Typhon Greek Myth Rules?(+Pics back up.)

[Stroezie]

Ok, so I’ve bought some of Rapier miniatures exellent 6mm ancients fantasy figures and I’d like to play some solo narrative skirmish campaigns with them, think Oddyseus, Jason and the Argonauts etc. Looking around for a set of rules to use I came across Typhon by Alternative Armies has anyone played these and do you think they would be a good fit? If not, can you recomend any other rule set.(preferably with few to no counters on the table, for 6mm individually based minis the impact of counters on the board is just to jarring for my tastes.)

Thanks,
Stroezie.

Ps: you may expect pictures of said minis soon 😉

[fastolfrus]

Played them several years ago - when they were new.
Can't really remember them too clearly but they were good enough that we bought a copy plus 40mm Greek figures to use them with.
Then went over to Aegyptus for large skirmishes etc.

You might try Crooked Dice 7th Voyage, but it does usually use counters, although might be possible to use stat sheets instead.

[Stroezie]

Well I promised you pictures, here they are.

I came accros this little 6mm Greek fantasy line from Rapier Miniatures a little while ago and decided to order some to check them out.

I LOVE THEM!!!

The casts are nice and crisp with almost no cleanup necessary, lots of nice detail and easy to paint.

I bought a pack each of armoured hoplites, chimeras, hydras, gryphons and harpies.

Here's what I've painted so far








Rapier miniatures is moving and has closed their shop temporarily, once it opens again I'll be ordering the rest of the range.

[Arundel]

Those pictures look stunning,  Stroezie! I just replied to your question on TMP, but in case you missed it, here it is again!

Typhon is a great set of rules that provides an atmospheric game.

The idea is you buy your starter warband with a set level of points and money (though there's no reason you couldn't increase both if you wanted to) and then go adventuring either against other bands of humans or shades (skeletons) or the monsters of myth. Your starting band will probably be relatively weak, with one champion, a sidekick, and perhaps a few flunkies along for the ride. Armour is very expensive and so one or more of your group will likely be unprotected; to make matters worse, armour and shields can be broken in combat, forcing you to buy a new set. (As an aside, Typhon is the only game I know of where stripping the bodies of fallen friends or foes actually makes sense. It's a nice touch.)

Heroes and their sidekicks can pick Gifts of the Gods. In my opinion this is the strongest part of the game. Gavin Symes, the author, obviously knows his mythology, and each of the pantheon's principal gods has his or her own powers to bestow. So for example, if my hero Sarpedon is a follower of Poseidon, I can pick several powers of varying potency from the sea god's list. It's all very colourful and a lot of fun. Many powers are one use only. Though it hasn't come up in my games, I sometimes worry that a few of the gifts are a little too powerful, which could potentially lead to a "Hmmm, it's turn two and my hero just drowned due to the flood you summoned--Game Over" sort of situation, but again, it hasn't actually happened in a game I've played.

Combat is gritty, which quite suits a game with low figure count, I think. First you roll to hit, then to penetrate the enemy's shield (if he has one), then again to penetrate his armour. If you do all that, there is another roll to see what your hit actually does to him. It sounds more labour intensive than it is. I like it a lot.

The monsters and evil things of the Greeks are very well represented. Name a famous wicked creature and it is probably statted for the system. If you decide to go forward with the rules, be sure to contact Gavin at Alternative Armies and ask him to send you the additional creature pdfs he has; unfortunately, many of the best (Cyclops, harpies, etc.) didn't make it into the rulebook itself (I would assume for space reasons).

The rulebook finishes with a relatively simple starting campaign of three games. I wish there was a little more panache to this section, but it can at least get you going.

If I had to criticize them, there are a few things I would say: the rulebook could be laid out a little more clearly--it's not huge issue, but it can lead to some unneeded page-flipping; movement for armoured characters can be frightfully slow--they literally crawl along in some circumstances (in 6mm, it will look like they've hardly moved!); there are no rules at all for stunts and other activities besides moving (often slowly) and killing each other, which I think is a relatively large omission for games like this--such rules would be easy to add, of course, but would take a little effort on your part).

So there you have it: overall, a great set of rules, reasonably priced, that I'd guess you'd have a lot of fun with. They don't require tokens, so you're set there. I'd suggest you give them a try. I'll add that recently I've played some Greek Mythology games with Pulp Alley and it works wonderfully. I'd strongly urge you to give them a try as well; though they are made for 30's pulp, they are generic enough that the swords & sandals feel of mythological games is represented perfectly. They are tremendous fun!

Right, that's probably more information than you bargained for, but I hope it gives you some idea of what to expect if you purchase Typhon. Finally, be sure to share photos of your 6mm skirmish when you set it up!

[Stroezie]

Thanks Arundel, thats exactly the kind of information I was looking for. You've just sold me on the Typhon rules and as I already own Pulp Alley I guess you've already suplied me with a backup too :-))

[Arundel]

You're very welcome.  Now just be sure to let us know how things go for you!

[Stroezie]

Well, I've ordered the Typhon rules and I managed to finish some more figures.

I decided to paint the second Hydra red/orange to use as a fire breathing version.
here it is beside to first one I did.



The harpies have also all been painted and can bee seen here attacking the last two of the fully armored Greeks( previously finished models to the rescue ;-)



I've also started painting the second Chimera but, as it will look almost exactly like the other one, I won't be posting any seperate pics of it.

Also, I accidentally ordered two packs of chimera's, I think I may just try my hand at converting one to a manticore. If I manage to pull it of I'll post pictures of that.


Thats it for now until I recieve my next order from Rapier miniatures.

[Arundel]

Superb work, Stroezie! Be sure to share photos of your games once you get them going!

[Stroezie]

Say hello to the manticore!

Chopped of the lion, goat and dragon head, beheaded a 28mm Kahdoran winterguard and glued his head onto the chimera body




Add some green stuff and watch it dry so I can paint ;-)

Here's a shot with a painted original so you can compare



Hopefully I will be able to get some paint on it tomorrow.

[Bodvoc]

'Hello Manticore'.

Very well made he is to

[Arundel]

Yes, he looks really good. Be sure you show pics of him when he's painted!

[Stroezie]

Well, here he is with some paint on him, I also added a little clue about the next monster I'm going to paint…



Can't wait till my next order from Rapier minis arrives, meanwhile here's a picture of all the figures so far.



Total cost so far £9.50GBP, god I love 6mm :-))

[Arundel]

I really like how the Manticore turned out. Well done! Let us know how you get on with Typhon once it arrives.

[d phipps]

Fantastic! Sure to be lots of fun.

[Stroezie]

So as I'm waiting for the rules and the rest of the minis to arrive I decided to see if I couldn't quickly knock together some terrain.

Here's the first building, a generic greek looking temple, still a bit rough around the edges but it should do me for the first few test games at least.



The roof and walls lift away so the figures can move inside too.
I won't be doing this for any of the smaller buildings but I like my larger buildings to be a bit more than just big blocks of impassible terrain.



Next will probably be 5 or 6 small simple rectangular houses to beef up the town.