Call it Qids is a stylised, fast-play, refight of the Battle of Qadesh between the armies of Ramses II and the collected forces of the Empire of Hatti, played out on a square grid with special rules for ford-crossing and the Egyptian camp. The Hatti army is entirely chariotry (the infantry in the historical battle seem to have remained east of the river and so are not featured in this game) while the Egyptians are split into four contingents (Amun, Ra, Ptah and the 'Nearin') in different locations. The Hatti player is after the Egyptian baggage, and clearing away the Egyptian troops is merely a means to an end. The Egyptian player is trying to kill Hatti chariots, and his trump card here is Ramses himself, whom the designers have granted the combat capability apparent in the Egyptian accounts of the battle. He can kill an opposing unit on a near-certain basis, but has to watch out in case he is surrounded and overpowered, an event that boosts the Hatti player's victory total considerably should it occur. Egyptian and Hatti chariots fight at par, their respective advantages and disadvantages being assumed to cancel out. Infantry is at a stiff disadvantage in the open, but able to fight at par in the camp, which is a great equaliser.

The game requires players to balance boldness against risk, and the range of outcomes rewards repeated play. The Hatti player has to choose between an early assault on the camp, which cuts the strength of the Nearin contingent when it appears, but brings it on early, or a later assault, which is more likely to clear the camp but allows a stronger Nearin division to arrive. The Egyptian player has to watch his infantry, who are dead meat in the open but can give a good account of themselves in camp. Baggage is taken around by infantry (only); a Hatti chariot unit that captures a baggage unit promptly leaves the board with it to enjoy the dividends forthwith (and racks up a victory point) and never returns. Obviously, if after the initial panic the Egyptian player can slip his baggage-tending infantry into the camp, he can go some way to denying the Hatti player victory, though this is easier said than done.

Victory compares Egyptian kills of Hatti chariot units with the number of baggage units the Hatti troops have seized, giving grades of success for either side. All in all, this is a fast-moving game with opportunities for both sides, and a slight bias in favour of the forces of Hatti is countered by the Poem-of-Pentaur-like exploits of Ramses.

The booklet also contains an assessment of the sources and forces for the battle.

The pack contains two award winning Society of Ancients participation games, ‘The Elephant in the Room’ and ‘Greyhounds in the Slips’. Based on Graham Hockley’s ‘Anno Domino’, both feature a random combat system using dominoes rather than dice or cards.

‘The Elephant in the Room’ by Graham Evans challenges a group of Roman skirmishers to drive off or kill a Carthaginian war elephant. Multi-player/solo.

‘Greyhounds in the Slips’ by Phil Steele follows Shakespeare’s Henry V as he assaults the breach at Harfleur. 2 Players.

The pack contains rules, boards, cards and fold up soldiers for both games. You will need some sets of dominoes – 2 for GitS, preferably 4 (though 2 will work) for TEitR.

Roma Invicta? is a simulation game of the first two years of Hannibal's Italian campaign (autumn 218 to autumn 216 BC) during the Second Punic War. Historically, this period encompassed the Carthaginian victories at the Rivers Ticinus and Trebia, the classic ambush at Lake Trasimene, the frustrating 'delaying tactics' adopted by Fabius, the annihilation of a massive Roman army at Cannae, and the failure of Hannibal to convert this crushing battlefield triumph into a strategic victory over Rome. The game thus covers one of the most famous and dramatic two years of campaigns in the whole of ancient warfare.

The accent throughout is on simplicity, accessibility and speed of play, while still providing a faithful simulation of the complex strategic dynamics which shaped the actual campaigns. Play is highly interactive, with each side having 26 alternating two week rounds plus two winter phases. Hannibal enjoys massive tactical advantages through his own generalship and his large numbers of cavalry, and so can often annihilate entire Roman armies through ambush or encirclement. The Romans benefit from a growing flood of reinforcements and from the ability to avoid battle by sheltering behind fortifications, but if they let Hannibal ravage their lands without challenge, the resulting demoralisation will quickly destroy the Roman confederacy. Play therefore revolves around a careful balancing of military and prestige losses, as the Romans trade troops for time until they learn sufficient caution to bog Hannibal down in an attritional stalemate as happened historically after Cannae.

Roma Invicta? was designed at King's College London by Garrett Mills and Professor Philip Sabin, whose recent books include Lost Battles: Reconstructing the Great Clashes of the Ancient World and also the two volume Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare. It comes in a zip-loc bag, and includes a 17" x 24" game map, 36 full colour ¾" counters printed on stiff card, and a fully illustrated 20 page A4 rulebook including colour ready reference charts, an extended example of play covering the whole first 12 months of the campaign, and extensive designers' notes. The game plays equally well with two competing players or as a solitaire vehicle for one person to study and experience the strategic dynamics and dilemmas involved.

Corvus is a set of rules for fighting sea battles in the Ancient Mediterranean. It is a fast play game that avoids book keeping. It can be played with either 1/600th or 1/1200th scale models and includes two full colour sheets of ship counters.

Let the Dominoes Decide includes two games using dominos. Anno Domino is a quick and easy game representing the cut and thrust of individual combat. Blood and Sand is a game of gladiatorial combat. It includes the historical background to gladiatorial contests.

High King of Tara is a card game that recreates the struggle to become High King of Ireland in the period following the death of Brian Boru at the battle of Clontarf in 1014 AD. It may be played with two or more participants, each player representing a regional high king who must weld together a sufficient number of the lesser kingdoms (tuatha) to be acclaimed as High King of Ireland.

Strategos (Greek for 'general') is a simple but realistic system for simulating the land battles of classical antiquity at the grand tactical level. It includes full scenarios for 36 different engagements from the last five centuries BC, based on extensive study of ancient and modern sources. The first edition sold out early in 2005, and this second edition incorporates extensive revisions based on player feedback, including numerous rules adjustments, streamlined mechanisms, clearer presentation, and a much expanded scenario section which now contains unit descriptions, new historical deployment options, and a map for each battle. A comprehensive example of play makes it easy to grasp the principles involved through a refight of the battle of Cannae, and extensive design notes explain the rationale behind the mechanisms used.

You now have the option of playing any of the scenarios using the historical deployment provided, or choosing your own deployments using the standard movement and command rules. You may also make any tweaks you like to the terrain or the orders of battle, based on your own reading of the historical evidence. The built-in handicap system allows even inferior armies to have a real chance of achieving a game victory, and also makes the system very adaptable to any changes you wish to make.

The system is now completely flexible, and battles may be refought on the computer screen, with map and counters, or with miniature figures. If you are a miniatures player, you may use any number or scale of model figures, with any basing arrangement, on a normal, ungridded tabletop. The 20 zones do away with the need for constant measurement and ambiguity, but they are so few and so regular that just 12 unobtrusive dots or strategically placed trees or rocks suffice to indicate all the internal corners.

Strategos II for PC allows Strategos II to be played by two-players sharing a computer. It incorporates all the rules exactly, automatically preventing illegal moves and automatically calculating the results of combat. It is a great way of learning Strategos II. The computer version includes all the scenarios in the original rulebook. A record of each game played is saved.

Empire is a very simple game for one to four players, simulating the struggle for imperial dominance between Carthaginians, Romans, Macedonians and Persians/Parthians, from 350 to 150 BC. You will witness the stunning impact of the historical ‘great captains’ (Alexander, Hannibal and Scipio), as you strive to win the contest for supremacy over an arena stretching from Spain to India. The larger an empire gets, the more vulnerable it is to stagnation and random revolts, and the game vividly illustrates the eclipse of the Persian empire by tiny Macedon and later the demise of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the face of attacks from Rome and a resurgent Parthia. You will also gain new insights into the resilience of Rome’s Italian confederacy, and how Rome bounced back to gain unchallenged dominance of the Mediterranean within just three decades of Carthage’s epic triumph at Cannae.

The two player game (in which one player controls Carthage and Macedon while the other player leads Rome and Persia/Parthia) is if anything even more tense and gripping than the three or four player versions. The game may be played on a stand-alone basis in under an hour, or you may resolve some of the 80 or so campaigns by fighting tactical battles using whatever rules you prefer. Empire works particularly well in conjunction with the designer’s own ‘Strategos’ and ‘Lost Battles’ systems, and he has produced linking rules to allow 22 famous battles from this period to be refought to decide the outcome of strategic campaigns.

Empire was designed at King’s College London by Professor Philip Sabin, whose recent books include not only ‘Lost Battles: Reconstructing the Great Clashes of the Ancient World’ but also the award-winning two-volume ‘Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare’. Empire comes in a zip-loc bag, and includes a full colour 8.5” by 22” game map, 77 full colour card counters, and an 8 page A4 rulebook including ready reference charts, an example of play, and extensive design notes and bibliography. The game’s extreme simplicity, speed of play and flexibility make it ideal for busy individuals and for newcomers to conflict simulation.

Fields of Chivalry is a pair of games related to each other by their combat resolution mechanism which is based upon the principles of stone, scissors and paper. The first game (Tourney) covers the ‘open field’ tournaments of the 12th & 13th centuries and the second (Joust) the joust of these and later tournaments. All the components needed to play both games are provided but the rules are equally suitable for gaming with figures. For 2 or more players.

Macedonian politics in the fourth century BC was often a brutal affair. To be successful, kings had to balance conflicting factions of the Macedonian court and the demands of the powerful Macedonian barons. Andrew and Ian have designed a fast-moving game which whilst being tongue in cheek echo’s the feel of the period.

Legion is a boardgame which simulates 36 famous Greek and Roman battles from the last five centuries BC. It is played on a 21 x 17 hex grid, and uses modular overlays to represent different battlefield terrain. A special introductory version of the Zama scenario helps in learning the game rules. The accent is on the overwhelming importance of troop quality, instead of on minor differences in equipment. Armies become progressively more exhausted until one side panics. Great generals such as Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar give their army decisive advantages, and a unique handicap system turns even one-sided historical engagements into balanced game contests. Legion was the precursor of Philip Sabin's 'Lost Battles' system, and some players prefer the higher resolution available in this earlier game.

Emperor of the Steppes is a multi-player game (3 to 6). Each player leads a nomad horde that has united the peoples in his own heartland and is no poised to start an expansionist policy with the ultimate aim of becoming Emperor of the Steppes an possibly of China as well. It includes a stylised playing map of the area between the Caspian and North China Seas, a Rules Booklet and six sheets of player counters.