To the Strongest, any good?

[Tim Haslam]

I've got hold of a copy but not played any games yet.
I don't even have an army!

It's taken me a while to get my head around an element based game?

So any reviews or feedback will be appretiated?

Ta

[Bindonblood]

Ok, played them a few times.

My thoughts...

They are great. First set of Ancient rules in a long time to make me think about collecting anew army.

Armies deploy and move like armies. None of this whizzing around at speed, manoeuvring like the Grenadier Guards at Trooping of the Colour.

The cards give just the right the right amount of randomness.

Just watch out for cataphractii

[Phillius]

An excellent game.

I was wary of the whole grid thing, but it just disappears once you come to grips with how units move, shoot and fight.

I have played DBMM mostly for a number of years, as that is the rules of choice locally. I like, will continue to play them, and don't expect them to not be played for a long time.
However, my new armies are being collected and built with both DBMM and TTS in mind, and at least one right now just for TTS (I have a lot of projects on the go at once)

Can't recommend them enough, great game.

[fred]

Our gaming group is big fans of the TtS rules. We have played more of the ECW version (For King and Parliament) but have played some games of TtS. The games move along at a good pace, are multi-player friendly, and give you tactical challenges in getting your lumbering units to do what you want them to.

The card activation mechanism is great, giving command friction, but not stopping your whole army in its tracks. The grids work well to speed up the game play too. We like the mechanisms so much we have ported them over to Sci Fi.

It has made our group dig out old WAB armies and get them on the table again.

What about element based rules is proving hard to get your head around?

[Tim Haslam]

I'm just an old WRG, then fantasy then WAB fan...
So old habits die hard, having a pile of 'dead' toy soldiers at the side of the table just felt normal?
Seems like positive feedback though, thanks.

I'm only going to get painting if I like the figures, but I also want to pick an army I have a small chance of winning the odd game with, one in every four or five will do me 

My favourites are the Greek and Punic periods.
Are Persian sparabara/shield walls any good?
What about Gallic fanatics?
In all the rule sets I've played, successor armies always seem to do well, probably because of the right mix and choice of troop types?

[SteveBurt]

To the Strongest is a superb set of rules. lots of decisions for the players, and even large games finish in a couple of hours.
I've used Hoplites, Early Achemenids, Later Achemenids, Macedonian, Successor, Republican Roman, Carthaginian, Caesarian Roman, Gallic, Parthian with these rules.
Romans are solid and hard to beat. Gallic are a bit of a lottery - they can do well. Carthaginians and Successors are good combined arms armies.
Achemenids (particularly the earlier Sparabara ones) do well. Hoplites are hard to beat but very sluggish. Parthians I think we didn't really figure out how to use.
I'll be trying a game with my Biblical armies (Hittites, Egyptians and Assyrians) soon, will be interesting to see how that goes.

[Tim Haslam]

Thanks Steve, all armies Ive at one time owned!
So good feedback.

I've been considering an early Celt army, of all fanatics and chariots plus a few skirmishers? Maybe the eastern Celt invasion of Greece?
Is this a practical list to play with? It would certainly look spectacular, assuming 'undreds' of naked blokes floats your boat!
Victrix look nice figures and cheap. Plus I believe they have plans for chariots too?

[fred]

One key thing we have noticed is that large units are not very manoeuvrable. Which is perfectly realistic but it does mean if your army is comprised of lots of large units, your main tactic is walk forward and hit the enemy.

Conversely small units are very nippy and can move around readily - but they are quite fragile.

All the army lists are freely downloadable, so you can have a look at what the key units are and then feel which would suit your playing style.

[bigredbat]

Thanks for the kind words, chaps.

Tim- the more serious players favour cavalry armies at the moment, especially lance and bow armed.  These will, however, have their wings very slightly clipped in the coming months, by some changes to evades. A Celtic army will, likely, form in a wide line and move steadily forward so it would be a great army to learn the rules with. Fanatics would give it a little extra flavour...

As for casualties, TtS! is very bloody and entire units will be removed so there will be lots of casualties at the back of the table!

I had an all-too-rare chance to game last weekend- played five games, got thoroughly spanked in four of them. :-)  I am the one in the shirt.  http://bigredbat.blogspot.com/2018/09/to-scottest.html

[Dr. Zombie]

got thoroughly spanked in four of them. :-)  I am the one in the shirt.  http://bigredbat.blogspot.com/2018/09/to-scottest.html

Comments like this makes me fear to click the link...

I am going to echo what everyone else has said. It is a great game. Easy to learn and fast to play. But still with enough debth to keep it interesting and to keep you on your toes.

[A Lot of Gaul]

Like some others, I was hesitant to try TtS! due to the grid system. As the OP said, old habits die hard! But when I did try the rules, I was blown away by how easy and intuitive they were. Gameplay is fast, furious, and tremendously fun! The rules are also easily adaptable for solitaire play. I can't recommend TtS! highly enough!

[Frostie]

Happy Birthday Simon,(BigRedBat)

Ive played a couple of games of TtS and really like it.  Simple enough to learn but complex enough to give a challenging game.

I've recently moved back to Plymouth and a few of the guys at the club there are beginning to play TtS and are also enjoying it....

Good luck with the rules

[bigredbat]

Ta Frostie! It is, indeed, my Birthday. :-)

[CATenWolde]

I have to admit that the grid has put me off trying them. I put a lot of effort into the scenics of games, and I can't picture how I would impose a grid on my table that wouldn't dominate the visuals. Hmm ...

[fred]

There are several ways to show the grid without it dominating the look.
You can get mats printed with a grid where the grid is very fine
You can just mark the corners of the grid, this can even be with small scenic elements.