Warhammer ancient battles [WAB ] what to replace it with?

[Keith T]

Hi All
 Just spent the weekend in sunny Swinden playing WAB chariot wars, possible the last GT , only 12 players, all good friends and good company but we feel that as their is no longer any support for these rules so what next?

 I am looking at Hail Ceaser but it looks like big battles and not competition friendly.

 WAB in its hay day had great booklets that gave you lots of historical info on the period, a painting guide and army lists all in one.

 What do you people play and would you recommend that I try?

cheers
Keith

[fastolfrus]

Although it was designed for big battles with 15mm, have a look at War & Empire from Forged in Battle.
The rules are still on Beta-testing at present, but they look good and play well.

Otherwise try Impetus from Dadi & Piombo
http://www.dadiepiombo.it/images/stories/dp/basic2.html
There is a basic trial version that is free.

[n815e]

Personally, I think if you enjoy them then play them.

[Sangennaru]

i second Impetus, simple but good system and allows you not to worry too much of the single men, working on larger bases! I personally am working on a 15mm army, but 28mm works greatly as well!
However, if you already have your men based individually, its main perk might fade away. You can still play keeping the men on larger bases of course.

[flags_of_war]

I'm sure War and Conquest are pretty much WAB v2 as they are by Rob Broom.

[Axebreaker]

Another vote for Impetus both Basic and Full Impetus. Basic Impetus you can get free btw. I really like the large basing and the game mechanics which allow for a more unpredictable game, but still mostly rewards the player using good tactics. I've tried others, but keep coming back to Impetus.

If your looking for a game similar to WAB then War and Conquest and Clash of Empires are the unofficial Successors of WAB.

Christopher

[bigredbat]

As well as Impetus and WaC, you might like to look at my "To the Strongest!" rules.  You can fit in three games of TtS! in a day without raising a sweat, the rules were written to support competition and there is no need to re-base, so you can continue to use the minis with WAB, too.  The next tournament is on 21st May in Cardiff, details to be found at http://bigredbat.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/the-to-strongest-wales-open-may-21st.html.

Best, Simon

[Pijlie]

War & Conquest is basically WAB 3.0 (it isn´t abbreviated to WAC for nothing....)

See here for a review of mine http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/2013/12/why-we-all-should-know-about-war-and.html

[A Lot of Gaul]

Keith -

I play Hail Caesar, and I think that the rules give an outstanding game. But you are quite right, in that HC was designed for large battles played amongst friends in a relaxed social setting, and not for tournament competitions. In any case, HC is really a 'successor' to Warmaster Ancients, rather than to WAB.
 
Cheers,
Scott

[Emir of Askaristan]

I second N8 - what is it that you have lost just because it's no longer "supported"?

There is so much detail and flexibility in the WAB the rules and sourcebooks you can take it anywhere you want. If you've been playing it for years you must know it inside out and be more than capable of taking it any any direction you please yourselves.

If you fancy creating lists for the Aztecs and Conquistadores, or armies for the Macedonian successor kingdoms on the borders of India (for example) then nothing stopping you but your research and ability to agree on the mods.

Go for it guys. Why give up something you love?

[scarabminiatures]

Keith

Well while you guys were in Swindon playing WAB - some of us were playing War & Conquest just down the road in a village called Bushton!

Next event is in Iron Acton (north of Bristol) and then the one after that is Newark /Nottinghamshire - a good crowd all enjoying a weekends wargaming - a number of ex WABBers among them so theres a lively community

Pics from the most recent event here http://scarabminiatures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2096&p=12197#p12197
Theres a lot of them so a couple of teaser pics here








I am currently working on some supporting War & Conquest publications and army lists are online free - If you are at Hammerhead March 5th, we will be there running a big demo - Battle of Amphipolis

Small version here http://scarabminiatures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=896

heres 1 pic

Any questions ,just drop me a pm/email or whatever

[Elbows]

How much crunchiness are you looking for in your games?  A quick and easy suggestion is Lion Rampant (honestly, buy Dragon Rampant - same game, but fleshed out a bit more).  However it's not hard-history or crunchy.

It would also be a little different running large units (not something you couldn't figure out). 

[Johnp4000]

I have tried both COE and WAC, the first is closer to WAB while WAC has more subtle difference like weighted die throws for morale and very novel rules for skirmishers.My only concern with WAC is the army lists ,some are very open to power gamers. An example I recently played a game against an Ancient Brit army which was composed of just veterans and Fanatics! Checking the lists I was surprised there are no real limits on choices?Even WAB had a raito of 2 warrior units to one vet.
When you say supported , do you mean an active tournament scene? As Rob indicated WAC does run tourneys, in respect of COE, I am not sure.The Great escape lot haven't added any lists for a few years and don't seem very active in promoting their game. The tournament scene seems far quieter now than the glory days of the past.

[Cubs]

Clash of Empires was written as an unashamed twin to WAB, but with a couple of the loopholes ironed out. It certainly reads like another edition of WAB.

Lion Rampant (or Dragons Rampant) are very much fun skirmish games with the emphasis on quick play, not detail. They're cheap as chips, too (less than £8ea from BooksEtc).

Hail Caesar is more of your grand battle thingy, emphasising the difficulties of command and control over large bodies of troops.

[guitarheroandy]

At Peterborough, we rather like WaC (well, some of us do!!) and we are involved (well, I am involved) in writing some Arthurian/Late Roman and enemies army lists with Rob Broom's support. We have an Arthurian all day event in September which welcomes the inexperienced as well as the experienced players!