Oathmark

Every now and then a set of rules appear that really enthuse me. The new Fantasy Battle rules called Oathmark from North Star Miniatures and Osprey Games is one such set.

 This is a beautifully presented and well illustrated book is an easy and enjoyable read; just the sort of book I like to own. The rules themselves are largely clear and well written; the few areas that I did not fully understand have soon been cleared up on the Oathmark Facebook page. Osprey also quickly released a well presented Fast Play Sheet that is downloadable from their Osprey Games site; an essential for any new set of rules so a massive positive for Osprey from me.  

Goblin Army so far-I have a few trolls and wolves also finished that they could use. 

The rules use ten sided dice (d10) in a sensible and easy to recall manner. You never need more than 5 of these so no buckets full of dice in this game. Simply put, to attack you will normally throw 5xd10, adding your units 'Fight' skill to each individual dice throw, aiming to score equal to or above the enemy units Defence value. Ranks of troops are important and can add bonuses to your dice score for melee, missile fire and Morale. Shooting is done in a similar manner. Spellcasting is also wonderfully simple. You throw one d10 per level of your spellcaster, aiming to score equal to or above your chosen spells Target Number, each spell having a different target number. Thus a level 2 spellcaster is going to succesfully cast more spells than a level 1 spell caster. Command and Control is also dealt with in a clear and easy manner. The difference between adding a Champion or a Commander to your units can be very critical when moving or fighting so choose your forces carefully.

The slowly growing Dwarf Army; a unit of Dwarf Spearmen is now on the painting desk.

In the Oathmark rulebook there is also a simple but very clever campaign system that is also linked in with army building. Unit choices and troop types are linked to the various terrain types you can choose from, so you need to plan your kingdom carefully to ensure you are able to access the troops that you want in your army. You can of course just play one-off games to an agreed points value selected from the list of choice. There are army lists for Human, Dwarf, Orc and Goblin and Elf armies. You can add a variety of monsters to your army and there is a  range of magic items you can choose from. Further forces are to be introduced in the upcoming supplements. 

During the isolation that we are all living through, I am getting a lot of painting done but no real gaming. The only game I have managed so far is a small solo game of Oathmark. My Dwarves proved far too tough for the Goblins. It was a fun game and I quickly picked up and understood the basics of rules so only needed to check in the rule book a few times. Oathmark is fast and fun. Another strength to me is that the rules do not contain what most gamers refer to as fluff, a pre set world background. I don't really enjoy such fluff as it is usually poorly written and quite derivative. In Oathmark the rules are set in the Marches, a largely blank area that you the gamer can fill as you wish. So I can happily plot and plan games set in my favourite Middle Earth setting or any fantasy settings of my own creation. The very Dark Age themed nature of Oathmark certainly appeals to me. 

A photo from my first solo game where the goblin's troll squished the Dwarf Spell Caster. 
Throws of 0 are high in these rules.  

My favourite gaming world that I have created is the Brae-marg, as detailed below.  
The Brae-Marg

The little that we know of the Brae-Marg has been gleaned from Ancient Elvish maps and Dwarven chronicles. It is a desolate and dangerous wasteland bordered by several races.

Ermain Tor: home to the Human Horse Lords of Baron Aldred.

Valheim and Nilheim: the dark, northern land of Orcs and Goblins; known in the Brae-Marg as ‘Pech’. 

Feldros: high in the Aven Peaks, this is a mountainous land of rampaging bands of savage Beastmen.

Dunuik and C’Nos: inhabited by numerous warring tribes of Barbarians who, for the right price, will fight for anyone. 

Galgoen and the Colbryn Forest: Ancient home of the Elves of the Line of Guthelin.

KynMarroc: Mountain Hold of the Dwarf Lords of the Line of Marroc ( Rock born). 

This map should allow me to plot many games of Oathmark, It is but a small section of the Fabled Land of Aelgard.

Overall I can see Oathmark becoming one of my favourite fantasy games to play and I think that North Star/Osprey Games have created a real winner. I can't wait to get a proper game in but will have to content myself with planning armies, games and painting figures for now. 

A few dwarf spearmen just finished, I need to paint 15 more now. 

I have now set up a larger second game of Oathmark with over 1,000points of goblins and trolls taking on a similar sized dwarf force with a unit of ogres needed to balance the point's. You can see the army set up below; (I need more movement trays from Warbases when they re-open, the plain brown ones are homemade from thin wood with a craft matchstick lip).

The loose theme of the game is that a rogue giant is wandering around the plains between the two kingdoms killing all in his way. Both sides have sent out a force to deal with the giant who then bump into each other...and the giant is not far away!

 As this is a 'learning the rules game' I have opted not to use the campaign rules but just have fun. To that end, on turn 2 the rather angry blue giant is going to enter the fray from a randomly decided point and he will attack whichever unit is nearest to him. You can see him hovering in the background above and here is a full portrait of him, the trolls and the ogres.  

Some of the bases are not the 'proper' size for Oathmark but I promise not to argue with myself over that!

In turn 1 both sides advanced, shooting was ineffective but the dwarf spellcaster shot a lightning bolt at the goblin archers completely toasting one of them and in retaliation the goblin spellcaster threw a fireball at the ogres and burnt one of them to a frazzle: turn 1 to the goblins. (Both spellcasters are level 2 to make it fair). The dwarf spellcaster realised he should perhaps have tried to blast a tougher target. 

I will report on the rest of the battle in my next blog.