Arcane Warfare Excel

Arcane Warfare Excel, 5th Edition

AWE is the main simulation of the Arcane Warfare project.

It consists on a set of miniature rules dedicated to Ancient and Medieval gaming. This version is a direct heir of the former 'AWr' game versions, online from September 2002.

AWE as first released was a completely new gaming system, featuring not only Arcane's semi-simultaneous turn system (no alternate turns) but also a flexible combat system, allowing free assembing of single stands into larger formations (or 'phalanxes').
Flexibility encompasses combat, with exactly the same rules covering single and multiple stand battles.

Summary of the rules

In AWE one stand is the smallest body of men you can issue orders to. By default 15mm or smaller models are used, considering the required table sizes, but suggestions for 28mm are also provided.

The standard 15mm game is on 120x90cm tables with around 35 bases per side, with larger games - roughly double size - possible.

Basing conventions do make sense, meaning all the edge length's are multiples of the movement unit. But it is perfectly possible to play with any set of same frontage bases, at the loss of some clarity.

In our semi-simultaneous turn system commanders issue orders by the sequence of initiative dice, regardless of the side. The sequence has been tunned accordingly to command grades (v4.0) allowing the players to take key decisions concerning the initiative, without the need for chart consulting.

Shooting is performed as units are given orders; combat takes place only after all units have moved, including both sides.

There are 15 main troop types further split in 6 categories: average, berserk, elite, raw, stubborn and veteran. All can fight in single stands or as large formations.

What is new in the 5th Edition

- Composite phalanxes supported, consisting of troops assembled in two files each consisting of a single troop type. This allows 'reserves' to join a single line anytime and come immediately into play where necessary. Now purchasing a couple of stands may not mean simply a waist of Army Points.

- Simplified shooting sequence where higher scores are simply matched. It is no longer needed to specify a target stand by stand, as priority rules apply only to casualty selection. This speeds up play considerably.

- Troop rating rules revised, with Elite troops now able to perform Elan autonomously (without depending on command).

- Risk to commanders involved in battle slighty increased, with a maximum of one Elan roll per turn.

What do you get

The rules include a 3 page Index, 41 rule pages and 40 diagrams; a reference sheet and 36 Roman Period lists.
They are delivered as a 1.89MB zipped file.

The rules are exclusively distributed in .pdf and the cost will be 1.9 euro per license, to help cut down on publicity and copyrighted images' cost.

The purchase of supplements besides the rules will not be necessary, ever.

You'll need a recent version of the Adobe Acrobat reader to open the files.

5.1 Upgrade available from 26th March 2010

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General update policy: any license will entitle the owner to request any free updates within one year of purchase.