Over the last few days your 'intrepid' blog scribbler has suffered from:
So ball achingly crap it got its own header!!!!!!!
Which, as anyone who has also suffered from any type of:
Will know leaves you with a foggy, deranged, wondering mind (and running nose) that means you ponder stuff you never knew needed a pondering. One such thing that my (already) sick mind was left on 'spin' mode over the subject of high fantasy. Now i'm not a high fantasy type fella, as far as i'm concerned the Elves can frickin' well stay all sailed off to wherever they punted off to (one for the Tolkien lot there). I have always enjoyed my fantasy with a touch more 'grit' and realism (if you can have it in fantasy) but i was however raised on a steady diet of Fighting Fantasy and Warhammer so i will assume some of it must have stuck in me somewhere!.
One of young Sprinks' five a day!
So having twatted about with Neil Thomas' 'One Hour Wargames' to make fantasy pike and shot rules i thought i would attempt to bodge together a way to play 'satisfying' 'quazi-medieval standard' style fantasy (you know, Knights, Dragons, Wizards, Orcs etc....but not Elves, Elves can eff off!). So i sat down with a copy of said rules and came up with the following ideas:
These will also only work if you have a copy of 'One Hour Wargames' by Neil Thomas, i'm adding to whats already there, you will need the book to play.
So..... What i have basically done is combine troop types from the Dark age and Medieval rules and then use them as is, the unit types i've gone with are:
KNIGHTS, MEN AT ARMS, LEVE and ARCHERS from the medieval rules, along with WARBANDS, CAVALRY and SKIRMISHERS from the Dark age rules. The thinking was that most of this type of fantasy is medieval based so adding Warbands (orcs, barbarians and other 'undisciplined' troops) and Cavalry (lighter and 'tribal' horse) as well as Skirmishers (Foresters, rangers, tribal skirmishers etc) to give the flavour required from the wilder races the typical 'good-lawful' Knightly types like to repeatedly stab and bludgeon. You could even chuck in ARTILLERY from the Horse and Musket rules for the true 'warhammer' taste!. Play the troop types as is and bobs you're uncle!.
I would also throw in my morale rules from my 'one hours worth of free rules' giving Knights and Men at Arms a +2 mod and Leve and Skimishers -2.
I know what you are thinking:
Your brain is good, it deserves a header of its own!.
And i take your point. So heres some extra stuff to 'pep' it up:
Monsters: I tend to run them by picking either Men at Arms or Knights as a kind of 'base' (Men at arms for lumbering giants and ground based stuff due to the ability to absorb more damage, knights for faster stuff like flyers etc) and then add some choice bits from the list below to add some character:
REGENERATION
During the units move phase it can regenerate by rolling 1d6-3, remove this number of hits from the unit.
FLY
The unit may ignore effects of terrain while moving and can interpenetrate any unit it wishes. It must follow the terrain rules when deciding where to end its move.
STRONG
In combat it can roll 2d6 and choose the best result when determining hits.
BREATH ATTACK
Shooting attack with a 6'' range doing 1d6 damage.
ALL SHIT YER BREACHES SCARY
Any unit in combat with the unit that is forces to test morale must -2 from the roll.
BLOODY RAMPAGE
If any enemy troops are within the units maximum move distance and L.O.S. at the start of the units move roll 1d6. On a 1 or 2 the unit MUST charge the closest enemy unit it can see.
A BIT STUPID
At the start of the units move roll 1d6. On a 1 or 2 the unit may not move or fire this turn.
I'm sure you can come up with more but these are a few of my ideas.
Hero Types: There are 4 sorts: Warrior Hero, Wizard, Ranger and Warrior Priest.
Hero sorts are single minis based on as small a base as is practical. They are 'joined' to a unit by placing them in contact with the front edge of a unit you wish them to join if they are on foot or to one of the side edges of the unit if they are mounted. Once with a unit they can not leave for the duration of the battle and are considered to be part of the unit.
For example:
The hero types work as follows:
WARRIOR HEROES:
A unit with a warrior hero attached may roll 2d6 when attacking in combat and pick the best roll for their total hits.
May join KNIGHTS, CAVALRY, MEN AT ARMS or WARBAND.
WARRIOR PRIESTS:
If a unit has a warrior priest present they can add +2 to morale tests they are forced to take.
May join KNIGHTS, CAVALRY, MEN AT ARMS, LEVE, WARBAND or ARCHERS
RANGER
A unit with a ranger may roll 2 dice when shooting and choose the best roll for their total hits.
May join ARCHERS or SKIRMISHERS.
WIZARD
A wizard begins the battle with 1d3+1 spells. Spells are randomly generated from the list below:
Roll 2d6 for each spell and consult the list (i made earlier!):
2) Finnagrees fogg of fuggish forgetfulness No 27
Cast this spell at the start of the opposing players Movement.
It is cast on one enemy unit within 10'' and sight of the casting unit.
This spell creates a foul smelling mist of forgetfulness around the feet of the target. They become confused and generally forgetful when it comes to what they are doing and how to go about doing it.
The effect on the unit is that any dice they roll this turn are halved as is their maximum move distance.
3) Steffanos old salve of soothing serenity No 118
Cast this spell at the start of your movement phase.
It is cast on a friendly unit within 6''.
The target feels a wave of soothing overcome them, calming them and healing their wounds.
This spell allows the target to remove half their hit markers (rounding up).
4) Delganos' Dark blast of darkest darkness No 6
Cast during your Shooting phase.
This spell is cast at an enemy unit within 12'' and line of sight.
The target is engulfed by a blast of black fire that burns, flays and does other things of an unpleasant nature.
The targeted unit receives 1d6+2 hits.
5) Winnifreds wonderful winged wind of wonder No 84
Cast at the start of your own movement phase
The spell is cast on a friendly unit within 6'' and line of sight.
The target unit may move up to 12'' and can FLY this turn.
6) Webbertons wild whooshing wind of wildness No 49
Cast during your shooting phase.
Cast at an enemy unit within 12'' and line of sight.
The target unit is moved 1d6 backwards in a straight line away from the casting unit. They maintain their facing when moved. If the move takes the unit into contact with a friendly unit the movement stops and both units receive 1d6-2 hits. If the unit is moved into contact with a terrain type it may not move through or end its turn within it stops on contact and receives 1d6-2 hits. If it contacts an enemy unit the moving unit stops once in contact and is now in combat but will not attack this turn.
7) Barratonies bonkers bravery most exceedingly brave No 154
Cast when the target unit is required to take a moral test.
Cast on a friendly unit within 10'' and sight of the caster.
The target unit will be assumed to automatically pass their Morale test this turn.
8) Ronnefagies reviving of raging reanimated reavers No 22
Cast at the start of your movement phase.
Cast on a clear patch of ground at least 5'' square within 6'' and sight of the caster.
When this spell is cast the sun hides behind black clouds, the earth shakes, lightning flashes and thunder rumbles. Spooky organ music rings out and a cackling can be heard on the breeze. The earth in the area the spell is cast on gives way as long dead hands pop out of the ground, pulling the long dead back to the surface. Before anyone knows it a unit of undead Men at arms stand in the casting area, totally under the control of the caster!. These warriors are now part of your force. they work exactly like a normal unit of men at arms. The unit is destroyed if it fails a morale test OR if the casting unit is eliminated.
9) Dolcilanos Dome of dithering disharmony No 77
Cast at the start of the enemies shooting phase.
Cast on one enemy unit within 12'' and sight of the caster.
The unit targeted by this spell cant work out how a bow actually works!. They may not fire this turn.
10) Rochelle the Reds rather rapid recipe for rather rapid rapidity No 6
Cast at the start of your movement phase
Cast on a friendly unit within 6'' of the caster.
The target unit may move twice during this movement phase. These are two moves so the unit can turn before and after each move as normal.
11) Horace Hoppanitys' Hue of horrors most horrific No 10448374998
Cast at any time during your shooting phase
Cast on one enemy unit within 6'' and sight of the caster.
The target unit must take a moral test right away, even though it is the shooting phase. If they pass but take further damage this turn they must still take a moral test in the check morale phase as normal.
12) Didderees dispelling dram of darn damnation No 444 4444
Cast when the opposing player declares he intends to cast a spell but before the effects of such a spell are resolved. The opponents spell is dispelled and has no effect!!.
You may roll the same spell more than once.
The spells are single use so once cast they are discarded.
Spells are cast automatically just say you want to use it in the correct phase at the right time and it will take effect. A wizard may cast as many spells per turn as he wishes. Once the unit the wizard is attached to fails a morale test all spells are lost.
Wizards may join Man at Arms, Warbands, Archers, Leve, Cavalry or Knights.
Picking a force.
I know what you are going to say:
Alright calm down!....
Right again, the random type tables in the rulebook wont work here but instead i use a point system. All troop types are worth the following:
....ok these little header bits are getting silly!.
Also monster upgrades are added to the cost of the base unit at the cost of 1 point per upgrade.
Heroes are worth 1 point each except wizards who are worth 2. I find it best to limit heroes to 1 hero per 10 points (or part there of).
I find it best to play with armies of between 12-20 points, an example of a 15 point force might be:
2x warband (4pts), 1x Archers (2pts), 1x Leve (1pt), 1xKnights (3pts), 1x Warrior Priest (1pt), 1x Wizard (2pts), 1x Cavalry (2pts). This gives 6 units with 2 having an attached hero.
So thats just some ideas to make this work, and it has given me the base rules i need to do my own high(ish) typicalmedievalbasedtotalypredictablefantasysetting that i will call the 'magical' world of:
.....more to follow!!!......
......'till next time.........
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