My good matey Mike of Broadswords and Beasts came over to provide alternative entertainment on Saturday. Apparently some geezer in the big smoke was getting a glittery hat but we had our attention caught by two warring Barbarian clans- My earthy, celtic, Slaine-influenced clan of the Horny King vs. Mike's Heavy Metal Marauders.
Mike brought along Book of War Original Edition Delta by Daniel R. Collins (2011). A ruleset designed to handle mass combat in D&D, so very much the flavour of 1st edition Warhammer without the need for tables. It ran fast and smoothly, though we had to make a few 'common sense' calls re. crossing scenery, wheeling, passing through narrow gaps etc. This was probably all covered in the advanced section of the rules but we wanted something simple so just played the basics. The only maths involved was a morale calculation based on losses from combat that turn. Once you had run it a couple of times it was second nature.
Now to the fun part... photos!
Forces arrayed for battle... The Slainians are a bit outnumbered, but they do have a mammoth!
Movement is fast! A 'light' cavalry unit can get halfway across the table in a turn and even ponderous infantry has a 9" move.
Spikes and skulls are clearly the order of the day amongst the Metal Heads. The deliciously fluffy doggies sadly didn't get a chance to chomp on succulent biceps as they lost most of the front rank to arrows from the mammoth howdah and quite literally turned tail. Fast movement doesn't give you much chance to recover from a rout!
An imposing unit of Hecatrons (Hecatri?) advance on the left flank.
Grim banners and heavy chariots advance to the pounding of war drums and scream of distorted guitars...
The Hecatri swarm the hedge to set upon the retinue of the Horny King.
It would be a drawn-out conflict, but little by little the ranks of Hecatri fell to the gae bolga.
On the right flank the Marauders had the upper hand (bedecked in studs and with two fingers raised no doubt!). Heavy bear cavalry and chariots made short work of the shoggy beasts before turning their attention to the geriatric veterans...
...who soon hobbled off in brisk retreat!
The mammoth stood its ground as hordes swamped it from all sides. A unit fell beneath a sweep of its trunk but it was no match for the mighty giant axeman.
Enraged by the losses to a small group of archers (longbows seem like the most effective weapon on the battlefield) the mighty Metal Warlord and his heavy chariot mows straight over them. No survivors. Meanwhile the remains of the Horny King's retinue are surrounded on three sides and pushed from the table. But they shall return to exact their revenge! And probably bring more bows next time...
Book of War- a Barbarian Battle!
That's a very nice set-up you've got there Geoff and the miniature aren't bad either, a part from the long bows being a tad over-powered how did the game run?
ReplyDeleteVery easy, very fast. Did everything WFB does but much quicker! Not gonna satisfy those who love manoeuvring but for a quick, easy game it's great. We didn't use the advanced rules which include far more unit types, magic, terrain etc. I'm sure you could make it do whatever you wanted. Mike has since noticed that longbows may have been a bit more powerful due to a cock-up over ranges, but as most shooting was done fairly close I don't think that would have made a lot of difference.
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