Warlords of Erehwon, Warlords new fantasy game.

[Argonor]

Have you guys seen the skellies from Wargames Atlantic, sold by North Star?

http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=13454

[Tim Haslam]

Already ordered in readiness for my undead force for Warlords.

Problem is I’ve ordered direct from the US before realising that North Star would stock them!

It’s a race to see who gets them first...

[pixelgeek]

Yes, I agree on the overly random nature of those break tests. At least WHFB had the less random bell curve of the 2d6 roll. A d3 would give losers some sticking power, but they would still be at a considerable disadvantage. Might try that out in our next game.

The close combat system is a direct port of the rules from Bolt Action and Gates of Antares where it is meant to be a very quick and decisive result. I don’t think that it works as well in a game where there is a lot of close combat and where you actually do want longer combats and less immediate results. Especially in a game where you may not have a lot of potential combats based on the point value you are playing.

I would go even further than the suggestions here are remove the post-combat break test entirely. Make the loser do a disengage movement and then only do a break test if the unit meets one of the other requirements for a break test.

Another option might be to retain the break test but only add a single pin for losing combat. Count the casualties and then determine the winner that way with the loser getting a pin marker and then making a break test. Even a d3 might provide too many pin markers to allow a unit to survive combat

[Tim Haslam]

Check out the other thread on my WoE event.
We’re going to leave it pretty open, just to get some concentrated gaming in one place done.
I’ll give feedback to see if after a whole day of 20 players playing, we have come up with any ideas.

[Argonor]

It’s a race to see who gets them first...

Not going to be me - I'll probably be ordering late summer, as I have another project brewing (expanding my Rohan force for Age of Magic and God of Battles), and I need to get some mileage done on that over the summer, but THEN it will be time for expanding my GoB Lords of Undeath army with some nice classical skellies! So many minis, so little time... 

[Daeothar]

I recently received my copy of the WoE book, and some order dice. Add to that some D10s from AliExpress, and I had everything required to start playing.

So a couple of days ago, The Voivod and I played our first game of WoE. Due to time restraints, and the common sense to start out small, we decided on a 250 points level battle, just to get to grips with the rules and the system.

It played pretty smooth, although there definitely was some extensive leafing through the book.

Some things we took away from this first game: certain spells at this level are ridiculously good; they will probably scale better in larger games. Spears are the kings of the battlefield (and we even decided to forego the ranged attacks that spear units get). The pin system is not particularly suited for a primarily close combat game.

So, having thought this over for a bit, here are some thoughts of mine in regards to the above points:

Maybe a minimum points level for fielding a magic user should be in order. At 250 points, the necromancer my goblins were facing managed to double up almost his entire army before we got to charge, due to his spell. And my shaman was a pint-sized rapid-fire cannon, decimating entire enemy units with his fiery balls.

Then again; this was a try-out game at a deliberately low points cost of 250; I'm not expecting to play many such small battles in the future. If only because the juicier units tend to cost at least half that on their own.

Spears should have a points cost (+1?), be an add-on to standard CCWs, and be a one use ranged weapon. Once thrown, the unit reverts back to its standard CCWs. Possibly it could hit harder when thrown, but otherwise it should remain the same. Perhaps a javelin type of weapon could be added tot he list, maybe reducing its AV or range, but making it possible to buy multiples per miniature?

Once a combat has started, it will rarely last longer than one turn (it did not for us anyway, and when it did, my Goblins always passed their Co tests, and simply advanced (tactically retreated) their 6 inches, while the zombies they were fighting could only advance 5, so they broke combat, and then charged in again next turn...) Therefore our conclusion was that when determining combat resolution (using an oldhammer term here), the loser should simply receive 1 pin marker, instead of both sides 1 per casualty, and both units should be locked in combat.

This is explicitly noticeable when playing with bare-bone 5 man units, because they will usually break or be destroyed in one turn. Especially when adding in some ranged combat before the charge (yes spears; I'm looking at you...).

One other thing that popped up is that we'd like to see larger units. Certainly larger than 10 miniatures. Perhaps 20 or 30 max? Without trying to turn WoE into a WHFB clone/replacement, I do think this could add some more depth to the game. There would be a trade off; you obviously get less command dice, but maybe larger units get things like a shield wall or even testudo bonus, a Co boost because of their numbers, a hero or commander might possibly lead them, a sprint order deals an automatic pin,  etc.

All things that could make larger units be a possibility, without making them overpowered or impossible to properly field. this is after all a fantasy game; this type of game is about basically medieval combat with added fantastical elements. And medieval battles (at least as we see them now) were all about large formations, flanking maneuvers and shiny heroes under billowing banners.

Concluding; I like the game and will play it more, but as we decided during the after battle prattle, it feels... unfinished. I do think it could be a real gem, but it does need some tweaking to make it really shine...


The lists we used were:

Goblins:
- Commander (plus his 2 bodyguards: 1+2)
- Shaman (1)
- Warriors with spears (5)
- Warriors with spears (5)
- Warriors with bows (plus one extra: 5+1)

Undead:
- Necromancer (plus his 2 bodyguards and 2 extra: 1+4)
- Skeletons (5)
- Zombies (5)
- Zombies (5)

(One more odd thing: Extra Goblin bodyguards cost the same as Warriors, but extra bodyguards for the Necromancer cost 2 pts per miniature more than regular Skeletons?)

[Tim Haslam]

We initially thought spears were too powerful, in fact we are still undecided.
But play some more games before you make changes, really big axes in the hands of dwarfs, for example are good.

Glad you’ve enjoyed yourself, that’s the main point.

I like the idea of bigger units, but again it changes things, like big units of spears!

Get some experience using the ambush order and using fast cavalry, you’ll change the game again with these troops.

Regards

[Argonor]

I think it sounds interesting!

I am always looking for rulesets that can handle both small and large skirmishes, and WoE seems to scratch that itch. Age of Fantasy Skirmish also, though, so I shall probably try that out, first, as it is free, but I am pretty sure I shall be getting WoE at some point. 

[Daeothar]

BTW: I am hoping there will eventually be more army lists by the way, because even with those already in the book, there are still some armies not (well) represented right now. For instance; I'd really like to differentiate my Chaos Dwarfs from their not-evil cousins with some race specific units and warmachines. And there are currently no vampires in the undead list. Also; demons!

Now I know they can be represented, proxied or played-as, but more flavour is always welcome as far as I'm concerned...

I think it sounds interesting!

I am always looking for rulesets that can handle both small and large skirmishes, and WoE seems to scratch that itch. Age of Fantasy Skirmish also, though, so I shall probably try that out, first, as it is free, but I am pretty sure I shall be getting WoE at some point. 

Even with just one game under my belt, and with the initial thoughts described above, I can still recommend WoE, because it's fast (once you get familiar with the rules) and certainly fun...