The Society of Ancients was formed in 1965 by Tony Bath with the twin aims, as set out in our constitution, “to promote interest in the Ancient and Medieval periods in History, and in Wargaming set therein”. Our membership has grown from 20 or so founder members to over 1100 worldwide.
The Society’s approach to wargaming is inclusive. Although our primary focus remains, as at our foundation, table top gaming with miniatures, we have an interest in boardgames, card games and computer games. There is no Society-preferred rule set and a wide range of sets are played by our members and reported on in our journal and forum.
We pride ourselves in being a community of historical gamers. Our journal content is provided by members and we have a lively members’ forum. Every year, we have a games day, where we set out to refight a battle with a great many different sets of rules. We also have a members’ residential conference, with talks and a wider selection of games topics and types. Also worthy of mention is our annual gaming championship, cunningly designed to capture results of member v. member battles, whether they be at home, on a club night or as part of another competition, regardless of rules used.
The Society is run by an elected committee of the President, Secretary, Treasurer and the Society Magazine Editor and eight elected Members. In addition, we have a number of honorary Life Vice Presidents. Fuller details of the current committee and the constitution can be accessed below.
The Society is now more than half a century old and is proud of its history. Many well-known names in military history are, or have been, members, as have numerous rule writers and game designers. We have provided a forum for the development and spread of ideas which have influenced not just wargaming in-period but more widely too.
We have selected from our archives two historical pieces; a memorial piece on Tony Bath, our founder and an introduction to Ancient wargaming by Richard Jeffrey-Cook from 2002, which give snapshots of where gaming the Ancient period stood at points in the past.
The Society of Ancients respects the privacy of its Members and only retains such personal data as is needed to meet its contractual obligations or for which it has a legitimate purpose.