SPQR and Late Romans

[joroas]

So, my FLGS is selling the starter set for £28 and I have a painted Late Roman Army.  Slightly anachronistic but would they be suitable opponents for the Gauls? Do they fit into the Imperial Roman Army Lists? Cheers.

[Johnp4000]

It's not a perfect match, you could use the Gallic figures but follow the Early German rules? I am not sure that the Early Imperial stats would suit Late Romans but the auxiliaries stats might be usable?

[Easy E]

Once we buy it, we can do whatever we want with it! 


Bwahahahahahahahaha! 


I.e. you can use it with Late Romans just fine......

[Arrigo]

Let me be a contrarian...

no you cannot use the late romans 'out of the box' and no, you cannot have Late Romans vs Gauls, at least if you do historical gaming. Of course you are free to whatever you want but I assume that by asking... you want opinion.

Said that I have found SPQR eminently adaptable as long you do a modicum of historical research (something that in the past was accepted as common in the hobby, nowadays seems almost heretic in nature...  ).  Creating a suitable list for a Late Roman force is not arduous. I would say the Sarmatian list is a good starting point for a late roman army, especially if you concentrate on cavalry. The Dacians can raided for inspiration on the infantry too and foederati too.  As opponent, a small Sassanian force or some late Germans can be created quickly, remember SPQR is not hungry in miniatures. Otherwise... the standard Late Roman opponent... another Late Roman force.

I have always found that with a modicum of research silly anachronistic match-ups are entirely avoidable...

[Easy E]

Said that I have found SPQR eminently adaptable as long you do a modicum of historical research (something that in the past was accepted as common in the hobby, nowadays seems almost heretic in nature...  ).  Creating a suitable list for a Late Roman force is not arduous. I would say the Sarmatian list is a good starting point for a late roman army, especially if you concentrate on cavalry. The Dacians can raided for inspiration on the infantry too and foederati too.  As opponent, a small Sassanian force or some late Germans can be created quickly, remember SPQR is not hungry in miniatures. Otherwise... the standard Late Roman opponent... another Late Roman force.

I have always found that with a modicum of research silly anachronistic match-ups are entirely avoidable...

Yes, that was my thought as well.  Do some research, tweak the rules and lists as needed, and play away!

[joroas]

Thanks, chaps.  I have a painted Late Roman force that has been around for years and never graced a tabletop.  I could easily spilt it into two forces and use it for that.  I had considered rebasing for HOTT as well.
I agree about the research angle.

[craigjwoodfield]

It's a great period, but you may as well pick a system that is designed for it (and isn't complete rubbish), such as Dux Bellorum or Comitatus. Even Lion Rampant variant would be better than SPQR.

[joroas]

Amazingly, I found Dux Bellorum on my bookshelves, so that saved some money. Cheers.

[SJWi]

Joroas,  I have both Dux Bellorum and Simon McDowell's Comitatus. As said these are specifically aimed at the 4th-5th century AD period and are both recommended. You may want to base your figures individually using sabot bases as this means they can be used for "big battle" games  plus the more "skirmish type" such as SAGA or SPQR.   

[joroas]

They are based for Hail Caesar but not a great issue to rebase them as I have never used either the rules or the figures.  Just trying to be realistic over my figure usage. Thanks.

[SJWi]

Joroas, I used to base all my forces specifically for Impetus. Luckily this works great for my favourite ruleset TTS but would be useless for anything else. I've now started to used Warbases sabots. It can cost £20-30 but given the amount I spend on figures, metal spears and shield decals it is well worth it if only to get extra untility out of the forces.

[joroas]

Cheers. Just had a quick look and I have sets of these I bought from Warbases last year to use with Muskets and Tomahawks.

[Johnp4000]

Joroas,

Are you any nearer to working out how to adapt Late Romans to play SPQR? Most of the replies just seem plugs for other rule sets , none of which are aimed at skirmish level games! Comitatus is an excellent big battle set, think Hail Caesar size, unfortunately, I never found many people who want to play it, in lieu of the numerous simple generic sets out there.

[joroas]

No, as I haven't seen the rules yet. It was something of a pipedream and the box I was looking at is out of stock.  I was largely looking to reuse a redundant army.  Thanks.

[SJWi]

Joroas, it you are looking for a cheap-to-build historical opponent for your Late Romans what about a Gothic/Germanic army using Gripping Beast plastics. They produce the necessary cavalry, unarmoured infantry and archers. You may want to add some metals for elites and characters but it shouldn't be too expensive.

Regards.