Ager Sanguinis Punic Wars - update

Good news!

Following a conversation with Brent Oman of Piquet Inc. and Andrew Hubback of Miniature Wargames I have an announcement to make regarding Ager Sanguinis Punic Wars. The rules will now be published, in full, in colour, as an advertisement free centrefold pull out in Miniature Wargames (issue to be decided).

I would like to thank Brent for giving his permission to publish. Ager Sanguinis is largely based around classic Piquet & Field of Battle mechanics and his permission settles any copyright issues.

I would like to thank Andrew for committing to such a large, one off, and very 'usable', publication; Ager Sanguinis Punic Wars is a rule book not an article; it will take up considerable magazine space - a bumper issue, me thinks. Those who have the bumper issue with Ager Sanguinis Crusades in it will be familiar with the excellent job Andrew made of it (if you have a copy hold onto it, this edition has completely sold out).

Peter J. and I are still play-testing the finer points of ASPW. One of the hardest things to get right has been triplex acies formation but, we think we've completely cracked it now. Those familiar with the period will know what an essential aspect of Middle Republican Roman warfare this is. In fact, getting the Roman side of the game right has proved the most difficult thing to do full stop but, again, we think we are about there.

Here are some more shots of the current play-test game.


In the centre the battle continues to be hard fought. Here velites turn to cover the rear of the Roman line from marauding Numidians, and Roman cavalry on the left attempt to halt the press of Carthaginians with flank charges.


The Carthaginians were winning the infantry battle, they thought they have it in the bag and were about to turn the Roman infantry flank, when the Roman Stratagem card was turned - Hidden Ditch. This is a card from the army characterisation deck - a new addition to Ager Sanguinis - sneaky huh!

The characterisation deck adds lots of flavour to the standard (and expanded) sequence decks and sorts out army morale points. It features 'stratagems' including reinforcements, heroic speeches, hidden ditches, secret paths,etc. It also features replacement sequence cards, such as 'Aggressive, melee Up 1', wild cards, etc. These give an army some 'soul' and make a pick-up game feel like a scenario.

The Carthaginians decide to up the stakes by trying to outflank from their left (this side of the battle was quiet except for some desultory skirmishing) with Libyan phalanx marching in column through the woods to force the Roman cavalry away and open the door. Pressure was also brought in support of the main attack across the river - the Gauls stopped mooning from the woods, pulled up their baggy trousers, and charged!

We will continue this game next week.

I'll let you know when Ager Sanguinis Punic Wars is finished and when Miniature Wargames will publish.