Ancient and Medieval

- By Peter Dunn

The Ancient period is one of the most popular wargaming periods. It covers the era from the start of human civilisation up to 1500AD (when gunpowder weapons started to dominate the battlefield).

Armies of all the great civilisations are covered by the period; Egyptians, Greeks and Romans in classical times through to the rise of the western feudal and medieval knights and the armies of Islam. This provides a very rich and diverse backdrop for the wargamer.

Over the past thirty years, wargamers in New Zealand (and over most of the world) have used rulesets developed by the Wargames Research Group. Their original "Ancient Rules" passed through seven editions before being replaced in 1993 with "De Bellis Multitudinus" (DBM). This latter ruleset attempts to recreate the feel and flavour of large scale encounters during the ancient period and has become extremely popular. Accompanying the ruleset are four books of army lists that recreate approximations of over 300 historical armies from the period. So whether you want to be Caesar invading Britain in 55BC or the Duke of Normandy attempting the same feat one thousand years later, there is an army list for you. This diversity is a major contributor to the period's popularity.

One of the authors of the DBM ruleset has written a "Beginner's Guide to DBM" and this can be accessed at http://www.richardbodleyscott.btinternet.co.uk/beginner.htm . This is certainly well worth a read. A DBM resource page exists at http://tetrad.stanford.edu/DBM.html and from this it is possible to access an ever-increasing number of DBM pages. One page deserving of particular mention is that of the Society of Ancients (http://www.soa.org.uk/) an organisation devoted to ancient wargaming that produces a bi-monthly journal, "Slingshot".

Armies generally come in two scales, 25mm and 15mm. During the seventies and eighties, 25mm (1/72) was "king". However with the improvement of lead casting techniques, 15mm armies gradually became more prevalent. The smaller scale armies are cheaper to assemble, easier to transport and require less room to play. The 15mm scale represents the predominant competition scale (both in New Zealand and overseas). Lately, however, as the gaming population has aged there has been a renaissance in 25mm gaming with a lot of old armies being brought out of the cupboard and even a few new ones being painted. Certainly there are few sights on a wargaming table as impressive as two well painted 25mm armies doing battle.

Typically a 15mm army will cost about $300 unpainted by airmail from the UK, whereas a new 25mm army will cost 2-3 times that amount. There are numerous figure producers, mostly in the United Kingdom, and it is usually possible to find somebody that produces a range of figures for the army you want to field. A few of the more popular manufacturers are:

• 
• Chariot http://www.kbnet.co.uk/chariot/
• Essex http://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/
• Foundry http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/

So if you are in Wellington and would like to experience ancient wargaming, come along to the Warlords or drop an email to me to arrange a game.