To the Strongest
http://bigredbatshop.co.uk are a new set of fast playing ancient/medieval rules that use a grid for movement and maneuver, and mechanisms based on the draw of playing cards to resolve command/unit activation, shooting, close combat, and morale. Recent issues of wargames magazines have carried articles on To the Strongest. I purchased a pdf copy of the rules and impressed by a read through decided to do a trail game between my newly minted Huns and Aetius-era (Very) Late Romans, pulling my son off his "Total War" games to give me a hand.
The pre-battle maneuver (i.e. terrain laying) provided an area of low hills and woods that the Romans used to form a typical defensive line with blocks of infantry in the centre. The Roman cavalry and the Senior (army) general were placed on the left and a large Visigoth contingent on the right (foot warriors and cavalry). The array looked impressive but some of those Roman infantry blocks were "Raw" and none of the Visigoths had much ardor for the cause (while not Raw none had been upgraded to Veteran).
The Hun units were of better quality with a large command on the Hun right made up of Veteran light cavalry, Nobles and some loyal Heruls, a smaller command of LC and Nobles in the centre and a left anchored by some enthusiastic Ostrogoth allies (upgraded to Veterans). The Huns were on the offensive and their battle plan was to use the big command on the right to swing around the Roman left while the centre Hun command and Ostrogoths pinned the rest of the Roman line. The Romans were content to stay on the defensive and let the Huns come on. The Hun swing to their right became stalled - the Roman cavalry showed some aggression and some effective bow fire from the Roman LC created some disorder in the Hun ranks early on, which hurt the confidence of the Hun commander who did not press the attack very vigorously. In the centre though the Huns were able to use the open spaces to their advantage using some classic light cavalry tactics to advance, fire and fall back in rotation (to the strongest allows LC armed with bow to fire and move back in one activation. Two units can occupy one grid square so one LC unit fired and move back, allowing the other to fire.) Being veterans, the Hun LC also had an extra "ammo" chit (typical units start with 3 ammo chits). The Hun arrow barrage in the centre destroyed a Roman Light unit (winning their first "victory medal" from the Romans) and shook up one of the Roman raw legions. The Roman commander was forced to divert one of his LC units to try and counter the Huns in the centre.
Meanwhile the Visigoths and Ostrogoths at the other side of the field began a see-saw battle that ultimately swung the battle. While early on losing a cavalry unit (another 2 victory medals surrender to the Huns) the Visigoths pushed forward and the Visigoth foot warriors were able to gain an advantage over their Ostrogoth counterparts and it looked like the Visigoths would seize the day for the Romans.
The Ostrogoths kept their composure however and had a bit of luck, with the cavalry unit at the far end of the line executing a difficult move over the hills to get on the flank of the Visigoth general and his nobles (in To the Strongest a unit activates by drawing a playing card higher than its previous activation draw (or higher than 2 for initial activation) but each "difficult" move such as diagonal movement, facing change or rough terrain requires a draw of a card "one higher"). The Ostrogoths pressed their flank attack and destroyed the Visigoth nobles (2 victory medals) and then were able to keep drawing good activation cards to initiate another successful flank attack on the foot warriors (more victory medals).
The Huns in the centre were able to use their bow fire to destroy a Roman LC unit and the Romans were suddenly out of Victory Medals (having started with 10) and thus their army morale broke. The Huns had won the day and celebrated accordingly.
I enjoyed the rules and the mechanisms were elegant and easy to learn. The game took about three hours - including checking back on the rules. Thanks to the grid based movement system there were no issues with measuring or related controversies. To make my grids I had simply used flat head sewing pins and these were hardly noticeable - if I put bit of green paint on the pin heads they would probably not be noticeable to anyone but the gamers looking for them. I had two packs of MDF playing card chits from Warbases which avoided any card clutter. I also used Warbases number dials to keep track of ammo usage.
My son commanded the Huns ...