Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Irregular Wars Nic on May 10, 2020, 01:35:04 PM
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In February 2011, I released Irregular Wars: Conflict at the World’s End. Originally inspired by the Elizabethan wars in Ireland, the rules were written to be suitable for all asymmetrical clashes around the fringes of the European world in the 16th and Early 17th centuries. A 2nd edition followed in 2014 which streamlined many of the rules to make the turns flow more smoothly and which earned fan-made supplements to cover ancient, medieval and fantasy genres. Since then, I have written 10 further rules sets and expansions, all published through Ganesha Games.
As I approach the 10th anniversary of writing rules fit for public consumption it feels like the right time to return to the Irregular Wars system. Rather than releasing a 3rd edition of Conflict at the World’s End –which still serves its niche admirably – I have embarked on a more broadly applicable set of rules for fantasy mass-battles, Fantastic Battles. The title is a play on words do you see, ‘cause the genre is fantasy games, and the battles will be fantastic – as in ‘great’ or ‘enjoyable’, or at least a moderately good laugh ... oh, never mind.
Central tenets of Irregular Wars: Fantastic Battles
* Engaging rules. The rules need to keep both players engaged at all times with randomised initiative and play passing quickly between players.
* Command friction and fog of war. The rules need to limit the omnipotent control a warlord has over their army and the battlefield conditions.
* Setting agnostic. The game must be applicable to any fantasy (or even pseudo-historical) settings.
* Flexible army building. As a game of fantasy battles, why accept restrictions on your fantasy? A flexible army building system allows players to create armies to their own tastes.
* Scale agnostic using multi-based figures. All measurements are expressed in distance units (u), where 1u is the width of one company base. Any size bases are possible, as long as all companies are based in the same way.
* No individual figure removal. All units have a footprint and are represented on the table as a complete unit. When a unit loses its resolve to fight, it is removed from the table in its entirety.
In Fantastic Battles, armies consist of a number of characters and companies, custom built to suit the player’s vision of their fantasy faction. For pick-up games, we recommend 500-1000 points per player which should allow for somewhere in the region of 12-24 companies. The company forms the building block of the army. Each company is built using one of seven base profiles and can be allocated up to three distinguishing traits – identical companies may be grouped into larger units which become more robust at the expense of maneuverability. Armies may also be given an additional blanket trait known as a racial trope which applies to all companies of the main race in the army. Each army must be led by a single warlord and may also include a number of other individual characters chosen from captains, magic-users and rogues.
The rules are still in the closed testing phase – the Covid-19 pandemic has really slowed testing down. Over the coming months, I’ll be posting more information on different aspects of the rules, from example armies, to pre-game mishaps, game play, random events, and the campaign system. Do pop over to the Irregular Wars blog and drop me a line or leave a comment below if there are any particular features you’d like me to cover.
http://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/05/introducing-irregular-wars-fantastic.html (http://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/05/introducing-irregular-wars-fantastic.html)
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The title is a play on words, and the cover is a nice Fantasy in-joke as well.
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How are you dealing with bases for individual character heroes and wizards?
If armies are build your own how are you dealing with magic spells and artifacts?
Are bases for different troop types (skirmish open order vs shieldwall close order) same or different depth?
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The title is a play on words, and the cover is a nice Fantasy in-joke as well.
:D
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How are you dealing with bases for individual character heroes and wizards?
If armies are build your own how are you dealing with magic spells and artifacts?
Are bases for different troop types (skirmish open order vs shieldwall close order) same or different depth?
Hi Robh,
Individual characters are on smaller bases, or a player can choose to embed them in a company if they choose. Characters are principally there to provide command and control over units. They can fight on their own, but this is not a skirmish level game - a single character, even a warlord, is unlikely to last long when faced with a whole unit in melee.
Magic-users have three spell slots and there is currently a list of ten different spells to choose from. The choice of spells is up to the player and how they view their faction. For example, my halfling wizard uses Bless, Blink and Empower, while my goblin shaman has been using Confusion, Curse and Magic missiles. More potent spells are harder to cast, so the different outcomes are balanced out.
The rules recommend having a standardised base size for all companies. However, it is the width that is most important and there will be explanations of how to handle units of different depth.
Cheers,
Nic
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Thanks Nic. I have fantasy armies based for the excellent, but incomplete, fan mod of Impetus (for which the official D&P version seems to have been abandoned) and am always interested in other rules that work with the same 1 base 1 unit diorama style basing.
I look forward to seeing more detail in due course.
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This is exciting news!
We have been playing quite a bit of Irregular Wars recently - as it works well over a video link for remote gaming, and it always gives a good game.
A few years ago we started on some Fantasy mods (well really army list conversions). But in the end went for home brew rules to give us a much bigger battle than IrW does.
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Thanks Fred. Hopefully these will capture the same flavour of game, but run smoother with much larger armies. :D
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In this second post introducing Irregular Wars: Fantastic Battles, we will look at two of the fundamental aspects of any game - the basing system and unit profiles.
Unit basing and measuring distances
The basic unit in Fantastic Battles is the company; companies may act independently or be grouped together into larger formations. Each company is represented on the table by a number of figures on a single base. Companies are an abstract representation of a large body of men (or orcs, or lizardmen, or elves etc ad nauseum), perhaps numbering in the hundreds or thousands. There is no figure removal to represent casualties, the exact number of figures per company is unimportant – players should base their units in the way that looks best.
We recommend square 40x40mm bases for companies of 6mm-15mm scale figures, or 60x60mm for larger scales. However, the actual base size used is irrelevant to the game mechanics as long as the same base widths are used across all companies on the table. While square bases are recommended, rectangular bases are feasible with minimal adjustments as will be noted throughout the rules.
Characters may act as individuals or attach to companies. A character’s base can be any shape and size appropriate to the figure, but should be smaller than a company and easily identifiable.
In the game, all distances are given in generic units of measurement (u) based on the width of a single company. Therefore, in a game using companies on 40mm bases, 2u would equate to 8cm while 3u would equate to 12cm.
Table size
A standard engagement between two forces of between 750-1000 points each is 30x20u (i.e. 1200x800mm if using 40mm bases). Smaller games could be played on 20x20u tables, while larger games would need to have the table size adjusted accordingly.
Company profiles
Every company in an army will have a profile which dictates how it behaves on the battlefield. The example below is for a company of goblin warriors. Detailed guidelines for customising company profiles will be dealt with another time.
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Character/Company
The ‘Character/company’ column gives the company an identity. All companies start out as one a set number of generic base profiles (elite, formed or irregular companies, fantastic beasts, dragons, batteries or vehicles) and are then customised using traits.
Resolve (RES)
A unit’s Resolve is perhaps its single most important factor. It indicates a unit’s willingness to stand firm in the face of danger. During a battle, pre-game and in-game events such as being shot at, taking damage in melee, or seeing friendly units flee degrade a unit’s Resolve, sometimes sending a cascade of panic through a player’s battle line. The retention, loss and restoration of a unit’s Resolve is key and players will find that quick thinking or clever Resolve management can often be the deciding factor in snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
A single company of goblin warriors has only 3 Resolve. However, grouping multiple companies together into a single larger unit stacks their Resolve factors. A unit formed from two companies of goblin warriors (as in the photo at the start of this post) would therefore have 6 Resolve, while a large group made up of four companies would have 12 Resolve.
Move (MOV)
The Move column indicates the maximum distance a company may move in a single action phase. In this case, goblin warriors may move up to 3u in a single turn.
Melee (MEL)
The Melee factor shows the companies martial abilities and indicates how many attack dice are rolled during the Melee phase. Each company of goblin warriors may roll three attack dice under normal circumstances.
Shooting (SHT)
The Shooting column represents a company’s capacity for long range attacks, shown as two numbers divided by a forward slash. The first number represents how many attack dice are rolled in the shooting phase against targets within short range (2u) – it may represent close range shooting, thrown weapons or brave but ill-disciplined warriors dashing out of formation to launch individual attacks on enemy units. The second number represents true long-range shooting and indicates the attack dice rolled against targets within long range (5u). Each company of goblin warriors may roll two attack dice against a target within short range, or one die against a target within long range.
Defence (DEF)
A company’s Defence factor gives the target number required by an opponent’s attack dice to cause the company to lose Resolve. Goblin warriors have a Defence of 4+, so enemy attack dice against the goblins would need to roll 4s, 5s, or 6s to reduce their Resolve. Any rolls of 1, 2, or 3 would be ignored.
Traits
Traits represent the various features that differentiate units. Each unit may be customised with up to three traits, plus a possible fourth trait representing a racial trope. For this example, we are saying that all goblins have unreliable as a racial trope. Generic units of goblin warriors also have the shooting (mixed unit) and wild charge traits.
Points (PTS)
The Points column shows the cost to recruit the company. A more expensive company is usually more reliable, better equipped or trained, or has more resolve than cheaper companies. Goblin warriors cost a modest 23 points per company.
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I like the ability to brigade units together.
3 resolve units are very fragile and can suffer from catastrophic cascading resolve loss.
Multiple combat dice sounds a lot more deadly than IW too
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A work-in-progress teaser from the Fantastic Battles front cover. I'm delighted to be continuing my working relationship with Greece's foremost wargaming rules illustrator (and a most talented artist despite it all), Orestix Ermeides.
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Thats a good looking drawing - has an old school charm to it
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A Test Game
Last night, through video chat we played an early beta test game of Irregular Wars Fantastic Battles. It was just a small game to get a feel for the rules.
I took the Forces of Nature, comprising of a unit of 3 forest shamblers, a single fire elemental, a unit of 2 water elementals, a unit of 3 Slyvan Kin, and finally the monstrous Tree Herder, with the army's Warlord.
Arrayed against this selection of moving trees, where the brave forces of the Empire. A unit of 4 Halberdiers, a battery of 2 cannons, 2 knights led by their Warlord, and a unit of 4 cross bows.
It was a fairly cluttered battlefield, and for the first few turns the Empire forces were happy to sit back to wait for the Nature troops to advance into their guns. This is the situation after a few turns, were the Water Elementals have taken one round of shooting from the Cannons, and are suffering from it!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cdIS6p_oXagF88LhxicsorXkzVx4l2oGVAbWouA7NXevc9RrcHNsXaik4r-LmUTq_miig3KoC9OpdPWFKSt-ghVFLVDHlykBXAMD7HFMLiRkffVEE_mEoNKZi9wuqu-WrE3rfZ2q2kQECnBYCOO4uRUQ=w1124-h843-no?authuser=0)
The water elementals took more shooting damage - being left just 1 point of resolve away from breaking - so took an action to regenerate, drawing strength from the surrounding water (in the ground!) and came back to half strength.
Charge!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cwLaXdyOaE6IuDyRoCElZhpwgqKQS0Fg128RN7y3LCnNGmQ3856cPmeFnzEqVIa3WHGAtJbIBhbo3CKb6YzocdMB6Y3DYN6ckqyFps0SVJjfDZI5v3ZsuQex-xPltc-FvwJN1vGltkRQjoggMzSaLpgQ=w1124-h843-no?authuser=0)
At this point it all kicked off! The Sylvan Kin advanced out of the wood and charged the crossbow men. The Knights charged the Water Elementals, and Tree Herder lumbered forwards
The crossbow men vs sylvan kin fight was fairly even - missile troops can stand and shoot as a charge reaction, gaining an extra dice in melee, and by being a bigger unit than their opponent gives them more bonus dice too.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3faiVmLdcn0t2xPBoxd9fgQzp3DoKB0xYvKvkb6rktF6HR0CWFZufU7XhIP5x6CyZxEtRaVOeImZt7bt6Oar4h4x9ABjecNdGxQuLjSuvONjQUR100ngP8c8OPS3VEDt0_41DX7BX1NcGkR1KcsjFUmJQ=w1124-h843-no?authuser=0)
The knights though had rather over cooked things, and left their flank exposed to the fire elemental, who charged in! While Tree Herder got into the other side of the crossbow men.
On the hill on the left the forest shamblers went forward very slowly, while the halberdiers held their line.
The knights destroyed the water elementals, but were still engaged by the fire elementals, who had done a lot of damage to the knights. The crossbow men couldn't stand another round of combat against both the sylvan kin and Tree Herder. The result of this was big gaps
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fxRiRk_WsvHhD8k3XOrFWJ7UsaptIFRqQJa9N-7paxXJO8oBVOpmLuToQ2n1TsLh050eadOKYTX8MQZ8UeuwzN1DFVNuhZ5t6cfqInvXcpoWQSSq241lEMU3WI1qGO_qL1DrfsJD_9a9fmK6IAzANBew=w1124-h843-no?authuser=0)
Tree Herder, as a single stand company is very mobile, and was able to charge into the flank of the knights - generating 13 attack dice - quite a few as most companies generate 3 or 4 normally. The knights caught fighting to both their flanks did little damage back, but it was enough to kill the Fire Elementals
Meanwhile on the hill the halberdiers spotted their moment and charge the Forest Shamblers. This turned into an attritional battle.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ecgO08CiuUI-vWi6S397dAnFgs4xQjDaWbFA2jFdjWe5QeqeRD6kXbDVOL8Bu35ZAoFUDatOqDskeaMjUETJLa87nB9oJ2NF2xxQDc1wtQb89g15ATNZLlYTH-dzMlhm2nxWB25X1PWWdjCI1fdm7RTw=w1124-h843-no?authuser=0)
Big hole in the middle
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fUHgcib1w-LJHbsev2ydFIr18GwdXw5suhUA0BMjhVWAchqqBXZoyz32rTNdnNmJWNAuZWt2u4ZIXdPdaNs7UXTklKi7i6g7Ja8jxzzurSsoJzrLMw_vTz533ZYkM21cFgPMm5uH9eGA4E0pKcSSkx-Q=w1124-h843-no?authuser=0)
Tree Herder left surveying the battlefield - where to go next!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3flNP7AwMxG6JMSSBi4Zlp6KB3IduZ4U9eOjDAp0c_A1NzR69iGbVBRO3Xd4EmWLcSw5FqYwvFNWucxg2FIYidN2Eey7uGmqyzIANJIG5eHTVjTaxAy5jRlcjR2jDmke7a2nKjcflmLcw_iapoUq9-hdg=w1124-h843-no?authuser=0)
Flank charge on the cannon!
Meanwhile on the hill the halberdiers and forest shamblers continue to hammer away at each other
The End!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fHr5kpKOWaH77PLqYzy5bwMEF4XlD6HtuA26mIjpJLjreP1dWw6Wf5NtLVSTowfHdKkdmCZpvFV-5oJvEBT-v5f1547xw9BlA5cGmlWZvAqyxQvnSzXE4NQOlvGBTZfAE3oXtbCqrik6rVaOqKij-0Ew=w1124-h843-no?authuser=0)
The cannon battery is trampled by Tree Herder, while the shamblers finish off the halberdiers (with only a few wounds remaining on themselves).
Overall it was an enjoyable game - perhaps helped the the destruction Tree Herder caused!
The Empire forces were unlucky to have not killed the water elementals with shooting - one more shot would have finished them off, and that could have been quite different as then they would have got more shots off particularly at Tree Herder which would have been very dangerous to him as such a big creature, the cannons would have got +2 dice on their shooting.
Thanks to Nic for letting us play the beta rules, and for joining us for the second half of the game (the magic of video conferencing) Where he corrected our misunderstandings and put up with many many suggestions of how we thought things ought to work.
The rules play very differently to classic Irregular Wars, but have a the feel of a bigger battle. The ability to create your own units to build an army is certainly a fun and interesting part of the game - and I certainly have plenty of armies to build force lists for!
Looking forward to seeing how these rules develop.
Next up, Goblins vs Dwarves?
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It was great to be able to join you for a couple of hours by video link, Fred. Not anything I even would have considered prior to Covid-19. So that is one silver lining I suppose.
As a rule creator, it is always so interesting hearing how other people interpret and play your rules. Genuinely such a valuable process when fine tuning rules - or sacking them about with a rubber mallet :D).
Also, great pictures. Looking forward to seeing the next match up which I hear will be rather larger.
Cheers,
Nic
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Yes the ability to link up with people from across the world, and actually play a table top game, is one of the few positives to come out of the current situation. We have re-linked up with one of our gaming group who is now in Central America and he can join it just as easily (if not better) than someone half-a-mile down the road.
Hopefully we didn't use the mallet too much... ;D
The test game has inspired me to paint up some more figures, which is always a good test of a game for me!
For Irregular Wars you need figures to represent various characters, the Warlord and Captains I've got pretty well covered from various command figures already, but also needed at Wizards and Rogues. Most of my Wizards are based on 40mm squares, and I've not need rogues before, so this gave an good excuse for a rummage through the various figures I have stashed away, and I found lots of promising candidates. A few colours later (including quite a bit of GW contrast paints) they are starting to look like what they should! I've based them up, mainly so that I can check for each figure which ones is finished, as on painting sticks it was getting a bit hard to see which were done, and which had bits left to do.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cECziLv6hcISx9RXSo8eT5s0ryXZbcMtRx2IToiXA1PwLdqiwu3bQIQdiwcaNcRNPmrUeNhDuX-o-4CxnKo_uff-sfcgijGlInAFjyiaEYMdDOPpgJ2b4pSvsd-6afFAsPmqxu9jcosuxAnhnblwn8FQ=w2514-h1304-no?authuser=0)
From a count up after taking this photo, about 1/3rd are done painting wise, 1/3rd are close, and the last third are barely started! And obviously all need basing.
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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.
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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!
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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.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S73TkY1_YWI/XtVDhd7dVFI/AAAAAAAAIfI/wSjqlfggA8oXyARwO5CSyxmVNe6V9d1SwCK4BGAsYHg/1.jpg)
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).
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7CVyqnPLsas/XtVElBHdFCI/AAAAAAAAIfo/vTGA7bfSImQgWxmSmcCDaD9smrNPdSUiACK4BGAsYHg/2.jpg)
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.
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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.
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https://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/06/fantastic-battles-playtesting-by-proxy.html (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...
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Great looking game in that last photo.
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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!
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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.
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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'.
(http://Vf7IU_anoP8JZ8o02LjSOc6Dz4N0NzwCLcBGAsYHQ)
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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".
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Two companies of goblin Madcaps, made up of fungus-addicted hooligans, even more unpredictable than others of their race.
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A ramshackle goblin battle-wagon, capable of flattening enemy warriors irrespective of their armour - all despite being held together with bits of string.
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The most steadfast unit in the army consists of these two companies of ogre mercenaries, lending some much needed muscle to the goblin horde.
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Hurling boulders and capable of regenerating when wounded, a two-company unit of trolls also provides valuable support to the more numerous goblins.
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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.
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Some great looking armies there Nic, good work to blend the different suppliers figures together.
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very nice, I'd not heard of Polar Fox but their stuff looks nice.
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Superb looking army! Almost makes me want to go back to 10mm!
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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.
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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
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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 (http://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/06/fantastic-battles-more-playtesting-by.html)
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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.
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The game worked really well (no further amendments your honour), and we are looking at running a campaign in the coming weeks.
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This is looking smashing! Top drawer!
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This is looking smashing! Top drawer!
Thanks Eric!
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With playtesting now in full swing, I thought it was time to showcase another 1,000 point army for Fantastic Battles: the halflings of Hearthshire. From the Shire to the Moot, I have always had a soft spot for the wee folk. It was the start of this 10mm halfling army - a gift from my good friend JB - that drew me back to fantasy gaming after a hiatus of ... rather a number of years; you've a lot to answer for JB. This army combines ranges from Eureka Miniatures, Magister Militum, Pendraken and Alternative Armies.
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The halflings of Hearthshire are a peaceable and earnest folk. Settled in a quiet land of agricultural small-holdings nestled between low rolling hills, they are slow to anger, but stout in the defence of their homes. To represent their less than martial nature, the 'militia' trait (-1 to a company's basic Melee factor) has been adopted as a racial trope. The army consists of five characters and 23 companies which I usually field in 11 units.
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From left to right: Mr Hotspur, Sheriff of Hearthshire, serves as Hearthshire's Warlord and is carried into battle on a ceremonial shield; the two Captains, Puck Goodfellow and Captain Fishwick; the Magic-user, Barmbrack Hamfist riding a giant guinea pig; and the Rogue, Rosie Foxglove. As a halfling wizard, Barmbrack uses buffing rather than destructive spells.
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Mounted on stout ponies, the Hearthshire Yeomanry are the closest Hearthshire gets to heavy cavalry. As a small unit with good Resolve and decent speed, they can be used to support the flanks of the main halfling battle line, or swing around to harry the flanks of enemy units.
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Riding on the backs of geese, the poultry scouts lack the Resolve or Melee capacity to make good front line troops but can be useful to take and hold terrain features.
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The Hearthguard of Hearthshire are the most resilient infantry unit among the halflings. Armed with long spears, they are at their best when receiving charges or fighting against larger foes.
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Halfling militia archers are eminently capable shooting troops, however lacking they may be when it comes to melee skills.
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The halfling kitchen militia feed the army on the march, but also muster as a stout, if ineffective, fighting unit. With ready access to the kitchen stores, they have the ability to regenerate any Resolve lost through the course of a battle.
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When not foraging for supplies, the truffle-hunters are able to deliver a disruptive blow against any unit they charge. They do, however, lack Resolve, so their attack must be well timed.
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Watching from the woods and other rough terrain features, what the halfling wardens lack in martial prowess, they make up for with their skill as archers and skirmishers.
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The treefolk of Wyldwood provide much needed close-combat support to the Hearthshire muster. Their ability to move easily through wooded terrain is also a major boon to any halfling army.
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What better monster than a cockatrice to support an army of wee farmers?!
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The Hearthshire Academy Mathematics Society produces a small but able body of engineers to man small artillery pieces. With the ability to lob large stones other the heads of intervening troops, Hearthshire catapult batteries are often deployed in support of the Hearthshire army.
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Gorgeous little army, epic scale!
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Great looking army Nic, and I really like the thought and imagination that has gone into it.
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A very nicely painted and characterful army! It's interesting to see how you can field such a variety of units and yet the army remains very coherent, both visually and in terms of their backstory. It looks great and will no doubt present some fascinating tactical challenges on the battlefield!
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Thanks all.
It looks great and will no doubt present some fascinating tactical challenges on the battlefield!
It does that!
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This week's playtesting of Fantastic Battles took the form of a multiplayer game, pitting an alliance of night elves and ratmen against a coalition of humans and halflings. Multiplayer games play out in the same way as a one-on-one game, except that we each deployed smaller armies - for this game, 500 points a piece.
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The elves and rats were the defenders, setting up a battlefield broken by two hills and four large areas of broken terrain. The elves deployed pretty poorly, with their most effective combat (the night elf legion) unit taking up a position behind the much slower and larger unit of undead thralls. Thus, while the pointy-eared elves slowly pulled themselves out of the self-dug hole, the pointy-nosed ratmen surged forward towards the halfling line.
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Despite nominally being the attackers, the halflings took up positions on their own side of the broken ground (turnip fields as it turned out), allowing the ratmen to cross it if they chose. Which they did. The battle then mostly played out as a ratman offensive against the withdrawn halfling line, while the humans surged forward to tackle the elves while their line was still in disarray.
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The ratmen were far more capable than the halflings in melee, but the stunted farmers managed to kill the great rat with their massed archery before the lines closed. The fact that we were using smaller armies, meant that we had less characters in play. An army breaks when all characters have been killed or fled the battle; a few turns, and two lucky rolls later, and the last ratman character was dead and the vermintide fled from the table.
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On the far side of the battlefield, the human heavy cavalry and flame-throwing battle wagon managed to make short work of the night elf spider riders. However, while that was going on, the elves' undead thralls engaged the human medium infantry while the elvish legion maneuvered behind. The human's angel flew to attack the end of the ratman line, but was then charged in the rear by elvish crossbowmen. In the end, the elves and humans fought each other to a mutual destruction - both forces losing more than 50% of their army at the end of the same turn.
I think the elvish performance was evidence that deplorable and much-ribald deployment decisions do not necessitate a total disaster. The elves also suffered from command and control issues throughout the game which hampered their attempts to redeploy. Despite that, they ended up pulling a fairly respectable result from the jaws of ignominy.
The humans did fine, except for the angel charge (on my bad recommendation). There were a couple of badly chosen match-ups - they certainly had a mobility advantage over the undead thralls and could have chosen to avoid them throughout, but the heavy cavalry were smashing (pun intended) and the flame-thrower wagon was so cool!
The ratmen clearly did not anticipate the halfling hellfire or their warlord would never have charged unsupported against the centre of the halfling line unsupported. The halfling plan in contrast was pretty boring, but in character for halflings. And as the last army standing, it clearly paid off this time.
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Across the parched plain, the mindless hordes of the liche-king shambled forward, keen to add to their number with the countless corpses of their goblin foes. This week's game of Fantastic Battles saw a completely undead army for the first time, pitted against the brave boyz in green.
I've a full write up over on the blog for those with an interest :)
https://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/07/fantastic-battles-battle-of-bonefields.html?fbclid=IwAR3qgfYpXi0QcWiBUrQlS75tPcVKbonNmUMqyESHt2-fw0NIwQgEPCTh28o (https://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/07/fantastic-battles-battle-of-bonefields.html?fbclid=IwAR3qgfYpXi0QcWiBUrQlS75tPcVKbonNmUMqyESHt2-fw0NIwQgEPCTh28o)
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The next example army for Fantastic Battles comes in the form of 1000 points of Ziggurat Dwarves. These are all from Cibo's Little Dudes in Switzerland - most are from his range of Evil Dwarves, but some pieces are regular dwarves and the flying carpets are made from greenstuff.
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The Ziggurat Dwarves are an ancient people from an arid land broken by fertile flood plains. Living in walled city-states, they build huge stepped monuments reaching into the sky. Some travellers believe these to be a memorial to an ancestral mountainous homeland far to the north, others feel the dwarves may simply be overcompensating for short-comings in other areas. To represent their steadfast nature, the 'doughty' trait (+1 to a company's basic Resolve factor) has been adopted as a racial trope.
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By far the smallest of the armies showcased to date, these dwarves favour quality over quantity mustering only five characters and 18 companies (intended to be fielded as eight or nine units).
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The command element of the army - the Warlord Gargamesh mounted on his city's lamassu, flanked by the Captains Lakish and Uruk.
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The magically inclined characters, the Magic-user Akkad, and the Djinn. The Djinn counts as both a character and a company and should be able to hold its own in battle, as well as casting wee spells to help the army along.
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The temples provide a cadre of specialist priests to support the Ziggurati with carpet-riders. In such a slow army, the carpets provide a highly mobile reserve as well as limited fire-power as the priests throw down assorted fireballs and lightning bolts.
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The Ziggurat Guard are the elite unit in the armies of the Ziggurati cities. Equipped with two handed axes, they should be able to make short work (pun intended) of any unit foolhardy enough to stand before them.
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Shield-bearers make up the bulk of Ziggurati armies. Lacking the punch of the Ziggurat Guard, Shield-bearers are, however, almost impervious to frontal attacks as they present a solid shieldwall bristling with spears.
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Lacking warriors with regular missile weapons, Ziggurati armies usually march to war supported by plentiful war-machines. These ballistae are equally capable of breaching enemy formations or fortifications. The grand battery would usually be broken into smaller groups to spread its shooting capacity along the entire dwarvern line.
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The last unit in the army is a company of dwarvern highlanders, less sophisticated than their lowland cousins, they serve as scouts and foragers for the army on the march, and crucial flank support in the line of battle.
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That's another great looking army. Really characterful!
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That is a great looking army Nic, and nice to see a slightly different take on evil dwarves
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Loving this scale more and more with every update. :-*
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The armies look great
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That is a great looking army Nic, and nice to see a slightly different take on evil dwarves
They are not evil. Why does everyone keep suggesting they might be evil! :D
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The armies look great
That's another great looking army. Really characterful!
Loving this scale more and more with every update. :-*
Thanks folks!
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We've been working away with multiple games trying the stretch the rules to their limits. I now have the very slow process of writing up the reports which are appearing slowly on the blog:
https://irregularwars.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Battles (https://irregularwars.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Battles)
The most recent post outlines a brutal clash between the Zuggurat Dwarves and an army of Dark Elves. A great game, even if all did not go according to plan...
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And the next game saw the brave halflings of Hearthshire take on the men of the Byzernian Empire.
https://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/07/fantastic-battles-men-of-byzernian.html (https://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/07/fantastic-battles-men-of-byzernian.html)
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Another week, another battle!
This week’s Fantastic Battles pairing saw Andrew’s ratkin of the Vermintide deploy opposite my Ziggurat Dwarves. The full battle report with loads of photos can be read on the blog ---> http://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/08/fantastic-battles-ziggurat-dwarves-vs.html (http://irregularwars.blogspot.com/2020/08/fantastic-battles-ziggurat-dwarves-vs.html)
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(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1tpOmM3IGs/XzAhbRl0hFI/AAAAAAAAI-M/84m66IrZdJ4J9sjKU7jMdgn2FwIKoUg1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/20200807_204544.jpg)
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This army showcase is a little bit different in that it is only a 500 point army rather than 1,000. Fantastic Battles scale perfectly well for smaller armies and this army of Wyld Elves is about as small as it gets. It has focused on a small number of elite, resolute units supported by the full cadre of character types. All miniatures are 3D printed figures from Excellent Miniatures.
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Always watching, the Wyld Elves of the far north are seldom seen unless they choose to be. Longing for nothing more than to dance in mountain meadows lit by the midnight sun, they are never-the-less ruthless and resolute warriors when summoned to war. The fleet-footedness of Wyld Elves is their racial trope, represented by the fast trait (+1 to their movement value).
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APxdmXk9cbo/X1tfWkiv55I/AAAAAAAAJIw/ITqcCPxIT7AB425m9doN8y67YEx1IAytACLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/2.jpg)
From left to right are the she-elves commanding this small army: Hjartardottir the army warlord on her white stag, a Huldra magic-user, a captain and a rogue. In most small games, players take just a warlord and a captain; taking so many Wyld Elf characters will make this army very flexible and easy to command, but at the expense of additional units.
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Moving swiftly and ignoring terrain that would hamper more conventional cavaly, the strongest Wyld Elves ride to war mounted on proud stags.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rmu7NOiVy0A/X1tfXVymb5I/AAAAAAAAJI8/M5XrnO605hkn2O-E9cq08TCYauCh1D4vQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/4.jpg)
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Most Wyld Elves are skilled archers and slingers. They muster in small skirmishing companies fighting from woods and excelling in hit and run tactics.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ks_OGlHiZ00/X1tfX3MlSAI/AAAAAAAAJJE/fNqDG10a61gbez6PXfFNUGgcJ7W--J_kgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/6.jpg)
Attuned to the natural world, Wyld Elves often call upon their friends among the giant eagles to soar above their armies providing assistance from the air.
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Looking really good! :-*
I like the idea of using "fast" as a racial trope for the elves, I couldn't think past "forester" ;)
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I'm enjoying the army showcases. I had no idea there were so many 10mm options out there.
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Another great looking army Nic!
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Any news on the release of these rules at either Amazon or Wargame Vault?
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a really great looking army. Well done
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Any news on the release of these rules at either Amazon or Wargame Vault?
Fantastic Battles should be available on both by end November/early December. I'll certainly make an announcement.
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Between work pressures and renewed lockdown measures halting face-to-face gaming again, I've not posted any updates in a while. However, I have been working on formatting the rules and can show a couple of sample pages to give an idea of what we are aimaing at:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TYWQ-g_NN40/X3ne_7NFGJI/AAAAAAAAJMo/FcnLnQGWq1sopa4JOLwlBVvDPsxMTU7CgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1690/FBPR1.jpg)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FtqEZ8j2ASg/X3ne_S9EHBI/AAAAAAAAJMg/eLeINUfXGV8Gvh8S7WOaZGeMLGLT8kDMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1657/FBPR2.jpg)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tWcpqt_Q5yY/X3ne_iBZJDI/AAAAAAAAJMk/op5vw7i51fQcJm8X1OZcskOZtNcTrOjJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1657/FBPR3.jpg)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9nJU6offU2w/X3nfAoXL3bI/AAAAAAAAJMs/xYAu_NFhkxMRUT1g_hkFQv9OAJNB2XXMwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1657/FBPR4.jpg)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xv7nrZsdbnI/X3nfA77LroI/AAAAAAAAJMw/tyjrAUWQg9MAgwBevwaCRIhl5XZFLlX6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1657/FBPR5.jpg)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AXMgC1j285g/X3nfBEsGeMI/AAAAAAAAJM0/rB6o9TD1VHAKGkLtU6OZYgx6RhQpuuutACLcBGAsYHQ/s1657/FBPR6.jpg)
There is also now a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/gaming/FantasticBattles/ (https://www.facebook.com/gaming/FantasticBattles/) and a Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/313513879678378 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/313513879678378) for folks who like that sort of thing.
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The book looks good!
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Great work. I appreciate what you are doing. Full time job and game designing is tough. People ask "when will this be out". The answer should always be : "When I think its ready". Keep going!
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Hi folks,
I just thought that I'd share that there are a couple of videos up on Youtube now talking about the game and running through game play.
The full playlist can be reached here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsl6S1gPVZHbxJ-8G5SBH1v7rabdAcutS (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsl6S1gPVZHbxJ-8G5SBH1v7rabdAcutS)