FANTASY MASS-COMBAT VOTING RESULTS:
Favorite Rules - Fantasy Rules!

Huge battle of 10,000 pts per side with 3 players a side. It was a WFB games with Chaos, Chaos Dwarves, and Beastmen verses Dwarf and empire. The good guys won (Chaos that is). [18 Sep 1999]

Last Fantasy Mass-Combat was between two FR! Renaissance Armies. One lead by the Hockmiester and the other lead by Sir Thomas.

Sir Thomas had very strong belief in the one God and had acquired the Witch Hunter Drimm to help purge the evil magic of the Hockmiester. Sir Thomas' army consisted of 4 pike units, 4 handweapon units, 2 crossbow units, 2 handgun units, 2 heavy cavalry units, Brother Bob to help the wounded, and the Alchemist Watson.

The Hockmiester wanting no part of a silly war about who could or should not use magic employed the beast keepers to provide a rather good sized dragon to help stamp out this Sir Thomas and Drimm before the whole countryside took up arms. He also gather the Imperial army of 2 Imperial Pike units, 2 handweapon units, 2 crossbow units, 3 mounted knights, 1 light cavalry, the local shaman, Tim and Imperial Alchemist Vilhem.

Both armies approched the valley that the Hockmiester had maneuvered Sir Thomas into so the Hockmiester could make better use of his larger numbers of mounted knights.

As the battleline clashed, there was much pushing by the pikes on both sides. The Knights moved around the left flank of Sir Thomas's battleline ready to crash into the worried looking handweaponmen, when suddenly, Alchemist Watson sprang both his traps and stopped the two lead units of knights. Much to the relief Sir Thomas!

One of the Imperial Pikes units fled the center of the Hockmiester's battleline and Sir Thomas's men began to rush throught he gap when the Hockmiester unleased the beast... It had six heads and spat fires of death upon the helpless enemy.

Meanwhile on the right flank, the 2 heavy cavalry units of Sir Thomas's army made the circuit and crashed into the Hockmiester's flankd and it started to crumble. The wedge in the center was made wider. Brother Bob was remarkable and worked wonders on the wounded! Witch Hunter Drimm was kept busy keeping the Hockmiester's evil spawn shaman from causing trouble on the battlefield.

Finally, the Knights broke free of those worrisome traps and the Hockmiester joined the lead unit to settle this battle once and for all. But glory was not to be for the Hockmiester, as he shook his knights out into a battleline to charge, the terrible shrilling screams of a half dozen throats broke through the rage of battle. Piercing the eardrum of all who were near, as the great beast had been surround and fell to the pikes of Sir Thomas.

Seeing the great beast fall was too much for the Imperial army. Those closest to the beast droped their weapons and fled. The right flank was gone, Tim and Vilhem were fleeing for their lives! The Hockmiester reformed his knights and covered the retreat of his broke army... The Hockmiester vowed that Sir Thomas would PAY! [17 Sep 1999]

Hordes of the Things. Amazons vs Skeleton/undead. A"best of three" campaign, with the Amazons winning two. Little terrain except for a large woods to the left side.While "Fantasy Rules" gave a better game, this was quick, fast, and fun. [15 Sep 1999]

1000 pt. Fantasy Rules! 2nd Ed. game, at the DragonFlight 99 convention in Seattle, a couple of weeks ago.

I had my medieval human army, and my opponent had Dwarves. Lots of knights, some footmen, and a Small Monster on my side; the Dwarves had a horde of axemen, some crossbows, and a big huge flying ship with artillery.

My knights charged the Dwarven infantry, expecting to ride them down like they rode down all other infantry. However, the Dwarves had terrible firebombs and were sturdier than men, so the charge mostly failed, with many knights falling and

others reeling back in shock. The human infantry was too far back, and when they did reach the dwarven line, they were outnumbered, outclassed and mostly slaughtered. The one great success of the humans was against the airboat, which was swarmed under when it descended to fight the human infantry.

Although one Dwarven flank was in disarray, the Dwarves stood victorious upon the field while the broken remains of the human army fled. It was a great game - I believe it was my opponent's first FR! game, and he did very well! Check out http://warbard.iwarp.com for other battle reports, and more FR! material & links. [15 Sep 1999]

Played Celtic (iron Age) "Shee" Elves versus Flintloque (Gun Powder Age) High Elves using Fantasy Rules! Very good match up! Muskets took their toll until the Shee closed and then the High Elf line buckled. Ogre allies flanked the Shee and a titanic melee ensued. The Shee's allied Giant waded in, but their Dragon was demoralized and watched from the sidelines. The Shee's morale eventually ran out--the Giant and Dragon tired of the struggle and left the field the surviving High Elves. [28 Jun 1999]

Fantasy Rules! Hill Dwarfs vs. Lizardmen. First time using 2nd ed. rules: great game, now even better! [18 Apr 99]

The last game I played was a game of Fantasy Rules! against my regular opponent. He used his regular Medieval army and I tried out my newer Celtic force. It was great fun! The highlight of the battle was the confrontation between his Longbow unit lead by his Cleric fighting my Goddess unit (a Major Spirit). In the end, my army was routed or destoyed, but the Goddess had a new toy-boy to take back to the Netherworld with her...... [15 Apr 99]

We enjoy FR! very much; flexible rules that allowus to play rather than argue. Fast enough that the pizza doesn't get too cold. [6 Apr 99]

FANTASY RULES!, 2000 points, Dwarves versus goblins, Dwarves won a close-run thing. [2 Apr 99]

My last game of Fantasy Rules was a nail-biter that I won in the last few turns. My Hill Dwarf army came out of the hills to challenge a Roman army with Egyptian allies. Though neither of us took the terrain objective, it was a bloody fight, highlighted by a line of his bowmen fighting off all manner of attacks for turn after turn, including killing an earth elemental singlehandedly. But my sturdy, environmentally friendly dwarves triumphed in the end, despite having their battleline broken up by bowfire, magic and flying heavy cavalry. [27 Mar 99]

The Evil Forces met the good guys near a seemingly desrted tower with a monument and a circle of stones. The monument had a plaque which was written in Elvish so the bad guys couldn't decipher it. Their dragon landed on the tower but was chased off by magic bolts from within. The bad guys also withdrew from the stones when their approach caused some spectral characters (an illusion) appeared within them. The main forces clashed and the orcs were pushed back then routed. The good guys lost their mage but killed the dragon before chasing the orcs away. The bad guys general(the witch king) was even killed before the end. [23 Mar 99]

15mm Fantasy Rules! clash between Chipco's Lizard Man army pack and some Essex Normans. This game plays exceptionally well in 15mm, with lots of room to maneuver and plenty of troop types on the table. Fast, fun. DBA players interested in fantasy should give it a look. [18 Mar 99]

Put on a demo of Flintloque at the local game store [26 Feb 99]

My last game was against my brother. He played Elves & I played a Roman army with a Wyvern as a large monster. On the left flank, the wyvern and his major spirit were deadlocked for most of the game. On the right flank, my cavalry had defeated his cavalry, but before they could aid the battle in the center, his elite longbows slew many of my legionaires, including my general. I lost the game since the support I was gambling on from the flanks never materialized, and my center was shot to pieces.

I really enjoy FR!2 in that the army lists provide the opportunity to include models which intrest me & am not restricted to required models by a required manufacturer. Also, the characters & magic are not so strong as to be the major focus of the game. [18 Feb 99]

During a game of Battlestoem at a local convention, I played an undead army Things wnet pretty well for the first part of the game, I swarmed over the elves on my side without too much trouble. Then my leader was knocked out in a volley of arrow fire. Unfortunatly, undead that are out of control go nuts and start attacking the nearest enemy, usually themselves. Things got pretty bad for a moment, as they tore into each other (and occasionally the enemy) Unfortunatly, the battle was concluded due to time before I could make my glorious comeback. [17 Feb 99]

We used Chipco's "FR!" and did a multi-player game, with each of four players commanding a contingent of troops. It was a Good vs. Evil game, in essence, with a Wood Elf and Riders of Rohan-type army against two Orcish ones. The Orcs were able to neutralize the mounted advantage of the Riders, and then overpower them with their infantry battleline. Meanwhile, the Wood Elves were barely driven off in a slugfest on the other flank. The "bad guys" won... [17 Feb 99]

A dust up between a Roman/Dwarven alliance and an Egyptian/Undead army. [16 Feb 99]

**The Battle of the Great Glade** Fought using FR2! as part of my Campaign - http://dig.anthro.niu.edu/hills/default.html

(As told by a Hill Dwarf scout who witnessed the battle from a rather precarious position half way up a tree.)

The two Celtic Hosts faced each other across the glade, and prepared themselves for the ordeal that was to come.

Felimid mac Fal strode forward and began singing a ballad of the troubles and woes of the Emerald Isle. His words and music wove a tale that brought a tear to the eye of even the most hardened warrior present - blue painted killers were seen looking away, biting their lips. The Forest Dwellers looked at each other and began having whispered discussions amongst themselves. When the song ended, there was a subdued silence, broken only by the occasional sniff and the sound of a warrior munching on a slightly mouldy potato. It seemed for a moment that there would be no battle. The Forest Dwellers certainly seemed unsure what to do next!

Suddenly the Celts of Tir na nOg stirred into action, their infantry line moving forward , their chariots switching from the west to east flanks, the fanatics rushing forward to cover the now open flank and support the main force.

The Celts of Erin responded by moving forward all along the line. Soon arrows and javelins were flying thick and fast, but the warriors on both sides seemed oblivious. To the east there developed a swirling skirmish between the light cavalry of Erin and the light cavalry and chariots of Tir na nOg. This combat lasted almost until nightfall, with the charioteers victorious.

In the centre the Forest Dwellers fired arrows at the Erin battle line and then moved to the flanks, some facing the Erin Rangers, others guarding the Great Tree.

When the battle lines clashed there was indescribable carnage, with both armies losing whole companies at a stroke. The Erin Heavy Chariots joined the fight, while traps delayed the Tir na nOg fanatics. One of these units was shot to pieces by the Erin Rangers while trying to escape the snares and pits that they had fallen foul of.

The battle raged for some time with no clear advantage to either side*. Then a unit of Tir na nOg fanatics got into combat, killing the Bard while chanting strange words - "Sing when your winnin'! You only sing when your winnin'".**

But the Tir na nOg jubilation was short lived. Their general and his warriors became trapped between foot warriors and heavy chariots. They died like heroes, surrounded by the bodies of the fallen.

This finally took the heart out of the surviving Tir na nOgs, and they pulled back to join the Forest Dwellers around the Great Tree. * each army won its own phase until both clocks were on 2! ** English soccer chant. **Results**

This was a Marginal Victory for Erin. Both sides suffered horrific loses, and right to the end it could have gone either way. Great match-up! [16 Feb 99]

Fantasy Rules 2 testing out the Juggernought optional rules using old Grenadier Barbarians on giant mastodons as Juggered Battle Wagons. The several different armies were tried and only the undead army including several undead large monsters was real match. [15 Feb 99]

AoA using an army GW lizardmen (plus some plastics from the toy store) vs Ral Partha dwarves.

Before that, FR!2 using GW Epic Scout Titans, Rank & File Figures Late Medeival Knights + Martian Metals dive boppers against a pike & shot army using old Minifigs 15mms.

FR is not without it's warts. Without some limits on 'fantastic' troops, rank & file infantry soon become worthless. Flying missile troops are also a problem. With some simple army construction limitations though, it's hands down the best game out there in terms of flexibility, quick play, and gamesmanship. [15 Feb 99]