To Ur is Human -Wargame Rules for Sumer- A Review

This month Graham 'Trebian' Evans published To Ur is Human-tabletop rules for conflict in Sumerian Mesopotamia.  Graham is a fellow Tai Ping enthusiast and I like his approach to gaming. I bought a copy in the hope that it would help get the wheels of my chariots rolling.

I’m pleased with what I got for my £5.00. Yes indeed, very reasonable. I've not played it yet but here are the essentials:

To Ur is a grid- based game. You could easily dispense with that.  I’ll stick with it because it means no measuring and that speeds up play.  As a bonus using the grid means basing size doesn’t matter.  I’ll be using Rampant style bases.

You start the game by laying out cards face down (supplied for you to copy) to indicate your battle line.  There are limits to how many units you can have in any given grid square. Some of these cards will be dummies- a simply accomplished bit of battle field uncertainty.

As you would expect different types of troops have different capabilities and move (given in grid squares) at different speeds.  Battle Carts and light infantry can nip about heavy infantry cannot.

Likewise, missilery is graded by the range of the weapon (once more given in grid squares) be it javelins, slings or bows. 

The range of troop types are what you might expect for the period. Battle Carts are the king of battle.  Then you can have heavy infantry - shielded or not, or medium spears, massed bows, and light troops with bows, javelins or slings.  Troop quality comes in Elite, Trained or Levy.

There are straightforward rules for terrain, again nothing that will surprise, and a point system should you want it. 

The core motor of the rules is the Fear Test.  This in my view reflects the hierarchic nature of Bronze Age societies and how that might impact on men in combat.  The Fear Test is applied before charges (both sides) after combat and to rally.  The author explains:

1. Armies are slow moving and ponderous, except for battle carts which can be fast moving but unpredictable.
2. How much one side frightens the other is the key determinant of victory. In this view battle carts are a psychological weapon as much as anything, - hence the Fear Test.

At its most obvious a line of untrained levy spear men facing galloping chariots crewed by the social and military elite might get scared enough to break and run.   

There’s more though. An elite formation that expects to destroy their opponent on contact and then doesn’t might also feel the cold grip of fear. They might even fear that they have bitten off more than they can chew and run for it. The Fear Test runs up and down the social scale and across troop types. 

I find this an interesting and innovative concept.  It is also the part of the rules that the reader should not tinker with.   The rest though seems eminently flexible should you wish to experiment. 

So, there you have it a complete rule set for Sumerian Warfare for £5.00.  The rules are easy to absorb and there is a QRS on the back cover.  You can get it from Amazon or from the author at Shows.  If you are interested in Sumerian Warfare you will probably want a copy.  

I'll add that I think it has a lot to offer for Late Bronze Age warfare too. I never quite found anything to service my interest in the Late Bronze Age entirely to my satisfaction.  My thoughts on the latter are in line with Drews’s theories-more or less. I think To Ur might do it.

As you might have guessed there will shortly be a second post here on using To Ur for Chariot Wars and the Late Bronze Age.