Oathmark - General Discussion

[Ish]

Less silly if you assume that most people buying the set are probably looking to use them as “counts as” troops for a human or dwarf army... and most wargames have rules for archers and not slingers.

Seems like they could probably have squeezed two or three more on the sprue, but... 🤷‍♂️ 

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

3 minutes ago, Ish said:

Less silly if you assume that most people buying the set are probably looking to use them as “counts as” troops for a human or dwarf army... and most wargames have rules for archers and not slingers.

Seems like they could probably have squeezed two or three more on the sprue, but... 🤷‍♂️ 

Just because they’re slightly cheaper at 40 per box instead of 36/30? I can see that about generic archers rules though.

Well I’ll probably end up getting them eventually because I looked closer and realized there are actually two slings per sprue. I also like the halberds for counts-as-spearmen too, so I’ll probably end up with a bunch of extra bows if you or other folks need them. Though I’m getting the sense spare heads & arms are just a feature of rank & flank. I’ll have to make some carnage-strewn scatter terrain for my oathbreakers army.

[Ish]

No, but rather because many wargames will have rules for Human Archers but not have rules for Halflings at all. Since playing a hobbit army appeals to a fair few folks, it makes sense to design kits that work with a wide range of games.

[Ish]

The Kingdom of the Black Mountains

The Black Mountains are an imposing range of snow-capped peaks, rising above the windswept plains of the Far North. Once ringed by old-growth pine forests, the ancient trees are largely gone... Harvested to fuel the burning furnaces of war. King Järnskägg is distrustful of Men and Orcs, who all seem to have forsaken the old oaths, and he loathes Elves for personal reasons. A small settlement of Men is allowed to thrive on the frontiers of the kingdom, once useful as a trading hub with the southern lands... Today it is an armed camp and no traders come or go. For the Black Mountains march to war! 

Kingdom Design 
Region 1: Dwarf Capital 
Region 2: Forges, Lumber Yard
Region 3: Forges, Hermitage, Snow-Capped Mountains
Region 4: High Fells, Human City, Rocky Mountains, Plains

Units Available
Järnskägg, Dwarf King (Magic Item)                   (32 Points)
Tharkûn, Dwarf Spellcaster (Level 5)                  (270 Points)        
Trotsig, Dwarf General (Legendary Hero)           (323 Points)           
Dwarf Champion                                                   (62 Points)
Dwarf Champion                                                   (62 Points)
Dwarf Champion                                                   (62 Points)
Dwarf Heavy Catapult                                          (140 Point)
Dwarf Archers (x20)                                             (300 Points)
Dwarf Archers (x20)                                             (300 Points)
Dwarf Spearmen (x20)                                         (320 Points)
Dwarf Spearmen (x20)                                         (320 Points)
Dwarf Spearmen (x20)                                         (320 Points)
Dwarf Spearmen (x20)                                         (320 Points)
Dwarf Linebreakers (x20)                                    (400 Points)
Dwarf Linebreakers (x20)                                    (400 Points)

Legendary Trait: Signal Horn
Magic Item: Crown of Regeneration
Spellcaster Spells: Brace (CN6), Fireball (CN7), Fleetfeet (CN5), Gathering of Crows (CN4), Resolute (CN7)

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Nice! Those deceitful humans, making pacts with orcs over ill-gotten coin!

Which dwarves models are you going with? Can’t wait to see some painted units!

[Ish]

The army is going to consist almost entirely of figures from Conquer Models, with a couple individuals from other ranges. As a special fortieth birthday treat to myself, I’ve decided to hire a professional to paint them for me... We’re still going over the final planning, but I am giddy with anticipation.

[Ish]

North Star Figures – from whom I bought my Gaslands, Frostgrave, and Oathmark books, plus a bunch of miniatures – is having a special deal where you can buy all three Oathmark books in a bundle with a 15% discount.

I already have all three, but I wanted to pass this along.

[offroadfury]

You guys thinking about running an escalation Oathmark league? I have the first rule book and Really want to play 

[Ish]

Unfortunately, due to the Plague, we haven’t been able to even get in one game of Oathmark, let alone any sort of organized play. 

I’d definitely be up for some sort of “slow grow” or “escalation” league. There’s a basic campaign laid out in the core rulebook and Bane of Kings is supposed to expand on it... But we could also just go with something as simple as “Okay, this week we’re using 1,000 Points; Next week we’ll use 1,500 Points; et cetera.”

[Ish]

This thread has become sort of an official unofficial Oathmark forum... So how many of us are interested in playing and/or already have the book(s)?

So far, it seems like seven of us have said they have at least the core rulebook  and are interested in playing. That’s actually a really big foundation... 

@Ish

@offroadfury

@Tao Tsê-Mung

@Rijel

@Raulum

@Damunky

@Nick!

 

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

I’ll definitely be down for this and will be back at the clubhouse Thurs/Sun in a weekend or two. I have the core book and bane and yes there’s some great campaign stuff in it.

I’d prefer learning with a few basic x-point games like that first to get the hang of it. Also, due to stock issues I haven’t been able to get a hold of all the kits I need for a full kingdom anyway.

[offroadfury]

If it’s at the club house then that’s be a great place to get it started. 
 

an escalation league would be perfect for everyone! I’m down for sure

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

15 hours ago, Tao Tsê-Mung said:

I have the core book and bane and yes there’s some great campaign stuff in it.

Scratch that, Bane of Kings isn’t out yet. It’s Oathbreakers that I have, but there still are a lot more scenarios and a bunch of campaign building stuff in here too.

[offroadfury]

How well do the lord of the rings minis fit in the scale of other models for this game? I got the battle of Pelenor or fields box set and was think I can easily rebase the minis. 
 

also just for clarification 

infantry on 25x25

cavalry on 25x50. 

right?

[Ish]

35 minutes ago, offroadfury said:

How well do the lord of the rings minis fit in the scale of other models for this game? I got the battle of Pelenor or fields box set and was think I can easily rebase the minis. 
 

also just for clarification 

infantry on 25x25

cavalry on 25x50. 

right?

The game is officially “miniatures agnostic” and intended to be played with whatever miniatures you choose. There is a licensed line of miniatures made by North Star Military Figures and they’re a “heroic” 28 mm scale... a bit less exaggerated than Games Workshop’s Warhammer offerings but a bit more than what you’d expect from a historical miniature. 

GW’s LotR line would be a perfect fit, right down to the “Fantasy Iron Age” aesthetics and if you poke around Reddit or Facebook sections about the game, you’ll find a lot of people doing the same thing.

The game puts regular infantry on 25 x 25 mm bases and cavalry on 25 x 50 mm bases. Big monsters, like Trolls, are on 50 x 50 mm. The biggest and nastiest, like Dragons, are on 50 x 100 mm. But, unlike GW, the rulebook actually makes it very easy to know what base size to use as it’s included with every units’ stat block!

But I don’t think you need to worry too much about rebasing, since what is far more important than the base of any individual model is the overall footprint of the total unit. You can find movement trays specifically designed for adapting GW’s bases to Oathmark unit footprints on places like Thingiverse or Etsy. 
 

[offroadfury]

@Ish

Cheers man! Thanks!

I just ordered some bases and can put my guys together soon. What’s everyone’s timetable for playing?

[Ish]

I’ve sent most of my dwarf army (outlined above) off to a professional painting service and expect to receive them back by mid-July. I’m also going to be going to Hawaii the last week of June... So end of July works best for me.

Having said that, I’ve got enough models from old WHFB projects to be able to field a decently sized Human army. Wouldn’t be as pretty, but would be playable.

[offroadfury]

July is a good enough time to put together a group for a campaign.

[Ish]

A while back, I bought in on the Hexton Hills project on Kickstarter. It’d be perfect for making a campaign map.

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Sounds good to me! Gives me a bit of time to locate the figs I still need or paint some alternatives.

The core book suggests starting with beginner games at 550 points focused on units with a couple characters (ie no monsters or really large units). Want to plan to start there? If so I’ll just start posting in the game nights when I’ve got 550 points built and we can play practice games until we have enough interest in escalation or campaign.

[offroadfury]

I should have pretty close to that with the box set, a couple weeks of painting and by July we should be all set to go! 
 

I’ll keep an eye on the game nights and post when I got an army complete

[Ish]

The Battle of Pelenor Fields starter set is a pretty darn good starting point for an Oathmark army, especially if you wanted to make a mixed kingdom of Men and Orcs.

The Rohirrim are a bit light on infantry, since they only put four archers, four spearmen, and four sword-n-board guys in there... But the Warriors of Rohan box adds eight of each. So if you nab two of those boxes you’ll have three 20-strong units.

[offroadfury]

Yep, and I’ve already been scouring eBay for warriors as well. Also Fire Forge games makes some amazing looking heavy cav and infantry that fit the aesthetic with Rohan.

[offroadfury]

Quick question about kingdom building;

if we’re gonna be building a map as a campaign, do we create our kingdoms independently? Or do we work together to build a unique map with the tiles you purchased @Ish?

I’m working on a Numenor/Roman Provence style kingdom of orca and humans. More evil and expansionist and to take advantage of the Lord of Rings models 

[Ish]

The Hexton Hills tiles haven’t yet released everything that they have planned; they are releasing sets in bundles every couple of months as they finish designing and testing them. Currently, they’ve got the core set (rolling hills, mountains, forests, rivers, small towns and castles), the epic cities set (walled cities that take up multiple hexes), and the coastline and open water set... All of which is to say they don’t yet have a tile that perfectly represents every available terrain type in Oathmark.

Having said that, it’s not too difficult to take one of the Hexton Hills STL files and the file for some other terrain offering from Thingiverse or wherever and mash them together in Blender. (Or just good old fashioned kit bashing in the physical world with clippers, files, ye olde bitz box and super glue.) Here’s a very quickie mash-up I made for my Dwarf Capital City from one of the Hexton Hills’ mountain tiles and the “Fortress of Evil” tile. I literally just cut the front bit of the fortress off of its tile and superimposed it right on top of the mountain in my printer’s slicer software. Not the best photo, since the filament is a shiny white, but should illustrate that this isn’t hard to do...