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Hi Guys, I was just wondering if you know of any games that focus on ancient empires like Romans, samurai, mongols etc basically all the kick arse ancient empires empires lol.

What I want is a kind of empire game, tabletop wargames held together by a localised but in depth version of risk. My idea is quite specific, so if there is nothing already then i might start designing one for myself!

I would be looking to create some kind of loose army builder where you can purchase equipment and structure units exactly as you like, and have mechanics for any tactic, flanking, feigned retreat etc.

The battles would need to be shorter so you could play expanding your whole empire more quickly than you could if you incorporated say WHFB. Also I wouldn't completely oppose a magical element, though I wouldn't want it one of the key features.

I'd also like the 'Risk' part to be a little bit detailed, with resources, empire morale, slight politics and (dare i say it ) religious ideals and stuff like that.

Does anyone know of a game already like this? If not, would it be something you'd play if it was presented to you? What advice can people give me about making a Wargame from scratch?

Thanks for any help and suggestions!

There are lots of wargames based in the ancient era. DBA (de bellis antiquitatis) is a popular simple one. Its big brother, DBM, has rules for tons of armies. However, they do not have the global scale of RISK.

In terms of global games, there is Civilization by Avalon Hill, and History of the World. However, they do not have detailed combat rules as you described.

You may be better off asking the question is a board game site, as a game like the one you proposed will probably not be miniature oriented because of its scale. People on such a site will have a more through knowledge of the games that already exist.

It sounds like you need a copy of De Bellis Antiquitatis.

http://fanaticus.org/DBA/index.html

The game plays quickly and uses small amounts of armies. Standardised army size and strength is ideal for depicting the individual strength points (figures/armies) used in a game like Risk.

Buy Risk or a similar map based game for the strategic level of the game. Games Workshop's Mighty Empires map might work nicely, or even just pin up a political map of Europe on the wall and stick flags in it.

If you want a fantasy version, look out for Hordes of The Things.

Moving thread to Other Games / Historical.

It sounds like you are asking for 2 things: a campaign system, and a table top ancients game.

A common problem with campaigns is getting the group to finish what has been started. Your lists of requests would make for a very complex campaign - which takes lots of time and a high commitment level. Complexity also generally makes the losers known long before the campaign is complete. That's fine in a computer game, but not so good with real world players.

To try and actually answer your question now. The local club played a Hail Caesar campaign over 8 sessions using a home brew campaign system. Players would submit map moves every session, then players would play 1 game. The results (degree of victory) would then be used to resolve the attacks on the map. It worked pretty well - even if you were losing in the campaign, the weekly game was even & competitive.

http://plasticlegionsblog.freeforums.org/the-dark-age-campaign-map-rules-etc-here-updated-10-13-t413.html

I'd also suggest Hail Caesar though I dont think there is very much Equipment buying

Cool, thanks for that, i'll have a look into both of those!

As others have said it looks like you want both a campaign and easy battle games.

I would say DBA or possibly its fantasy equivalent Hordes of the Things will cover your battles , but for the campaign may I suggest an old boardgame goody, Borderlands?

Okay it is not a historical map but the mechanics of collecting resource and building armies should be easy enough to convert - one Strength point builds one DBA army?

You will probably struggle to get an original copy but a net search should unearth enough to make your own print and play copy.

Even if you do not use it for your idea, it is a great game in its own right.

I know very little about strategic level wargaming, so be free to ignore the following.

Diplomacy is a very simple strategic level board game, which has very simple rules, but complex game play due to player interaction. I think it could be adjusted to being a campaign system, which would work well with a light ruleset table top wargame as a way to determine results of battles.

For selecting a table top ruleset for the battles, one choice could be Warmaster by Games Workshop:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/landingArmy.jsp?catId=cat480010a&rootCatGameStyle=

I only heard good things about it, and its army list seems easy to adjust from a fatasy settings to a historical.

Cytisus wrote:I know very little about strategic level wargaming, so be free to ignore the following.

Diplomacy is a very simple strategic level board game, which has very simple rules, but complex game play due to player interaction. I think it could be adjusted to being a campaign system, which would work well with a light ruleset table top wargame as a way to determine results of battles.

For selecting a table top ruleset for the battles, one choice could be Warmaster by Games Workshop:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/landingArmy.jsp?catId=cat480010a&rootCatGameStyle=

I only heard good things about it, and its army list seems easy to adjust from a fatasy settings to a historical.

Hmm maybe its Board Game Mythology but doesnt Diplomacy by itself take days if not weekends to play? Plus they say its a good way to lose friends

Oh and Warmaster is already a historical game, with two supplements for ancient and medieval armies

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18615/warmaster-ancients

Just to add a couple other options:

Warmaster was mentioned (including Warmaster Ancients)
Warhammer Ancients Battles (v2.0 is out right now, but 1.0/1.5 works just as well, and they're inexpensive, if OOP)
War and Conquest
Clash of Empires

The above all work in the same vein as warhammer fantasy but without the magic, etc.

For strategic level, I am planning to use the old GW Mighty Empires game, with the tiles that allow you to build the game world, move armies, handle supplies, etc. I believe you can get the .pdf of the rules from GWs site, or online. Its oldschool for sure.

The newest Mighty Empires (is that what they called it?) with the plastic tiles might also work, but there are very few tiles, and the strategic element is very simplified compared to the OOP game.

Oh yea I remember Clash of Empires. Never played it myself but people tend to call it WAB 2.5 or 3.0 so I guess if you're a fan of WAB then you'll enjoy CoE

Hi! I think you may try IMPETUS, is quickly and detailed historical rule book, till the Napoleon age.

Good for 6mm to 28mm scale.

You can donwload a free version here with more informations....

http://www.cosmicplanets.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=37&Itemid=270&lang=it

Good game!

There's a campaign system that we did for WWII that has an addendum for running Clash of Empires campaigns.
http://www.greatescapegames.co.uk/books-1/clash-of-empires/operations-and-objectives.html