Of Armies and Hordes (Ganesha Games)

[fred]

How long did it take people to get their PDF?  I ordered through Gumroad 2hrs ago, and other than a Paypal receipt - nothing. Not sure if this is an automated system or manual PDF dispatch?

[Hobgoblin]

I got mine a minute before the PayPal receipt.

[fred]

Hmm!  That’s not promising.

I’ve checked various mail folders. There doesn’t seem to be any download link.

[DivisMal]

Impatient to try it!

Can we see areas in battlefield with a pic or a scheme?

There are such examples as separate files when you buy the rules and within the rules themselves.

Personally, I’m not yet 100% sure, how I’ll do it, but the idea is really interesting. Hexes work in any case, too.

[fred]

Hmm!  That’s not promising.

I’ve checked various mail folders. There doesn’t seem to be any download link.

Andreas has sorted! Something seems to have gone wrong with the auto sender. But I have the files now. Unfortunately I now need to go to work so can’t read them.

[beefcake]

I just got the undead one from them and had to download it direct from gumroad.

[andyskinner]

I don't understand how many stands make up a unit.  Or do you buy stands with the points, and organize into units as desired?  Is it chosen during army list creation?  Is it a property of different kinds of units?  (I don't think so, didn't see in undead list.)

andy

[Hobgoblin]

You can have between 2 and 16 stands in a unit; the cost is per stand. So a unit of ten 31-point skeleton infantry costs 310 points.

Units with the Scout trait are limited to two to four stands.

[Hobgoblin]

Also, units can be split during the game (or forced to split by the stacking limits).

[Tibson]

I don't understand how many stands make up a unit.  Or do you buy stands with the points, and organize into units as desired?  Is it chosen during army list creation?  Is it a property of different kinds of units?  (I don't think so, didn't see in undead list.)

andy

Also keep in mind that basing is really flexible.  You can use stands, individually based figures or a mix of the two.  As long as it's clear to you and your opponent, each figure or base can represent however many figures/stands as you like.  That's one of the advantages that area movement brings to the table.

[fred]

Had a quick read of the rules. Can I check something around activations and combat.

I activate a unit and get two successful activations. There is an enemy unit in an adjacent area. On my first activation I move into the enemy’s area. This leads to a combat. Say I win and the enemy retreats.

Can I then use my second activation to move forward again, and fight another combat?

The reason I ask is that a combat is fought when a units movement ends in an area with an enemy unit. So I’m not sure if I have to do all my moving (for a unit) before combat.

[Hobgoblin]

I activate a unit and get two successful activations. There is an enemy unit in an adjacent area. On my first activation I move into the enemy’s area. This leads to a combat. Say I win and the enemy retreats.

Can I then use my second activation to move forward again, and fight another combat?

Most units can only move one area a turn, regardless of activations (movement in this game is a bit like attacks in Song of Blades - once only, unless you have a special trait). Only Fast units can move 2 areas, but they can't move through occupied areas unless they are also Flying units. So I think it's implicit in the rules that even Fast units can only initiate one melee a turn (i.e. their movement comes to an end when they enter melee).

The reason I ask is that a combat is fought when a units movement ends in an area with an enemy unit. So I’m not sure if I have to do all my moving (for a unit) before combat.

Yes, I think you do - with the one exception of the 'shooting and running away' rule. If your unit is faster than the one it's fighting, it can move into the area, shoot and then use an additional activation to retreat.

The list of possible uses of actions on p. 51 doesn't include "move, attack, move and attack again" for Fast troops, so I think that rules out the possibility that Fast troops could mount two successive attacks (pursuing a retreating enemy, for example).

[fred]

Thanks p51 is useful. Hadn’t looked at that in detail last night.

And having looked at I agree with you.

[fred]

Set up a table and played a few turns solo last night

Discovered you get a lot of areas even on a 4'x4' board with 10mm figures!


I used hedges to delimit most of the terrain areas - the very open looking areas are actually hills. To me this looks much like any other wargames table - the areas feel pretty natural.

The activation is very good, allowing reactions and unexpected turn ends. Playing solo I definitely should have used counters to mark activations, as after a few turns the order switches quite a lot, so I was loosing track of who had activated or not. I think this is mainly a solo play thing.

Combat is brutal - perhaps too brutal, but I suppose it keeps the game moving. I haven't worked out the best way to use missile troops or flyers (but I only played a few turns) .

Some rules seem rather geared towards 28mm - Cavalry having 2 wounds and 2 attacks feels like it is to do with 28mm cavalry models having such a big foot print. Likewise the chariot rules.  These can be tweaked easily enough.

The terrain rules are good, and really interact with the activation, special rules and magic. It feels much more integrated than many rules. The stacking limits of terrain along with needing extra activations to enter, make for some interesting traffic jams, so it feels like terrain has a lot more impact than lots of other rules.

It has the SoBH problem of a very simple stat line (which is good) but then loads of special rules, some of which I think would be better as stats.

[Brandubh]

I had high hopes until I saw the "area movement" comment.

Sigh, looks like I'll give this one a pass.  Good luck with it y'all.