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Been looking at the models for the game Dark Age and some of them are really stunning and the setting seems compelling. Had a quick flip through the downloadable quickstart rules, skirmish, d20's, looks alright. I have a soft spot for skirmish games.
Doesn't seem to have that much of a playerbase though. Anyone played it? Anyone interested in starting playing it? If so, is it any good? Share your thoughts.

I've played a few games now with proxy figs. I like the game. Small model count, brutal, and fast. Our first game we did two starters (Brood and Outcast). The game was half an hour with a straight "kill them all" scenario.

You definitley pay for mistakes and we like the misfire mechanic (nothing like seeing a squad of your own guys obliterated when one person's flame thrower explodes.) Statwise units don't seem to different but (like Infinity) it's their special rules where the differences shine through.

The game has been around a while. I think the apparent lack of a player base is actually because unlike some other rules sets Dark Age is pretty clean. Their forums aren't bristling with rules questions or folks playing lawyer ball to win their games. There are players, they just don't have a need to be as vocal as some other games' players.

I played and actually earned a spot in the March to Immortality 2012. There used to be a large player base where I live...BUT things happened and our group dropped the game. If your search-fu is any good you might find some info on those things.

If you don't care about that, it is a great game with simple mechanics. The malfunction rules were a great mechanic. The models are a blast to paint. I had a Brood Army and was starting a St Mark army when I stopped.

Thanks for the info, fellas. I like simple mechanics and fast, brutal gameplay. Helps facilitate getting several games in in one night. What I've seen from the rulebook it's great looking too, with nice artwork.
Dark Age continues to be on my "look into" list.

I have been playing Dark-Age for about 3 month now. The game is very popular here in Atlanta. There are almost as many WH40K players as there are Dark-Age players. The average point level we are playing at is 750 and games last around 45 minutes to one hour. We have tried scaling it up to 2k per side, making the game much larger and more complex. At that point level, it takes about the same amount of time as a WH40K game of the same point level.

I like Dark Age's rules, however, I really do not like the setting or bondage fantasy aesthetic that permeates everything.

In other games, armies may share some level of aesthetic, in Dark Age, everything is just the same level of dark, dark, and darker with leather and spiky nipples on top.

Sure, other games have the same look, but in DA, it's everywhere, not just in an army or a few units.

This is why I think it never got as much of a following.

It was also formed from the fallout after FASA imploded, developed by a few who either liked, or were responsible for the old VOR game and have since sold it.

Nowadays coolminiornot handles it, which is a company known for underhanded business practices when it used to be Newwave, another negative against it.

In CMoN's defense they offer some of the best prize support out there...

If you can get a large enough tournement put together they will either drive or fly one of the designers out to run the tournement. The winner of the tournement gets a plane ticket to Gencon to play in their Race to Imortality torunement. The winner of that tournement gets added to a faction of their choosing.

Dark Age is fast an violant and not for everyone. There isn't really a faction in the game outside of a few Saints that can truely take a beating.

Hindenberg! Dude, Dark Age is actually a lot of fun. It's more beer and pretzels than most games (you really can't game it too hard), and it's like a lighter-toned version Warmachine. Because things are a bit more random, it's less competitively focused.

The minis are good, and the factions are wildly different too.

Thanks chaps. Food for thought. Given everything I'd like to try Dark Age. It's going on my "to try out" list definately.
And hey Killionaire. Nice to see you here on Dakka

I'd say try it out. I just got into it and its quickly become one of my favorite skirmish games. Best part is the core rulebook is cheap and all the stat cards for the current factions (minus core) are available on their website so proxy and play to your heart's content.

I love Dark Age, it's a great fast game, and it helps as a good few of our local players are playtesters KEep an eye on it, alot of the rules have been refreshed to make it more freeflowing and concise.

I am amazed the support Dark Age gets from CMON. With the amount of support it is not as popular as it would seem to be.

 Piston Honda wrote:
I am amazed the support Dark Age gets from CMON. With the amount of support it is not as popular as it would seem to be.

Dark Age was not always a CMON product. They acquired about a year ago and have been working diligently on fixing a rule set that was in terrible shape, building a community and expanding the game. From my conversations with the folks that are working at CMON (I have several friends that work for them), they look at it as a long term project, not a game that will make instant profit. Their community support is fantastic, they support and encourage competitive play and are constantly working on clarifying and balancing the rule set; and I am not saying this lightly. Give the game some time to re-establish itself after being abandoned for years by the previous owner of the IP.

They just released a MAJOR revamp of rules and PDF cards for free on their website.

Holy god, it's a much better product than it was a month ago. Almost all of the confusing wording, and several questionable bits of balance have been completely fixed.

I'm totally psyched for this game, as it's gotten a major polish, and is continuing to get it.

New models for this game look awesome as well, Blazon is one of my favorite models from ANY range