"Elementals, my dear Watson!"

I seem to be on a bit of a Fantasy kick at present; this will likely be the last post in that area for a while, though! I brought a few extra figures to the Hostile Realms game a week ago, in case any of the Mages in the battle tried to summon an Elemental. The concepts of basic elements that together make up the cosmos ()not in the modern chemical sense) is found in many ancient cultures, including those of Ancient Greece. Commonly, these are Earth, Air, Fire and Water. To these a 5th element, aether, signifying the unseen, is often added. There is a quite interesting discussion of the concept of Elements in ancient religions, philosophy, and alchemy in this wikipedia article; to that we might add the practice of Magic as well.

This is an Earth Elemental, of course. I tried to suggest garnets for the eyes. 

This set of figures dates back to the 1970's easily; I recall seeing them at the old MFCA wargames convention in Chester, PA, and I just had to have them! 

Not much mistaking this as anything but an Air Elemental, either!

I'm not sure which company made these; perhaps Grenadier?

This towering inferno is a Fire Elemental, obviously. 

In Hostile Realms, most armies can include Elementals of one type (only) in their army, if desired. 

I think this Water Elemental might be my favorite...

A lot of character in all of these models.!

Detail of the back of the Elemental.

Well hello!  Who invited you, and how do we send you back to the hellish place from whence you came?

In Hostile Realms, if a Wizard attempts to cast a spell and flubs his roll by rolling a "1", AND the opponent rolls his maximum possible score, a Casting Catastrophe occurs. This actually happened when Greg's Orcish Shaman (the class is called "inepts", because, well,  they generally are!) did exactly that. There are a variety of possible outcomes, including gating in a lesser or greater demon (which them attacks!). The most powerful spells (Level 4) go awry if the caster rolls a "1", regardless of what the opposed roll is. 

This fellow came with me in case such a misfortune might occur. In Greg's case, the results was just draining the Shaman of all magical ability Still, in keeping with the Elemental theme, This Balrog might represent the 5th element, aether, or perhaps Magic itself!

Elementals, my dear Watson!

Peter

Puchased at The Time Machine last week...

As I noted in my last post, the Time Machine is a wonderful hobby store, and their gaming space ("The Portal") across the street is amazing in size and features. They have also wisely moved their gaming products inventory into the same space, which made it easy for me to support them by buying a few items. They should really post some pictures of the size and scope of their inventory on line, as the number and breadth  of board games they carry is astounding!

"Space Fighter Ion Tokens"  (Litko Aerosystems).

They also carry a range of gaming products, including dice, markers, paints, tools, and such. I found these nifty markers while browsing their selection of Litko products. I have no idea what they were really designed for, but in my games I like to place a marker when a ship retreats from combat by warping or hypering out, and these looked almost perfect for that (neon green or neon blue might be even better, but these will work fine). So I picked up a bag of ten of them, same price as direct from litko, minus the shipping. Excellent!  Expect to see them in my Galactic Knights games, along with the Litko blast and Fusion explosion markers, etc.

"The Wrath of Ashardalon" Dungeons and Dragons Adventure System board game. I have had my eye on this one for a while, and as they had it in stock at the TM, and as I was in a Fantasy mood after playing Hostile Realms... I bought it!  I could have gotten it cheaper on line, but this is instant gratification, LOL, PLUS  if we want this great space to be here next year and beyond, they need some revenue to support it!



Photo of the components from another blog. One of my daughters likes board games (she's deadly in The Settlers of Catan, taking after her dad in that regard), and I thought she might enjoy this one. Each adventure lasts about an hour, so play time is reasonable. The rules are supposed to be easy to grasp, so I think it's a good gamble. I'll have to play a scenario or two solo. If it really is popular there are three others like it (castle Ravenloft and The Legend of Drzzit, plus some expansion modules.

More information about the game and series:

Wizards of the Coast official site

D&D Adventure Systems Wiki

Board Games Geek entry for Wrath of Ashardalon

I have plenty of D20's in my dice collection...

Peter

Hostile Realms: Two Battles at The Time Machine

We got together yesterday at the gaming site of the Time Machine in Manchester, CT, which they have now named "The Portal", a suitable choice, I think. They have moved all their "Adventure Gaming" (i.e., Fantasy and Historical miniatures games, RP, card and board games) and related  modeling, dice, etc inventory into this large space, along with plenty of table space for gaming and some sales of soft drinks and snacks for hungry and/or thirsty gamers. Overall, it is a very impressive operation. I hope that they are able to sustain it financially. I think moving the gaming sales into this space should pay off with more volume. Their inventory of Board games was astounding, actually. They also had a huge selection of board games available for rent on site by the day for $5, a very reasonable way to try out a new title or just share a game with some friends.

This event was intended to allow a number of players from the HAHGS group to try out the Hostile Realms rules. Most of the guys had single figure mounted GW armies, so we were very flexible with the basing and units chosen, which worked out just fine.  I must admit to being more than a bit rusty on the rules myself. I reviewed them some, and had planned to re-read the entire book Friday night to be better up to snuff. So, of course, Friday was one of the busiest days in the office in a year, and I didn't finish seeing patients until after 7PM. The best laid plans...  Anyway, I packed the car up Friday night so that I could leave at 8:30 AM Saturday. Ordinarily it takes about 75 minutes to drive to Manchester from my house. So, of course, I hit a HUGE traffic delay on I-84 in Hartford - 4 miles long!  It took me an hour to go those four miles due to some bridge renovation work. Fortunately for all except Jacob, Joe and Peter C were also coming from the West, and got ensnared in the same automotive debacle. You'd better be sure we all returned across the Connecticut River by a different route, as there was similar construction Eastbound as well. Anyway, I finally arrived at the TM at about 10:45, and we commenced setting up the two games, side by side on their largest table (about 4 feet wide by 12 feet long, I think.

Peter C's Northern Barbarian Confederation army, with Trampler! OMG, is that THING huge! Most of his troops were freshly mounted on new bases for the game. I contributed a unit of old Grenadier (I think) Boar Riders to bolster his forces.

Here's the composition Peter used for his Northern Barbarian Confederation army, more or less:

Warlord 132
Battleleader 132
Mounted Warchief 96
Warchief 80
Grand Shaman 88
-------------------------------
Total Characters = 528

Hearthguard 99
MC Noble Warriors 33
Horde Bowmen 27
Horde Warriors 8x27=216
Ogres 60
Ulfhendarx2=168
HC Beastriders 51
Tramplers with Bows (Mammoth) 45
------------------------------------------------------
Total unit points = 699

Total army points = 528 + 699 = 1227

Part of Greg's Greenskin army (Orcs and Goblins, and Trolls, oh my!)

Here's one of the drafts of Greg's army:

Orc/Goblin Army

Characters:
Bone Cracker/grimgore (Champion) 132
Flesh trampler (boar mount) 96
Inept orc shaman II 70 (swarm of snotlings, dk if poison or diseased fits best?)
Inept Goblin Shaman II 70 (Swarm of snotlings)
Characters 368 pts

Units:
2 x  Skirmish Goblin Raiders 24

2 x Goblin Archers  42
2 x Orc Archers 42
4 x Orc Warriors  (dual hand weapons) 108
3 x Goblin spear 90

1 x Goblin Axe 27
1 x Orc Obsidian Pike Block 108
1 x Orc Blood Thirster/Savage 42
1 x Orc Touchskins 84
1 x Orc Boar Ridersx2 84
2 x Goblin Wolf Riders 102

Total 1216

Another view of the Barbarian host.

Left half of the Greenskins.

Right half of the Greenskins.

The Barbarians, having gone BERSERK, have surge forwards, seizing the central ridge line. 

"Your mother was pretty!", the Barbs taunt the Orcs...

On the Greenskin right, the Inept manages to SUMMON a horde of snotlings.

The Berserk Barbarians surge forward into MELEE.  Not surprisingly, the Trampler tramples the Goblim archers. "Hey, what's this icky green stuff I have caught between my toes?"  In the background, the Barbarian Shaman, having failed to do any damage with a prior Fireball, contemplates preparing a blockbuster spell... but never manages to progress any further with the elaborate preparations required. 

Barbarian hordes mix it up in melee with the Greenskins. 

The Orc archers try to shoot the Trampler but miss, however they repulsed it in the subsequent melee - must have been that last point blank arrow volley that dazed the best!

The height of the battle, almost every unit is fighting it out with axe, sword, Pike or dagger!  By the time this scrum was all over, there were 4 Orc units in Rout, all likely to leave the table and the game if the Orcs turned a MOVE card before they could attempt to rally them on a LEADERSHIP card.  At the same time, quite a few of the Barbarian units had been defeated in Melee, most not severely. However, once a Beserk unit losses a melee, it loses the UP 2 for the Beserk status, and thus become somewhat inferior to their Orcish opponents. I think the Barbarians might have won with continued play, especially if they could make good use of their powerful shaman, but the Orcish Pike Block in the center was shredding Barbs right and left! Neither of these armies are what you would call  forces that depend upon (or are capable of) much finesse!

Jacob brought his Ogre army, which he stated as the Dwarf army. This fit due to their combination of toughness and the use of gunpowder weapons. As you can see, the model;s are anything but dwarfish - look at the tusk riders to the right, and the enormous ? Trolls.

The rest of the Ogre battle line. A lot less units here than the Barbarians and Greenskins - quality is expensive!  We played with a bit over 1200 points per army. 

Joe brought his old GW Bretonians, using the Army list for the Middle Kingdom. 

The rest of Joe's Middle Kingdom army. There are some more pictures on his own blog here and here. 

Heres the approximate composition of Joe's army:

Not Quite Middle not Breton Army
Knights of the Dinner Table (EHC, lance fearsome) 126 points
3 units Elite Fuedal Knights: (EHC, lance, fearsome) @94 for 282
Squires (HC, Med, spear) Regulars 55 points
3 units regular archers (inf, lt armor, longbow, 3 hits ) @40 for 120 points
1 unit skirmishing archers (inf, lt armor, longbow, 2 hits) 21 points
Spears (inf, med armor, spear, 3 hits) 27 points

General-Duc, d'Couronne (EHC,sword,3 hits,EH Arrmor, special attack-up one die type melee)@ champion (12) 180 points
Army Standard Bearer (EHC,sword,3 hits,EH Arrmor)@ hero (8) 112 points
The Green Knight (HC, Hvy Armor, 3 hits, sword) 108 points
Lady Morgana (HC, Unicorn (w/lance), Hvy Armor) @Wizard Lv 4 and Champion (22) 220 points

Lady Morgana, The Green Knight and the Standard Bearer may be adjusted, they all have a back story. At 1251 points, I can drop the skirmishers or go for a 1250 point total.

 

The longbowmen of the Middle Kingdom take aim at a mass of Ogres.... and fail to accomplish much. Archers really need to be in Line for the best shooting effect. 

The ogre press the attack home, The Longbows have wisely pulled back, hoping to "reload". 

One unit of Middle Kingdom knights dispatched it's opponent, but the others were... less successful. Evidently things went downhill quickly from there aided by Joe rolling a lot of 1's and 2's in Melee. I was helping Greg and Peter C work out the mass of combats on their half of the table, and by the time I looked over to take more pictures, Joe and Jacob were already packing it up!

Thanks to everyone for bringing their armies and playing!

*******************************************************************************

In case one of the players couldn't make it at the last minute, or we had any walk-ons, I did up an Army using the list for The Realm, and assorted figures from my Hussite, Renaissance, and nascent English HYW armies:

The Realm:

2 Knights Elite  EHC, Lance, Fearsome  @ 91 = 182
1 Men at Arms Regular HC, Lance @55 = 55
1 Border Horse  Native LC, Javelins, Mace @ 27 = 27
2 Halberdiers Militia HI, Polearms @36 =72
1 Border Pikes  MI Pike   @  55 = 55
2   Imperial Longbows Elite MI, Longbow, Sword, Fearsome @ 77  = 154
2  Longbows  Regular MI - Longbow, Sword @ 55 = 110
1 Crossbowmen  LI - Crossbow @ 21 = 21
676

1 Dragon 189
189

1 Archduke  Champion, EHC, Sword @ 168
1 Earl  Hero, HI, Sword @80
1 Master Yeoman Hero, MI, Longbow @ 72
1 Battle Mage Hero/Wizard (II), HI, Flail @48
368

Total = 1233

Character Generation:

Archduke:  D20 roll = 17, "Impressive" Champion with 15 AP
Leadership D20 Roll 16+2 = 18. Skilled Commander, LD12, Command 10", add 1 Brillisant Leader Card

Earl:  D20 roll = 4, "Mundane" hero with 6AP
Leadership D20 roll = 6 +2 = 8. Average  Commander LD10, Command 8"

Master Yeoman:  D20 roll = 15, "Competent" Hero with 8AP
Leadership D20 roll 12 +2 = 14 Average Commander LD10, Command 8"

Battle Mage: D20 roll = 19, "Spectacular" Hero with 12 AP
Leadership D20 roll 15 +2 = 17,  Skilled Commander, LD12, Command 10"
Level 2 Mage D20 Wizard Aptitude Roll = 19+1 = 20! "Gifted" Base CDV D10, 9 SP
Spells: Level 1  Bless/Curse, Strengthen/Weaken  (2 SP)
Level 2: Dismay and Mire, Windstorm  (4SP)
Level 3: Lightning Storm  (3SP)

Broad view of the Army of The Realm; probably needs some reserves?

Frontal view of the Right Wing of the army.

Right Center of the army (IO don't have enough longbows so I substituted Crossbowmen for the lesser archers!)

Center of the army featuring a Pike Block covered by skirmishing Crossbowmen. 

Left wing of the army; two ranks of longbows backed up by a unit pf HI Halberdiers; The Archduke rides with a unit of knights/Gendarmes.. 

Rear view of the Center of the army.Note the Wizard, with a clear field of "fire". 

Rear view of the right flank with Dragon and supporting Heroes. 

It took me forever to pick out the units from my collection, which got me thinking about how I have my Late Medieval/Renaissance armies organized for storage - part by Unit Type, part by army. This winds up being the worst of both worlds when looking for a unit or assembling an Army. I think I am going to change to organizing them strictly by army. This would include armies for Late Byzantines, Teutonic Knights, Hussites, HYW  English, Renaissance Spanish, Renaissance French, Renaissance Holy Roman Empire, and Renaissance Italian States (Venice, Florence, Papacy, Milan). If nothing else it will provide motivation for some post Historicon painting!

Hostile Realms: Unholy Alliance

This large battle (or group of battles) was run using the Hostile Realms rules from Piquet, Inc. at Historicon in July, 2007. It was the result of a collaboration between Jim Mauro, who provided all but a small handful of the troops and myself, and was run twice on Saturday. I'll give the rough outline of the scenario and armies first, and then a brief account of the actions.

Unholy Alliance:

Conflict and Discovery in the legendary Valley of the Shadow of Death

From before the beginning of recorded time, there have been tales of this Valley, where foul things are said to stalk the night. Few were the souls bold enough to intrude on the quiet of the forbidden valley, and still fewer were those who returned, and even they were… forever changed by the experience. Ancient scrolls recently rediscovered in the Great Library at Ravendull bear tales of Artifacts of great power born by the original inhabitants of the Valley. With hostility running high between the various Realms, the factions have formed two tentative alliances as their rulers jockey for position, wealth and power.

Smirkwood, The River of Tears and the Iron Hill are Class III terrain, while the Village of Pale and the Barrows are Class II terrain. Lonely Mountain is Class IV terrain. Long Lake is ClassV (impassable); access is only by way of the bridge of barrels, which is passable to Heroes only. At the South end of the map are the impassable (Class V) Mountains of the Moon. Red, yellow, and pink dots indicate the location of rumored treasures. Set on distance is 18”

The Faction of Good: enters from the West
Followers of the Light: deploy opposite the River of Tears
Dwarven Alliance: deploys opposite Long Lake
High Elves/The Realm: deploy beyond the Forrest of Smirkwood and to the North
Gonfor and Rhodon: deploy opposite Lonely Mountain and West Barrow

The Faction of Evil: enters from the North and East
Empire of Steppes: deploys along the Eastern third of the North edge of the table.
Lizardmen: deploy opposite Long Lake and Mirkwood
Orcs of the Red Eye: deploy opposite Lonely Mountain and East Barrow
Sultanate of Harran: deploys near Iron Hill

Initiative Rolls: Each side will nominate an army to have overall command. The Leadership die of the C-in-C for that army will be used for Initiative rolls against the other side’s overall commander. Each time an Impetus roll is lost, overall command for the losing side shifts to the next army in a clockwise direction. All armies will get the same impetus.

Victory Conditions:
Each player will add the number of morale chips remaining at the end of the game to the value of any relic that their army has collected. An army forced to withdraw from the field by an Army Morale check has a 5 point penalty assessed for this. The highest total is the winner. In case of ties, the army with the fewest units and heroes destroyed, routed, and/or retreated off the table will be the winner. Artifact value: Red = 12, Yellow = 8, Pink = 4.

The Forces:

Army #1 Empire of the Steppes:
8 units Steppe Swarm (LC Bow plus Cumans/Alans etc as needed) @ 21 = 168 pts
3 units Attack cavalry (MC/HC sword/lance) @ 36 = 108 pts
1 Unit Assault cavalry (EHC Bow) @ 98 = 98
1 unit Khan’s guards (EHC Lance) @ 135 = 135

2 units EE Sorcerers @ 6 = 12
2 units EE Baked Clay Soldiers @ 50 = 100
1 unit EE Crossbows @ 16 = 16
2 units EE halberds @ 18 = 36
2 units Dismounted Swarm (LI Archers) @ 18 = 36

1 Unit Multiple Bolt Thrower @ 40; Shoots TWICE (simultaneously) for each Reload
2 Nagas  @ 133 = 266
(”Large” creatures, 8” move, 1 base of 1 figure, Magic Resistance Moderate, Battle Line formation, Armor Class Medium, Hits 12(3), Special Attributes: Fear, Strong; Multiple Attacks(4), Fire: N/A, Melee: D12, Morale: D10)

1 Great Khan (HC Champion) @180
3 Khans (HC Hero) @ 120 = 360
1 Grand Shaman (LC Wizard Hero IV) @ 110
1 Shaman (LC Wizard Hero III) @ 80

Total: 25 Units = 1015 pts; 6 characters = 730 pts; Total 1745 points

Relic Divisor 4 = 7 cards, 50% = 3.

Army #2 Lizardmen
2 units EHC Tharlarions w/ Lance @ 98 = 196
1 unit LC w/ Javelins (Skinks) @ 30

10 units Iguana Warriors (Pikes) = 5 Pike blocks, use 1 stand of hand weapons per 8 of polearms @ 110 per PB = 550
1 unit Monitors of the Shrine (poisoned polearms) (use hand weapons) @ 153
2 units Salamanders (Spear, spit fire) (use hand weapons) @ 98 = 196
2 units Viper Marksmen (MI Bow) @ 35 = 70
2 units Chameleons (LI Bow) @ 35 = 70

1 Behemoth (Dinosaur) @ 85

1 Tyrannosaur (Champion) @ 120
2 Saurians (heroes) @ 88 = 176
1 Cayman (Wizard II hero) @ 112

Total: 21 units @ 1350, 4 characters @ 408; Total 1758

Relic Divisor 4 = 6 cards, 50% = 3.



Army #3 Orcs of the Red Eye

4 Units Orc Warriors w/ Spears @ 27 = 108
2 units Orc Archers @ 21 = 42
2 units Raiders (LI Bow) @ 12 + 24
2 units Trolls (use Ogres) @ 75 = 150
5 units Blood Drinkers (2H swords) @ 84 = 420
1 unit Obsidian Warriors (use black orcs) @ 108
1 Giant @ 112

2 units Warg riders @42 = 84
1 Unit Orc Chariots w/ scythe @112

1 unit Orc Bombard (Medium Gun) @ 48

1 Bone Cracker (Champion on foot) @ 132
1 Flesh Trampler (Hero mounted) @ 96
2 Throat Slashers (Foot heroes) @ 80 = 160
1 Eye Piercer Foot archer hero @64
2 Inepts Wizards (one level 1, one level 2) @ 130 total

Total: 21 units @ 1208; 7 Characters @ 582; Total = 1790

Relic Divisor 5 = 5 cards, 50% = 2.


Army #4 Sultanate of Harran:
1 unit The Chosen (EHC w/ Spear) @ 153
1 unit Sipahis (use MC w/ Spear) @ 105
2 units Akinjis (use MC w/ Bow) @ 21 = 42
2 units Dellis (use LC w/ Bow and Spear) @ 50 = 100
2 units Camels @ 60 = 120

3 units Swordsmen (MI foot with Sword) @ 27 = 81
1 unit Guardsmen (Foot w/ polearms) @ 84
3 units Azabs (LI w/ Bow) @ 18 = 54

2 units Elephants (use 2 Javelinmen and 2 El per unit) @ 45 = 90
1 unit Oliphants (use 2 Javelinmen and 2 Oli per unit) @ 100
1 Wyvern @ 168
1 Water Elemental @ 65

1 Khalif (HC Champion) @ 180
2 Devishes (Heroes) @ 80
1 Grand Vizier (Wizard IV Champion) @ 110
1 Vizier (Wizard III Hero) @ 80

Totals: 20 units @ 1162, 5 characters @ 630, total = 1692

Relic Divisor 4 = 6 cards; 50% = 3.


Army #5 Followers of the Light
2 Brother Knights @ 144 = 288
2 Allied Knights ( 1 each Templar and Hospitaller) @ 112 = 224
2 Sergeants @ 65 = 130
2 Tribesmen (Turkopoles) @ 30 = 60
1 Hippogriff Riders (use Hospitaller w/ swords)@ 91 = 91

1 Zealots @ 36 = 36
2 Martyrs (use peasants) @ 8 = 16
2 Foot Knights @ 77 = 154
2 HI Crossbowmen @ 45 = 90
1 LI Crossbowmen @ 15 = 15

1 Heavy gun @ 52 = 52
1 Fire Elemental (Peter) @ 65 = 65

Grand Master @ 168
Paladin (Foot) @ 80
Paladin (mounted) @ 104
Abbott (Wizard Champion III) @ 160

Total 19 units, 4 characters, 1733 points

Relic Divisor 4 = 5 cards; 50% = 2.



Army #6 Dwarven Alliance (Mountain Dwarves plus some higher tech city allies)

2 units Wild Riders (Bear) (HC, “only” 3 hits) @ 80 = 160

2 units HI pikes (1 pike block – need an odd stand of whatever) @ 60 = 120
4 units Dwarven Infantry (2 units spears, 2 units mixed axe/sword) @ 60 = 240
1 units Guard Axemen (axes) @ 108
1 unit Dwarven Heavy Infantry @ 84
2 units Arquebus (MI, “only” 3 hits) @ 70 = 140
1 unit Veteran crossbows (HI, Elite) @ 98
2 units LI Scouts (bows and med armor) @ 27 = 54
1 Dwarven Mega Cannon (Up 3 to Fire, else as Heavy Gun)
1 Dwarven War Wagon, Mastadon Drawn
1 Dwarven Beer Wagon

1 Earth Elemental @ 65

1 Dwarf Lord (C-in-C) @ 132
1 Arlabest (hero w/ X-Bow) @ 72
2 Myrmidons (hero w/ axe) @ 80 = 160
1 Armorer (Wizard I) @ 96

Total 20 units @ 1,134 + war engines , 5 heroes @ 460 = 1594+ war engines.

Relic Divisor 3 = 8 cards; 50% = 4.

*Dwarf* War Wagons: Class IV terrain, Superior position, enemy must make a Difficulty check to engage them in melee. Missile armed troops aboard (models), and have a D8 for melee, D10 for Fire, and D6 for Morale. Unit is Fearsome.Like all Dwarvish units, they take one more hit than usual to wound, so 4 hits (and 4 nominal "stands" in a unit).

Dwarven Beer Wagon:  When the Dwarf player opens the taps (his option as long as he has the initiative), the Berserker Action card is added to their deck, and *all* Dwarvish units are Up 1 for Morale. Dwarf player in charge also has to drink a bottle of really BAD beer. Another bottle every time the Berserker action card is turned. If the Beer Wagon is destroyed, routed, etc., all Dwarves DOWN 1 for morale, but immediately add a SECOND Berserker action card. No children under age 18, please!  :-)  A few choruses of "Roll out the Barrel", (or "In Heaven, There is No Beer") might also be required, LOL!

Army #7: High Elves and The Realm allies

Elves:
2 units Cavalry @ 91 (Silver Guardians) = 182

3 units Polearm @ 60 = 180
2 units hand weapons @ 55 = 110
2 units archers @ 50 = 100

1 Dragon @ 189
1 Large Treeman @ 182 (Peter)
1 unit of Treemen @ 95 (Peter)
1 Air Elemental @ 65 (Peter)

1 Loremaster (Evish Wizard Champion IV) @ 198
1 Enchanter (Elvish Wizard Hero III) @ 144
1 Ranger (Elvish Hero archer) @ 80

The Realm (Crusaders):
2 Norman Knights @ 91
2 Archers (longbow) chain (counts as Medium Armor) @ 77
2 Men at Arms, Leather, Polearms (MI Halberdiers) @ 36
2 Heavy Foot, chain, polearms (HI Imperial Halberdiers) @ 60

1 Archduke (mtd EHC Champion) @ 168
1 Yeoman (foot archer hero) @ 72
1 Duke (foot hero) @ 80

Totals: 21 units @ 1449, 6 Heroes @ 742; Total = 2191

Relic Divisor 3 = 9 cards; 50% = 4.

Army # 8: Gonfor and Rhodon

Rhodon Cavalry
4 units HC Lancers @ 81 = 324
4 units HC Archers, swordsmen @ 60 = 240

Gonforian Foot
1 unit Guards of the Keep (HI Polearm) @ 84
2 units Piffilian Rangers (LI, Longbow, Elite) @ 77 = 154
2 units Gonfor Spearmen (MI/HI) @ 50 = 100
3 units Gonfor Archers (MI/HI) @ 40 = 120



1 King of Rhodon (mounted Champion) @ 132
1 Grand Wizard (Wizard Champion) @ 198
1 Prince of Rhodon (mounted Hero) @ 120
1 Lord Commander (Gonfor Champion) @ 120
1 Commander (Gonfor Hero) @ 80
1 Fletcher (Gonfor archer Hero) @ 70

Total: 16 units @ 1022, 6 heroes @ 720; Total = 1742

Relic Divisor 3 = 7 cards; 50% = 3.


The Undead: (GM’s or an extra player with antisocial tendencies!)

Smirkwood (4 pts) 1 unit Skeleton Archers
Iron Hill (4 pts) 1 unit Skeletons w/ Polearms
East Barrow (4 pts) 1 unit Skeleton Crossbowmen
West Barrow (4 pts) 1 unit Skeleton Swordsmen
East Bridgehead (8 pts) 1 unit Skeleton cavalry w/ sword
West Bridgehead (8 pts) 1 unit Skeleton Spearmen
East Mountain (8 pts) 1 Unit Skeleton Lancers
West Mountain (8 pts) 1 unit Mounted Wraiths
Brokenback Falls (12 pts) 1 unit Bolt Throwers (positioned atop the falls, can only be destroyed by missile/magic! Has “Superior Position”, Class IV cover, missile range bands doubled!)
Village of Pale (12 pts) 1 unit Skeletons w/ Polearms
South Mountain (12 pts) 1 Liche Champion Wizard Level 4 (Lard of Pale)
North Mountain (12 pts) 1 Liche Champion Wizard Level 3 (King of Undermountain)


Then roll a D6 for the placement of the Undead unit, which must be within 6” of the site:

1 The unit is placed in a location and formation of the discovering player’s choice, facing determined by the Undead player.
2 The unit is placed in a location of the discovering player’s choice, formation and facing determined by the Undead player
3 The unit is placed in a location, facing, and formation of the Undead player’s choice.
4 The unit is placed in a location, facing, and formation of the Undead player’s choice. The Undead player immediately gets one initiative point.
5 The unit is placed in a location, facing, and formation of the Undead player’s choice. The Undead player immediately gets two initiative points.
6 The unit is placed in a location, facing, and formation of the Undead player’s choice. The Undead player immediately gets three initiative points.

The Undead have their own sequence deck; they get half of the initiative points of the other armies after the Active side moves, and half after the Reactive side moves (odd numbers split at the Undead player’s choice. Each unit acts individually; for Move Purposes, treat them as having an Average Commander (D10).

In order to attain the artifact associated with a particular Undead unit, that unit must be defeated in melee, routed, or destroyed. Once the artifact has been obtained, it remains with the unit that captured it. It may be transferred to another unit or character within 4” on a Leadership card. Enemy units may take artifacts from the unit bearing them by the same means. Note that the artifacts are too complex and dangerous to be used on the battlefield until they are carefully studied by the College of Magic at each country’s capital.


Empire of Steppes: 25 Units = 1015 pts; 6 characters = 730 pts; Total 1745 points

Lizardmen: 21 units @ 1350, 4 characters @ 408; Total 1758

Orcs of the Red Eye: 21 units @ 1208; 7 Characters @ 582; Total = 1790

Sultanate of Harran: 20 units @ 1162, 5 characters @ 630, total = 1692

Evil Totals: 86 units, 22 characters, 6985 points.



Followers of the Light: 19 units, 4 characters, 1733 points

Dwarven Alliance: 20 units @ 1,134, 5 characterss @ 460; Total = 1594

High Elves/The Realms: 21 units @ 1449, 6 characters @ 742; Total = 2191

Gonfor and Rhodon: 16 units @ 1022, 6 characters @ 720; Total = 1742

Good Totals: 75 units, 21 characters, 7260+ points.

Unholy Alliance: After Action Report

    I met Jim Mauro in the Showroom to start set up the game at 10 AM. For those of you who don’t know Jim, he’s almost as insane as I am when it comes to running big games. Jim had been painting for a couple of months to complete the armies that I set up for the game. In the end, I think he brought about 200 units of 15mm Fantasy figures, each unit, beast, and character having a color coded base with a label detailing its stats in a format that was cryptic at first, but once used a few times, fairly easy to understand.After consideration, we decided that the game as we originally envisaged it was probably a bit too complex and ambitious for a new rules set with players who were unfamiliar with them, and so by default we essentially wound up running 4 simultaneous but separate side by side games. Overall, that worked well for our purposes.

The match-ups had The Empire of the Steppes vs. Gonfor and Rhodon (think LOTR),

Orcs vs. High Elves,

Lizardmen vs. Mountain Dwarves (thanks to Rob for providing the Dwarvish army),

and finally the Sultanate of Harran (with Elephants and Wyvern) vs. the Followers of the Light (think Teutonic Knights plus magic and gunpowder).

I’m afraid that I don’t recall too much of who played which army, except that my good friend Barry Frandsen played the Empire of the Steppes. Barry was a huge help in playtesting these rules, but his familiarity with the rules and indeed, the army was to little avail as events unfolded. The forces of Gonfor bottled him up quickly, preventing his myriad of weak but annoying horse archers form getting the room they needed to threaten the flanks of the enemy. Still, the Baked Clay soldiers and Nagas gave a good account of themselves before the army collapsed under the assault of the enemy. Elsewhere, the Orcs and Elves fought to what looked like a bloody draw (the Dragon was awesome in combat), the Dwarves defeated the Lizardmen (the Dwarvish War Wagon seeming particularly annoying to the reptiles), and the Sultanate of Harran soundly thrashed the Followers of the Light, the Wyvern seeming almost invincible. Rob’s Dwarf army also included a unique “Beer Wagon” model, in honor of which Rob supplied 2 kegs of Dwarf Beer to keep the players in both games well lubricated!

After round one (1 PM to 5 PM, we straightened all the troops out and set up for round two (7 to 11 PM).  The second round had a lot more veteran Piquet players, so we introduced some of the Relics (magic items) into the second round. Those games seemed to go smoothly, and curiously the results were exactly the opposite:

The Empire of the Steppes (under Christian) soundly defeating Gonfor,

the Elves (under Andy Cowell) and Orcs (Herman) once again seemingly fighting to a bloody draw,

the Lizardmen (Pat Velas) scampering all over Rob Chellis and his hapless Dwarves (I think Rob rolled almost all “1’s” during the game), 

and the Followers of the Light (Chris Velas) routing the troops of Harran (Michael).

A few anecdotes observed from the games of Round 2… In the Steppes/Gonfor game, the Characters included Khan Noonian Singh, The Ruby Khan, and Mad Alin Khan, with Grand Shaman Chainee and Shaman Dubyah in support. At about the midpoint of the game, Dubyah decided to cast the powerful spell, “Firestorm”, at the enemy. The odds of casting the spell successfully were best if the range to the target was 6” or less, so the eager Dubyah sited the impact point at exactly 6” away, targeting the front units of the advancing enemy hosts. Unfortunately, Dubyah hadn’t done well in Geometry in Wizard School, and forgot that the spell had an effect radius of… six inches! KAFLOOM!!! The spell managed to incinerate not only a considerable number of the enemy, but also some of his own skirmishers, Grand Shaman Chainee, and Dubyah himself as well. It is rumored that shortly before the casting of the catastrophic spell, Dubyah was heard mumbling about “Nuke – clear Weapons”. I couldn’t have scripted something that perfect if I had tried!

Note the ball of smoke indicating the detonation point for Dubyah’s Folly, and the now notable lack of units in front of it!

Meanwhile in the Followers of the Light game, the dreaded Martyrs came into play. These are basically a cloud of unarmed religious fanatics, eager to die for the Cause; each time one is killed, a unit of massed Zealots is recharged with Spell energy and can cast a Lightning Bolt spell! The Followers player (Chris Velas assisted by Jim) of course pushed the Martyrs out in front of his forces, and the Harranites cooperated by slaughtering many of them, only to find themselves targeted with many a righteous lightening bolt! Thereafter, Mike, the Harran player, seemed terrified of these completely incompetent and otherwise useless peasants, giving them wide berth! In this battle, the vaunted Wyvern was disordered, then outflanked and destroyed, while the Elephants ran for their Southern home, trampling many friendly units in their terror.

Christian rolls for the Empire of the Steppes while Andy Cowell calculates!

Overview of the “Evil side of the table: Herman, Pat, and Mike, all hotly engaged.

Overview of the table, Round 2; Lonely Mountain is prominent in the Foreground.

The cleanup, again affably assisted by Joe and many of the players, was completed by Midnight. Thanks again to Jimmy Mauro for the enormous amount of work he did to make these games a success. Hostile Realms has a tremendous amount of flexibility to model unique properties of various kinds of mundane and fantastic units in some different and fun ways!

Happy Memorial day weekend to those of you in the US. As we play our games of conflict, let us recall those men and women of all countries for whom war was and is no game, and especially those who lost their lives in the process.

Peter