/awg/ Alternative Wargames General

>What is /awg/?
A thread to talk about minis and games which fall between the cracks. /hwg/ doesn't entertain fantasy (for good reason) and the other threads are locked to very specific games, so this thread isn't tied to a game, or a genre, lets talk about fun wargames.

Any scale, any genre, any company, any minis. Skirmishers welcome. Rules designers welcome.

>Examples of games that qualify
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_miniature_wargames
Grimdark Future, Age of Fantasy, Mighty Armies, Dragon Rampant, Of Gods and Mortals, Frostgrave, Hordes of the Things, Songs of Blades and Heroes, Freebooter's Fate, Dark Age, LotR and anything that doesn't necessarily have a dedicated thread (gorkamundheim).

>Places to get minis
docs.google.com/document/d/1D2DbNJ2mYAUxh5P9Pq9NZqS5tXHGn0i2JhZchEwbA2I/edit?usp=sharing

>The Novice Trove
pastebin.com/viWJ1Yvk

Other urls found in this thread:

mediafire.com/folder/6oq90kh8hhqg2/Other_40k
onepagerules.wordpress.com/portfolio/age-of-fantasy/
home.earthlink.net/~cyberkiwi/soldiers/rules3.html
shichitenhakki.wordpress.com/tag/the-ruins-are-endless/
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

Last one died pretty quickly, keep this one alive a bit longer, shall we?

Is Inquisimunda allowed in this thread, or should I take that to 40kg or start a GW SKirmish thread?

Sure, feel free to post 'bout it.

Well, let's see...

Currently trying to fit Sicarian Infiltrators into the game, but bionics are incredibly expensive per model. Also not sure if bionics are paired, but it seems like per-limb, which drives up costs.

Also wondering how Investigation and Subversion work. Seems like there's more to the GM's side of it, but still wondering how to incorporate that into a game.

Also happy Inquisimunda has rules for mounts, which means I can give this model some proper rules well, the next one, this is version 1.

Some days are just slower than others if you are niche. I vastly prefer it to shitposting.

This looks great, though I'd change the hooves to something wider and more stable.
I'm not familiar with Inquisimundar, is that an attempt at porting Inquisitor to Necromunda?

Inquisimunda is, in fact, Inquisitor ported to Necromunda. The community has also worked with expanding the rules for teams and equipment, so new stuff is being added.

Last I saw, they were working on porting Skitarii/Cult Mechanicus equipment and weapons into the game.

Got a link to those resources (community Necromunda base, plus the Inquisimunda expansion):
mediafire.com/folder/6oq90kh8hhqg2/Other_40k

Recently I've been playing This is Not a Test with two of my buddies and we are having a great time. A surprising amount of depth in both warband construction and gameplay. I really wish the creator would come out with more skills, but I'm doing alright making my own. But otherwise i've got no complaints and highly recommend the game to anyone looking for a fun post apoc skirmish game.

I'm looking for a recommendation.

Due to the surfeit of boardgames with shit-tons of roughly 28mm fantasy miniatures going on, I need a fantasy wargame that works on something like SAGA's scale of being able to have units that are not particularly large, maybe some big-guys, some heroes, and a do-it-yourself unit stats system. And is not Otherworld, not a fan of that system.

Anything fit?

That looks like a fucked up awesome model.

Age of Fantasy with 500pts worth of units is about the size of a regular SAGA game

onepagerules.wordpress.com/portfolio/age-of-fantasy/

Seems interesting but there's no unit creation system which is kinda essential.

Is there a UK retailer for the new Heavy Gear stuff yet? Caprice are sexy as fuck.

I kinda doubt it, never been able to find Heavy Gear over here, or at least anything decently stocked.

I highly doubt DP9 could afford to send product overseas.

Like the US there were but DP9 sucking and lack of interest has basically killed it. At least the CA dollar is shittier than the Pound

Ok anons, I've seen the topic of Mordheim like games come up here a few times and how people are generally unhappy with the options out there. I'm writing my own game that is inspired by Mordheim, where you make a warband of your dudes and go adventuring with them into a impossibly large and stupidly dangerous city for fun and profit.

My question is, what do you guys want out of a game like this?

Just mix and match units from different armies. You'll be fine.

Dragon Rampant sounds right up your alley.

Any advice to an aspiring player? I'd like to demo it for my club at the end of the month or the end of the next month.

I put a scavenger gang together and bought some Warlord/WGF Indians to make into some tribals.

Watch Nickel City Stories on Youtube.

Thanks for the tip. I've been watching it over the past few days and I've been enjoying it.
I generally like Ash, but they forget so many rules that it aggravates my autism.

As somebody who writes games: Don't ask what other people want. Write whatever YOU want to see in a game like that. The People don't know what they want, they'll tell you twenty different things that all contradict themselves. Just pick a direction you like and go down that way.

To still answer your question: I'd like to see a solid, balanced basegame with simple customization options. Progression and campaigning doesn't even need to be really in at base, making sure the game is solid has a higher priority. Once the game actually works, expanding it with new options, factions and a way to level up your guys is a good way to go, but don't overdo it at first.
Not a fan of the whole "Well it's a narrative wargame, it doesn't need to be all that balanced" idea.

Hey Dude. It's true that Ash on GmG forgets a ton of rules, especially the rule that models that fail grazing tests move 3" into cover AND become prone. Not just one or the other.

Tips for starters.

First and foremost. Have fun. These rules are really fun but places are super vague (like frenzy and the Frother skill). Best for you and your buddies to be mature and do things in the spirit of fun.

Second.
Print tokens, tokens, tokens!!!
Some of the obvious ones are activation, wound, hit and graze markers. Some of the not so obvious ones are frother tokens, hard as nails tokens and gunsmith tokens. I cant tell you how many times my leaders assault rifle or my specialist has jammed his first burst only to remember two turns later I could have ignored it with my gunsmith skill.

Are you looking for overall tactics for each warband as well? I play a raider warband, and my regular opponents are a preserver warband and mutant outcast band. If you want tactical advice, just give a shout out and i'll share what i've learned.

More Dystopian Wars models revealed.

>Mobile mad-scientist lair

Opulent as fuck. No matter what, Spartan can still nail balls-out-crazy steampunk designs.

I finally realized what I don't like about the DW designs. The rivets make them look all weird and considering the scale, they'd at least as big as a bloody car.

Has anybody tried Maelstrom's Edge, or at least bought some of the models for it?
I was bored and put together the freeby sample models I got last year at Salute (Plastic with a few options but not much poseability), so I went and had a look at their website.

The Epirian robots are pretty cool, might get them to use as 15mm mechs.

The Robutts look kind of cool but my god the proportions on those humans are garbage.

Dragon Rampant or Song of Blades and Heroes might be what you are looking for.

They're only about as big as a man's head, user.

the models look shitty, the rules look shitty, their constant spamming of ads on dakka is shitty

desu I expected much better from them, they have such a huge potential audience and then they release generic sci-fi game nr.9000

>their constant spamming of ads on dakka is shitty
Because the game was made by Dakka.

Everything.

That's the problem with Necromunda/Mordheim-type games - the originals were old and clunky and you were lucky if the campaign system was the most broken part of them, but newer games are expected to be... actually well-designed for campaign play, and warband creation, and warband evolution, and basic game balance.

This is a Hard Problem.

I'm tempted to say "fuck it, use od&d (fantasy) or close little wars (featherstone, very simple colonial/modern/sf) for the basic mechanics" and bodge shit together, then put one group per player on a 6x4 table of 6", unexplored squares. Use something like The Forest is Endless (fantasy version: The Ruins are Endless) and make the exploration a bigger deal.

Also, have a ref running the show, and rather than a bunch of one-on-one fights, get a group playing at once, either controlling their own warbands or npc groups.

This gives you something nothing at all like necromunda or mordheim, but frankly I'm not sure you can achieve that these days.

I mean you could do what I just said using straight-up 2e 40K mechanics and it'd work about as well. Just abandon the idea of a by-the-book tables and fights campaign.

That kind of got away from me, sorry.

It's like they're going for the overdetailed Battlefleet Gothic Cathedral ship style, using fucking giant rivets rather than weird gothic architecture.

It's ugly, and not in the good way.

The humans make great Doomguys. I made a platoon of Doomguys for Tomorrows War.

Ah, it's The Forest is Vast.

home.earthlink.net/~cyberkiwi/soldiers/rules3.html

shichitenhakki.wordpress.com/tag/the-ruins-are-endless/

It's a neat system that I've used once or twice. With Mordheim mechanics, actually.

You... you do know that there are only infinitely many hells with infinitely many demons, right? You don't need that many doomsguy . . .

That sounds like we need infinite doomguys

Nah, half that guy's platoon should suffice.

Nah, you can handle it with three, but you're probably better doubling-up to an even half-dozen, although if you really want to use all the possible names... Lorelei, John, Dimitri, Thi, Buddy, Stan, BJ, Flynn, Arlene, Doom, Crash, Phobos. I think that's the lot. I mean, there's more than one John IIRC, but I'm simplifying.

You really don't need infinite doomsguy though.

On average, 3 doomguys are needed per infinity.

If Doomguy's bunny has been slain, then 1 doomguy is enough.

yea, and that makes it even worse, it really shows their desperation to get rid of their fucking monstrosity which nobody wants

this game died before the kickstarter even ended, it's fucking ridiculous

I'll take a look as Song of Blade and Heroes then, not a fan of the -Rampant games. Find them to be really, really bland.

What are the rules like? Aside from bad, judging by your post.

>people advertise their own product on their own website
>this means they're desperate

>advertising your own product on your own forum is bad

bump

After looking up the scale, if the rivets are half a mm thick, that's still 60 centimeters in that scale. That's some bloody huge rivets.

It's steampunk, so gotta have muh rivets regardless of whether or not they make structural sense.

Then again this is a setting that has developed flying battleships but where welding apparently doesn't exist.

I used shinygames.uk, they have the plastic stuff and can order in metals.

Fucking A*

Wait, I have no money with which to make use of this knowledge. Shit.

The latest Wargames Illustrated had an article about it that used a lot of fine words to say very little

>units activate up to 2 at a time
>you get back attack bonuses
>weapons have infinite range but are more effective within a fixed short range
>units acquire suppression which means they might not activate and become easier to wound
>overwatch is powerful to deter melee

and that's all the info I could glean

crossposting for attention
Which version do you like best?

I really wish you hadn't told me that.

...

Anyone played the Batman game? What's been the verdict on it? Curious about the quality of the models, too.

Well, if it's Knight Models, the quality should be good...no idea about the game itself, but I want a Harley Quinn for post apoc gaming.

Thanks for the tips. I'm not too worried about places where the rules are vague (we're playing a lot of Empire of the Dead right now, and as much as I love it, it's a mess).
I'm more interested in general tips, like the one you gave about having tokens/counters on hand.

As far as warbands go, have you encountered any poor match-ups or auto/never-include dudes or equipment?

I feel you. The -Rampant games are really love / hate.

I'm not as familiar with Song but I don't know if it will handle as many figures as your standard 4/6pt SAGA warband.

The ones I've seen were of high quality, which should be expected for the price.
If you want to mix them with other ranges, keep in mind they are 32mm true scale, not 28mm or 28mm hurroic, so next to other manufacturer's lines they'd be pretty big guys

For you :^)

The only time I played that game someone took Bane, spent a lot of the game memeing, and then Bane ended up getting killed by a couple of thugs with stun rods

Since we're talking fantasy skirmishes alot this time, I'll 'shill' (it's basically completely free) a little for AoS: Hinterlands:
I just played it for thw first time yesterday and it is surprisingly good. The alternate activation and rolling for initative each turn doesn't feel as punishing as in normal AoS. It's really fast/simple (as you would expect from AoS) and with AoS system of special rules for each unit pretty thematic without being overwhelming.
The only downside was the scenario feeling a little bland in the way it played out. We head to split our forces into two opposing corners and get to the objective in the middle. It boiled down to two melee fights in the middle. I guess next time, when we start a real campaign,we'll add the quests from dragon rampant (hidden objectives).
Everyone looking for a fantasy (campaign) skirmish should give it a try imho.

>It boiled down to two melee fights in the middle.
So it was like any other AoS game - 1-2 big melees in the middle where everyone's rolling 4+s till someone's getting wiped out.

Good work user. Rip and tear!!!

Honestly nothing seems to broken. big mutants with the obese deformity are slow as hell, but amazingly durable for their cost. Miniguns are a huge pain in the ass if they are get into a good position. I think you run into the most shenanigans with mutant warbands overall. They can run extremely cheap and tough models and most of them have no need to buy extra equipment, seeing as mutations can provide them either with built in melee or ranged weapons, and physical mutations prevent the use of most useful armors. This allows them to usually field a decent amount of models. Its great. Raiders are surprisingly fast, when I first built my warband I was kinda miffed that wrecker rank and files were 20bs a pop, as most other warbands get cheap melee options. But wreckers start at move 6 and aren't locked down with the rag-tag skill.

General tips. Don't forget models can only charge once a turn, and knocking back on defending can prevent an attackers second melee swing (or free flurry of blows attacks). Shields with Machine pistols can be great anti-melee fighters. If your model hasn't activated yet and gets charged, just knock them out of melee then burst fire in their faces.

Berserker Brew is nuts for any melee model. For 3bs you get +1 move and +1 melee all game, with the minor drawback of frenzy, but thats easy to overcome usually (unless the model is dumb), plus frenzy gives the brave skill while under its effects, so if your close to a rout check, just let 'em go nuts!

Flame weapons are awesome for pushing models out of position or just causing havoc. flame weapons call for morale checks, not grazing tests, when hit. Meaning they can push enemies back their full movement.

Willing going prone while in the open is a good thing. If a model cannot get to cover on a double move, choose to go prone at the end of the move. A double move, plus being 6" or further away from a shooting enemy hits them with a -2 penalty to hit. Same as being in heavy cover.

Guys, can any of you recommend any Weird World War II ruleset for 1/72? Preferably something simple that can be played in an hour or so.
My group and I already own some PSC minis, and a couple of zombie bags from the Zombies!!! boardgame, which happen to be in the same scale.

Secrets of the Third Reich.

If you find/make mechs for it, tell us.

Honestly, that makes the same sound appealing...

Imagine Bane going "Ow, ow, ow, ouch, ow, ow" while being beaten by stun rods.

If it sells it more, The Penguin was standing nearby laughing at him and Batman was there (it was a three player game) but pulled a boner and ended up chasing Catwoman around fruitlessly.

I think there's a kickstarter right now for exactly this.

Two Hour Wargames has a Weird War II supplement out for their WWII system. Has rules for vampires, werewolves, zombies, rocketmen, mechs, and some other weird stuff.

Working on some Clickers for Empire of the Dead.
Jerusalem is a little further behind so she's not in the pic. Pretty fun game, working on some Vampires for it as well.

Sadly for 28mm.

I intended these guys as the 'other' marines who rushed in and got killed. So in Tomorrow's War they're only elite badasses able to take on times their number.

I've made all six keys and Daisy as objectives.

Maelstrom's Edge with Pig Iron heads for the Doomguys.

You can get chainsaws, shotguns, sawn offs, chainguns, and a serviceable plasma rifle from Hasslefrees weapons pack. I don't know if they still do them, but Kev does a CAD gun pack that can be shaved to make a pretty good Doom rocket launcher.

>tfw no CIA model

Life is suffering

Song of blades and heroes. I can't recommend that enough.

I knew a guy who was interested in KLnight models batman game and did nothing but make constant reffence to the plane scene the fuck out of him whilst, he was trying to demo the game mostly for revenge for for being a dick to me while trying to demo Dystopian leigions the week before that he forced me to do.

Thanks. I should check Konflikt 47 too

Didn't mantic have a Doc Brown miniature for one of their games? I can't find it anymore.
I can only find this one, which looks like the start of the first film, the one I'm thinking about looks like from the end of the first film/star of the second one.

Anyone what I'm talking about?

So what games one can do with paper minis? To avoid complicated questions about LoS and stuff

Really any game that doesn't use TLOS.

You can try their own game, Warlord, which is a really nice game.

Glad you're liking it. Are you the user who also grabbed a box of Nosferatu?

I'd be interested if you knew what kind of house-rules your group ended up using. Right now the only house rules my group is using is so we can use a steam-horse, but I'm beginning to feel that hunting rifles are way too powerful.

>If it sells it more, The Penguin was standing nearby laughing at him and Batman was there (it was a three player game) but pulled a boner and ended up chasing Catwoman around fruitlessly.
That sounds like a beautiful game.

>and Daisy
Good show.

I am that user, yes.

Not a houserule but in the games I've played armour is very prevalent so hunting rifles don't seem too OP. There's also a lot of LoS blocking scenery on the board. The good thing about the rulebook being sort of a disorganised mess is that it encourages more player to player conversation about what would be cool or likely to happen rather than quoting page numbers and FAQs.

There's the houserule - firearms should negate armor.

We've been working on the LOS blocking a bit recently, but we're more used to setting up terrain to look cool/natural than be useful.

It depends what sort of terrain you're using I suppose, the club I go to has a purpose built urban board with a bunch of buildings and some boats so it's easy to hide from guns. Makes positioning and overwatch more important as well.

We've been doing mostly countryside affairs. A few houses, hedges, low walls and the like.

We tend to set up a little village, but after our last game's firing-line bloodbath, we've learned we need to change some things.

One of our players has a beautiful urban board, but for logistical/sanity reasons can't bring it to the club. We've played on it before though.

Trees are good for LoS blocking in countryside games, especially taller ones or little thickets.

definitely. They saved quite a few of dudes, but my ally set up more or less in the open and suffered heavy losses in the first turn.

We just need to start setting them up in more "strategic" locations.

It doesn't help that none of us are really competent players.

bump

Territory
Territory
Territory
Give people something that is worth fighting for on a strategic level. Necromunda territory generated income and delivered other campaign benefits. My biggest single issue with Mordheim was that it had no territory that allowed you to strategically grow. The alternative that my game group came up with was to use the Mordheim tabletop rules and develop a campaign system in Marienburg. It was a big enough multicultural slum that it wasn't much different than Mordheim.

Keep scavenging if you want but make it a side activity for juves and lesser minions.

The other big suggestion is make a good scenario generator with quality scenarios. Make it a necessity to play scenarios other than straight pitched battles and gang fights.

Fucking Americans always refuse to play anything other than gang fights. And then they bitch about balance issues and overpowered outlaw gangs.It's just plane bad role playing not to follow through with a campaign.

>Fucking Americans always refuse to play anything other than gang fights.
Well, they do what they see looking out their mirrors...

Started it ages ago and have only done a couple of special rules, But i wanna do a heavy metal 1981 style supplement for aSoBaH called A song of HEAVY METAL. Basically science fiction and sword and sorcery mashed together, barbarian warriors fighting lazer robots from the back of pterodactyls.

Anyone got any recommendations for special rules/scenarios?

Americans just wanna shoot each other in a desolate industrial wasteland motivated by fanatic cultural extremes?

Whoda thunk it.

Hey dude what paints did you use for your doomguys? I'm making a Doom themed marine chapter for 40k, got those exact pig iron heads in the mail right now

Do you know the artist for that picture? It's rad as hell.