By Chief Antares Archivist David Horobin,
supported by Archivist-Aspirant Jon Harrington.
Special thanks to Rick Priestley, Tim Bancroft, Richard Carlisle and others that made this compilation of Antares history possible.
November 7 2025 marks the 10 year anniversary of the release of the “Beyond The Gates Of Antares: Strike Vector One – The Xilos Horizon” boxed set.
The Xilos-Aversary posts commemorate this momentous occasion.
We complete our review of the the history of Antares with Part 4 – Tracking the highlights of the V2 release including a couple of my favourite articles from the time. But just the highlights, because the V2 rules are still live, active and accessible right now on this very website!
Version 2 (2020 onward)
Although it wouldn’t arrive until 2022, the second edition of Beyond the Gates of Antares was being developed as early as 2020. But with the global pandemic wreaking havoc that year, Antares was ultimately trimmed from Warlord’s development catalogue. Production shifted to Warlord’s sister company, Skytrex, while the second edition rules found life in this very site, as free downloadable rules developed by Tim Bancroft and Rick Priestley.
When it did arrive, one of the biggest changes was that the one original book was replaced by three books – along with an entirely new Army List format.
These “books”, all released as pdfs in April 2022, were:
- Core Rules,
- Universe,
- Arms & Equipment Guide.
There was also handy guide on “What’s new in V2?” which helped the regular V1 players a chance to ease into the new updated rules.
Rules
The original Antares rulebook was already subject to changes brought about by the v1.5 rules update issued in March 2017. The most notable changes involved an adjustment on how Net ammo worked, how vehicle units interacted with the Leader rule and also Ghar Tectors officially becoming Probe Units.
There were still, however, some concerns with army list balancing, coupled with the issues caused by having units spread across THREE supplements. A second edition would solve these problems and consolidate the information into something accessible to all.
There was a strong desire to incorporate the v1.5 changes and more into a new edition of the rules, which led to the development of v2. The rules were subjected to an improved layout, consistent nomenclature and streamlined, while still retaining the core feel of the original Antares game.
The way in which armies were chosen underwent the biggest change. The entire Army Selection was completely re-vamped. There were some initial concerns that there was too much flexibility, but after review of making almost every single variant of every faction list available – including “spamming” units to see how many of X unit would fit into Y list; it turned out that the new Army Selector worked well.
Background/Narrative
Before the V2 rules were released, we were treated to a catch up regarding the story so far in May 2021. (The community could re-visit this to get us up-to-date with the events/days that have occurred since the V2 release; and have it all in one readily accessible place; Perhaps that’s next on the list now the Xilos-Aversary is completed).
A plethora of narrative background updates were released, providing greater understanding of how the Antares Universe works. In June 2021, the community was introduced to the five-part Mapping Your Own Antares series, which offered even more ideas for world-building and further clues about the workings of the Great Antares Nexus. This was my personal favourite, as it spawned a massive Excel file containing all the potential coordinates using the IcoHex & IsoHex system. The file populated the entire Antares gate network with their connected systems.
We also see how Antares looked in the Fifth Age through an eight-part series, exploring events leading up to the genesis of the Concord and the fates of The Ascendancy, Isori, and Vorl. This led to a more in-depth look at the entire Antares timeline, spanning from the First Age.
There was also a deeper exploration of the Ghar and their role in Antares’ history.
Vorl
In August 2022, the Vorl finally made their appearance in Antares. Sculpted by the late Joey Pruitt, these are a totally FREE army available in STL format for download and 3D printing.
Initially, there had been plans for Vorl “vehicles” (or what would pass for vehicles in Vorl society). However, it was desirable to expand on the initial Vorl release, as the first released Vorl were to be a scouting force. Unfortunately, this expansion never materialised.
Beyond the models, an in-depth background was also released to give players a deeper understanding of these unique aliens and their society.
In 2018, Warlord Games created a prototype Vorl, but unfortunately, no pictures of it are available at the time of writing (should I ever come into possession of a picture of the prototype Vorl in future, this is where I will put it).
Those that didn’t make it into V2.
Some of units from the original rulebook and expansions didn’t get carried into V2.
One of only two units from the original rulebook to not be realised in production was the Isorian Kahloc KV Heavy Battle Drone. There was a desire to diverge the Isorian unit choices from their Concord counterparts. Speed became a central design choice for the Isori faction, accompanied by the heavy Tsan’Ra infantry; and the Kahloc no longer fit into this vision.
The Boromite Heavy Tractor Mauls and Mass Compactor units were consolidated into a single unit choice, as both of these units overlapped and performed similar roles on the battlefield.
Another unit that was not produced was the Boromite Heavy Hauler. A larger version of the regular Hauler. It is speculated that the Heavy Hauler would include the same parts as the regular Hauler, but with an additional module at the centre – based on how the Hauler is put together. However there has been no confirmation of this.
The V1 Xilos book featured the Ghar Dropper, a massive flying transport for the Ghar, which had been designed but never put into production. During testing it had the effect of making the Ghar a bit too quick on the battlefield (and removed the menacing build up when faced with a table of advancing Battlesuits). As such, it was cut from the V2 lineup.
The Boromite Rover Drone, introduced in the Chryseis Shard supplement, slipped into obscurity. Several attempts were made at re-purposing this unit, but none of them suited the Boromite play style.
Finally, the Ghar “Rebels” from Xilos received pardon from the new Ghar Military Leader Fartok, and rejoined the Ghar Empire.
Those that almost made it
A number of units were designed for V2 which did not exist in V1. However, it is unfortunate that these units never made it into the official set of rules.
Shen-Lat
These were going to be the first PanSimians released into the game, but didn’t quite get into the final army list.
Vyess Inteligence Squad
These know-it-alls got as far as play testing (using left over Matrix parts from the C3D1GP Drone to make the “Sensor Array”), but didn’t quite have the right feel/impact in the game.
Dragoons Mercenaries
The lost Ma’Req
Finally, there were some units that were designed but never made it past that design phase for either rules or production. Rumours suggest that this includes a Virai “Queen”.
The Future
In October 2025 Tim Bancroft announced on the Antares Facebook page that Antares was now a fully fan driven game, with both Rick and Tim stepping away from producing official material.
Many other games have gone through a similar transition and thrived (off the top of my head, Epic 40k, Mordheim and Warmaster), with regular content being created by players.
With hope, in another ten years we’ll delve into how the Antares community worked together to continue this magnificent game.
The IMTel is never wrong.
So I had posed this question back in Part 1…
“The IMTel is never wrong” is a common theme throughout the Antares Universe – BUT it has been significantly wrong once. What was the one time the IMTel was wrong? (Hint – there is a picture clue in the 1st Edition rule book about Josen).
In the “Battle for Xilos” supplement, page 118 it states:
“Josen’s encounter with these warlike and implacable creatures was the first recorded contact between the Ghar Empire and the PanHuman Concord.”
At the time the Battle For Xilos occurred, Josen had been promoted from “Commander” (from the main V1 rulebook) to “Commander-In-Chief”.
But all those years ago, before Xilos happened and merely ranked as a “Commander”:
Technically Xilos is not the first time Josen had encountered Ghar, and surely to NOT have recorded this encounter would be against C3 protocols.
Okay, so technically the picture of Josen fighting the Ghar in the original rulebook should have been Josen fighting against Vorl, and celebrating his exploits on Aan Four; however there were no Vorl available and the Ghar were going to be in the box. Sadly, this ever so minor detail has amused me for 10 years. And if you’re anything like me, and I know I am, you’ll agree that the IMTel is wrong on this one occasion.
Until next time!!
Antares Nexus 
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