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Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba




The Great State of New Jersey

^It sounds like you're viewing Oathmark as a mass battle rank n file version of Saga: Age of Magic, do you think thats an accurate assessment? I have one Saga warband thats my Age of Vikings Skraeling (native americans) force plus a wendigo from Arena Rex, a pair of owl bears and a pair of giant eagles from Wizkids, and a pair of Spirit beasts from Reaper.

I have another warband that is made up of Dread Rots from Warmachine/Hordes, plus a bunch of other similar jack-o-lantern/pumpking themed minis from Reaper and other random manufacturers.

And then I have a third warband thats basically just Easterlings from the Lord of the Rings game (which I will happily look for an excuse to buy more of).

If i'm able to repurpose these minis for Oathmark too that would be awesome.

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in gb
Dakka Veteran




Lincoln, UK

The author did some battle reports with a handful of units of 5-10 minis, and states that you can start playing with a single box of Oathmark figures - that's 30 models. Give it a go!

The game gives bonuses to figures ranked in 5s, so a couple of boxes of Easterlings will go a long way. Watch out for the 40mm cavalry bases though - you have a choice of basing them for LotR or on 25mmx50mm rectangular for Oathmark. Base size is maybe less important than other games though.

If you keep them on 40mm round bases, you can make each rank of cavalry 200mm wide, which may have implications for who can fight you, or just use 3 models to get 120mm wide (in Oathmark basing, 5 models would be 125mm wide) and a dice to keep track of casualties. Don't sweat it when you're learning or gaming with friends.

Maybe the Skraelings act as missile troops and rangers for their city brethren? And they brought their "tame" wendigo - use stats for one of the monsters in the book.

The pumpkin fellas are cursed and have come ravaging from the croplands. They're strong and hard to kill, like orcs and trolls stat-wise. They must be stopped - or recruited for their savagery!

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2020/06/22 19:17:15


 
   
Made in it
Enemy of the Dúnedain



Italy

Impressions after some more actual play? I'm building my elves/dwarfs army and I am longing for my first match!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/07/14 07:04:06


 
   
Made in us
Clousseau




My impressions after some TTS games with it is that it is a great foundation. Joe did a good job. A little bland but the gameplay was fairly solid.
   
Made in it
Enemy of the Dúnedain



Italy

Thanks. In which way is this game bland in your opinion?
   
Made in us
Clousseau




Unit variety, faction variety, the cap on attack dice.
   
Made in pl
Horrific Hive Tyrant





 auticus wrote:
Unit variety, faction variety, the cap on attack dice.

Unit variety can be low at the first glance but the activation/morale stat is what really makes a difference between various races. Elf Spearman is significantly different from the Goblin one when called to act. Also there are some skils that some races have and others lack.
Faction variety seems to be low but the undead are coming, and maybe more importantly the ability of creating your kingdom, and therefore mixing all races can offset it a little. There are also additional units like Ogres, Wolves etc. plus non affiliated monsters that can bring more flavor to your army.
Cap on the attack dice is one thing I really like but I can understand that people may enjoy rolling dozens of dice.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/07/15 16:02:34


 
   
Made in it
Enemy of the Dúnedain



Italy

I see. But keeping in mind the "tone" of the game I do not completely agree.
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




 auticus wrote:
Unit variety, faction variety, the cap on attack dice.


Snap. I was really looking forward to the rules as we heard more and more about them, but these things put me off as the book was released.

Cav with two attacks, but a limit of 5 dice seems a little crazy to me. The infantry cap of 20 models, 5 dice, 5 wide seems really restrictive and makes me question whether the game can get close to 300 troops and still be enjoyable.

Having to wait for Undead in an expansion is a bit of a killer too, especially since it bumps the 'cost of entry' into the game. The other expansion with elite units also seems like it should have been in the core rules.

I also hate lazy proof reading in my wargames - it's what makes me struggle with mantic, who need 4 pages of errata to correct typos at release! The Oathmark book has a crazy mistake where an image covers up a line of text.

I've played loads of Frostgrave, and that was an easy sell. Oathmark seems to have a lot of the same ideas which means I'll probably give it a go, but doesn't seem as easy to convince others to play as Frostgrave was.

I can't help feel it could have some simple improvements. Removing the 5 dice cap and having a cap of one dice per model in base contact. Models with multiple attacks could then have rerolls. Getting rid of the 20 model unit limit also seems like a good idea.

Joe had said the limits were so whole units didn't end up being removed in one combat, but it feels like he went too far, with units staying in the first combat they hit for the whole game. The videos I've watched didn't quite go this way, but they were all small forces with small units. I would want to field blocks of 20 everywhere, but maybe this game is a smaller scale than I want it to be.

Also, @OP, how would you rank the 9th age - with your WHFB scores I would probably need to put it at 11 or 12! It would be interesting to see separate 'rules' and 'complete system' scores. It's clear you heavily feature fluff in your scores, which I think makes it harder to compare to new games.
   
Made in us
Clousseau




I played 9th age for a month or so. I did not like it. If I had to rank it it would be parallel to 7th edition whfb - which got to be very stale for me and is why i got out of wargaming for a few years. I don't have it in my list because it is a house ruled system.

Fluff isn't really a part of my score in a major way. But Conquest, for example, has very good fluff and is a new game. So I don't think new games suffer from fluff because they are new. They suffer from fluff because their game creators did not care to put any in there:

reference: kings of war (had none, has a little now, nothing to write home about, i still rank high), warlords of nowhere (i like the system a lot, no fluff), oathmark (i ranked high, but no fluff), dragon rampant ( i ranked low mostly because it is way too abstract and simple for my tastes) and AOS (i think the background and fluff are pretty good, but i rank it as the worst game I have ever played)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/07/16 13:32:42


 
   
Made in it
Enemy of the Dúnedain



Italy

I know no wargames with no mistakes in rules. At them moment unofficial faqs consist in less than a page.
Cap on dices sounded strange to me too at the beginning. But when you dive into the game you understand that it is made to keep it smooth. And it is easy to get broken a unit.
It a game with his own style of play which is a good think. Then it is clearly a question of taste.
   
Made in us
Clousseau




I still rank oathmark pretty high. I said I thought it was a bit bland in some areas. Its still a solid system that could use some spice here and there.
   
Made in se
Regular Dakkanaut




The 5 dice cap is the biggest ?? Ive had with the rules so far.
The way the game is set up, it seems as almost all units will roll 5 dice in combat at all times, the times that wont happen is few and rare.
Just make 5 dice combat a hard rule instead, it already is in practice so make it so in theory as well.

Buut, ive only READ the rules, not played it so take my thoughts with several grains.
   
Made in us
Clousseau




Yeah thats where I feel its a bit bland since all units are basically doing the same thing.
   
Made in it
Enemy of the Dúnedain



Italy

They are not. Units will use max 5 dices most of time but it is the target number that changes according to situations: numbers of ranks, attacking flank or rear ecc.
   
Made in us
Clousseau




The input is going to basically be the same thing every time. The modifier may change, but the input is going to be the same. Which is a bit bland.
   
Made in it
Enemy of the Dúnedain



Italy

Any Battlesworn supplement first impression?
   
Made in us
Clousseau




Still on preorder for me.
   
Made in pl
Horrific Hive Tyrant





Johanxp wrote:
Any Battlesworn supplement first impression?

Here you have a video about the contents. Looks like there are many new things - Engineers, new spells, boat rules, monsters etc. I am little dissapointed though because most of the art is reused from the rulebook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFY9MRnlm2g
   
Made in es
Regular Dakkanaut




I hope you can help with this important question:

Is it playable with Warmaster based miniatures? I mean, fixed bases with 10mm miniatures, no individual models so it is impossible to remove casualties (just whole stands of 10 infantry/4 cavalry).

Many thanks.
   
Made in us
Clousseau




I would think the scale and the stand size is not to scale. Is it possible? Yes. If you write some houserule conversions for it.
   
Made in pl
Horrific Hive Tyrant





SU-152 wrote:
I hope you can help with this important question:

Is it playable with Warmaster based miniatures? I mean, fixed bases with 10mm miniatures, no individual models so it is impossible to remove casualties (just whole stands of 10 infantry/4 cavalry).

Many thanks.

Removing casualties is no problem because you can simply use markers/small die to know how many died. When it comes to minis on the base it is also not a problem as long as you and your opponent are aware how many models are actually represented on the particular base. Oathmark requires you to have 5 minis to count as 1 full rank, and if you want you can abstract it = your 4 cavalry could count as 5 but remember to note it so there is no confusion when counting full (5 models) ranks, and removing casualties.
   
Made in it
Enemy of the Dúnedain



Italy

I finally received my skeletons and undead heroes and I love them. I'm also starting to scan Oathbrakers and finally I can say we have an army who really plays differently than the others. Book's illustrations are great!
   
Made in pl
Horrific Hive Tyrant





Johanxp wrote:
Book's illustrations are great!

Yeah, this one is a real improvement over the Battlesworn.
   
Made in ie
Longtime Dakkanaut




Ireland

Had a flick through the book recently. I think this is a game I have been waiting for, for quite some time.

As people are comparing to other games I think this one is more toned down, less 'Hollywood action film' fantasy gaming.

The 5 dice bothered me at first, but upon reflection it speeds up the game. Even with the few modifiers to the rolls, looking at 5 dice results is a lot quicker than some other games. It also removes the game away from brute force, that large numbers of dice produce.

Alternative activations, command rolls, and a D10 system really help this to stand out.

That being said there are a few issues, namely being able to manoeuvre over 90 degrees and charge a unit that was previously in your rear arc. That will be house ruled to be just a 90 degree maximum manoeuvre is allowed.

The objective of the game is to win. The point of the game is to have fun. The two should never be confused. 
   
Made in nz
Primus





Palmerston North

I just ordered this from Osprey along with the first 2 expansions. Looking forward to giving it a read.
   
Made in us
Clousseau




Studio is finally moving to a final location in October so I'm looking forward to setting up a campaign with this and putting some youtube content up.
   
Made in us
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





Affton, MO. USA

 auticus wrote:
Studio is finally moving to a final location in October so I'm looking forward to setting up a campaign with this and putting some youtube content up.

Definitely post here when you do. Interested in the game and your take on it.

LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13

I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14 
   
Made in us
Clousseau




 Theophony wrote:
 auticus wrote:
Studio is finally moving to a final location in October so I'm looking forward to setting up a campaign with this and putting some youtube content up.

Definitely post here when you do. Interested in the game and your take on it.


I shall do so
   
Made in ie
Longtime Dakkanaut




Ireland

The main rule book, Oathbreakers, and Bane of Kings arrived today. Still reading through them, once I have managed to get a good read through I'll be doing a video review/deep dive into the system... might also do a 'How to play video'.

So far, really liking what I have read. Artillery seems a bit weak, but not so weak that it won't have an impact upon the game.

I was pleased to see the Undead have Ghouls, and there is a rule that means some Undead units die if there are no friendly spell casters around. That helps add to the theme.

Itching to get this game played.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/09/10 23:34:32


The objective of the game is to win. The point of the game is to have fun. The two should never be confused. 
   
 
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