Strategos II reprint now available

Hot on the heels of the Legion update and reissue, we are very pleased to announce the 2015 reprint of Strategos II, Phil Sabin's third-generation rules for fighting ancient battles.

Front cover of Strategos II.

Building on the ideas of Phalanx and Legion before it, Strategos II further refines Professor Phil Sabin's vision of ancient warfare. Using unique and easy-to-grasp mechanisms, it is a simple but realistic system for simulating the land battles of classical antiquity at the grand tactical level. It comes with full scenarios for 36 different engagements from the last five centuries BC, and is based on extensive study of ancient and modern sources.

This reprint is no different from the previous edition. It offers clear presentation, a comprehensive example of play, and a scenario section containing unit descriptions, historical deployment options, and a simple map for each battle. The example of play helps players to see the system in operation, while extensive design notes explain the rationale behind the mechanisms used.

Can be played with miniatures, counters, or on a computer screen.

Players have the option of jumping straight to the historical deployments or of deploying using the standard movement and command rules. The system is designed to provide a robust game framework so that players may tweak terrain or order-of-battle inputs based on their own readings of the historical evidence. The built-in handicap system allows even inferior armies a real chance of game victory and also makes the system adaptable to any scenario changes that players wish to make.

Battles may be re-fought on a computer screen using dedicated Strategos II software, Cyberboard or VASSAL (join the Lost Battles yahoo group for more information), on a paper map with counters, or on a tabletop using miniature figures. Miniatures players may use any number or scale of model figures, based in any way, on a normal ungridded tabletop. The game divides the battlefields into 20 zones, but they are so few and regular that just 12 unobtrusive dots, rocks or strategically placed trees will suffice to indicate all the internal corners.

- Once the rules are learned, scenarios can be completed in around 90 minutes.
- Provides a tried-and-tested framework that players may use to experiment with their own scenario ideas.
- Is supported by the author and experienced players on the Lost Battles yahoo group.
- Is very suitable for solitaire play.
- Is the basis for Phil Sabin's later book and game Lost Battles: Reconstructing the Great Battles of the Ancient World.

At only £6 (£4.80 for Society members) we are proud to make available again another high quality, low cost gaming product. To order a copy, go to the Society of Ancients website.

'Legion' reissued.

EDIT: Legion has proven so popular that it has already sold out! We have ordered another print run and will let people know as soon as it is available for purchase. Hopefully it will not be too far away.

The Society of Ancients is proud to present our 2015 reissue of Legion, the second in Phil Sabin's classic trilogy of grand-tactical explorations of ancient battle. Reprinted with new board and counter art, Legion revisits 36 pivotal battlefields of the ancient world, from the desperate fighting between Athens and Persia at Marathon in 490 BC through to Caesar's final victory at Munda four hundred and fifty years later.

Rule book.

- The rules and scenarios are unchanged from the first edition, but where the original game was designed primarily for use with figures, Justin Swanton's new board and counter art is designed to be played as printed.

- The rules and scenarios are based wherever possible on primary sources and are designed for simulation as well as play value. A handicap system gives both sides a chance at game victory.

- In addition to the full historical scenarios, Legion includes a fast-play introductory game and rules for tournament-style play.

- Although more detailed than both Phil Sabin's earlier game Phalanx and his more recent Strategos/Lost Battles system, Legion can still be played to completion in two or three hours and is suitable for both across the table and solitaire play.

- The game emphasizes troop quality over troop quantity, the importance of leadership, includes rules for weather and terrain, and scales to accurately represent different battles.            
                     

Game board

It is available now on the Society website for £15 (£12 for Society members) plus shipping.

Full contents (as seen below) include: rules booklet, game board, counter sheets, terrain sheets, quick reference sheet. Note that some assembly is required.

Sample counters

Sample counters

"Empire" Reprint Available

The Society of Ancients is pleased to announce a reprint of its popular game "Empire: the Macedonian and Punic Wars, 350-150 BC" by Philip Sabin.

Picture shows the western half of the map board.

Using simple mechanisms to capture the broad sweep of history, the game simulates the 200 years from the rise of Philip II of Macedon to the establishment of Roman hegemony in the west.

Up to four players control one or more peoples (Romans, Carthaginians, Macedonians, Persians/Parthians) and conduct campaigns against their neighbours on a map of the ancient world stretching from Iberia in the west to India in the east.  Great captains bring the historical influence of Alexander, Hannibal and Scipio the younger to bear, but revolts may strike at any time.

Combat is resolved by rolling a d6 and applying modifiers.  If players wish the battles can be fought out using a tactical system.

To quote the Society's webpage,

Empire comes in a zip-loc bag, and includes a full colour 8.5” by 22” game map, 77 full colour card counters, and an 8 page A4 rulebook including ready reference charts, an example of play, and extensive design notes and bibliography.

The game is available from the Society of Ancients' webstore for £7.50 + shipping.

Call it Qids now generally available

The SoA 2012 bonus game is now available for separate purchase from the SoA web store, at £7 (worldwide postage included, for a limited time only). Call it Qids is a fast paced, highly replayable game based around the Battle of Qadesh. By Graham Evans and Ian Russell Lowell.

Call it Qids is a stylised, fast-play, refight of the Battle of Qadesh between the armies of Ramses II and the collected forces of the Empire of Hatti, played out on a square grid with special rules for ford-crossing and the Egyptian camp. The Hatti army is entirely chariotry (the infantry in the historical battle seem to have remained east of the river and so are not featured in this game) while the Egyptians are split into four contingents (Amun, Ra, Ptah and the 'Nearin') in different locations. The Hatti player is after the Egyptian baggage, and clearing away the Egyptian troops is merely a means to an end. The Egyptian player is trying to kill Hatti chariots, and his trump card here is Ramses himself, whom the designers have granted the combat capability apparent in the Egyptian accounts of the battle. He can kill an opposing unit on a near-certain basis, but has to watch out in case he is surrounded and overpowered, an event that boosts the Hatti player's victory total considerably should it occur. Egyptian and Hatti chariots fight at par, their respective advantages and disadvantages being assumed to cancel out. Infantry is at a stiff disadvantage in the open, but able to fight at par in the camp, which is a great equaliser.

The game requires players to balance boldness against risk, and the range of outcomes rewards repeated play. The Hatti player has to choose between an early assault on the camp, which cuts the strength of the Nearin contingent when it appears, but brings it on early, or a later assault, which is more likely to clear the camp but allows a stronger Nearin division to arrive. The Egyptian player has to watch his infantry, who are dead meat in the open but can give a good account of themselves in camp. Baggage is taken around by infantry (only); a Hatti chariot unit that captures a baggage unit promptly leaves the board with it to enjoy the dividends forthwith (and racks up a victory point) and never returns. Obviously, if after the initial panic the Egyptian player can slip his baggage-tending infantry into the camp, he can go some way to denying the Hatti player victory, though this is easier said than done.

Victory compares Egyptian kills of Hatti chariot units with the number of baggage units the Hatti troops have seized, giving grades of success for either side. All in all, this is a fast-moving game with opportunities for both sides, and a slight bias in favour of the forces of Hatti is countered by the Poem-of-Pentaur-like exploits of Ramses.

The booklet also contains an assessment of the sources and forces for the battle.