To the Strongest

To the Strongest! is a set of simple rules for Ancient and Medieval tabletop wargaming.  It enables a battle to be fought with model soldiers on a dining room table and won or lost in less than two hours. But the rules also support huge battles, with several thousand figures and up to five players a side.

Games can be played with miniatures in any scale and based for any of the common wargaming rules systems.  A grid enables players to completely dispense with measurement, and so permits the game to move along at a cracking pace. To the Strongest! uses a unique activation system driven by either playing cards or chits. This system introduces uncertainty to a battle; in some turns a unit can move four or five times, and in others not even once. The same deck of cards is used to resolve shooting and melee.  No dice whatsoever need to be rolled! Playable by up to a dozen players, the rules also work well for solo gamers.

The rules include scenarios, terrain and points values to support those players who wish to play competitively. Numerous army lists are available online, from the Biblical era through to the late 15th century.

They have been designed so that they can be used for anything from solo play with 100 or so miniatures through to huge games with 3000 plus miniatures and up to 5 players a side. A square grid has been used to promote speed of play. This also enables figures which have been based on different frontages for use with a variety of rule systems to be used together on the same battlefield.

Absolutely no dice are used in To the Strongest! Instead, an innovative (and entertaining) mechanism uses playing cards to activate units, which can each potentially move or fight multiple times during the same turn. Shooting and melees are resolved quickly and decisively, amidst a flurry of playing cards….

Despite their relative simplicity, the author believes that these rules capture the essential flavour of an ancient or medieval battle, and that the more seasoned gamer will find more than enough command decisions to entertain and challenge him. He wishes that players may enjoy very many happy games, and may victory always fall to the strongest!

The rules have been written in plain English