FANTASY SKIRMISH VOTING RESULTS:
Voters, By Setting - With a friend or two

It was a smal Chronopia battle between Crystal Lotus elves(me) and Firstborn. Elves won. [14 Nov 1999]

Chronopia Tournament at ShoreCon. In the finals, I lost on points to the despiable Dwarves. [14 Sep 1999]

The Obsidian Serpent Elves had a glorious victory over the Sons of Kronos, and the Firstborn (in a very cool three player game). [13 Sep 1999]

Our last Battlesystem Skirmishes game was a gruesome rumble to the death between dwarves and goblins. The dwarves were out-numbered 14-11 but we figured their better THACOS (to hit #s) as well as their missile superiority (x-bows vs. the gobbos' short bows) would even the odds. Just to make sure, they were deployed in close proximity to a trio of boulders which they surely exploited during the game, whittling the goblins down so that by the time they engaged it was like lambs to the slaughter. There was a short moment when it seemed the tide might reverse though, when some goblins took the tiny but steep hill nearby and forced the enemy into battling at lower ground. Particularly cinematic moments included:

1. The heroic death of the Dwarven Cleric leader (one of those Chronopia tusk-boar dudes, in case you're wondering). He died at the Goblin Shaman's feet (literally, one hill level below), his chest smoking from that viscious heat-seeker of a spell, the dreaded magic missile (just fire-and forget, man...tee-hee..)
2. The lonely and not-so-honorable death of my only remaining figure, the Goblin Shaman, shot in the back during a voluntary rout designed to salvage me some dignity. And I thought it was me playing the bad guys...

BUY BATTLESYSTEM SKIRMISHES!(I'm even thinking of hooking up a web site, but one guy does not a cult following make - sigh....) [8 Apr 99]

Dwarves rule!!!! Die, spiders, die!!! Muwahahaha!!!! [27 Mar 99]

I recently played a large skirmish with a war-band of Ice trolls with Frost Giants, winter wolves, and an evil sorcerer vs. a clan of vikings with cavalry, rhinemaidens, and bezerkers. The Ice Trolls were stopped cold, but the scenario was very exciting. The game is set in Northern Ivinia, and is probably a little too fantastic to be really true to the Harn world. But it is tons of fun. I plan on running the game at Gen Con this year.

90% of the figs are from the Old Glory's Ghost line, augmented by Ral Partha and Rafm. Ghost figs are perfect for Battlelust. They are a little over the top for Harn though. If you want really true Harnic figs, you have to look to the historical lines for Dark ages and early medieval periods. Although there are tons of orcs available, I've yet to find one that really captures Gargun (I am still debating between RP and OG, RP are truer to the world, but harder to convert, OG is easy to convert, but don't have the right "spirit"). And you'll have to convert the mangs yourself.

When using the counter strike defense, use the defense factor, not the attack factor. This properly balances large weapons (battleswords and axes) and keeps bezerkers and other elite types playable. Do not count bezerkers as automatically CS/CF on initiative checks, but obviously they should be immune to morale. Giants are hard to balance. Even a GAC 4 fig (which I never use) is unable to survive an A1 strike from a giant size axe. But Giants are too easy to swarm over. I am looking into ways to better capture a giant in the game. I will know more by Gen Con [15 Feb 99]

My last BATTLESYSTEM Skirmishes game was a Dwarves vs. Drow affair in a lost adamantite mine. The game began with the two sides having only partial maps of the area, so their patrols maneuvered around the caverns a bit before making contact in different parts of the mine. At first, the Drow were getting the better of the battle until their spells became depleted, then the remaining dwarves were able to make a battle of it. In the end, both sides had been decimated, and the Drow were able to use their speed and darkness abilities to withdrawal from the conflict leaving the mines in Dwarven hands. [13 Feb 99]