Armies of Arcana rules ? good for 15mm gaming infact any good rules for 15mm

[LawnRanger]

Can any of you lads help me out .

Am getting back into fantasy wargaming but trying to find the right set of rules for 15mm gaming is more difficult than painting the figs  .

At the moment we are playing with Fields Of Glory which is working well with  mods add in , BUT I Am hoping that there is a set of Fantasy  rules that I will like out there !

I don't feel that a set of rules that I have to roll a dice for every fig fighting will work out for us.
 
Playing in 15mm we use larger units than most 25mm game as we  can fit  a few more on the table as well . >

So rolling 48 dice for one unit will take too long in my eyes and then you have saving rolls as well it will just slow the game down too much . playing with 10- 16 battle groups per side on a 6x4 table

Am looking for set which flows nicely and has a good amount of detail in them, can any of you point me in the right direction

Has any of you played Armies of arcana if so could that fit in with my gaming? or is that on the same line as wg.

happy gaming LR 



 

[julesav]

Two options that spring to mind are the Hail Caesar fantasy variant - on the HC or Black Powder Yahoo Group I believe? Or possibly the Fantasy variant of Impetus/Basic Impetus here:

http://www.dadiepiombo.com/impetus2.html

A very quick play option would be to look at WRG's 'Hordes of the Things' and there was 'once upon a time' a fantasy variant of DBM!

Cheers

Jules

[dijit]

We're goig to be trying God of Battles with 15mm. We've played it with 28s, but we didn't have any fully painted armies at that scale and felt 15mm would be better for the game. So now we're about to start trying 15mm with God of Battles.
Duncan

[Torben]

I would second the vote for God of Battles; it looks to be just what you're asking for

[m4jumbo]

Armies of Arcana rules play along the same lines as Warhammer, so one dice for each attacker, armor saves, etc.

[LawnRanger]

thanks for the fast replies
Julesav
Impetus sounds a good shout as a few of the club members have played it with war of the roses and they said it played very well for the period so will have a look at that (cant get on the fantasy bit at the moment not sure its working yet ).yes play hoards of things and the bigger game they be dragons ,but need a bit more depth

dijit
  as for  GOB,  I take it you have around 4-6 units on a 4x4 table we like bigger battles  with bigger units 
I think the standard game is set up for 24 pts and the av unit is around 4-6 pts ,

armies of arcana if its like warmaster  then I dont think its for mee .

Happy gaming LR   

[dijit]

We played with 24pts per side, I think the best games are around 36pts per side. Most ranked units are 16 models, whilst unranked are roughly 8-10 models. My 24pts Elf army had 2 units of 16 spearmen, a unit of 16 elite spearmen, a unit of 10 archers, a great eagle, a unit of 6 bodyguard and a unit of 8 skirmishers. So I wouldn't call it necessarily small and can easily handle 24/36/48 pts.

[LawnRanger]

dijit
I like the look of big units on the table so having 5/8 figs in a unit does not feel right to me,but that's just me I think its the napoleonics coming out , 

 Playing in 15mm you get a good feel and look when you have 6+ units of orc warband  each having 24- 36figs in them as your main battle line it just looks the part in my eyes .

could i use God of Battle using  my bases = model/figure?

 do you roll a dice for every  figure you have in the unit?

[dijit]

You roll for a fix number of dice depending on the size of the unit and it's formation. So using multi based minis ought not to be a problem, just count each base as a model. Then again most rule sets ought to be able do that, even SoBH and the like.

[Torben]

It depends on the formation of the unit; if they are formed then you total up the number of models and then halve it. If they are loose (skirmish) then you roll one die for each model. It's a neat little system, really.

It might not be what you're looking for in the end, but I personally thought that it would be good to mention it as it is often overlooked and it is a fun little system

[YPU]

You could take a look at Hordes of the things. Its free and the writing is a bit like a dense scientific paper but the system is solid. It works with group based models and has suggested base sizes and number of models per base. Should those recommendations be to low for you you can easily use larger bases with more models as long as everybody does so in a consistent manner.

Downsides re that there is a list on units you pick from and that;s it, every unit of shooters is as good as the next. The list is quite extensive and figuring out what to use a unit as is part of the fun for me. Downside is also it always works with 24 point armies. If you want bigger armies you combine 2 armies of 24 points and run them side by side. Not particularly flexible but it ties in to their variable activation system.

[Conquistador]

Depending on how you view "bases" and hold "Old School" you are comfortable with there is Fantasy Rules! by Chipco.  http://www.sabersedge.com/chipco/fr3.htm

BTW, I ignore the part about "... Armies are generally made up of 30 to 50 figures..."

The advertising blurb:

"...
Chipco's Fantasy Rules! lets you game in the worlds of fantasy and mythology with rules that are easy, flexible, innovative, fast, and fun. Fantasy Rules! may be played with any figures currently in your collection and playing time is around one hour for typical armies. Armies are generally made up of 30 to 50 figures. Characters are included in the system, but are not so powerful as to overly influence and unbalance the outcome of the game.

FR!3 may be played with any figures you have and is very well suited for use with figures mounted on slotted bases
FR!3 is designed for use with 10mm, 15mm, or 25mm armies
FR!3 is tied to no figure manufacturer
The movement system is based on previous, proven Chipco game systems
There are over 60 army lists included, featuring both mythical historical and pure fantasy - from legendary Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to new lists for Napoleonic, American Civil War, Buffalo Soldiers, Native Americans, Faerie, Automaton, Arabian Nights, and Victorian armies. From Gnomes, Elves, and Orcs to Hive Queens and Arch Angels or Demon Lords
FR!3 streamlines the 2nd edition magic system, adds new units and abilities, and makes characters more flexible while keeping the core system
Battles are not limited to open ground. FR!3 includes rules for flying, swimming, and burrowing troops
FR!3 adds a whole new dimension with rules for cities, walls, and ships
The rules take advantage of the book-marking capability of Adobe Acrobat and are also indexed
FR!3 can easily be played on the typical kitchen table (3' x 4'). It can be expanded to battles of any size, and used to resolve large battles in RPGs
Approximately 150 pages, with reference tables, etc."

Gracias,

Glenn

[VoodooInk]

LawnRanger

I'm thinking you should give MAYHEM a look. 

- custom army construction
- no 'buckets of dice'
- no casualty removal
- sorcery rules that includes spells like blink, magic missile, summoning, and time stop
- rules for warmachines

Am looking for set which flows nicely and has a good amount of detail in them

Speaking of flow, there are no set/static phases for movement, shooting, magic, etc. Actions are taken through use of a Command point system that adds a resource management aspect to the game without doing any bookkeeping. 

Playing in 15mm you get a good feel and look when you have 6+ units of orc warband  each having 24- 36figs in them as your main battle line it just looks the part in my eyes .

Since there is no casualty removal, then you can have as many [or few] miniatures on a base as you like. The horde designation has its own special rules to make sure that your sea of orcs feels and behaves like a large horde.

Also, the soft and hard counter system rewards players with the ability to make their troops better through tactical play and not through 'better army building'.

I'm around if you have any questions!

bombshell games

[peleset]

In the files section of the Yahoo group 15mm_fantasy_miniatures is a Big Battle Hott variant called De Bellis Frankenstein by David Brown you may wish to peruse. He's also included extensive army lists for Middle Earth, Hyboria and the Young Kingdoms.

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/15mm_fantasy_miniatures/files/De%20Bellis%20Frankenstein

He also did a DBM variant called De Bellis Fictionalis, again, with extensive ( crazy extensive  ) army lists for Middle Earth and Hyboria, but I am no longer able to find a link for it. It was a mash up of DBM and Hott, I always wanted to have ago at the Battle of Five Armies with it but was put off by the horde of Horde needed to do a Northern Goblin army.

[ogryn]

Try Kings of War from Mantic. Its a free download from their site so no investment if you do not like it.
Might need to tweek ranges for smaller scale but that is easy.