Ancient Empires

Ancients Rules

by Rod Burr

Ancient Empires is a new set of rules by Greg Pitts and Scott Bowden for the ancient period using mechanics derived from Bowden's Empire rules for the Napoleonic period. Also included is the Hannibal module covering Carthage and Rome in the 2nd Punic War with troop info, commander ratings and two introductory scenarios plus Cannae and the Trebia. The figure scale is 60 to 1 and the ground scale is 33 yards/inch (15mm) or 20 yards/inch (25mm). This is close to WRG 7th edition's ground scale and 50 to 1 figure scale.

Ancient Empires classifies troops by morale, formation density, and role and armored combined. Most troop types are mounted on 2 man/2 model stands, although phalangites are mounted 4 ranks deep by 1 or 2 files. The base sizes used are different from WRG, although an appendix covers using WRG basing.

The rules place a strong emphasis on troop organization and chain of command. Stands are organized into tactical units a la WRG. These are organized into major units with a separate unit commander. Above this are subordinate commanders and the army commander.

Each major unit is issued orders by the subordinate general or CinC above it in the chain of command. Unlike Empire, there are no separate corps level orders for the subordinate generals. These orders govern Grand Tactical Movement actions which the major unit can perform until tactically engaged. The orders allowed include Attack, Maneuver, Defend, Withdraw and Deploy. There are fewer explicit restrictions and obligations given than in Empire. Each general has a Commander Rating used to determine when new orders issued by him are accepted by the destination. As an exception, all orders have a 95% chance of activation on turn 1 to reflect the extra time available for the initial orders of the day. Counters are used to indicate the orders, but some orders require additional written instructions specifying destination and routes.

The Grand Tactical Movement rates used in the game are higher per turn than in WRG (30" for infantry, 40" for cavalry - 15mm), but slower in scale since Ancient Empire uses 1 hour turns versus WRG's 15 minutes. After a couple games, this Grand Tactical Movement seems to move quicker than the WRG version of strategic moves (march moves) which are done in 6" segments (15mm) based on troop type (from 1 to 5). In WRG, troops with more segments move their extra ones first and can pin the slower troops before they can march at all. Ancient Empires prorates the strategic movement so the slower troops can't be completely pinned. Ancient Empires provides an incentive to keep the troops within a major unit together since there is a penalty for having major units intermixed. In WRG, units should be close to their commander, but there's no penalty for having different generals' commands acting together.

The tactical play for WRG and Ancient Empire also is quite different. WRG uses "simultaneous" movement and combat for both players (although some portions are sequentialized), whereas Ancient Empires' movement and combat is alternating. Side A moves and charges, and then inflicts hand to hand casualties. Side B doesn't get to fight back in melee until its turn. Defensive fire against side A is allowed during charges. The tactical options allowed to units in Ancient Empire feel different than in WRG, but I need to play more to understand how equivalent the results are.

Cavalry has more flexibility in avoiding or withdrawing from melee with infantry than in WRG, which compensates for its inability to completely pin infantry during Grand Tactical Movement.

Units have a weapons and armor classification for melee, and Combat Attrition Points (CAP) equal to their strength in figures. In general, a unit loses its CAP before it starts to lose figures in melee (both are lost simultaneously to missile fire). Units inactive for an hour can regain CAP points, unlike WRG fatigue which only increases.

Ancient Empire does not provide general guidelines for morale classifications or organizations for troops; the only organizations and classifications that are given are forthe Roman and Carthaginian armies for the 2nd Punic War (in the Hannibal module). Tactical unit size is given along with major unit organizations, although some of these may vary in size. The Roman major units, based on Polybius and Livy, are the Roman and Italian Allied legion with options to form the cavalry into independent major units. For the Carthaginians, based on Polybius and Livy plus Hellenistic manuals, the major units are organized along troop type and nationality lines such as Spanish infantry, or Numidian or Liby- Phoenician cavalry.

Other armies are to be covered in future modules for the rules. If you're unwilling to wait for a module, extrapolating troop types and organization should only be a little more work than for WRG 7th without the army lists. You won't get the special rules such as those for the Roman manipular organization, but most armies don't need such unusual handling. You will need to develop major unit level organizations as well as tactical units. If this sort of information isn't explicitly recorded in the ancient sources, your organization may differ from the authors' when they cover the same army.

If you like the system introduced with Empire V3, you will like the general handling used in Ancient Empires. My single biggest objection to the rules is that they don't use the WRG base sizes, which has for good or ill, set the standard for ancients players. An appendix describes using WRG basing, but the manipular Roman organization rules assume Roman Hastati and Principes are mounted 1 wide and 2 deep, and the Triarii are on 1 man stands.

Another problem with the rules is quality control. The rules included a separate envelope with a dozen or so replacement pages for the rules, plus an additional 2 to 3 pages of errata in an appendix. Ancient Empires is one of the first releases from the Emperor's Press. Hopefully, future modules will do better. It should be noted that the loose leaf method of publishing allows very easy substitution of corrected pages no need to mark up your rules. Also added rules changes will be easy and neatly done.

As new rules, I find that Ancient Empires' charts suffer from poor organization. I had to constantly flip between the multiple sheets of charts trying to find the table I needed next. Some basic tables such as movement distances, and unit side modifiers for melee results aren't included on the charts at all. A better layout, smaller fonts and more abbreviated descriptions would be of help.

Ancient Empires has no point costs (or equivalent) to make it simple to create two equal but dissimilar armies and no mechanism to generate terrain. It also doesn't include any definition for victory conditions. I've played WWII land rules with this constraint for years without any objections, but many ancient players are primarily oriented to the equal points, one-on-one game.

Overall, Ancient Empires looks quite interesting and worthwhile. As a long time WRG player, I won't give up WRG and rebase my troops for Ancient Empires, but I will play it as an alternative with my WRG troops. If you're just getting started with ancients, WRG basing is a better choice because it is the standard and you'll be able to find other people to play with. For a completely closed group interested in building up ancient armies from scratch, mounting the troops explicitly for Ancient Empires might be worthwhile.

In addition to the three ring binder containing the rules and the Hannibal module, Ancient Empires includes three charts on colored card stock and one sheet of about 200 die cut counters used for orders, unit status, and CAP losses, etc. Ancient Empires is published by The Emperor's Press, Ltd., 5744 West Irving Park Rd., Chicago, IL 60634. Ancient Empires sells for $35 and should be available in many of your local hobby shops.

Reviewing Stand

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