ONUS! Pack: A Miniatures Wargame Minus the Miniatures

March 23, 2023 | Sessions | 2 comments

Create an army to play out enormous battles across an historical campaign in a card-driven system with ONUS! Pack.

Not too long ago, I tried out a couple of systems for miniature wargames. So much to learn! My husband and I were intrigued, but not by the price and storage space requirements. ONUS! Pack arrived recently with ONUS! Traianus and I was eager to dive in to create my own army without all the miniatures. Onward to victory! Or… Just a learning game. Ha!

Game Overview

Game Name: ONUS! Pack
Publication Year:
2023
Designer:
Luis Álvaro Hernández
Artists:
Paco Arenas and Matias Cazorla
Publisher: Draco Ideas
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game

After crafting an army in a points-based system, a single battle or campaign may be attempted against a solo opponent. Cards offer all of the information as units maneuver, charge, envelope, and otherwise attack! Orders and events also change the field with various options.

Digging Into a New Miniatures Wargame Adjacent System with Onus! Pack
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First Play

March 18, 2023

Complexity

3

Latest Play

March 22, 2023

Expansions

1

Setup Time

15 Minutes

Lifetime Plays

5

Play Time

2 Hours

:

High Score

N/A

1

Game Area

44" x 36"

;

Low Score

N/A

The Battle of Ticinus

I’m far from familiar with similar games that have lots of rules, measurements, and a whole lot of edge cases. So I went in just wanting to learn the rules and try a scenario.

Luckily, the opening campaign gave me just that! The Battle of Ticinus had fairly straightforward rules and very limited units. Exactly what I needed to get started.

The rulebook itself lasted 50 pages, and solo was roughly another 6-8 pages to learn. Tons of information!

My only gripe was how split up the details were. I definitely need to make myself a custom player aid. Or 2.

Learning the Rules with a Simple Campaign Scenario in Onus! Pack

Leading Carthage

In this battle, I could either be Carthage or Rome. The former seemed slightly easier in terms of the units, so that was my decision. Hannibal would lead this army!

Armies might have limitations set by the scenario, yet there are usually multiple choices in how to use a set number of points to build up to a maximum amount.

It took me ages to figure out how to use the general’s percentage… And even now, it’s not clear what it means.

Still, Hannibal soon had a whole bunch of cavalry ready to charge into the Roman army led by Scipio. To battle!

Choosing Different Units to Use in Onus! Pack

I’ll Be There… Soon!

Well, the battle needed to commence after the troops raced at one another across this gigantic battlefield!

As annoying as it was to stand up to arrange the Roman cards, this was actually pretty excellent. It felt like a real piece of history that stretched across the land.

Note that there are rules for terrain, and I have a pack of clear overlays, but here, I just ignored it all to keep the rules simple. The horses powered over that copse of trees!

It took a couple of turns for the armies to clash, but that helped with setting up positioning for the best attacks.

The True Scope of a Giant Battlefield in Onus! Pack

Activating Units

This wasn’t a case of being able to send everyone into battle all at once, though. Each turn starts with activating units with dual-purpose cards and choices.

I got lucky with my starting hand, which gave me some great options to activate every unit using the orders, or top parts, of the cards. Run like the wind, cavalry!

The bottom sections were events to use in battles, so there were some decisions about saving some cards for later.

It was nice to see all of the information on the units, too. No need to flip around to find their basic statistics!

Multi-Purpose Cards and Choosing How to Use Each in Onus! Pack

The Art of Constantly Learning Rules

Unlike a lot of board games, I had to look up the rules during almost every phase. It wasn’t just a case of reading the rulebook entirely, but of experiencing each section to see how it all worked. Some of the wording and examples didn’t resonate with me, and I found myself struggling to figure out what was going on in a few situations.

This is where some type of player aid will likely help me immensely. There are small reference cards, yet I rarely thought they provided enough information for me to play confidently. That’s also not unusual for me, as I sometimes like to have my own custom sheets with the rules I specifically tend to forget. I can’t remember everything. Ha ha!

Yet I will say that for all of the visual examples provided, I found a lot of them to be confusing. It was like they didn’t provide me with the state of the field just before the example, so I had to piece together illustrations and text. Not the worst thing, yet also not helpful for an amateur to this genre… Like myself. Still, I look forward to getting better!

Clashing in Battle

Not long after starting the charge, both sides met. My cavalry charged into the Roman infantry, doing a fair bit of damage right from the start. Double battle time!

However, this put the troops in a vulnerable position for the solo opponent’s turn. They were relatively weak, but my cavalry didn’t have all the defense to spare.

Note the faint hash marks and how they align neatly… More on how those work in a clever way shortly!

The goal was to take out half of Scipio’s army to demoralize the troops… Or the other way around. Uh-oh!

Activating Units for Thunderous Cavalry Charges in Onus! Pack

Enveloping Tactics

My dice seemed to be rather kind, often granting me an instant success! All of the Punic Cavalry were professionals, so any 1s could be re-rolled. Awesome!

These units teamed up to focus on the enemy cavalry. There it was: A simple enveloping technique that added flanking attacks and aid from friendly units.

I could have decided to envelope from the rear, too, but then Scipio’s unit could have easily decimated them.

My constant flipping through the rulebook continued, yet I liked what I saw and even yelled my excitement at times!

Great Dice Rolls and Flanking Tactics for Maximum Effect in Onus! Pack

Battlefield Mayhem

During setup, I accidentally went a bit above the army point values… It was even on each side, but there were about 2-3 units too many. Learning game. Ha ha!

It was really neat to see what this system had to offer. Ranged attacks were awesome but often ineffective, while skirmishers were helpful when utilizing split movement.

Carthage wasn’t outright winning, either: The dice were a bit lucky, but units on both sides were in trouble.

Scipio bided his time in the middle of the chaos, while I kept Hannibal positioned to influence many of his troops.

The Excitement of Battle and Multiple Clashes in Onus! Pack

Laying a Trap for Scipio

I probably made some rules mistakes, especially since the solo opponent has priorities that still leave some choices up to interpretation. Still, this felt like a challenge.

Well, until I lured Scipio in against a broken unit that looked very shabby. Little did he anticipate that my other unit would break away from charging his right flank!

Scipio came close to destroying this unit, though, which would have put me close to checking for defeat.

Instead, the cavalry attack from the flank and rear was just too much and he fell beside his infantry. Victory!

Laying the Trap for Scipio to Advance and a Surprise Attack in Onus! Pack

A Mighty Dice Tower

Included with my arrival was a cardboard dice tower that took a little work to put together. Those sides just wouldn’t cooperate and line up for me at first!

Despite my questioning look, this actually worked out really well. Special events had me rolling up to 8 dice at once, and in all my rolls, only 1 die jumped out.

Just goes to show that even a small contraption can be superbly useful for wrangling dice that might scatter!

I didn’t consider this victory a true win for the campaign, but I felt much better about understanding the rules.

A Surprisingly Useful Dice Tower for Onus! Pack

Session Overview

Play Number: 1-5
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Battle of Ticinus
Outcome: Win

The entire battle raged on for many days and sessions… Owing to me sometimes only playing for 20 minutes at a time. Ha! I know I need a good player aid to get more comfortable with all of the rules, yet this is a system I’m excited to return to in the future. The campaigns have me interested in reading more about history, and replacing miniatures with cards is a design choice I appreciate a lot!

The Great Generals of a Sample Battle in Onus! Pack

%

1 Play

Affordability

Price & Value

7

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

7

Originality

Design & Theme

5

Quality

Components & Rules

8

Reusability

Achievement & Enjoyment

6

Variability

Distinctness & Randomness

7

+ Pros (Positives)

  • Cards are easier to store and cheaper than miniatures, allowing for many armies and mercenaries to be included.
  • Building an army on the points system is pretty easy, and the cards include all of the necessary unit information.
  • A battle can feel epic and exciting with the scale of the battlefield against the cards and multiple clashes.
  • Enveloping units is a simple enough concept, yet feels very satisfying when it can be completed for a victory.
  • The included campaign book includes many scenarios throughout history with all of the different armies.
  • Rounds generally move pretty quickly when the rules are understood since dice rolls are very quick.

– Cons (Negatives)

  • There are a lot of rules, and the reference cards provide very limited information compared to what’s needed.
  • Although the solo opponent functions well, there are still decisions to make that aren’t always straightforward.
  • Generals all have percentage values, but this concept is explained in conflicting ways across the rulebooks.
  • Enemy cards start far away in a large table area and the information is upside down when playing solo.

More ONUS! Pack

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Victory Conditions

Win the Battle

  • Overall Goal Progress 100% 100%

Goals and Milestones

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Win the Battle of Ticinus as Carthage.

Continue the Conversation

Have you tried out ONUS! Pack? Are there other wargames you enjoy that may or may not utilize miniatures? I’m very excited about this system and the interest in learning more about historical battles. This might also turn out to be a game I prefer playing multiplayer, but I’m hoping that a better understanding of the rules will make solo even better!

2 Comments

  1. I still have to read through the whole article and understand why you are rather lukewarm about the game but you still might have sold the game to me at first sight. I have a teenage past of big ancient wargames I could not play with anybody (minis or not). This one could be the revenge, with it’s solo mode included.

    Reply
    • It’s definitely a great system! The lukewarm rating isn’t the only thing to go by, as I think a lot of it comes down to me not being super comfortable with the flow just yet. That’s coming from someone who’s barely scratched the surface of wargames, which might explain everything! I recommend looking into it some more, as I can imagine my rating will increase when I play again and get all the rules down!

      Reply

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