Category Archives: Genre

Age of Sigmar, Declan Waters, Fantasy, Games Workshop

Orruk Warclans – New Book

September 10, 2021 Declan and Eeyore 2 Comments

Wish Listing for the Weekend

Note – this was written for AOS3 – we are now in AOS4, so some of the comments below may no longer be valid

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I am at heart a Destruction player, having played them at most of the tournaments I’ve been to since AOS was launched. My main army is definitely the Gloomspite Gitz, but they have been in a bad place for some time and so I switched to Orruk Warclans at the end of AOS2. This wasn’t my first time with them as I did play with a lot of Ardboyz in AOS1 under ‘MoComp’ before points were released by GW.

So, as I’ve got a little experience with them I’ve decided to do a bit of wishlisting for the new release of the Orruk Warclan book which goes on pre-order this weekend (11th & 12th September 2021). I don’t have any insider knowledge, so all this is bound to be wrong, but it’ll be interesting (to me at least!) to see how wrong.

Overall Book

We already know that the book includes the new forces of the Kruleboyz and that it still includes the Ironjawz and Bonesplitters. There have also been releases about the Kruleboyz with the Dominion box and over on Warhammer Community in the last few months. So I’ll try to incorporate what we’ve learnt below.

Allegiances

I hope we keep the allegiances with Ironjaws, Bonesplitters and Kruleboyz and that we retain a Big Waaagh! version.

I’d like to mostly retain the Waaagh points, especially the extra ‘+’ to cast. It would be good if it were a true allegiance with their own artefacts, magic etc… but I don’t see that happening as it could get too confusing.

Hopefully we’ll also keep some of the sub-allegiances although now would be a great time to remove the Realmgate requirement for the Bloodtoofs!

Ironjawz

The Ironjawz are good, and doing reasonably well in AOS3 with the Maw Krushas doing a lot of the heavy lifting, so I don’t think much needs to be changed. However if I’m wish listing the following could do with attention:

Gordrakk to be on a level with some of the other God characters, and at least as good as the Megaboss on MawKrusha. Ability to take mount trait for BigTeef (his MawKrusha); or a significant point reduction
Megaboss on MawKrusha looks like they may lose their 3+ armour save which if there isn’t a way to get back to 3+ will need a points reduction. Command Ability needs to be replaced as it another +1 to hit. Charge mortal wounds back to 4+
Megaboss – new command ability
Warchanter – Magic Items & PRIEST keyword
Shaman – Green Puke to be 5+ to cast
Orruk Brutes – simplify weapons, 2″ reach for everything, fewer points. Bravery increase
Orruk Ardboyz – they currently have same function as the Brutes. Turn them into Brutes light, with worse attacks and lower bravery. To be used for objective holding whilst Brutes go forward.
Gore-Gruntas – 2″ reach

Bonesplitters

Bonesplitters did well at Nashcon with two army lists, but haven’t shown up in many other tournaments. Perhaps the old list of ‘Kunning Rukk’ which shot people off left a bad taste in the mouth, but with LRL now on the board and lots of Sons of Behemat there may be play with the Bonesplitters now.

Wurrgog Prophet – A good scroll
Savage Big Boss – Command Ability to work with shooting as well
Maniak Weirdnob – Spell replicates above command ability. Would be good to have a difference
Wardokk – A scroll prayer
Savage Orruks / Savage Orruk Moarboyz – combine these warscrolls
Savage Boarboyz / Savage Boarboy Maniaks – combine these warscrolls
Savage Big Stabbas – help with survivability (maybe -1 to hit with shooting if near Savage Orruks, not closest to enemy)
Savage Orruk Arrowboyz – Swap the Loadsa Arrows ability for something that doesn’t add dice (more low quality shots!!)

Kruleboyz

We only know what we’ve been told about these so I’m bound to miss some units. They rely on poison to do their damage, and unlike the other Orruks have ranged attacks.

Allegiance abilities to help with the poison (ie double down!)
Hobgrots Battleline if and get Orruk benefits for a build or Allegiance
Monsters to be playable to fairly pointed
Shooting to be able to affect the meta, by outdistancing LRL, and being able to hurt monsters
Some of the fun traps which were written about in the Dominion novel.

Kragnos

The elephant in the room. Hopefully he’ll be good enough to see play in some competitive builds, and will be given a mortal wound after save. Whilst he is a 2+ save there is so much that can avoid this at times he feels like he’s wearing paper… which to be fair, he’s not wearing a lot.

I would also like to see GW giving a different point value for Kragnos with the other Destruction forces (particularly Gloomspite Gitz)

Summary

Orruk Warclans are a Destruction book that definitely has options and can compete for 4-1 in the hands of an experienced player, so my primary hope is that the book doesn’t become bad with the new release. All the parts are there, and hopefully the Kruleboyz won’t be a third wheel and break the book.

And I suppose another one – hopefully the Kruleboyz are playable on their own without the other Warclans Orruks being necessary.

What do you think? What are you hoping for? How wrong am I?

Let us know in the comments below!

A Life in Wargames, Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Peter Holland, Tournaments

Tournament Preparation – Facehammer 2021

September 9, 2021 Peter Holland Leave a comment

Orange Ben and @rightangle79 (Declan) are both off to the Facehammer Grand Tournament this weekend (11th & 12th September 2021). I thought it would be a great time to interview them about their tournament lists and their past glories…..

Ok. So you’ve both been to tournaments before, what do you enjoy the most about them?

Ben: For me it’s mainly seeing friends and looking at cool armies. But mainly this:

Declan: Seeing friends, having a beer and chatting about Warhammer. It also means I have a deadline for painting toys… which I almost always need. For most tournaments I include something new to paint.

So which armies are you taking to Facehammer this year? Care to share your lists?

Declan’s List

Loonboss – Clammy Hand
Fungoid Cave Shaman – Hand of Gork
Madcap Shaman – Hand of Gork & Moonface Mommet
Webspinner on Arachnarok Spider – Curse of da Spider God & Amulet of Destiny
60 Shootas
20 Shootas
40 Stabbas
2 x 20 Stabbas
2 x Sneaky Snufflers
Rippa’s Snarlfangs
Scuttletide
Scrapskuttle’s Arachacauldron
Emerald Lifeswarm
2120 points; 214 wounds; Warlord; Hunters of the Heartlands; Vanguard

This is my favourite at the moment. Other option is full squigs.

Do you have battle plans or tactics in mind for when you make it to the tournaments?

Ben: To a certain extent, you know you need to claim objectives so you need units that can do that.

Declan: Gloomspite outside Troggs can struggle to kill things so I need to play like Gargants – get on objectives early and start scoring. Hand of Gork (movement spell) is critical in the list as it means people can’t leave objectives unguarded. I have the Spider to get Monstrous Takeover early and get the option of broken ranks with him. Although I need to protect him or lose him on my turn to prevent him giving 1 point away. 2nd turn is normally Ferocious Advance with Loonboss and both Fungoids (who spend most of their time hiding behind the Loonshrine). Finally I don’t mind losing units because I want as many opportunities as possible to get them back – hence Clammy Hand (Roll twice for reinforcements from Loonshrine).

Ben, I notice you have the dreaded Gotrek! Facehammer have slightly adjusted rules for him now, how do you think he’ll do?

Ben: He is still super smashy, he is there to kill gargants!

Declan, Sounds like a thorough plan. I love the Arachnarok unit, I’ve seen people include more than one, you weren’t tempted to do this?

Declan: I want to try a horde army because its my normal playstyle and is against the meta with reinforcement points and no horde discount. Unfortunately points are too high normally, but with an extra 150 it’s worth a go. I also want GW to see that people will take armies which are rubbish if they get small boosts. GG effectively have c8% reaction in points at facehammer which is what they need before the book. Unfortunately 60 Grots went from 360 to 450 which is criminal for a low power level book.

Have you ever crossed swords with each other in a tournament, if so how did that go?

Declan: I think we played Ogor v GG didn’t we? On the way in people were complaining about your list being too good and I said it was fine… then gummed you up with Grots?

Ben: Yeah it was the cows Throwing snowball list, I told everybody it was rubbish but no one believed me and then I got grotted!

Declan: Ah yes… you forgot the Stonehorns!! I did have 180 Grots in your defense.

Ben: 2+ I do six mortal wounds, cool, there are 54 left.

Declan: Yeah… no where near enough damage.

Whats your most memorable moment at a tournament?

Ben: Played a chap called Laurie who Declan will know, with a shooty stormcast list, and turn one took off his archaon off turn one, was crazy good.

Declan: I was playing GG with allied Gitmob grots at Sheffield Slaughter against Nurgle with their first book. It was against a GW employee who I won’t name as they get enough grief! His Great Unclean One had a -1 to hit within 12″ bubble. My shaman cast a spell on 60 Gitmob archers, who walked into the 12″ range, fired at the GUO and took it off! He was a little shocked but took it very well!

For someone looking to go to their first tournament, what advice would you give?

Declan: Definitely take the plunge. Let the TO and your opponents know it’s your first tournament. Take an army you know (don’t go for LRL net-list). Limit your warscrolls where possible. If you can bring 6 or fewer it gives you a chance of remembering the rules. Play the objectives!

Ben: Agreed

Looking at each others list, how would you try and defeat them?

Ben: You can’t ask us that we might play each other! But the short answer is throw Gotrek at him and shoot him a lot.

Declan: I think I probably have the advantage due to numbers here. If I can get on the objectives early it’s difficult to get me off them. Especially as Ben’s units flying in the boats don’t count as on the objective. I also just played Will with his KO and the grots can actually damage the units with shooting, and in combat. That said no doubt we’ll play now and Ben will rightly beat me!

Thanks for your time, good luck at Facehammer!

Fantasy, Peter Holland

The Best Fantasy Wargames (50th – 46th)

September 8, 2021 Peter Holland 1 Comment

Following my article last week on five alternatives to Age of Sigmar, I thought I would do some research and find out what the 50 greatest Fantasy games (skirmish & Massed Battles) of all time are.

This will come with some caveats; the ratings are taken from BoardGameGeek.com and I have only included games which have more than 50 votes against their name. This may mean that some of the more recent rules are missed off the list (Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings, being one).

The listed is sorted by the highest rated to the lowest, with games of equal ratings being split by the number of votes (the more votes, the higher their placing).

Some of the popular games you know and loved also didn’t quite make it into the top 50. These include Warhammer Fantasy Battles (1st Edition) 1983 (Ranked 52nd), Battle Masters 1992 (Ranked 61st) and Cadwallon: City of Thieves 2010 (Ranked 62nd).

So without further ado, let’s jump into numbers 50-46:

50. Warhammer Age of Sigmar (1st Edition) (2015) – Games Workshop

This was Games Workshops’ attempt to reignite the passion for Fantasy in their fan base. However the initial release saw a lot of backlash from the loyal Fantasy fans who had been playing Warhammer Fantasy since the 80’s. This included videos of some fans burning their Warhammer Fantasy army. A lot of outrage was due to the change in base sizes and the “squatting” of many factions such as Tomb Kings and Bretonnia.

The move to Age of sigmar, also saw many rules pop up for “Rank and Flank” games as a result. Games such as Kings of War and the Ninth Age came about mainly because of the removal of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

6.7
BoardGameGeek.com rating (603 Votes)

49. Rise of the Kage (2015) – GCT Studios

Rise of the Kage started life as a Kickstarter on 6th September 2014 and was funded only five days later. It also met all of its stretch goals by the 5th of October after raising £105,000.

The boxed set is all you need to play and all the miniatures are included with no further purchases necessary.

“Rise of the Kage is a fast paced, tense and thrilling board game for two to four players. The game is set in the world of the Jwar Isles, and requires one or more players to control the stealthy ninja, and one player to control the stalwart guards.“
GCT Studios

6.8
BoardGameGeek.com rating (131 Votes)

48. Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms (2019) – Modiphius

“Let me guess, someone stole your sweetroll?”

The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms is a skirmish level wargame that has two modes, either solo utilising the rules for ‘Delve Mode’, or you can go head to head with other players in ‘Battle Mode’. Both play styles can quickly be picked up from the scenarios listed within the quest book, although you are able to easily create your own.

“It is the time of the Dragonborn. Battle rages across the forests, plains and mountains of Skyrim as Imperials and Stormcloaks fight for supremacy. In ancient barrows, the restless dead rise from their sleep. Skeletons and fearsome Draugr jealously guard their treasures from bands of delving adventures. The Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms is an adventure wargame set in the world of Tamriel. Gather your heroes and venture into Draugr haunted tombs and ruins, searching for treasure and glory. Or, fight the Civil War as the Stormcloaks and Imperials battle for the future of Skyrim.”
Modiphius

7.0
BoardGameGeek.com rating (74 Votes)

47. Battle of Five Armies (2005) – Games Workshop

The contents of the Battle of Five Armies

In 2005 Games Workshop released a boxed game called Great Battles of Middle Earth: The Battle of Five Armies based on the battle from the book “The Hobbit”. The rules are heavily based on the Warmaster ruleset, and it uses the same miniature scale. The boxed set contains rules, 10 mm plastic miniatures, and scenery (plastic hills, ruins and a cardboard river).

Additional miniatures for this game were cast in white metal. While detailed in the box set rule book, these extra miniatures were sold separately. They were discontinued shortly after being released. The box set remained in print for a long while before being removed shortly before the launch of the 28 mm line based on the movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”.

7.0
BoardGameGeek.com rating (122 Votes)

46. Battleground (2005) – Your Move Games

It looks like a dodgy 90’s computer game

Battleground is advertised as a miniatures game without the miniatures. Players are given cards representing the bases of the various units with the artwork on top. However, there is nothing stopping you substituting these for actual miniatures from your favourite manufacturer.

Battleground is still for sale today through Your Move Games‘ website.

“Armies of stalwart Men defend their homelands against the Undead tide. Battle tested strike forces of High Elves ambush the Orc horde. Regiments of indomitable Dwarves fend off Dark Elven raids. Marshal your forces and command them to victory, but take caution: you cannot be everywhere on the battlefield at once. Your troops will follow your orders completely, and the general who triumphs is the one not just with the best strategy but who can also adapt to changing circumstances.”
Your Move Games

7.0
BoardGameGeek.com rating (909 Votes)

Declan Waters, Games Workshop, Sci-Fi, Warhammer 40k

Kill Team – Genestealers

September 6, 2021 Declan and Eeyore 4 Comments

The beginning of a journey into an unknown

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

I am fortunate to have met many friends through wargaming and boardgaming, and sometimes these two groups even collide in a gloriously fun way! Kill Team is one of the rulesets that I can play with those more interested in boardgaming, or not interested in buying & painting a 2,000 point army.

So when one of these friends asked if I was playing Kill Team at a holiday we have soon, I immediately said yes… and started thinking about what I could take. I didn’t want to buy new toys… pile of shame is far too large anyway… so I was limited to Imperial Guard, Blood Angels, Orks and Tyranids. Looking at what others were planning on bringing (Tau, Guard or Orks; Sisters of Battle; Iron Warriors; Necrons) I decided to bring something very different – so Tyranids it was.

The Kill Team

Tyranids have a number of options for their Kill Teams consisting of 2 fire teams from: Tyranid Warriors, Genestealers, Tyranid Swarms (Hormagaunt / Termagaunt). I had loads of all these available, but Genestealers looked to be very different from the other armies being taken, so I picked two Genestealer Fire Teams with Rending Claws & Scything Talons.

The first Fire Team, with the Feeder Tendrils being the Genestealer Leader

I grabbed a few models, some new (see above), and some old (see below) to make the individual Fire Teams clearly different. To add a little variety I found a ‘Stealer with Feeder Tendrils… he was different enough to be my Leader.

Needless to say none of the extras that are on the models are included in Kill Team, so it didn’t matter that some of them have mutations on them. Perfect for adding a bit of variety.

The second unit was the gorgeous monopose sculpts from the Space Hulk era. I grew up with these guys, so it was great to get them painted.

Painting

I wanted a scheme I could do quickly, and I’d just picked up Talassar Blue (GW Contrast Paint), so I decided to start with this. The ‘Stealer models have lots of detail on them, and the contrast worked wonderfully, giving great coverage over a simple zenithal highlight (Chaos Black & Grey Seer spray paint). It’s such a vibrant colour and may become my favourite contrast paint!

After a quick Teclis Blue drybrush to show some highlights, I checked my colour wheel, and it suggested orange as a contrast colour… perfect! I picked out the teeth, talons and nails and I had the units finished in a little over a day.

Fortunately, I have a bunch of Sector Imperialis bases already painted, so a quick snip of the bases and reglue and the unit was finished.

Hope you like them, and I’ll let you know how I get on later this month!

The Kill Team core book is available from SCN Hobbies in Corby; or – most likely – from your FLGS!

— Declan

Black Library, Book Reviews, Declan Waters, Games Workshop, Sci-Fi

Book Review – The Solar war

September 5, 2021 Declan and Eeyore 3 Comments

by John French

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

The Solar War is the beginning of the end in the epic Horus Heresy series from Black Library.

With the Horus Heresy reaching 54 books, countless short stories and novellas I admit to finding it difficult to keep up-to-date with the storyline – and I read a lot, and have known the story since I was 11! As such, it was a great decision to ‘restart’ the series numbering to allow readers to get back on track with the ‘Siege of Terra’ series.

Horus’ fleet has arrived at Sol and must get to the Emperor’s palace on Terra – fortified by Dorn – but first he must fight through the remaining loyal fleet of the Emperor.

The book returns to some of the characters from the start of the series – Mersadie & Logan – and is was fun to read their story of the start of the invasion.

The book includes mass space battles, many (many) deaths as the loyalists attempt to slow down Horus’ treachery.

I did struggle at times with the number and names of the ships many introduced to be destroyed and I did sometimes have to re-read a passage to work out if a destroyed ship was loyalist or traitor. Although they have restarted the numbering, it is difficult to see how anyone who is new to the lore could understand what is happening in the story. Definitely a book for those already invested in the Heresy – although fine if you’ve not read all the previous books.

The pace feels significantly quicker than the rest of the series, so don’t expect another 50 books for the Siege of Terra, but I’m looking forward to the next in the series.

A promising start to the Siege…

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

— Declan & Eeyore

Fantasy, Games Workshop, Peter Holland, Reviews, Warmaster

A Budding Warmaster II

September 5, 2021 Peter Holland Leave a comment

Following on from last week’s article, A Budding Warmaster, I received today my order from excellentminiatures.com. These are Forest Dragon dwarfs printed by excellent miniatures.com, you can get these from other printers in the UK and around Europe.

The minis came very well packaged with plenty of padding around them.

Before even opening the bad you can tell that these miniatures are very detailed for their scale. Excellent miniatures has printed these off at an extremely high standard, you’re unable to see any of the usual print lines you can get from 3D prints.

The models come with the supports from printing still attached, but it’s simple work to remove these before washing and undercoating.

I’m very pleased with the order and I will be going back again once these are painted.

Age of Sigmar, Black Library, Book Reviews, Declan Waters, Fantasy, Games Workshop

Book Review – Gloomspite

September 4, 2021 Declan and Eeyore 3 Comments

by Andy Clark

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

I really wanted to love this book. In theory it has everything that appeals to me. Fantasy, set in the new Age of Sigmar world, staring the Goblins (Grots) who were my first army and still grace the wargaming table for me. Unfortunately, it fell down and I think it’s to do with the marketing and editor and not the author – which is even more of a shame.

The book follows a group of mercenaries – Swords of Sigmar – who warn the militia of Draconium about an impending disaster. Unfortunately they don’t know what the disaster is, except it will come from below.

The Swords and the characters in Draconium and well written, interesting characters – with an equal mix of women & men (the characters genders are not relevant to the story, but after so many male fantasy books, this is welcome relief – well done Andy Clark) – and a fun story. 4* for the author.

However, the book’s title in ‘Gloomspite’ and this was released at the same time as the army book. All other races get a book from Black Library with their army as the heroes (or anti-heroes); the Gloomspite (Grots) get a story where humans are the heroes and they are the peril. I know that they are ‘destruction’ but that is no reason to not get a story expanding the reader’s knowledge of the Gitz. I realise it is difficult to write from the point of view of destruction armies, but with the vast world available in Age of Sigmar, it must surely be easier than other fantasy settings. 2* for marketing & editing.

Okay, but not really about Gitz!

— Declan & Eeyore

Fantasy, Peter Holland, Warlord Games

Non-GW Fantasy Wargames

August 30, 2021 Peter Holland 1 Comment

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it. Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)

A lot of us started wargaming with Games Workshop and have stuck with them ever since.

Therefore I’m hoping that this article may introduce you to other wargames you may not have heard of, while giving you a brief synopsis of the game itself.

All of the following games are from companies which both produce the rules, and sell the miniatures for that game.

Kings of War (Mantic Games)

Kings of War is thought by many to be the successor to Warhammer Fantasy, and features many of the same armies (with slightly different names. E.g. Ratkin instead of Skaven).

“Kings of War is a table-top war game that allows you to play epic fantasy battles in the world of Pannithor. You and your opponent will pit your wits and armies against each other in a battle of tactics, a contest of skill and an explosion of magic and steel.“
Manticgames.com

However, be aware the price point for these models are pretty much the same as Games Workshop with a pack of twenty models costing £32.50 in the UK.

Northern Alliance Pack Hunters (pack of 20 for £32.50)

The models are well crafted and look stunning. Some of the range is still in metal.

Skyrim – Call to Arms (Mordiphius)

For fans of Skyrim there’s Call to Arms by Mophidius.

“The Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms is an adventure wargame set in the world of Tamriel. Gather your heroes and venture into Draugr haunted tombs and ruins, searching for treasure and glory. Or, fight the Civil War as the Stormcloaks and Imperials battle for the future of Skyrim.“
Mophidius

The advantage of Skyrim: Call to Arms is that it also has a solo play method for gaming.

While not a massive battle game like Warhammer AoS or Kings of War, the game focuses more on small skirmish games and dungeon delving.

The models will set you back roughly £40 for a pack of 12. But the quality is on par with both Mantic and GW.

A Song of Fire & Ice (Cmon)

This is the official Game of Thrones miniatures game which has been licensed to Cmon.

“A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game is a competitive miniatures game for two or more players. Each player controls one of the Great Houses of Westeros, commanding battlefield units, recruiting legendary Heroes, and manipulating the political stage, in the attempt to claim the greatest prize of all: The Iron Throne.“
Cmon

The miniatures are excellently detailed, however they are mono-pose. The starter set which includes 50 Lannister miniatures and 43 Stark Miniatures can be found on various websites including Amazon for about £100.

The game also incorporates deck building and list building into its five different game modes.

Warmachine/Hordes (Privateer Press)

“WARMACHINE is a fast-paced and aggressive 30 mm tabletop miniatures battle game set in the steam-powered fantasy world of the Iron Kingdoms. Take control of an elite soldier-sorcerer called a warcaster and his mighty warjacks–massive steam-powered combat automatons–as you battle to destroy the enemy warcaster.“
Privateer Press

30 models inside the two player starter set

Warmachine and Hordes are relatively similar and involve smaller armies. It’s a great system for those looking for lower model counts. The models are really nice and would make great painting projects on their own. Just look at the below Warjack model….

However a model like the above will set you back around £70 with the rest of the range costing between £30-£70 for a box.

Frostgrave (Warlord Games)

Warlord Games are quintessentially Games Workshop ex-employees. With Rick Preistley being among their number. They have a large (and excellent) historical range of figures, but also some fantasy with offers in both Warlords of Erehwon and Frostgrave.

“Warlords of Erehwon is a fantasy based game designed for 28mm tabletop warfare. The gameplay is built around the D10 system developed for the science-fiction game Beyond the Gates of Antares and also using the praised order dice mechanic first used in the Bolt Action WW2 rules.“
Warlord Games

Warlord Games miniatures are not as finely detailed as other manufacturers out there, but what they lack in detail they make up for in value. A box of 20 plastic models from Warlord will set you back around £20 (half of what GW charge nowadays).

Next week, I’ll go through five non-GW science fiction games as an alternative to Warhammer 40,000.

Historics, Peter Holland, Rules Writing

Clausewitz – Napoleonic Wargame

August 26, 2021 Peter Holland Leave a comment

I’ve been writing my own set of Napoleonic war game rules for a while now, the idea for which has been formulating inside my head for roughly three years.

There are many, many different sets of rules for Napoleonic wargaming, but none of them quite got to the itch I was feeling for the period. I wanted a wargame, which was accurate to the time in terms of weapon ranges, unit movement and formations. As well as having a command and control structure that could fairly accurately represent the command structures of the time.

The biggest issue, is that I want all of these thing, but I also want the game to be fairly simple and quick to play. I therefore set about writing my own set of rules, which I’d also wanted to do for some time.

Below I’ve set out a brief overview of the rules and how the game mechanics work. If people are interested further in the game development, then I may post further articles on the subject in the future.

The Battle of Elchingen using Clausewitz Playtest Rules

The game is designed to be played on a 6′ x 4′ table, with 30cm equating to roughly a mile of battlefield.

Base sizes are set to 40mm wide, with a base representing a Battalion of Infantry, a Squadron of Cavalry or a Battery of Artillery. These bases are banded together into larger units known as Brigades. Brigades are ordered around the battlefield by Divisional Generals and the Commander-in-Chief of your army.

The game is not a traditional igo-ugo system and instead relies on coloured chips which represent your generals actions for that turn, of which there are thirty in the game. For example, at the start of the game there may be five red chips representing General Wellington’s actions that turn, and five blue chips representing Napoleon. Depending which chip is drawn allows the relevant player to act.

Players then activate units and other Generals inside their army by sending orders to them on the tabletop, these orders represent the objective that the unit has been assigned. Once assigned to an objective, the unit can only score victory points for being near that objective. They cannot score victory points for being near an objective they have not been assigned to.

Generals and Brigades have command ratings, with a combination of the two determining the roll a player will need to use that unit that turn. For example, a Brigade of British Infantry may have a command value of 4 and a British General may have a value of 5, meaning that the player would need to roll 9 or below on two D6 to use that unit, that turn.

All units and Generals have five actions as standard, however these can be modified by how far away the unit is from the General and also by how much the command roll was failed.

Once units are activated, they may move and fire using their actions that turn.

Early playtesting using Battle Chronicler

If you want to know more about Clausewitz, then please let me know in the comments below and I may summarise different aspects of the game in future articles.

A Clausewitz playtest using Tabletop Simulator

Fantasy, Games Workshop, Peter Holland, Warmaster

A Budding Warmaster

August 20, 2021 Peter Holland 2 Comments

After reading @rightangle79’s excellent article on his games of Warmaster a week ago it made me think of the Warmaster armies I used to own when it was first released in 2000.

Unfortunately these were sold in my early twenties to raise money for beer tokens at university.

But I have the urge to return to the game, more so after recalling what a great ruleset it was.

But where to start? Which faction? And where shall I get the models from?

Those who know me, know that I’ve always loved the Dwarfs in Warhammer Fantasy, and this is both because of their lore and their units. Who doesn’t love half naked dwarfs screaming in rage and trying to take down the biggest beast on the battlefield?

But where to get the models? Looking at the original metal sculpts on eBay had me terrified. I’d have to sell a kidney to get hold of an army worth now. That left me with third parties. Here I was spoilt for choice, just typing in 10mm Dwarfs had thousands of hits. But one particularly caught my eye, excellentminiatures.com.

They have army bundles for every faction all at the 1,000 point mark, and the sculpts on these are stunning. In fact, they’re so good I would argue they’re better than the GW originals.

So I found the Dwarf bundle and made a purchase. At £85 for an entire army I think they’re also fantastic value for money.

In the bundle I receive!

Gunner Regiment (Thunderers)
Crossbow Regiment
Bezerker Regiment (Troll Slayers)
3x Warrior Regiments
Cannon
King and Bodyguard
Runesmith

They’ll probably arrive next week, and I’ve not been this excited about receiving new models in a long time.

I’ll post again once I’ve painted the first unit.

Until then, happy wargaming!

Peter

50. Warhammer Age of Sigmar (1st Edition) (2015) – Games Workshop

49. Rise of the Kage (2015) – GCT Studios

48. Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms (2019) – Modiphius

47. Battle of Five Armies (2005) – Games Workshop

46. Battleground (2005) – Your Move Games

Woeful Wargaming