Koyote

Cry Havoc and Siege are products of the 80s, so of course they were wonderfully impractical game.  Each infantryman was represented by two double sided chits and each cavalryman was represented by four double sided chits.

 

 

http://flyhi.de/games/cryhavoc1.html#introduction

Not knowing what time we're starting D&D, I have some changes to the rules for "Siege" I'd like to try out. I changed a lot of the combat cards to make the armies more distinct, and want to try it with more troop mustering than is typical. I'll bring it with, and if there's time before, or if folks want to give it a go later, it'll be available. Any help is appreciated!

 

 

Are you referring to the 1983 expansion to Cry Havoc?  When I was a kid I F'ING loved those games!

 

I can't BLOOD RAGE !!! this week koyote, but I am open next week

 

Blood Rage, anyone?

 

HERE are the most recent SAGA FAQ & Erratas. This document was released in August of 2015. If Gripping Beast follows through as promised, there should be releasing a 2016 update any time now.

http://nerdist.com/behold-the-most-amazing-dd-map-ever-created/

 

cause awesome

 

It was a pleasure meeting all of you. 

 

Yes, we must play Blood Rage again.  Next Tuesday I'll be playing SAGA with Wiccus, but the week after that we can return to pillaging and glorious slaughter.

 

is the Blood Rage Kickstarter video that I mentioned last night. Skip to 00:01:10 to hear a bit about Eric Lang's thought process.

 

 

Sorry for the late notice, but I have to take care of a few things around the house before heading out tonight. I won't be able to make it down to the shop until 8 or so. As such, I'm going to leave my SAGA stuff at home, but if we hustle we can probably get in a game of Blood Rage, so I'll bring that.

I'll bring both my SAGA stuff and Blood Rage.

 

Don't worry Wiccus, it's been a very long time since I've played of game of SAGA.  As such, I'll need to brush up on the rules myself.

Tuesday, I'd like to play some SAGA, but I'm also willing to host a game of Zombicide Black Plague or Blood Rage. If anyone is interested in any of these, let me know.

 

 

 

Looks good. Sign me up!

 

 

 

Updated Errata (May 2016) 
 

 

My Gnickstarter goodies have arrived.

 

 

As advertised the book contains new beasties, new scenarios and rules for playing scenarios in underground and classic fantasy 'dungeon' settings. It also includes rules for traps, secret passages and two new Soldier types, the Trap Expert and Tunnel Fighter.

 

Traps

 

When a player rolls a 1 on an initiative die roll, a trap has been triggered. The triggering player selects any model on the table, including enemy and random encounter models. Once the target of the trap has been selected the triggering player rolls on the Trap Table to determine the type of trap sprung. There are 20 different traps, some magical and some mundane. If a player's warband includes one or more Trap Experts, an initiative roll of 1 or 2 triggers a trap.

 

Players may also choose to use the Trapped Treasure rules. When a player rolls a 1 to determine if grabbing a treasure token triggers a Random Encounter, the treasure is 'trapped.' Roll on the Trap Table and apply the results to the model that picked up the treasure token.

 

The Trap rules are not restricted to underground settings.

 

 

Secret Passages

 

When a player rolls a 20 on an initiative die roll a secret passage has been discovered. The player selects any member of his or her warband and that model may use its actions to move horizontally through terrain that would otherwise block movement, such as tall walks or rocks. In a dungeon setting, the model may move through the 'dead space' between dungeon passages. If the player's warband includes one or more Tunnel Fighters, a roll of 19 results in a secret passage that only a Tunnel Fighter may use.

 

The Secret Passage rules are not restricted to underground settings.

 

 

Spells

 

Into the Breeding Pits introduces three new spell types, Reaction, Beastcrafter, and Lost Spells.

 

Reaction spells are cast out of normal turn sequence in reaction to specific events such as a falling model or a shooting spell attack.

 

Beastcrafter spells fall into two categories The first type buffs animals in the Wizard's warband and the second permanently transforms the Wizard and Apprentice into a human-beast hybrid. Each level of transformation gives the Wizard increasingly stronger special abilities, but as the wizard's appearance becomes increasingly more bestial, the Wizard must pay more to hire Soldiers (except for warhounds).

 

Nightmare is the only Lost Spell, but I suspect that the Lost Spells will become a repository of miscellaneous spells that do not belong to any of the current schools of magic. Nightmare cannot be learned and is only accessable through the Scroll of Nightmare. This spell is cast upon an opposing Wizard and cannot be negated or nullified. At the end of the scenario and each subsequent scenario, the spell's target earns 20 fewer experience points from the scenario. This cannot bring the xps earned below zero. The spell's effect dissipates if the target Wizard is reduced to zero Health.

I've made some good progress on my SAGA Irish warband so now it's time to change gears and work on some Frostheim minis.

 

Before I begin painting my Cultist warband (aka the 'Bad Guys'), I want to paint a number of Wizard & Apprentice teams for my non-Cultist warband (aka the 'Good Guys'). This plan let's me play around with different types of wizards and tactics, but really it's just an excuse to paint some wizard models that I'm fond of.

 

The first new duo both come from Spellcrow Miniatures's Umbra Turis model line.The Wizard is Spellcrow's 'Gnome with Book' and the Apprentice is their 'Halfling with Pig' (minus the pig).

 

 

Dwarf Sigilist & Apprentice

 

 

 

Below is a look at the new FG plastic Gnoll sprue and a new product from Renedra, 20mm square Paved Effect Bases.

 

 

 

In this supplement for Frostgrave, players lead their warbands into the northern reaches of the city, exploring the ruined temples of the Frozen City to search for the lost secrets of evocation – the art of summoning demons. While the lure of such knowledge is great, few wizards have ventured into this region as it is overrun by barbaric northern tribesmen who have descended from the hills in their own search for treasure. Marking themselves with demonic sigils, many of these barbarians have aligned with ancient powers discovered amongst the temples. Along with a host of new scenarios focusing on the exploration of the temples, the book also contains new treasures, spells, soldiers, and creatures that can be found amongst the ruins.

Out Nov 17, 2016

Our first glimpse of the barbarian models that will accompany the release of Forgotten Pacts.

 

Nice mats. I was looking at ordering models from Northstar, but seeing they don't deduct the 20% VAT from the list price for the US, I refuse too. Another crooked UK vendor. I am looking else where for my miniatures.

There are quite a few US online retailers (e.g. FRP, Warstore, Noble Knight Games, Amazin, etc.), that carry Frostgrave products. You should also keep in mind that Frostgrave is designed to be played using whatever minis players want to use. As such, you are not bound by the game's rules or convention to use Frostgrave models.

 

Below is an excerpt from a July 2015 interview with Joseph McCullough, Frostgrave's creator (emphasis added).

 

Are there 'non-humans' in Frostgrave? If so, what do they do, are they outlaws? Are there 'armies' of them around the area?

 

If by ‘non-humans’ you mean orcs, elves, and dwarves, the answer is no. I wanted people to feel free to use whatever miniatures they wanted to represent their warbands, and I believe the best way to do this was by not creating specific racial characteristics. All of the troop types in the game are suitably generic that they can easily be represented by an elf, dwarf or a mousling, without creating the imbalance that often results from specific racial traits.

Just in time for Frostgrave's new supplement, Into the Breeding Pits, Cigar Box Battle Mats is now selling a cavern mat and a dungeon map.

 

 

 

And here is the cavern mat with the addition of homemade rock formations.

 

The official webpage isn't up yet, but the 'Into the Breeding Pits' Gnickstarter deals can be found on North Star's web store.

 

LINKY

 

 

 

Level Four Gnickstarter Pre-order. This is the best deal for current players as it includes all the new stuff.

 

One copy of Into The Breeding Pits, a supplement for Frostgrave, the Fantasy skirmish game.

 

One box of plastic Frostgrave Gnolls. The box contains twenty multi-part plastic figures. The Frostgrave Gnolls come cheaper in a Gnickstarter deal than bought separately.

 

Eight metal Frostgrave Gnolls. The Gnolls specialist soldiers include a thief, barbarian, apthocary, warhound, tracker, marksman, knight and templar. The Frostgrave Gnolls come cheaper in a Gnickstarter deal than bought separately.

 

Six metal Frostgrave Wizards. Firstly you get a Beastcrafter and apprentice, a new wizard class for Into The Breeding Pits. You also get a new Soothsayer and apprentice and a new Elementalist and apprentice. These are based on the artwork of Dmitry Burmak from the new book. The new wizards come cheaper in a Gnickstarter deal than bought separately.

 

Two metal Specialist Soldiers, the Trap Expert and Tunnel Fighter. Both these new soldier types are detailed in Into The Breeding Pits.

 

Every Pit Chief order comes with a free Wizard Sheet from Osprey, a card screen that includes a quick reference sheet and warband record sheet for both your Wizard and their soldiers. each Pit Chief also receives a free figure of a Barbarian Chief. He's a taster of what's to come in the third Frostgrave supplement, Forgotten Pacts, due out in November.

 

The Gnickstarter ends 4th July 2016. Your pre-order will be sent as soon after that date as we can.

Koyote,

First of all, thx 4 this post:

Secondly, you might want to remove references to architects-of-war, since they are out of business:

http://lairoftheubergeek.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-perspective-on-architects-of-war.html

You are welcome.

 

I've removed the AoW reference and added additional manufacturers/distributers to the list.

My copy of Age of the Wolf arrived this last Thursday. I've read though most of it and I have to say that it's really quite good. Below is a (sorta) quick overview.

 

Mustering Your Warband

 

When beginning a campaign, the first step is to decide whether the campaign will take place in the West or the East. This dictates which warbands are available for players to choose from. Vikings, Joms and Normans can play in either region.

 

Next, each player creates his or her Warlord by selecting the Warlord's 'motivation' and randomly determining the Warlord's 2 Traits and 1 Special Rule. A Warlord's motivation is what he (or she) wants most: Land, Wealth or Reputation. As the campaign proceeds a Warlord will need to increase all three of these resources, but by possessing more of the preferred resource than the other two, the Warlord can earn bonus Campaign Victory Points.

 

There are 18 Traits. Each affects either the Warlord's campaign play or how the Warlord operates on the battlefield. For example, a Warlord with the Golden Hoard Trait begins the campaign with 3 additional points of Wealth.

 

There 13 Special Rules are buffs for your Warlord or Warband. Some, like Bravery (ignore the first Fatigue point each turn) affect only the Warlord while others, like Scouts (all Levy units generate SAGA dice), apply to the Warband.

 

Next, you muster your troops. Each Warlord begins the campaign with a 4 point warband. When deciding how to spend those four points you should keep in mind that these units will remain on your roster until destroyed.

 

The next step is to determine your Warlord's Power by adding your resource totals to the number of units in your Warband (each Warlord begins with 2 Land, 2 Wealth and 2 Reputation). Regardless of Campaign Victory Points (CVPs), only Warlords with a Power of 15 or greater can win the campaign. Moreover, having a high power can also earn a Warlord extra CVPs.

 

 

Campaign Seasons

 

The campaign is played over six campaign seasons. A campaign is period of time determined by the players (e.g. 1 week). During a campaign season a player can play as many games as he or she can fit into his or her schedule. There are also rules for players who choose to skip a campaign season.

 

At the beginning of each campaign season each Warlord selects a strategy for the season -Defend, Raid or Campaign. When players face off they determine the scenario to be played by cross reference their strategies on the Campaign Events Table. This tells them which Scenario Table to roll on. All of the scenarios come from either the SAGA rulebook or from the 5 new scenarios in the Age of the Wolf.

 

Warlords that chose to Defend cannot initiate a battle (but they can be the target of a battle). A Warlord that Defends stays home and focuses on trade and recruitment. As such, selecting Defend earns the Warlord one extra point of Wealth, an opportunity to recruit, and a chance to form an Alliance with another Warlord.

 

 

Post Battle

 

After each battle, the two Warlords calculate spoils, determine casualties, recruit, and finally, roll on the Fate Table.

 

The victor's spoils are extra resources and CVPs. A victorious Defend(er) gains one point of Reputation. A victorious Raid(er) gainst one point of Wealth. A victorious Campaign(er) gains one point of Land.

 

If a Warlord was slain during the battle, the player rolls on one of the Casualty Tables to determine if the Warlord is in fact dead, injured, captured or receives a Heroic Wound (increase Reputation score by one). If a Warlord dies the player can replace the Warlord or create a new warband from scratch. The new warband must be a different faction.

 

Unit casualties are simple to calculate. A unit "permanently" loses one model for every four models (rounding up) taken as casualties during the battle. Hearthguard are tough, so they take their first "permanent" casualty only if the unit suffers 5 or more casualties during game play. I've placed quotation marks around the word permanent because these casualties can be replaced during the Recruitment phase.

 

During the Recruitment phase the Warlord can replace battle losses for one unit (and only one unit). A Warlord may recruit up to four Levy, two Warriors or one Hearthguard. Spending a point of Wealth doubles this number.

 

After a battle each Warlord rolls on the Fate Chart. There are 15 different results on the chart and some are bad (e.g. Revolt! -Warlord loses 1 reputation, takes permanent casualties to one unit, and must spend the next campaign season defending) and some are good (e.g. transform a Levy unit into a Warrior unit or a Warrior Unit into a Hearthguard unit).

 

The final post-battle phase is Merge Units. Any units that have fallen below four models may be merged with another unit of the same type. Units can never exceed 12 models.

 

 

Other Stuff

 

Additional rules include buying Land, paying Danegeld if you can't or don't want to fight a battle, alliances, war banners, hiring mercenaries, and likely a few other things that I've forgotten to mention.

Why was I not informed that I could have Brian Boru lead my Irish warband?!?! I would have been playing this game ages ago. Time to get models

Brian Boru is a Hero of the Viking Age (special character). The BB rules portray him during the Battle of Clontarf. As such, elderly Boru's stats are pitiful, but his presence on the table provided benefits to all the Irish in his warband. Boru may be accompanied by Ulf the Quarrelsome, who is a bit of a bad @ss. Gripping Beast, Footsore Miniatures and Crusader Miniatures make a Brian Boru model. GB and FM make an Ulf model.

 

Footsore:

 

Bodyguard, Boru and Standard Bearer

 

Ulf

 

 

Gripping Beast:

 

Boru

 

Ulf

 

 

Crusader:

 

Boru on foot and mounted

An Overview of 'Into The Breeding Pits'

 

The release date for AoW is the end of May, but looky what I found in the download tab at the bottom of Gripping Beast's AoW webpage.

 

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