Lead Adventure Forum

Miniatures Adventure => Other Adventures => Topic started by: Lost Egg on March 28, 2020, 09:24:02 PM

Title: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on March 28, 2020, 09:24:02 PM
Hi all,

I've been playing with some ideas for a set of fast, fun & open wargame rules, partly for myself but also to roll some dice with the kids (our daughter is six & our son is eight). What with the current lock-down I thought I'd share what I've got so far in case anyone is interested in giving them a go.


Age of Heroes
A simple set of rules for playing quick skirmish games; they're open and fun so feel free to change this up as you wish. Just have a blast!

(https://i.imgur.com/fgdb6B1.jpg)

My intention here was to embrace the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) with just 5 stats (Move, Shoot, Fight, Health & Armour); I tried to keep the rules light and fairly intuitive yet giving players the option to customise their minis. A 'standard' game is 5 minis a side and players can choose up to 5 upgrades for their warband; with these upgrades you should be able to accommodate most models and they work well with Lego minifigs as you can literally build your own custom warband. The whole doc is 4 pages long so when printed with 2 pages to a side of A4 you can fit everything on one sheet as a tidy little booklet.

If anyone is interested I've already got ideas for another nine upgrades as well as the option of trading one or more minis for extra upgrades.

These rules are still WIP as I've only just started playtesting...but with the emphasis on fun I figure players can work through any bumps without too much hassle.


Note: Attached is the most recent version of the rules and the Warband Roster...
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on March 29, 2020, 08:51:27 PM
Managed to get a first game in today with my son...

(https://i.imgur.com/8ZDnhYS.jpg)

We made good use of our Lego and he was very pleased to win...at the end of the game his Dreadnought had blasted my Hero to bits and his Warriors had gunned down one of my Troopers.  lol

I had a Hero (with a Powered Weapon) and 2 Warriors (with Tough & Extra Armour).

My son had a Hero (with Powered Weapon) and 3 Warriors plus a Dreadnought (Big Guy, Cannon, Tough & a Powered Weapon).

The only tweak I have decided to make to the rules was to improve the Shoot stat for each minis so Heroes hit on 3+ while Warriors hit on 4+. I have a couple of spelling mistakes to correct too then I will upload a new version of the rules.

I am also thinking that I would like to expand the rules a bit too...I might also keep the 4 page booklet as an Intro...
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Barry S on March 29, 2020, 11:36:18 PM
Thanks for sharing the rules.

Good old Lego :D



Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Onebigriver on April 01, 2020, 10:40:24 PM
Thanks for sharing.

My seven year old and I played a game of Dungeonquest yesterday. I thought she would be chuffed as we were going to use my miniatures. She just looked at me and asked if she could use a Shopkin instead. Heartbreaking.
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on April 02, 2020, 07:10:53 AM
Thanks guys. I have made a few tweaks to the rules and some of the explanations so will just double check them and then I will upload the new version and a warband roster. I've also written a couple of warbands to play with soon...Marines vs. Orks. >:D

@Onebigriver - Doh! Maybe see if she wants to paint up some spare minis to give her a bit of ownership...or maybe paint some up for her based on her favourite Shopkin colour scheme :D

I have a big box of Forgotten World minis I plan to use for this game so when I am feeling brave I will see if the kids want to paint some up. I also need more terrain so I might see if they want to help make some...I will be smiling on the outside but wincing on the inside lol
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Onebigriver on April 02, 2020, 12:11:00 PM
@Onebigriver - Doh! Maybe see if she wants to paint up some spare minis to give her a bit of ownership...or maybe paint some up for her based on her favourite Shopkin colour scheme :D

I have a big box of Forgotten World minis I plan to use for this game so when I am feeling brave I will see if the kids want to paint some up. I also need more terrain so I might see if they want to help make some...I will be smiling on the outside but wincing on the inside lol

I'm drafting her into helping me make some scenery first, then I'll let her loose on some mini's!
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on April 05, 2020, 07:44:13 PM
Sounds like a plan Onebigriver!  8)

So I have been playing about with the Age of Heroes booklet and have uploaded a revised version. Mostly its a bit of text polishing but I also tweaked the stats a little for shooting & fighting. I've included a couple of extra wargear options too so players can build a more melee orientated warband as I'd really like to try these rules with my as yet unbuilt Forgotten World minis.

I've also uploaded a Warband Roster, just check the first post for the updates.

Now, to give an idea of what can be done with Age of Heroes I thought I'd share a Marine Warband I've built and an Ork Warband I'm thinking of building...


(https://i.imgur.com/gHG28cO.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/VS8Vffp.jpg)

The Orks uses upgrades from the Age of Heroes booklet while the Marines uses the Obscure & Piercing Grenades upgrades from the Age of Heroes Extra booklet I am working on; this will be another 4 page booklet, this time with a page of extra rules / detail, a couple of pages of scenarios and finally a page of more upgrades. One of the extra rules will cover making smaller warbands, so you trade in a Warrior or more for an extra upgrade each time...that's why the the three marines have seven upgrades between them. It all still WIP so once these are built up I can try them out.
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Bravo Six on April 05, 2020, 10:05:49 PM
These are great Lost Egg! I love simple rules that focus mainly on pushing your toys around the table. I think that's what drew me to Mudpuppy's Galacta 3 rules. Painfully (and eloquently) simple.

Anyway, good job!
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on April 11, 2020, 08:56:50 PM
Thanks Bravo Six, I will check those out!  8)

It's taken a while but I finally finished with Age of Heroes Extra which adds some more upgrades, 3 more missions and a few additional rules to add a bit more flavour to your games.

Included are the rules to build smaller, more elite warbands (like with my marines above) as well as 3 types of grenades...
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: warwell on April 14, 2020, 12:41:38 PM
Thank you for posting these. I started experimenting with them (reported on my blog - https://warwellwg.blogspot.com/2020/04/sci-fi-skirmish-with-age-of-heroes.html (https://warwellwg.blogspot.com/2020/04/sci-fi-skirmish-with-age-of-heroes.html)) using an 8 x 10 gridded board.

Really enjoyed my first battle. They have inspired me to order up a bunch of figures for some fantasy fights. Planning on using the rules for gladiator battles between teams of 5 (a hero, 3 melee warriors, and an archer). I'm getting 11 different teams (Imperial trooper, barbarians, paladins, desert raiders, elves, dwarves, halflings, orcs, goblins, lizardmen, and skeletons) all from Irregular's 10mm line.

Again, thanks for the inspiration!
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on April 14, 2020, 07:56:55 PM
Many thanks for checking them out Warwell, it looks like you had a good game.

I had a thought for random activation...each player puts one coloured dice or token in a bag for each member of your warband and add an extra token or dice in a different colour. Each turn players then take it in turns to pick from the bag and the colour that's picked decides which player activates a model. If you draw the third colour then the turn ends. Players could also use the drawn dice to denote which models have been activated that turn by placing them alongside.

Not sure if I have explained that well so here's what I was thinking..."Player 1 puts 5 red dice in a bag which player 2 puts 4 blue dice in and then a green turn dice is added; if a red dice is drawn player 1 activates a member of their warband; if a blue dice is drawn then player 2 activates a model while if the green dice is drawn then the game ends."

You could always use numbered tokens denoting specific models from a warband too.

Thanks again for checking these rules out and sharing your thoughts. Have you seen the AoH Extra doc? It has a few more upgrades and some extra rules for a little more detail.

Cheers
8)
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: warwell on May 02, 2020, 11:42:14 AM
Played some more games

https://warwellwg.blogspot.com/2020/05/arena-of-heroes.html (https://warwellwg.blogspot.com/2020/05/arena-of-heroes.html)
https://warwellwg.blogspot.com/2020/05/no-can-do-arena-of-heroes-report.html
 (https://warwellwg.blogspot.com/2020/05/no-can-do-arena-of-heroes-report.html)

Having a blast. The rules are so straightforward that I don't even need to refer to them. Glancing at the roster is sufficient. Yet there are certainly not boring, and the upgrades add variety.

I added an activation roll (described in the 2nd report linked above). At times, figures will not get to act. Some may hate that randomness but I like it for my solo gaming. It creates a fog of war and an element of uncertainty that spices up the game.
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on May 02, 2020, 02:52:07 PM
WoW Warwell, I'm glad you're having such fun with the rules!  8)

My aim with the rules was to go with the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) so its cool to hear they are easy to game with yet still fun.

I've been a bit distracted with HeroQuest at the moment but I'm still planning on building up a Rogue Trader Space Ork warband. Trouble is I'm low on terrain at the moment so I have been looking at building up some rock formations...just about settled on a colour scheme and look but trying to get a load of small real-life jobs done first...damn that list seems endless
  :'( lol
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: warwell on May 16, 2020, 02:07:24 PM
I'm loving how flexible these rules are. I just used them for a tank skirmish with a scenario from THW's Hell Hath No Fury.

More details at https://warwellwg.blogspot.com/2020/05/heroes-have-no-fury.html (https://warwellwg.blogspot.com/2020/05/heroes-have-no-fury.html)

I also received a bunch of figures to use in fantasy skirmishes. I'm trying to decide which ones to paint first so I set up a poll at https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=124627.0 (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=124627.0). Please take a moment to vote.
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on May 17, 2020, 06:30:16 AM
Nice idea using the tanks...I hadn't thought of that. Hydra Miniatures are working on a lovely looking range of retro tanks and whatnot so I think I may well pick some up for use with Age of Heroes when they are available.

Just voted  8) I went with Elves vs. Orcs as kinda reminds me of the classic 4th Ed Warhammer Fantasy Battle Boxset (it was goblins rather than orcs but they still green & mean). Either way though I look forward to seeing some painted minis.
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: The Gray Ghost on June 28, 2020, 10:19:51 PM
in this rule what is shuffle I can't find it

 Runts This upgrade allows you to field diminutive warriors or runts; you essentially swop one Warrior for two smaller runt models; can’t be combined with Swarm, Shuffle or Big Guy
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on June 29, 2020, 08:47:49 AM
Ahh I missed that, thanks The Gray Ghost. I was going to include Shuffle to allow players to use triffids and shambling zombies but as I was trying to keep the Age of Heroes Extra booklet to 4 pages I dropped it for something else. But here ya go...

Shuffle Slow moving, this model can’t rush at their foe and so seeks strength in numbers; you either swop one Warrior for two Warriors or one Hero for a Hero and a Warrior, all of which then have Shuffle; models with Shuffle can’t Run; can’t be combined with Runt, Swarm or Big Guy.
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: hummus on July 07, 2020, 12:21:55 PM
great rules. I was thinking as an optional rule you could swap 2 warriors for 1 minor hero. The stats for the minor hero being the same as the hero but they have 1 health instead of 3.
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: warwell on July 07, 2020, 01:17:36 PM
These rules are very flexible and can easily be modified to your liking
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on July 07, 2020, 02:15:00 PM
Thanks hummus! That sounds like a pretty solid idea, I like it...I may even have to pinch it :D
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Easy E on August 13, 2020, 03:20:12 PM
It is always great to see some folks try their hand at game design!  It is fun and easy isn't it!
Title: Re: Age of Heroes - FREE Wargame Rules
Post by: Lost Egg on November 13, 2020, 11:12:33 AM
I've just started a new plog* where I'm building a couple of warbands for Age of Heroes and I decided to make a few changes to the rules...

Quote
Beasts can no longer use wargear so no giving a beast a shield for +1 to their Armour Roll

The biggest change is to Infected which is a tad powerful as you basically get 2 upgrades for the price of one with no downside. So, I had a think and decided to change it to a warband upgrade:

Quote
Infected A player may decide to use two upgrades to create an Infected warband and so all models in the warband gain the Infected upgrade. Infected models are Hard to Kill but not exactly the best fighters so they suffer -1 to their Fight Roll and may not shoot. In addition, if an enemy is removed as a casualty from a Fight attack by this model, roll a D6 and on 5+ they turn and are controlled by the Infected player. Now Infected, they have only 1 Health but keep all existing upgrades, though they can’t shoot.

I think this balances Infected a bit more as it gives a downside, being less effective in melee, but frees up some upgrades which prevents players having to spend all their upgrades just to make an Infected warband.


*See here...https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=128109.msg1620079#msg1620079 (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=128109.msg1620079#msg1620079)