All posts by Peter Holland

Writing a Sci-fi Tabletop Wargame – Part 14

It is 400 years since man first set foot on the moon, and 300 since man found out the Galaxy is a dangerous place….

As with everything I would like this to be community driven, so if you see any typo’s or think paragraphs need rephrasing or moving then please let me know in the form at the end of this article.

Last Weeks Poll Results for Orders

Here are the results from last weeks polls.

There was no wording to add to the current living rule book this week so the rules have been unchanged.

THIS WEEKS POLLS

We’ve covered movement, so the next step is to cover the all important shooting phase. It’s a big one this week with multiple polls! So buckle up!

Firstly as a unit on the table top can represent hundreds of individuals how should hits on that unit be treated? As Physical damage (i.e. the unit has a number of wounds and is removed from play once this reaches zero) or as morale where a unit can degrade from good to poor and so on but can have the ability to rest and recover.

Name Suggestions?

Do you have a name suggestion for the game or do you have any rules suggestions, or a topic you would like us to focus on next. Or perhaps you would like us to reword something in the main document. Anything you want, let us know below.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

What is Armada?

BOARD GAME GEEK SUMMARY

Rating7.7 (12 Reviews)
Players2-6
Playing Time60-90mins
Age14+
Complexity3.00/5.00

The Armada Two Player Starter Set is the perfect place to start your journey onto the seas of Pannithor in the Kings Of War universe.

Everything you need for two-players to start their own fleet of courageous Basileans or marauding orcs, along with a rulebook, tokens, ship cards and a paper gaming mat.

Players control 6 to 9 ships in 10 different scenarios.
Rules cover speed, fire, boarding action, weather, wind, terrain…

The Mantic Games YouTube channel has a great set of introduction videos on how to play Armada.

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Wind & Initiative

Part 3 – Movement

Part 4 – Shooting

Part 5 – Boarding Action

Part 6 – Evading & Ramming

Miniatures

For official Miniatures, Mantic Games have the a fantastic range of products. This range is also constantly being added to with new models.

They have a number of fleet sets all listed at £37.50. Or alternatively you could purchase the two player Armada Starter Set for £87.50. This contains two fleets, rules, tokens and gaming mat.

Thanks for reading! – Peter

What is Kings of War?

BOARD GAME GEEK SUMMARY

Rating7.9 (250+ Reviews)
Players2
Playing Time60mins
Age12+
Complexity2.52/5.00

Kings of War is the miniatures wargame from Mantic Games. Designed to go along with the accompanying 28mm Fantasy Ranges the game features players maneuvering large blocks of miniature soldiers around the battlefield in search of victory.

Kings of War is a new concept for mass battle miniature wargaming — a game that is both easy to learn and fast to play! With few and simple rules, there is little to get in the way of the fun and slaughter. Kings of War is a challenging game of strategy, where you can pit your wits against your opponent without devoting half of your brain power to remember a plethora of convoluted rules.

And that’s not all, the innovative turn structure allows you to play Kings of War using a time-keeping tool (like a stopwatch or a chess clock) to time your moves. As the seconds tick away, the pressure and excitement this adds makes ‘Kings of War’ unlike any other large-scale wargame you’ve ever played before.

Death by Dragons on YouTube has a number of videos explaining how to play Kings of War.

Part 1 – What you need to play

Part 2 – The Movement Phase

Part 3 – The Shooting Phase

Part 4 – The Combat Phase

Miniatures

You can pretty much use any fantasy miniatures for this game as most on the market make good proxies in the game. You can even use your old Warhammer fantasy armies. However for official Miniatures Mantic Games have the a fantastic range of products.

They have a number of armies sets all listed at £110. Or alternatively you could purchase the two player A Storm in the Shires set for £80. This is currently on pre-order only but contains 87 miniatures of Orcs and Halflings as well as a copy of the rules.

Thanks for reading! – Peter

Beast-Skewer Killbow

This one was fairly quick to get done. Lots of browns a wash of Agrax and hey presto.

Orruk Skin

  • Mechanicus Standard Grey Basecoat
  • Carroburg Crimson wash
  • Fenrisian Grey Drybrush
  • Mott Green Drybrush

Wood

  • Dryad Bark Basecoat
  • Agrax Earthshade Wash

Dark Leather

  • Rhinox Hide
  • Agrax Earthshade

Leather/Light Brown

  • Mournfang Brown
  • Agrax Earthshade

Yellow

  • Yriel Yellow
  • Firedragon Bright heavily diluted as a wash

Ropes

  • Karak Stone
  • Agrax Earthshade

Metals

  • Iron Warriors Metal
  • Heavily diluted Mournfang Brown
  • Agrax Earthshade

Basing

The basing is done using Geek Gaming Scenics Scrublands with water effects dripped onto it.

Man-Skewer Boltboyz

Three more models completes for the tournament army. Like the rest these are mainly base coats and washed with very little highlighting apart from any exposed skin or any yellow.

I’ve still got another 15 of these lads to paint!

Meanwhile I’m also nearly done with the Beast-Skewer

Writing a Sci-fi Tabletop Wargame – Part 13

It is 400 years since man first set foot on the moon, and 300 since man found out the Galaxy is a dangerous place….

As with everything I would like this to be community driven, so if you see any typo’s or think paragraphs need rephrasing or moving then please let me know in the form at the end of this article.

Last Weeks Poll Results for Orders

Here are the results from last weeks polls.

Based on these results, the following wording will be added to our living rules:

INFANTRY & VEHICLES

AIRCRAFT

All aircraft move at a BASE MOVEMENT RATE (BMR) of 10” when in an AIR COMBAT environment, when involved in a LAND COMBAT scenario, aircraft will have no physical model on the play area. Instead, these units operate as support during LAND COMBAT scenarios by conducting aerial bombing on ground targets.

Depending on the faction or the type of aircraft this can vary. As with Infantry & Vehicles, the Aircrafts movement will be shown under the unit’s movement statistic on their FACTON SHEET.

SPACECRAFT

Spacecraft will move at varying rates when taking part in SPACE COMBAT, these rates are determined by the type of ship as well as any additional faction rules. As with Land units and Air units, Spacecraft will have their movement statistics listed on their FACTION SHEET.

THIS WEEKS POLLS

I’ve been a little remiss and have missed a couple a key point during the drafting of what types of unit would be available to factions. There’s one type of unit we’ve not voted on whether to include…. TITANS ! (Think Battletech or Titans from 40k). Should our Sci-Fi game include these?

Also, I’ve been thinking a little about how faction traits should be added to player created factions….

–Peter

Name Suggestions?

Do you have a name suggestion for the game or do you have any rules suggestions, or a topic you would like us to focus on next. Or perhaps you would like us to reword something in the main document. Anything you want, let us know below.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

What is Battletech?

BOARD GAME GEEK SUMMARY

Rating7.6 (900+ Reviews)
Players2-6
Playing Time120mins
Age14+
Complexity3.53/5.00

Since its beginnings as the BattleTech boardgame, the BattleTech/MechWarrior universe has captivated millions of fans worldwide. For almost three decades, the collision of interstellar politics and war has rewarded fans with amazingly detailed fiction, captivating characters and fantastic adventure. These dynamics have spawned a host games, novels, toys and more.

Choose your pill and spiral down through the links above to endless action!

Snalespune on Youtube has a great introductory video to Battletech, which explains the basics of the game.

If you’re interested in getting into Battletech, then I recommend you look at Battletech for more information. They have all the models and rules you need.

Thanks for reading! – Peter

So You Want to be a Winner?

Yesterday the AoS Coach interviewed Las Vegas Open Winner Gavin Grigar on his path to victory.

A great video for anyone who wants some tips on improving their tournament performances.