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Author Topic: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (latest update on page 61)  (Read 102798 times)

Offline Darksider

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 71
Throwing daggers on elves are not that bad, but you pay 2 points per model and that can add up really fast.

With throwing weapons you can't charge in melee (if that's what you mentioned, by killing your charge targets?)

If you feel restricted by the matched play rules, you also could try open play, only use points from matched if you want to.

They say we come from nothing and to nothing we will return, but in between is gravity and bridges left to burn.

They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky.

Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 5333
    • The Grumpy Gnome
Perhaps my wife and I misunderstood the throwing weapon rules. Page 88 talks about it. Whilst it says throwing weapons can not be used in the fight phase it also says you can charge an enemy, stop 1" away, throw your weapon, resolve the attack in the move phase, if the target is not slain then move into base to base contact with the  (which we took to mean melee combat could then happen in the fight phase with the model’s non-thrown weapons). If it is slain the charger can complete  their move as they see fit, including charging a different target.

It also states, if you throw normally after moving (full distance, as you said) then -1 to hit but if you throw during a charge, no -1 penalty. This implies to us that there are two thrown weapon applications, normal shoot phase and special move phase shot before fight phase).

To us that sounds like you can throw and fight in the same turn if you charge.

So far we only did a couple of beginner test scenarios for SBG from the Pelennor starter box. The several full games we have played and blogged about have been Battle Companies and that may be having something of an impact on our impression of SBG and BC.

We try to stick to official rules where possible but we are not unwilling to create house rules.

We had wondered that if you can charge, throw and fight.... why not be able to throw at a model that charges you? We talked it over but failed to make a decision on a house rule addressing that.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2020, 11:31:52 AM by Rick W. »
Home of the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

Offline Darksider

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 71
Hm, maybe I should read the rules on this one once again. I always thought that you had to stop the one inch away from an enemy and than throw the weapon.

But I am in no way an expert in middlearth sbg.

Offline Melnibonean

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2067
  • Boiled Beans
Your battle reports are great. I've not seen this thread before and I have no knowledge of the LotR rules (other than knowing they exist). They seem like they have a lot of nice detail so maybe I'll have to make an investment in the future.
Below is a link to my blog. It's the place where I write uninteresting things about little toy soldiers. I do this because I refuse to grow up and behave like an adult.

http://this28mmlife.blogspot.com.au/

Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 5333
    • The Grumpy Gnome
I am not an expert on the rules either, which is why I enjoy interacting with others and hearing their interpretations of the rules. Even without the whole COVID issue my only source of interaction gaming wise is online.

It also pleases me greatly to hear people enjoy the battle reports. I do not get much traffic on the blog but if the handful of people who read it then enjoy it that makes the time invested worthwhile.

Offline Wilgut Spleens

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
    • The Miniature World of Wilgut Spleens
Great Bat Rep as usual Rick, I like your writing generally and your AAR are full of interesting details.You are not frightened to question yourself and that is refreshing. I also feel that lack of feedback and playing solo because of covid means you dont get that interaction during play that answers so many queries. I think your take on throwing weapons is right,I hope it is, since that is the way I play it.

 I have introduced javelins as a house rule, they cost two points, have a range of 12" and strength = that of user. Yes that does sound OP, however they are only used by my Evil light infantry Def =3. I am toying with the idea of a rule that they have a minus one modifier if they move less than half or maybe minus one strength to reflect the way that javelins are actually used.

 I use house rules all the time and create profiles, after all there's only me to satisfy!
I have a bad case of prescient nostalgia. The future's not what it used to be.

https://wilgut.blogspot.com/

Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 5333
    • The Grumpy Gnome
Thanks mate. The feeling is mutual. I love what youvare doing with your Battle Companies campaign.

If anyone reading this likes cool BC campaigns, I highly recommend Wilgut’s blog.

https://wilgut.blogspot.com/2020/06/scouting-ithilien-battle-companies.html

Interesting take on javelins. House rules can be great, they can fill gaps in particular or fix things that annoy the players but there is always a risk of getting carried away.... just like mods in a PC Game that eventually cause it to crash under the weight of the changes.

Offline Wilgut Spleens

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
    • The Miniature World of Wilgut Spleens
"If anyone reading this likes cool BC campaigns, I highly recommend Wilgut’s blog." Thanks mate

"Interesting take on javelins." do you know what? As soon as I saw this rule wriiten down, I knew it was right. The modifier for not moving will add a great twist a dn provide a need for tactical thinking

One thing I dont like about the SBG system is it encourages the use of a lot of heavy armour, I am hoping my ultra light javelin armed infantry and potentially cavalry  will tip the scale the other way

Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 5333
    • The Grumpy Gnome
For us the trick to reducing heavy armor was movement penalties.

We decided most profiles have the models in armor, so make the standard 6“ move be for armored models. +1" for unarmored, -1" for heavy armored. A simple, elegant rule that works to encourage having some unarmored light infantry especially if cavalry is unavailable. It gives the light infantry an initiative edge in declaring charges from what I have seen from unarmored outlaws versus heavy armored Dwarves.

I like the idea of the javelins benefitting from movement. It is a bit crunchy but it definitely makes sense with the profiles you have created.

What other house rules do you have?

This is what we are currently running with...

1. volley fire, as per old rules

2. Throwing spears can be used in melee and support, as per War in Rohan legendary legion rule

3. modified experience system I found on reddit. Basically a 5 times system where 1 xp becomes instead 5 xp, you need 5 times your model cost to level up, and warriors get Xp for each kill. It means warriors level faster than heroes generally, especially when they wound heroes.

4. Level 6 warrior gets sworn protector ability as per Johnathan Baker rules

5. battle company gets matching army special rule

6. Time of day and weather generated randomly as per DiAgostini)

7. Archery at half max range or less gets +1 str, no additional str above that for night, night fire max range 12"

8. Basic move based on being armored. No armor +1" move, heavy armor -1" move. Dwarves exempt. Cavalry base move 12", armored -1", no rider +1". Flying base 15", +1 if unarmored, -1“ with rider

9.Terror Check, 1-3 frozen (the latest rules), 4-6 flee (the old rules)

10. warrior recognized but can not be promoted, D3 Influence as per Johnathan Baker rules

11. warrior can refuse promotion but does not get D3 Influence for that

12. Pike treated as two handed weapon, no -1 duel roll for Galadrim court guard

13. Mounts roll on warrior injury chart if casualty as per Johnathan Baker rules

14. Spider Queen broodlings can not be shot with archery (subject to change... we are undecided if broodling should be one small spider or a swarm of even smaller ones)

15. Lieutenant able to chose wargear from army list rather than just company list.

16. On company creation Lieutenant able to be progressed to advanced profile if one is available. If not, additional D3 Influence to use as player sees fit..

17. Lieutenant given one special ability based on company from the Johnathan Baker BC rules. There are usually a few to choose from for each company type. 5 points cost for ability.

18. As per Johnathan Baker rules, Elves can go to Fight 7 maximum instead of usual fight 6 maximum.

We are looking at a few other things and always keen to hear suggestions from others. We decided +1 def for woodland creatures in woodland was a little too powerful, especially with in the way tests but we may revisit that.

« Last Edit: July 14, 2020, 05:53:02 AM by Rick W. »

Offline Wilgut Spleens

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
    • The Miniature World of Wilgut Spleens
wow! You guys have really given this some thought! There's a lot to process there, where did you find the Jonathon Baker rules? And the DiAgostini rules are in BiME mag I guess.

The archery rules make sense
And the experience rule is excellent

Most of my house rules have been scenario or person specific.

The Variags have "born in the saddle" which means they can move full move and fire with no reduction.

Sativa has the spell -Aura of Desert Heat Haze-All attacks against this mage have to take” in the way rolls” 4+

I would have to have look through my notes to be sure of any others, i do have afew
« Last Edit: July 10, 2020, 03:37:46 PM by Wilgut Spleens »

Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 5333
    • The Grumpy Gnome
I found the Johnathan Baker rules on DCHL. And yes the DiAgostini rules are the BiME rules..

https://jonathanrbaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Battle-Companies-2016-1.pdf

So many good, although admittedly now dated, resources and ideas on DCHL.

https://www.dchobbitleague.com/

The modified xp rules I found on reddit are annoying book keeping but really feel much more intuitive and satisfying than the vanilla xp rules.

We have been considering if Rohan should have some sort of move and shoot adjustment.

Nicely themed spell. I love the Easterling characters you have created and the minis you chose to represent them.

When I was heavily into PC gaming I was also heavily into using mods. I suspect that has conditioned me to use house rules.

Offline Wilgut Spleens

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
    • The Miniature World of Wilgut Spleens
Thanks Rick, there is some great stuff here, I remember the original BC rules in white dwarf, I have a photo copied set some where!

The Baker variants look great and all your house rules seem like excellent changes , i am going to try them out.

I have family here for the weekend so no wargame this weekend , but I am going to spend evenings this week planning the biggest fight yet, 1200 points per side or there abouts, on a bigger table and I hope to play it over next weekend and report it the weekend after that.

Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 5333
    • The Grumpy Gnome
I would love to hear your feedback on the house rules if you try them. Think of it as playtesting an open beta.

We plan on running the four official Battle Companies campaigns before adding SBG units to the mix. After the current campaign, the God campaign in the second edition BC rule book we will do one of the Evil campaigns (but using our good companies) from the old White Dwarf magazines, then the Good campaign from the first edition of BC. Then we will do the other Evil campaign, the one that ends with fighting a dragon! After that we will start adding SBG units, moving on to the Battles in Wilderland campaign but adding our companies, good and evil to it.

https://www.dchobbitleague.com/uploads/4/5/9/3/45938835/battles-in-wilderland-v1.pdf

All of our games are based not long before the War of the Ring.

At some point we may add our companies to games based during the War of the Ring, perhaps with an alternate Fellowship!

Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 5333
    • The Grumpy Gnome
Time for our battle report from Saturday.... my Dwarves and the Outlaws in a Show of Strength.

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2020/07/13/show-of-strength-a-dwarven-battle-report/

More photos and info on the blog....

Offline Wilgut Spleens

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 419
    • The Miniature World of Wilgut Spleens
another nice report Rick. The video is interesting.Sounds like 50% bows is the least you can do. Some nice terrain there, especailly the little copse' of trees

 

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