De Bellis Antiquitatis

An element of knights, scythed chariots or warband whose enemy recoils, breaks off, flees or is destroyed, and that is not in contact or overlapping, must pursue one base depth. A single element may break off from enemy to its front if those enemy have a lesser maximum move in the terrain it ends in.

An element of knights, scythed chariots or warband whose enemy recoil, break-off, flee or are destroyed, and that is neither in contact nor overlapping, must immediately pursue for one base depth.

400p cavalry or scythed chariots in good going, or any but war wagons/artillery by road; 300p knights, elephants, camelry in good going, auxilia/bows/psiloi off-road, or war wagons/artillery by road; 200p other foot off-road or mounted in bad going; 100p crossing a river off-road. Measured with a 600p template (1 inch = 100 paces for 15mm).

400p if cavalry or scythed chariots in good going, or if any troops except war wagons or artillery and moving by road.

Each element of a group must touch another and not be in contact with enemy, moving parallel to or following the first and the same distance or wheel. Group moves by road, across bad going or a river, or away from enemy must be one element wide; frontage may be reduced to form column or pass a gap. Single element moves may include any number of wheels or turns.

Elements moving as a group must each be touching another of its elements and not in contact with an enemy element.

Mounted can pass through psiloi, and psiloi through any friends facing the same or opposite direction; mounted can recoil through friends except pikes or elephants. No element may move across the front of an enemy element within 200p unless separated by terrain or troops.

Mounted can pass through psiloi, or psiloi through any friends, which are facing in the same or opposite direction.

Bad going (steep slopes, rough or boggy ground, dunes, woods, built-up areas, enclosed fields) cuts moves to 200p for mounted and bars artillery/war wagons off-road, and gives -2 in combat to all but auxilia and psiloi. Roads give 400p to most troops but require column.

- 2 if any but auxilia or psiloi; and in, or mounted in contact with enemy in, bad going on or off-road.

Mounted: elephants, knights, cavalry, light horse, scythed chariots, camelry; foot: spears, pikes, blades, auxilia, bows, psiloi, warband, artillery, war wagons; plus camp followers. Weapon, armour and morale/training distinctions are deliberately discarded as linked to function.

Troops are defined by battlefield behaviour instead of the usual formation, armour, weapons and morale classes.

Each entry gives the WRG list number, name, plausible contemporary enemy numbers and composition in element codes (e.g. Nubian: 3 3Wb, 6 3Bw, 3 2Ps). Some elements can be chosen as alternative types at each battle; other choices are fixed for a campaign or competition.

Each entry consists of the number identifying the army in our army list booklets, its name, the identifying numbers of plausible contemporary enemies, and its composition in number and type of elements.

Each element is a rectangular base of several figures (6-8 ranks of close foot, 4-5 of mounted). Base size is not critical if frontages are equal; recommended frontages are 60mm (25mm), 40mm (15mm/6mm), 30mm (2mm), with depths and figure counts by type.

An army consists of 12 troop elements, one of which includes its only general.

When two elements of the same nominal type fight, the one with more disadvantage points (worse armour, low prestige, etc.) takes a single -1. General ability can be simulated by +1/-1 to movement dice.

If so, when two elements of the same nominal type fight each other, that judged to be worse counts a single extra -1 tactical factor.

If beaten but more than half: e.g. scythed chariots and war wagons destroyed; mounted destroyed in bad going else recoil; some foot destroyed by knights or scythed chariots in good going; psiloi destroyed by any mounted in contact. If half or less: light horse and psiloi flee, others destroyed. Outcomes ignore overlaps.

An element with less than or half the total of its opponent must make an immediate outcome move, which depends on its own type and that of the most dangerous opponent in contact with or shooting at it

-1 for each flank overlapped and each enemy in flank or rear contact or aiding a shooter. Rear support by a contiguous element facing the same direction applies when not in bad going (the worked example gives pikes supported by pikes +3; the full factor line is partly lost in the OCR); spears or blades fighting mounted or attacking a camp add +1 if supported by psiloi behind. An element attacked in flank or rear while fighting to front fights only its frontal opponent.

- 1 for each flank overlapped, and/or each enemy element in contact with flank or rear, or for each 2nd or 3rd element aiding a shooting enemy.

Combat occurs when elements are in edge and corner contact or contacting a camp. Combat factors: Blades +5 v foot +3 v mounted; Elephants/war wagons +4 v foot +5 v mounted; Knights, pikes, camelry +3 v foot +4 v mounted; Cavalry, warband +3; Auxilia, artillery +3/+2; Bows +2/+4; Light horse, psiloi +2; camp followers +1.

Whether in contact, shooting or only shot at, each player dices for his element, and adds the appropriate combat factor to its score

A recoiling element moves back its base depth without turning, passing through permitted friends or pushing back others (not elephants or war wagons); if blocked by enemy, impassable terrain or friends it cannot pass or push, it is destroyed. A fleeing element recoils a base depth then turns 180 degrees and keeps moving.

A recoiling element moves back its base depth to its rear without turning.

Each point scored allows one tactical move by a single element or a group of touching elements moving in parallel. Unused points can each add 100p to a road move by the general's element or its group. The design substitutes this arbitrary limit for written orders, messengers and reaction tests.

Dice at the start of each bound, then make up to one tactical move for each point scored

An extra point is needed if all of the element or group is 1,200p from the general, or both 600p from him and beyond a hill, wood, built-up area or fortification, or if the general has been lost.

an extra point is needed ifall of the element or group to be moved is 1,200p from the general's element, or is both 600p from it and also beyond a hill, wood, built-up area or fortification, or if the general has been lost.

The general's element adds +1 when in close combat or shot at, extends command range, and gets bonus road movement from unused points. Loss of the general (with more losses than the enemy) is a defeat condition and raises the cost of all moves.

+1 if the general's element; and either in close combat or shot at.

Camps sit on the base edge in good going; defenders get +2 occupying the camp, and a camp has no flanks. An attacker in contact whose defenders are destroyed, recoil or flee captures it; an enemy-occupied camp counts as 2 extra elements lost.

An element in contact with a camp whose defenders are destroyed, recoil or flee, captures and immediately occupies it.

The first element to cross a river off-road dices: 1-2 it is too shallow and easy-banked to aid defence; 5-6 every element crossing off-road must also score more than 2 to cross. Otherwise a river is a significant obstacle; it is constant along its length.

A river's nature is constant along its whole length and will not be known until the first player attempts to cross it off-road.

At least three quarters must hold a feature and two a river, bad going or impassable terrain. Both dice: the low scorer chooses the terrain and numbers edges 1-4; the high scorer assigns 5 and 6 to two adjacent edges and dices for his base edge. Camps are placed, then troops deploy within 600p of the base edge.

The high scorer allocates the numbers 5 and 6 to two adjacent edges, so that these are represented twice, then dices for which edge will be his base edge.

Checked at the end of any bound. A camp occupied by the enemy counts as 2 extra elements lost; elements recoiling or fleeing off the board or from a camp count as lost.

The first side that at the end of any bound has lost either its general or 4 elements, and has also lost more elements than the enemy, loses the battle.

At the end of a campaign battle, a main protagonist whose general and/or camp was lost transfers 2 extra troop elements from his field army to his reserve, in addition to elements destroyed in the fight. The text states this simulates desertion by demoralised troops. The loss is triggered by the battle outcome, not by counting casualties. A related campaign rule (page 14) dices for elements lost to hunger, disease and desertion when an army ends a move out of supply.

Loss of a main protagonist's general and/or camp is penalised by the transfer of 2 extra troop elements from his field army to his reserve at the end of the battle in addition to those destroyed during the battle. This simulates desertion by demoralised troops.

By design players learn only whether a body advances, holds, edges back or disintegrates. Elements destroyed are removed; those recoiling or fleeing off the board edge or from a camp count as lost.

Wargames rules that tell players losses suffered and inflicted during play are therefore inherently unrealistic.

One die for movement points, one per element in combat and shooting, plus single-die tests for rivers, deployment, sieges and storms.

All dicing uses a single ordinary 1 to 6 die.

Artillery within 500p or bows within 200p shoot at one enemy within an element width of straight ahead with no element between. A target that can shoot back must do so. Both dice and add combat factors; extra shooters aid the first (-1 to target). A shooter not shot back at ignores an unfavourable outcome.

Except for the opponents not being in contact and some shooting being unreturned, the effects of shooting are resolved exactly as in close combat.

Each player has three cities and a 12-element field army; three seasonal rounds a year. Armies move 2 stages along routes; sea moves risk storms; armies out of supply lose elements. Sieges need 6 (or 5-6) on a die, improving each season. Losses go to a reserve, recruited at 1 per city each winter; prestige points accrue for elements destroyed, camps and generals.

This section contains procedures for a simple mini-campaign for 3 to 6 players, capable if desired of being played to a conclusion in one day

In each player's bound: 1) dice for tactical movement and make moves; 2) artillery and bows of both sides in range and not in contact shoot; 3) all elements in contact fight, in an order chosen by the phasing player. The low-scoring deployment player takes first bound.

The two sides take alternate bounds. During each player's bound: 1. He dices for tactical movement, then makes up to the number of moves his score permits.