Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've wanted to start a historical wargame for a while now. I was thinking about Hail Cesar but are there any other good ones out there?

Hail Ceasr is very good, so you will find a lot of fun in that one. You also have the Pike & shot game system, the 30 year wars and such all from Warlord games.
Black Powder is also worth taking a look at since their rules & models are well done as one can expect from Warlord games.

how similar is hail cesar to warhammer? and i know there is a starter kit with romans and gauls is that worth getting?

 thewisewizard wrote:
how similar is hail cesar to warhammer? and i know there is a starter kit with Romans and Gauls is that worth getting?

I dont know the rules very well yet as I recently started myself but you will get the hang of it rather fast. They are well made so its no problem learning them. The starter set is worth getting if you desire two armies but its completely possible to build an affordable army without it too. Since you get 30 soldiers in one box of early roman legionaries. And you don't need a waste army to play a game.

Here is a suggestion to a possible shopping list I took the liberty to make for you

3 early roman legionaries boxes
51 GBP

1 box of Imperial veterans
16 GBP

2 Auxiliaries boxes
36 GBP

total cost in GBP :101

In total you get 150 models for a real good price if you want Romans. As for Celts you get a lot of models per set, since its more of a "horde" army than Romans,

On the other hand, Hail Caesar is different enough from Warhammer Fantasy in both tone and actual play that you may be better off taking a look at Clash of Empires, Warhammer Ancient Battles, or War and Conquest.

Also, when you say 'historical games', is it safe to assume you mean something involving Early Imperial Romans and some of their enemies to fight?

Hail Caesar! is probably closer to Warmaster than Warhammer.

Warhammer Ancient Battles is dead. GW officially shut down their historical division some time ago. So if you want it, you'll be hunting for the remaining books, perhaps getting it second hand.

War and Conquest is more like WAB than Hail Caesar!

Here's a podcast episode of Meeples and Miniatures about War and Conquest:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/meeplesandminiatures/meeplesandminiatures_ep83.mp3 MP3 LINK

Here's a podcast episode of Meeples and Miniatures about Hail Caesar and Clash of Empires
http://traffic.libsyn.com/meeplesandminiatures/meeplesandminiatures_ep77.mp3 MP3 LINK




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just wanted to add, that Warlord's new starters look really, really good. A book and enough miniatures to play a small game. But historical miniatures are so cheap it doesn't really matter whether you go for a starter deal or not in the long run.

Romans are nice and all but what I REALLY want is a great dark ages game. But historical wargame from Sumeria to the Rennisance Europe I'm willing to try.

What about Saga?

Another great podcast episode about Saga:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/meeplesandminiatures/meeplesandminiatures_ep85.mp3 MP3 LINK

It's a lower model count game than the options discussed so far.

I just looked up saga and it looks really cool. I'm instantly a fan of any wargame that has vikings.

Saga is great, fun and the low model count makes it very affordable. Also, there is a thread in this very forum named "Saga" that has some very nice models on display. Check it out.

Link for convenience: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/415043.page

Picture:


Aldramelech did a great job on those.

 thewisewizard wrote:
Romans are nice and all but what I REALLY want is a great dark ages game. But historical wargame from Sumeria to the Rennisance Europe I'm willing to try.

Clash of Empires has the Age of Ravens source book that covers the Viking Age: http://www.greatescapegames.co.uk/clash-of-empires

From what I understand, Clash of Empires is the spiritual successor of Warhammer Ancient Battles. Things are tracked by individual figure and other than an expanded range of charge reactions, turns are generally self contained. You'll move, shoot and fight in close combat with your whole army and then your opponent will do the same thing.

War and Conquest is written and produced by Rob Broom , an ex employee of Warhammer Historical who had a massive hand in writing many of there rulebooks including WAB. The rules play very nicely and the battles often feel like a whirling where ether side could win. The added bonus that there is now a list for nearly every faction from the chariot era to the 100 years war and beyond with every list being FREE to download from there forum.
I would highly recommend them!

Thanks! It's hard to keep everything straight sometimes.

 thewisewizard wrote:
Romans are nice and all but what I REALLY want is a great dark ages game. But historical wargame from Sumeria to the Rennisance Europe I'm willing to try.

Speaking of Dark Ages games, I've just got my copy of Osprey's new Dark Ages rules, Dux Bellorum. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but it looks good.

There's an article in September's Wargames Illustrated that gives sample army lists using just two boxes of miniatures from Gripping Beast. So I've ordered them and will give it a whirl as soon as they're painted up.

Actually, those lists are also here; http://merseybooks.blogspot.se/2012/01/dux-bellorum-making-two-28mm-armies-for.html

Dux Brittaniarum is a set by Too Fat Lardies which is in the Age of Arthur/Dark Ages, but with less models than Dux Bellorum (which is more massed battle). Pdf or hardcopy:

http://toofatlardies.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=97&zenid=b030e052f5b80164b0153e14df34b724

I would also second Age of Conquest if you want a warhamer/warhammer ancients feel.