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Warhammer Ancient Battles

#8003BGG ↗

1998 · 2-2 players · 120min · weight 3.33 · 219 ratings

v2 v3 v4 wide v4 deep

BGG raw

ID
8003
Name
Warhammer Ancient Battles
Year
1998
Rank
9875
Min players
2
Max players
2
Playing time
120
Min playtime
120
Max playtime
120
Avg weight
3.3333
Num weights
27
Bayes avg
5.59065
Average
6.73288
Users rated
219
Num owned
517
Wanting
6
Wishing
32
Num comments
91
Fetched at
Wed Apr 29 2026 05:34:56 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Mechanisms (5)
Dice RollingLine of SightMeasurement MovementSimulationVariable Player Powers
Categories (4)
AncientBookMiniaturesWargame
Description (1642 chars)

Warhammer Ancient Battles is a historically-orientated version of the popular Warhammer rules. Originally created as an independent spin-off from the Warhammer Fantasy Battle rules, it was subsequently brought back in-house at Games Workshop and now functions as a separate division of the company. Some of the rules inconsistencies that the parent game is so famous for have been ironed out, as have some of the more outrageously unrealistic rules. Don't expect massive historical accuracy though: the emphasis is still on a fun, playable system over real historical or military realism. The rulebook tells you everything you need to play the game and comes with two generic army lists for "Romans" and "Barbarians". The authors actively encourage players to get their miniatures from a range of different manufacturers. Further army list supplements are available and you'll need to supply your own scenery too! Expanded by: Warhammer: Armies of Antiquity – A Supplement for Ancient Battles (1999) (no longer in print, replaced by the all the following...) Warhammer: Fall of the West – A Supplement for Ancient Battles (2000) Shieldwall (2002) Warhammer: Chariot Wars – A Supplement for Ancient Battles (2002) Alexander the Great (2003) Armies of Chivalry (2004) Spartacus (2004) Byzantium: Beyond the Golden Gate (2005) Hannibal and the Punic Wars (2005) El Cid (2006) Vlad the Impaler (2006) The Age of Arthur (2007) The Art of War (2007) Siege & Conquest (2007) Reprinted once, with the errata (version 1.5). Warhammer Ancient Battles, 2nd edition was published April 2010.

LLM v2 (wide)

Not yet enriched at v2 (wide pass).

LLM v3 (deep)

Not yet enriched at v3 (deep pass).

LLM v4 wide (controlled-vocab primitives)

Not yet enriched at v4 (wide pass).

LLM v4 deep (archetype fit)

Not in the v4 deep-pass top-20% slice.