A Call It Qids FAQ blog
Now that the Society of Ancients' membership has received this year's incentive game here's a summary of questions we've been asked plus a load I made up to pad out the blog entry. Some have only been asked once, so "Frequently" is pushing the point a bit, - however, here they all are collected in one place.
Q: I'm not a SoA member. Where can I get a copy?
A: You should be able to buy it from the on-line store in due course from here: SoA Games Store.
In the meantime you can get it from the Society's stand at shows.
Q: Where can I play it before I buy?
A: Depending on who is there, the show version may be available on the Society's stand at various wargames shows this year. I'll be there with it at Derby in October, for example.
Q: Is there something wrong with my copy, and does it matter?
A: Well, yes there most probably is. A problem at the printers means that the centre four page spread has been put in the booklet the wrong way round. It's easy enough to open the staples and flip it if you have a modelling knife, but in practice it only means that the examples of play are out of sequence so you could leave it as it is..
Q: Wouldn't this have been avoided if you'd put page numbers in it?
A: Who can say? The printers were given the booklet in a pdf format, with the pages in sequence. I was going to put page numbers on the booklet but they looked ugly on the page border. On reflection I could have put them in a nice looking cartouche, but it is too late now (unless it sells really well and the SoA want to do a reprint.
Q: How long should it take to play?
A: A normal game takes about 30 minutes or so. As it's a historical refight the best thing to do is play it twice with each of you taking opposite sides, then comparing the results.
Q: Why do the Hittites always go first?
A: Well, it is an ambush....however we've played it with the Egyptians going first and it gives a more historical outcome - i.e. the Egyptians, particularly Pre - take a real hammering in the early phases, then Ramesses has to claw it back through personal bravery and the timely intervention of the Nearin.
If you want to stretch Pre out even more, then don't let the Hittites move until the turn after they take off the activation tiles.
Q: Can camp attackers pile up in different squares on different turns, and wait for a later turn to launch the 'first assault'?
A: Yes they can, although it isn't recommended.
Q: What happens if one of the Pre chariots breaks through and warns the camp?
A: This has only happened once, and never in play testing so it isn't covered in the rules. However, I suggest you modify the "running away" die roll so that Amun & the Sherden only flee on a 1-2 instead of a 1-4.
Q: If Ramses attacks a square with, say, four Hittite chariots in it and kills one, does he have to follow up and enter the square with the remaining Hittites? If this is the case, would the Hittites in their next turn still roll a die to see how many of them could attack Ramses in their own square?
A:Yes, Ramses has to move into the square. In the next move you have a number of options. If you want you can attack Ramses with the chariots in the square, but they can't move once you've done that. Alternatively you can roll to move into that square and attack with those you move AND the guys left in the square.
Q:Egyptian units can enter the camp if it is unoccupied by Hittites in the same turn they enter one of the surrounding squares (and can then attack a surrounding square also in the same turn). If later in the game, the camp is unoccupied or occupied by Hittites, can the Hittites do the same or do they need to enter the surrounding square and then roll again in the next turn to go into the camp?
A:The camp is different for the Egyptians and the Hittites. The Hittites derive no benefit from it, so they can't get a "pass through" attack like the Egyptians. They also don't get any benefit for defending it or fighting from it .
Q: When the Nearin are activated, are they put on the board in the same turn that they are triggered ie in the Egyptian go straight after the Hittites hit a camp target or make all the camp folk flee or is it in the next turn?
A: It's the same turn, so the Egyptians do not get any Nearin that would have been placed in the rurn track that turn.
Q: Baggage units - does the requirement to stick with baggage override the requirement to move into a square up to the maximum possible?
A: Where the accompanying infantry unit goes, the baggage goes also. Baggage does not count towards units moved (e.g. if you roll a '3' for moving into a square, you could move in, say, a chariot, two infantry and two baggage counters accompanying the infantry)
Q: Attacking the camp worked example (1). The last sentence could be a bit misleading as the Nearin are only activated when the camp is attacked and a hit scored or if all the camp units except Ramses flee?
A: Yes, reading it again it could be misleading. What it refers to is the number of Nearin units that arrive, - ie if you delay another turn then there's more Nearin on the move track to deploy when the attack happens.
Q: The booklet says it's written by Ian Russell Lowell, so who are you to put together this faq list?
A: Well I did the page layout and put the final booklet together and so on. Whilst the game is Ian's the regular Northampton Monday Night team all had some input into the design with mechanisms coming from a number of different people, - and as I built the show presentation version I've probably played it more than anyone else.
Q: Is this the last question on the FAQ list?
A: Why, yes it is.
Now that the Society of Ancients' membership has received this year's incentive game here's a summary of questions we've been asked plus a load I made up to pad out the blog entry. Some have only been asked once, so "Frequently" is pushing the point a bit, - however, here they all are collected in one place.
Q: I'm not a SoA member. Where can I get a copy?
A: You should be able to buy it from the on-line store in due course from here: SoA Games Store.
In the meantime you can get it from the Society's stand at shows.
Q: Where can I play it before I buy?
A: Depending on who is there, the show version may be available on the Society's stand at various wargames shows this year. I'll be there with it at Derby in October, for example.
Q: Is there something wrong with my copy, and does it matter?
A: Well, yes there most probably is. A problem at the printers means that the centre four page spread has been put in the booklet the wrong way round. It's easy enough to open the staples and flip it if you have a modelling knife, but in practice it only means that the examples of play are out of sequence so you could leave it as it is..
Q: Wouldn't this have been avoided if you'd put page numbers in it?
A: Who can say? The printers were given the booklet in a pdf format, with the pages in sequence. I was going to put page numbers on the booklet but they looked ugly on the page border. On reflection I could have put them in a nice looking cartouche, but it is too late now (unless it sells really well and the SoA want to do a reprint.
Q: How long should it take to play?
A: A normal game takes about 30 minutes or so. As it's a historical refight the best thing to do is play it twice with each of you taking opposite sides, then comparing the results.
Q: Why do the Hittites always go first?
A: Well, it is an ambush....however we've played it with the Egyptians going first and it gives a more historical outcome - i.e. the Egyptians, particularly Pre - take a real hammering in the early phases, then Ramesses has to claw it back through personal bravery and the timely intervention of the Nearin.
If you want to stretch Pre out even more, then don't let the Hittites move until the turn after they take off the activation tiles.
Q: Can camp attackers pile up in different squares on different turns, and wait for a later turn to launch the 'first assault'?
A: Yes they can, although it isn't recommended.
Q: What happens if one of the Pre chariots breaks through and warns the camp?
A: This has only happened once, and never in play testing so it isn't covered in the rules. However, I suggest you modify the "running away" die roll so that Amun & the Sherden only flee on a 1-2 instead of a 1-4.
Q: If Ramses attacks a square with, say, four Hittite chariots in it and kills one, does he have to follow up and enter the square with the remaining Hittites? If this is the case, would the Hittites in their next turn still roll a die to see how many of them could attack Ramses in their own square?
A:Yes, Ramses has to move into the square. In the next move you have a number of options. If you want you can attack Ramses with the chariots in the square, but they can't move once you've done that. Alternatively you can roll to move into that square and attack with those you move AND the guys left in the square.
Q:Egyptian units can enter the camp if it is unoccupied by Hittites in the same turn they enter one of the surrounding squares (and can then attack a surrounding square also in the same turn). If later in the game, the camp is unoccupied or occupied by Hittites, can the Hittites do the same or do they need to enter the surrounding square and then roll again in the next turn to go into the camp?
A:The camp is different for the Egyptians and the Hittites. The Hittites derive no benefit from it, so they can't get a "pass through" attack like the Egyptians. They also don't get any benefit for defending it or fighting from it .
Q: When the Nearin are activated, are they put on the board in the same turn that they are triggered ie in the Egyptian go straight after the Hittites hit a camp target or make all the camp folk flee or is it in the next turn?
A: It's the same turn, so the Egyptians do not get any Nearin that would have been placed in the rurn track that turn.
Q: Baggage units - does the requirement to stick with baggage override the requirement to move into a square up to the maximum possible?
A: Where the accompanying infantry unit goes, the baggage goes also. Baggage does not count towards units moved (e.g. if you roll a '3' for moving into a square, you could move in, say, a chariot, two infantry and two baggage counters accompanying the infantry)
Q: Attacking the camp worked example (1). The last sentence could be a bit misleading as the Nearin are only activated when the camp is attacked and a hit scored or if all the camp units except Ramses flee?
A: Yes, reading it again it could be misleading. What it refers to is the number of Nearin units that arrive, - ie if you delay another turn then there's more Nearin on the move track to deploy when the attack happens.
Q: The booklet says it's written by Ian Russell Lowell, so who are you to put together this faq list?
A: Well I did the page layout and put the final booklet together and so on. Whilst the game is Ian's the regular Northampton Monday Night team all had some input into the design with mechanisms coming from a number of different people, - and as I built the show presentation version I've probably played it more than anyone else.
Q: Is this the last question on the FAQ list?
A: Why, yes it is.
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