Romans and Celts skirmish rules

Started by mmcv, 26 January 2019, 11:25:58 AM

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mmcv

Anyone good recommendations for a skirmish or small scale rule set for Romans and Celts?

Reading over the Rebels and Patriots thread recently sparked a bit of an idea. When I first got into the hobby last year I invested in a bunch of 28mm Celts and Romans, painted a few units then decided I'd never have the time, space or funds to build a proper army. I was considering trying to sell them to recoup some funds, however I have enough for a couple of units each side that I imagine could easily be used for small scale or skirmish engagements if I find the right rule set.

Looking at the Rampent series blurbs it looks like Lion Rampent, though medieval, might be adapted to the period with a few tweaks. I was wondering though if any of you fine folks had other ideas for something better?

Steve J

See below for Dan's take on a Dark Ages variant which I'm sure could be tweaked for Roman vs Celt:

http://merseybooks.blogspot.com/2016/01/landwasters-and-raven-feeders-official.html

mmcv

Quote from: Steve J on 26 January 2019, 02:38:43 PM
See below for Dan's take on a Dark Ages variant which I'm sure could be tweaked for Roman vs Celt:

http://merseybooks.blogspot.com/2016/01/landwasters-and-raven-feeders-official.html

That's a handy resource, thanks. Tempted to pick up a copy of lion rampant, I'm sure I could make something for it out of my Crusades leftovers too.


mmcv

Looks like warlord are branching into an ancient skirmish game.

https://store.warlordgames.com/products/spqr-rulebook-and-special-edition-miniature

Still haven't touched my 28mm Celts and Romans this year yet mind you, lion rampant didn't overly inspire.

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steve_holmes_11

Probably not precisely what you're looking for.

Dan Mersey's Dux Bellorum (Osprey) covers the end of the Empire in Britain.
It would allow you to play late Romans against Celts in the guise of Welsh orScots/Irish. Picts are also available.

Battles represent up to about 500 people per side - typically between 7 and 10 elements.

Fenton

I would say in a few months some more SAGA universe books will appear and I'm sure one will deal with what your looking for

Clash of Spears is out in the Autumn sometime and from what I've read sounds good

Would agree with Dux Bellorum . Its an excellent game

Here's a forum thread about Romans Vs Britons. https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/972562/earlier-periods

Clash of Spears

http://www.thewargamespot.com/introducing-clash-of-spears/
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mmcv

Thanks for the suggestions folks!

Yeah DB looks interesting but I'm more likely to do that as a separate project on its own in future - maybe with 10 or 15mm in the later Roman period. Though interesting that some have adapted for earlier times.

My main issue is back in the heady days of early 2018 when I was first getting into this wargaming malarky I was lead down the dark path of 28mm when I started out. A Hail Caesar starter pack and a stack of additional figures and sprues, enough to make a division or two of early imperial Romans and Celts. I painted and based up a couple of units, enough to realise I didn't want to be doing huge armies this way and started investigating the smaller scales.

However, I don't like the idea of those all figures and sprues sitting unused, so been trying to find something that'll inspire me to finish putting them together and painted.

Saga is an option, I got the sense looking into it in the past it was more "boardgame" in its set up, which is no bad thing in itself but wasn't really drawing me in. Plus I do a lot of solo gaming and didn't think Saga would be as suitable for that. I could be wrong though!

Clash of Spears looks really interesting and might give me what I want, something I can play small skirmish level scenarios such as protecting baggage trains, Druid hunts, ambushes, etc. I'll have to keep an eye out for when it launches.

I could still use an adaption of Lion Rampant to do those things, but reading through the book and testing out a few of the mechanics didn't really inspire me enough to do it. To be fair I've not played a proper game, and probably could set one up using my 2d counters or use some crusaders to see how it flows properly, but just didn't feel quite right for the period.

lowlylowlycook

I will say that Lion Rampant is more fun on the table than it would seem to be on the page.  My opinion, obviously.

fred.

I wouldn't describe Saga as a boardgame it is very much a miniature game. Each faction has a battle board which defines its special rules, you roll the special saga dice to see which of these you can use.

I'd say it's not the most solo friendly set. The battleboards take a bit of learning, and doing that twice over will be hard. Also some abilities counter others which is harder to manage solo.

Lion Rampant - I find it a bit random, but by dropping the turn ends when an order fails, it would be more even. And later rules based on the engine do this. It's probably more solo friendly as the dice activation adds a degree of Fog of War. Someone must have done an adaptation for Romans and celts as its a pretty popular rule set
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mmcv

I think it was the Saga battle boards and paraphernalia that had me thinking it was more board game like (though not a board game in itself). Just not what I'm overly looking for at this point. As you say not as well suited for solo scenarios.

There is an adaptation of LR https://natholeonsempires.blogspot.com/p/eagle-rampant-gallic-wars.html?m=1.

I will probably give it a go at some point and see if the game inspires more than the rulebook suggests.