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Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Greetings,

You can now order Wars of the Republic on the Osprey site!

https://ospreypublishing.com/store/osprey-games/osprey-wargames/wars-of-the-republic



Thanks to all of you who pre-order!

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I have been getting a lot of questions about Wars of the Republic, and I am excited to see them all. I put up a blog post on the Blood and Spectacles blog that I hope will answer most if not all of your questions.



Here is a breakdown on my Blog about what I changed in the core rules between Men of Bronze and Wars of the republic.

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2021/10/wargame-design-wars-of-republic-osprey.html



As many of you know, after writing Men of Bronze; Osprey commissioned me to write Wars of the Republic for the Osprey Wargaming Series. That book is slated to be coming out in November and I hope you will pick up a copy. If you liked Men of Bronze, I think you will like what you find in this book too. However, there are also some pretty big differences.


This has been a pretty popular period lately, so I imagine most of you have armies you can all ready use for this period.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)



The blog today is mostly about basing in Wars of the Republic.


I have been playing wargames for a long time. Since 1984 or so? One thing that always gets my goat is basing! Nothing irritates me more than painting up a really nice group of models but not being able to use them in a given system drives me nuts! I hate ripping off old bases and putting on new ones. Even building modular bases and movement trays is a challenge for me.

Therefore, when I started writing games for myself I was pre-occupied with basing and how to approach the topic. One of my primary design goals is always to create something that is scale and model agnostic. I want players to bring what they want to the table and then get to use it! Wars of the Republic is no different in this regard.

As I approached Wars of the Republic I held this idea close to my heart. I surveyed a variety of other ancient wargames to try and get the lay of the land. I also reviewed the various model lines out there and took a look at what companies were creating as pre-made bases. There were a lot of different base conventions and pre-made bases out there. The question was how to make them all work inside the parameters of the game.


https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2021/10/wars-of-republic-wargame-design-all.html

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)



This battle was the main Demo table at the Wars of the Republic launch party at Gestalt Studios in Powell, Wyoming. As such, there were a few different generals and my main role was as referee, host, and rules interpreter. The launch party had a surprising amount of people show up looking to game, talk ancient history, talk wargaming, and talk about being an author. Sadly, I did not get to spend as much time with everyone as I wanted to and I look forward to doing more wargaming events in the area!

The Greeks of Pyrrhus of Epirus came to Italy to aid their fellow Greeks of Tarentum. However, they faced a rising power in Rome. The successor mercenary and opportunist, Pyrrhus; was looking for a way to make cash to keep bank rolling his efforts in Greece. The situation in Italy seemed like a good way to do it! However, the Romans proved to be stiffer opponents than Pyrrhus suspected. After three costly victories, Pyrrhus left Italy and went to Sicily instead. This gave control of Italy to the Romans.

At the launch party, the main Demo table had a combined arms army of Greeks vs. Republican Romans. Each side had about 3 generals controlling wings of the armies. These players rotated in and out through out the battle, to give more people a chance at the game. We also had a secondary table of Etruscans and Romans, but I did not get to observe that battle much.

Since I was hosting the event and referee, I do not have full pictures of the battle. The following is a high-level recap.



Forces:

Greeks of Pyrrhus of Epirus

Center:
War Elephants
Silver Shields
Bronze Shields

Right:
Heavy Cavalry
Light Hoplites
Archers

Left:
White Shields
Peltasts
Light Cavalry

Republican Romans

Center:
Triarri x2
Hastati

Right:
Hastati
Principes
Velites

Left:
Hastati
Principes
Velites

Mission:

The game had no complications and was a simple pitched battle.

Set-up:
The table had a dangerous river on the Roman right/Greek left with an impassable temple on the opposite shoreline. A road slanted across the center of the board. On the Roman left/Greek right there was a difficult field, and on the Greek side a Difficult forest.

The Greek line stretched across the board from left to right it was:
Peltasts, Light Cavalry, White Shields, Bronze Shields, Silver Shields, War Elephants, Heavy Cavalry, Light Hoplites, and Archers. The Archers and Light hoplites were deployed in the woods.

The Romans formed up in their typical checkerboard fashion. Hastati were the front line, with off-set Principes on the edges, and off-set Triarri in the rear. Each flank had a unit of Velites. The Velites were near the river on the right, and approaching the field on the left.



To read the full battle overview and see all the pictures you can go to the Blood and Spectacles Blog:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2021/11/battle-report-wars-of-republic-romans_01344413117.html

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut



uk

All the unit cards make the game look even better !

 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Thanks!


I was happy to see Wars of the Republic in the top 5 on the Wargame Vault!

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
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Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Some reviews are starting to hit.....

Beast of War
https://www.beastsofwar.com/featured/wars-of-the-republic-first-impressions-osprey-games/

YouTube- PrasutagusTheOrwellWargamer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMxSV-Dfoaw

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

A nice review on Amazon:

A simple and well written set of wargames covering the period of The Roman Republic. Well illustrated, easy to follow and adaptable to any size of figures and basing convention. I liked them and my only reservation is on how well they sell in market that has many rule sets covering this period.


In addition, thank you all for purchasing the Wars of the Republic Books and PDFs. I am very excited to see that the book is still in the top 10 on the Wargame Vault a month after release. Thank you so much!

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Here is a nice review the author sent me and I want to pass along.....

https://www.talesfromawargameshed.com/blog/game-and-first-impressions-of-wars-of-the-republic

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
 
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