Created by designer Bill Banks, Ancients is a low-complexity tactical combat system, which allows players to recreate virtually any battle from the ancient (pre-gunpowder) world. Teaching the game system takes an experienced player about fifteen minutes, and each game can usually be completed in under an hour, making it an optimal system for "lunch-time brawls" as well as tournament play.

 

Ancient Battles Deluxe brings the original Ancients design into the 21st Century with new mechanics that enhance play, yet maintain the speed and simplicity of the original design while remaining true to Bill Banks’ vision of the system. We are also striving to maintain “backward compatibility” so that players preferring the old system can still play using the new, enhanced components.

 

This web site represents the official support center for Ancient Battles Deluxe on the Web. From here, you can download the latest rules revisions and supplementary components for the game.

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GAME HISTORY

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Ancient Battles Deluxe was made available for purchase by Victory Point Games in May of 2008. As of March, 2020, the game and its expansions are officially out of print as Victory Point Games has closed its doors. I was hoping to create an updated version of the game with Victory Point, but that's no longer in the cards. Instead, I have created a new game, Dawn of Battle, on the foundation of Ancient Battles Deluxe. Dawn of Battle is scheduled to be produced by Worthington Games some time in 2020.

 

The components for the game include:

 

• 2 11x17” map sheet (Maps A and B)

• 160 5/8” Double-Sided Square Counters

• 56 5/8” Double-Sided Round Counters

• 45 1/2” Double-Sided Round Counters

• 1 Player Aid Card

• 1 Rules Manual

• 8 Scenarios

 

The Ancients Battles Deluxe “base set” includes the following scenarios:

 

• Kadesh (Hittites vs Egyptians, 1288 BC)

• Leuctra (Thebes vs Sparta, 371 BC)

• Chaeronea (Macedonia vs Thebes, 338 BC)

• Granicus (Macedonia vs Persia, 334 BC)

• Legnano (Barbarosa vs Pope Alexander III, 1176 AD)

• Hattin (Crusaders vs Saladin, 1187 AD)

• Arsouf (Saladin vs Richard the Lionheart, 1191 AD)

• Bannockburn (Edward of England vs Robert the Bruce, 1314 AD)

 

A series of “battle packs” will be published that include additional unit types, maps and scenarios. Currently, there are plans for at least four expansions and a large series of scenario packs.

 

Unlike most Desktop Published games, all the components are die-cut. Everything is ready to play right out of the package with no assembly necessary!

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GAME EXPANSIONS

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Expansion I: Elephants at War

 

• 1 11x17” map sheet (Map C)

• 80 5/8” Double-Sided Square Counters

• 16 Scenarios

 

Elephants at War includes the following scenarios:

 

• Second Mantinea (Epaminodas vs Agesilaus II, 362 BC)

• Gaugamela (Alexander vs Darius, 331 BC)

• Hydaspes (Alexander vs Porus, 326 BC)

• Heraclea (Pyrrhus vs Laevinus, 280 BC)

• Trebia (Longus vs Hannibal, 218 BC)

• Raphia (Antiocus III vs Ptolemy IV, 217 BC)

• Cannae (Hannibal vs Varro, 216 BC)

• Zama (Hannibal vs Africanus, 202 BC)

• Magnesia (Antiochus III vs Scipio, 190 BC)

• Vosges (Caesar vs Ariovistus, 58 BC)

• Carrhae (Surena vs Crassus, 53 BC)

• Philippi (Republicans vs Triumvir, 42 BC)

• Argentoratum (Chnodomar vs Julian, 357 AD)

• Clontarf (Mael Morda vs Brian Boru, 1014 AD)

• Durazzo (Guiscard vs Comnenus, 1081 AD)

• Bouvines (Phillip II vs Otto IV, 1214 AD)

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Expansion II: Hell’s Horsemen

 

• 1 11x17” map sheet (Map D)

• 80 5/8” Double-Sided Square Counters

• 16 Scenarios

 

Hell’s Horsemen includes the following scenarios:

 

• Qarqar (Shalmanesar III vs Hadadezer, 853 BC)

• Thymbra (Croesus vs Cyrus, 547 BC)

• Marathon (Miltiades vs Datis, 490 BC)

• Platea (Mardonius vs Pausanius, 479 BC)

• Lake Trasimeno (Hannibal vs Flaminius, 217 BC)

• 2nd Cynoscephalae (Philip V vs Flamininus, 197 BC)

• Pharsalus (Julius Caesar vs Pompey, 48 BC)

• Cibalae (Licinius vs Constantine, 315 AD)

• Ad Decimum (Belisarius vs Gelimer, 533 AD)

• Volturnus (Butilinus vs Narses, 554 AD)

• Hastings (William vs Harold, 1066 AD)

• Manzikert (Romanos IV vs Alp Arslan, 1071 AD)

• Indus (Jelal Ad-Din vs Ghengis Khan, 1221 AD)

• Liegnica (Henry vs Kadan, 1241 AD)

• Falkirk (Edward I vs Wallace, 1298 AD)

• Sempach (Leopold III vs Arnold von Winkelreid, 1386 AD)

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Expansion III: Strange Ordnance

 

• 1 11x17” map sheet (Map E)

• 80 5/8” Double-Sided Square Counters

• 16 Scenarios

 

Strange Ordnance includes the following scenarios:

 

• Megiddo (Thutmose III vs the King of Kadesh, 1457 BC)

• Issus (Alexander vs Darius, 333 BC)

• Pydna (Perseus vs Paulus, 168 BC)

• 2nd Adrianople (Valens vs Fritigern, 378 AD)

• Catalaunian Plains (Aetius vs Attila, 451 AD)

• Lechfeld (Bulcsu vs Otto I, 955 AD)

• Dorylaeum (Kilij Arslan vs Bohemond, 1097 AD)

• Kalka River (Jebe vs Mstislav, 1223 AD)

• Kutna Hora (Sigismund vs Jan Zizka, 1421 AD)

• Habry (Jan Zizka vs Pipa, 1422 AD)

• Malesov (Jan Zizka vs Borok, 1424 AD)

• Aussig (Prokop vs Boso, 1426 AD)

• Lipany (Prokop vs Borok, 1434 AD)

• 2nd Kossovo (Murad II vs John Hunyadi, 1448 AD)

• Formigny (Thomas Kyriell vs Comte de Clermont, 1450 AD)

• Cerignola (de Cordoba vs d’Armagnac, 1503 AD)

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Expansion IV: Art of War

 

• 1 11x17” map sheet (Map F)

• 80 5/8” Double-Sided Square Counters

• 16 Scenarios

 

Art of War includes the following scenarios:

 

• Muye (Zhou vs Shang, 1027 BC)

• Che (Yen vs Cheng, 717 BC)

• Yen-Ling (Chin vs Ch’u, 575 BC)

• Sabis River (Boduognatus vs Julius Caesar, 57 BC)

• Idistaviso (Germanicus vs Arminius, 16 AD)

• Watling Street (Boudiccea vs Paulinus, 60 AD)

• Tours (Abdul Rahman vs Carles Martel, 732 AD)

• Ashdown (Alfred vs the Vikings, 871 AD)

• Harran (Soqman vs Baldwin II, 1104 AD)

• Montgisard (Baldwin IV vs Saladin, 1177 AD)

• La Forbie (Baibars vs Walter IV, 1244 AD)

• Crecy (Phillip VI vs Edward III, 1346 AD)

• Poitiers (John II vs the Black Prince, 1356 AD)

• Agincourt (Henry V vs Charles VI, 1415 AD)

• Varna (Vladyslav III vs Murad II, 1444 AD)

• Brunkeberg (Christian I vs Sten Sture, 1471 AD)

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Expansion V: Design Your Own Kit

 

• 1 17x22” map sheet (Oversize Deluxe Map)

• 72 1” Double-Sided Terrain Tiles

• 1 Scenario

 

The Design Your Own Kit includes the following scenarios:

 

• Fornham St Genevieve (Earl of Leicester vs Richard de Luci, 1173 AD)

 

The purpose of this expansion is to provide a palette where budding ABD scenario designers can layout their own custom scenarios using a terrain tile system found in many other popular games. It also provides a larger playing area that allows for less cramped play (especially for those of us with clumsy fingers!).

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Expansion V.1: Way of the Samurai

 

• 80 5/8” Double-Sided Square Counters

• 15 Scenarios

 

Way of the Samurai is an expansion set for those who have purchased the Design Your Own Kit. Its scenarios are played out using the expanded map and terrain tiles provided by the DYO kit. The scenarios included are:

 

•  Okehazama (Imagawa Yoshimoto vs Oda Nobunaga, 1560 AD)

•  4th Kawanakajima (Takeda Shingen vs Uesugi Kenshin, 1561 AD)

•  The Anegawa (Oda Nobunaga vs Asai Nagamasa, 1570 AD)

•  Mikata-Ga-Hara (Takeda Shingen vs Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1573 AD)

•  Nagashino (Takeda Katsuyori vs Oda Nobunaga, 1575 AD)

•  Tedorigawa (Uesugi Kenshin vs Shibata Katsuie, 1577 AD)

•  Yamazaki (Akechi Mitsuhide vs Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 1582 AD)

•  Shizugatake (Sakuma Morimasa vs Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 1583 AD)

•  Komaki (Mori Nagayoshi vs Sadai Tadatsugo, 1584 AD)

•  Nagakute (Ikeda Nobuteru vs Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1584 AD)

•  Hitotoribashi (Data Masamune vs Hatakeyama Kiniomaru, 1585 AD)

•  Hetsugigawa (Sengoku Hidehisa vs Shimazu Yoshihisa, 1586 AD)

•  Suriagehara (Date Masamune vs Ashina Yoshihiro, 1589 AD)

•  Sekigahara (Ishida Mitsunari vs Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1600 AD)

•  Tennoji (Toyotomi Hideyori vs Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1615 AD)

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