Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Medieval Adventures => Topic started by: Mikai on April 05, 2025, 08:50:28 PM
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Looks like Victrix comes with a set of rules now, for the Dark Age:
https://www.victrixlimited.com/pages/pillage
It looks interesting, will wait for the first game reviews though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGu_8CmPBs
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Apparently it’s been out for a while in French, Victrix are simply helping out with the English version. Sounds like they are also going to put together some army boxes for it too.
Steve
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Yes, I have read about the armiy boxes too. They are more likely to become ibreresting, haven't seen Victrix doing army boxes before.
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A while ago they did do some army boxes for Clash of Spears, combining bits of their Ancient sets.
I'm not sure I really feel the need for another Dark Age skirmish game. Seems quite specific in terms of requiring 25mm round bases. Nonetheless, anything that help's Victrix produce another 4 sets of Dark Age minis (Picts, Scots, Welsh Cav, Skirmishers) is very very welcome.
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Seems quite specific in terms of requiring 25mm round bases.
I wonder if it really does, though. I've seen a fair few skirmish games that 'require' (or recommend) round bases, but all of them work just fine with squares. The opposite doesn't quite hold true (there are a few skirmish games that use facings), but it usually does.
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From their facebook which luckily someone posted at discord:
"What is pillage? How does it differ to other games?"
Pillage differs from games like Saga or Barons War by offering true individual control over each miniature, with dynamic terrain interaction, a strong narrative focus, and a unique looting and fire system that directly shapes objectives and tactics. Terrain, weather, and fire aren't just scenery, they are active elements that drive the story and change the course of the battle.
When is it coming out?
Hardback is currently being printed and should be on sale in 6-8 weeks. There will be a pre-order once we have the proof of the prints and a concrete delivery time.
Will there be a PDF version available?
Yes! We will offer this along with the pre-order.
What can I be doing in the meantime?
For those who are eager to get preparing...
Build your army:
Of course, one thing you can be doing at the miniature is getting your armies ready.
We have shared images of the faction cost tables.
In Pillage, you can equip your warriors as you wish from the list of equipment available in each faction. The associated costs vary according to the faction chosen. A heavily-equipped warrior will cost more and be slower on the battlefield, while a light warrior will be able to run faster to capture targets, but will be weaker in defence.
Choose the right balance: the spear can support allies in battle but is weak in close combat, shields can be used to form shield walls or hide behind them in battle, armour provides better defence, and swords and axes are formidable weapons. A bow can fire twice if it has not moved, but cannot fire if it has moved more than half the movement distance of its bearer.
The crossbow cannot move to fire and fires only once, but with formidable force.
The possibilities are endless, and they can be accompanied by talents specific to each army, which you can also pay for.
We don't want to give too much away just yet, but these tables will help you build your armies."
Here also the boards for the Anglo-Saxons, the Normans and the Vikings.
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Followed by the boards for the Irish, Welsh and Bretons.
Edit: Forgot the Frankish
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Also some shared image of the required gaming equipment
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I find it so odd that Victrix, a company that sells figures by the gross, would publish a game that only needs a handful of miniatures.
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I find it so odd that Victrix, a company that sells figures by the gross, would publish a game that only needs a handful of miniatures.
Never hurts to have an entry level game to get the youngsters to commit to something bigger after they have gotten a taste. I expect single sprue packs of 5-6 figs might become available.
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I find it so odd that Victrix, a company that sells figures by the gross, would publish a game that only needs a handful of miniatures.
That is odd, I hadn’t thought about that lol
They have a slightly chequered history with rules. Two or three years ago I took part in play testing (and extensive reporting back on) their prototype WW2 rules for their (then) new 12mm WW2 range. They were a bit of a muddle and didn’t work all that well TBH. They needed an app as I recall. Don’t know whether they ever saw the light of day, but my friend who had volunteered to run some of these playtesting sessions received a massive box of 12mm plastic models and figures for free, so he was happy enough.
I think wargames businesses often feel they need to offer rules as part of a complete package to help sell their figures. Sometimes, perhaps it would be best for them to just stick to their knitting ;)
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I've looked into "Pillage", and it's not really a "handful of models" game. Basic troops clock in around 20 coins/points or whatever, and the game is factored for 800 coins/point play.
So more like 30-40+ models.
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They wrote that it will be 15-30 warriors representing one of the faction. 800 coins/points sound like a reasonable factor for that. I do battle with 750 points at Ravenfeasts and it are also roughly between 20 and 35 warriors per side. So it will fit nicely into the possibilities I have around :D
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I find it so odd that Victrix, a company that sells figures by the gross, would publish a game that only needs a handful of miniatures.
Maybe because they know that if we play a game that requires 10-15 models, we will buy 10-15 boxes of miniatures anyway....
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They posted some more pictures of the Scots/Picts. A real pain that they are doing that only in Facebook. Not sure why some companies are suddenly starting with Facebook...
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Really like the look of the Scots and Picks.
Will be picking some up when they come out.
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I find it so odd that Victrix, a company that sells figures by the gross, would publish a game that only needs a handful of miniatures.
It can function as a gateway - see also Mantic's King's of War: Champions (a rank and flank game with - for example four bases and 15 figures that uses the same basing as their large scale KOW).
It does sound interesting, depends on the campaign system as much as the combat system.
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Well I’m tempted - and the last time I played this period was for Saga v1 until my opponent and I realised it was just the same game over and over and over (especially if there was a ford!)……. I loved my vikings but the game was just a little dull with repetition. Those Picts and Scots look great - looking forwards to seeing some AARs once people have it in their hands.
Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain
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I wasn't really interested as between Lion Rampant and Midgard I feel my early medieval gaming was covered. However, we have a New Guy moving to the area shortly and ( for whatever reason) he is reallyinterested in Pillage. As I have minis for it, I will probably be giving it a shot.
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Hello Pillage community!
The book is getting closer by the day!
We've just received the print proofs from Victrix. This is the unbound version of the book, allowing us to check the print and paper quality.
What can I say except that the book is going to look absolutely stunning...
To help pass the time, here are a few photos of the printed pages we've received.
I can't wait for you all to discover Pillage!
Somewhere was also noted that the hardback books and new army sets will be going on pre-order next week, and should start shipping soon after. More showcases for the sets will come soon!
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Preorder is up now!
First images of the Carolingians:
(https://www.victrixlimited.com/cdn/shop/files/Montage2_2048x.jpg)
(https://www.victrixlimited.com/cdn/shop/files/Monatage3_2048x.jpg)
(https://www.victrixlimited.com/cdn/shop/files/Montage4_2048x.jpg)
(https://www.victrixlimited.com/cdn/shop/files/Montage1_e413780c-90c0-43d3-842c-48e88b7228aa_2048x.jpg)
Looks also like they repacked older sets in new handy bundles, something I would have loved to see already earlier:
Viking Warband: https://www.victrixlimited.com/collections/pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages/products/viking-warband
Saxon Warband: https://www.victrixlimited.com/collections/pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages/products/saxon-warband
Norman Warband: https://www.victrixlimited.com/collections/pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages/products/norman-warband
Rus Warband: https://www.victrixlimited.com/collections/pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages/products/rus-warband
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Some more very interesting stuff will be coming too, for me really unexpected but very welcome: Dark Age & Medieval Farm Animals as well as Dark Age & Medieval Accessories
https://www.victrixlimited.com/collections/pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages/products/dark-age-medieval-farm-animals
(https://www.victrixlimited.com/cdn/shop/files/Montage_95667a76-958f-48da-82ab-d78fc7fccdf5_5000x.jpg?v=1749803646)
https://www.victrixlimited.com/collections/pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages/products/dark-age-medieval-accessories
(https://www.victrixlimited.com/cdn/shop/files/Mainimage_5000x.jpg?v=1749803389)
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Well I’m tempted - and the last time I played this period was for Saga v1 until my opponent and I realised it was just the same game over and over and over (especially if there was a ford!)……. I loved my vikings but the game was just a little dull with repetition. Those Picts and Scots look great - looking forwards to seeing some AARs once people have it in their hands.
Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain
I kinda agree about Saga, however it does have the corresponding upside* of not requiring elaborate terrain**, and the simplicity of only 6 units made up of 3-4 troop types, with every unit the same "points cost". That makes it a very easy pickup game to arrange to play at a club or FLGS.
Looking at the tables someone kindly posted earlier, Pillage seems to require quite specific, elaborate terrain setups littered with extras (with Victrix even producing 2 sets of new models for the impedimentia on the battlefield).
It also seems to have a "gold" points cost for each individual figure, which suggests there is the option to equip everyone differently - which is perhaps drifting a little into RPG territory ?
All of that feels like it has the potential to end up as another one of those "We all bought it and were very excited to try it, but in the end we found that we didn't play that much as it all seemed to be a bit too much of a faff to get everything together and onto the table" sort of game maybe?
(* Whether this is actually an upside probably probably depends on if you game in a place you can get to on public transport!)
(** OK, barely any terrain, and even so quite often it appears to be an afterthought in some of the games you see taking place)
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I haven’t played much Saga, but I was always very aware of the mechanics when playing it — scanning the battle board, looking for the optimal play and searching for combos. It’s fun, but it doesn’t put me in the headspace of a Viking warlord. Maybe if I played more often and was more familiar with the boards, the mechanics would recede into the background and I’d get into the early medieval spirit.
Pillage seems like it might hit the sweet spot for me. From skimming the French version, it looks very similar to Ravenfeast but with a bit more meat on its bones. Any game with a dedicated ‘light things on fire’ phase in the turn is worth a closer look.
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Looking at the tables someone kindly posted earlier, Pillage seems to require quite specific, elaborate terrain setups littered with extras (with Victrix even producing 2 sets of new models for the impedimentia on the battlefield).
It also seems to have a "gold" points cost for each individual figure, which suggests there is the option to equip everyone differently - which is perhaps drifting a little into RPG territory ?
It looks like that for sure. I won't mind new plastic sets for terrain though, as I dislike 3D printed ones and love to have more choices available ;D
The individual unit creation with point costs is something I am used to playing Ravenfeast. This gives more freedom at arranging your own personal Warband instead of having predefinied types of units. Byrthnoth also made a connection to the Ravenfeast rule set already. Perhaps it gives a similar good gameplay feeling.
And of course it could become a hyped up game dying quickly. Same story as for every other new rule set I guess.
There seem to be some files availablable already as free PDFs. Sadly not for a direct download, you need to put them into your cart...
https://www.victrixlimited.com/products/pillage-supplement-sheep-beehives
https://www.victrixlimited.com/products/pillage-faqs
https://www.victrixlimited.com/products/pillage-quick-reference-sheets
https://www.victrixlimited.com/products/pillage-supplement-the-east-rus-magyars-byzantine-factions
Goonhammer also wrote down a expansive review for the game in case someone is interested in reading it:
https://www.goonhammer.com/goonhammer-reviews-pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages/?fbclid=IwY2xjawK5OblleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFZd1dxaG1wck9QYzVuN0lCAR672nJ2HfhIWpFH9yDVHonjkd8W7Ii8vn8AzjKrFBx5oyhzaPQu4WFWOnpCPQ_aem_DCtXWCPQqKGQV90sQloQyw
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The figures look great. The summaries of the rules, however, make me wonder what they add to the already existing (and much cheaper!) Pig Wars and Ravenfeast.
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@Madaxeman - don’t get me wrong I did enjoy the many games of saga I played. It was mainly hampered by there only being two of us with one force each (we should have proxied it a bit to get variety) and (as Byrthnoth says about the style of play/battle boards) in v1 (haven’t played v2) they looked like you had lots of options but for the Vikings (my chaps) you would only use roughly three choices and one of those was very situational. I’d imagine v2 is much better as it seems to have a strong following and if I had a group of willing opponents I’d merrily resurrect my tiny raiding ancestors.
I’m currently trying BattleLust in 28 and 15mm for dark ages style skirmishes and I’m enjoying the slight crunch - I will be watching Pillage with interest though, I especially like how victrix have packaged a few of their different sprues together to give you an instant warband rather than losing out to a sprue reseller.
Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain
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7th Son has a nice overview of the rules on his YouTube channel that's worth a watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3zDyzGHHcs&t=726s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3zDyzGHHcs&t=726s)
I pre-ordered the rules and hope to have them by the weekend with a bit of luck. Looking forward to reading through them and setting up a few figures to see how they play.
Very pleased to see Victrix supporting it too and the new kits they have been previewing look great. Have quite a few of their Vikings, Saxons and Normans and always hoped they would produce some kits for the Irish, Scots and Welsh. What I really want to see from them now is a decent set of suitable civilians which I believe they have said is on their to do list.
Steve
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What Pan Marek said earlier; some kind of campaign/ progression system would reel me in. Im guessing you can use gold to upgrade your warbands equipment & hire specialists though?
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I don't think there is a campaign mode in the book from what I have read over on the facebook group. I think the author does have some ideas though for a future supplement.
Steve
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What I didn’t like was the payment for the warriors in gold.
Historically, it would have been more accurate to pay with a silver mark or dirhams.
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What I didn’t like was the payment for the warriors in gold.
Historically, it would have been more accurate to pay with a silver mark or dirhams.
Yea I thought the same. I guess it's simple enough to say silver instead of gold.
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What I didn’t like was the payment for the warriors in gold.
Historically, it would have been more accurate to pay with a silver mark or dirhams.
Yeah, I cannot help but think this is a result of slightly half-bothered "authentication" of what normally is abstarcted as "points".
The game looks at-least heavily inspired by Middle-Earh Strategic Battle Game, which by itself is quite a good ruleset for a game of legendary heroes leading units into smallish scale battles. I don't like how it tries to artificially force distinction between the different peoples of early middle ages by restricting the access to equipment. I understand it's in the name of interest and game balance, but it's sometimes silly, like Welsh not having access to armour, or slings costing 5x more if you are a Frank.
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I think using coins for recruitment is to do with what the author has in mind for the campaign system from what I have read. Whether it’s called silver or gold doesn’t really bother me.
In terms of the force list, I’m sure there is a generic force builder in the rules so there’s nothing stopping people from using that to design a faction the way they want.
Steve
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Those medieval animals look good, I guess there is a lot of exfil the livestock involved.
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What I didn’t like was the payment for the warriors in gold.
Inflation ^__^
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👏 Well Played!
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The game looks at-least heavily inspired by Middle-Earh Strategic Battle Game, which by itself is quite a good ruleset for a game of legendary heroes leading units into smallish scale battles. I don't like how it tries to artificially force distinction between the different peoples of early middle ages by restricting the access to equipment. I understand it's in the name of interest and game balance, but it's sometimes silly, like Welsh not having access to armour, or slings costing 5x more if you are a Frank.
MESBG was a very good rules set for it's time. But taking a second look at the gold pieces you pay for various items, I see what you mean. Armour unavailable to Welsh, 30gp for Picts/Irish, 15gp for Bretons, yet just 5gp for Saxons/Vikings/Normans/Franks. Armour is the same price as a shield for Germanics and half the price of a hand weapon. We'll end up with totally armoured "Germanics" vs. totally unarmoured "Celtics". Not for me. Nonetheless, still happy Pillage is coming out since, on the back of it, we get Pict, Irish and Frank minis.
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I'm interested to read (or watch on YouTube) some game reports from players before deciding it it is for me. The bit about different armor costs by faction seems rather unbalancing, unless the rules mechanics make an unarmored warrior relatively equal to an armored one...?
Mike Demana
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Well North Star have it in their catalogue https://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=19355 (https://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=19355)
On the Victrix site there is a quick reference sheet and lists for Rus, Magyar and Byzantine factions.
https://www.victrixlimited.com/collections/pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages (https://www.victrixlimited.com/collections/pillage-ransack-the-middle-ages)
The render of the Irish in furry costumes is a bit odd.
(https://www.victrixlimited.com/cdn/shop/files/Irish-Montage-nearcompletion_2048x.jpg?v=1749478567)
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In a very recent discussion on the Pillage Facebook group it came to light that the authors used Midjourney AI for some of the art in the book. Looks like there was an information about the use of AI in the original French version of the product, but apparently that's not the case in the English translation published by Victrix. I don't have the book, so can't confirm, but if anybody with it can check the front matter and see if there is a mention of AI there?
If that's not there, it's hard to assume it was a mistake while translating, especially since appropriate credits are quite crucial in publishing. Did Victrix then consciously decided to omit the AI-disclosure? I wouldn't want to think so, as I like the company, but if they did, that's a massive damper on the game for me.
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I wouldn't want to think so, as I like the company, but if they did, that's a massive damper on the game for me.
Same.
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That AI-art was used in the first place was a huge dampener for me - so much so, that I'd not even bothered reading through it, had I known. Poor form, especially because the pictures of the miniatures in the book are absolutely gorgeous!
But yes, there's no mention of Midjourney at all in the credits for the english translation published by Victrix - which is even more poor form. It's not like people wouldn't find out, is it? They've gained nothing from trying to hide the fact.
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Looks like that whole thread has been deleted form the Facebook group. At least two people confirmed some of the art has been done with AI - one recalling the creator being open about it and another saying the French version has the Midjourney credit.
I wasn't excited for this game, as I felt it wasn't overly revolutionary and with only a hardback ruleset, beyond what I'd like to spend. But now I'm just disappointed with Victrix. Maybe they will clarify the situation, but not disclosing AI use to me is just shady, like they wanted to hide it knowing it will have its opponents (which was most of the people who commented under that original Facebook thread). Just hope the thread was deleted because it was getting personal, not because Victrix is trying to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
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That AI thing would be a bugger for sure. I hope as well that they don't try to hide the facts.
Callandor already created a list builder in case someone wants to give it a try:
https://callandor19.github.io/pillage-list-builder/
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I look foreward to the figures , but as I just Started on Barons war I will skipp on the rules
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Looks like that whole thread has been deleted form the Facebook group. At least two people confirmed some of the art has been done with AI - one recalling the creator being open about it and another saying the French version has the Midjourney credit.
I wasn't excited for this game, as I felt it wasn't overly revolutionary and with only a hardback ruleset, beyond what I'd like to spend. But now I'm just disappointed with Victrix. Maybe they will clarify the situation, but not disclosing AI use to me is just shady, like they wanted to hide it knowing it will have its opponents (which was most of the people who commented under that original Facebook thread). Just hope the thread was deleted because it was getting personal, not because Victrix is trying to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
They still haven't made a comment on the fact - even though there's been big threads on Reddit about it as well. At this point it feels very much like rug sweeping to me - which is a colossal shame.
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I think wargames businesses often feel they need to offer rules as part of a complete package to help sell their figures. Sometimes, perhaps it would be best for them to just stick to their knitting ;)
You found the right word „feel“. The result is often a non-working system or a bad copy of an existing system. I ordered Pilage and received it last week. Didn‘t find the time to look in it, only a short view. Great book with a lot of pictures. Hope the rules will work.