New Early Imperial Roman Paper Army

Over the last few months, I've been working slowly on revising my Early Imperial Roman army set, which I posted six years ago. There wasn't anything horribly wrong with the set. I've used it in my own gaming. I just wanted to make it better and fit easily on the comic backing boards like other sets with eight rows of counters.

I also wanted to use the many new figures that have been released over the past several years, while standardizing the height of the infantry and cavalry. I also wanted to use troops that the EIR would have used depending on the battle. For example, Balearic Slingers, Numidians, Spanish, Praetorians, and Sarmations. I've listed some of these later in the post, so you know what they are. I've also posted some new army lists to try out. I imported everything else from the old EIR post, deleting it and its files from my server.

Other than the artillery units and the original General stands, I have remade every counter in this set.

Generic Set: The generic set will go up soon. I will include heavy cavalry based along the long counter edge and two army camps, which some other games use. I'll post it on the Warmaster Paper Armies page with the other generic sets.

Printing the Counters
Print the counter sheets at actual (100%) size. Do not print to "fit margins." You can cut the counters and then use them how you like. If printing on card stock, for example, 110lb has worked well for me. You could also glue the counters onto wooden stands from Litko, giving them a miniatures feel. I sized this set so each page of counters will fit on a cheap 'Silver Age' comic backing board. Spray glue the sheet onto the backing board, and then cut out the counters using a sharp Xacto knife with a steel ruler. The counters will last a long time this way. However you do it, I hope you enjoy using this set of counters. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Click on the counter set images below to download the the complete army counter set in PDF.

 

Warmaster Sample Armies

1000 Points
1x General w/Portents
1x Legate
1x Veteran Legion
4x Legions
2x Auxiliaries
2x Archers
1x Heavy Cavalry
2x Light Cavalry
Total Points: 995

1000 Points
1x General
2x Legates
4x Legions
4x Auxiliaries
1x Archers
2x Skirmishers
1x Light Cavalry
1x Scorpion
Total Points: 995

1000 Points
1x General
1x Legate
1x Veteran Legion
4x Legions
3x Auxiliaries
1x Archers
2x Skirmishers
1x Heavy Cavalry
1x Scorpion
Total Points: 990

1000 Points
1x General
1x Legate
5x Legions
3x Auxiliaries
1x Archers
2x Skirmishers
1x Heavy Cavalry
1x Scorpion
Total Points: 980

1000 Points
1x General
2x Legate
4x Legions
4x Auxiliaries
1x Archers
2x Skirmishers
1x Light Cavalry
1x Scorpion
Total Points: 995

2000 Points
1x General w/Portents
3x Legates
2x Veteran Legions
8x Legions
6x Auxiliaries
3x Archers
3x Skirmishers
1x Heavy Cavalry
2x Light Cavalry
2x Scorpions
Total Points: 1975

2000 Points by Nick Harwood
2x Veteran Legion
8x Legion
6x Auxiliaries
3x Archers
5x Skirmishers
1x Heavy Cavalry
1x Light Cavalry
2x Scorpion
1x General w/ Portents
3x Legates
Total Points: 1975 (23/12)

2000 Points by Robert Waller
2x Veteran Legion
8x Legion
6x Auxiliaries
2x Archers
2x Skirmishers
2x Heavy Cavalry
2x Light Cavalry
2x Scorpion
1x General w/ Portents
3x Legate
Total Points: 1985 (24/12)

Light Cavalry

Light Germanic Cavalry

Light Moorish Cavalry

Light Numidian Cavalry

Light Roman Cavalry

Light Roman Cavalry

Skirmishers

Balearic Slings

Roman skirmishers

Germanic slings

Numidian javelins

Spanish Caetrati

Heavy Cavalry 

Note the images are aligned with the bottom of the counter, unlike before.

Praetorian

Sarmation

Command Units

The Legate and General images are from the excellent First Legion "toy soldiers," which cost only $60 upward! The Legate holding his helmet is from King & Country toy soldiers. Yes, this Legate is the same height as the others. The helmet gives the illusion of greater height! I wish I had the money for these "toy soldiers"! I love the new General with his tent. The other two generals are an homage to the old set. Plus, the variety of generals and legates allows this set to be used in Roman Civil War battles.

Legate

Legate

General

Emperor Marcus Aurelius

Norse Warmaster Ancients Paper Army

If you like Dark Age armies with tons of infantry and nothing but infantry, this army should appeal to you. This is the third of my Dark Age paper armies from the original Warmaster Ancients core rulebook: the Norse, the Normans, and the Anglo-Saxons. All these armies fought one another. If you are playing in 10mm, all the usual sources have a line of Norse miniatures. You can find a list of 10mm manufacturers on the Norman army page.

Norse Warmaster Ancients Army List
As always, you can use the Warmaster Army Selector website to create Norse army lists. As I've done for the other two armies, I've also included a scan of the Norse army page from the Warmaster Ancients rulebook. This is the only army list for the Norse. Other than a fantasy version for Warmaster Revolution, no other historical variant has been published that I am aware of.

I have also included a scan of the Norse page from the Ancients rulebook, listing all the army information and tactics. You can download it as a pdf file by clicking its image to the right. No variant army lists were posted for the Norse, but the fantasy-based Warmaster Revolution does have their own Norse list.

Printing the Counters
Print the counter sheets at actual (100%) size. Do not print to "fit margins." You can cut the counters and then use them how you like. If printing on cardstock, for example, 110lb has worked well for me. You could also glue the counters onto wooden stands from Litko, giving them a miniatures feel. I sized this set so each page of counters will fit on a cheap 'Silver Age' comic backing board. Spray glue the sheet onto the backing board, and then cut out the counters using a sharp Xacto knife with a steel ruler. The counters will last a long time this way. However you do it, I hope you enjoy using this set of counters. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Click on the counter set images below to download the the complete army counter set in PDF.

Normans Warmaster Ancients Paper Army

As the opening of the Normans entry in the Warmaster Ancients rulebook states, "Here is an army fit to conquer England. It is based upon that of Duke William and as such represents the Norman army of the second half of the 11th century." This is the 31st counter set I have made for the original fantasy version of Warmaster, Warmaster Revolution, and Warmaster Ancients core rulebook. It's been fun returning to historical armies. If you like these Normans, check out my Anglo-Saxon counter set.

Norman Warmaster Ancients Army List
The Warmaster Army Selector website lists all the armies in the Ancients core rulebook, so you can use it to create your own Norman army. I don't have any sample Norman armies to present, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out some.

I have also included a scan of the Normans page from the Ancients rulebook, listing all the army information and tactics. You can download it as pdf file by clicking its image to the right. The Normans take a single page in the rulebook, so that makes it easy! On his old Warmaster website, Rick Priestley did have an army list for Sicilian Normans (1035-1194), which is very different from the one presented here. Right now, I have no plans for that army.

Ancients Using Warmaster Revolution?
Also, if you do not own Warmaster Ancients and do not feel like rummaging around online for a copy, I would think the Warmaster Revolution rules would suffice because they merged the Ancients rules into the Fantasy rules. Don't quote me on this. I haven't done any comparisons. If anyone knows if using the Revolution rules would or would not work for Ancients armies, please leave a comment below.

Old Glory 10mm

10mm Norman Miniatures
For those looking to recreate a Norman army, here are a few suggestions in various scales. They are the usual suspects for 10mm. Let me know in the comments if I missed any 10mm Normans or what you think about them.

Old Glory Miniatures has 8 packs of 10mm Normans. Two of those pack are command, one mounted and the other foot. I'm not sure if William and Bishop Odo would be in there.

Magister Militum has a number of Norman packs, but their website always drives me nuts. I leave it to you to search for them!

Pendraken Miniatures, the perennial historical 10mm manufacturer, has 9 packs of Normans, one of which is a command pack.

Kallistra has six packs of Normans, one of which is a command pack. Of course, these are on the 12mm side.

I wanted to add a 15mm listing, but have run out of time tonight. That will be another post for another day.

Battle of Hastings in 10mm
If you want to see an excellent Battle of Hastings recreated in 10mm using Pendraken miniatures and the Warmaster Ancients rules, check out Dan Becker's website. He also gives a good historical overview of the battle and advice on painting Saxons and Normans in other scales as well. His page is from 2019. Tell him I said hi!

The troops are deployed. Let the battle begin!

Printing the Counters
Print the counter sheets at actual (100%) size. Do not print to "fit margins." You can cut the counters and then use them how you like. If printing on cardstock, for example, 110lb has worked well for me. You could also glue the counters onto wooden stands from Litko, giving them a miniatures feel. I sized this set so each page of counters will fit on a cheap 'Silver Age' comic backing board. Spray glue the sheet onto the backing board, and then cut out the counters using a sharp Xacto knife with a steel ruler. The counters will last a long time this way. However you do it, I hope you enjoy using this set of counters. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

 

Click on the counter set images below to download the the complete army counter set in PDF.

Anglo-Saxon Warmaster Ancients Paper Army

The Anglo-Saxon army in the core Warmaster Ancients rulebook covers the period from King Cnut (1016) to King Harold (1066), so the army list focuses on late Saxon England. As Rick Priestley says in the army's introduction, this is the classic style army of Harold that mostly fought up close on foot with a bit of inept cavalry. Their main enemies in the core rulebook would be the Norse and ultimately the Normans.

On Rick's now-gone Warmaster website, he had posted an army list for Early Saxons covering 420-885 AD, which I have. Right now, I want to get a Norman army set posted before I move onto something like the Early Saxons. Norse should even come before them.

I'll also be posting a set of Anglo-Saxon counters that don't have any Warmaster Ancients labels on them, just one counter from each unit plus the command stands. Players can use those in any rules, mixing and matching to heart's content. Stay tuned.

Most of the images in this set are from the Wargame's Foundry Anglo-Saxon 28mm set. Some others come from Gripping Beast, at least from what I remember.

Printing the Counters
You can print the counter sheer at places like Staples, using 110lb card stock paper printed at actual size. You can also print on regular paper and then glue the counters to wooden bases. (Check the older posts on how I did this with my Empire army.) Do not print the pdf to "fit margins." Always print at 100%.  I like printing the counter sets on good copy paper, spray gluing the dull side of a 'Silver Age' comic backing board with Super 77, attaching a sheet to the board, and then cutting out the counters using a sharp Xacto knife with a steel ruler. Using the backing boards makes for cheap, sturdy counters. I like keeping the shiny side down to make moving them easier on a table. (Note: This set is designed to fit Silver Age and larger comic backing boards.)

Click on the counter set images below to download the the complete army counter set in PDF format.

Cool "New" Warmaster YouTube Channel

I just want to give a quick shout out to iainmstanding, an excellent YouTube channel from the UK featuring current videos about the various Warmaster systems, including Revolution and Ancients. The video below is a "Warmaster Battle report for newer players describing how the rules work. 1000 pts of Daemons take on 1000 pts of Albion." Other videos feature tips and tactics. Lots of good stuff and hopefully more coming! Check them out. And don't forget I have free printable counters for many Warmaster fantasy and historical armies; a great inexpensive way to check out Warmaster.

 

 

Sassanid Persian Warmaster Ancients Paper Army

The time from the end of the Parthian (Arsacid) dynasty to the Arab conquest is known as the Sassanid or Sassanian period and it represents the last great flowering of ancient Mesopotamian tradition before it was overborne by the rising power of Islam. Sassanid Persia spans the wars of Roman and Byzantine Emperors, the invasions of nomadic hordes, and eventually, the Arab conquests. --Warmaster Ancients

I'm trying something new with this set. Each counter on the fourth page has a small triangle pointing toward the stand's front. This can help remind players which direction the unit is facing regardless of the images on the stand. This can be useful on units like 'shock' cavalry in Warmaster Ancients because they are mounted with the short 20mm side of the stand being the front, whereas other cavalry in the game are based with the 40mm side being the front. This also helps as a visual reminder on units such as chariots or artillery, whose counter images probably won't represent the direction the unit actually is facing.

Using those 'direction' counters is completely optional, which is why I placed them on a separate page. That way, if you don't want them, don't print page 4. The stands on page 4 are meant to replace their counterparts on the other pages. Is this a good idea? Should I do this for other sets? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

I'd like to thank the wonderful folks at Gripping Beast, whose images of their Sassanid figures I use throughout this paper army to give it a unified appearance. If only they made them in 10mm or 15mm!

The Sassanid Persians in Warmaster Ancients
The following is advice is from the rulebook on how to play this army: The Sassanids are a hard hitting cavalry based army burdened by a mandatory block of some of the worst infantry ever to appear on an ancient battlefield. Sassanid kings never expected much from their infantry and neither should you--so leave them in reserve of use them to secure dense terrain that is otherwise inaccessible to your cavalry. The archers can be extremely useful for forcing enemies out of position and are cheap too--but they won't last long if brought to close combat. The cavalry are capable of maneuvering to charge and will win most combats they initiate--but you have relatively few units and so can't afford to take chances. The Clibanarii's short range shooting ability is very useful but do not be tempted into using them as bowmen when you can charge instead. Their shooting ability is very useful as a defensive measure. The Elephants are too expensive to use in small battles but well worth bringing out for large battles where their high cost is off-set by the need for fewer commanders.

Printing the Counters
I hope you find these paper army sets useful. You can print them at places like Staples or Kinkos, using 110lb card stock paper printed at actual size. You can also print on regular paper and then glue the counters to wooden bases. (Check the older posts on how I did this with my Empire army.) Do not print the pdf to "fit margins." Always print at 100%.  I like printing the counter sets on good copy paper, spray gluing the dull side of a 'Silver Age' comic backing board with Super 77, attaching a sheet to the board, and then cutting out the counters using a sharp Xacto knife with a steel ruler. Using the backing boards makes for cheap, sturdy counters. I like keeping the shiny side down to make moving them easier on a table. Note: This set is designed to fit Silver Age and larger comic backing boards.

Click on the counter set image above to download the complete army counter set in PDF format. The set has enough counters to create many armies of 2,000 points or less. Of course, if you need more counters simply print more copies!

Thoughts About Updating Counter Sets...Again

Being cooped up in the house all day every day during the current virus outbreak, I've been enjoying working on the Warmaster counter sets again. (Thanks Warqueen for reminding me that my outdated/under-sized Wood Elves and Chaos counters from the early 2000's hadn't gotten the 'revised' treatment!)

Then I poked around my hard drive and realized I quickly could complete other new army sets, like the Kislev and Chaos Daemons I recently uploaded.

I also realized I could improve and correct some of the sets I had already revised, sets like the Vampire Counts that has too many Age of Sigmar images and Dire Wolves based as infantry instead of cavalry. (There is a long story behind why I did that years ago.) Actually, I ended up completely revising that revised set and will upload it this weekend or early next week as a new post, taking down the old VC post. Probably more sets will be improved as well.

Will all the sets you've already downloaded and printed still be playable? Sure! I'm thinking that most updates will simply be a separate page to print out, but I might wind up doing a total revision like the Vampire Counts.

Will I still be making sets for armies in the Trial Armies book, Warmaster Revolution, and other historical versions of Warmaster? Like the Albion army? Yes! This summer I hope to crank out more armies, maybe even some sets for Lord of the Rings and Battle of the Five Armies, which have been pet projects of mine for ages. I also want to revisit my old Nippon set, which is long gone and outdated.

Will I be making counter sets for other games, like Dragon Rampant? Maybe. The Rampant series has been a thing with me lately. I also have bought a ton of old Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars for Gaslands Refueled gaming, but that is another topic for another day.

Will I ever get to play a game using my WWII Soviet miniatures? Sigh. I can only hope...I can only hope.

Well, if you've made it this far in the post, thanks for reading and taking an interest in this creaky old blog and my counter sets. Stay posted for news as it happens!

Warmaster Ancients - Dacian Counters (Revised & Updated)

If you are using my Early Imperial Roman counter set or already have a miniature EIR army, you need enemies for Rome to fight other than itself in civil war. The Dacians are an excellent barbarian enemy army for the Early Imperial Romans. Update: This set, which I uploaded May 2018, replaces the previous set, bringing it inline with the other "revised" counters I had started making a few years prior, as well us updating some of the images.

A Brief History of the Dacian Wars
According to Encyclopedia Britannica Online: "Dacia, in antiquity, the area of the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania, in present north-central and western Romania. The Dacian people had earlier occupied lands south of the Danube and north of the mountains, and the Roman province eventually included wider territories both to the north and east. The Dacians were agricultural and also worked their rich mines of silver, iron, and gold. They first appeared in the Athenian slave market in the 4th century bc; subsequently they traded with the Greeks (importing especially wine) and used Greek coins. They spoke a Thracian dialect but were influenced culturally by the neighbouring Scythians and by the Celtic invaders of the 4th century bc. The Dacians engaged Roman troops in 112, 109, and 75 bc. In about 60–50 bc King Burebista unified and extended the kingdom, which, however, split into four parts after his death.

During the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus (ruled 27 bc–ad 14) and again in ad 69 the Dacians raided the Roman province of Moesia but were beaten back. The Dacian Wars (ad 85–89) under the emperor Domitian resulted in their recognition of Roman overlordship. The Romans under Trajan reopened hostilities in ad 101 and by 106 subdued the whole country. A large part of the population was either exterminated or driven northward. The Romans seized an enormous amount of wealth (the Dacian Wars were commemorated on Trajan’s Column in Rome) and immediately exploited the Dacian mines. Roman influence was broadened by the construction of important roads, and Sarmizegethusa and Tsierna (Orsova) were made colonies. The new province was divided under Hadrian: Dacia Superior corresponded roughly to Transylvania and Dacia Inferior to the region of Walachia.

In ad 159 Antoninus Pius redivided the region into three provinces, the Tres Daciae (Dacia Porolissensis, Dacia Apulensis, and Dacia Malvensis), all subordinate to one governor of consular rank. Marcus Aurelius made the provinces a single military region in about ad 168. The limits of Roman territory were probably never clearly defined, but the Romans benefitted both militarily and materially from the occupation."

The Dacian Counters
While I try to stick to the troop names that Warmaster Ancients uses, I had to take a few liberties with this set so the id on some counters did not consume the entire counter. I changed "Sarmatian Cavalry" to "Roxolani Cavalry" and "Dacian Mounted Skirmishers" to "Dacian Cavalry" for such reasons. As with my other Warmaster Ancients sets, I've tried to provide enough counters for a typical 2000-point army. However, 1,200 to 1,500 points seems to be the Warmaster Ancients sweet spot. Counter images are from Wargames Foundry and Warlords.

Revised Counter Set
I recently revised this set to print the counters at the proper size because the previous set I uploaded printed the counters slightly too small.


Printing the Counters
I hope some of you find these counter sets useful.You can print these at office printing places, like Staples, using heavy card stock paper printed at actual size. You can also print on regular paper and then glue the counters to wooden bases. (Check the older posts on how I did this with my Empire army.) Currently, I'm printing the counter sets at Staples using regular paper, spray gluing the back of each sheet with Super77, attaching each sheet to an old comic book backing board, and then cutting out the counters using a sharp Xacto knife with steel ruler. Using the backing boards makes for cheap, sturdy counters.

Click on the counter set image above to download the complete Dacian counter set in PDF format. The set has enough counters to create any of the sample armies below. Of course, if you need more counters simply print more copies!

1,000 Points
1x General w/Portents
1x Leader
1x Subordinate
8x Warriors
3x Archers
1x Falxmen
2x Skirmishers
2x Sarmations
1x Mounted Skirmishers
Total Points: 995   Break Point: 7

1,000 Points
1x General w/Portents
1x Leader
1x Subordinate
8x Warriors
4x Archers
2x Falxmen
3x Skirmishers
1x Sarmations
1x Mounted Skirmishers
Total Points: 995  Break Point: 8