Fantastic Battles - videos on Youtube

[Irregular Wars Nic]

WOW Fred. Given how much 10mm stuff I know you already have based up, that is a real vote of confidence!

Looking good - I love the use of familiars on some of the magc-user bases.

[fred]

Glad you like them Nic. I found the cats already painted when I was rummaging for possible figures - despite having mountains of stuff painted, there are plenty of surrounding ranges waiting to be painted up, so a few more getting painted is always good!

[Irregular Wars Nic]

In Fantastic Battles, all armies are custom built to suit the player’s vision of their fantasy race, nation or faction. This post is intended to give some insight into the process of building an army with which to crush their enemies.

Armies consist of a number of characters and companies built using the guidelines below. For pick-up games, players would normally agree a nominal point limit of 500-1,000 points within which to build armies. A 1,000 point army might have somewhere in the region of 4-7 characters, and 15-25 companies. Games with multiple players per side are easily accommodated.

The rules will include a number of pre-generated army lists based on the armies of the various play-testers, but these should be seen as suggestions rather than canon, and players are encouraged to create armies that suit their own collections.

Characters
Each army must be led by a single warlord (or a necromancer) and may also include a number of other individual characters who are classed as captains, magic-users or rogues. Character types are standardised to reflect the battlefield role of individual personalities; they are not customisable except for the spell choices of magic-users.

Warlords/necromancers are the player’s avatar on the table. They have the best capacity to maintain command of the units around them and rally them when their resolve flags. Captains have a reduced capacity for command, while rogues and magic-users may only command units to which they are attached. Each magic-user has three spell slots which are chosen from a list of spells (currently there are 10). There is some access to magic items in the form of relics, but their impact is limited.

Characters are essential to any army, but they will never be game winners. They may move freely around the battlefield as individuals, but this is not a game where a single hero can expect to last too long against an entire unit of enemy warriors. Characters can attach to any unit, bolstering their Resolve and Melee capacity, and some ‘units’ (such as dragon matriarchs or giant chieftains) may also take character traits to allow them to lead their peers into battle.

Companies
The building block of the army is the company. Each company is recruited from one of seven base profiles and can be allocated up to three distinguishing traits ranging from amphibious and berserk, to flying, monstrous, mounted and undead.

An army may also apply a racial trope. The racial trope is a single trait which applies to all companies (not characters) of that race in the army; i.e. ‘all dwarves are doughty’, or ‘goblins are notoriously unreliable’.

The base profiles include elite, formed and irregular companies, as well as dragons, fantastic beasts, vehicles and ordnance batteries. With 40 traits to choose from (currently), it is possible to create well over 1,000 different company profiles.

Example companies The following examples outline the process of customising a company roster. Although both are based on an Irregular company base profile, the two examples will play very differently due to the allocated traits.


Whether dwelling in damp caverns, wild hills or the vast steppe, Goblin Warriors habitually wield wicked short bows but are always willing to throw themselves into a brawl with anyone who stands in their way. Goblin Warriors start as an irregular company (22 points) with the unreliable trait as a racial trope to reflect their argumentative nature (-4 points). They are melee troops who also carry bows, so receive the shooter (mixed unit) trait (2/1 Shoot, +4 points), and their enthusiasm to get into a scrap gives them the wild charge trait (+2 points).


Riding out to patrol the borders of the halfling shires, what Poultry Scouts lack in punch, they make up for in versatility. Beginning as an irregular company (22 points), the scouts are obliged to take militia (-1 Melee, -2 points) as their halfling racial trope to reflect their less-than-martial nature. Their small feathered mounts are not impressive enough to provide the mounted trait, but they do grant the fast trait (+1 Move, +1 point). As javelin-armed scouts, the riders gain thrown weapons (+1/- shooting, +1 point) and the skirmishers trait (+4 points).

Forming Units – Companies and Groups
During deployment, a player chooses to deploy their companies as individual small units, or combine up to four companies in larger group formations. With the exception of companies with the giant trait, any type of company may be grouped together in this way, whether it represents a horde of zombies, a grand battery of artillery, or a clutch of dragons. The only condition is that all companies in a group must have an identical profile and traits. Companies formed into a group during deployment must continue to operate as part of the group throughout the game. Likewise, companies deployed individually cannot be merged into a group later in the battle.

Individual companies are more manoeuvrable than groups; they can more easily navigate between terrain features, and find it easier to position themselves to attack enemy units in the flank or rear. However, by their very nature, lone companies tend to have less Resolve than groups, and lose Resolve faster when they see larger units scatter.

Groups consist of two, three or four identical companies. They have more restricted movement than individual companies, but combine their Resolve factors with the result that larger units tend to stick around on the battlefield longer than smaller units.

That is all for now. Over the next couple of updates on Fantastic Battles, I'll be posting some example army lists in full.

[Irregular Wars Nic]

One of the challenges brought on by the current pandemic is the inability to meet friends inside to roll dice and push toy soldiers across a table. We are now able to meet outside (wargaming in the sun?), but with the recent squally weather, it's not all that enticing. This has been rather frustrating for writing purposes, as Fantastic Battles should now be in the middle of extensive playtesting. I started testing back at the start of the year, but lockdown really put a dampener on that.

While other people have managed to test the rules, either solo or with various technological solutions to social distancing, I have been a couple of months without testing a battle. A couple of weeks ago I was invited by Steve and Fred (of this parish), to join them for a virtual playtest. It had never occurred to me that this was a viable way to play wargames, but it seemed to work for them, so we gave it a shot ourselves this week.



https://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/06/fantastic-battles-playtesting-by-proxy.html

There is a longer write up on the blog, but in summery, playing by proxy, with an opponent on the other end of a video call, will never be as satisfying as meeting in person. However, given the circumstances, it worked remarkably smoothly. It helps that Andrew and I have a similar play style and could trust each other to report truthfully on dice rolls. The rules flowed easily for us with no obviously unbalanced areas. Another few games like this, and we might be ready for more open playtesting...

[blacksoilbill]

Great looking game in that last photo.

[fred]

Good looking game Nic, are the goblins Polar Fox? Where are the Halflings from, I don't recall seeing this in 10mm before?

Glad you were able to get a game in by video call, as you say its not the same as playing in person, but it does work and it gets games in during lockdown. Putting the camera where your opponent would be is inspired, for some reason we tend to have put the camera at the side of the battlefield - perhaps as we tend to have both players remote, with the host running around moving the figures!

[Irregular Wars Nic]

Thanks gents!

Good looking game Nic, are the goblins Polar Fox? Where are the Halflings from, I don't recall seeing this in 10mm before?

The most of the goblin infantry are Polar Fox, but there is a real mix of manufacturers in there - see my next post.

The halflings are mostly Magister Militum, with some Eureka added for variety and Pendraken treefolk.

[Irregular Wars Nic]

While the playtesting of Fantastic Battles is still very much a work-in-progress, the army building mechanics are relatively stable so I thought I would showcase one of the armies we have been playing with. As outlined previously, army building is designed to be fully customisable to suit a player's vision of their faction. This list represents my view of goblins as a jibbering, unruly, tribal society, brought together only by the strength and cunning of a 'great goblin'.


This army is costed at exactly 1000 points. It includes seven characters and 22 companies (bases of troops/monsters) which I would normally run as 13 units. I have chosen the 'unreliable' trait as a racial trope to reflect the notion that goblins are not the most steadfast of fantasy races. Away from the watchful eyes of their commanders, they are wildly unpredictable. The rules work perfectly well with smaller armies, and with multiple players per side. I haven't yet tried larger armies per side due to the restrictions of social distancing.

You can use any miniatures you like to build your armies - my 10mm goblins (and their pals) are a mixture of Polar Fox, Cibo's Little Dudes, Warmaster, Magister Militum, Frostgrave and Blind Beggar miniatures.


The army's characters. Characters are crucial to an army's performance - they command units, rally their spirits when they are feeling down, and cast spells to buff friends and frustrate foes. At the back is my Warlord (and great goblin), King Skrotrot, riding on his wyvern. Along the front, from left to right, are my two Magic-users Skittles and Slabbers; three Captains, Skunkbut, Snatters and Skunderd; and my Rogue, Snickers.


Four companies of goblin wolf-riders armed with wicked shortbows and riding cranky canines. I would normally field these in two two-company units to give maximum flexibility, but they could just as easily be run as a single four-company unit.


A single unit of goblin bat-riders. This unit is not very tough or powerful, but it is incredibly fast. If it can hover around behind larger units and avoid destruction, it is perfect to launch attacks on enemy flanks and rears.


Considered backwards even by goblin standards, the two-company unit of goblin spider-riders are the only unit in the army capable of fighting unhindered in woods and rough terrain.


Goblin warriors at their most generic, these chaps carry wicked shortbows but are even more at home getting nice and close and giving the enemy "one up 'em".


Two companies of goblin Madcaps, made up of fungus-addicted hooligans, even more unpredictable than others of their race.


A ramshackle goblin battle-wagon, capable of flattening enemy warriors irrespective of their armour - all despite being held together with bits of string.


The most steadfast unit in the army consists of these two companies of ogre mercenaries, lending some much needed muscle to the goblin horde.


Hurling boulders and capable of regenerating when wounded, a two-company unit of trolls also provides valuable support to the more numerous goblins.


Rounding off the army are two giants (Snickers the goblin Rogue shown for scale). Giants cannot form into groups, but fight with the power of much larger units.

[fred]

Some great looking armies there Nic, good work to blend the different suppliers figures together.

[aliensurfer]

very nice, I'd not heard of Polar Fox but their stuff looks nice.

[blacksoilbill]

Superb looking army! Almost makes me want to go back to 10mm!

[Irregular Wars Nic]

Thanks again folks.

Blacksoilbill - 10mm is the finest of the flavours. You should go back. But for the record, the rules are non-denominational. 6mm-28mm all easily accomplished.

 

[Irregular Wars Nic]

I hope to be able to send drafts of the rules out to playtesters early next week. I am probably looking for 3 or 4 more people/groups to help out.

If anyone is interested, please drop me an email at irregularwars@gmail.com and let me know how you are gaming at the moment (i.e. in lockdown, not locked down, video chats etc).

Cheers,

Nic

[Irregular Wars Nic]

We had a few more playtesting games over video chat over the weekend, there are couple of photos here to give a sense of the scope of the game, and quite a few more on the blog: http://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/06/fantastic-battles-more-playtesting-by.html

[Irregular Wars Nic]

As the Covid-19 pandemic eases here in Ulster, we are now allowed to meet in small groups, inside, for the first time in over three months. The obvious way to celebrate was to play with toy soldiers. In person! Four brave souls met for a live playtest of Fantastic Battles, pitching the goblins of the Wyvern Hills against the Vermintide.



The game worked really well (no further amendments your honour), and we are looking at running a campaign in the coming weeks.