SoA Battleday 2018 Report

A very successful 15th annual Society of Ancients Battle Day was held in Bletchley on 7 April 2018.

The day started with the traditional Introduction to the Battle talk, once again done by Phil Sabin. Phil talked through the salient points of the battle, what we know and what we have to assume, and discussed the different approaches of modern scholars in interpreting the battle. The open discussion that followed allowed the attendees to pose their questions and suggest their own ideas.

Then it was on to the gaming!

To match the fifteen years, we had fifteen different games:

Armati in 15mm; Big Battle DBA in 6mm; four Command & Colours games (in 6mm, 15mm, 20mm and 28mm); two DBMM games both in 15mm; Hail Caesar in 6mm; Legio VI in 6mm; Lost Battles in 28mm; Piquet Archon in 28mm; Rameses in 15mm; To The Strongest in 28mm; and Warlord Advance Guard in 28mm.

As a result of so many games and around 70 attendees, the hall was full and we had two games overspill into the side rooms. The gaming was hard but fair, and a great day was had by all.

Read more: SoA Battleday 2018 Report

Society of Ancients Conference

When: 24-25 November 2018

Where: Chesford Grange Hotel Kenilworth

Cost: £189 for two days, including Saturday night accommodation and dinner

The Society of Ancients Conference 2018 will take place over the weekend 24th and 25th November, at the same venue as the 2016 and 2017 Conferences, the Chesford Grange Hotel, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

The cost for the weekend is £189, which includes the two full days at the Conference, buffet lunch both days, the Conference Dinner on the Saturday evening, bed and breakfast Saturday night, and teas and coffees, fresh fruit, biscuits and cakes etc throughout the days.

Day only attendance, including the buffet lunch, is available both days and remains as last year at £45 per day.

For those arriving on the Friday evening we have negotiated a Conference bed and breakfast rate of £105, which should also be booked in advance though us.

Because the Society is required to pay the venue in advance for the Conference we will require full payment four weeks before the Conference. However, in order to reserve your place we will initially be taking £45 deposits, either by the Society website PayPal route or by cheques made out to the Society of Ancients and sent to the Treasurer. These deposits are non-returnable unless we are able to find someone else to attend in your place.

Balances may be paid to the Society either electronically by using the add to cart buttons at the bottom of this page or by writing to the Society Treasurer at

Mabar

Blackheath Lane

Wonersh

GUILDFORD

GU5 0PN 

and enclosing a cheque payable to The Society of Ancients.

The programme

The aim is to get together as a Society and to exchange ideas on wargaming in the ancients and medieval periods. And to enjoy playing some good and varied wargames!

The weekend will contain a mixture of presentations and wargaming sessions in small and larger groups. Already confirmed as a speaker for 2018 is Duncan Head, author of the legendary Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars and many other books.

There will be options to join the various activities, some of which will run more than once, so that you can choose what you like the look of, and what you don’t!

It’s an opportunity to try new things, be they new rule sets that are under development, multi-player games with political elements, or more traditional games – all will be well-represented.

Those who attended in either of the last two years will know that we like everyone to get involved! We also need volunteers to run a session. Sessions can either be a presentation to the Conference on a subject, which with a subsequent discussion will last around an hour, or else can be running games, rules workshops, or anything else you may choose to come up with! Please send your ideas to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Help make the Society a Society and come along to the Conference!

Deposit (£45) - this is also the cost of a single day so if that is all you are booking for then please indicate if this is Saturday or Sunday by adding one of the two options below as well
Note that the full weekend balance payment amount already assumes that you have paid the deposit.  If you have not yet paid the deposit but want to pay for the whole thing in one go, that's not a problem - just add the deposit above to your basket first and check out, then come straight back and add the full conference to your basket and check out again.
Full weekend balance payment - Accommodation Saturday night, conference Saturday and Sunday, dinner on Saturday night (£144)
Friday night bed & breakfast - Accommodation Friday night, breakfast Saturday morning (£105)
Saturday day attendance (£0)
Sunday day attendance (£0)
Sunday day attendance (£45) - only if you are attending Saturday and Sunday, but not staying overnight or for the Conference dinner (and how likely is that?)

SoA Battle Day 2018 - Paraetacene 317 BC

Battle Day 2018 will be Paraetacene 317 BC, the large Successor battle between the armies of Eumenes of Cardia and Antigonus One-Eye. So…pike, heavy cavalry, light cavalry, elephants in a big battle on an open plain – what’s not to like here! Members are invited to come and run games, or to just turn up and join in whichever games take their fancy – all the games welcome additional players on the day. We charge £10 per person to attend (juniors and students free) to go towards venue and table hire.

Any questions about the day etc should be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We will be fighting this, not on the Iranian plateau, but in the familiar confines of Sycamore Hall, Drayton Road, Bletchley, Near Milton Keynes, MK2 3RR.

And rather than 317 BC, we will be fighting it on Saturday 7 April 2018.  Doors open at 8am for people to start setting up.  Nominal start is 9am, with the introductory talk set to start around 9:15am.  Like most ancient battles though, timings can slip somewhat once the enemy is sighted.

The Saxon Shore is Burning £15 A popular game of the Society of Ancients, the artwork has been entirely redone in full colour and the size of the mapboard and counters doubled in size in this new deluxe edition.   Here is an extract from the rulebook:   𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 367 𝘈.𝘋. 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘈𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘹𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺/𝘓𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳-𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘹𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 369 𝘈.𝘋. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥.   The game consists of a map, tables, 400 counters (some spares and extras are also included) and these rules.  You will also need a six-sided die.

Read more: The Saxon Shore is Burning