit.
Only if the defending unit is eliminated or retreats beyond the
attacking unit’s range, may another target be selected. Army Morale An
army may break and retire from the field if its army morale falls below a
certain limit. A player may at
any time play a Leadership Card, of which there are six in the pack, to have
his opponent test for morale. The
player playing the card forfeits any other action during the turn the card
is so played. The procedure for
testing morale is as follows. The
player playing the card throws a number of dice equivalent to the number of
enemy units (not bases) lost; every flag rolled puts his enemy at risk of
retiring, i.e. fleeing, the field of battle.
The player testing for morale then rolls the number of dice
equivalent to the number of his units (not bases) remaining on the field and
must match or exceed the number of flags rolled by his opponent, with helmet
symbols. The
number of dice rolled by the player testing for morale is adjusted as
follows: -2 for loss of CinC; -1 for loss of sub-general; -2 for loss of
more than 25% of original number of units; -2 for loss of more than 33% of
original number of units; -2 for loss of more than 50% of original number of
units. All
modifiers are cumulative, so, for example, a player with 12 units in the
field who has lost more than 25% of his original force and has also been
careless enough to have lost his CinC, would roll 8 dice (12-2-2=8). Missile Fire &
Artillery Missile
units are considered to have moved if they have to change facing (rotate) in
order to fire on an enemy unit. Heavy
bow units are classed as Auxilia Infantry for movement and roll 2 dice in close combat;
however, when firing, they have a range of 3 hexes, roll 3 dice on hold and
1 die if they have moved 1 hex (note that they may not fire if they have
moved more than 1 hex). Artillery,
i.e. light and heavy war machines, comprise 2
bases for each unit. Artillery
that rotates forfeits its missile fire for that turn.
Terrain Units
defending fordable rivers, i.e. being attacked by enemy units within a
fordable river hex, get to attack first against the attackers, exactly as a
First Strike card. This
allows units to defend a fordable river bank. A
unit commencing and spending its entire turn on a road gains an additional
movement allowance of 1 hex. Purchasing Units The
cost of each unit is generally equivalent to its CC dice as shown on the
reference sheet. Thus a light
bow unit costs 2 points, whereas a heavy infantry unit costs 5 points.
However, due to their shorter missile
range, light infantry cost only 1½ points. Camels
cost 3 points if light and 4 points if medium cavalry. Light
chariots and heavy bow cost 3 points each. Warrior, ballistae and
heavy chariot units each cost 4 points; heavy cavalry
and catapults cost 5
points; elephants cost 6 points; a CinC costs 20 points and a sub-general,
15 points. Horse
cavalry retreat 1 additional hex per flag when battling camelry. Camels
ignore 1 hit and 1 flag when attacked by horse cavalry /chariots. Heavy cavalry units
comprise 4 bases, rather than the usual 3 bases for cavalry units. Card Distribution Each
player gets a base of 1 card for the entire game plus 2 cards for the CinC
and 1 card for each sub-general, to a maximum of 6 cards.
As generals are lost in combat, so the number of cards is reduced by
an equivalent amount. Cards from
a player’s hand are not returned if a leader is lost, but new cards are
not drawn until the number of cards in a player’s hand has dropped to the
new total adjusted for leader loss. Even
if a player has lost all of his generals, he will still be entitled to draw
and play one card per turn. Setting Up The
players mutually agree on the terrain then roll seven dice each; the player
with the most crossed swords chooses the side of the table and will set up
first. In cases of ties, re-roll
the dice. The
players then take turns to deploy their troops, one section at a time of
their choice. The player setting
up last, plays a card first.
Optional Rule
Once
ancient regular infantry closed in combat with enemy infantry it did not
readily disengage, fighting until one side or the other was defeated or
retreated in disarray. To
simulate this, medium and heavy infantry once engaged with enemy medium or
heavy infantry (i.e. in their ZOC) cannot voluntarily disengage and may thus
only move if pushed back or retreated.
Light foot and all mounted units its may disengage at will.
Remember, however, that units voluntarily leaving an enemy ZOC at the
beginning of their turn may not end that turn adjacent to an enemy unit.
Play with 25mm Miniatures As
WAB armies are individually based, I provide the following optional
amendments, specifically to suit my Early Imperial Roman and Celtic armies. Fanatic
warbands comprise 5 bases and throw 5 dice until they loose a base,
thereafter they roll 4 dice. Unlike
regular warbands, they ignore the first flag rolled against them
irrespective of the number of base losses taken.
Fanatics cost 5 points to purchase. Heavy
infantry units comprise 6 bases and cost 7 points to purchase. Roman
Praetorian Guard heavy infantry units roll 6 dice, ignore 1 flag when
attacked and cost 9 points to purchase; the Roman can deploy a maximum of 1
Praetorian unit for every 4 regular heavy infantry in play. One
Roman heavy infantry unit must include the legion’s aquilifer carrying the
eagle. Every time this unit
loses a figure, the attacker rolls 2 dice and captures the eagle on a
double-roll of crossed swords. If
the unit carrying the eagle is eliminated, the attacker captures the eagle
on a single die-roll of crossed swords, otherwise the eagle transfers to
another unit within three hexes in a similar manner to an evading leader
under the core rules. If the
eagle is captured, it is carried by the attacking unit and cannot be
transferred to another friendly unit. The
Roman player can of course attempt to recapture the eagle in the same manner
as above. The
Barbarian player may voluntarily exit his own board edge with the unit
carrying the legion’s eagle, thereby denying the Roman player the
opportunity of recapturing it. The
exiting Barbarian unit may not return, but does not count towards the
Barbarian’s losses. This is
the only circumstance when a unit may leave the game board, other than
through elimination. A
Roman unit carrying the legion’s eagle, battles back with an additional
die and ignores the 1st flag rolled against it. When
rolling saving dice for army morale, if the legion’s eagle is in the hands
of the enemy, the Roman player subtracts an additional 4 dice from its usual
modified dice-roll. The
Barbarian player may deploy a Druid shaman unit, comprising 4 figures, at a
cost of 8 points. The Druid unit
cannot voluntarily attack and battles back with only one die. Any
Barbarian units adjacent to the Druid may roll an extra die in close combat
and ignore the 1st flag result against them. If
the Druid unit is eliminated, the Barbarian player subtracts an additional 2
dice from its usual modified dice-roll when rolling saving dice for army
morale. Acknowledgements Particular thanks to Jeff Herbert for the basic morale mechanism and to Eric Hall, Glenn Haley, Rob Edgar and Frankie Li for their host of ideas and encouragement.
Printer Friendly Copy of the Rules
A pdf version of the above rules can be downloaded here.
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