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Ancient and Medieval Wargaming
Re-fight some of the bloodiest battles of the ancient and medieval worlds! Seasoned wargamer and author Neil Thomas brings historical perspective to the hobby with a description and interpretation of significant military developments from 3,000BC to AD1500. Wargaming is the simulation of accurate historical battles using miniature figures to fight over three dimensional terrain, their movement and combat being regulated by clearly defined rules. Neil Thomas' new book provides specific coverage of ancient and medieval wargaming, thanks to its division into biblical, classical, Dark Age and medieval sections. Each section has its own set of rules and much expanded army lists. The wargamer gains additional perspective from data panels containing facts about weaponry, personalities and chroniclers, and quotations from original document sources. Useful suggestions for further reading are also included, while battle reports in each section provide tactical insights for both novice and veteran wargamers.
424 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 15, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 19, 2017
Book two of my writing research.
My rating reflects how much I personally got out of this book, which wasn't much, rather than the actual content. If I had actually read what this book was about BEFORE picking it up, I guess I would have known that...
My rating reflects how much I personally got out of this book, which wasn't much, rather than the actual content. If I had actually read what this book was about BEFORE picking it up, I guess I would have known that...
May 28, 2009
This book is a collection of rules to refight the famous (and infamous) battles of Ancient Times, from the 300 Spartans to Alexander the Great, to the Crusaders, to Hannibal, to Agincourt to Julius Caesar, even the very early civilizations of Sumer (modern Iraq)! Very easy to read, and easy to play, I recommend this to anyone who wants to dip into wargaming. If you want to know about the book, scroll down, but I better first explain what wargaming is.
WARGAMING
Wargaming is a hobby that uses lead, metal or plastic figures, very similar to the toy soldiers of your childhood, a ruleset, dice and a ruler to refight historical battles. The wargamer has to make tactical decisions, just like the real generals, take chances and plan a strategy that will defeat the enemy. As such, it is normally a social game played by clubs or between friends.
Most wargames are historical- that is, the rules and figures are designed to emulate history as much as possible. That doesn't mean that wargamers simply do the same moves the real generals did, and get the same results every time. No. The game rules are calibrated to allow you to be in the same environment as the real generals, facing the same problems and the same limitations but with the freedom to make your own strategies and battle plans, that might have different results. It's very similar to if you had chosen a great chess game of the past, set it up as it was half-way through the game and then let the modern players play it in whatever way they like.
Because wargamers use dice to determine the results of combat and shooting, the results will not always be the same.
However, wargaming is historical. The rules prevent you from doing anything that was impossible for the real generals, and the dice rolls are also modified to reflect the historical realities. For instance. hardened U.S Marines are much more likely to win a combat than some raw recruits who picked up a gun yesterday.
THIS BOOK
This book allows you to refight battles from 2000 BC to 1486 AD. There are basically four very similar rulesets with slightly different rules to replicate the historical situation that ancient generals found themselves in. These periods are Biblical (2000-500 BC), Classical (500 BC-300 AD), Dark Ages (300-1100 AD) and Medieval (1100-1486 AD). Each period has a chapter on the historical background and events (wargaming is much more fun if you have an understanding of the history), an explanation of any new troop types, a set of rules (all four periods are very similar), a list of historical army lists that allow you to have variety in your army (not every Carthaginian army had the same amounts of the same troops!)and a battle report.
These battle reports are a write up of a wargame using these rules, where a historical battle, such as the English longbows v the French chivalry at Agincourt, the Persians against Alexander the Great at the battle of Issus, the mega-chariot battle of Kadesh between the Egyptians and Hittites, and even the battle of Badon between a historical King Arthur and the invading Saxons was refought. This shows you what a wargame looks like, and how it reflects the historical battle, and shows what might have happened if you did it differently.
SUMMARY
In summary, this is a great book, easy to understand and very easy to play, that allows you to refight the greatest battles in Ancient History, on a dining room table, within three hours. Even primary school kids can play it! Perfect for all those world-conqueror wanna-bes.
WARGAMING
Wargaming is a hobby that uses lead, metal or plastic figures, very similar to the toy soldiers of your childhood, a ruleset, dice and a ruler to refight historical battles. The wargamer has to make tactical decisions, just like the real generals, take chances and plan a strategy that will defeat the enemy. As such, it is normally a social game played by clubs or between friends.
Most wargames are historical- that is, the rules and figures are designed to emulate history as much as possible. That doesn't mean that wargamers simply do the same moves the real generals did, and get the same results every time. No. The game rules are calibrated to allow you to be in the same environment as the real generals, facing the same problems and the same limitations but with the freedom to make your own strategies and battle plans, that might have different results. It's very similar to if you had chosen a great chess game of the past, set it up as it was half-way through the game and then let the modern players play it in whatever way they like.
Because wargamers use dice to determine the results of combat and shooting, the results will not always be the same.
However, wargaming is historical. The rules prevent you from doing anything that was impossible for the real generals, and the dice rolls are also modified to reflect the historical realities. For instance. hardened U.S Marines are much more likely to win a combat than some raw recruits who picked up a gun yesterday.
THIS BOOK
This book allows you to refight battles from 2000 BC to 1486 AD. There are basically four very similar rulesets with slightly different rules to replicate the historical situation that ancient generals found themselves in. These periods are Biblical (2000-500 BC), Classical (500 BC-300 AD), Dark Ages (300-1100 AD) and Medieval (1100-1486 AD). Each period has a chapter on the historical background and events (wargaming is much more fun if you have an understanding of the history), an explanation of any new troop types, a set of rules (all four periods are very similar), a list of historical army lists that allow you to have variety in your army (not every Carthaginian army had the same amounts of the same troops!)and a battle report.
These battle reports are a write up of a wargame using these rules, where a historical battle, such as the English longbows v the French chivalry at Agincourt, the Persians against Alexander the Great at the battle of Issus, the mega-chariot battle of Kadesh between the Egyptians and Hittites, and even the battle of Badon between a historical King Arthur and the invading Saxons was refought. This shows you what a wargame looks like, and how it reflects the historical battle, and shows what might have happened if you did it differently.
SUMMARY
In summary, this is a great book, easy to understand and very easy to play, that allows you to refight the greatest battles in Ancient History, on a dining room table, within three hours. Even primary school kids can play it! Perfect for all those world-conqueror wanna-bes.
January 11, 2021
Another gem from the master of wargaming. This is one of my favorites, because the time period covered is one that I play frequently. Mr. Thomas has chosen to break this immense time period down into four sections: Biblical, Classical, Dark Age and Medieval. Each period has it's own set of rules with different units and other nuances to provide historical flavor. However, all the rule sets share a core of basic concepts and avoid unnecessary complexity. There are excellent battle reports with maps as well as colorful pictures of impressive miniatures battles in progress. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews