suggestions for fantasy skirmish rules

[Tawa]

I hear GW have just released new fantasy skirmish rules... and they're free 

(they are also crap)

Are we not a fan, Matt....? 

[petercooman]

The more i think about this, the more i want to make my own rules. They all have something i like, but none seem to be exactly what i want 

And no buying rules means buying more minis doesn't it 

[toxicpixie]

On AoS -

I don't know about crap - they looked fast and furious and from reports of play if you enter into the spirit of them, you'll like them and if not... it's almost a harking back to the glorious old days of 1st ed./OldHammer with the emphasis on "make it up yourself and have a bash", completely unbalanced units/gear/troops and an attitude of "it looked fun so why not, here's a hidden joke about Bryan Ansell or Thatcher" instead of proscriptive, po-faced mega costly army lists OF THE ONE TRUE WAY.

That said I'm not sure if it's actually just a really lazy way to avoid "wasting" time and money on actually developing a world, background and rules... and an easy "conversion" to the much more successful "sales template" of W40k...

I'd hope the former, but am pretty convinced it's the latter.

On writing your own rules -

Yeah, more money for lead but less time after you factor in the endless tinkering to get it "just right"

[Fenton]

The old  ICE Bladestorm rules have just been re released. I remember them being pretty good

[toxicpixie]

Ooo - would Osprey's "Of Gods and Mortals" be of use? It's a SoBH reworking with errr, Gods and Heroes and Mortals...

[petercooman]

On writing your own rules -

Yeah, more money for lead but less time after you factor in the endless tinkering to get it "just right"

I know, buying is easier, but the more i read about SOBH, the more i see it as uncomplete.

I read things like:

'Short Bow and Master Duelist both seem to be from the as yet unpublished Dwarf supplement "Song of Hammer and Forge".'

'If you do want equipment for fantasy (for a more Mordheim feel) you can look at Flashing Steel.'

'...or you have to wait for the Fightin' Funghi. It was funded through Kickstarter and is currently in playtest phase. Both rules you mentioned are there, as well as rules for shields (or at least rules that can be used to represent shields), reactions and other goodies. '




See what i mean with 'feels incomplete'? If i want to have all options i'll have to make them up myself, especially if i want a d&d feel, and that might be as much work as writing it myself.

It seems to me that the low cost of the books can ad up quickly if you want to have all the options

[toxicpixie]

Yeah... I have some of the bits and bobs and there's a shedload of spreadsheets and things that help but...

I neither have everything nor played enough to know what I actually have, but it seems a really moddable system that rewards some good warband set up. Which if you don't know what you're doing because you're missing XYZ and haven't got two dozen games under your belt is sod all use!

Which is why OGaM might work better - it's the same engine but actually fully installed and running And it's six quid from Osprey ATM as well.

However, I iust bought Frostbrave as one of my group members has got a copy and he says it's good, so...

[Maenoferren]

Savage World's or Mordheim are two I use

[petercooman]

Problem i have with those two is that they seem to need a much bigger board, the 3'X3' needed for SOBH really appeals to me!

[ronan]

(...)but the more i read about SOBH, the more i see it as uncomplete.
(...)
See what i mean with 'feels incomplete'? If i want to have all options i'll have to make them up myself, especially if i want a d&d feel, (...)

SBH is a way to go ! I like it very much ( as do my daughters  )
It's not "uncomplete", the basic game is enough to have great games ( D&D like !)
With the other sets, you may add some things. .. if you need to.  Hammer and Forge should be released in autumn, I think. The core rules from Fungi (with a more elaborate magic system) should came this summer.

SBH is now our choice for these kinds of game. really !

--
Ronan, fanboy   

edit to add a link to one of our games, but I don't have much time to play now : http://2d6.fr/?p=2070

[petercooman]

Fungi is already available on the vault and on the ganesha games website!

Nice battle by the way!

[KTravlos]

I am actually becoming more and more happy to just  use SAGA and proxying my fantasy miniatures for battle-boards. Not exactly skirmish but boy is it fun.

[petercooman]

I am actually becoming more and more happy to just  use SAGA and proxying my fantasy miniatures for battle-boards. Not exactly skirmish but boy is it fun.

What's the playing time on those? And the area needed? Never looked at them to be honest 

[petercooman]

So, I just cracked and bought:

Song of blade and heroes
Song of gold and darkness
Song of wind and water
Song of Arthur and Merlin
Song of deeds and glory
Song of the splintered lands
Fighting fungi

Now I just have to sit down and have a loooong read 

[toxicpixie]

That should give you enough to go on with

I really liked the system, but couldn't get enough people to play enough to really feel comfortable. Think I spent most time making different warbands on the on line generator than actually playing!

Always thought I should sort out chariot rules and get my 28mm Trojan Wars figures painted for it...