"Oathmark: Where on earth are the rules???" Topic

Been following Northstar Miniatures' releases of their new plastic fantasy dwarves and goblins for the new Osprey game Oathmark.

Maybe I totally missed something or missed an announcement somewhere down the line, but I've searched high and low and can't find even a trace of where to get the rules or rulebook!

Osprey Publishing's own site has absolutely zip, if you type it in their search engine you get nothing found.

No links on Northstars' site to the rulebook anywhere that I can see. All I see are links to buying the dwarves and goblins plus some printed banners. Did they release the minis. before the actual game was published?

There isn't even any mention on Osprey's own site of Oathmark's rules in upcoming pre-orders.

Confused!

I believe they are still in development. They are producing the line of figures ahead of the rules release.

I too am following closely. There is an Oathmark Facebook Group.

I've noticed a few recurring questions so I thought having some answers in a single place, rather than in various threads, would be useful. This isn't a "that's all you're getting" post (so feel free to keep asking questions!), but will, I hope, serve as a convenient introduction for new members. For more specific details, see the FAQ on the main Oathmark page (link below).

A not uncommon (or unfair!) question from newcomers to Oathmark is "when are the rules coming out?". At this point, I'm afraid the best we can say is that the game is in development. As soon as we've got more news and information, it'll go up here and on the official Oathmark page.

What we will keep releasing in the meantime is a range of plastic boxed sets and metal blisters – Elf and Human infantry to match the Goblins and Dwarves to start with… and then some more specialised units (including, and in no particular order: cavalry, heavy infantry, light troops).

Much as we would have loved to launch everything at once with rules, multiple boxed sets, and metal figures, it just wasn't practical, so we decided to release what we could – the figures – when we could.

In terms of preparing figures for the Oathmark rules, there are few limitations – basing is 25mm square (but other options can be accommodated), and units are organised in multiples of 5. As for the proportions of archers to warriors to spearmen, they can be freely selected (subject to final points costs and assuming it's a one-race force – it gets a little trickier when mixed forces are concerned).

Hope this helps,

Xin/Jeff

That answers that question!

Thanks so much Jeff!

(Would have helped if I had actually read their Facebook updates) :)

Rules? What's wrong with the ones you already have?

The ones I already have?…ummm….for the game Oathmark?

Not released yet. Not sure what you mean.

I don't know, dragon Rampant? Songs of Blades and Heroes? 2HW, Blood Eagle?Frostgrave? Lots of rules, what re you playing now?

I find it rather strange to be vocally wishing for some unfinished rules that haven't yet a bit of published details to entice one from the set you use currently. Use the figs and worry about the other rules when there is actually some sizzle to smell and hear and get buzzed about.

Cause new rules are always better.

I can't wait.

A I'll sell you some new rules I am "developing". Care to make a down Payment? Be ready in 2035 but they will be better then what you have now. The game will be called promisereich.

Now your just being a troll.

No, I am just pointing out that the GW business plan is not one I want to see potentially emulated by a new set of fanboys. Play what you want with figs and rules of your own choice based on what you have actually seen.

Perhaps my grinning is apparent but this is all just jest.

IIRC the guy or team doing the Oathmark rules are the same as the one that did Frostgrave. Based on JUST that information makes me anticipate what will come out. Plus some of the details that have been released suggests I'll enjoy them better than what is currently on the market.

Damon.

Mike, omg calm down…I'm looking forward to Oathmark beccause I love Frostgrave and this game is also being developed by Osprey. Plus I really like the new miniatures and the idea of a new fantasy skirmish-level game in a new fantasy setting that will be another option to Age of Sigmar, etc.

Not quite sure why such an innocuous and normal topic would send you into such a thread rage, wow.

While I like the idea of a new rule set coming out, I'm not married to it, and think it's perfectly fine for companies that make miniatures to just make miniatures.

Lol…the conspiracy bug seems to have hit the gaming community. Osprey has published 10s of thousands of military titles and 50 plus game rulebooks. I have no evidence that would suggest that Oathmark is some kind of marketing lie or that the game has been scrapped.

I am sure if Osprey was to scrap the game they would inform us of that, lol.

Meanwhile the miniatures are there to enjoy in any case…

Jeff no new updates on your Oldhammer project?

Madcam.

Who is this Mike you need to Calm down? There is no thread rage at all. You simply can't see me smiling and laughing

Settings and rules specific to settings really aren't my cup of tea and I do have a bit of disgust when I see orthodoxy and canon as guiding forces in the play or marketing for a setting in general but horses for courses. I remember only too well young gamers turned away from a game because their figs weren't canon. So maybe there is a bit of "rage" but it really is much more gentle a reaction here to an inherent fanboy behavior for a setting and rules that are still basically non-existent. As for Osprey, I have bought some pretty weak rules so my expectations are not without a tad of doubt so I will easily avoid anxiety about when it is released and wait for the reviews (New is not always better). It will take me some time to finish painting my many boxes of oathmark figs on the worktable for use with my existing rules.

I think the Metalsmith merely means: play now; pay latter.

Have tried several medieval skirmish games and not swept away by any. Lion Rampant has some nice ideas but also some very odd ones for a skirmish game and I can't quite get my head around the Saga dice system.

Song of Blade and Hereos has some promise and old Bloodlust game has some great (if a bit complex) ideas.

But still waiting for a great skirmish game (not all that impressed by Frostgrave though have played several times). Opsery is pretty hit and miss. So we will see.

Till then try all of the above and see what you think.

TomT

…oh sorry, misread your name. MICK, omg please calm down :)

That's not all you misread.

Mick, clearly you've got a chip on your shoulder that I have no idea how but landed here in the thread I created.

If you have problems with people asking about rules in development and feel the need to bombard them with life lessons on patience and waiting, then please feel free to start your own thread about such issues.

But starting arguments in the middle of someone else's thread generally doesn't get good results. :)

It all started out as a joke, I have never once displayed any sort of chip or rage as you seem to think about it. Call it bad communication and get over it.

Wow, that got hot real quick.

I have only just found these Oathmark figures via the new elves, and I am impressed by how "non-fantasy" the figures look – and I mean that in a good way. I moved away from fantasy gaming when GW developed orcs into the big jawed things they have today, so to see a set of fantasy figures that look almost "historical" has actually got me interested.

The idea of a new set of rules is also interesting, but I can see what Mick is saying – that the figures (as the Oathmark FB page says) can be built, painted and played with now. The rules will come out at some point when they are ready – as the designer himself said back in October.

link

Play nicely

Marc

Jesus…I've had the same question. Glad I didn't post it here!

I saw one or two references to Oathmark as a "skirmish game". It will not be a skirmish game. It will be a rank and file wargame where individual casualties are removed, like Warhammer Fanatasy Battles.

As it's weitten by the same guy who did Frostgrave can we assume it's the same rules system? Bigger battle as we know but the same d20 system? I wonder!

Probably will be far better than GW's bucket of dice rules.

The rules may be useful for 15mm then….

I love the miniatures, but will probably use them for 'skirmish' gaming a la Song-of-Blades… etc…, I don't have the patience to paint or shuffle about hundreds of 28mm figures in block-formation anymore…

Modern wash/stain/drybrush techniques allow 28mm figures to be quickly painted. Plastic has lowered the cost.

Mass armie are much more practicable (though not necessary for modern DBX).

TomT

Any updates on this system? Anyone have an idea of how it will compare to Dragon Rampant, which my group and I are using now?

Seems to still be a way off.

From what I can see, some differences from Dragon Rampant:
-Rank and Flanks style game, with most units 1-20 figures, 5 wide
-Distinct faction (4 to start with, likely Goblins, Elves, Dwarves, and Humans), but they can mix.
-Uses D10s
-A single unit box will give you a warband, but it can be a mass battle game
-Campaign rules

The facebook page has just had an updated FAQ, where I got most of the above info.

I understood what Mick was saying from the beginning. Paint and play what you like now and try later. I like the style of the figures and plan on getting them. But rank and file games with single figure removal, to me at least seem rather old fashion. Much prefer multiple figures on a base with no removal. Kings of War is going in the right direction, but the bucket of two of dice is a big negative. Much prefer only one of two dice for combat.

Just started reading about Oath mark, would like to know more of the flavor of the armies. Are the purely medieval, or can they be a pike and shot style> what about magic? can that be left in or out as players desire…or is it to integral to the game play? I doubt I would buy new figures. and just use my WHFB armies already have and painted and currently stored/shelved.

Amazon has this listed for pre-order, release date April 28th, 2020 ( link )

There's also a designers blog that has been gradually adding items. It starts here -> link ..and then you can follow the links at the bottom for the next installments.

My 2 cents based on what I've read and seen: Uses points to buy units in 5 figure groups – up to 20 infantry or 10 cavalry per unit. Units are always 5 wide for human-sized units. Human sized figures bases are 25mm (1 inch) squares so a unit is 5 inches (125mm) wide. I think units of larger monster like trolls come is smaller units (like trolls seem to be 6 figure units so are probably on bigger bases (like 40mm?) and are only 3 across to make them close to the 5 inch frontage for a unit. There are dragons and individual heroes roaming the field. Combat is D10 based – up to 5D10 max are rolled for a unit. There's a unit activation system (not covered in the blog yet as I write this). Only four races included in the main book (humans, dwarves, elves, orc\goblin) for the main army. I think there is a 2nd book planned for undead and more magic (saw this somewhere but I can't find the source). The big draw of the game is the campaign system – you create a kingdom in "The Marches" a pick the main race which gives you access to most unit types for that race. Then you draw concentric circles outward from you kingdom and split those circles into lands (see the blog entry – you can download a kingdom sheet pdf). There are different types of lands and they give you access to specific unit types – including unit of other races. So you could be an Orc kingdom and if your kingdom contains a dwarven mine you can have dwarf artillery units in your army. So your armies could have units from all the different races if you have the necessary lands in your kingdom.

So read the blog and draw your own conclusions. There's also a Facebook page -> link

Up for Pre-Order at Amazon.

link

A totally different take at Fantasy miniature gaming.

You select lands (they are what make up your Kingdom/Empire) and from those you can get units.

So you could have Dwarfs, Elves & Goblins in your Army.

I like that they have put limits on unit size (So No Deathstar Units) and are using D10's instead of D6's.

Oh and it is nice that they are limiting the number of dice that you roll per unit as well.

So it will not be a "Bucket of Dice" game that GW has turn their games into. So games should not be determined by who can roll the most dice.

I am going to Pre-Order it along with the Elite Unit book, "Battlesworn", which is also up for Pre-Order.

link

I have already put in my Pre-Order for them.

Looking forward to these rules.

I wish I could order a singled damned thing on the Osprey Publishing website. It's frustrating. I can't log in any more.

Check the upper right of the Osprey website and make sure the site is set for your nation. Several of the local club members here in the USA were having that sort of problem with the Osprey site until they noticed that it was set to the UK instead of the US.

They are out now and look petty good.

They limit the sizes of units along with the amount of dice that you roll per combat.

Plus they use D10's instead of D6's which allows for a greater range.

Plus as far as I can tell there are no Deathstar type units.