RPGs, Wargames, and Everything In-Between
So I 3D printed a cannon for my human army for Oathmark, as an artillery piece, and then I looked at the quick reference chart to see what the stats are for a cannon, as an artillery piece.
Cannons are not allowed, as an artillery piece.
Maybe I can say it’s a really strong ballista? No?
*sit in corner with dunce cap*
As if I needed yet another game to delve into…
Description, per Osprey Games’ website:
—
Empires have fallen, and the land is broken. The great oathmarks that once stood as testaments to the allegiances and might of nations have crumbled into ruin. In this lost age, fealty and loyalty are as valuable as gold and as deadly as cold iron, and war is ever-present
Oathmark: Second Edition is a revised and expanded version of the popular mass-battle fantasy wargame, Oathmark. Featuring new and expanded rules, units types, and a whole host of other revisions from years of player feedback. Command the fantasy army you’ve always wanted in Oathmark: Second Edition, whether a company of stalwart dwarves or a mixed force with proud elves, noble men, and wild goblins standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the battle-line.
Fight through an integrated campaign system and develop your realms from battle to battle, adding new territories, recruiting new troop types, and growing to eclipse your rivals…
…or lose what you fought so hard to gain and fall as so many would-be emperors before you.
—
So this game is interesting in that you create a kingdom from scratch, and depending on how you build/lay out your kingdom, you’ll have access to different fighting units, from militia and swordsmen all the way up to creatures like ogres and dragons. You’ll also have champions, leaders, and sorcerors to aid in your battles, and depending on how your forces do, your kingdom will rise and fall, grow or shrink.
Initially I was just gonna make an orc army (naturally) but then decided to pick up a box of humans, either to fight the orcs…
… or maybe ally with them?
I dunno. This will probably be something I play solo anyways, so I can create whatever I want.
I did order some leader-type miniatures as well as the orc and human Infantry boxes, and I also 3D printed a second set of swordsmen for the humans, and I may do the same for the orcs. The game is miniatures agnostic, so I’d like to go with 3D printing for anything beyond the base army boxes I got (30 minis each). I kept looking for 3D figures in my files for leader types, but just went with the metal minis available for sale online.
I have a queen/wizard/musician set coming in for the humans, and a king/wizard/musician set coming in for the orcs.
Funny thing is that while miniatures exist for the musicians and standard bearers, they have no significant qualities or skills in the game itself.
So my human kingdom will be led by a queen (unamed for now) who will lead her army into battle, while King Bob the Orc will lead the orc forces.
Stand by!
This has started to be one of my favorite phrases in a description of any tabletop miniatures game.
As I start to play games like Frostgrave and Rangers of Shadow Deep, I find myself looking at my old D&D/RPG miniatures to fill in for some of the character models I need for the games.
An unused rogue mini will be a thief in my Frostgrave warband.
One of my paladin minis will be the champion in another warband.
And I’m sure I’ll find a purpose for many others of these miniatures.
Meanwhile, instead of scrambling to find enough creatures for a given scenario in some of these games, I came up with this simple solution.
I’m printing a dozen of these guys to proxy *any* creature that my warbands come across. Some of the scenarios call for 5 of a certain type when all I have is 2, so the generic green SFX guys will fill in for the missing creatures.
Stand by!
I seriously think I have too many options for gaming, resulting in executive indecision.
I’m reading up on that and may ask my doctor about it during my next annual visit.
In the meantime, I hope to finally get around to playing something more consistently in the next few weeks.
I’ve neglected all of the solo RPGs as I’ve been hopping around reading up different systems, when I should just focus on continuing the adventures of the Excalibur.
– – –
Meanwhile, I’ve been preparing for a couple of games that should be arriving in the next month or so, both from Firelock Games.
Oak and Iron is a tabletop naval game in the age of sail. They have a second edition coming out soon, so I decided to pick this one up since I finally watched Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Ships are in 1:600 scale, and I found a few on MyMiniFactory that I’d like to have included in my games, including the HMS Surprise from the aforementioned M&C movie, and the USS Enterprise , from the late 18th century.
The core set comes with 6 smaller ships, but I did pick up a couple of expansions which contain much larger ships, including 1st/2nd/3rd rate Ships of the Line.
There was a Kickstarter for this last summer, which I backed.
This is basically a smaller scale skirmish version of Blood and Plunder from Firelock, based in the Jamaican city of Port Royal after the earthquake in 1692.
The miniature count for squads average about 6 models, and while I already have models for English, Spanish, Native Americans, and pirates, the core set contains15 models that will represent the French, and I included an add-on of the new Native American set with multi-pose plastic models that I will build as a Maroon (escaped African slaves) faction.
– – –
And of course, I have my sports games to play, but that’s another story.
Stand by!
Late last year, 2nd Dynasty updated the 3D print files for their Transport Delta freighter.
More detailing, better support options, and generally a better looking design.
So I went ahead and printed the Infineon Beetle’s sister ship.
BEHOLD, THE BLUE BANTHA!
Behold!
This was 3D printed and can be expanded if the need arises.
It’s currently 24″ x 32″, which is big enough for most of the games I currently play, sports and otherwise.
And in a IDGAF thought, any and all tabletop skirmish games will be played on this surface, regardless of the suggested playing area. Because 36″ x 36″ is a bit big, for me.
Stand by!
So, what’s been going on since last year?
I managed to start that Legendary Kingdoms solo game, but haven’t gotten very far. I hope to continue playing fairly soon.
My crew for Five Parsecs from Home got a little boring, so I’m going to restart the game with a new campaign and a new crew.
I’ve sold off practically all of my Warhammer 40K armies (Guard, Ork, Necron, Marines) to an online store, I have maybe a handful of figures for Kill Team, or…
I’m looking into a newer, miniatures-agnostic system called Fistful of Lead, specifically the Galactic Heroes version, from Wiley Games. This new system will allow me to use whatever miniatures I have laying around and finally have those battles we’ve always wanted to see, like Federation crew vs. Mandalorians.
Okay, maybe battles that *I’ve* wanted to see.
Speaking of miniatures, I’ve been printing them out on my resin printer and have way more than I need for any system.
I’ve also shelved a few games (Car Wars, Battletech, Blood & Plunder, etc) while I try to focus on what I actually want to play between these types and my sports games…
I’ll have it all figured out by the time we reach the Frontier.
*klaxon alert*
What’s that?
The Frontier.
Stand by!
You know I really like a game when I decide to get a hardcopy of the rules after getting the PDF version of those same rules.
Found an interesting game a couple of weeks back, an alternate history wargame with 3D printable playing pieces.
World War Tesla™ is an alternate-history wargame by James M. Ward (author of TSR’s Gamma World, Deities & Demigods, and Metamorphosis Alpha) and Thomas A. Tullis, where Nikola Tesla’s more radical ideas such as death rays and force fields have come to fruition, changing the face of a world at war. Giant walking tanks, soldiers with rocket-packs, and flying machines armed with death rays rule the battlefield!
I decided to print a couple of both army’s units:
