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Indeed, they've started with four races so far but two supplements are in the works:





I believe Battlesworn includes Orcs and Oathbreakers include Undead. The kingdom building rules also allows you to include things like Trolls, Dragons and various esoteric monsters into your forces.

In fact, the Kingdom building element is the biggest draw for me. The fact you build and recruit from your kingdom between games.

Battlesworn includes elite units. Orks are in the Core with Goblins.

 Shadow Walker wrote:
Battlesworn includes elite units. Orks are in the Core with Goblins.

Thanks for that - crossed my mistake. Still waiting for my rulebook...

I'm interested by this. They seem to have carved out a very specific aesthetic with the low fantasy dark age look and feel. It's very much the Middle Earth of the books, with no plate armor or crossbows. I'm also a fan of the retro fantasy models.

Still waiting on my rulebook too. If I play, it'll be with wound tokens. My multibased units won't change "size" as they should in the actual game (as units roll dice based on width and depth), so I'll have to figure out how that works and if it's easy to track with tokens or whatnot.

Still interested, even if it just sits on my shelf.

Right there next to Warlords of Erehwon!

It also seems that units are smaller in Oathmark than in KoW, with a lot of models running what would be troops (10 models) in KOW.

Yeah. A unit of 20 infantry is currently the maximum size. Cavalry are maxed out at 10 models. So far infantry are sold in boxes of 30 and cavalry in boxes of 15 so maximum unit size is supported from single box buys. So you will get at least two units from each box.

Ugg this no-buy-unless-you-paint pledge is killing me. I really want a box of those humans....gah!

Individual removal isn't a deal-killer for me. I guess I'll just buy some Oathmark Dwarves (not Dwarfs, apparently).

“Dwarves” is the Tolkien version of “Dwarfs”, right?

Looks interesting to me as well. I really like the idea of the kingdoms and the campaign element.

Also really like the aesthetic, reaching back to basic sword and sorcery that could be set in a dark ages/medieval world. I have a set of the Dwarf Command (King, Wizard, Musician) - great sculpts. Will definitely be getting Elves and Dwarves for our skirmish/Old World/Mordheim gaming. The size is great.

With re: to multi-basing. I find that in most games, even if made for single model removal, it doesn't matter if both players are playing the same way. That way unit size or footprint is at least consistent. I've run Battlegroup games with my multibased FOW stuff, and run games of Hail Caesar/Black Powder with single models grouped up to the footprint on movement trays. It made zero difference.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
“Dwarves” is the Tolkien version of “Dwarfs”, right?

Yes. He, being a philologist, considered it a copout. He always was of the opinion if that we were still to talk about dwarves regularly, it would be dwarrow.

I am most curious about their Undead faction. I hope they are not some Tomb Kings/egyptian theme.

 Shadow Walker wrote:
I am most curious about their Undead faction. I hope they are not some Tomb Kings/egyptian theme.

I sincerely doubt they’ll go for a tomb kings type force. The four races so far have a very classic fantasy look. I excpect undead to be similar. Zombies and skeletons as units with wights and wraiths as leaders, etc

This review (almost page by page) alows to see most of the book, and especially gives a good look at what units are available for all the races. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obeba1EEx3c

I'm suddenly oddly looking forward to the ruleset, I wasn't planning on that. Single model removal stinks, but I love the emphasis on 10 man units base with 20 max, base unit size being so large always put me off of Kings of War. I do love D10 systems AND alternating activation systems. Also, looks like 25mm squares are standard base for all himan size infantry, which is a mild problem for old 20mm based WHFB humans/elvesdwarves but is useful for existing stuff mounted on 25mm round bases. Should be easy enough to make some armies out of my LotR stuff

I'd been eyeballing SAGA: Age of Magic, but the rulebooks are so darn expensive AND need to be shipped from Europe, looks like Miniature Market has Oathmark rulebook on pre-order for $25 USD and digitally it's on Amazon Kindle for $14

 zedmeister wrote:

 Shadow Walker wrote:
I am most curious about their Undead faction. I hope they are not some Tomb Kings/egyptian theme.

I sincerely doubt they’ll go for a tomb kings type force. The four races so far have a very classic fantasy look. I excpect undead to be similar. Zombies and skeletons as units with wights and wraiths as leaders, etc

I hope that they will release the skeletons box as the first one. Even for people who do not want to play mass combat it will be a cheap way to make variously armed skellies that could be used for Frostgrave, Rangers of Shadow Deep, Sellswords and Spellslingers etc. Also Frostgrave plastic wizards box can be a great source to make a plastic spellcasters for humans/undead factions, and a cultists box will for sure be a very useful upgrade for the undead characters.

For those still on the fence about Oathmark, I've got a new channel dedicated to the game and its miniatures as I've fallen heavily in love with the system. Here's the video where I look at the Dwarf infantry box set. For me, a veteran gamer who started with 3rd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles, this ticks off all my fantasy gaming needs:

1. hardback rulebook (don't ask me why - I just love me a good hardback book; same with novels).
2. classic fantasy races/tropes - elves, humans, goblins and Dwarves, with more classic Undead on the way in a future expansion
3. focus on narrative games
4. old school 80's/90's aesthetic for art and model design
5. any miniatures can be used; not just the official line (which are awesome, btw).

That the gameplay/system is fast, keeps everyone involved as it is alternate activation and both side fight in combat no matter who started the ruckus is also an added bonus. (today's video will look at that in more detail).

I highly recommend you give it a try.

Look for JP's Hobby Channel on YouTube (I'll post a link when I've contributed a bit more here).

Cheers
JP


Automatically Appended Next Post:

It is strange they are doing plastic undead as there are already very nice plastic skeletons from Wargames Atlantic, Warlord Games, and even Mantic if their style is to your taste.
Either way, I wish them well.

Point 5 follows on from point 2, and applies to virtually any non-GW fantasy system. Point 3 is down to the players involved, though it does sound like the author is into this bit. Point 4 doesn't appeal to me, but yeah, point 1 is good, we probably all like a nice hard one.

@JonathanPeace: really liked the combat video, very clearly explainded rules. More like this please!
(Minor thing-the music intro on the beginning of your videos is a bit too loud-at least to my ears .)

 NordsPaintingSaga wrote:
Point 5 follows on from point 2, and applies to virtually any non-GW fantasy system.

It even applies to GW games too. Unless you're playing in an all-GW store. Which are rather sparse outside of the UK.

 Gallahad wrote:
It is strange they are doing plastic undead as there are already very nice plastic skeletons from Wargames Atlantic, Warlord Games, and even Mantic if their style is to your taste.
Either way, I wish them well.

Personally I'm more concerned why so many smaller outfits pump out Death Korps proxies, but hey ho.

From my PoV, I want to see skeletons that aren't bound by that ancient greek, Harryhausen-Argonauts thing. Yes, yes, it's a classic, you watched it on the telly around school holidays and Christmas, in between episodes of Blake's 7 and The Professionals... but there's a whooole lot of other periods and settings to pull poor dead blokes from.
It's not so bad when you can easily do a shield swap on the Warlord and Atlantic skellies, when the bows and spears can be seen as generic enough, but still. Mantic skellies are nice, and fit into their world, but do they need a bit of work if you don't want them looking like dead basileans?

I know all that is nitpicking, and bear in mind they're an improvement on GW's skellies inasmuch as they're not covered in coffins and bat wings.

From Oathmark: can't remember if previews were shown here, apologies for my faulty short-term memory, but given the oldschool dark ages theme so far, I'd expect or hope for a few more hand weapons - swords and axes; round wooden shields; scraps of old mail, shirts, trousers, gambesons. Those hints of clothing in particular could cover a range of historical influences, from romano-british (earlier?) to maybe even kitbashing with Perry WotR.

But we'll see. I'll stop before I go too wishlisty.

So are the Oathmark minis a bit on the small side, like Frostgrave? Those were a bit too tiny for my tastes, they looked OK alongside my old 25mm Grenadier models...!

They are apparently very close to Frostgrave minis size from the videos I've seen. I ordered a box of goblin infantry and wolf riders that came in today.

I compared them to a couple of 40k minis and even some non GW stuff and Oathmark is very definitely 25mm. They're nice models and you get 30 infantry for $35-ish with lots of options; you can build all 30 models as archers, hand weapon & shield, spearmen or any combo of those as they provide enough arms for essentially 90 models.

 pancakeonions wrote:
So are the Oathmark minis a bit on the small side, like Frostgrave? Those were a bit too tiny for my tastes, they looked OK alongside my old 25mm Grenadier models...!

My impression is that they are even a bit smaller than frostgrave, which I don't enjoy much for the same reason you stated. But I don't have any of the Oathmark kits to know for certain.

 Gallahad wrote:

 pancakeonions wrote:
So are the Oathmark minis a bit on the small side, like Frostgrave? Those were a bit too tiny for my tastes, they looked OK alongside my old 25mm Grenadier models...!

My impression is that they are even a bit smaller than frostgrave, which I don't enjoy much for the same reason you stated. But I don't have any of the Oathmark kits to know for certain.

Yes. The Oathmark humans are slightly shorter than the Frostgrave Barbarian and the Rangers of Shadow Deep Ranger that I have. Height wise the humans fit in fine with Gripping Beast plastics and GW LotR but they are a little chunkier but still more true scale than heroic scale, heads hands and weapons are much closer to historicals and LotR than old WHFB (Empire militia bits were too heroic for Oathmark humans IMHO when I tried it). The Oathmark goblins fit in nicely with LotR orcs and the new light infantry elves are a bit taller and slender than the humans so fit in nicely with LotR humans and elves. The Oathmark dwarves are in my closet of shame pile so I don’t have them handy for a comparison. I was able to build a lot of the LotR dwarf profiles from the two types Oathmark has out. I can try to take pics later if that would help.

 privateer4hire wrote:
They are apparently very close to Frostgrave minis size from the videos I've seen. I ordered a box of goblin infantry and wolf riders that came in today.

I compared them to a couple of 40k minis and even some non GW stuff and Oathmark is very definitely 25mm. They're nice models and you get 30 infantry for $35-ish with lots of options; you can build all 30 models as archers, hand weapon & shield, spearmen or any combo of those as they provide enough arms for essentially 90 models.

They mix well with Fireforge, Mantic, Perry, Frostgrave, Wargames Atlantic and Warlord Games fantasy and historical ranges. They also don't look silly mixed with a lot of the available metal ranges.

With GW it depends on the faction I suppose. A lot of the newer stuff is 32mm but called heroic 28mm to avoid confronting the scale creep.

What everyone else has said is correct. They're a bit smaller than Frostgrave, but to a degree that it's not very noticeable unless you're really looking for it.

All the parts mix well too. Base size also will play a part. I should have video up this weekend showing the dwarf sizes off for those that are curious.

I can post some photos here as well.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
What everyone else has said is correct. They're a bit smaller than Frostgrave, but to a degree that it's not very noticeable unless you're really looking for it.

All the parts mix well too. Base size also will play a part. I should have video up this weekend showing the dwarf sizes off for those that are curious.

I can post some photos here as well.

Photos would be greatly appreciated