Holy Hack – Hacking by the Book (1996, Black Falcon Publications) is one of the “Hack” miniatures rules set, but this rules set specifically covers ancient warfare in the Biblical period. The rules are for either 25mm or 15mm miniatures, and while it recommends a basing system that is common with several other miniature rules sets (such as DBA, DBM, WRG 7th Edition, and WARRIOR), it allows for the use of any existing basing system the players currently use (an important consideration for miniature owners looking into a new rules set).
The rules cover the organization of miniatures into units, the variety of formations possible, and the importance of leaders and morale. Units are issued order chits (or blanks to confuse the opponent) at the beginning of the turn sequence, which commits units to specific actions for that turn. Orders are revealed simultaneously. The rules cover charges, movement, missile fire, and melee. Both missile and melee combat use damage tables with modifiers to determine casualties, which are converted into a percentage. Percentage dice (2 x D10’s) are used to determine if a percentage fraction “hits” or not.
Although the rules use a casualty removal system, the most a side can lose is 3 figures per missile or melee round. Morale has a strong influence in the game, and the side that can force more morale tests upon his opponent will often win the game.
The rules come with a sheet of order chits/status markers, which can either be cut out or photocopied (using different colored paper can help to further distinguish the orders or unit status at a glance). This is not as complex a set of miniature rules as compared to “Warrior: Miniature Wargame Rules for Ancient and Medieval Warfare 3000BC to 1485AD”, but it can get a bit involved for new players.
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