Interested to see how flexible it can be.

[Andy Skinner]

I got the WoE rulebook today. I have been using a different system with some Middle Earth figures, and was curious how this system will do as a large skirmish game.

Some very initial first thoughts:
* I read that people had issues with spears. If you picture spears as not being used as javelins, are they worth their points if you just don’t throw them?
* My trolls don’t throw up on folks. Any guesses on how much of their point value is in that? I suppose I could think of some other name for the effect, like throwing rocks.
* How important do you think limits on unit sizes are? I see a lot where you get 5 and can add 5 more. I’ve been playing a system where you can add together two units of 10. (It is a very simple system.) I’d rather allow some bigger units than more and more units, but I’d guess there are limits there, too.
* When you don’t have a specific miniature line (which I appreciate!), you sometimes don’t know what they really have in mind. I’d like to have lots of giant spiders, but it looks like they have smaller numbers of them. I wonder how big spiders they have in mind. Or if they just weren’t thinking of having that many. Similarly for the treemen/dryads.
* Both my orcs and goblins are more Tolkien-ish. I’ll have to find a profile for the orcs (by which I just mean larger goblins). I see my orcs as being close enough to (non-heroic) humans to be the same on the battlefield.

Still in the book-browsing stage, and it isn’t clear yet I’ll go with this over what I’ve been playing. But I like a bunch the general look.

andy

[Tim Haslam]

Hi Andy,

I’ve played a couple of games, but I’m quite impressed with the game system.
At first I would agree on the spears being too powerful, but then looking at other weapons like really big axes and certain troop types, knights for example, I’m now thinking I may have been too hasty.

We are hoping to run a one day event in July and I’m thinking we may leave it completely open to army selection.
20 guys playing three games each, in the same location, will help flush out the overly powerful weapons and combinations.

As to bigger units, well again, you’ll need to play some games first.

[AbsoluteZero]

Hey there Andy,
*Spears are a free swap out for your CC weapon most of the time. And you only can throw them in the ‘exchange of missiles’ phase of close combat. P.S. Always throw them because you don’t lose them.
*Throwing rocks sounds fine. When you test to see if ’empty’, it just means you ran out of throwable rocks.
*You definitely don’t want big units(11+)in the game. That is more for your sake as a player. This game uses the order dice system. Now most of the time, you want as many order dice in the bag as possible. So some players use 7 or 9 count units. Why? Because smaller unit size means you can get more units and thereby get more order dice. So for a 7 count unit, you need to lose 4(same as a 8 count unit) or with 9, you need to lose 5(same as 10 count). But if you have a 20 unit, you only get 1 order dice for it. Or two 7 counts and a 6 count for 3 order dice.
*I think the model base size is up to 50mm base(?). I’m not sure.
*Using orc models as humans is fine. Or maybe try barbarians, or beastmen? Have fun and find the flavor of army you want.

[Andy Skinner]

Thanks for comments. By the way, I’m not thinking that the game needs fixing, having not played it yet. But I am wondering whether it is the game I want to play. For example, I just don’t see my elves throwing their spears. I haven’t even looked to see if spears have any other characteristics.

The reason I was thinking of larger units is that I like a lot of figures on the table. A few of the units are a bit small compared to some of the units I’ve been using with another system. I still think “large skirmish”, because I don’t want ranks and files or wheeling units, etc. I could imagine with some of the units I was looking at that I’d want a few more figures than they seem to allow. But maybe a second unit would be OK. Not thinking about how effective under the rules, but whether it will handle what I’m after.

thanks
andy

[Don Delis]

I am hoping to bring back my Swiss from Warhammer Ancients and my Japanese as well.

[Tim Haslam]

Both Beautiful looking armies on the battlefield.
Looking forward to seeing them.

[Mark Lewis]

I think it is quite a flexible system and would work well for LOTR type games.
There are two types of spears – spears, which can be thrown in the exchange of missiles phase (as well as somehow then being used in melee), and long spears, which cancel charge bonuses. If you don’t see your elves throwing their spears, class them as long spears.
There are lots of different troop profiles in the book, so you should be able to find one to match how you think your orcs and goblins should be represented.
Regarding unit sizes, you could go higher than the numbers in the army lists, especially for weaker troops like goblins.
However, all the combat is one unit vs one unit and everyone in the unit fights. So if you get too big units it could get a bit silly as you might have 20 figures in one unit all fighting against a single figure hero unit. So I would say the upper limit on unit size is based on how many could feasibly fight against a single enemy.
For giant spiders, there are actually three types in the monster list – giant spiders (which come in units of up to three and are similar in combat power to an ogre or troll), gigantic spider (more like a giant in combat power) and spider swarms (units of 3-5 bases of smaller spiders). So there is quite a lot of flexibility in the lists and you should find an appropriate profile for what you want.

• This reply was modified 5 years ago by Mark Lewis.

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