Battle Masters fully painted [PICS]

[DivisMal]

This is absolutely stunning stuff! I used to own that game, too, and, of course, it got ripped apart to play Warhammer and Fantasy Warriors. Your painting is really, really ace and you should use the models somehow.

But maybe for a better game than battlemasters?,;)

[Neldoreth]

This is an excellent set all painted up and ready. Kudos on working through the whole game, it really looks great, some of the best Battlemasters models and bases I've ever seen.

I've been searching for a lot of painted examples of these lately because I recently picked up a copy of the game and started playing with the kiddos. It's actually an amazingly good system, and wildly random, but that's definitely part of the charm. As a consequence, I've started painting up some of the units as well, and my plan is to paint the entire game eventually... I have a couple of units done already, just waiting to be photographed.

Great post, inspirational!

n.

[Neldoreth]

Brilliant work! Just goes to show that a good artist can make even mediocre sculpts come alive.

A good artist can make mediocre sculpts come to life, but I have to say that there are some excellent sculpts in this game. The men-at-arms are fantastic, the chaos warriors and knights are excellent, and even the figures with softer details such as the wolves and archers are still quite good. The biggest issue is the lack of diversity in poses, but I personally find that charming

Thanks
n

[Pil]

I think the sculpts are especially lacking in detail around the mould lines. The front and rear of most models is ok in most cases. The archers have their face on the mould line which basically means they have hardly any face at all. The plastic itself also seems softer than HeroQuest or Warhammer.

I think most sculpts are good for what they are but they are not as crisp as Warhammer plastics from the same era. Of the designs I think the beastmen and wolves are the poorest, both because of the grin which is neither fierce nor funny. Also the flat shields are a step down compared to Warhammer models. All the empire models are otherwise rather nice and for the evil forces I like the greenskins the most.

I also really like the effect of the multi-basing and I think this game hit quite the sweet spot between a children's game and a wargame in look and feel.

[Daeothar]

This is some brilliant work; hats off to you, good sir

It's always an impressive sight to see an entire boxed game painted up, and you did a great job on yours for sure!

In fact, (as if I don't have enough projects simmering ), since this game would be perfect to play with my little girl, I've just gone on Marktplaats and bid on the sole Ridderstrijd box on offer there right now...

[Griefbringer]

But maybe for a better game than battlemasters?,;)

Having once upon time bought the game mainly for the figures (most of which I have traded away years ago), I did also play through the game a couple of times and found it surprisingly interesting. Having been built as a five scenario campaign where the survivors could gain experience added some further flavour, and you could play through the whole thing in one day.

Other than the figures, I still have all of the other components left - maybe I should dig them all up one day and give it a go with a different set of figures from my collection? Another issue that I was not too fond were those movement trays, which for my tastes were rather bulky.

[Neldoreth]

Other than the figures, I still have all of the other components left - maybe I should dig them all up one day and give it a go with a different set of figures from my collection? Another issue that I was not too fond were those movement trays, which for my tastes were rather bulky.

You really should, it's a quick and fun game that's actually pretty good.

The thing about the movement trays that I like is that they contain all of the rule information you need. It's really elegant because there's no need for paper lists, tables, and other rules-reference materials! They are bulky though, and those little flag poles are pretty bad and redundant I think.

Thanks
n

[Griefbringer]

The thing about the movement trays that I like is that they contain all of the rule information you need. It's really elegant because there's no need for paper lists, tables, and other rules-reference materials! They are bulky though, and those little flag poles are pretty bad and redundant I think.

Well, in this game there was not much rule information to be found in the movement trays, just the attack/defense dice values (which annoyingly are not summarised in the rulebook, though are shown at the sides of the box), though having space for mounting the elite and skull/damage markers during the game is also handy. Speaking of the attack/defense dice, it is curious that the designers went for a single value for both, rather than having different attack and defense values (didn't HQ have different values for the two?).

However, the designers managed to integrate quite a lot of special rules/effects to the card system, and communicate them visually. Similarly for the cannon cards, where the long range effectiveness is gradually affected by the chances of premature explosion. The ogre special cards however feel a bit like special rules for the sake of special rules for a centrepiece model.

As for the banner poles, they look a bit like unnecessary addition - and would have probably looked better if they had been shorter. Also funnily the tower, where one might expect to see a banner flying, did not come with a one - though it is quite an impressive piece even without, especially when you consider that it only came in five pieces. The fences in their flatness were quite disappointing looking, though.

BTW: has anybody tried playing the game with more than the models that came in the single set? Considering the size of the battle mat, there should be space for quite some extra units, though the way the activation system works overcrowding the mat could lead to some frustration. Using whole two sets on a single mat might be quite a lot, but what about 50 % extra units for each side?

[Daeothar]

...has anybody tried playing the game with more than the models that came in the single set? Considering the size of the battle mat, there should be space for quite some extra units, though the way the activation system works overcrowding the mat could lead to some frustration. Using whole two sets on a single mat might be quite a lot, but what about 50 % extra units for each side?

Check out the discussion threads on Battle Masters on Board Game Geek; there are many efforts doing just that. And also adding different armies into the mix, additional cards and rules etc. Those boardgame guys are really into their rules and balances etc.

Coincidentally, Pil posted the contents of his entire post there as well


Oh; and I am now also the owner of a set; it's winging its way to me now: it's just perfect to play with my 6 year old...

[Griefbringer]

Thanks for the link to the BGG discussion, looks like there is a lot of interesting material - I will check it on detail later.

But for a clarification about what I thought by adding roughly 50 % of models to each side was to actually add one additional base of each unit type, except the ogre and the mighty cannon. This would give the Empire side 5 more bases and the chaos side 7 more bases.

That said, before I start experimenting with anything else, I will need to first dig out the battle mat and see if it actually fits on my current table - I am afraid the mat is too wide for that, which would necessitate playing on the floor. Or making a new downscaled version of the map...

[Daeothar]

If you're after miniatures for your plans, I can heartily recommend Lionheart btw: it's an even more simplified competitor to Battle Masters, played on a traditional board divided into squares.

The miniatures are comparable in quality to the Battle Masters ones, but are made of a different type of plastic. Also the forces are basically two identical (Empire?) armies, but with enough variation in units to make it possible (probably) to split the two forces in such a way that you can do your proposed force expansion in Battle Masters, assigning certain unit types (of both armies) to a single side.

And the best thing; those games go for next to nothing!

I bought one set localy (it was brand new with the minis still on the sprues!) for €6,- ! And with 92 miniatures in the box, that comes down to just €0,065 per mini!

We've played it a couple of times, but it is quite limited in its scope (although by no means dumb!), and now I'd rather use the minis for Battle Masters instead...

[Griefbringer]

I recall having seen Lionheart in my local game store once upon a time, but was not very impressed.

On other news, I think we are probably getting quite close to the 27th anniversary of the release of Battle Masters, which happened somewhere in late 1992. Checking my WD collection, there is an article and advertisement in issue 156 (December 1992), but I presume that MB released it a month or two before that to get proper exposure for the Christmas market.

Curiously enough, in WD 156 the price for Battle Masters is listed as £35 while a boxed set of WHFB 4th edition, released a few months earlier, was priced at £30.

[Pil]

Thanks for the link to the BGG discussion, looks like there is a lot of interesting material - I will check it on detail later.

But for a clarification about what I thought by adding roughly 50 % of models to each side was to actually add one additional base of each unit type, except the ogre and the mighty cannon. This would give the Empire side 5 more bases and the chaos side 7 more bases.

That said, before I start experimenting with anything else, I will need to first dig out the battle mat and see if it actually fits on my current table - I am afraid the mat is too wide for that, which would necessitate playing on the floor. Or making a new downscaled version of the map...

The battle mat is roughly 5'x4', it should fit on a wargames table but not on most kitchen tables. There were two expansions with 7-8 bases, new rules for characters (a Lord Knight or Chaos Champion but with one wound instead of three) and points calues for all the units in the game which are repeated here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/152294/points-costs-official

I've read of people playing with two sets so one and half a set should certainly work out.