SGBOH provides a single simplified ruleset that can be used to play multiple games in the Great Battles of History (GBOH) series, streamlining rules while still modeling key concepts like combat. It simplifies elements like omitting rules for missile reloading and routed units while speeding up gameplay. Recent changes further clarified rules to align with standard versions and reduce complexity. While some players prefer the increased detail of standard rulesets, SGBOH offers a faster and less fiddly alternative to enjoy the GBOH games.
SGBOH provides a single simplified ruleset that can be used to play multiple games in the Great Battles of History (GBOH) series, streamlining rules while still modeling key concepts like combat. It simplifies elements like omitting rules for missile reloading and routed units while speeding up gameplay. Recent changes further clarified rules to align with standard versions and reduce complexity. While some players prefer the increased detail of standard rulesets, SGBOH offers a faster and less fiddly alternative to enjoy the GBOH games.
SGBOH provides a single simplified ruleset that can be used to play multiple games in the Great Battles of History (GBOH) series, streamlining rules while still modeling key concepts like combat. It simplifies elements like omitting rules for missile reloading and routed units while speeding up gameplay. Recent changes further clarified rules to align with standard versions and reduce complexity. While some players prefer the increased detail of standard rulesets, SGBOH offers a faster and less fiddly alternative to enjoy the GBOH games.
SGBOH provides a single simplified ruleset that can be used to play multiple games in the Great Battles of History (GBOH) series, streamlining rules while still modeling key concepts like combat. It simplifies elements like omitting rules for missile reloading and routed units while speeding up gameplay. Recent changes further clarified rules to align with standard versions and reduce complexity. While some players prefer the increased detail of standard rulesets, SGBOH offers a faster and less fiddly alternative to enjoy the GBOH games.
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1/ 3
What is SGBOH?
SGBOH is a rule-set that provides a single set of rules to play several games from the Great Battles of History (GBOH) series of games. While these games share many rules and concepts they all have different rule-sets tailored to the topic. The series began in 1991 with the Great Battles of Alexander and is now up to Volume 15 with battles from the dawn of recorded warfare to the 16th century.
SGBOH provides a single rule-set for a number (but not all) of these games. Specifically, it can be used with: Deluxe Great Battles of Alexander, SPQR, Caesar: The Civil Wars, Caesar: Conquest of Gaul, Chariots of Fire, Devils Horseman, Hoplite, Chandragupta and Cataphract. Many of these games include information on how to adapt the scenarios to use them with SGBOH, otherwise the Playbook that comes with SGBOH provides this information. There is also a Battle Manual that can be purchased separately to allow you to play over 60 battles that came from earlier copies of the C3i magazine.
How Simple is SGBOH?
Pretty simple. There are only 12 pages of rules with an additional 3 pages of rules covering special units and conditions. For Alexander this compares to 41 pages for the standard rules. Despite the brevity of the rules there is still a good range of conditions modelled. Apart from the core concepts of movement, missile and shock combat there are rules for hit & run tactics, reaction fire, auxilleries, and retreat before combat. There are specific rules for fortifications, elephants (rampage!), chariots, and Roman units. There are a few exceptions and special cases for a number of rules which bump up the rules complexity for me from “simple” to “pretty simple”.
The sequence of play is straightforward. Players take alternate turns activating formations assigned to specific leaders. The other player may sometimes attempt to seize the initiative to activate a formation out of this sequence. Activated leaders can command units assigned to them as a formation equal to their command range or which are adjacent to a unit in command.
A number of people don’t like this activation system as it allows you to activate the same formations repeatedly. This can result in some areas of the battlefield having units repeatedly move while other parts are neglected. While I could see this occurring to a limited degree in my plays I don’t think it is a big issue – formations get worn out pretty quickly and you will want to move other formation in place to battle, protect flanks etc. There is an optional rule that forces the player to roll under the leader’s initiative to activate a formation twice in a row for people who are concerned about this.
To resolve melee combat you compare unit types and direction of attack to get a weapons modifier, roll a die and consult the shock table. Units take hits until they reach their troop quality level and are eliminated. There are a manageable amount of modifiers that are quickly internalised.
Changes to the 2nd Edition rules
There are a number of small but welcome changes to this new edition of SGBOH. There are changes to the weapons matrix, ZOC, facing, and command rules to simplify and bring them in line with the standard rules. Cohesion hits are no longer a shock modifier which speeds up shock resolution and reduces the fiddliness of having to check for hits under each unit involved. There is also no longer a Reduced sides for units. Overall these make games more straightforward and faster playing than the previous edition.
Differences between SGBOH and the standard rules
I haven’t played the standard rules but have reviewed them. Overall my impression is that the standard rules provide a more detailed game with an increased play-time as well as accounting. Estimated play-times for SGBOH are typically about half the standard rules.
SGBOH simplifies or omits a number of rules from the standard game. For example, the standard game has rules for missile reloading and missile supply (each tracked with a separate counter) which are absent from SGBOH. The standard game models the movement and rallying of routed units, in SGBOH routed units are simply eliminated. In Alexander the standard game also include rules for leader personal combat, as well as much more detailed command structure and seizure (momentum and trump) rules.
Summary and Conclusions
I think SGBOH succeeds admirably at what it is aiming to do – that is to provide a more streamlined, simplified and faster playing ruleset that allows you to play a number of the GBOH series games with the one set of rules. I don’t think SGBOH is better or worse than the standard game, just different. Some players may prefer the increased detail the standard rules provide and are happy to play longer sessions with a little more need to track different states. There is a recent thread on the Alexander game page asking people what they prefer between SGBOH and the standard rule set (spoiler, most preferred the standard rules) – see: SGBOH or Full GBOH?
For me, SGBOH hits the sweet spot with both playtime and rule complexity with the bonus of minimal counter clutter. Highly recommended.
