WARHAMMER ANCIENT BATTLES

Umpire

 Player Umpire: Bob Aspland

Competition Rules

The WAB v1.5 rulebook will be used (the amendments and errata are available from the Warhammer Historical Wargames website at www.warhammer-historical.com if you have the original rulebook). The optional rules for rallying, and for ending games on army breakpoint, will be used.

Games will be played on 6ft x 4ft tables; if any tables are found to be oversized, the playing surface should be reduced unless both players wish otherwise.

Army Lists

Armies will be of 2,000 points. Lists can be drawn from the following WAB supplements: Armies of Chivalry , Vlad the Impaler and Crusaders / Arabs / Nomads from the Rulebook. Characters and lists indicated in supplements as being optional, or for scenario use, may not be used. 

The ABC system of Army Balancing used at the WAB GT and various other Tournaments will be in use at the BHGS Challenge for the specified Period the Points values and explanation is listed below.

The ABC System

Its simple; just choose the army you want to take, look at your options, and decide what you are going to take.

The idea is that the more elite lists will be penalised in that they will have less points to spend on troops, however they will suffer no restrictions on troop types. Conversely you have the choice of restricting yourself to poorer troop types, in turn gaining a larger amount of points to spend. This is an attempt to level the playing field somewhat.

Points available to each grade of army are as follows.

Armies from Age of Chivalry and Vlad the Impaler, and the Rulebook

Using the ‘ABC’ system

A = 2000pts B = 2200pts C = 2400pts

 AoC Armies,

HYW English,
B Continental Army
C Home Army

Scottish,
B if more warband than spearmen
C otherwise

HYW French,
C No Genoese Crossbowmen or Scots allies
B otherwise

Free Company,

C No more than 2 units of Bidets
B No more than 3 units of Bidets
A Loads of Bidets!

Italian,
B With Allies or Mercenaries Venetian (Late or Greek) and/or any army that uses Free Companies or Swiss allies.
C otherwise

Low Countries
B More than 15% of the points are spent on Cavalry
A otherwise

HRE,
B, Later Imperial Armies
C otherwise

Teutonic Knights,
B, at least 50% of the points are spent on Infantry. No Hochmeister
A otherwise

Polish,
C all eligible units are led by a Noble Commander
B otherwise

Russian,
A Western Russian States
B Eastern Russian States

Hussite,
A 8 wagons or more
B otherwise

Swiss,
A more halberd than pike
B otherwise

French Ord,
A 3 guns and/or Swiss mercs and/or 3 or more Bideaux units
B otherwise

Burgundian Ord,
A 3 guns and/or Allies
B otherwise

WotR
B Yorkist Pretenders
C otherwise

Vlad Armies,

Hungarian,
A

Moldavian
A Allies are used
B Small host without Allies
C Great Host without Allies

Ottoman,
A Ottoman Empire
B Ottoman Gazi States

Serbian,
A If Allies and Mercenaries are used
B otherwise

Bulgar,
A if Allies are taken from any other army list.
B otherwise

Albanian,

A otherwise
B if less than 50% of the points are spent on Stradioti


Byzantine,
A if Allies are taken from any other army list.
B otherwise

Franks,
A if Allies are taken
B otherwise

Catalan
A

Rule Book Armies ,

Crusader, B,

C, No Military Order Troops

Arabs, A,

B, No Elephants, No Naffatum

Nomads A

All above Lists,

Light troops now become open order OR skirmish (this must be made clear, for the whole event)

Ferocious Charge, changes to First Charge

All Knights are base S3 NOT S4

+1 rank Bonus (as English Knights)

Barding is Cloth Barding from AoC

All armies,

Maximum of 3 artillery pieces, this includes mortars, organ guns and war wagon guns.

Any army with 3 artillery pieces automatically upgrades to an ‘A’

All artillery pieces (not war wagons) must be deployed before any other deployment maps are drawn.

Taking more than 2 units with stakes/barricades will make you an ‘A’ class.

Troops with Stakes/barricades/wagon tabors must deploy first as artillery above.

Numbers in units have been deliberately left out (we are not censors) however silly units of 100 or 5 just to gain an advantage will be frowned upon!

Please read carefully the rules concerning characters and cannon shots (AoC P13 and VtI P139)

Please read carefully the rules concerning ‘massed fire’ (AoC P9)

Open order troops can march and re-form but NOT fast march and re-form.

Players are asked to check their characters ‘special abilities’ and make sure they match units into which they are going. In other words ‘First Charge’ for example might be an ability your knights get, but not your General!

What You See Is What You Get :

Players are asked to make special effort to have their army as WYSIWYG as is possible. It is understandable that some figures may not be armed exactly as described in the roster but please don't bring figures that bare little or no resemblance to those they are representing. An army deemed not to be WYSIWYG will not be eligible for any prizes.

Scenarios and Clarifications

Set up at the start of games as follows:

Each player must supply 1 – 3 terrain pieces two of which must be no larger than 12” x 12”. The third piece may be up to 16” in any direction. These are pooled. Players alternate in placing terrain features from the pool until all of them are on the table. Dice to place the first piece.

Terrain pieces may be of any type that a player wishes (but not impassable terrain), although a maximum of one wall or hedge may be used. Players must use the same terrain pieces in all of their games. The pieces must generally match the descriptions within the WAB rulebook.

Terrain pieces can be placed alongside or on top of existing pieces where suitable, e.g. a wood on a hill. A hill placed on a hill makes it difficult going (take the second hill off the table).

Once all terrain is placed, scatter it 3D6 inches in the direction of a scatter dice, measuring from the centre of the terrain piece. Terrain pieces should be scattered in the order that they were laid. Pieces may end up on top of each other where appropriate, and where inappropriate the piece should bounce 180’ the remainder of its distance. If the dice roll would remove a piece from the table, it is placed on the table edge.

All games will last until the phase of a move in which one or both sides reach army breakpoint. Reducing the opponent to breakpoint gains 500 VPs.

All army special abilities will be in use in all scenarios. If two special abilities conflict (e.g. each can automatically go first) resolve with a dice throw. 

In scenarios where there are “free” skirmisher moves, Nomad Horse may take the 4” free skirmisher move if applicable, or the 16” Nomad free move, but not both.

The following Scenarios will be played: 

Hidden Deployment

Screen troop set up or draw maps of deployment. Troops deploy no closer than 12” to the table centre and all the way across to the table edges. Free skirmisher moves apply as in Pitched Battle. Ambushes may be set- however if the ambushing troops’ location turns out to be visible to the enemy upon deployment, the unit is lost.

Meeting Engagement (Modified)

Set up all skirmishers, and light infantry operating in skirmish formation, in accordance with the rules for meeting engagement, except that players are not bound by a pre-set unit sequence for their units.

If either player has deployed more than twice as many figures in this phase as the other has, he may make his opponent deploy all his remaining troops before placing his own.

If this does not happen, both players then draw a map of the deployment of all other troops, and place them all on the table together. These formed troops may not be placed nearer to the enemy than the skirmishers already on the table, unless in ambush.

Score sheets shall be completed, including your delegate number, signed and handed in within 10 minutes of the finish time.

Tournament points:

Tournament points for games will use the tried and tested 0-32 system.

Simply work out both players victory points as per pitched battle in the WAB rulebook, then determine the difference in scores and refer to the table below:

Army Lists need to be Submitted for checking no later than 2 weeks before the event to

Bob Aspland
20 Jeffrey avenue
Longridge
Preston
PR3 3TH

Bob.aspland@yahoo.com