"Back to Square Zero..." Topic

I was happily in the early planning stages for a Beastman army for Warhammer, but with all of the AOS nonsense, I'm inclined to make a change of rules…

Now, I just need to look through my library for the "perfect" fantasy rules…

* something that works well for skirmish as well as mass battle
* something that provides a fun campaign system
* something that works well for 28/32mm figures

That shouldn't be so hard to find, should it?

Having one set of rules for skirmish, and army battles? Isn't that sort of mutually exclusive of each other?
I mean, for example, with WW II rules, they are either designed for skirmish games or they are for larger grand tactical. The mechanics and the expectations would be different for each game. I see the same differences with other eras too.

Mike

Reaper?

Warhammer Fantasy Battles 1st edition?
Warhammer Fantasy Battles 2nd edition?
Warhammer Fantasy Battles 3rd edition?

Isn't that sort of mutually exclusive of each other?

Let me rephrase. I want to be able to start playing without having to have a large army; maybe something as small as two units and a general should do.

Reaper?

Do you like their rules? I have 1st edition around here somewhere…

Warhammer Fantasy Battles 1st edition?
Warhammer Fantasy Battles 2nd edition?
Warhammer Fantasy Battles 3rd edition?

No, I'm demoralized. LOL

KOW

Grenadier's old Fantasy Warriors.

Well for Skirmish I would highly recommend Song of Blades and Heroes. Hard to beat.

For mass combat, that's tougher with Beastmen. Maybe Pride of Lions? It's based on the SOBH system too.

link

KOW

Doesn't seem to have a Beastmen army list.

I would highly recommend Song of Blades and Heroes. Hard to beat.

One of the few rulesets I don't own.

For mass combat, that's tougher with Beastmen. Maybe Pride of Lions? It's based on the SOBH system too.

Does PoL work well with 28mm?

Hordes of the Things.

Bill, Song of Blades and Heroes is one of the systems anyone who likes skirmish games should own. The moderns version called Flying Lead is great too.

It's pretty cheap, too and there is a good online troop builder that is free. You can create stats for any mini you own.

I would think Pride of Lions would work 28mm. I usually see it games in 15mm Check with Splintered Light.

I second SOBaH for skirmish. There's a mass battles version in the works as well.

My goto ruleset for mass fantasy battles is Mighty Armies.

G.

KoW has a beastmen army list (although it is not yet published…)

You can find the rules for them here

link

They are under "the Herd" section. Lizardmen rules for Kings of War will be out soon too.

Personally I will be playing KoW when the Lizardmen are out.

Good luck!

Ironically the latest release of Warhammer Fantasy, Age of Sigmar, has all the requirements you mention. Some haven't been published yet although fans and game stores have started posting their own rules.

But as you say "nonsense".

lion rampant and chaos rules (the rules according to ral)

i ran an orc attack on a dwarf village using lion rampant and oddly enough, only one player complained but he always complains, so that is a given. he could have done better if he just pushed and took a few casualties to force the barricade. no guts, no glory.

but i digress, lion rampant has units of 12 or 6, flows well and is such a good "took kit" type set that i see no problem adding/modding troop types to work with my fantasy figures.

rals rules i have not used in quite a while, but they are an ancestor of LR and many of their mechanics ended up in LR.

dragon rampant the "official" fantasy version of LR is scheduled for December i believe.

-clark

I agree with CeruLucifus. When I read your requirements I thought Age of Sigmar really fit the bill. Or fit the Bill, I suppose.

I'm plumbing for SOBaH skirmish, Dragon Rampart for mass battles (out December :) for something with true flow I'm intrigued by the Piquet rules fantasy rules (like the Solo ability of them)
Cheers and I lost my ability to throw buckets of dice long ago so although I still love the Oldhammer world I'm moving on.

Yeah, oddly enough AoS seems to have what you want Bill, except maybe the campaign system.

The basic game seems to support smallish forces up to rather large ones. The rules seem simple enough to pick-up quickly and quite dynamic as far as GW rules go. I prefer my LoTR blue book, but… these rules seem interesting.

The rules are also free.

Bill, I would recommend two oldie but goodies. AD&D Battle systems Skirmish and Mass battle rules and my favorite ICEs Bladestorm😄

Bladestorm is undergoing an update and a facelift; not a major overhaul, however, as the system is fiendishly sound I am pleased to report, working well for skirmish, campaigns, and mass battles alike.

Further advantages to Bladestorm is that (1) there's a critter design system and (2) you can use any manufacturer's figures you like without penalty, so your Beastly Horde is perfectly OK.

You can check out the progress of the development of Bladestorm 2.0 here:

link

There are of course updates on the Metal Express Home Page covering Bladestorm's redevelopment/renovation and pending re-release. The original in PDF form is still available in our online store BTW.

C'mon, Bill. You know you want to.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Age of Sigmar or SBH for Skirmish. One Hour Wargames for Mass Battles. I am working up fantasy army lists for it.

Mordheim is still the best fantasy skirmish game. Lots of material out there expanding the original game. still widely played in various forms.

Kim