"Do you ever award your characters/unis honorifics?" Topic

Based on battlefield performance?

In a WFB game against my 13 year old (My Norsca v Chaos), my two Lords (inspired by the TV show vikings) earned the following nicknames:
Ragnar the Unlucky: (on 6 attacks of 1+ hit with 1+ wound – he didn't hurt anyone. Not the first time that sort of thing has happened to him)
Lagertha Dragonslayer: Slew a Chaos dragon

Now I need a nickname for my shiledmaidens: 3+ save; saved 1 out of 9

Units and individual figures get "personalities" based on their gaming history. Sometimes these get named as a result.

You have to make sure that that unit consistently fails to save, then name them "the pierced ones".

I have done it once. There was an incredible incident in a game where one of the bases of archers in my Welsh army managed to effectively single handedly wipe out half my opponents army. "Billy the bowman" has a VC engraved on the bottom of his base as a result.

At the UK national championships the same year the victim of Billy and I put together a poster campaign with a reward for the player to kill Billy. The reward was a pint of beer but despite playing 6 games at the tournament and towards the end of the event taking insane risks with Billy he refused to die so the reward was not claimed.

I have several Napoleonic units that have had medals painted on command figures when they performed valiantly. There is even a Spanish cavalry unit that managed to hold off several French attacks and was still in line at the end of a game of Bailen. They have a medal painted on the CO.

Years ago I had a bog-standard Bavarian infantry outfit that never failed a morale test. Their combat dice were ordinary but they never ran. This was before I painted medals.

Closest thing to this that I do is award points for morale/melee to my Napoleonic units, for gallant combat or cowardly actions. For instance my Count Arakcheev Grenadiers, historically a good unit but two times uncommonly bad die rolls had them running so they are down 1 level.

Young Giglamps started as a cornet in the Sewon and Soforths. Old Giglamps made general.

When he gets promoted depends on how well he did in a given game in the correct time period.

The League of Extraordinary Mentalmen have a similar advancement path.

The Halflingland Rifles received the honorific "Royal" for their efforts in limiting Otterman and Ferach ambitions in Afri.

Yes. The Third Guards of my imagination of Penury received the appellation of " The Old Comestibles" when they were caught by an early snowstorm in the high passes and spent the winter there, running out of supplies in the late winter of '06.

If they are outstanding or really terrible, like Scipio Africanus Nemesis whose army ran away from a baby elephant.

vtsaogames: I like your idea of painting medals on the commanding officers.
I'll have to keep that in mind.

I was in a large dark ages campaign many years ago and my army was a mix of select and greater fryd. A couple units of the greater fryd did such a good job, battle after battle, that I started painting the names of those battles on their plain single colour standards as a reward.

Yes, of course. Naming units, individuals, awarding medals, etc. works very well, especially in a narrative campaign. But even if your battles are not connected in any way, it can serve as a great tool to give your figures some personality.

I also slightly repaint the models as they progress and earn additional rewards. In the old days of Warhammer 3rd, we would even add mentions on banners, just as real military units do/did with their flags and banners.

E.g. (very simple example) link

Now I need a nickname for my shiledmaidens: 3+ save; saved 1 out of 9

"Ulfrida Gossamershield"

"Now I need a nickname for my shiledmaidens: 3+ save; saved 1 out of 9"

'The Essex Girls'……. don't put up much resistance.

Back in the day, I had a 40K army where I'd add little marks o nthe armour if they did something particularly impressive, like take down an enemy hero.

That was a vital part of our 1700-1800s Colonial campaign system (1990) called "Life in the Fourteenth". The campaign covered a year. At the skirmish level, there was always the need to replace NCOs and improve ability rating due to experience. Even among the natives war raid leaders would have to be replaced as well.

I have been awarding medals to my Napoleonics for decades. The first time a unit does well, the medal is painted on the C.O. For future great feats, I roll a die to randomly determine which figure in the unit gets it.

For French generals and marshals, they start off with the Cross of the Legion of Honor as their first award. They go up through the grades with future awards.

By this time, one would think all of my figures would have medals. But I have gone through four different sets of Napoleonics over the years.

I think I picked the idea up in the 60s, either from Jack Scruby or some one gaming with him.

Tom

The only unit to which I've awarded anything is my Timofievich Cossacks of my SYW imagi-nation army of Courland. In a big battalions game at MilleniumCon 2008, they distinguished themselves and got a unit streamer added to their standard.

link

Jim

Back in the day, when we were playing Battletech, we would paint kill marks on our mechs, just like fighter pilots in WW1 and WW2 did.

This has been interesting with some good tips.
Thanks everyone

"kill marks". Yes, I did that on ONE of my planes, also "back in the day". My FW 190 ace acquired 21 hash marks on the rudder of his plane, before finally being shot down and captured over N. Africa. He ended the war in Canada. I've never kept any running scores on any of the other models I've played with….