Ancients D6

By John Acar and Andrew Damon

Cover Photo by Aaron Bell

Graphics by John Acar. Based on graphics from Dirk Schoenberger, Graham Harrison,
Ben Harvey and the rest of the Junior General Gang.

Playtesters: Ken Taborek, Brian Carlson, Dave Kane, Tony Britton, Phil Hartzog, Ben
Pecson, Ed Mueller

Editing by Vincent Tsao and Andrew Damon

Ancients D6 By John Acar and Andrew Damon

Introduction
Gone are our days of playing complicated simulations. Most of my friends and I do not
have nearly the time to play long and complicated rules systems. I love Ancient and
Medieval warfare and was looking for the perfect game. I have bought and tried many of
the games on the market and found different things:
· Games were needlessly complicated.
· Games were so simple that they were not very rewarding.
· Games were not well thought out.
When playing some games, a certain amount of math is required. Simple math done over
and over again for hours at a time can be quite tiring. Too many modifiers will wear a
person out in no time at all.

So our challenge was to:

· Design a game that can be played in 1 or 2 hours
· Provide simple game mechanics to minimize the math calculations
· Provide an easy to follow game turn
· Allow for the nuances the different armies of antiquity

Our first attempt was not an abomination but it was not terribly original either. In fact,
there were problems with complexity in finding out who was attacking whom. It was
close but no banana.

Taking the game mechanics from several popular game systems, we came up with a way
to really minimize the math. Instead of adding up modifiers, we simply add or take away
dice. Armor saves are made to find out what those hits really did and an elegant morale
system was built right in using the same dice rolling philosophy. Lots of dice was
implemented to control the luck factor. Stands that have one figure left will perform like
a spent unit. There is a good chance they will run away!

The command and control system is the same as in the original game. DBx players will
find it very familiar. We did, however, make a set amount of command pips. We also
allowed units to move without commands. Players should not ever feel gypped because
they kept rolling low for command pips. Their army will always be able to take action at
a critical moment.

Finally, there are prebuilt army lists. We broke them up into historical campaigns.
Choosing any army from that campaign should yield a believable and fun game. We
hope you enjoy playing the rules as much as we enjoyed making them.

Changes in Version 3
· Turns are now interactive by phase.
· Shooting has been integrated with movement so missile troops can now support
assaults with a preliminary barrage.
· Flanking has been clarified. Units get half dice when flanked for morale and lose
special abilities.
· Several of the units' abilities have been removed and others have been simplified.

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· Command radius has been reduced to 8” with LOS and 4” with no LOS
· Rallying is no longer random. Orders are used to rally back damage putting a big
strain on the few orders an army has.
· No defensive shooting except in a few special cases.

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Welcome!
Ancients D6 is a simple game of Ancient combat. The time period covered is from the
dawn of time to the beginning of the Renaissance. Any army can be pitted against any
other army to achieve an enjoyable game of mass combat.

Scale
Any scale can be used for this game. For standard game battles I suggest approximately
500-1500 men per stand. Chariots represent 50-100 vehicles and elephants represent 20-
25 elephants. Scale these down accordingly for smaller engagements.

Central Concept
Ancients D6 is based around one central concept of rolling a number of dice equal to
existing figures. The base number of success is 4+. For each 4+ rolled, 1 success is
recorded. Multiple successes will give better results.

Example of a unit: A regular spear unit has 4 figures. It can roll 4 dice in melee and 4
dice for morale checks. If it takes 1 casualty, it can only roll 3 dice for melee and
morale. In combat against mounted units, it can roll 1 extra die because it is armed with
spears.

Occasionally, you modify the number of dice you roll based on the situation. There is no
upper limit to the number of dice you roll but you will always be able to roll at least 1
die.

Similarly, success numbers (usually armor saving rolls) may occasionally be modified.
This number can never be modified higher than 5 or less than 3.

Troops
The following are the troop types represented in Ancients D6, including the number of
figures per stand. The number of figures usually correlates to the strength of the unit in
the army lists. The width of all stands is 40mm. Leaders are mounted individually. Base
size for leaders is unimportant.

Stand Type F/M Unit examples Depth Figures

Close order Heavy infantry, Spearmen, 15mm 4 figures per stand
Pikemen
Open order Skirmishers 20mm 2 figures per stand
Loose order Light Infantry, Archers, 3 figures per stand
Slingers, Crossbowmen,
Warbands, Peltasts
Unformed cavalry Light Cavalry 30mm 2 figures per stand
Formed cavalry Heavy Cavalry 3 figures per stand
Mobs Peasant Levy 40mm 6 Figures
Machines and Beasts Elephants, Artillery, Chariots 1 model per stand

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Note that the units may be represented by as many figures that look right. However, for
record keeping purposes, it is a good idea to use the same figures as strength that a unit
has whenever possible for clarity. It will keep the game moving in the long run.

Equipment needed
The following equipment is needed to play Ancients D6
· Enough figures to field 2 armies. This usually amounts to 50-100 figures per side.
· A ruler measuring in inches.
· At least six 6-sided dice per side.
· A game mat or terrain board or, at the very least, a flat table.
· 50 or so markers for marking casualties

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Setup
The following procedure is how a game of Ancients D6 is setup.

Choosing Armies
For historical games, both players must agree to an era to play in. Choose one of the
Ancients D6 game books and choose armies. In a non-historical game, any two armies
will do. In the standard game, each player has 1 General, 1 Captain and 30 points to
spend on their army. The point total can be adjusted up or down at the players discretion.

Choosing Terrain
Decide on an appropriate mix of terrain. Include 5 terrain features to deploy. Determine
randomly who will be the attacker and who will be the defender. The defender will place
the terrain on a 2’X2’ (or larger) board. He need not place all of the terrain but must
place at least 2 features. The size of the terrain features should be approximately 4”-6”
on an edge.

Deployment
The attacker will now choose which of the 4 sides he will setup on. The defender will
setup on the opposite side from the attacker. Mark a 12” “No man’s land” in the center
of the board running from the left flank to the right flank. Each player, starting with the
attacker, may setup anywhere on his side of the board up to the boarder of the “No man’s
land”. No deployment may be made within 3” of the left or right board side and no unit
may start in “no man’s land”.

Who moves first?

Each player will take a turn in each step in the order determined by the winner of the
initiative. The side deemed to be the attacker has the initiative in the first turn.

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Commanders
Each army has a number of commanders. These commanders are individual figures that
represent the commander, his staff, couriers and hand-picked bodyguard. The two types
of commanders are Generals and Captains. Each side gets 1 general and a number of
captains based on the size of the armies involved. They do not fight like regular units.
Instead, they attach themselves to existing units and provide the following enhancements:

Captains are lesser leaders of the army. They get the following abilities:
· They have 1 order point (2 for superior captains) that they may issue.
· They add 1 die to the morale roll of any unit they are attached to.

The General is the leader of the army. He gets the following abilities:
· He gets 2 order points instead of 1 (3 for superior Generals).
· He adds 1 die to the morale and melee roll of any unit he is attached to.
· He adds 1 die to the morale roll of any unit adjacent to the unit the general is
attached to.

Example: A regular spear unit gets 4 dice when meleeing, making morale checks or
rallying. If a Captain is attached to the unit, it get 5 dice when making morale checks. If
it is a General, the unit also gets 5 dice when meleeing.

Attaching Commanders
Commanders may be attached to any unit in the army . To attach a commander, simply
move him next to a unit and announce that he will be part of that unit. Command radius
distances are measured from the center of the unit. Commanders may only detach from a
unit if that unit is not in melee contact and may attach to another unit within movement
range, even if that unit is in melee contact. All commanders have a movement rate of 6”.

Spending Order Points

Order points may be spent in the following manners:
· Rally one point from a damaged unit
· Give a unit an extra move
· Give a group an extra move
· Add two dice to the final total of a morale check from losing a melee or taking
shooting casualties.

One order is spent for each action above. Regardless of use, a unit may only be given 1
order per turn. It is a good idea to keep a number of chips handy to represent the number
of order points your army has. As you spend them for the turn, remove a chip from your
hand. Replenish your chips at the beginning of your next turn. Remember, each unit in
the game has one free move. The unit need not take the free move before taking an order.
See Rally and Movement for more information.

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Command Radius
A command radius is the area around the commander that he may effectively command
his troops. The command radius is 8” from the center of the commander’s stand or the
unit he is attached to if that commander has a line of sight to the unit or group he wishes
to command. The command radius is only 4” if that commander does not have line of
sight to the unit or group he wishes to command. If a commander wishes to use an order
point on a unit outside of his command radius, there is a chance that the order will fail.
On a 1-3 the order fails to arrive and is lost. On a 4-6, the order arrives and the full effect
is carried out. See Rally and Movement sections for details on order effects.

Line of Sight
In addition to being in command radius, Commanders need line of sight to their units in
order to effectively give orders. A target unit is said to be in line of sight of another unit
if both of the following are true:
· There is no intervening terrain.
· There are no intervening enemy units.

Commanders on hills may see over any terrain or enemy unit that is on a lower level than
them. As mentioned, blocked line of site reduces the commander’s effective command
radius. See Command Radius in the previous section.

Death of a commander
Commanders can die in two ways:
1. The unit is destroyed in melee. If the unit they are with is destroyed or routed, the
owning player rolls a D6. 1-3 the commander is wounded but escapes. Move
him to the nearest friendly unit. 4-6 the commander perishes with the unit.
2. Randomly. For each casualty taken through missile fire or melee by the unit the
commander is attached, roll a D6. For each ‘6’ rolled, roll again. On a 1-3 the
commander is wounded. On a 4-6 the commander dies.
A wounded commander may not influence a rally, morale or combat roll until the end of
the controlling player’s next rally phase. Wounded commanders may still give orders.

If a commander dies in combat, the command point(s) that commander has is lost for the
rest of the game. Troops still operate normally as per the rules. If the army loses all of
its commanders, the game ends immediately in a humiliating defeat for that player.

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Command Example:

The commander is with unit ‘A’. The command radius is measured from the center of the
cavalry unit the commander is attached to. Unit ‘B’ is in command because it is under
8” away from the commander and has line of sight to the commander. The second unit
in the group with 'B' is also in command if the two units move as a group. If they move
individually, the second unit is considered to be out of command. Unit ‘C’ is in
command. Were it covered by more than 2” of woods but within 4” of 'A', then it would
be in command. Unit ‘D’ is out of command as it is more than 4” from 'A' and the line
of site is blocked. Unit ‘E’ is out of command because an enemy unit blocks its line of
command and it is more than 4” away from 'A'.

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Sequence of Play
Ancients D6 is played in turns. Turns are semi-simultaneous. One side goes followed by
the other side in each phase. Once all phases are resolved a new turn begins. Each turn
consists of the following sequence.

Roll for Initiative Each player rolls 1 die. High roller is the initiative winner.

Rally Any unit eligible to rally may do so at this time. The side that lost the initiative
rallies first followed by the side that won the initiative. See Rally for more information.

Move All movement and shooting is done by one side followed by the other side. The
side that goes first is decided by the initiative winner. On the first turn, the attacker
always moves first regardless who won the initiative.

Melee Any unit in contact MUST melee at this time. The loser is pushed back and makes
a morale check if required. The direction of the melee is determined by the initiative
winner. See Melee for more information.

Determine if there is a victor. If there is not a victor, another turn begins. See Victory
and Defeat for more information.

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Rally
During the rally step, units may gain back 1 point of damage. The owning player spends
1 order point and one damage point is removed. A unit may not gain back more than 1
point of damage in a turn.

Only units not in melee contact are eligible to rally. Rallying is not mandatory. If a unit
is outside of the command range of a friendly commander, then a die roll determines if
the rally attempt is successful. A 4+ on a D6 means that the attempt succeeded. Any
other result is a failure and the order is wasted.

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Movement
The phasing player may move any or all of his units or groups during the movement
phase. Each unit is allowed 1 free move. The owning player may issue orders to add an
additional move to a unit or group.

Individual Unit Movement

Individual units may perform the following during the movement phase:

· Move straight ahead and up to

45 degrees to the left or right
maintaining the same relative
facing.
· Make a flank march to the side
or rear (outside the 45-degree
forward arc) for a 1” move
maintaining the same relative
facing.
· Make a right face, left face or
about face maintaining the
same relative position.
· Wheel on a front corner up to
90 degrees.

Individual units get one free move. They may make a second move if they are given an
order.

Groups Movement
Groups consist of at least 2 friendly
units that start a turn in base-to-base
contact and face the same direction.
All units in that group must start and
end their movement as part of the
group and remain in the same relative
position as the rest of the group.

The following list is valid actions for a

group.

· Move straight forward at the

speed of the slowest unit. No
oblique movement.
· Wheel at the speed of the
slowest unit in the group.

If the group is given an order, it may make a second move. Note: the order may be taken
as the first move and the individual free moves as the second. This is important of you are

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trying to move a group through rough terrain. Use the order to get the group up to the
rough terrain and then use the individual moves to get the group into the rough terrain.

Groups may only move as fast as the slowest unit in the group. No group movement is
permitted through rough terrain except column movement. There is no movement cost to
form a group. Both units in the group must be in clear terrain to count as being in a
group. When 1 unit is supporting another unit in a group they move shoot and melee as
one unit. However, they take morale checks and rally as two units. Like units of
Warbands, and Heavy Infantry can benefit from support. Missile troops may fire from
the second rank. (See Missile Combat, Melee Combat and Special Abilities for more
information.)

Column Move

Columns move is a special form of group

movement. 2 or more units that start the
turn in a column may perform column
movement. The formation on the right
above is in column. Columns may move
through rough terrain with. They may
“snake” along at their full movement
wheeling the front unit to turn. If the
column starts a move completely on a
road, the move is doubled. Columns,
like other groups, move as fast as the
slowest unit in the group. Columns may
not voluntarily contact an enemy unit.

The group to the left cannot move through the wooded area with a group movement
order. However, individual units get one move and may move through rough terrain.
Only columns may move through rough terrain as a group.

Moving Through Units

Formed units may not voluntarily move through other formed units (See Getting Pushed
Back in Melee Combat). Skirmish units may move through friendly units and friendly
units may move through friendly skirmish units. Units moving through other units may
not end their movement occupying the space of a unit they moved through.

Terrain
A unit is considered to be in terrain if any part of its stand is within the terrain area. If a
unit outside of the terrain area attacks it, that unit is considered to not be in the terrain.

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The left most melee has two Heavy Infantry in a supported formation being attacked by a
Warband. The Heavy Infantry do not
get support bonuses because the back
unit is in rough terrain. The center
melee has a single Heavy Infantry in
rough terrain being attacked by two
Warbands in supported formation in
the clear. Not only does the Warband
get the support benefits for being
Warbands but the Heavy Infantry
suffers a penalty for being in the
difficult terrain. The right melee
shows a Skirmisher being attacked by 2
Warbands. This time, the Warbands do
not get their support ability because the
front units in rough terrain.
Break-off
Units with the Evade ability infantry and all mounted units may break-off melee contact
during a friendly movement phase if they are in melee contact with a slower enemy unit.
To break off, the unit is turned 180 degrees and moved 1 move away. The owning player
then rolls a D3 for infantry or a D6 for mounted. This is the additional amount of
movement in inches the retreating unit must make. The break-off move counts as the
unit's move for that turn. Break-off moves are always done in a straight line directly
away from the enemy.

Evade
Units with the Evade ability may evade an enemy charging to contact. To evade, the unit
is turned 180 degrees. The owning player moves the unit 1 move and then rolls a D3 for
infantry or a D6 for mounted. This is the additional amount the unit moves in inches.
The unit may only make 1 move during it's next movement turn. If it is rallied with an
order, that action counts as that unit's move.

Pursuit
When an evade move is announced, the inactive player decides if his unit will pursue. He
may pursue up to his maximum movement allowance. If the charging unit made contact
with 1 move, the owning player decides if he will spend an order to pursue a second
move before the evade move is actually carried out if eligible. Warbands and Mounted
units will always pursue the remainder of their current move.

Move to Contact
Units or groups that wish to make melee contact with an enemy unit must make a forward
move to do so. They may make a turn or wheel with 1 move and then use another move
to move forward.

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Missile Combat
Shooting occurs during the movement phase after a unit moves. The attack is resolved
immediately. Once resolved, that unit's move ends. Artillery may shoot or move during
the movement phase but not both.

At the end of the movement phase, missile units belonging to the first player that did not
shoot during their move may do so now.

Eligibility
Missile troops can fire at the closest target if they did not start the turn in melee contact.
They have an arc of fire of 45 degrees to the left and right of the firing unit drawn from
their front corners. A unit is an eligible target if any part of the target unit is in the firing
unit’s arc of fire and there exists a line of fire at least 1 base width (40mm) wide.

The following cases apply to shooting:

· Units in the first and second

rank may fire.
· Missile troops may not fire if
they are charging into combat.
· Missile troops may be in
formation behind another unit
and still fire from the second
rank. Both of these units are in
a supported formation and are
treated as a massed target if
shot at unless either the front or
rear unit is a skirmisher.

All three units shown above are in the arc of fire. The Celtic Warband unit in the middle
is the valid target because it is the closest target measured from the center of the attacker
to the center of the target.

Closest Target
Measure the distance from the center of the front edge of the shooter to the center of the
facing edge of each eligible target. The target with the shortest distance to the attacker is
the closest target.

Line of Fire
A line of fire exists between two units if the following is true:
· There is no intervening terrain.
· There are no intervening friendly units.
· There is an opening to the target that is 40mm wide.
· The firing unit is not fully or partially behind a friendly unit engaged in melee
combat.

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If any unit is not a in formation or terrain falls within this line, the line of fire is blocked.
If both the shooter and the target are on hills and there is terrain or units intervening on a
lower level, a line of fire still exists. Units may shoot into or out of built up and wooded
areas. They may shoot through 2” of such terrain.

Procedure
Nominate a target to be fired at and determine the number of figures firing at that target.
Roll a number of dice equal to the number of figures firing. For each 5+ scored, count 1
hit. The defender now rolls a number of dice equal to the amount of hits scored and
compares each to the armor value of the target. For each die greater than or equal to the
armor value, negate 1 hit. Any hit not negated is counted as a casualty and is recorded on
the target unit.

· Cover If the target is in cover, roll 1 less die.

· Skirmisher If the target is a skirmisher, roll 1 less die.
· Formation If firing at a formation, add 1 die. Divide casualties evenly against
BOTH targets with the front target getting the odd casualty.
· Flank If firing at a flank, add 1 die. Not cumulative with the Formation modifier.
· Height If the firing unit is higher than the target unit, add 1 die.
· Terrain If the target is in difficult terrain, deduct 1 die.

Modifiers are applied per stand. If the total number of dice per stand is less than 1, roll 1
die per stand for missile combat. All damage occurs immediately.

Defensive Shooting
Normally there is no defensive fire in Ancients D6. However, there are a few special
cases for shooting.
· Missile units that moved but did not shoot may shoot at enemies that started the
turn out of contact but moved into contact this turn.
· Missile units that moved in the first half of the move phase and did not shoot, may
shoot at the end of the turn. Note that any damage is assessed on these units
before they can shoot.

These are the only special cases for shooting. All rules for missile shooting eligibility
still apply.

Leader Casualty Check

If the target took casualties or was destroyed, make a leader casualty check now as
outlined in the Commanders section under Death of a Leader.

Morale check
If a target took casualties, it must now make a morale check. Roll a number of dice equal
to the surviving figures. If at least 1 die comes up a 4+, then the morale check is passed.
If no dice come up 4+, the morale check fails. The unit falls back base depth and ends its
move there. The unit may not voluntarily charge into melee contact and loses its ability

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to shoot for the rest of the turn. See Getting Pushed Back in the Melee Combat section
for further details.

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Melee Combat
Units in base-to-base contact must melee. One of the units has to have a front edge in
contact with an enemy for melee to occur. All units in contact MUST be melee'd. The
side that holds the initiative chooses which side of the battlefield the melee combats start
on and the progresses to the opposite side of the board, resolving combats one by one
from left to right or right to left. Melee combats may never be resolved out of order.

Procedure
Both sides roll a number of dice equal to the number of surviving figures in the unit. For
each 4+ scored, count 1 hit. Now both sides roll a number of dice equal to the amount of
hits scored against their units and compare each die to the armor value of that unit. For
each die greater than or equal to the armor value, negate 1 hit. Any hit not negated is
counted as a casualty and is recorded on the unit. The side that took the most casualties
is the loser of the combat. The loser is pushed back 1 base depth. If the unit cannot
retreat, it must stand in place and take a morale penalty (see Morale check below).

· Casualties For each casualty taken in previous melees and missile attacks, roll 1
less die.
· Uphill If your unit is on higher elevation than its opponent, add 1 die.
· Mounted in rough Mounted units fighting in rough terrain deduct 2 dice.
· Spear or Pike armed infantry in trees Spear or pike armed infantry fighting in
trees (difficult terrain) deduct 1 die.
· Close order infantry (HI) in rough Any close order infantry in rough terrain
deduct 1 die from the melee roll.

Multiple attackers
If multiple units attack a single defender, the defender unit must choose which attacker
will be the primary target. The defender must choose a unit attacking from the front
first. If there are no units in the front, he may choose any flanking unit as the primary
target. The player rolls the attack dice and distributes the hits evenly among the
attackers. If the number of hits is an odd number, the odd hit goes to the primary target.
Roll armor saves as normal per unit. If the attacker loses the combat, all units are pushed
back.

If there are multiple attackers and multiple defenders, all attackers must be able to attack
all defenders for this situation to be considered a single combat. Otherwise, it must be
broken into multiple combats.

Note that the ‘attacker’ in this situation might be the ‘defender’ in other situations. I use
‘attacker’ as a term for the side with more units in combat.

Leader Casualty Check

If the target took casualties or was destroyed, make a leader casualty check now as
outlined in the Commanders section under Death of a Leader.

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Morale check
The loser must now make a morale check. Roll a number of dice equal to the figures in
the unit. If at least 1 die comes up a 4+, then the morale check is passed. If no dice come
up 4+, the morale check fails. The unit is routed and is removed from play.

· Casualties For each casualty the unit has taken thus far, roll 1 less die.
· Making a Stand or Flank Attack If a unit was attacked through a flank, roll half
the final number of dice round up. In some situations a unit may not be able to
retreat or a player wishes to voluntarily have the unit hold its ground. In these
cases, morale checks are also made at half dice.

Getting pushed back

If a unit is pushed back, it is moved 1 base depth to its rear. If this move causes it to
move through a friendly unit, apply the following situations:

· Skirmishers (cavalry or infantry) pass

through all troops. However, formed troops
being pushed back through skirmishers
simply push the skirmishers back.
· Cavalry pass through all formed troops
causing 1 casualty to that unit. This is the
result of disorder caused by such a move.
· Infantry that are behind a retreating infantry
unit facing the same direction fall back with
that unit. Otherwise, they pass through the
formed unit causing a casualty from
disorder.

Following up
The victor has the option of following up if he is not in melee contact with another unit.
To follow up, the unit gets to move 1 base depth forward. If this move would put the unit
in contact with an enemy, the unit stops upon contact.

Marking Casualties
There are several options for marking casualties.

Option 1: Place 1 casualty cap per figure. This is the most easily understood option but
the least attractive. If you want to maintain a pretty battlefield, then this option may not
be for you.

Option 2: Use casualty caps that are both numbered and color coded. White caps can be
marked with a 1 and equal 1 hit. Blue caps can be marked with a 2 and equal 2 hits. Red
caps can be marked with a 3 and equal 3 hits. Use one of the appropriate caps to show
how many hits a unit has taken. In the case of units that can take 5 or more hits, use
multiple caps and simply add up the numbers.

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Option 3: Simply place a casualty cap on the left most figure. When it takes a second and
subsequent casualty, move the marker to the right. When the unit takes its last hit,
remove the stand. This option may not be so clear to some who are not spatially adept.

Flanking
A unit is considered flanked if the attacker (flanking) unit has a front edge contact with
the defender’s flank edge, rear corner or rear edge. The unit that is flanked rolls half the
final number of dice for morale and melee. The flanked unit also may not take advantage
of any special abilities until it is no longer flanked. A unit may face a flanking enemy
during a friendly movement phase if no other enemy units are engaging it. Treat all stats
as if the front unit is fighting the melee if attacking specifically from the front or flank. If
attacked from the rear, use the stats for the rear unit. Units attacked from multiple
directions will divide attacks evenly among the targets with the odd die going to the front,
flank and then rear in order of precedence.

'A' is not a flanking attack as neither

unit has a front edge in contact. 'B'
is a flanking attack. The defending
pike units gets 4 dice but nothing for
support. For simplicity, use the
armor of the front unit. 'C' is a
flanking attack on the rear unit only.
The rear unit would roll 4 dice and
the armor value of the rear unit is
used. 'D' is also a flanking attack.
Both units count in contact like 'B'
above. In all cases, damaged units
make morale checks individually if
they lose the combat. Morale dice
are halved in all cases.

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Unit special abilities

Units in Ancients D6 may have one or more special abilities associated with them in
addition to there normal combat abilities. The special abilities are as follows.

Armor Piercing
An armor piercing weapon causes a -1 to an opponent’s armor save.

Artillery
Artillery comes in two forms: direct artillery and indirect artillery. Direct artillery hits on
a 5+ and causes 1 hit. It requires a clear line of fire in order to shoot. Indirect artillery
must have a clear line of site but not necessarily a clear line of fire in order to shoot. It
hits on a 6+. A second roll is required to determine damage. On a 1-3, it causes 1 hit.
On a 4-6 it causes 2 hits. There is no armor save for hits from artillery. All artillery has
an 8” range. The armor save for artillery crew is 4+ against normal missile fire and 6+
against melee. Move for artillery is 1.5”. Artillery may not fire in the TURN in which it
moves. It may make a facing change up to 45 degrees and still fire.

Battle Drill
Units with the battle drill ability may switch places with friendly supporting units with
the battle drill ability at the end of any melee combat. The units must be in a formation
and must be facing the same direction. This maneuver is optional. If the unit won the
fight, it switches places with the supporting unit instead of advancing after combat. If the
combat was a tie, the unit may simply switch places. If the unit lost the combat, it simply
retreats through the supporting unit. If a formation with battle drill is flanked, it may not
perform this maneuver.

Behemoths
Typically these are elephants. Troops that have the behemoth ability that are forced back
pass through any enemy or friendly troops in their path, causing 2 hits. Roll armor saves
and morale checks as required. If other units are encountered, the behemoth passes
through those units as well also causing two hits each.

Charge Bonus
This is a bonus because the unit is either armed with short ranged throwing weapons
which they unleash at close range or they are particularly ferocious when they charge.
When meleeing from their front edge they roll 1 extra die on the first round of combat.

Evade
Units with the Evade ability may evade an enemy charging to contact. See Evade in the
Movement section for more information.

Fanatics
Fanatics, such as Viking Berserkers, never make morale checks. They are immune to
fear and terror. If they start their movement phase within a double move of an enemy,
they will automatically charge up to a full double move. An order may be used to keep

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them from charging. This counts as a move. They may then take their free move as
normal. They rally normally.

Fear
Any unit charged by a fear causing unit must make a morale check. If the morale check
gives at least 2 successes, there is no effect. One success results in a casualty on the
checking unit. No successes result in 2 casualty on the checking unit. If the target unit
was eliminated as a result of the fear check, the charging unit may advance any remaining
movement. If the unit contacts another target, that unit makes a fear check as well and
melees can ensue as normal. Fear/terror checks are made after movement for the unit is
resolved. Units that evade fear/terror causing units need not make a fear check.
Fear causing units are immune to fear (See Terror for an exception).

Frenzy
Troops with the frenzy ability count all ‘6’s rolled in combat as 2 successes for the first
round only. Frenzy troops must advance after combat (follow up) if they win a combat.

Mounted
Fast moving units, such as cavalry and chariots, enjoy a +1 to their armor roll for the first
round of combat against infantry. This advantage is negated if there is any enemy
mounted also participating in the fight.

Non-melee
Non-melee troops are poorly equipped to fight in melee combat. They hit on a 5+ instead
of the usual 4+.

Pike
Pike armed troops are armed with long pole weapons. Non-pike armed infantry frontally
attacking pike armed troops suffer a –1 penalty to their melee dice. Mounted troops
frontally attacking pike armed troops suffer a –2 penalty to their melee dice.

Poor
Poor troops roll 1 less die for melee and morale.

Rapid Fire
Troops with rapid fire may add 1 die to the shooting roll when charged or when
supporting a unit that is charged. This ability is usually associated with formed bow
armed troops.

Skirmisher
Skirmishers may move in any direction they choose while maintaining their relative
facing. They may make a free facing change at the end of each of their movements.
They do not count as a mass target when fired at from the flank or when occupying the
first or second rank of a formation. Skirmishers may voluntarily melee any enemy unit.
If they make a flank contact with a formed enemy unit or formation, it is considered to be

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a frontal melee contact. Skirmishers do not block formed enemies that are pushed back.
They are pushed back themselves if a formed enemy is forced to retreat into them.

Spear
Mounted troops attacking spear-armed troops frontally suffer a penalty of –1 to their
melee dice total.

Stubborn
Stubborn troops may not form into groups and take advantage of group movement. They
require an order of their own to get an additional movement action. Leaders may not
attach to stubborn troops.

Support
Two friendly units of the same type with this ability may support one another (See
Formation Rules). A supported unit gains 1 extra die for melee and morale.

Terror
Units with terror cause a fear check on contact to any unit that does not have terror.
Typically this ability is reserved for units such as elephants or fantasy monsters. See
Fear in this section for details on fear checks. Fear/terror checks are made after
movement for the unit is resolved. Units that evade fear/terror causing units need not
make a fear check.

Unreliable
These troops always roll 2 dice when taking morale checks. This roll is never modified
for any reason. If the unreliable unit fails a morale check of any kind, it routes and is
removed from the game.

Vehicle
These are wheeled and horse drawn vehicles such as war wagons or chariots. Vehicles
may make a free facing change at the end of every move action. They may not enter
woods. They count as mounted for all other rough terrain. Vehicles may not flank
march. If a vehicle unit fails a morale check of any kind (missile or melee), it is
eliminated.

Veteran
Veteran troops get 1 extra die for melee and morale.

Warband
When supported by another warband, add 2 dice to the total number of dice when
attacking in melee.

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Victory and Defeat

A game of Ancients D6 can end in several ways.
· All commanders on a side have been eliminated.
· The army morale has reached zero for an army.
· Special scenario victory conditions have been met.

Death of Commanders
As stated before, if all commanders on a side have been eliminated, the battle ends in a
loss for that army.

Army Morale
If the army morale reaches zero, the game ends in a loss for that army.

To calculate army morale, count up the number of figures in the army. The army morale
level is 50% of this number. As stands are eliminated, reduce this number by the number
of figures on that stand.

Special Scenario Victory Conditions

In many cases, fulfillment of scenario victory conditions is a good way to determine a
winner. These are very specific to scenario battles. They could be the elimination of an
important figure or the capture and sole possession of some important feature of the
battlefield.

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Design Notes
Designing a playable game is easy. Writing a playable game? That is another story.
AD6 has been in existence for about 10 years in one form or another. The game
mechanics have been slowly tweaked and streamlined to bring you the game you have
now. We feel that we have taken some truly original ideas, combined them with other
popular ideas to make an easy and fun game to play.

Command
The command system is similar to several other ancient combat games on the market.
We assigned orders (PIPs) to each commander on the field. So long as he is in play, his
orders could be used. If the commander dies or leaves the field, his orders are lost. We
feel this was a better mechanism than rolling an arbitrary die for orders each turn.

Adding other uses of orders allows the commander to rally a unit that is on the verge of
collapse or bolster a unit that just lost a melee long enough for reinforcements to join the
fight. It also allows a commander to reign a fanatic unit on the field, preventing it from
charging too soon. Ultimately, your army's chance of success is directly related to how
well you use your commanders and their orders.

The command radius was shortened from 12” to 8”. Since there are two commanders (A
general and a Captain), you have an extended command radius because a unit only needs
to be near one of those commanders to receive an order – a natural extension of a
command radius. When one leader dies, the orders are lost and the command radius is
now much shorter. Of course, you may place an order on any unit anywhere on the field
but if it is out of command range, there is a 50% chance that the rally attempt will fail.

Rally
I can’t believe that a unit would be able to rally if it were stuck in combat. So we did not
allow this. Additionally, rallying requires an order to remove one and only 1 point of
damage. This is that unit's one order for the turn so it may only move with its free move.

Move
We feel that all units should have an opportunity to move. We therefore allow each unit
a free action. We were trying to stay away from the many shades of gray that some
systems offer and make everything very cut and dry. So, each unit gets a free action to
either move or maneuver. This could be taken individually or as a group. Then an order
allows for a second action. We never want a player to feel gypped because he rolled low
for command pips. Additionally, each unit can only receive one order per turn. So, if a
unit rallies during the rally step, it is only entitled to a free move during the movement
step. It may not take an order to move again.

Similarly, units that evade are penalized by only being able to move once during its next
movement phase. If it has a chance to rally before then, then it may rally but this counts
as that unit's move. In AD6, we tried to make a cost to do everything.

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Combat
We used a mechanism of “hit and save” to keep both players actively engaged in a game.
Sure we could have designed the system to add a few modifiers and have a single “to-hit”
roll to determine if there was a casualty or not. We were not fond of systems like this
where you sat idly and watched your opponent pick your army to pieces. Adding a
saving roll against hits makes you follow combats and makes you feel like you have
some control over the outcome of the fight, even if you don't.

Units can continue to stay in the fight, losing melee after melee so long as they have at
least one figure left and they make at least one success on a subsequent morale check.
Some might think that a 4+ is too generous. However, you are just as likely to fail as you
are to succeed. You wouldn't get on an airplane if the pilot proclaims that he has a 50-50
chance of landing you safely would you?

Shooting has been greatly simplified. The game rewards the aggressive player. Getting
the fist shot in is key to a successful assault. We did allow a few special cases for units
that could not shoot during their move phase to return fire but only after the attacker's
shooting was resolved. This way, it is impossible for any one player to simply roll up
with a few fast units and kill you before you get one shot off.

Casualties
Casualties in Ancients D6 do not represent just loss of life. This is a small part of it.
Rather they represent the effects of combat both mentally and physically on a unit. The
longer a unit stays in combat, the less effective it may become. The rally system is
designed to allow players to rest their spent units and bring them back to full strength.
We made this design decision on this based on the description of many battles from
antiquity. It seemed that armies really did not take massive casualties until after the units
broke. For instance, at Zama, the Carthaginian army was all but annihilated while the
Romans measured their casualties at about 1500 killed and 4000 wounded. All of this
and yet the battle hung in the balance until the very end. Other battles have similar
results. When you watch the History Channel, the Historians often utter the words “…
and then began the slaughter in earnest.” Life was cheap back then and the ending phase
of many battles proves it. However, during a battle, unit casualties often remain
relatively low until that unit or even the army actually breaks.

Morale
We wanted the same mechanic throughout the game to make it easy for players to
remember. So, making morale success based was another natural choice. Units that were
beaten up badly would have a small chance of passing morale with even 1 success. A
failure would have to mean different things of course. Melee is the most brutal while
failed checks from shooting casualties would cause much inconvenience to the the player
but it would not be the end of the world.

Army Morale
Many games make the army morale system way too complicated. It is enough to count
casualties and quit when one army reaches half of its figures or more. The quality is not

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important as most soldiers won’t even know how the battle went until it is almost over.
Nobody is going to stop in a pitched melee and ask, “Did I just see the Companion
Cavalry break over yonder?” They are going to be worried about what is going on
around them in the immediate area. If there supporting buddies run away, then they will
really be worried!

Special Abilities
It is easy to get carried away with special abilities. You want to have the most and the
coolest of course! However, this sort of game has a danger of having to many. A friend
of mine always said to test each ability or rule in the game. If it did not seem to have
much effect on game play, it shouldn’t be there. Throw it out! We’ve had some abilities
that had to be redefined for clarity while others were simply left on the cutting room
floor. We think we have enough now to model just about any unit in Antiquity through
the High Medieval period.

Modeling History
Most of antiquity is really not that detailed from a military standpoint. There are few
orders of battle. Armies are usually not uniform. Yeah. I know. The Romans were…to
a point. We read these historical battle descriptions and conjure up an idea of what the
units look like, how many there were, what there capabilities were.

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