"Gaming "Game of Thrones"...what minis & rules?" Topic

What rules and what minis would you use to game big battles (not skirmish/ not RPG) between the various warring houses and other "entities" in HBO's thrilling "Game of Thrones"?
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Having not read any of the books and therefore having no idea how the auther describes the warriors, I am basing my own input purely off of what I have seen of the HBO show and what would be aestheticallypleasing to me.

I figure you could go one of two ways. Either you could use GW's LOTR's minis which would keep it trus to the show's rather Dark Agie look and you would have several human factions to choose from to represent the warring factions in the show. But, the downside to this is that you would have to deal with GW prices. Major bummer.

The other route I could see is using the Perry Bros outstanding WotR plastic and metal minis as your diferent family factions. your benefit here would be the lower cost of using the plastic sets but all of your various warrings factions would tend to look alike, save for livery differnces.

As for rules, Im not sure what I would go with. Magic does not seem to play a part, nor do animals so fantasy rules are not needed and any mass battle medieval rules should suffice. No?

Whatever Medieval rules and minis float your boat.
There is refreshingly little magic in the series, and what little there is … Hold that. I only read 2 books so far. I could be wrong.

Anyway, I would go with anything from the HYW up to WotR.
For Dothraki, err, umm… Oh, shoot. Skythians. RAFM even makes bare chested ones.

So, if you play Warrior, call your War of the Roses
Yorkists "Stark" and your Lancastrians "Lannisters". Hey, I cracked the code! And Anne Boleyn is really Cersei Baratheon. Up to a point.

Ditto if you play WAB or Impetus or…

And, why is this a Poll Suggestion?

"And, why is this a Poll Suggestion?"

So I can get my free month of dues, havent you been reading up?

No, really for the minis question of the O.P….mostly… and the dues.

Doesn't Darksword Minis produce a line of Game of Throne minis?

Dang- I'd give you the link, but their site seems to be attacking computers with a virus today ….

Edit: Oops, I just saw; you want big battles. Well, if anyone else is interested, here's another link to those aformentioned minis: link

Rules: HOTT – plenty of options; beasts, gods, lurkers, etc.

Figures: 15mm – Deamonworld and the like.

Cheers,

May be the boardgame version:
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Other expansions
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Well, yes the board game version which is based on the Command and Colors / Battlelore rules has figures that would be suitable..

If you are trying to match the HBO look however it is a little bit unique especially the Lannister troops…

They have some unique headgear, sort of a Eastern meets Western look(actually they look a little like the LOTR Urak-Hai helmets)?

As for rules, I have not seen any real battle scenes, but it seems like personal combat and "heroes" play a factor in the setting… So you may want something like WAB where you can have characters and personal challenges as part of your armies..

Other than that just about anything that handles Medieval armies should work. Hott would also be a good choice.

The game has some pretty decent figures it appears. Anyone know how big they are? 15mm or 20mm?

"Uraki"

Quick, somebody! Get down to Wolvercote Cemetery with a pair of leads. More free power!

Allen

Any war of the roses miniatures would fit for westeros.

Go liveried faction. They all look roughly the same in the books. Your only difficulties would be the mountain men, the burned men and the horned feet etc etc.

Magic is in the books but not really used on battle fields so I think you could use just about any set of medieval rules you are familiar with.

Thanks for input Edwulf. I like the Perry minis anyways so thats an easy way for me to lean.

@"I didnt do it", I'm really diggin the looks of the game and not so much to use those minis for battles but to convert it into a campaign game where once two armies meet on the game board battles could be fought out on a table top.

The books describe the highborn of Westeros wearing plate armor, with lesser/faster sorts in chainmail. The armored knight and man-at-arms rule the battlefield.:

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peterpig.co.uk/range_23.htm

As to the look of the armies in Ice and Fire, read the books and ignore the mini-serias.

The books have very good discriptions of troop types, the author is an avid reader of history and does a much better job of creating realistic battles and troop types than most fantsy authors.

I have been creating armies for Hordes of the Things (strongly recommended – you can get a free copy on Sue Barker's web site). I use Front Rank HYW figures for the Starks and North in general. Perry Brother WOR plastics for the Lannisters, Tyrells and Tullys as they seem a bit more "technically advanced". I used plastic Bretonians for the Night Watch and a wild collection of Celitc plastics, D&D figures and whatever for the Wildlings. Giants from Descent are pretty close to book descriptions – need to mount on mamoths.

I'm working on Danery's army now – could use suggestions for the Unsullied, Dothraki are old Grenider horse lords.

Slowing working on the Others (suggestions? I'm converting Dark Elves..). Wights are mostly standard medieval looking zombies..

Used many of the faction armies for my High King game at NashCon and may try to run a Westros Hordes game at Historicon.

Character figures come from a variety of sources. I picked up Dire Wolves from company that makes prehistoric animals at H-con (can't remember name).

Have also done a Night Watch army in 15mm using Corvus Bellium – in 15s you can be pretty generic.

TomT

Update:This is actually the game I had been thinking of to convert into a mini campaign game:
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I'd consider using War of the Ring. It has heroes that can have an effect on combat, but not the unstoppable monsters of WFB.

Nothing says that WotR has to use 28mm figures!

"Nothing says that WotR has to use 28mm figures!"

Absolutely true! I already have 2 massive WotR 15mm armies for Barnet in 1:20 so I figured if I was gonna use WotR minis for this project I might go 28mm as an excuse to collect some of the Perry minis.

Next question. If WotR English are your "Lannisters" and "Starks" and other Westeros, then I guess the Scots could play the "Hill Tribes" in the South and the Irish could play the Wildings?

As an aside, found this interesting map:
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Cool map,,, thanks for sharing.

Those Darksword Miniatures are gorgeous.

Quick, somebody! Get down to Wolvercote Cemetery

Is that where the folks from Red Dawn are buried?

Irish kerns and gallowglass would work for the wildings. I think scots would look too "civilised" to be hill tribes. Too well armoured not savage enough. Maybe some American Indians painted to look White and greenstuffed for hair or beards? Or ancient celts/Germans. Some of the perry Sudanese might work for the hillmen.

Dothraki you could try any eastern horse warrior culture Mongols, parthians, scythians, could work. Unsullied you could try Macedonian pikes. I read the books YEARS ago and can't remember how well armoured they are. Greek slingers would work for the sheep herder
slingers. You could pillage the crusader range for some Islamic warriors for your dothraki aswell.

Just looked at the perry turkomans and slejuk Turks. Could pass for dothraki.

"Irish kerns and gallowglass would work for the wildings"
"Just looked at the perry turkomans and slejuk Turks. Could pass for dothraki."

Good calls!

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I always imagined the Dothraki being Hunnish :)

Well, aside from the HBO version … I was picturing more like Mongols for the Dothraki… from reading the book.

The Perry minis would look good… Certainly the light horse Turks and possibly the Turcoman mounted troops?

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Darksword miniatures are nice but much to large (32mm) to go even with the larger 28mm gaming figures.

Too bad they would have made wonderful character figures.

Not sure about Scotts for Hill tribes. Looking at several lines of "barbarians". Some armor but mostly looted stuff. More than Wildlings though.

TomT

I'm just reading the books now. The author's description of the main knightly forces is pure chivalric fantasy high medieval,and I think owes a lot more to the US 'Renaissance Fayre' movement and a Disneyfied vision of the High Middle Ages, than any particular real historical period like WOTR. The ornate, exaggerated armor and heraldry suggests a more GW Brettonian setting than anything else.

The books are blinking good by the way. I'm rattling through them voraciously, because I can't put them down! Can't speak for the HBO series cos I don't have satellite TV, but from the stills I've seen, they seem to have gone for a fairly sub-Tolkien grimy look, which is really not what the books portray at all. The book is much more Morte d'Arthur high medieval fantasy than grungy Dark Ages.

Cersei Baratheon, nee Lannister, is Elizabeth Woodville. Edward IV's "Grey Mare"…

Dothraki are the hardest, in the books the image is more of Babylonians that have evolved into a nomad rider culture. Hard to find figs for those. Huns and Mongols look too Asiatic to my mind. Dothraki are a black bearded bronze skinned folk.

The descriptions of westeros though is WoTRs England. Lords dressing their retinues in their colours most of whom are equipped like WoTRs infantry. The armour style is usually full plate so could really be anything from the late 1300s to the early 1500s. I choose WoTRs as that's what Martin said he'd based it on.

Keep in mind, I have not read any of Martin's books, but the Dothraki remind me slightly of Tolkien's "Haradrim", but with less armor and stricktly horse mounted, obviously.

@Edwulf, yep, I'm thinking Perry WotR minis for all factions with just some minor variations for each family for flavor. The map 12 posts above gives some good ideas of westeros heraldry for shields & such.

I have the original 4 book series ordered and the original board game ordered as well. Next Ill pick up a box of Perry WotR mercenaries and start working on some pikemen to fully induldge my GoT fettish!

I got two boxes of English and one box of mercs. I'm still undecided on wether to do John Sutton (of dudley)and his retinue or marq piper (of the north) and his retinue.

The descriptions of westeros though is WoTRs England. Lords dressing their retinues in their colours most of whom are equipped like WoTRs infantry. The armour style is usually full plate so could really be anything from the late 1300s to the early 1500s. I choose WoTRs as that's what Martin said he'd based it on.

Hmmm. Full plate armor enameled in bright green or red, inlaid with gold scrollwork in flowers or mythical beasts? Helms in fabulous shapes of beasts? This is pure fantasy knightly armour, and bears little relation to the functional steel plate 'white armour' used by knights and men-at-arms in the wars of the roses. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the books, but Martin's take on much of the arms and armour is purely fanciful. He may well have taken the model of powerful warring medieval families from the Wars of The Roses, but I think that's where any similarity ends.

Which is not to say, of course, that you shouldn't do it however you like! If it were me, I think I'd go with the somewhat more frilly and fanciful Bretonnian interpretation of High Medieval, but each to their own :)

Captain Blood, given the fantasy setting of the books you are probably correct and I agree with you that the Bretonian and even Empire GW knights would probably be best suited of all current minis, however given their cost and my own personal dislike for anything GW related (not getting into that bone here), I personally will probably use a mix of later HYW and WotR figures (Probably mostly Perry by preference and the cost of the plastic) for the various clans/families.

That said, if someone else has the dough, I'd love to see the Bretonians done up as the various G.o.T. families on a wargame table.

Ive got all 3 G.o.T. boardgames coming in the mail. Once Ive had a chance to give the basic game a go Ill work on converting the game into a mini campaign game where battles are fought out on tables instead of the game board. Once Ive sorted that out, Ill start the business of buying up minis and putting the paint to them.

Hopefully by then I'll be a fair share through the first 4 books which I ordered today and have a greater idea of the background of the armies.

Thanks all for the input so far. Im already excited about the project. Hopefully this one will get farther than most of mine do!

;-)

Even if the mini-campaign doesn't pan out, its still a heck of a tv series!

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Last question re: this topic:

I'm quickly devouring the first GoT book right now. Til I'm further along, can anyone tell me if Martin describes the armies of the particular families in any particular different ways (fighting wise), ie. does one favor bows, one favor speed over armor, one favor pike, etc…

Or are all families pretty much fielding the same style armies (some just richer/poorer than others)?

That would give me a final idea as to what minis to use for different families.

Cheers!

U.K.

I believe Dorne is culturally/ militarily very different from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms.

The rest of the armies are basicly the same though their horse to foot ratio may differ a lot :)

Try to get the Game of Thrones RPG book, very useful on army sizes and composition ;)

Thanks Jeroen! Im speed reading the books as well.

Mostly bills bows and men at arms. I believe donnish men are supposed to be better archers but my memory is hazy.

As always I would go the 15mm way.

Corvus Belli has some great 100 Years War figures that either suit the style of the TV show or can be easily converted.

My Kingslayer is finished as is one Lannister knight. Next is "The Hound" for whom I will try to sculpt his helmet.

This is a pretty good source for information, if the site works ;)

westeros.org/Citadel

RE Customizing the families:

Stark's/North are described as "less knightly" and forming shield wall. I went with more Man at Arms types and large shield HYW (mostly Front Rank). Added longbowmen as this made cultural sense given forest and nature of the north.

Lannisters are rich and with both Pike and Crossbow often mentioned. Very into display and "knighthood", went with liveried War or the Roses types with more ornate armor. Martin's despcriptions of armor include the ornate (existing Rennianse armor is quite fantastical by the way) but he also mentions more practical armor worn by the "real" fighters. Hearaldic/livery displays is straight out of the WOR were it denoted wealth and power.

Tullies and River Lords somewhere in the middle.

I've done specific house lists for both DBA and Hordes of the Things.

In short use historical medievals HWY-WOR figures but feel free to add in a fantasy figure with ornated armor as a character.

Ignore the dark age stuff in the mini-serias, the art director has apparantly not bothered to read the books.

TomT

Thanks Tom T. It sounds like Hyw for Starks & Wotr for other houses. On the map I posted above, the Dornish lands make them look Arabic so I was thinking maybe Perrys Crusade range for those.

Some interesting potential among these candidates for variety:
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Stark "Shieldwall" infantry? (add round shields):
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Other "Northern" infantry options besides WotR/HYW infantry:
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Men of the Black ideas:
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Men of Dorn:
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And maybe some "Wildlings":
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& maybe some unarmored Viking Bondi Lesser Fyrd & Berserkers,
though not quite "wild" enough for me!

Just some thoughts! The heart of my Westeros armies will be Perrys WotR & HYW minis but thought I'd mix it up a bit for each family. We'll see how she gos. Maybe the Perrys or someone else will acquire the rights to the minis based on the success of the series. ;-)

P.S. @Jeroen72, YES, that Citadel site is a very helpful site!
Cheers!

Why don't you go even further back in time and use Gauls or Germans for the wildlings???

Those too!

Gauls and germans would work for the hill men too.

Ok, I just finished the first book and the HBO series.

I am very impressed how close HBO stayed to the books… very few and minor differences. (the biggest plot related item may have been when Lady Stark suggested peace after the death of Eddard)…

Regarding the troops.. War of The Roses / maybe Hundred years war looks about right for the troops (I am thinking the Bretonian look sounds about right for the "knights" – especially the southern knights).

Regarding the North, they have the armored horse equivalent of the knights, however because they worship the old gods many of them are not technically "knights".. Knights have to swear an oath under the "new" gods.

I have not seen a real difference in the troop types between houses, but they do mention mercenary sellswords that frequently switch sides.

I'm 1/2 through the first Dervel. Feel the same way about the book & Tv series! For troops I'm going with Perry & Old Glory WotR & HYW troops.

For mercenaries/ sellswords, maybe these:
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More hill tribes or wildings:
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I start on my Lannister Pike tonight!