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Hey hey Dakka,

So I was wandering through my local 'Boyes' (no seriously, to the folks who know the store chain) beacuse they are clearing some modelling stuff and I wanted to check if the PSC stuff has been reduced
and I just happened to find an Imperial Roman Starter Army..........at £25!
So I snapped it up quicker than you could blink as I had been looking at this game system before and for £85 worth of mini's? no way I was missing out!

I will just be painting them for now but I will eventually want to play so I have a few questions.
How does this compare to say, fantasy?
Has it a similar approach to their (Warlord's) other games, I have bolt action and just wonder if the rules are as simple?
How much would I need to add to have a 'standard force'.
The best aspects of the game?

This will act as motivation for getting them ready! As well as them being Romans

I'll pick a rulebook up once I have finished them, that way I can only play once I have them complete, It will make a change!

Cheers all!

Greetings! And welcome to the wonderous game that is Hail Casear!

It compares at least in my mind to to the other Warlord games. Its rather easy to pick up and such will provide great fun for all around. As long as you spend some time reading the rules and doing practice games. for a standard force well then I would get the book shown in the link bellow actually.
http://www.warlordgames.com/store/hail-caesar/rules-books/hail-caesar-army-lists-volume-1-biblical-classical.html

Depending on the amounts of points you want, I would suggest getting the following. It is to be noted that Ihave not book with me at this moment, so this is merely from the top of my head. And what I got for boosting my army.

1x box of Pratorian Guard. These men are very, very handy to have in a unit of 40

2x boxes of Auxiliares, well just because I love these models. And they worked great for me the times I have had them on the field.

1x box of Early Roman Legionares. they will be useful to have in substanstial numbers, and with this box you will have 90 of them. Optionaly cut out one box of Auxiliars and add one more of these men.

1 box of Veterans, once again this is simply to me loving the models. So not really needed.

2 boxes of Auxilliary cavalry for that mobility.

beside these, and perhaps some of these you will not wish to add I would recomedna Scorpion and some archers, you can never go wrong with killing those Gauls from afar with sharp metal objects. Also note that the starter set is perfectly fine for a force, but the game works best with rather large armies in my humble opinion. The best part of the game is for me the paitning and the stories you can cook up with your friends, a tale about the brave last stan dof the free Gauls. Or the thriump of the Romans over the barbaric Germanians

Cheers for the reply Trond

That's a big list! Will have to get busy with laying down some paint then!

Praetorians I definitely want, the cream of the crop are some awesome models to behold Also going to get the auxiliary cav and scorpions for sure and I would like some fire power and maneuverability
It is nice that they have designed a force for a box that is ready to use rather than the usual 'battleforce/battalion'

Can you give an example of a list at all so I can see what I am working to? I will get the books, but not till after christmas unfortunately :(

I sure am looking forward to painting these dudes, shame the box comes with no bases? Nevermind, they are easy enough to get hold of!

Thanks again!

No problem my dear

Well as i said, its just what I went and got. But its by no means nescesary to get such amounts of men. The only thing you really need to have a substasial amount of is Legionares, and to a certain extecnt veterans. Anything beside that is just <adding to your chance of vicotry. And yes, its very nice by Warlord ><Games to save us from the regular battalion box syndrom.

Well since I relocated some time ago it seems the book containg the lists I noramly use has become lost in transit, but for a infateri army at least half of the units in an army must be infateri of some sort, and so on. I will mail you a more detailed list once I obtain new books and such. For bases I recomend geting the bases from Warlord games actually


>

So in that case would be worth picking up a box of legionnaires + scorpion for £10?

Another question is how does a commanding unit work, I presume you have one yes? Do you just pick a unit unless you have some form of character?

I took your recommendation for bases too and bought more than I will need for a while

Last question, my friend has realised what era this game is all about and is having a poke around himself. Can you play a mostly cavalry force as that is what he is interested in? I think dacians and samartians would be best? Also what factions have elephants?

Cheers for your help

Oh god yes! I feel jealous creeping into me now... Anyhow yes, most definitly get that. You can never have enough men!

As for a commandig unit ou have the main leader. The divison commander aka the General. Then you have your divisonal commander 2 and 3. I prefer to mount them on round bases to differate them from the rest of the army. And in the games I have had we have not used any characthers( I think.) Its much better to read up on when you get the book since I find it somewhat hard to explain over the web, what I get for being Norwegian I guess. But in all its all rather understandebal and will not take much time to work out. But do calculate for some trial and error.

Well those two would be good for an mostly cavalry force, but you will always need to have a block or two of basic grunts to do the main killing. Since there are rules on how much of your army can be cavalry, but tis perfectly possible to make an house rule for this, I did so with a friend of mine. But I should also mention that Achaemenid Persians will do that just as good, if not better, And you get better groundpunders as well. Pluss you get a lot of fancy and seldom seen troops unlike the Dacians who look somewhat Germanian i you ask me, but both armies are still very nice, annd ofer tons of fun. Plus great chances for painting.

For an Dacian & Samartian army I recomend getting this fine set. It will give him all he needs for the first few games.
http://www.warlordgames.com/store/hail-caesar/dacians/dacian-with-death-dacian-army-deal.html

Same goes for the Persians shown in the link below. But this would be my choice if I had to choose
http://www.warlordgames.com/store/hail-caesar/achaemenid-persians-1/achaemenid-persian-starter-army-deal.html

I asked this in a thread a little while ago but got no responses so will try again:

I'm umming and ahhing over picking up the HC rulebook but £30 is a fair bit of money for essentially a blind buy, can anyone give a few none-too-specific pointers on how it plays? Activation mechanics, combat mechanics, command and control, so on?

A link to a review that talks about these points would be brilliant.

Here is a link to a full(ish) review

http://toomuchlead.blogspot.com/2011/09/hail-caesar-full-review.html

I short, the game runs different than whfb, wab, and similar rules. There is no casualty removal. Units accumulate markers for each 'wound' which force morale checks until they are removed from the table. Fighting is done on a 'unit' basis, where each unit has a charge value (number of dice rolled to hit on the charge) and a clash value (number of dice rolled in subsequent rounds). Units hit each other typically on a 4+. Units also typically have a ranged value (to show throwing spears, javelins, etc). It is not a bucket of dice game, since units rolls 2-3 dice for shooting, and 7-9 for combat, give or take.

Command or control is rolled on 2d6, against the generals LD, and the number rolled determined how many 'actions' the unit can take (up to 3). However, before rolling, you have to give 'orders' to your units or formationis like 'form a line and advance to the crossroads' or 'advance at full speed to engage the enemy'. The roll may or may not then give you enough activations to actually fulfill your orders. If you roll boxcars, its a blunder, and there is a blunder table, which can have units or formations move forward, backward, or in random directions. If you fail a Ld check, then you can issue no further orders. So it plays a bit like warmaster.

Finally, there are no 'army lists' per se. There are no points values for armies in the main rules (but there are in the supplements), though there is a point system of you wanted to calculate them. The thrust of the rules is really to either play scenarios, historical refights, or to 'bring your collection and play'. They emphasize leaving it to the players to determine 'balanced forces' (again, in the main rules, but the supplements do have lists).

Its fun overall, and pretty simple, since a lot of the fighting is abstracted (missile/charge/clash) a bit.

Hope that helps some.

Trondheim wrote:Oh god yes! I feel jealous creeping into me now... Anyhow yes, most definitly get that. You can never have enough men!

As for a commandig unit ou have the main leader. The divison commander aka the General. Then you have your divisonal commander 2 and 3. I prefer to mount them on round bases to differate them from the rest of the army. And in the games I have had we have not used any characthers( I think.) Its much better to read up on when you get the book since I find it somewhat hard to explain over the web, what I get for being Norwegian I guess. But in all its all rather understandebal and will not take much time to work out. But do calculate for some trial and error.

Well those two would be good for an mostly cavalry force, but you will always need to have a block or two of basic grunts to do the main killing. Since there are rules on how much of your army can be cavalry, but tis perfectly possible to make an house rule for this, I did so with a friend of mine. But I should also mention that Achaemenid Persians will do that just as good, if not better, And you get better groundpunders as well. Pluss you get a lot of fancy and seldom seen troops unlike the Dacians who look somewhat Germanian i you ask me, but both armies are still very nice, annd ofer tons of fun. Plus great chances for painting.

For an Dacian & Samartian army I recomend getting this fine set. It will give him all he needs for the first few games.
http://www.warlordgames.com/store/hail-caesar/dacians/dacian-with-death-dacian-army-deal.html

Same goes for the Persians shown in the link below. But this would be my choice if I had to choose
http://www.warlordgames.com/store/hail-caesar/achaemenid-persians-1/achaemenid-persian-starter-army-deal.html

That's some great info, thanks dude, I shall show my mate later! Funnily enough he was looking at the Persians before

Cruentus wrote:Here is a link to a full(ish) review

http://toomuchlead.blogspot.com/2011/09/hail-caesar-full-review.html

I short, the game runs different than whfb, wab, and similar rules. There is no casualty removal. Units accumulate markers for each 'wound' which force morale checks until they are removed from the table. Fighting is done on a 'unit' basis, where each unit has a charge value (number of dice rolled to hit on the charge) and a clash value (number of dice rolled in subsequent rounds). Units hit each other typically on a 4+. Units also typically have a ranged value (to show throwing spears, javelins, etc). It is not a bucket of dice game, since units rolls 2-3 dice for shooting, and 7-9 for combat, give or take.

Command or control is rolled on 2d6, against the generals LD, and the number rolled determined how many 'actions' the unit can take (up to 3). However, before rolling, you have to give 'orders' to your units or formationis like 'form a line and advance to the crossroads' or 'advance at full speed to engage the enemy'. The roll may or may not then give you enough activations to actually fulfill your orders. If you roll boxcars, its a blunder, and there is a blunder table, which can have units or formations move forward, backward, or in random directions. If you fail a Ld check, then you can issue no further orders. So it plays a bit like warmaster.

Finally, there are no 'army lists' per se. There are no points values for armies in the main rules (but there are in the supplements), though there is a point system of you wanted to calculate them. The thrust of the rules is really to either play scenarios, historical refights, or to 'bring your collection and play'. They emphasize leaving it to the players to determine 'balanced forces' (again, in the main rules, but the supplements do have lists).

Its fun overall, and pretty simple, since a lot of the fighting is abstracted (missile/charge/clash) a bit.

Hope that helps some.

Wow that's a great post, thanks! I will check the review when I have more time!

Another thing to consider is there is really no set 'size' for an army.

The rulebook suggests 24 or so models per 'normal' unit, but there is nothing preventing you from using 12 models per 'normal' unit, aside from aesthetics.

So you can build your collection as you want, at your own (and your regular opponent's) pace.

Particularly as you can balance the forces as you have them (or want them). When we built our armies (for WAB to start) we did several small skirmishes using Hail Caesar while we expanded out armies. You can easily play with several units of 8 or 10 models for infantry and 5 for cav.

That's a cool thought, thanks means I can get 7 or so units out of my starter rather than five