Ancient Conquest

(formerly known as Ancient Warfare)

These rules cover classical warfare in the ancient world from the rise of Egypt to the fall of Rome.

The essence of Ancient Conquest is command and the role of the general on the battlefield. Using simple mechanics, the player will find himself thrust into the role of battle manager on a very personal level, and in a very chaotic environment.

Soldiers in the game are rated for their equipment, but also their experience level and specific skills. There are no abstract "troop classes", although you will find that certain combinations of training and equipment necessarily encourage specific deployments on the battlefield.

Ancient Conquest, on the other hand, was created from the very beginning with historical encounters in mind. Units were tested not against the theory of how they ought to have done against different troop types, but rather against the reality of their historical performance in actual battles.

More than anything else, the atmosphere of the game is different from that of most other ancients rules. Many rules are rigid and chess-like in their portrayal of ancient warfare, so that the games are very cerebral in nature. Ancient Conquest is anything but that. Ancient battles were confused and violent. They were personal and visceral, not impersonal and abstract. Above all else, Ancient Conquest aims at reproducing that sense.

Oracle cards introduce an additional element of unpredictability to the game, and provide players with an additional means of influencing play.

The ground scale using the recommended base size is 1:1500, which means that one millimeter equals one and a half meters of actual ground. (One inch equals about 40 meters of real terrain.) This means that the frontage of a base is 90 meters (about 100 yards).

In general, a stand represents infantry or cavalry deployed four to six ranks deep and as many files wide as will fit in a 90 meter frontage (about 100 files for infantry or 65 files for cavalry). Formations of greater depth than four to six ranks are represented by placing multiple bases one behind another.

Strength of Stands Infantry: 500 infantry (4-6 ranks of about 100 files each). Cavalry: 330 cavalry (4-6 ranks of about 65 files each). Chariots: 100 small (2-3 man) or 50 large (4-5-man, and all scythed) chariots Elephants: 10 elephants (in one or two ranks) Engines: 20 bolt throwers or 10 stone throwers. For very large battles, double scale armies (1 stand per 1000 infantry or 650 cavalry) may be used, and for small actions half scale may be used (1 stand per 250 infantry or 160 cavalry) may be used.

—description from the rulebook