“For seven centuries, the history of Rome was central to the history of Europe. This story of expansion and decline is the inspiration for these wargames’ rules.

Designed for ease of play, Three Ages of Rome offers a player experience based on the commander’s problems. The rules are designed to create a feel for the uncertainty of ancient battles. Most games should take 2-3 hours to play. No rebasing required, can be played with all current basing styles and conventions.

Keeping your men going, even when things don’t seem too good, is critical for success. Units are likely to become progressively disabled and cohesion begins to suffer. If commanders don’t take care to maintain cohesion, then they could be heading for disaster!

The six historical battle scenarios span the Three Ages and provide different challenges. They offer players an insight into the nature of command in ancient warfare. The Terrain Generator and Scenario Generator allow the players to develop their own games. For competitive games, a system of points gives players all the information needed to exactly balance their forces.

In battle nothing is certain but generals that practice their skills are more likely to be victorious.” —description from the publisher.

Commanders are the key to the game. You can roll at the start to determine their characteristics or decide prior what you will use.

Units are designated as per standard characteristics eg. Elephants, Heavy infantry etc. They are also defined by their level of quality, if they have impact weapons, are supported (with archers), have shields, or they have armour.

A unit can be in one of four states of cohesion – sound, disordered, disrupted, or routed. The difference in the number of melee hits or the number shooting hits will determine the impact. Troops can go from sound to routed or anywhere else in between depending on these results.

Commands are divided into approximately four “main” units plus skirmishers. These can be of the players choice. Historical allies can be used but all must be in the same command.

Deployment is similar to most rules with a standard deployment zone.

Winning the scouting allows you to redeploy D6 units after both sides have deployed.

Only one of three orders can be given a command – Withdraw, Hold, or Attack.

Command cards/chits etc. are used to determine which command moves. All units in that command must follow its orders until the next command card is drawn to see what unit from what side moves next.

A lost or missing commander can effect their commands ability to obey orders. The more aggressive the order the less likely they are to obey without a general present.

Whenever a Command is fatigued or exhausted a test of “General Will” is carried out to determine if the army fights on. A pursuit may be conducted when an armies “Will” breaks. In “makeup” games this is not needed but is excellent if a campaign is being played

Omens and events can be used. These can assist or hinder you or may just do nothing. They are kept secret until used by you or you opponent. They add flavour without having a significant game impact.

Whilst designed for historical battles there are a points system, army lists, and a battle generator to design your own armies and scenarios.

VERDICT:

Without playing the rules I like the mechanisms, they should run smoothly, and allow you to fight a reasonably sized historical battle in two to three hours. At AU$45.00 (25pound sterling) the price is reasonable these days for a glossy production of 150 pages.

I will let you know if my opinions differ after a game or three.

The “Age of Alexander” supplement.

Another glossy production. The Three Ages of Rome is required to play the game. This is basically a book of army lists or an army Codex that includes all of the army lists and scenarios for some of the major battles in the Successor period. Slightly less at AU $34.00 (nineteen pounds sterling) it is the same quality production and is full of information. This, for me, was less value as there was enough information to work out the army lists in Three Ages of Rome, and for someone who knows the history very well, there was nothing new. Despite this the supplement is still worth purchasing.

I initially had problems finding a stockist, but both are available directly from the publisher Helion Wargames.