Milton Hundred Wargames Club

Might of Arms overview

Might of Arms is a set of Ancient and Medieval rules that I would describe as mid-complexity. They are way more detailed than DBA for example, but less cumbersome than sets like the old WRG 5th and 6th editions which I grew up on (so far as anyone who plays with toy soldiers can be said to have grown up at all!). They are much more detailed than DBA, less entirely dependent on dice luck and with more of a feel of the period.

In some ways they are like a stripped back version of WRG - eg unit morale tests (but these are much simplified compared to the dozens of factors in WRG) and the way melee casualties are calculated on a table adjusted by tactical factors and a random element - but there are significant difference that make them much faster to play than WRG, with fewer grey areas, a better turn sequence etc. Overall my summary is that it lacks some of the detail of WRG (all those lovely weapon classes), but this is justified by the much faster play with fewer grey areas (and resultant arguments), and it gives a more detailed and satisfying 'proper game' than DBA (though I am a fan of DBA for a quick fun game).

It is designed for 15mm or 25mm (ie different moves and ranges are given for these scales) but as all ground scales (in all rules) are really  completely arbitrary anyway, you could play it with any scale with little or no adjustment. At the club it has usually been used for 15mm, but there are plenty of people here who have 25mm ancients they would be happy to share.

You can have an interesting game with a dozen units per side and just about get it finished in a club night if it is kept to 2 to 4 players who crack on with it and pay attention.

Army organization -

The rules come with lots army lists and a points system which are very, very like WRG, so you can much more choice and variety in the composition of your chosen army than in DBA, while ensuring a 'fair fight' by both sides having the same points value. Of course the rules work just as well for prepared scenarios or historical refights where the sides need not be equal in points terms.

Troops are classified as Skirmishers; Light, Medium or Heavy Infantry; Light Medium or Heavy Cavalry (or camels); Elite Cavalry; Cataphracts; Light or Heavy chariots; Scythed chariots; Elephants, or artillery.  This is fewer types than in WRG, but enough for plenty of variety.

You do not get all the variety of weaponry that WRG had. Heavy cavalry is heavy cavalry whether or not it has only swords or lances and medium infantry is medium infantry, whether it has a hoplite spear or the Thracian rhomphia (ah the days of WRG's 2-handed cutting weapon category)  This is another sacrifice to the god of speed and playability but worth it if you can actually get to finish a game.  The only weapons that are specifically catered for are missile weapons and pikes.

They are graded by Class (quality) - from A to E - which affects how much punishment they can take before they are likely to break.

Turn sequence

Essentially the turn sequence is this:

Dice for initiative (you do this each round which makes for less predictability)

Side with intitiative (Side A) moves any or all units then shoots (causing hits        and morale checks?)

Side B moves then shoots (causing hits and morale checks?)

Side A delayed shooting (if B just moved into range of units that did not fire)

Both sides declare charges and charge responses, take necessary morale          checks (most charges and responses require no testing)

Make charge and charge response (evade, countercharge, route) moves

Melee

Morale checks from melee

Compared to WRG, you don't have those arguments caused by simultaneous movement (oh, if you are going to do that, I'll do this, otherwise I'll do this...), while the roll for initiative each round makes the game less predictable

Unit organization, Shooting, Melee, casualties and breaking units

One thing that took me some adjusting to when I changed from playing WRG is that you do not take off casualties.  Units are composed of stands of figures (no need to base individuals for casualty removal, greatly speeds up basing, game set up and movement compared to WRG, plus you can use the same figs easily for DBA).

Unlike WRG, special formations like wedge, cantabrian circle etc are not catered for in detail, which I still feel is a bit of a shame.

Through shooting and melee, units take Hits. Hits accumulate into Fatigue Points (when a unit has taken 1 hit per stand in the unit, it has 1 Fatigue Point). This means bigger units can soak up more hits before becoming Worn (which should be understood as a mixture of actual casualties, demoralization, desertions, disorganization and actual fatigue).

When a unit has taken a certain number of Fatigue Points it becomes Worn. The number of FP it can take before becoming Worn is determined by their Class, the better the troops the more they can take.

I know recording Unit Class, Hits and Fatigue Points can sound like too much paperwork, but it is actually quite easy and I have devised a really simple but effective sheet for recording it and showing when a unit becomes worn. (see below).

Once a unit is Worn it is much more likely to have to test morale and much less likely to pass such tests. The way Hits and FPs accumulate, along with the causes of and results of morale tests, tends to result in an attritional battle with units, especially in infantry vs infantry fights, battering away and being ground down for a while before one side suddenly breaks. It can sometimes seem too hard to make a rapid breakthrough, particularly with cavalry, but overall the results seem 'realistic' - which means in keeping with how I understand ancient battles worked.

When a unit is routed, it is simply removed from the table (no need to keep remembering to move routing units that clutter up the table - again, a loss of detail but worth it in terms of moving the game along). The only exception to this is elephants which stampede in a random direction for 1 or 2 turns, just like the real thing as described in many ancient sources.