For some months I’ve been working on my own Fantasy rulebook and setting designed ideally for mass battles.

Over the coming weeks I’ll be using this series to explore the development of the setting, factions, mechanics, and themes behind the game. Some articles will dive into rules and battlefield systems. Others will focus entirely on lore, cultures, or narrative concepts.

Previous Articles

• Orders & Omens: A World in Balance
• Orders & Omens: The Orcs
• Orders & Omens: The Stone-Kin
• Orders & Omens: Humanity and the Faith of Memory
• Orders & Omens: Why Fantasy Battles Feel Too Perfect
• Orders & Omens: The Elves

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I’ve spoken before of uncertainty in battles, and how I want Orders & Omens to feel less like a perfect game of information and more like confusion of commanding an actual army.

Talking about it one thing, but recreating it on the tabletop without frustrating players is another.

One of the first mechanics I developed to support this was reconnaissance. Because before armies meet and before the commanders commit their forces there if another struggle that takes place.

Trying to gain the best ground for the battle ahead.

Reconnaissance

In many wargames deployment feels predetermined. You know roughly where the two armies will be and the battlefield is usually divided equally before the game.

But historically would try and out position each other to gain the best ground before a battle. Scouts would survey the terrain and count enemy numbers. Commanders attempted to move onto favourable ground or try and hide their true numbers.

I wanted some of that to exist within Orders & Omens. So instead of immediately deploying both armies, the players will first enter a Reconnaissance Phase.

At this point the battlefield remains empty, with no battle lines and no idea what or where your enemy will deploy.

The Recon Markers

Each army brings a number of Reconnaissance Markers representing scouting forces moving ahead of the main army.

These are physical models on the battlefield. In the examples below I’ve been using Wolf Riders for Orcs, and Ram Riders for the Stone-Kin.

These scouts are not there for decoration, they will decide where your army can eventually deploy.

Players will alternate moving recon markers around the battlefield, each trying to gain positional advantage before the armies arrive.

This then asks players what they value on the battlefield. Do they need to control a certain hill or forest? Should they push for space on a flank?

Locking Recon

As reconnaissance forces move across the battlefield, opposing scouts may encounter their opposing numbers. When enemy recon markers come too close they become locked in position.

Once all the scouts are locked, the deployment areas are determined. The battlefield begins to emerge naturally through this process, and it’s something I really enjoyed doing during testing.

Sometimes one side may dominate a flank, sometimes a key terrain piece may fall within a deployment zone. Because the players are influencing deployment through decisions rather than fixed maps, battles will rarely begin the same way twice.

Deployment Zones

Once reconnaissance end, the deployment zones are determined based on where those recon markers ultimately were locked.

Instead of having to open a rule book and reading, “deploy 12 inches from the board edge”, the players instead create their own battlefield.

Armies begin battles in positions they have earned through movement and scouting, and most importantly, the deployment is not symmetrical.

Hidden Deployments

Once deployment zones are established, the armies deploy using facedown regiment markers. They’ll also be a three dummy markers thrown in each army so that you can try and bluff your opponent.

Players know roughly where the enemy forces are, but not necessarily what they are. Is the group of units on the left flank elite warriors, cavalry or something to mislead you?

This creates moments of hesitation that I found missing in many other games. You stop reacting to certainty and instead begin making decisions based on incomplete information, which to me, feels closer to actual command of an army.

Next Week

We’ll explore strategic orders, battlefield messengers and why you can’t control everything at once.