Sunday, December 16, 2018

Warhammer Warbands

G'day M8's!  On the heels of my Skirmish-heim post, I have now embarked onto the Warbands rules in White Dwarf 296-298.  I know, all this small-hammer, what's it all about? Well to be honest small games are fun and action packed!   Who wants to keep playing boring 3000 point pitched battles every time you game.  So I'm here to tell you sometimes smaller can be better.
 I've really enjoyed reading through the Warband rules, and they are correct in stating they have taken the best parts from many of the previous warband attempts.

I do think I would like to keep the crit table and the injury table from Skirmish-Heim.  Seeing a lowly trooper cut down an enemy hero, or find out those 4 men you just lost weren't so bad off , is just to cool to leave out.

So first off you need to create your little warband.  Will you choose a mighty hero and lead a small elite band, or will he go more for a horde of lowly troops lead by a simple champion?

Having built your warband now what will the scenario be?  Each player having an unknown objective is very entertaining.  Will you have to assassinate the an enemy character today or just seize his banner and use it for toilet paper?
 With a few games under your belt you should be able to add to your warbands now.  Perfect time for a local escalation league?

The second part also goes into some stricter guidelines for certain armies, as well as including the Storm of Chaos lists.

I am of the mind however that 500 points is 500 points and you shouldn't need any silly restrictions.  Just depends on the friends you game with.

 You mean I can team up with the other villains in the league to go pillage and burn the local villages.  Yes...do whatever you like!!!
 If the string of games and progression has started to form a narrative for you, it might be time to embark your warband on a campaign to riches...or ruin!

Searching for the riddle or steel or who has the Power...simple lines of text that can lead to untold chronicles across the tabletop!
 
 You can even add archetypes to enhance your generals personality.  Me I'll be collecting other champions heads.
I hope you've enjoyed this post and the previous on the Skirmish-Heim rules and how you can expand your Warhammer games. 

20 comments:

  1. I'll be round to your gaff in about 5 minutes! (or at least I would be if we lived in our own little fantasy village, damn you Atlantic ocean!!!!!)

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    1. That damn pond is a curse upon our game tables! I know we got a full schedule this year, but maybe we can work this in for 2020. ;)

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  2. Did they just re-skin the RoC rules or is there more to it?

    Warbands are a lot of fun, watching your band of merry men become broken and shattered war veterans can be quite amusing. Where entering a battle with half of your guys having debilitating injuries and the rest of them unable to get around unless they have a steed is the name of the game.

    Warbands ho!!!!!!!

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    1. They simlified it into what's called Path to Glory it's in several WD's 269-280, or there was a little booklet you could get, but get the UK version. The US version is crap. But ya really looking forward to trying some warbands out.

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  3. I have always liked the games that are in the middle ground between skirmish and full size. I liked the Donnybrook "4 point" armies, and the Warhammer 1,000 point games. They move quickly and appeal to my sense of proportion on the table.

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    1. Yeah, small enough that you can actually use tactics.

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    2. Ya I think 1000 point games are my jam...tho Lopez is really getting me itching for a 2000 game. But having some small 500 point games as a narrative buildup or commando scenarios is really appealing at the moment too.

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    3. That's what I like about these too Papa is that it's smaller but with tactics...I prefer that over a skirmish game.

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  4. I enjoyed this take, I did a unit once of MERCs from all over known world that would fit here. They were spear/bow/sword armed with the same company shield pattern....I even named each trooper, had a really sell sword feel to them. I could see them coming into a small area and trying to take over and being resisted by local tribes/villages/feudal levies. Think these rules would provide an interesting series of battles......)

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    1. Yus that sounds amazing! You might have to do a series of battles with them and share their progress. ;)

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  5. Great stuff--looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

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  6. Cool! I like the Warbands idea. I've had the seed of defending the kingdom for some time. Do your lords band together and heed your call, do they fight amongst themselves or side with the enemy? Do they try to usurp the king?

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    1. Yus! Very reminiscent of the Perry’s latest War of the Roses campaign.

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  7. can you make a pdf with these rules? because you can't print what's on the page.

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    1. All those PDFs I found online. You should be able to track them down with a little searching.

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