Help support TMP


Fantasy Rules!


Generic fantasy rules, allowing players to battle in any number of fantasy or mythological worlds. Point system allows armies to be built from provided army lists. Forces include troops, leaders, and a variety of individual monsters and entities. Rules also cover magic, aerial combat, underwater combat, tunnelling, and juggernauts. Guidelines allow design of new troop types. Scenario provided.


Designers
Chip Harrison, Curtis Wright
Publisher
Chipco Games
Year Published
1996
Status
Out of Print
Contents
146-page spiral-bound book
Scale
Ground Scale Unstated
Time Scale The state of the Morale Clock reflects the time of day.
Figure Scale Unstated
Miniature ScalesDesigned for "play with figures of all scales" - all measurements in the rulebook are for 15mm scale, but reference charts are also provided for 25mm scale. The rule suggest basing 6mm or 10mm scale figures as you would for 15mm scale.

Basing
Type
25mm scale 15mm scale
or smaller
width x length width x length
Unit 60mm x 60mm 40mm x 40mm
Character
foot
20mm x 20mm
Character
mounted
20mm x 40mm

Guidelines are given for the number of figures per base (depending on troop type), but there can be any number of figures per base as long as all units of the same type are based in the same way.


Discuss This Ruleset


Back to RULES DIRECTORY


Areas of Interest

Fantasy

Featured Hobby News Article


Featured Link


Featured Showcase Article

15mm Beastmen Berserkers

Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian is surprised when more Beastmen reach his workbench!


Featured Workbench Article

Shadowforge's Tribal Command

fieldarchy Fezian of Meg's Miniatures seeks a compromise between natural tones and bright colors, as she paints up Shadowforge's Tribal Command.


Featured Profile Article

Nail Gems

Little gems, little cost.


This entry created by Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian on 5 April 1998. Last revised by Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian on 5 November 2016.

3,667 hits since 13 Oct 2016
©1994-2024 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?


Fantasy Rules!
Rating: gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star no star no star (8.30)
Total Votes: 10

Description

Battle rules for fantasy miniatures, designed for play in 1-2 hours.

Players use a point system to construct an army, either using one of over 50 pre-generated army lists or inventing a custom force. The army lists note which unit and character types are available to an army, and note how many elites are allowed per army. Armies are composed of units (large bodies of troops) and characters (individuals). Unit types are infantry, cavalry, monsters, war machines, and Specials ("powerful outer planar entities"), with each type including one or more sub-types. (For instance, the Infantry type includes beastmen, crossbows, fanatics, handguns, handweapons, longbows, mobs, offerings, pavisiers, pikes, rangers, skirmishers, and spears.) Characters are either Major or Minor. Major characters can "lead" units, and affect morale when lost. Generals (one per army), bards, heroes, assassins, necromancers, clerics, shamen and wizards are examples of characters. Based on an army's size, there are limits to how many powerful characters an army is allowed. Special items and abilities can be purchased for units and characters.

Chart of army lists

Central to play is the concept of the morale clock, a rating which each army possesses. In any phase in which one player's losses exceed those of his opponent, his Morale Clock score is lowered. The loss of Major Characters also reduces the clock. As the clock winds down, so does the army's ability to move and cast spells.

Fantasy Rules! is played in turns, each consisting of alternating player-phases. Each player-phase is composed of several steps or sub-phases (rally, ranged fire, movement, challenge combat, melee combat, follow-up movement). An army's Morale Clock determines how many units may move. However, Generals and Major Characters allow a player to move additional units, and units can be more easily moved when formed into Groups. Combat is resolved on a unit vs unit basis, resulting in destruction or demoralization. Units which are "double demoralized" suffer additional penalties, while those which receive a third demoralization result are eliminated from play. Demoralizations are removed by a successful rally attempt.

At the start of each turn (not phase), both players roll dice to determine their Magic Points. Separate rolls are made for each magic-user, with those points going into his "pool"; there is also an "army pool" which can be shared among all magic-users. If an army's Morale Clock is below a certain threshold, their magic dierolls are reduced. Spells can be cast at any time, if the magic-user can pay sufficient points for that spell (half of the cost must come from his own pool). The spell is automatically successful unless the opposing army spends Magic Points to dispell it, in which case dice are rolled to determine the result. There are 10 types of spellcaster (wizard, cleric, shaman, necromancer, hive queen, and ship's cook, plus sub-types), each with between 3-6 spells available to them.

Sample rules page

Characters generally attach themselves to units, both for safety and to use their special abilities. When units with atached characters fight, one character can challenge the other to "challenge combat" (a duel). When a unit is eliminated, a dieroll determines whether characters die, flee, or are captured.

The game ends when one army has been eliminated, or when one side's Morale Clock strikes 0. The winner is then determined on a points basis.

Additional or optional rules cover over-size and overly-powerful units (juggernauts), fortifications, bodyguards, underwater combat, elite troops, monsters, baggage trains, aerial combat, Undead, healers, traps, underground combat, and scouting. Guidelines are provided for designing your own troop types and spells. Includes one-page scenario, All That Glitters Is Not Gold (Hill Dwarves vs. Evil).

Editions

Second edition published 1998.