Hello everyone. Sorry I've been quiet for a few days - it's been a fairly busy week. Coupled with that, I have got fed up with having the basic mechanics of my/our ancients rules rattling around the inside of my skull, so I decided to commit them to (virtual) paper. There's a long, long, way to go - a lot of play-testing by Col and I (solo, and separate - well, he's in Glasgow and I'm in Lancaster) to thrash out the numbers a bit - at the moment I'm sure they'll be very, very, badly balanced in play. Once we've done that, they're playing reasonably well, and we've added some of the less vital bits - rules for the likes of chariots, elephants, camels, etc. - we'll probably be ready to pass a few copies around for others to have a go at playing them. Oh, and we need to devise stats for masses of different troop types too.
The rules are rather different to the usual ancients fare - the idea is to try to give the player some of the feel of being an ancient general. So, once your troops are deployed, you'll probably find that that was the last time you had full control over your army. You should find that you can't 'micro-manage' your troops - in fact, you'll find that you have little or no control over some units - and this is likely to get worse as attrition sets in and your battle-line becomes increasingly disordered. We hope that the fun, and the skill, will lie in having your leaders in the right place at the right time - so as to be able to bring their influence to bear in order to keep things going your way. Of course, they may prefer to lead by example - grabbing a shield and shouldering their way into the front rank - 'Come on Lads!'. That has the advantage that the troops they're with will fight like men possessed, but the disadvantage that the leader's perspective (and influence) shrinks to little more than the unit he's fighting with.
The rules probably won't suit those who like to have complete control over all their troops. They probably won't suit those who like to measure all distances to the nearest micron and all angles to a second of arc either. But I hope they'll suit the sort of gamer who likes a nice relaxed, friendly, game with some distinctly different challenges from the 'run of the mill'. Think of a cross between TooFatLardies' 'Sharp Practice' and Warlord Games' 'Black Powder', set 1,500 years earlier, and you won't be too far from the style and mechanics of what we have written so far.
Partizan, my favourite wargames show, is on Sunday. If you're coming along, and fancy a chat, ask any of the Newark Irregulars, or the lads on the Warlord stand, to point me out. The photo on the homepage is still a fair likeness, and yes, I'll probably be wearing shorts, and I'll probably be wearing a Partizan Tee-shirt too.