Customer Reviews

Field of Glory: Ancient and Medieval Wargaming Rules

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Well, as someone who loves reading about history and playing games that are based around the ancient world, I am truly glad to see a well published and easy to read game!

As a model painter, the biggest perk is that if you already own an army, then there will be very little for you to add or change. Even your older, DBM armies are based correctly for this new system! Likewise, the size of the army will be very similar in size and in painting requirement (that is, you'll paint roughly the same number of individual models to play).

Unlike the rule sets for older historical games, this set of rules seems to be written for a person who wants to understand how to play. That is, understand the game WITHOUT contacting the designers! For every rule, there seems to be a clear diagram and set of examples. Better still I noticed that some rules have examples and counter-examples of when and how to apply a specific rule.

Also, the main rule book is published by Osprey, with lots of their renown, great historical illustrations. So, even if you only pick up the rule book, you get a chance to look at all the beautiful artwork. The book is hard-bound and seems to have a great deal of care invested in the physical product.

With 2 expansions already developed and many more on the way, you'll be able to reenact your favorite era of history fairly soon! By the way, you'll probably need at least 1 expansion book to truly build your own historical army. Although the main rule book has sample army lists for Romans, Carthaginians, 100-Year-War English and 100-Year-War French, you'll soon find yourself interested in the other epic rivalries.

Now for the bad side of this game: The game was intended for people who already are playing this style of game. The writing is dense and will be difficult to get your head around if you have not experienced this hobby already. Unlike books from other game publishers, this book is very light on the introduction to the hobby of war games. Even though the authors define model scale and size, as well as how to paint models, there is nothing nearly as detailed as some of the better known game companies. Also, there is no easy list of recommended miniature makers. This means that if you want to buy and build an army, you will be left with searching the Internet with little to guide you. Fortunately, the back of the book lists the game's website and rules forum, where I'm sure many of the members will help out a beginner.

So, if it wasn't obvious, I am a fan of miniature war games and Osprey's book series. I own a small collection already, but this will quickly grow to become the top choices on my personal wish list!

Field of Glory is one of the most divisive systems out there. Written from one-half of the team which brought ancient gamers DBM, you already have people which will be comparing it to that, as well as the multitude of other pre-gunpowder (Yes, they have handguns in some armies, but I'm talking from a more generalized standpoint) rules. Backed by Osprey, it's also very visible, and you could probably walk up to any historical wargamer and get some sort of recognition of the system, if not a whole book on what they think about it.

The system itself is very deep; units have types, along with weapon trainings, quality ratings, armor, and whether its drilled or not. This is a LOT of stuff to keep track of, but you can do it. They each play a different role in how a unit acts: Quality will allow you to reroll bad or good rolls, depending on what your quality is. Depending on your weapon training and armor, you will receive different "To Hit" rolls, while drilling controls what sort of maneuvers you can do in movement.

This is both good and bad. For example, I absolutely LOVE how weapons are handled, as it gets away from a generalized "Weapon Skill" and shows how important it is to bring the right tool to a fight. Phalanxes are difficult, but once you start breaking their ranks they lose a lot of their effectiveness. Things like Pila are put into an "Impact Foot" specialty which covers being devastating in the first round of combat, called "Impact Phase" (There is a separate round for regular combat, with different modifiers as well). That is all very nice, though there is a bit of chart reading until you get used to it. Drilling, however, just feels a bit too much. Like I said, certain units can only do certain maneuvers depending on this, or have to test for it. This feels a bit wonky, and it's something that no one in my group took to naturally. I can understand what they were going for, but it just never clicked for us, especially with all the different maneuvers you probably take for granted in other systems.

There are other things which irritate me in this system more than they do in others. For example, cohesion and disorder are similar concepts to what you could find in BLACK POWDER: Battles with Model Soldiers in the Age of the Musket, but they just feel less intuitive in Field of Glory. Cohesion represents morale and Disorder represents just being properly organized, but there are different levels to both and the first level of poor cohesion is called "Disruptive", which can be really confusing when people accidentally mix their terms. This is also doubly important, as battles are won by totaling up a variety of factors which lead to the collapse of enemy morale, cohesion being one of these. Once again, another feature I like and feel is characterful to the period covered.

The writing doesn't help, either. It's not that it isn't clear (Though I agree with one of the previous reviewers that the book could have been organized better), but it's written very dryly and could stand to be written simpler. Whenever I read through it, I feel like I'm reading VCR directions. They did add an expanded index in PDF form which is absolutely lovely, but overall I think the design leaves a lot to be desired.

Again, I'm very mixed on this system. I really, really love a lot of the concepts in it, and the gameplay isn't bad at all. I still think they have done a great job of getting a lot of minutiae into combat without too much hassle. The problem is that the minutiae in other places could be handled better and can bog things down until you are particularly familiar with the system, and it's hard to get familiar with the book when it is so damned dull and dense.

My final verdict? If you are willing to put the time into really learning these rules, you'll get a lot out of them. Few series have the same breadth, and there is a lot of detail here to love. But if you aren't willing to spend some time on these rules, or just want to dabble a bit in the period and play it occasionally, this probably won't be a good ruleset for you. Three Stars for so many flaws, but still making me want to give it another chance.

Field of Glory is an outstanding set of miniature wargames rules, blending what you can of "simulation" with producing enjoyable battles with plausible historical outcomes. MUCH better than DBM (and in English, no less!), less complex than WRG/Warrior, and more fulfilling than WAB. Clearly, these rules are setting the bar higher in this field than they have ever been.
The core rulebook has only a few lists, so you will need to buy a number of not-too-expensive army books. Otherwise, this rules-set has it all, barring naval involvement and campaign settings (both coming soon). Already a favourite at conventions - solid lay-out, writing, and organization leads to few gray areas and few points to argue! Cheers!

Some say this historical miniature rule set borrowed the best other rule sets had. Even if that were to be true, the result is a very polished whole that plays very smoothly. Its top down design does not allow the player or army designer to get bogged down in the details, but it does allow one to become the general(s) directing a battle.

The layout, paper, and priting are superb, far better than any other related product. And for a full-color, hard-bound book, price is not that bad either.

FoG is my new ruleset of choice.

Richard Bodley Scott with Simon Hall and Terry Shaw made an excellent Wargame miniature rulebook. After the secession of DBM, Bodley Scott tried to make a game where equipment, battlefield function, training, quality and morale all had a saying. The importance of leadership ceased to be in a lucky hand rolling lots of PIPs, but the correct positioning of generals and what they're doing (helping the fighting troops, commanding them from behind or rallying). No more Heavy infantry running like horses because the player had lots of PIPs, no more troops making picnics idly next to each other...

Now you have good movement rules, including forced movements for some troops more enthusiastic or forced morale check to charge enemies for certain units (like skirmishers trying to attack formed non Skirmishers); complex maneuver rolls with variable difficulty for Drilled or Undrilled troops. The hand to hand fighting was wisely divided between two phases: Impact and melee. Now it's easy to simulate the discharge of certain weapons that would be used only in the beginning of the engagement or troops that were fierce chargers but tired easily. Extra characteristics like Skilled swordsman, Swordsman, Offensive spearman, Defensive spearman, Heavy weapon, Lance, Knightly lance, among many others, make the game believable and differentiate the troops realistically. The same happens with armour (unprotected, protected, armoured, heavily armoured).

Although with many individual characteristics, everything is very streamlined and easily you can sum the Points of Advantage (POA) and play without fuss.

The shooting is also well thought of and no more wiped out units in a split. The effect usually reflects in some casualties and disrupting the target. Only massed shooting will have devastating effect...Ah, almost forgot, there are no more "main battle tanks" (remember the Artillery Fast Art(F) of DBM? move and shoot artillery - get out of the way!!!).

Elite and superior troops will usually fight longer, stoically accepting casualties, but lost cohesion can make them rout just like other troops (although they can re-roll some numbers).

The book in itself is beautiful, published by one of the best military history publishers in the world - Osprey, and Slytherin; Hardcover, high quality paper, great art from Osprey books, great photos of miniatures "in action", an excellent reference chart (which you can download through Osprey's Field of Glory internet page). Also many clear diagrams, maps and explanations on how to set-up a game and perform the most complex maneuvers.

Obviously there are no perfect wargame rules, but this one is an excellent rules set and many enjoyable simulations await your generalship (you can also go to your local gaming club and see armies in action before investing your money).

I purchased FoG and Immortal Fire about a month ago. First off the production quality is absolutly first rate. Beautiful layout and diagrams and lots of color. The rules also allow me to use my DBX / Armati / Might of Arms based armies with little problem.
In my opinion the organization needs some work. There are alot of small chapters. For example figuring out how combat works is spread through 3+ chapters. The rules themselves are solid. With only one learner game under my belt I obviously do not know them all but it seems like a few more games and the base mechanics could be memorized.
FoG probably not knock off Might of Arms as my favorite ancients set but the plus side is it will be easier to find opponents and getting your toys out to play is really the point after all.

These rules renewed my interest in painting and playing with ancients and medievals again. I also feel the painting tips have made me paint much better.

I have many different sets of rules, but these are the best. Easy to read, well written and very well laid out. I can only say good things about this. What helped was that it is from Osprey, so many of the publication bits and color drawings are included, which really bring the stuff to life. It is designed for 15mm to 28mm size play. Get it, you will enjoy the heck out of it and the series.

In brief:

Too many numbers, too little game.

The unfortunate approach makes for dull, plodding, interminable, boring games.

Some miniatures enthusiasts enjoy sacrificing playability for the sake of realism, and none should begrudge anyone their choices.

But after playing any game like this, I ask myself two questions:

Did I feel as though I was commanding troops in battle?
No, I felt as though I was shuffling through a tax audit.

Did I have fun?
Again, no. But some people may find tax audits fun.

Don't waste your money on this "game".

An infinitely more playable set of miniatures rules is Ancient and Medieval Wargaming, by Neil Thomas. Thomas's rules are definitely for games (as opposed to simulations) but the contests are fast-playing, and great fun. I recommend Thomas's rules as a more economical and vastly superior product, with much more value for the money. And, unlike Fields of Glory, you will not be subjected to a never-ending stream of supplements you have to buy.

Agree, so little substance for so much hype.

The rules are nothing new, nothing interesting. A slightly more streamlined set than the pedantic monstrosities of the past, the improvement is not worth the investment. At first glance the authors seem to be trying to innovate and breathe life into the dead old horse of Ancient and Medieval wargaming, but they pull back and mire themselves into adhering to the same old conventions and obviously catering to that most abysmal of all cretins... the tournament player/rules lawyer.

Pass on the rules, ignore the supplements.

Pick up Niel Thomas's Ancient & Medieval Wargaming for rules and Warhammer Historical supplements for eye candy and army lists and wait another decade for something worthwhile to come along...

Now back to painting my Picts and Irish....