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L'Art de la Guerre Resources Page

This page is my directory of L'Art de la Guerre Resources for the ADLG / ADG wargame rules. It links to other things on this site, and to a host of external sources for L'Art de la Guerre (mostly in English).

L'Art de la Guerre is a ruleset which was originally developed in France, and had undergone a couple of editions before the 3rd edition was translated into English and published in English-speaking countries.

The rules play like a combination of an updated, cleaned up DBM with an infusion of some of the elements of FoG. Each army is - in the standard game size - about 20-25 maneuver elements,. This means you only need maybe close on 40 bases of standard DBx-based troops, as Heavy and Medium Infantry types are represented by 2 standard bases locked together as a (15mm) 40x40 "DBE" base leaving LI and mounted troops as single bases. This is for the 200 point version of the game with 3 commands, which plays out in under 2 hours - you can also play a slightly larger 300 point version which will see you going to 4 commands and maybe 30-40 maneuver elements. Either way the shift to this many separate units is very DBx, and playing with this many units, where each DBE is a separate unit gives much more of a "big battle" feel than the 10-14 muli-base units in FoG.

Everything you need comes in the one volume rulebook - which is a hansome beast, with 240 pages including all of the lists for the ancient and medieval era. The lists appear to have been painstakingly researched, erm, I suspect, probably by reading 4 key "historical texts", but rather than organising them by "books 1-4" there are separate sections for different geographies and eras to allow more easy themed competitions.

L'Art de la Guerre Wargaming

In 25/28mm most infantry units are based on 60mm x 60mm, and the 200 point game plays extremely well with 20 or so moving units on a near standard sized table.

The core mechanics are also DBx-based, with opposed dice rolls between elements forming the core combat mechanic and pips for command and movement. Where it differs from DBx rules is that each "unit" has a number of cohesion points or hits. Heavy infantry can take 3 hits before a 4th hit removes them from play, Medium Infantry and Cavalry have 3 hit points in total, and light troops 2. Each time you lose a combat or shooting duel you suffer one or more hits - but a general can also rally units to remove hits. This sounds like a subtle difference, but it introduces a whole new dimension to troop types and how they are used comared to both DBx and FoG rules - "resilience". Heavy Infantry have greater abiilty to take punishment than Mediums, and so you can be confident that a line of Heavy Foot will take longer to grind down than a line of Medium Foot - irrespective of Armour or Troop Quality.

L'Art de la Guerre Wargaming

Troop Quality works to mitigate poor dice rolls by Superior troops, and reduce the possibility of extremely good dice rolls by poor troops - which feels logical. Armour also works in an old-school logical way, making troops with better armour harder to beat. There are a number of other common-sense post-combat effects to add flavour and variety, such as "barbarian" troops inflicting extra hits on the enemy if they win in the first round of combat, or mounted troops doing likewise when beating Medium Foot in the open. Unlike DBx games, Light troops do also shoot - which is an irritant with potential to become significant if left unopposed, rather than a game winning tactic and mechanic as it sort of became in FoG.

L'Art de la Guerre Wargaming.

I did say earlier that it is a cleaned-up DBM, and that means that even though its translated from French, there is no 'Barkerese' - plenty of diagrams, and the rules, which are already V3.0, really show that they have been playtested extensively on the French competition circuit so that pretty much every niggle you can imagine has been ironed out before this edition. The author is active on the forum, and any queries usually get a direct repsonse and a quick turnaround - anything even slightly vague is included in the latest FAQ, which is also updated regularly

Internationally the rules are now well embedded in the competition community with active circuits running across France, Belgium, Spain The USA, the UK, Italy, Australia, Ireland, Greece and New Zealand amongst others. As of today ADLG is the most widely played Ancients competition ruleset in the world, and by some margin in the UK where 200+ players have entered an event in the last 12 months

I also set up an L'Art de la Guerre Wiki which has a separate page for every ADLG army containing historical data, links to other sites, tactical tips on using the army, and all the army lists I come across for that particular list, as well (sometimes) as where to buy (15mm) figures from, a list of relevant books and collated results from competitions. This is here in The ADLG Wiki, where you can edit the pages yourself (yes, honestly!) and add stuff to it. So, you can add more detail on loads of ADLG armies, including Army Lists, Tactical Tips, 15mm figure suppliers, photos, external links, history and relevant books

Other L'Art de la Guerre Stuff and resources

Online groups and resources

  • My rant about why it would be great if we all used the same rules - and why ADLG might well be that set
  • the Official Forum online in multiple languages
  • the English language FAQ, updated and to download
  • ADLG Playing Aids for Newbies - lots of really useful stuff from Martin at Vexillia
  • Kurtus Browns Youtube Channel - for ADLG !
  • Global Ranking system - see how many players around the world are taking part in ADLG competitions
  • ADLG List Builder Online - at Little Army Designer
  • UK Rankings - compiled by the BHGS
  • Other Blogs, websites with ADLG stuff

  • Phil on Ancients ADLG Blog - many, many battle reports
  • Rough Wars blog - batreps at 100 points and more
  • Sgt Steiners Blog - reviews, battle reports
  • Despertaferres ADLG Blog
  • Wall of Shields - battle reports, focused on Romans
  • The Shire & Everything After Blog - battle reports from the North Eastern borders of England
  • Irregular Wars Blog - lots of content, and some lovely 6mm armies
  • Tales from a Wargame Shed - mostly battle reports
  • WWPD - 28mm battles
  • The Wargamer website - a full review
  • Urban Bunnie - battle reports and reneral ramblings
  • The Recoilling Knight and the Surrounded Spear - a review and more
  • The Waving Flag - Martin from Vexilia's blog, with playing aids and helpful downloads
  • By Brush & Sword - more battle reports
  • Twin Cities Gamer Blog - those clicks and hisses sound like ..L'Art de la Guerre
  • Caliga Spanish manufacturer making ADLG mats, including deployment zones pre-marked
  • Tiny Wargames sell custom-sized battle mats
  • The Hordes of Things blog takes on ADLG
  • Battle Reports

  • Limerick 2018 - Irelands first ADLG competition with a Han Chinese army. 5 Reports
  • A new format of top-down video reports show off the strategy - or lack of it - in 5 games from sunny Bristol. The army is Nikephorian, and it's Dogs of War 2018
  • An Alexandrian army takes on all comers in 5 games of ADLG from The Worlds @ BHGS Challenge 2018
  • The Aechemenid Persians at Campaign 2018.
  • Greece is The Word as the European ADLG circuit hits a 5th (if you count Wales) overseas territory with as the Ghaznavid army in 5 reports from Patras 2018..
  • The Welsh on the Roman Road in 28mm action as a Welsh army takes on all comers. Its Roll Call 2018.
  • 15mm Samurai pro-painted at 350 points - see the Samurai at Burton
  • A rather aggressive looking Patrician army in 300 point doubles action in these 5 match reports from Patricians at Cardiff
  • A one-off social game in which the Sassanids make another appearance and take on the Huns. Will Attila's men triumph in this Christmas Special battle report
  • A fully-Chariot Ancient British army aims to Brexit it's way out of historical mediocrity iin 3 reports of the wheeled wonders - see if Cassivellaunus can make a success out of the ancient world's most unloved troop type
  • The much-trailed 28mm Patrician Roman army gets it's first competitive run-out in these 5 match reports from Derby in Bruntingthorpe 2017
  • Alexander The Great's classical army in 6 battle reports from an event held in Spain
  • A wall of Spearmen move up as the Rus take to the stage for the first time since the pre-2008 DBM era. See how this one dimensional approach fares in 5 reports.
  • Brand new Sassanids do their best at 300 points in the NEC Birmingham in these BHGS Challenge 2017 reports against many similar armies
  • The Sicilian Normans bring their own style and joie de vivre to Milton Keynes in the 6 reports from Campaign 2017 against a range of historical opponents
  • Dacians make a rare outing in three reports. Is it a car crash, or do the wheels just fall off on their own in these 3 L'Art de la Guerre reports of the Dacians in action.
  • Godendingdangdag Doubles as the Early Romans and Judeans show just what the Romans Ever Did For Us
  • Warfare 2016 : Five battle reports from Warfare featuring a Spring and Autumn Chinese which may give you a bad case of indegestion or just leave you hungry for more?
  • Estella 2016 Another set of reports from Europe - 5 games in Spain with a Patrician Roman army trying some new tactics
  • The Worlds 2016 Fruit Based Drinks and Post Industrial Decay - 6 match reports where I get schooled
  • ADLG in 25mm - it works really well! from Devizes - 4 match reports
  • Bows and Arrows in a tank battle with the Early Persians at the Saumur Tank Museum in the South(ish) of France.
  • 28mm action with Medieval Italians in 4 Reports from Devizes in the sunny West Country...
  • The BHGS Challenge 2016 is where five fames of ADLG and some long-forgotten figures come blinking into the daylight in Feudal Spains Greatest Hour with the army of El Cid
  • ADLG makes its way into Roll Call and a Ponic army takes on every single imaginable flavour of Romans in 5 reports, with rules hints and explanations scattered throughout the Mithraditic shambles that these games represent
  • 4 multimedia reports from Burton 2016 in a 500BC-500AD competition with added curry and video
  • 4 in-depth reports, photos and battle maps plus many thousands of words as Condotta and French Medieval Armies go toe to toe against a range of medieval opponents at Godendag 2016
  • 3 match reports featuring the Carthaginians at Central London 2015 - includes loads of rules tips and hints
  • A game of Gauls vs Carthaginians - one of the first games I played - includes rules tips and hints
  • A game of Republican Romans vs Carthaginians - literally my first game
  • Results and post event review from Central London in 2015
  • The Germans are coming - 5 whole games of Feudal Germans from the 2015 BHGS Challenge
  • The Legions of Rome take part in what was the first ever UK event for ancients ruleset L'Art de la Guerre - in Oxford -lots of rules-learning tips in here too.
  • The Match Reports Index has loads of game reports with photos, stories, comedy sound effects and most importantly of all, Hannibals sarcastic commentary.
  • A textbook new player's question about ADLG

    Q: I want to embrace these rules as they seem to be the flavour of the month. I like all apart from the combat. It just seems like it's all in the dice rolls, and the factors mean little. If there is an advantage it is either 1 or maybe 2. Too much relies on the dice roll. You can be 1 ahead but still lose drastically

    A: Yeah, that's a fairly common initial reaction TBH. There are a few things that most players tend to realise fairly soon though:

  • Firstly the %age odds of a +1 or +2 advantage are more material than you think - calculate them and see!
  • Secondly, armour and elite status have a big part to play - and most interactions end up with one side or the other with armour or different status and so getting these matchups in your favour a big part of the skill of play.
  • Thirdly once you get a feel for the number of hits each unit can absorb before being removed, and how things like Furious Charge can inflict extra hits also changes the way the game feels (very different to DBx games where its all binary, they are there or they are gone for example).
  • Fourth, it means that overlaps and flanks are hugely important in the game - and generating these is really a lot of where the 'player skill' comes into its own.
  • Fifth - lets face it, how much do we really know about ancient combat and who would have what %age of winning? A simple and abstract system that flows quickly but has some depth too is a pretty good win given that too much complexity is probably not simulating historical reality any better anyway.
  • Finally, having a game where big dice rolls can skew the result and create a 'wow' moment where a beleaguered unit fights its way out of a hole, or a Guards unit stutters and stumbles against a bunch of hapless peasants is actually quite fun once you learn to embrace it!
  • Ancient Wargaming Resources useful for ADLG on this site

  • Georgian Flags for 15mm Cavalry - blog entry and some ideas and links
  • Pulling together a Ghaznavid List - a Podcast with Ethan Zorick
  • Designing a winning Sassanid list - a Podcast with Richard Case
  • The 15mm Suppliers Index has a full listing with links of every 15mm ancients supplier I now - and you can vote on the quality of the minis as well
  • The 15mm Picture Gallery has thousands of photos of painted minis, and is fully searchable - and tells you which armies they might be useful for, as well as listing who makes them
  • Lots of L'Art de la Guerre Baggage - a page of 40 x 80 wonderment.
  • 15mm Indian or Kushan allied command for ADLG
  • 28mm Generals suitable for ADLG
  • 15mm Sassanids based up for ADLG
  • Wargamers Bookshop - buy history & wargaming books
  • To My Easy 15mm Hoplite Painting Guide
  • To My Easy 15mm Generic Ancient Infantry Painting Guide
  • 28mm Perry Longbowmen for ADLG
  • Where to buy L'Art de la Guerre rules

  • Firestorm Games (UK)
  • Breaking Wars (Spain)
  • Miniaturicum (Germany)
  • Frontline Games (Germany)
  • Sologiochi in Roma (Italy)
  • Tempos Medievais in Portugal
  • RR Decor (Belgium)
  • War & Peace Games (Australia/New Zealand)
  • On Military Matters (USA)
  • L'Art de la Guerre Wargaming

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