Hail Caesar 2nd Edition - In Depth Flip Through

I recieved my pre order copy of the new edition of Hail Caesar by Warlord Games, but instead of doing a review of the game (as essentailly nothing has really changed from the 1st Edition) i thought i'd do an indepth flip through the book, look at the new layout, try and identify any new additions to the rules and most of all check out the new WOTR section.
This is a long video of essentially me just talking and reading through the book so i have bookmarked different sections below as i appreciate that not everyone may be intrested in the whole thing so feel free to skip to the sections that interest you. Once again i repeat this is not a review as i feel my views on the HC system are probably known already (check out the battle reports :D)
Intro 0:00
Rules Intro, Unit Sizes and Basing, Formations 8:41
Game Rules, COmmand 11:42
Ranged Attacks 13:31
Hand to Hand Combat 15:19
Break Tests, Disorder, Commanders, Victory & Defeat 17:18
Troop Types, Special Rules, Terrain 21:46
One on One Games, Setting up a Game 26:29
Army Lists, Late Medieval Battles, Siege and Assault 29:45
Rules Summary 41:00
Final Thoughts 42:20
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[@SHARK-yq5pr]

Sir, you have done an excellent presentation here! I have recently considered jumping into ancient and medieval wargames, and Hail Caesar sounds outstanding! My passion bounces from Ancient Romans to later Medieval eras, so I will likely collect more than one army for sure, even beyond a Roman Army. Your passion and enthusiasm for the product is contagious! I love it! I have also subscribed to your channel here. Thank you very much for your efforts, and I look forward to seeing more videos from your channel. Semper Fidelis, SHARK

[@7thson726]

You're very welcome, glad you enjoyed it, thanks for taking the time to comment 👍

[@inthetrencheswithcas1762]

Great energy I think I’ll buy this beautiful book

[@7thson726]

Thanks very much, it's a great book, plenty to get stuck into 👍

[@DocPhantoms]

I am honestly quite pleased about the new edition. It clarified a lot and introduced some sensible changes and additions. Not to mention it is quite easier to read through in the heat of a scrap

[@7thson726]

Couldn't agree more 👍

[@paulspaintshed3511]

My son bought me this for Xmas and it's just arrived. He's got me the special edition and I'm impressed with the book it's a great product. More than that I'm truly humbled by my sons generosity!

[@7thson726]

Lovely stuff, I was sorely tempted by that. I will show my daughter's this in years to come when it's on 6th edition 😁👍

[@steveharbour845]

A detailed contents page. I'm sold

[@7thson726]

Haha agreed 😁

[@MiniatureRealms]

Excellent review Martin. What a lovely looking book, I need to get one now 😂

[@7thson726]

Definitely dude 😁

[@TheRendar]

Excellent overview ! Looking forward to picking this up and having a go. Keep up the great content.

[@7thson726]

Cheers mate 👍 glad you liked it, next stop, get a game in 😁

[@kenneths9831]

Great video. I have been a Warlord games fan for a while. The section on one on one games with the orders each issued individually reminds me of Warmaster…which was Rick Priestly as well. Keep up all the great content and I always look forward to your battle reports.

[@7thson726]

Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it 👍 hopefully have a game using the new edition in the next few weeks

[@Shardifier]

Great fun, thanks for sharing - looking forward to when you go through the Wars of the Roses supplement!

[@7thson726]

No problem, glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@lionheart3916]

Great look at the new edition Martin, definitely going to pick this up, obviously want the new Richard miniature as well lol

[@7thson726]

Awesome 👍 he's a nice miniature, trying to decide how to use him

[@vonketteringham]

Really well done Martin 👍👍

[@7thson726]

Thanks mate 👍

[@TheEccentricMan]

Not played Hail Caesar as a rule set but this looks a very well set out and written book. Thank you for the review, as I have WOTR armies I look forward to the battle report.

[@7thson726]

Cheers mate, really pleased you enjoyed it 👍

[@BattleMatt]

Great stuff. I can't wait to get hold of my copy. I really need to get playing more with my WotR and my Romans in the next year. I think what impressed me most was your ability to open a blister without Scissors...

[@7thson726]

Haha absolutely, also not shredding my hands to ribbons on the plastic 😁

[@andyshaw5378]

Great video and review

[@7thson726]

Thanks Andy, glad you liked it 👍

[@redsven7624]

Really nice walk-through. Based on the seminar at the open day it was said to be the war of the rose supplement. The author was in the audience and I think the first draft was in process.

[@7thson726]

Excellent news, cheers 👍

[@NicGamz]

Great flip through. Im still waiting for my HC-2nd Edition book. 👍

[@7thson726]

Cheers bud 👍

[@garyarmitage9359]

Excellent Review!

[@7thson726]

Thanks very much 👍

[@liberator2408]

Nice one mate, expecting my copy tomorrow

[@7thson726]

Cheers buddy 🙂

[@8eos80]

If you want to sound more Greek, pronounce the Byzantines as Be-zan-teens (like, "to be") :). Great video for someone like me who's looking into starting wargames with Hail of Caesar!

[@7thson726]

Haha awesome, thanks for that, will give it a go next game 👍 glad you found the video useful

[@Mittens_Gaming]

Great video! I need to start playing again!

[@7thson726]

Really pleased you enjoyed it 👍

[@grantpavitt3198]

Thank you for the update of the new rules.

[@7thson726]

No problem my friend 👍

[@grantpavitt3198]

Good morning Martin hope alls well. Our next game is on the 23rd feb the battle of Brunanbuch 937. If you would like to come along and check it out let me know Grant

[@thestoicsteve]

Thanks for the flip through. I was looking for a rule set to use with my growing viking and saxons forces and have just ordered this rule book. I may also try it with my wars of the roses forces. I expect I will buy the Epic Romans whenever they are released and I imagine their rules will be similar to these. Hope you are enjoying crack con!

[@7thson726]

Thanks for watching, glad it helped 👍

[@lesliebeilby-tipping6854]

Thanks for this run through Martin. Looks like your extra bits for WotR will still work as they are just extra. As you say the diagrams are simpler to understand. There was talk of a complete supplement for 100 Years War, so perhaps that's why there is not much in the rules at the moment.

[@7thson726]

Cheers Leslie, glad you liked it. Hopefully there will be one for the later medieval period if not specifically the WOTR or the HYW. I've been back through he videos and interviews and I think the talk of a supplement and ten the expansion of the core book to the WOTR has been conflated somewhat, we'll just have to wait for Warlord to confirm. My adaptation should still work fine as you say, if anything I now have more options to add in for units and characters as well as a points system for those who want it 😁

[@davekitcat8061]

Thanks Martin, my arrived yesterday and I agree, it's different and lacks the 1st Edition's battle reports, but this does look to be a lot clearer and with a sharper layout of the rules which are the main thing. The optional command rules sound like a look back to how Warmaster works with up to three successive orders.

[@7thson726]

Cheers Dave, totally agree 👍

[@iainthepict55]

Not sure how much i really need it but it looks really nice and i'll probably just get it anyway,was just waiting to see what people thought.

[@7thson726]

Yeah honesty if you wanted to just carry on with V1 you could easily find out the few changes and just incorporate them into your game, but then this book is nicer and way easier to reference 👍

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

Keep em coming.

[@7thson726]

Cheers buddy, will do 👍

[@LegionMiniatureGames]

I still have the first Core Rulebook and a Roman starter army box I haven’t touched yet. I need to get caught up and get an army built!

[@7thson726]

Definitely, it's a Great system to have fun with and scales well with a few adjustments if you don't have loads of troops 👍

[@Edward-Plantagenet]

Back for a second comment LOL. Love your videos, always very inspiring and you seem easily able to achieve what critics of the rules say you can’t, get a good game out of Hail Caesar! Few quick questions if I may. I could probably fathom it by going through your vids but, as a gift for someone wanting to do WOTR Yorkists, what would be a reasonable shopping list using Perry miniatures. I don’t mean bare minimum, enough for a starter, but enough to game properly with the options. Also, I couldn't see any of the larger guns under the Perry WOTR collections. Do you use ECW guns? Also, do you know of a summary anywhere that lists the actual rule differences between v1 and this v2?

[@7thson726]

No Problem, really glad you enjoy them. A good starting shopping list would be 1 box each of the Perry WOTR Infantry and foot knights (this shouldlet you build about 4 units, 2 of each if you add a few foot knights over to the Bill & Bow), a metal commander and a cannon. This would give you a decent sized Division/Ward to joina game. 1 commander and 5 units, inc a cannon. You could then build it out by adding some light horse or even some handgunners etc. i just use the cannons from Perry though the bombard is there if you need it. There aren't too many differences between V1 and V2 but thre is a concise little sumamry on this thread chicagoterrainfactory.wordpress.com/2023/02/15/hail-caesar-2nd-edition/ hope all this helps

[@Edward-Plantagenet]

@@7thson726 Brilliant. Thanks for the reply! Shopping list sounds good. Where was your Rebuildaqin from! Did / would you consider adding two other personalities to your excellent document. I think your character profiles are definitely needed as opposed to just bland 8 across the board! The characters I was thinking of (though they might actually be better as just a figure on a base rather than having any effect, are Sir Andrew Trollope Rhys Ap Thomas

[@markhartridge4379]

thanks Martin, very interesting. I wish I could decide how the units should fight - complete retinues together, troop types seperated etc. plus how are all the shire and city levies incorporated and commanded. Why didn't one of the scribes record this stuff!

[@7thson726]

I feel your pain, why didn't they focus more on the everyday soldier then the big cheese's, good thing is we can try things one way and if it doesn't work change it for the next game 👍

[@YohanPlaine]

Yes ! 🍾

[@7thson726]

😁👍

[@MrSuperchippy74]

Thanks Martin , good flip through. If I have got this right, in this set you can do away with the 3 turns if you roll low enough and roll each time? I assume there will be a minus one on each subsequent roll?

[@7thson726]

Basically yes, you would just say "I want to activate unit X" then roll, if successful move them, then you would say "I want to activate them again" roll again, up to 3 times. There is no modifier, unless the unit has triggered one for being further away from the commander. Your having to roll more checks to the chance of failing is increased naturally, also as before if you fail an order check, that's it for that commander and his division, the rest don't do anything 👍

[@MedievalWargamer]

Great Review Dear Martin! Unless i missed something there is no specific HYW section but are there any army lists to be used for the period?

[@7thson726]

Thanks Nik, glad you liked it buddy 👍 there isn't a specific list but one could easily be created from the troop types and the basic army composition for Late medieval armies, maybe tweek it a bit so the French can have more cavalry etc. It's pretty straightforward to do and is what I'm doing right now for my 1st Crusade stuff 👍

[@jimmypalm9956]

An expansion book hopefully soon. :)

[@clarkcommando1983]

Well done thank you

[@7thson726]

No problem 👍😁

[@thomasbreed8270]

Fantastic review! I just ordered my copy and am looking forward to getting started with the game. You got me hooked on Dead Man's Hand and thoroughly love the game. Now I see a new rabbit hole to adventure down into with Hail Caesar. By the way, I see the ANYCUBIC Photon Mono X 6K Resin 3D Printer behind you, is this a new venture for you? I'm seriously looking at 3D printing and would enjoy hearing your perspective on the subject.

[@7thson726]

Really pleased you enjoyed it 👍 yeah the printer was a treat to myself at the end of last year, I've used it quite a bit now. I see it as a great addition to my hobby, the ability to look something up, download then print it is awesome however it's not as straightforward as some would have you believe, it takes a while to get the settings dialled in so you're printing to the best quality you can. I just took my time, did loads of tests. Hope that helps 👍

[@thomasbreed8270]

@@7thson726 Yes it does, thank you. I'm in the initial stages of doing research on printers. Very interesting what is out there, especially in STL files.

[@grahamtravers4522]

Note the mistake on the WOTRs map, where Gloucester is placed north of Warwick !!

[@7thson726]

Haha I hadn't noticed that... I can't work that one out 😅

[@stefan-georgfuchs9618]

Hi, I like your vids on HC and how you approach historic wargaming in general. As a newcomer in HC (2) , but not in wargaming in general, I have a question to you : Have you ever thought about applying alternating activation in Hail Caesar ? In my former Flames of War Gaming-Group we "amalgamated" the activation system of Bolt Action with FoW 3 rules and got some very interesting and exciting playing experience out of it. What we did is infact, we played as 3-4 factions ( 2 sides but different Divisions on either side spread over 3-4 players ). Each player got one dice per Unit he commanded. Dice per player had all different colors ( using the BA ones ). The player who will have the first draw of a die from the bag was determined by a dice roll for all players. Afterwards, the players , one after another, drew a die from the bag and the player who's color got drawn, could take action with 1 ( one ) of his units. Then the die was taken aside. and the next player drew a die from the bag. Since no player knew in advance who's die he may draw next, the level of excitement grew over the course of the battle round, This could, of course, result in the fact that sometimes one player got his color drawn 2 or 3 times in a row, but this was evened out as less and less of this players dice were left in the bag..so others chances of getting 2 or 3 units activated in a row grew with each die drawn from the bag. Now I could imagine, doing a kind of alternating "activation in HC too. Maybe not so granular as we did with dice, but maybe by letting each player activating only one Division at a time with a minimum movement of 6" if the orders failed. When all divisions from both players have been activated ( dome something ) the Battleround is over. What do you think of this idea ? best regards from the continent , Stefan

[@7thson726]

Thanks very much. I have played it that way, once, but felt it didn't really work with the size of the armies in play and the lingering effects such as disorder. I go you go still has its place I feel where as smaller games of a few units or skirmish bases seem to run better on an alternative activation system. As combats are simultaneous we find the game is still pretty dynamic, hope this helps 👍

[@wolftooth6678]

Cooleo! Been considering getting started for a while. I prefer the Bronze/Early Iron age and theres not really a lot of miniature wargames that actually support that period like this one does... Looking forward to another Army lists supplement for Earlier Eras for 2e!

[@7thson726]

Glad you found it useful. I would love to see more supplements for this era, esp the Iron Age as that's my area of specialism for work 😁

[@jasesask]

Getting my physical copy today. Does anyone know when the war of the roses supplement is due out? I have loads of 6mm miniatures waiting.

[@7thson726]

I don't think there is a set date and I think it's also just a rumour at the moment, there seems to have been some conflation between a supplement and the section in the new rulebook. We'll have to wait for Warlord to confirm outright what the plans are 👍

[@evantaylor9626]

Howdy was just wondering if the war of the roses campaign rules had been released and where to get them? :)

[@7thson726]

They are nearly done, just finishing up the scenario section 👍

[@Edward-Plantagenet]

Great and insightful video. I really like Black Powder and use it for Napoleonics (in 15mm and now Epic) but I wasn’t taken with Hail Caesar when we tried it. For us, all the BP stable of rules work better in 15mm or less on 6*4 tables, but even with that adaptation Hail Caesar missed the mark. Maybe it’s a mental blockage where in BP you are using units that generally operated in brigades so the command structure works well. It seemed to fit ancients less well with a centre, left and right wing. Much better book and layout overall but I’m not sold enough to buy the latest version. Maybe your battle report using the vanilla v2 will change my mind. Looking forward to it (while I try to resist Epic ECW) 😂

[@7thson726]

Thanks very much. I do take your point but we've never had an issue to be honest, for the medieval period especially with the 3 Ward structure acting similar to divisions or brigades it seems to work well. That being said though I understand how someone just using the book may struggle if they were coming to it fresh, personally I enjoy changing things, making house rules etc but others sometimes don't feel as confident. I'm hoping that game will be up in the near future 😁🤞

[@Edward-Plantagenet]

@@7thson726 Will look out for it. Believe me, we have made a load of changes to BP, both from official supplements and house rules, we just didn’t click with HC. Looking forward to the v2 report nonetheless and also if you do any more ECW.

[@granapriego]

I had the email, mine has just been sent. I went for the special edition.

[@7thson726]

Hope you like it mate, I was pretty impressed with the quality of it 👍

[@norm977]

Thank you.

[@7thson726]

No worries 🙂

[@norm977]

@@7thson726 picked a copy up today at Vapnartak, mainly for the WotR stuff.

[@7thson726]

@@norm977 awesome, did you go for the standard one or the all singing all dancing version ?

[@norm977]

@@7thson726 No, standard, it was around £33 from Caliver Books, though Warlord Games were also at the show, so there was plenty of opportunity to get this into peoples hands.

[@HistoricalConflict]

Wait do the miniatures not come with bases?

[@7thson726]

Most boxes of minis come with some sort of base but some don't. Depends on the game you're playing or how you want them to look

[@chadvader974]

Could you please direct me to the supplement you posted a while back to the war of the roses hail Caesar rules please?

[@7thson726]

Here you go drive.google.com/file/d/11S1rgQA4cScPCAQXT-VUzzXzJb5oY5h7/view?usp=drivesdk it'll send me a notification which I can approve and you should be able to download it 😁

[@chadvader974]

@@7thson726 thank you so much

[@7thson726]

@@chadvader974 no problems, any issues just let me know 👍

[@jebstuart4004]

Hello, Does it cover middle age ?

[@7thson726]

Yes it does ancients up to late medieval 👍

[@martinradcliffe4798]

I prefer rules to narrow their period focus rather than broaden it.

[@7thson726]

I understand that, that is something that can be achieved through additional supplements I guess. At least here people who are more casual gamers can play a broad range of games if they so wish using 1 system ,👍

[@martinradcliffe4798]

@@7thson726 Oh yes, there is much to be said for a broad system that allows people to try out a new period or two. And as you say, there is much scope for supplements.

[@kennethniegut5517]

It sucks, I do not like the war of the roses, what about ancient army lists???????????????????????????? I just spent a lot of money for a book that is shit through mail order. Thank you for nothing.

[@7thson726]

Err you know I didn't write it right and the content is nothing to do with me. There's a whole range supplements dedicated in detail to ancient army lists which are all available online from the Bronze age through to Caesar and beyond. I'd say it's pretty well catered for.