Hoplite Warfare 1980

Hoplite Warfare (650-330BC) tabletop Miniatures rules

These rules are designed to simulate the warfare of Archaic and Classical Greece, from the rise of the Hoplite (along with the polis as the typical political unit in Greece) to his eclipse by other systems and the decline of the polis as an important institution. By extension, the rules also cover areas and times where other races were equipped as and fought in the same style as Hoplites; The rules will also cover races and civilizations which clashed with Hoplite armies.

The period of Hoplite domination in the Mediterranean we have taken as beginning c.675 B.C. However, there can be no set date for the end of the Hoplite. In the Eastern Mediterranean world we have taken the battle of Gaugamela 331 B.C.; in Italy we have taken c. 386 B.C. when at the Allia a Roman Hoplite-style army was defeated by Gauls, signaling the end of Hoplite tactics in Italy; but in Sicily Hoplites still seem to have been dominant till the time of Agathokles (d. 285 B.C.). Thus, unlike the established ideas in ancient wargaming, these rules are restricted to a narrow time span and a limited geographical area. They do not pretend to universalize, nor are they immutable dogma — they may be adapted to suit the individual wargamers research.