This is a system I designed for generating random armies for my solo wargames. I have also used it for games I have run and played with other wargamers. It was originally intended for a campaign I was putting together. So far the campaign has been put on hold while I have been having fun with wargaming. Putting Together an Army I play on a 3.5 by 5 foot wargame table. I have played with armies as small as four picks, but I find that 6 picks per army works best for the space available. I could go up to 8 picks but the battlefield would be a little crowded with not much room to maneuver. A 4X6 table could better accommodate an 8 pick army and on a ping-pong table you could go up to 10- 12 picks per army. Selecting Your Army After you decide how large you want your armies to be, each player would pick one unit off the charts. Then, decide what tables they want to roll on for the rest of the army. It doesn't take much time to create an army this way. Both players have time to roll up their armies and and play a game in a single afternoon. I can create both armies and play a game in 2.5 hours. If you are setting up a game for other wargamers who are not familiar with the system or do not have time to create their own armies you can randomly roll up to the required armies. In a solo game Just roll up the enemy, unless you want to randomly generate your army too. In a solo game, it is your choice. Cheaters Delight Here is another idea. Let each of the players pick what units they want off the charts for their entire army. This last method is particularly effective if cannot trust the honesty of your opponent or if you want to test of low cunning to see who can come up with the most deviously designed army for battle. Army Types The whole purpose of these charts is to provide the gamer with a wide variety of troop types to build his army with. My goal is to force the gamer to take a lot of crummy stuff along with the good. Not every commander has the luxury of only taking the best available. Fighting characteristics are kept purposely low to make combat move quickly and force the players to decide what upgrades their army needs most. I see 6 different types of states, 3 of them common amongst the different Hellenized peoples. They are the City State, the Archaic State and the Hill State. Also there are the Barbarian Tribes, Gallic and Eastern Empires. City States The City State will be the most popular type of army used by players using this system. Hopolites make up the core of this Army. At least 1/3 of the army rolls should be made on the Hoplite charts although up to 1/2 or even more could be such. Spearman cannot be used. Archaic State These are the City States that have yet to adopt Hoplite tactics. At least 1/3 of the army should be spearman rolled for on the spearman table. Hoplites can be used as mercenaries but there should be 2 rolls on the spearman chart for every roll on a Hoplite chart. There can be no regular peltasts or Gauls. Hill State Mostly poor shepards and farmers, at least 1/2 of the rolls should be on the Peltast or Regular Peltast charts. A player should decide before hand which chart he will roll on. A player that chooses the R. Peltast chart may exchange any peltast units he rolls up on the Other Roll chart for 8 "Psiloi 101X". Barbarian Tribe These are tribes like Thracians, Illyrians and Scythians. All rolls will be made on the Peltats and Cavalry Charts. The cavalry option for Scythians, Cimmerian and other asiatic horse nomads can only be made up of that type. Gauls Their impact on the Hellenistic civlization was the most devastating of all the barbaric tribes of that time. They are restricted to the use of the Gaul Chart. They were highly favored as mercenaries. Eastern Empires This includes everything from Assyrians, Babylonians and Saite Egyptian to Persians. Any chart except the Gaul Chart may be used. Special charts for the double armed Assyrian Army may be desired. However, an Eastern Empire may only use troop from any chart other than Gaul. For all but the Lydian and Persian Empires there should be at least one chariot unit. For the Lydians and Persians these are optional. ARMY CHARTS HOPLITE I ROLL TYPE ADM EQUIPMENT 1 16 Hoplites 122XR LA-SH-LSP-C1 2/3 16 Hoplites 112XR SH-LSP-C1 & Other Roll 4 16 Hoplites 011LR SH-LSP-C1 & 2 Other Roll 5 16 Hoplites 011LR SH-LSP-C1, 8 Lt Cav, 101 X Mtd, 8 Psiofi 000L 6 16 Hoplites 021LR LA/SH-LSP-C1, 8 Psioli 000L, Other Roll Options at no extra cost Hoplite I to Legion, exchange LSP for P (+1 attack class) Hoplite I to Phalangite, exchange LSP for PK HOPLITE II ROLL TYPE ADM EQUIPMENT 1 16 Hoplites 121X LA-SH-LSP-C1, Other Roll 2/3 16 Hoplites 111x SH-LSP-C1, 8 Psioli 000L, Other Roll 4/5 X2 16 Hoplites 010L SH-LSP-C1 6 16 Hoplites 020L LA-SH-LSP-C1, 8 Lt Cav, 101X Mtd, 8 Psioli 000L Part II Back to Rebel Yell No. 18 Table of Contents Back to Rebel Yell List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by HMGS South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com