John Lambshead’s highly popular One-hour Skirmish Wargames was designed for fights in the gunpowder era but now he is transporting the action back to the age of swords and sandals, of legionaries, hoplites and war elephants. These stand-alone rules (you don’t need the first book) follow the same principles that made the original popular: streamlined game mechanics that are quick to learn and fast to play, allowing the players to concentrate on making tactical decisions and having fun rather than constantly having to look up and decipher over-complicated rules. Card-driven like the original, no dice are required. Although deceptively simple, the rules capture plenty of period flavour and allow for everything from slingers to chariots and stampeding elephants. There are sample force lists, a points system for building any force across this whole period and a couple of sample scenarios. The author explains his design choices and the logic behind the rules to make it easier for players to tweak them to suit their tastes and their specific armies or sub-period. He describes them as a toolkit, not a set of hard-and-fast tournament rules, and adaptation and customization of the rules is encouraged. Fast and furious fun is the order of the day.
