Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (ogre bodyguard for Mordheim)

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, all!

We had a couple of games of Of Gods and Mortals yesterday evening and this morning. I'd bought the rules well over a year ago, but we'd never actually played them (it was always easier to get a quick game of Song of Blades going). But my son was keen to deploy a reptilian force headed by none other than Godzilla. So OGAM it was. And it's a terrific game: very different from most other skirmish wargames, with lots of interesting tactical decisions that arise from the interactions between gods and their followers. We played a 900-point game yesterday and then a 1,200-pointer this morning.

What struck me most about it was how suitable it is for Moorcockian epic fantasy. I'm always amused when people say (and they do, frequently) "Moorcock's stuff isn't epic fantasy, it's sword and sorcery". Well, I'd hazard a guess that gods die (and worlds are destroyed) at a far greater rate in Moorcock than in the works of almost any other living fantasy author. It's about as epic as you can get, from Stombringer (several dead gods and at least one world destroyed) on.

Our first game was an unequivocal victory for Godzilla, who despatched my Balrog in short order. In the second, my nimble wolf-god spent most of the game avoiding the gorilla-whale while trying to pick off his followers - a stratagem that worked by the thinnest of margins in the end. We'll certainly be playing this a lot more. I've got lots of potential gods kicking around - the old Grenadier Orcus and the Reaper Frost Giantess spring to mind as suitable candidates.

[Hobgoblin]

With OGAM looking likely to loom large in the weeks ahead, I finished off this Bones hellhound. I started painting him when I started painting again, but he'd been languishing unfinished for 18 months. I'd have approached him very differently now, but all I need is another "legend" option for the tabletop, so he'll do as he is.

[LeadAsbestos]

OGAM for Moorcock? Interesting... I was thinking 7th Voyage, but I've never tried either.

[Hobgoblin]

OGAM for Moorcock? Interesting... I was thinking 7th Voyage, but I've never tried either.

Our first couple of games reminded me very strongly of the episode in Stormbringer in which Elric confronts one of the Dead Gods (an ape-faced, grinning creature) and some of his cultists.

OGAM is a terrific ruleset, because it really amps up the tactical side of the game. The interdependence of gods and mortals is very cleverly done, with "legends" (heroes, demigods and monsters) as a kind of wild-card element. And the powers of the gods are nicely worked up so that they're dramatic but not unbalancing. We gave Godzilla Invulnerability, Gargantuan, Tremble Before My Might (for his roar), Combat Master and Lightning, and while he was devastating, he was far from overpowering.

It also forms a nice intermediate level of game, between SoBH and Dragon Rampant. I think those two rulesets have a nice synergy, because a warband for SoBH generally makes a decent unit for DR. But with OGAM, you get an additional step. Units of Mortals are between four and eight models strong, so a "halfway there" DR unit slots in nicely to OGAM. And it provides a great excuse for painting up all those random monsters that have been lurking around. There's no real need for restraint - the army lists in the book include the Midgard Serpent as a legend, along with all manner of other mythical beasts. But you could just as well use human-sized heroes for legends.

But back to its Moorcockian uses: things like Corum's Fhoi Moire would slot in perfectly (there are Fomorians in the book lists), as would Arioch or Pyaray. Those spindly-legged reptile chaps would be great too (the Olab, were they?), if one could find suitable models. You can stat up whatever you please, and "powergaming" doesn't seem to be much of a problem, because the more you power up your god, the fewer points you have for your mortals and legends.

It would also work very well for a "Realms of Chaos"-type game, with demons and their worshippers or retinues.

[Argonor]

It also forms a nice intermediate level of game, between SoBH and Dragon Rampant. I think those two rulesets have a nice synergy, because a warband for SoBH generally makes a decent unit for DR. But with OGAM, you get an additional step. Units of Mortals are between four and eight models strong, so a "halfway there" DR unit slots in nicely to OGAM. And it provides a great excuse for painting up all those random monsters that have been lurking around. There's no real need for restraint - the army lists in the book include the Midgard Serpent as a legend, along with all manner of other mythical beasts. But you could just as well use human-sized heroes for legends.

That is a very good reason for buying and playing a game!

I am just now starting out with Blood Eagle (skirmishing in the Legendary Dark Ages), and a good basic warband here is perhaps 4-8 models, which means that an almost perfect next step before Lion/Dragon Rampant would be OGAM.

As I want everything hobbyish I do to serve multiple purposes, I now have to give OGAM serious consideration 

Great news, actually!

[Hobgoblin]

That is a very good reason for buying and playing a game!

I am just now starting out with Blood Eagle (skirmishing in the Legendary Dark Ages), and a good basic warband here is perhaps 4-8 models, which means that an almost perfect next step before Lion/Dragon Rampant would be OGAM.

As I want everything hobbyish I do to serve multiple purposes, I now have to give OGAM serious consideration 

Great news, actually!

Couldn't agree more. And four models is a great number for getting things finished. I've got a big batch of Chronicle wolfriders to paint up for Dragon Rampant (for a chiefly cavalry force) but all the basing and assembly is a bit of a chore. But four - well, I've got two painted and another two halfway there ...

Here are some better shots of the hellhound. Not only was the light terrible for the last few, but my phone's lens was grimy! I am not - and never will be - a natural photographer ... So here he is again. A very quick paintjob, but at least he's done.

[Argonor]

Maybe a quick pj, but nice for the battlefield!

Just keep 'em coming! 

[Vermis]

Nice work on that. Liking the flame effect. I think you might have sold me on OGAM too.

[Hobgoblin]

Cheers!

Here's a slightly more extreme entry in the "vary the orcs" project:

[Argonor]

I think you might have sold me on OGAM too.

Ordered it last night 

[Hobgoblin]

It's a good investment! I'd always assumed it was broadly a reskinning of SoBH, but it is a significantly different in several areas - notably combat, with its ferocious melees.

Oddly enough, I normally prefer low-fantasy games - even when I was a kid, I always favoured something like The Seven Samurai or Yojimbo, but with goblins instead of bandits/gangsters. My friends and I more or less banished magic from our Warhammer games - or restricted ourselves to very low-level wizards. Basic SoBH's magic system has always seemed about the right level to me. But OGAM is cleverly done, in that it allows all kinds of superpowered gods (teleporting, invulnerable, gargantuan, whatever) without unbalancing the game. The synergies - to use that dread word - are really well thought out. You might have the most powerful god going, but your mortals always offer an Achilles' heel. Our first couple of games had a whiff of the Iliad about them, with lots of fleeing and pursuit as well as the clash of arms.

But above all, the miniature-painting opportunities are terrific. I could spend months painting up gods and legends and still have plenty of mortals to go round.

[Vermis]

Tiger stripes? You cray-cray!

In seriousness, impressively tidy work, there. In my experience, it's difficult to get enough flow for stripes and whatnot, without watering the colour down too much.

Basic SoBH's magic system has always seemed about the right level to me. But OGAM is cleverly done, in that it allows all kinds of superpowered gods (teleporting, invulnerable, gargantuan, whatever) without unbalancing the game. The synergies - to use that dread word - are really well thought out.

Overall, I know what you mean. On the topic of synergies, I have the feeling it's a buzzword that came about to replace other words that described the same thing, but can still have different meanings. E.g. I hear it in reference to 40K, Warmahordes and AoS. There, I take it as almost a euphemism for strategy, or less kindly, listbuilding. The synergy or 'combos' of special rules, dependent on which models you bought. From what you say about OGAM, I'd put it in the other box: the synergy of general rules and mechanics, more dependent on how you use those rules on the table (tactically?), less dependent on how you build your list.

Ordered it last night 

Might do that meself. I've had a quick intro game of OGAM, but straight after an intro of another game, and we didn't go too deep into it - so for my part I was gamed out and didn't see much more than basic roll-to-hit, roll-to-wound. I guess I was wrong!

[Hobgoblin]

Tiger stripes? You cray-cray!

In seriousness, impressively tidy work, there. In my experience, it's difficult to get enough flow for stripes and whatnot, without watering the colour down too much.

Thanks! Yes, if you mix paint/medium to the right consistency in any significant amount, it's inevitably too dry a stripe or two in. I thought that orc had the look of a slightly sleazy ex-cereal salesman. Also, those Fantasy Tribe orcs can be quite rough casts/conversions (some iterations are much better than others). So I think they benefit from odd details (stripes, tattoos, warpaint, whatever). There was a significant step up in quality for the slightly later armoured orcs.

Overall, I know what you mean. On the topic of synergies, I have the feeling it's a buzzword that came about to replace other words that described the same thing, but can still have different meanings. E.g. I hear it in reference to 40K, Warmahordes and AoS. There, I take it as almost a euphemism for strategy, or less kindly, listbuilding. The synergy or 'combos' of special rules, dependent on which models you bought. From what you say about OGAM, I'd put it in the other box: the synergy of general rules and mechanics, more dependent on how you use those rules on the table (tactically?), less dependent on how you build your list.

Yes, that's right. If you're building your own god and followers, then listbuilding is part of the fun, but it's hard to "game" that aspect from what I can see. You can power up your god all you like, but that means you'll have more vulnerable mortals - and fewer legends to protect them. There are also restrictions on how powerful mortals can be - so you can have tough sorts like trolls or whatever, but not many of them if they're quite formidable. It's neatly done.

And yes, the synergies are very much tactical - and situational. Because deployment takes place all over the table, you can't really plan out much of a strategy (and build a list for it) - you're always going to constrained by terrain, your opponent's deployment and the threats that his forces pose. So you have to think tactically all the time.

Might do that meself. I've had a quick intro game of OGAM, but straight after an intro of another game, and we didn't go too deep into it - so for my part I was gamed out and didn't see much more than basic roll-to-hit, roll-to-wound. I guess I was wrong!

You must have been gamed out, as it doesn't use a roll-to-hit, roll-to-wound system! All the combat's done with single opposed rolls - though unlike in SoBH, you might get several rounds fought in immediate succession.

[Vermis]

See? That shows how much I was concentrating.

[Hobgoblin]

Here's an orcish giant. I think he was originally a chess piece. I've had him since I was a kid, but the OGAM rules have given him new purpose. He could even be an orcish god, I think - I like the idea of an orcish deity being somehow wretched.

Although he's a fairly crude figure, there's a certain appeal to him, I think. He reminds me faintly of a Pauline Baynes illustration. I also like the fact that his weapon's not too big - though I question the efficacy of the axe-head angle.

I should add that he isn't yet properly based (insofar as I ever base miniatures properly) because I'm not sure whether he would be better on a 50mm base. I have some coming in the post. I also have an much bigger orcish giant to paint up ...