Review of a first game with L'Art de la Guerre

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

This shot shows three of the Carthaginian commands - commands are moved using pips, halving and then rounding up the score of a D6 (after adding some bonuses for better quality generals). Each command has it's own general who can only command the troops in his command, and all of your commands are diced for and then immediately activated in sequence during yoru turn - this means you often need to make decisions about moving troops in each command before you know how many pips some of your other commands will get - a subtle difference to DBM, but an interesting one nontheless as it makes you think.... Pips can move groups or individual units (elements of horse and LF are units, double-based elements of other foot are also units).

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

Basic movement distances are multiples of 40mm rather than the "British" 2.5cm/1 inch. This means stuff can move really far, and with a table size for 300 points of 1.5m x 1m (smaller for 200 points) you get into action pretty quickly indeed. Foot can move twice, horse three times if with a general and outside 16cm of the enemy - so far so normal...

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

Skirmishers shoot! Its pretty ineffectual against proper troops, but can cause damage to other skirmishers, and all losses count equally towards the army break point. Troops shoot and fight after all movement has been completed, and both sides shoot in each turn. The combat mechanic is an opposed dice roll, but rather than everything being built on a DBM-esque basic factor, most troops in ADLG start on almost the same base factor but have modifiers depending on what they are facing off against. Losing an opposed dice-off causes a cohesion drop, with battle troops being able to absorb more cohesion step losses than skirmishers and lights befor ethey break. Having any cohesion losses causes you a negative factor when shooting or in combat

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

Cavalry can move pretty fast compared to infantry - they can make three moves, and with a 40mm move unit they really rocket across the table when led by a general. This does allow proper outflanking moves. Also, cavalry are on "normal" DBX bases, whilst infantry are on double-depth bases.

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

Troops don't get pushed back in these rules - they degradation by suffering cohesion drops, which are signified by markers. With 4 steps of cohesion for a proper foot unit, this might get messy if you try to use multiple markers for each step - different coloured ones is the way forwards!

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

Well, yes... however you also don't get to use too many bases of cavalry in some of these classical armies.

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

Yeah - that marker thing does need to be tidied up with some smaller, different coloured markers doesn't it? On a game mechanic level, if the Gauls win in the initial impact they inflict additional cohesion drops, but as here, where they didn't, they get chewed up by the armoured Romans in sustained melee.

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

Overlaps do count as advantages, but it's still quite difficult to get onto someones actual flank - there aren't really enough pips in the 'D6/2' format to do anything too clever, but you don't really need to. Generals can also "rally" units in their command range by passing a test and raising their cohesion, but it's quite pip intensive

What does this tell us about the rules then ....?

Softening up an isolated unit with shooting to cause some cohesion drops, and then charging home with overlaps will pick off any isolated unit in short order. The armies "lose" when their losses (counting 2 each) AND cohesion markers (any loss of cohesion on a unit counts as 1) add up to the initial unit count of the army.

Hannibal's Analysis

Well, a set of rules in which the Carthaginian army can finally show it's true mettle - what is not to like ? Of course, with me in command a victory was practically nailed on but even so the idea that the Romans can be beaten is good enough for me to heartily recommend these rules

I am of course a fan of DBx-type games, with some sort of pip-equivalent command and control mechanic, and it was great to see it return in this set from the French. The game is apparently supposed primarily to be played at a 200 point level, but for a genius of my stature the 300 point scale was no mental challenge whatsoever, and it allowed more men to feel the benefit of my leadership - and as they have not been out of the drawer in almost 2 years they did feel the benefit and responded very positively indeed

Despite being unfeasibly similar in some ways to DBx games, the cohesion mechanic did give it a bit of a different flavour as did the way the POAs, or factors (choose your poison) were calculated, with most troops having a very similar base score which is modified often significantly by the opponent they are facing, giving a base factor which is linked to the matchup moot the core troop type itself.

I did however learn that Generals need to be kept out of harms way, as they are killed rather easily and their loss is a bit of a major inconvenience. This is probably why the photos end somewhat abruptly, as I was unfortunately hacked down and temporarily killed at a fairly early stage of the game. Anyway, my men still won, so I count it as a victory for me. Hoorah!

Review from the Leonidas of Sparta

Yep, its on the surface a DBx set and the mechanics are sufficiently similar that anyone who has played DBx games will pick it up almost instantly. There are however enough different mechanics that it does require some different thinking about how to deploy, move and use your troops, and there is probably more subtlety in achieving matchups than we managed in this deliberately classic and head-on encounter to try out the rules in an uncomplicated battle

Taking away the "block a recoil" and "who to push back first?" aspect does take out some of the micro-tactics that will have put some people off with DBX as well, and with all combat and shooting resolving simultaneously during a turn even those occasions when an enemy unit is routed or destroyed out of a line does not create any game-mechanic-related advantages for the player who knows the meta-game better.

All in all a very playable game, simple enough to pick up and sufficiently different enough to its fairly obvious inspirations to make you think. I'm already looking through the figure collection to see who hasn't been out of the box for a long time, and flicking through the lists to see what their list looks like - the best recommendation there is I guess! A new era of even more parallel ancients rulesets being played at competitions is probably beckoning...

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Wargames Stuff on eBay

The wargamers must-have book on Rome's armies is generally regarded as being The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy. That links takes you to Amazon UK's detailed listings for this great book, and this link takes you to the US listing

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