Warhammer Ancient BattlesTM (WAB) has been around for about 10 years now, and is probably the fastest growing ancients wargaming system in the world. Based on the popular and rich Warhammer Fantasy Battles, WAB combines the simplicity and enjoyability of that system with well researched and robust rules and army lists that allow players to recreate historical conflicts. This article gives a brief overview of the rules, army lists and miniatures behind WAB, all of which are available through Area 52 (plug plug).
The rules
Anybody who has played Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WFB) can play WAB. Both use the same base size and (roughly) the same scale of miniatures. All the basic rules are identical – phases of play, rolls needed to hit, modifiers for shooting, combat resolution and so on. The roles of musicians, standard bearers, generals etc are the same. There as some minor differences between the 2 systems (for example, the frenzy and stubborn rules are different), many of which spring from the fact that WAB was based on WFB 5th Edition. What WAB mostly offers is more rules. This at first might seem like a bad thing, but in reality, these extra rules provide significantly more tactical flexibility when choosing your army as well as when playing it. Sick of having huge blocks of infantry smashed to pieces by tiny units of super cavalry? Then you will love the Fall back in good order rule, which allows a unit that loses a round of combat but still outnumbers its opponent by more than 2:1 to simply make a retreat move. If the enemy unit catches the falling back unit, it is not destroyed, but fights another round of combat. How about Cavalry counter charge? A unit of cavalry that is charged can choose to counter charge. It still fights second BUT gets all other bonuses as if it had actually charged.
There are also significantly more weapons and armour options, as one would expect when trying to cover every major military force over a 4,000 year period, from pikes to kontos, staff slings to pila. Finally, many army types get special formations, to simulate the way that they fought. The Macedonian phalanx, Saxon shieldwall and Norman ferocious charge offer both character and advantages to their respective armies.
Gameplay
Unsurprisingly, WAB play is very similar to WFB. However, the absence of super characters, magic and monsters means that games tend to be longer and more balanced. Most cavalry is pretty ordinary, and missile fire ineffective, so infantry blocks dominate. Skirmishers are common, but are nowhere near as powerful as they are in WFB (for example, they NEVER rank up, and don’t have 360 degree line of sight). If your General is killed, then every unit in your army must take a panic test (as it used to be in WFB), so even super generals like Samurai Daimyo must be used very carefully. In short, the WAB rewards tactical game play much more than WFB.
Armies of Antiquity is well worth getting for anybody getting into WAB, as it contains 22 complete (if short) lists. Some of these have subsequently been updated in separate army books, but the relatively relaxed nature of WAB means that the older lists are still perfectly acceptable. The armies are: Sumerian, Egyptian, Hittite, Trojan Wars, Assyrian, Persian, Ancient Greek, Alexander & His Successors, Ancient Indian, Republican Roman, Carthaginian, Late Roman, Cataphract, Byzantine, The Nomad Hordes, The Saracens, Saxon, Viking, Norman, Crusader, Chinese, and Samurai.
Chariot Wars covers the armies of the middle east from 2,500 to 500 BC, including Egyptian, Sumerian and Mycenaean Greek forces.
Alexander the Great (obviously!) deals with the rise of Macedon and the campaigns of Alexander in Persia and India.
Spartacus is more of a scenario based supplement covering the Slave Revolt and the Servile Wars (135-71 BC), but also 2 entertaining and effective army lists.
Fall Of The West details the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the ensuing anarchy. This supplement is sometimes derogatively referred to as the “Chaos Codex” by WAB purists, as it allows a huge variety of troop types to be fielded and is easily abused by power gamers.
Shieldwall covers the period from around 700 to 1100 AD in western Europe, usually known as the Dark Ages, and features many wonderful army types, including Saxons, Irish, and of course, Vikings. A very popular supplement.
Byzantium : Beyond the Golden Gate. In the West, Rome may have fallen, but in the East, Byzantium ensured the Roman values and spirit endured for another 1000 years. This book covers a fascinating period and features incredibly diverse army lists including Sassanid Persians, Steppe Nomads, Rus and of course, Byzantines.
El Cid covers the Spanish reconquista of 900-1250 AD and has a number if army lists for this period, including Christian, North African and mercenary forces.
Armies of Chivalry contains army lists for The Hundred Years War, The War of the Roses and other medieval conflicts. These lists are somewhat out of context with the rest of the WAB stable, as the armies of these period have significant advantages over more ‘primitive’ armies that a points system simply cannot handle. Most WAB tournaments have a separate competition for armies from this period.
English Civil War is basically a stand alone game, with all the rules and army lists necessary to recreate battles from the mid 17th Century.
As well as rules and army lists, all of these books contain excellent histories of the period that they cover as well as maps, references and colour photos of armies and battles.
Supplements that are in the pipeline include Punic Wars (due this year), Divine Wind (armies of ancient and medieval Japan and China), Arthurian (more Bernard Cornwell than Mallory!) and Vlad the Impaler (!!). There are rumours of supplements being prepared on the Peloponnesian Wars, Alexander’s Successors and the Crusades.
This is the complicated bit, as there is no dedicated miniature range for WAB. Fortunately, there are three ways to deal with this.
1. Proxies
As WAB and WFB use the same basing system, many WFB miniatures are perfectly suited to WAB. The Empire and Brettonian ranges are ideal for Armies of Chivalry or Crusaders. Chaos marauders make great Norse. You can even proxy some of the fantasy races for historical forces – dwarfs as Romans for example.
2. Metal 28 mm miniatures
There are a great many manufacturers of miniatures for historical wargaming, virtually all of which are fine for WAB. Area 52 stocks Old Glory and Gripping Beast, and can order in pretty much anything from their extensive ranges. Old Glory packages most of its range in packs of 30 infantry or 10 cavalry, which retail for $55, which is actually cheaper than GW products. Gripping Beast packs are smaller and not quite as good value, but higher quality. Neither are quite as high quality as GW, and both still used lead based metal – so don’t chew on them.
The following photos are of Old Glory Early Imperial Romans. They are based on standard Citadel bases. The shield transfers are from a company called Veni Vidi Vici
3. 1/72 scale plastic miniatures
These soft plastic miniatures are much smaller than the 28mm miniatures discussed above, can be a bugger to put together, and the range is more limited. But they have one big advantage – price. Boxes retail for $10-$15, and can contain anything up to 50 figures. It is quite possible to buy an entire army for $30 (not counting bases). Area 52 can order in figures from the Zvezda, Ehmar and Miniart ranges, all of which are of surprisingly high quality. The ones pictured below are based on standard Citadel bases and have taken Citadel undercoat and paints with no problems. They have been glued together with a hot glue gun, which I have found to be the most effective technique.
Conclusion
WAB is a fantastic game and well worth trying out by anybody who enjoys WFB . Even more than fun than buying, painting and playing with the miniatures is reading up on the history of whatever army and period that you have chosen. From the dusty plains of the Peloponnese to the sodden moors of Northumbria, WAB offers an entire world of warriors and warfare that puts WFB in the shade.
Craig Woodfield
Warhammer Ancient Battles
http://www.warhammer-historical.com/
Zvezda
http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Zvezda.html
Old Glory
http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/25mm_historical.asp
Gripping Beast
http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php