"Mighty armies in 28mm?" Topic

Hey Folks,
Has anyone tried Mighty Armies Fantasy in 28mm? I don't have the rules yet, but the QRF makes them sound like they're on my level as far as complexity and game time (SBH my favorite ruleset).

Perhaps I could try the rules with my figure stands from Battlemasters the only fantasy mass combat game I've ever played.

So sell me on, or caution me away from, Might Armies.

Edit:
Also, how many pages in the rulebook (none of the books seem to list a page count) and is there any difference between the contents of the paper and PDF versions?

Thanks.

We have played several games of Mighty Armies using Warhammer units. We used 4" wide stands and either 2" (normal units) or 4" deep (large monster/warmachines). Then just filled the stands with whatever number of figures would fit.
Since this is exactly double the size of the 15mm stands we just doubled all the listed measurements (4'x4' table, 8"-10" for most unit movement speeds, etc.).

If you have ever played a game of DBA or Hordes of the Things it won't take more then a turn for you to have the game down.

This is one of my favorite game systems.

Mighty Armies has a lot going for it. It has a lot more flavor than HOTT. That's why I play it now instead. My sons and I have played dozens of games. We all enjoy it.

We have been tweaking the missile fire section.
The rules are cheap. get a copy and try them out. You can rate up your armies.

Thanks,

John

Most definitely try it out. Its fast and fun, but with flavour.

I have armies in 6mm, 10mm, 15mm and 28mm and they all work well.

For the 6mm and 10mm figures I use 40mm wide bases and leave all distances the same.
For 28mm armies, I just doubled that to 80mm wide bases and doubled all measurements. It works really well.

Here are some shots to show that you can play in whatever scale you wish:
link

Cheers,
Ben.

Thanks for the info folks,
I've never played HOTT or DBA. I have the rulebook for HOTT 2nd edition but for some reason it seems incomprehensible.

Any comments on page count or difference between hard and PDF versions?

It seems like this game requires about 30 figures to play, is that right?

Boromirandkermit,
Great pics. I like the look of the 28mm figs on the multibases, though to keep the figs useful for SBH I'd probably go with individually magnetically based figs and magnetized larger bases with cutouts for the figure bases.

Silly I know, but I always enjoyed "Battlemaster".

Something like this might help:
link

Magnetised, removable bases that can be used for Mighty Armies or take the figures out to use for SBH.

Both hardcopy and PDF are 43 pages.

Pages 3-7 are fluff.
8-18 are rules.
19-30 are Campaign, missions and siege rules.
31-41 are army lists.
There are several b&w pics in the rules.

Hth,

John

Thanks John,
Seeing that it's all in B&W anyway, I'll probably just get the PDF.

Boromir and Kermit,
Your basing article was what got me thinking about this. Really well done! I don't have any plug cutters, but I've got plenty of flat wood bits that should work.

Parrskool,
Nothing silly about that. I also loved "Battle Masters" link and even have acquired an extra set of bases I hope to use to make an expanded version of the game when my kids are old enough to appreciate it.

Went ahead and bought the PDF. Looks good. I'm not sure yet if I like it enough to build an army (or some multibases) around it, but I definitely want to try it with my Battle Masters figures and trays.

@OrdinaryBass, I'd be surprised if you don't like it. My local group and your Chicago group seem to like a lot of the same games and we really like MA.
Play around with the stats keeping in mind everything costs a point to upgrade and anything with a second, higher level(Shooting1-2) essentially has a prerequisite of the first level cost.
Keep us informed. -Edgar

I wish this system would use conventional "DB" basing. Its one reasons its been slow to catch on.

When strangers meet basing may be incompatible.

Ordinarybase – give the HOTT rule book another chance – it all comes clear after a game or two.

TomT

Hott simply doesn't provide the variety in various units and armies that MA does. A Blade is a blade is a blade in Hott. Although I like the army design system being so well balanced. The price you pay is that the army flavor is completely vanilla. I played it for years using both 1st and 2nd editions. I had fun. But MA offers a lot more variety and promise.

Basing is no big deal. I use WRG basing with no issues.

Thanks,

John

When we play at the store, the basing issue has never really been a issue. I play against DBA based armies all the time. MA does require that "you barely cliped my left corner by a mm" rule. I am not saying that sarcasticly, just stating that in MA is it not as precise…

Yeah, that was one of my MAJOR issues with Hott. Micro positioning of individual stands was pretty important. I hated it. You focused on minutiae rather than a big battle. MA for me!

Nice to see you running MA demos at Cincycon. My sons and I plan on bringing some armies.

Thanks,

John

Well, i hope to :) if not we can at least play :)

While I agree a blade is a blade in HOTT there are lots of units to choose from -various flyers for a start which ,unless I'm mistaken MA doesn't have.
I've recently bought MA and it looks good -shooting looks pretty lethal though!!

Much of the odd "mm" issues have been solved by DBA3.0 (which we have merged with HOTT).

But all games when it comes down to measuring sometimes turn on a MM.

Would like to play some MA got the rules some time ago but the basing issue caused local community to balk.

Going to 25mm a great idea as you could just use DBA basing as the standard.

TomT

Just found this thread again. I encourage you to try MA. It's great!

Mighty Armies does have flying units. In fact, it has a free supplement called 'Death from Above' for it. I can say that MA has a ton of more customizable unit types than HOTT. That's what drew me to the rules. I begged Mongoose to create a DIY section for the rules. They didn't but Rebel wisely did. This has allowed the rules to bloom into the premier set they currently are. Tweaking them a little more can make them into a serious force in the Fantasy marketplace.

Tom, use WRG basing. It really isn't an issue. I wasn't going to rebase all my HOTT and Dba armies. I humbly disagree that a millimeter may influence the majority of games using other rules. I have gamed for 35 years and rarely had that decide a game unless I was playing DBA or HOTT. I hear that Phil may be eliminating it in the new DBA. About time!

I was a hardcore HOTT fan. I always had some issues with the units being the same. I tried some of the fan created variants to address this. You can see some of my Hott contributions at the old 'Stronghold' website. Long term the game was simply too plain and lacked the flavor I wanted. MA also has a much more creative and fun magic system. It retains simplicity but again adds more variety. Mighty Armies eliminated the micro positioning issues and added customization. You can create unlimited types of armies now. The rules also have the benefit of having more army lists, spells and rules additions being added as time passes (and they are playtested).

Do yourselves a huge favor. Try out a few games. You could knock out 2-3 in an hour or two. The rules are cheap. Trust me. You'll be glad you did!

Thanks,

John

"Tom, use WRG basing. It really isn't an issue. I wasn't going to rebase all my HOTT and Dba armies. I humbly disagree that a millimeter may influence the majority of games using other rules. I have gamed for 35 years and rarely had that decide a game unless I was playing DBA or HOTT. I hear that Phil may be eliminating it in the new DBA. About time! "

I've wargaming for far too many years starting with Marx army men on the floor. I've never played a game that a MM didn't occasionally matter: "Does my Sherman have a flank shot on that Panther – no its a MM out." Happens in every game (that doesn't use hexes/squares).

I've tried MA and did find MM's matter – just as they do in every game (this does not deter me from wanting to play more its just that the games I've seen have used 15mm on odd bases).

As to DBA3.0 we have made lining up free so if you can reach enemy line a MM won't keep you from fighting. (Keep in mind that 3.0 has been savaged by the US tournament crowd for just this sort of "quick play". We are trying.)

TomT

Thanks for the heads up on the Flying rule -they have been duly downloaded.
For 28mm I was using 60mm bases for HOTT-a system I love and 90mm for DBA.
I'm now doing 90mm HOTT bases as well and thus of course will use this for MA.
I do like the ability to customise units and your remarks are very encouraging John!!

I'm glad to help a little. The rules have a lot going for them. The customization is a wonderful thing. I'm trying to decide on how my rat warriors/skaven should be rated up. I picked up an army from Splintered Light. Lovely figs.

The rules have some promising things being developed. More magic stuff, more army lists, more supplements and tweaking a few things here and there.

Mike and I have discussed missile fire for a while now. I believe it IS lethal. I am unsure however, if that needs to be changed or if the unit type options are enough to counter it. More playing different armies is required.

Have fun,

John

In my experience when a MM matters it tends to be because of the people that are playing the game.

I've been looking at the Might Army rules am encouraged by reading the information here. I have tons of Lord of the Rings figures that I will probably use for my forces.

Hey Sean. Of course, I can only speak anecdotally. I have been playing Hordes and DBA since they first came on the scene. Whether in local games for fun or tourneys a mm or two almost always came into play at some point. That was simply a symptom of how the rules worked. I enjoyed our games. I liked playing 72 APs since that micro focus lessened in those big games. I don't think I was ever at a game where it didn't make a difference at some point.

I'd be curious to see how it worked for LOTR. I never thought of using the rules for that. Let us know if you get some games in.

Thanks,

John

I am working on a 28mm version of MA now. Not really 28mm based like the current MA, but 28mm individual bases similar to Warhammer. Some of the guys at my group threw it out there the other day and I think it looks pretty cool. There will need to be tweaking, but was fun :)

Hunh??? 28mm, singly based? That's something my friends and I have discussed as well. One thought I had was to eliminate facing for solo models, but if models lined up four or more in base contact, then facing matters. Please keep us informed.
By the way. I agree with John, Rebel Mike has brought new life and great things to MA!!

That might work. We are playing with it, so I will let you know..

Out of curiosity, what IS the basing standard for MA? I kinda assumed from the pics I've seen that it basically WAS DBA/HOTT basing, but from the above comments it appears that it isn't (although it's compatible as long as both sides use the same convention), correct?

The "official" Mighty Armies bases are 2" x 1" for most units. Then 2" x 2" for massive units (big beasts, war machines, etc). So all units have a 2" frontage. Depth will normally be 1" with just the rare exception having a 2" depth. I call these "official" only because this is the size of the bases Mongoose packaged with the original six armies. Rebel Minis still sell these bases.

Thanks Tinyminis, just what I was looking for. As much as I like HOTT I just want a little more depth, and this might be something that will do that.

@Bob- yes give it a shot! Mighty Armies is an awesome game! Right now I'm I'm the planning stages of a "tree-kin/woodland spirits type of army…

Hmmm, I may have missed it but, has missile exhuastion been brought up? I mean, the idea that units only have so many rounds, arrows, and such seems like a workaround solution. If missile troops are assumed to be firing continously, then the elimination of a unit by missile fire can just be assumed to be the culmination of events…pointy events blotting out the sun in some extreme cases. In that circumstance, you could have a shooting unit which has eliminated an enemy unit take the shot again and, on a miss the unit is out of ammunition and reverts to the closest unit non misle unit type (infantry, cavalry etc).