"LOTR using Battle Lust" Topic

Anyone out there use the Battle Lust game, which is a spin off from the Harn Roleplaying world? Basically Tolkein without the copyrighted names.

They have a vast number of lists and personality and troop specs for Harn which are quite easy to translate into Battle Lust. I have used these rules a number of times and would like to know how or if others use the rules for LOTR.

I am very interested in others take on the "low levels" of magic in Tolkein. I use some ideas from Middle Earth the Roleplaying game by ICE now OOP. But the idea that when a good guy i.e. Gandalf uses magic it draws evil to him. A great idea and makes the good guys really think before they use any. Other than that it is just a great "Dark Age" skirmish game. I call the LOTR version Ring Lust, I also am using them for samurai skirmish and call them Geisha Lust, works for me.
William

'Ring Lust', eh? Careful son…

I have the Battle Lust game, & even put together some army lists for it, but have never played it. One thing I was always leery of was the amount of detail in the injury charts. I also had all the Harn RPG stuff where I thought that level of detail was cool, but in a unit based game, I'd think it would bog it down. How well does the game flow?

Yes. Its low and gritty setting suits Middle-Earth almost perfectly.

The injury chart is much simpler in Battle Lust than in Harn, just roll the number of d6 based on the combat chart i.e. from one to three, add to that the impact of the weapon, the table then gives the number of wounds one to three based on the amour of the figure taking the hits. Rather detailed but it feels right.

By the way you move units but it is still very much a man on orc kind of skirmish game. It is precisely the command aspect that elevates it beyond many of the other skirmish games where all the figures do what ever you the gamer want.

A great game, where you can make the majority of grunts the same but tailor your commanders or even personality figures. A real gem of a game that has been overlooked in the stampead to GWs LOTR mess! At least in my humble opinion.

William

For those interested, there is a lot of info about BattleLust here on TMP: TMP link

Btw, a good way to speed up BattleLust games is to use only a few fighters with heavy armour, and have the majority of warriors wear light armour, or no armour at all (which would be quite realistic for most Dark Ages settings anyway).

Black Cavalier, I also have Battle Lust and haven't played it for the same reason. For background setting I actually prefer "Pendragon" which I also have.

Translating the D100 scores to D20 also makes for a faster game.

charla I think by using d20s you are going to miss the basic mechanic in the combat that of Critical faliure/success. When a figure rolls for combat result if the result is divisable by 5 it is counted as critical. This is the part of the combat that works so well. I have incorporated the Will and Fate found in GW roleplaying game and in LOTR in order to change one die roll by one number up or down. This makes those heros truly heroic and this mechanism is perhaps the best part of GWs LOTR.
William

William,

With all due respect 5, 10, 15, 20 are divisible by 5, making for 20% of the numbers on a D20, as is the percentage of numbers divisible by 5 on a D100.

Yes but not sure how your are representing the attack and defend numbers! I guess you could go to a d10 and have numbers divisable by 5!!! But the game is designed around the the attack and Defend numbers with more options with a range of 1 to 100 than 1 to 20 you have much more ability to model small variances in troop types which is what I like. Making everything d20 in my mind is like starting down the path of using d6 and high number wins no matter the troop type ie like GWs LOTR! I like the variations that the d100 give and see no difference in game time by using two d10 or one d20 you are still looking at the results finding if the roll is a minor lose/ minor win or major win/lose then consulting the table to determine the number of d6 to roll for casualites. However you if you feel the d20 is the same go with it.
William

One other thing by adding d20 to the mix you are now using d6, d20 and d100. Since you use the D100 for intiative rolls and for command and other activites and the d6 only for the caualty roll I would think adding the d20 would be more of a bother than using the mechanics as is.
William

Wkeyser,
I know I am getting in this discussion more than a little late, but I hope I can get a response? I am a Battle Lust fan, and I am wondering how your Samurai conversion worked out? I've used Battle Lust for gladiatorial combat, Swashbuckling, and other periods, but was never satisfied with my Samurai conversion. Now that I play Ronin, I want to revisit Battle Lust.