Lovely paint jobs, better than some of my 25mm.
Although I haven't played it I heard good things about Bring of Battle/Epic Heroes http://www.brinkofbattle.com
You might want to look into Of Gods and Mortals. Squads are about the size you are looking for, though there is an emphasis on single figures (legends) and of course a deity leads your troops into battle - but you could always forego this if you wanted. The book contains sample lists (Norse, Egyptian and Greek, maybe Celtic too - it's been a while since I thumbed through). There are lots of abilities to apply to your troops to personalise them. Yet another Osprey book, cheap to buy, one that didn't seem to appeal as much as recent efforts.
I have to say that Saga is not that difficult to adapt - there's a post somewhere in this very forum, some chap has made a start on creating 4 boards for WHFB battles and is promising to make more. He's added in creatures, monsters, some magic too, looks pretty decent though I have yet to have a go. There are also boards around for LotR, though these seem to be name changes only rather than rewrites (Vikings = Uruk Hai, Normans = Rohan, that kind of thing).
Take a look at NoQuarter:
https://noquarterwargames.wordpress.com/
Armies of Arcana and the Chipco Fantasy Rules! are both designed for mass skirmish gaming.
Both are well reviewed around the web
I had completely forgotten about oGaM - Its as you say; it doesn't get that much mention (though still a bit). I think I even jotted it down for potentially fitting a thing like this. And I am a pretty big Ganesha fan.
Just a thought, but have you seen Ganesha's Swatters rules? They're sci-fi, but would be easily adapted for fantasy. Squads move on CDs (or equivalent bases), with casualties taken off as necessary. There is quite an array of alien types that could be readily fitted to fantasy monsters. It's designed for 20 to 50 miniatures a side. It was also designed with 15mm in mind.
Armies of Arcana and the Chipco Fantasy Rules! are both designed for mass skirmish gaming.
Both are well reviewed around the web
I think the main problem with fantasy in this respect is the vastness of different races, and weapons/armour types to be covered to get that feel of 'we fight in units, but we each have our own special flavour' for really small 'units' to feel different than playing a battle game with larger units.
If you want to play scenario-driven (and don't care squat about the points), I think you could use a ruleset like GoB (just ditch the 'last 4 models run away' rule), as the unit strength/weakness is covered buy the number of models in the unit, so smaller units just roll less dice (and you can have 'elite' models counting as 2 or more dice), but if you want to use a balanced system, my money would be on SAGA, as you can have units of 4-12 (buying models in 4, 8 or 12 man blocks), and I guess you could easily use the 'reduced models' principle that is going to be in Dragon Rampant (fewer models, but with a number of HP totalling up to the full amount for a 'point' of this troop type) for that, too.
I intend to get Dragon Rampant (and use it without the turnover rule), but still a couple of months away it does not cater for your needs right now... ;)
Just a thought, but have you seen Ganesha's Swatters rules? They're sci-fi, but would be easily adapted for fantasy. Squads move on CDs (or equivalent bases), with casualties taken off as necessary. There are quite an array of alien types that could be readily fitted to fantasy monsters. It's designed for 20 to 50 miniatures a side. It was also designed with 15mm in mind.
Thus, I am on the lookout for a ruleset that plays well with squads of 3-12 models, where 12 is large, and between 10 and 30 miniatures per side.Have you looked at GW's Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit Stategy Battle Game? It is organized into groups (warbands) of up to 12 warriors, each of which must be lead by a "hero" (named or generic). It can handle anything from just 2-3 heroes alone, up to 30-50 warriors plus their associated heroes with ease. Much larger than that and I find it starts to slow down with just one player per side, but if you are determiend it still works for even larger forces.
Have you looked at GW's Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit Stategy Battle Game? It is organized into groups (warbands) of up to 12 warriors, each of which must be lead by a "hero" (named or generic). It can handle anything from just 2-3 heroes alone, up to 30-50 warriors plus their associated heroes with ease. Much larger than that and I find it starts to slow down with just one player per side, but if you are determiend it still works for even larger forces.
Its obviously written for the Middle-Earth venue, but there are enough different troop types in the game that you can probably find one that comes close to your conception of any fantasy race.
I actually enjoy those rules a LOT, but prefer the pre-hobbit pre-warband version: Cleaner design.I agree to an extent about pre-Hobbit. I'm not sure the changes in the Hobbit rulebook really did anything to improve the game, rather than just adding additional complications. I don't recall exactly when the warband rules were added, but I do like that they require you to include a minimum number of heroes in your list. Still, its not important enough to me to refuse to play without them.
I find it gets a bit fiddly with bases less than 25mm though, with the 1" knockback and 1" zone of control being easier to play as a base width.Yeah, I can see how that would cause problems. I suppose you could reduce the ranges to match the smaller figures, but that would require you to refigure all the movement, shooting, influence, etc. ranges in the game.
I agree to an extent about pre-Hobbit. I'm not sure the changes in the Hobbit rulebook really did anything to improve the game, rather than just adding additional complications. I don't recall exactly when the warband rules were added, but I do like that they require you to include a minimum number of heroes in your list. Still, its not important enough to me to refuse to play without them.
Yeah, I can see how that would cause problems. I suppose you could reduce the ranges to match the smaller figures, but that would require you to refigure all the movement, shooting, influence, etc. ranges in the game.
For now I am looking at Saga, having allready made a 4 point warband out of the orcs I have lying around. Grabbing some pics of that tomorrow, when there is enough light.
For now I am looking at Saga, having allready made a 4 point warband out of the orcs I have lying around. Grabbing some pics of that tomorrow, when there is enough light.I've heard a lot of good things about Saga, and there are some people in my local group who are playing. I've been trying to hook up with one of them to get a test game in but our schedules have not meshed yet.
I am on the lookout for a ruleset that plays well with squads of 3-12 models, where 12 is large, and between 10 and 30 miniatures per side.
So thats why I started this topic: Do any of you guys per chance know a ruleset that fits that mold? I'd be very interested to see if theres one I've missed.