AncientsAncientsUndoubtedly, my favorite time period is Ancients. More than half the historical miniatures I own are 15mm Ancients (15mm is the nominal distance from the model's feet to his eyes). My very first army was Roman, from the time period of the Punic Wars against Carthage. And like the Republican Romans, I was drubbed early on by a veteran general in my first battles. That was back in the 70s. However, I still use those miniatures. They were the nucleus of one of my favorite campaigns, "Friends, Romans, Countrymen." Four of us played Roman magistrates seeking to defeat the enemies of the Republic and conquer new provinces for our glory.
Today, I own many, many more armies. Some of them are listed below with a brief description and perhaps some scanned photos. And if you are curious about what I'm working on now, click on In the Painting Bin, which talks about various projects I have on my painting table, their progress, and perhaps some early photos.
-- Click here for details of my latest painting projects.
De Bellis Antiquitatis,
2.0My favorite set of rules for Ancients is De Bellis Antiquitatis, 2.0, from Wargames Research Group. These are simple, fast-play rules that -- like chess -- take a short time to learn the basics. Mastering tactics in DBA, though, is a long, enjoyable journey. The game has a way of humbling you when you are feeling high and mighty, but also rewarding you when you deploy your troops properly and send the opponent's forces fleeing from the table in defeat.
In basic DBA, each army has 12 stands of troops. These stands are rectangular bases upon which you affix your painted miniatures. Depending on the troops represented (DBA has 16 different types), each stand usually has from two to four miniatures. So, to field an army in DBA, you typically need not much more than a few dozen painted miniatures, sometimes less. This makes it easy for newcomers to get started, and also allows you to own a whole range of armies without great expenditures of time or money.
It is also possible to play "Big Battle DBA" with these rules. Most of my games tend to be these, typically with 36 elements per side. This provides a more satisfying length battle, in my opinion. Whereas a 12-on-12 game will last perhaps an hour, a Big Battle DBA game takes a nice, two to three hours to finish.
If interested in more about DBA and its particulars, check ot the Links section at top for a number of great web sites devoted to these rules.
This is my favorite set of Medieval rules. I feel they are superior to DBA in this particular period (only), because of their more restricted command and control. Also, I feel the balance between knights and medieval longbowmen is more correct in DOK than in DBA. If you were to do a refight of Agincourt with DBA, the dismounted knights would likely (and ahistorically) slaughter the "We happy few" longbowmen. In DOK, many would rightly get mowed down, instead, as they advanced towards the English.
Biblical Era: Canaanites, Early Hebrews, Early Libyans, New Kingdom Egyptian, Nubians.
Classical Era: Republican Rome, Hoplite Greece, Successors of Alexander the Great, Thracian, Parthian, Picts.
Dark Ages: Early Byzantine, Sassanid Persian, Ostrogoth/Visigoth/Vandal, Early Franks, Saxons, Arthurian British, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Vikings, Carolingian Franks.
Medieval: Khmer, Malays, Thais, Generic Medieval armies.