The Reviewing Stand

Armati Ancients Rules

Arty Conliffe

by Tim Skupin


The rules themselves are very well done - all sections are cross-referenced, and a lot of thought was put into the organization. There are a large number of illustrations and examples in the text. Basically, it is standard Quantumproduction - the writing is superb. Tactica-bashers will be glad to knowthat there are no photos in Armati. The production values are still terrific, though! Very readable, crystal clear.

The sequence is: missle fire, movement from player with initiative, other player movement, countercharges from all units who moved less than 1/2 of their turn, melee, and recovery. Missle fire is by unit. A unit fires at a target, and both roll one die each. The target unit adds his Protection rating, plus a terrain factor if applicable. If the target ties or beats the firing unit, no damage is taken. Otherwise, the target loses one Strength point. Heavy infantry usually has 4 Strength, Cavalry has 3, Lights have 2, Skirmishers have one, etc. If a unit loses all strength, it is broken.

Movement is simple - An army has a Command Point rating that determines how many controlled units it can have. For example - a Marian Roman army can control 6 heavy divisions ( composed of heavy infantry and cavalry ), but it actually owns 9 heavy units. The Roman has to either group his units into various divisions, or leave some units Uncontrolled ( cannot move unless certain things happen ). HI units can either wheel 2" or move 6" straight ahead. Cavalry, skirmishers, LI, and light-heavy infantry can wheel 2" and move various amounts. The lights and skirmishers can about-face as well. Special rules for certain troops ( cohorts, triarii, etc. ) allow for a bit more flexible movement.

Each army has an initiative rating. To win initiative each player rolls a die and adds his army's initiative rating. If a division of units is split for some reason, your army's initiative rating goes down.

Melee is simple too. Each unit rolls a die and adds it's Fighting Value, Terrain Modifiers and Unit Width Modifiers. The high scorer inflicts one damage point on his opponent. When a unit's strength drops to zero, it is broken. Warbands, knights, and catafracts have a special impetus rule - if they win the inital round of melee, the target unit is broken.

There are special rules for Macedonians, Cohortal Romans, Triarii, Hussites, English longbows, and a few others. The lists may contain a modification as well ( for example, German warbands move slower, but are tougher ). These armies have a lot of personality.

Three scales of armies can be used - Intro, Optimal, and Epic. The units are the same, but differently scaled rules are used and there are more miniatures per unit in Optimal and Epic than in Intro. The Intro scale is a shade bigger than a DBA army; the Epic level level is a hair smaller than a Tactica army. The Optimal level is in between.

I've played the Roman/Dacian matchup using the same number of miniatures in Tactica (standard Tactica army lists), DBM (500 points), and Armati (Epic scale). Armati plays it the cleanest, fastest, least "fiddly", and most fun. The two hour figure for a match isn't out of line at all - my first game took three hours, my second game took two. The double-sided pull-out sheet tells you everything you really need.

In terms of game complexity, Armati is above Tactica, and on par with DBM. In terms of comprehension and completeness, it is on par with Tactica, and light-years ahead of DBM.

In short, this is GREAT game!

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