[Maff Sparkes]

I’m reading through the Zenobia setting and rules and it’s not half bad. Not sure if it belongs in Ancients though……

[Maff Sparkes]

More figures in the Copplestone “Barbarica” range.

 

[Maff Sparkes]

For me, this is perplexing question as there is just so much I’ve read over the years..

My first experience of a fantasy setting was “The Hobbit” and in middle earth terms, Eriador and the “wilderland” through to Mirkwood remains my favourite, far more than Gondor or Rohan. Lankhmar as a world has its place but the one that really stands out is Hyboria. It may just be an image of spider haunted towers but REH’s creation really impressed me. So it’s a mix of eriador and Hyboria with the City of Lankhmar bolted on. And that is of course a pretty good description of Judges Guild’s “ Wilderlands of High Fantasy” and “City State of the Invincible Overlord”. I’m looking at it from an RPG perspective I think but if you are looking at Warbands, Battle Companies, Retinue level, then it should work as well. From a skirmish perspective, Tegel Manor has some good factions (pirate, perhaps two factions of cultist, goblins and undead) which can fight a band of adventurers or, say, Paladin and retinue.

And I have just realised that I have forgotten Glorantha, or rather Dragon Pass.

[Maff Sparkes]

Hi Craig, that’s a very detailed update – thank you.

Is that evil overlord “invincible” by any chance? I presume this is still D10 based? Armour 17 seems a stretch for a d10 system, though you do have figure and weapon factors to add to the roll and that is the top end of the armour?

Cheers

maff

 

[Maff Sparkes]

There is a SYW army list and an AWI list. For Indians, you could apply, skirmisher, wily and savage traits. If you want to go “drums along the Mohawk”, replace the “scum” (ie looter) trait with “scalp taking” and your Mohawk or Huron allies may disappear once they think they have done they’re bit…

[Maff Sparkes]

Hope you like them Kyote; they are really designed so that if you fancy, say FIW and have bought a few packs various figures, you can probably make an army. If you bought a box of figures such as the French Marine, Couriers and Huron from Warlord, you’d be off and running for sure. If 15mm is your scale then it’s even easier.

[Maff Sparkes]

I can’t speak for Ivan but I think “Scum of the Earth” might work.

I think the things you need to get right are the differing performances of regulars, Militia and irregular in different terrain.

 

[Maff Sparkes]

Watch “Hurricane”; that’ll get you throwing Hurricanes around over Kent…..

[Maff Sparkes]

I’m less worried about the dice – though d20 has a lovely D&D old school feel, but have to agree that points lists turn me off.

You need to have some convention over creating warbands but I’m happier with “slots” which get filled with figures than 150 points with 2 points extra to upgrade to a sword from daggerzzzzzzz

[Maff Sparkes]

The key for me is to keep it to a few key stats and – ideally – to let the figure tell you which “skills and drills” apply to the figure. I find I’ve gradually drifted away from the idea of core stats and then a whole list of traits that add flex abs character.

I know that IMHN has traits and that’s not a criticism, honest. It’s just I find my gaming time is quite limited and I find it easier to focus if there is less cluttter.

I’d also suggest you avoid in game reference to RPG mechanics; the Otherworld game both emulates the D&D vibe and destroys it (for me) by referring to eg knowing the rule book on a random event card. It’s a small matter but it jarred to me.

[Maff Sparkes]

Good old 15mm laserburn; without those there’d have been no 15mm sci fi to speak of. Them and GZG kept it going for a long time.

salud!

[Maff Sparkes]

I can’t say I ever thought the Soviet troops wouldn’t fight; if anything I presumed the Warsaw Pact was a solid cohesive unit. Looking back it seems likely that the reliability of the non Russian elements depended on who they were facing and how many Russians were around to keep them in line.

[Maff Sparkes]

there’s a part of me that says if you want your 1940 Jocks to be in kilts…..they’re your figures. Perhaps they didn’t get the memo. Kilts in 1944? No but in 194o why not?

[Maff Sparkes]

I remember reading about Gen Keegan (?) and “the Rhine in 48 hours from a barracks start” in the “news” page of iirc “battle for wargamers” – which is where I learnt about Milan, making me the anti-tank expert in the school “intelligence cell” 🙂

I think that if NATO could have held, the stresses on the WAR PACT would have taken a huge toll. The problem would have been getting through the first 72 hours. And in that sense the question of how long the bullets and missiles would have lasted is vital.

Whats even more important was how long the NATO soldiers would have lasted?

 

 

[Maff Sparkes]

I was in the 6th form in the very early 80s and a few of us tried to take an interest in defence. We had a lot of ultra hawks who were born again MAD believers and a few like me who knew we needed a deterrent but also thought we needed solid conventional stuff so as to delay what I now know as the “instant sunshine”.

I say that because I was one of the few in my group that didn’t think the Soviets really wanted war – I wasn’t sure why and the posts above set it out better. It wasn’t a commonly held position tbh!

I always presumed there’d be a few days of conventional followed by escalating use of tactical nukes to try to block a gap.

Bluntly I wasn’t optimistic and it looks like the professionals weren’t either.

 

 

[Maff Sparkes]

Thaddeus – go plastics and get your scalpel and green stuff…….

[Maff Sparkes]

I’ve enjoyed watching Vikings and my wife was addicted. I wasn’t keen on the vaguely odd Saxon armour – the Saxons seemed far to “regular army” looking but that was probably to differentiate with the wilder Vikings .

I liked the way they showed hints of the tension between the Old Gods and Christianity and how some people might veer between the two – maybe for political reasons. A Thor’s hammer looks a lot like a cross….

[Maff Sparkes]

I guess you could get your head scanned and rendered in say 28mm so you could put your own head on figures of choice?

[Maff Sparkes]

Thanks for the replies all – I can’t say I’m at all interested in refighting it on the table but it has influenced my figures; previously my human fantasy palace guard types defaulted to Gondor Citadel  Guard, now they might where white cloaks instead 🙂

[Maff Sparkes]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>That’s interesting; in my office the overwhelming majority are into it.</p>
<p style=”text-align: left;”>have to admit that while i initially liked the books they grated and I’ve not been gutted at the time taken to get to the next volume. The TV series is different- the scenes while two characters take a small boat through some waterside ruins was quite spectacular in terms of a fantasy vision</p>

[Maff Sparkes]

It looks like a Razormole to me !

[Maff Sparkes]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I think that one of Conan’s toughest allies is Juma (?) from the Black Coast so they aren’t all villains.  It is a minefield so proceed with respect and avoid cliche – and if the Kushites rip up those slavers then well done them.</p>

[Maff Sparkes]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I used yesterday because things happen and we don’t notice or pay it attention</p>

[Maff Sparkes]

I think that sci fi probably starts “yesterday” but we just don’t know it yet. Look at the change in kit for the British army since 1982 – from the DPM and SLR with the LMG (Bren) still in service to the ultra mod look of today. The 82 kit had clear WW2 DNA but today’s kit is much more Traveller style imho.

As to what gets used when capital items get destroyed – judging by my experience in wargaming, whatever is available even if it’s not designed for the job…..

[Maff Sparkes]

We often talked of using the world from Divine Right for a D&D world. I think it would have worked. Having had a look at the S&S rules which are on Boardgame Geek as a file, I think my teenage self – and my friends were spot on in thinking that it just tried too hard to be clever and funny. A few gags in a serious game is ok but this as as if National Lampoon had done a game of “Bored of the Rings”. And yet, bits of it have stuck, especially the Aardvark Wallow.

[Maff Sparkes]

Goes to show that a good range of rules work for LOTR. I think the key point is to get the ability of say aragorn and faramir to fight on when hope is gone and hold their force together in the face of darkness but for Boromir (and possibly Eomer) to simply go down fighting.

The GW rules did that quite well I thought because tough as Aragorn was, he couldn’t be everywhere and while Boromir had a huge supply of might, sooner or later he’d run out of it……

[Maff Sparkes]

SELWG rules for me too and the minifigs. More rccently I’m thinkng Dragon Rampant.

I never really tried HOTT though. And yes Wilderlands is a great LOTR title

[Maff Sparkes]

Ah I’m not alone on this one then. My starting point was a game in Stuart Asquiths book on skirmish games – French vs Prussians in railway sidings. My fear tbh is that it would veer into WW1

[Maff Sparkes]

^{The Big Rubble was one of those adventures my crowd didn’t do. Years later I looked through a copy and realised that we had indeed missed a classic. I read the designer notes and was especially struck by the comment that once they’d mapped it The Rubble didn’t seem so Big. There’s something in that about fantasy gaming; if you know too much. it destroys the fantasy. With a solo dungeon crawl, if you map everything do you get lost in detail and lose the fantasy (how many days of iron rations? Not how many days match to the Temple of Set?}

[Maff Sparkes]

Hello
I’m Maff and recently arrived on a Nansen passport having found my residency elsewhere….revoked.

I’m currently fascinated by the idea of 1920/30s pulp gaming but with a bit more politics to ground it and a dash of TinTin to lighten it. That said I have the usual CV for an early 50s gamer; I was a founder member of the Winter of 79 adventure and am currently having great fun creating random events tables with a certain Viking Muskpelid.

Oh and Kyote – good to see those grey federales haven’t caught up with you!

Cheers!

Maff

[Maff Sparkes]

Oh, that’s all right then! Let me know if you change your mind…

[Maff Sparkes]

I am shocked,  shocked you hear, at the prospect of random tables to generate adventures. May I confidently predict further such shocks?

[Maff Sparkes]

Good work there. I picked up a few of these in a very dodgy state on eBay and was going to junk them until I noticed how TV Westeros – the helmets look. So I salvaged the heads and stuck them on Perry WOTR men at arms.

[Maff Sparkes]

Hi Craig

just found this thread, so have not a clue if you’re still interested in comment. I’d agree that there are more fantasy skirmish systems around than you can point a 10′ pole at; one iiirc is actually called “fantasy skirmish”. That said, if you were looking at a system broadly similar to “Blood Eagle” but with a d20 TH, I think I’d be interested. The background sounds good, I think you’d have to include the usual fantasy suspects. Just as Frostgrave has nailed the ruined city aspect, this sounds good faction based fuN

cheers

Maff

[Author]

Posts