The Last Two weekends at the Berwick Wargames Club I was able to get in my 1st games of Hail Caesar after having the rules for over 2 years, slowly building up the vikings and generally patiently waiting for the opportunity.
The two games were Greeks vs Persians the 1st being a do over of Marathon and then a general Persian V Persian with Greek allies.
I have to say I loved it- having played Black Powder and Pike and Shotte of course the systems are similar but I really like the stamina of the units and that they are not as brittle as units in black powder or pike and shotte.
Its made my choice of rule system even easier for future games with my revised cut down approach to unit sizes for the project. This makes getting two armies up and running defiantly more appealing and has made me feel allot better about the decisions on the basing.
The 1st game I was commanding the Persian right and was doing well against the Greeks to my front- but the game game went south in the centre and the right and i was left covering the retreat.
In the second game I had one of the centre divisions and the right division again. This time the centre won out and the flanks failed but where were able to hold out for a victory.
In both cases the games where really tight and close in the combat and the results, and that is again why I'm really liking the rules system.
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| Menacing Greek Hoplites |
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| Persians and Greeks Clash on the left flank |
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| Battle in full swing and the Persian center and right moves to deal with the Greeks |
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| The Persian left fails and take the center with it |
Thanks for this review! I look forward to more. I am starting to build a Greek army (mostly Spartans) and I really look forward to the day where I can finally get them onto a field... how do you think Hail Caesar compares to Warhammer Ancients (assuming you're familiar with it?)
ReplyDeleteHey there neverness, Id would say Warhammer ancients is about the characters and the individual combat and works as a skirmish game very well- Hail Caesar is a battle game- the mechanisms give you the feel of battle line swaying back and forward as the press of men and horses evolves- Commanders are key to making units move and can undo a battle plan or make it really successful. You will not always be able to do everything you want to do in turn creating some friction in your approach with Warhammer never really caters for given you can do everything you want. What you will find with Hail Caesar as well is that its less about the gimmick rules and uber characters and more about marshaling your troops and resources and executing a plan and hoping it survives contact with the enemy.
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