Sigmar is Dead! Long Live Mike the Pike!

[Mike the Pike]

I miss Warhammer Fantasy so much. It really was my game of choice. But as the game aged, it grew more and more complex. Games were still fun but took so long. It wasn't possible to get in two games at a Joshin event anymore.
And then.... Age of Sigmar came along and (for me) killed off my beloved, bizarre Old World and even worse killed off the game I loved so much.

Sooo.... After a long sojourn, much wailing and gnashing of teeth, blood, sweat and tears etc I came up with an alternative. Inspired by a similar hack on the Warlord forums, I wrote a variation of 'Hail Caesar' that allows us to use our WFB armies again with as little re-learning as possible.

So without further ado, I give you....
"Hail Michael!"

https://mega.nz/#!6soxyAYD!aaSvVHr7MvoD ... psddAWSsbg

At some stage you will probably need a copy of the HC rulebook but Warlord have a handy summary of how to play, as well as stats for all the various units in the game. All available for free from their homepage.
Get the while they're hot!

http://www.warlordgames.com/wp-content/ ... ummary.pdf

http://www.warlordgames.com/wp-content/ ... s-grey.pdf

http://www.warlordgames.com/hail-caesar-downloads/

Anyways, 'Hail Michael!" is just meant as some guidelines to help us get our WFB armies back on the table. I look forward to reading what you think of them and trying them out with you sometime soon.

[Mike the Pike]

I have already received the following suggestions/ideas...
My initial thoughts in red.

A couple of things that I came across are:
-Dark Elf Spearmen should be Medium Infantry, not Heavy. Leave the Heavy description for units in heavy armour like Longbeards or Black Orcs. Fixed in the Army Lists

-Without special rules to balance them, WFB points won't work once you start including cheaper races. E.g. Clanrats or Goblins are Medium Infantry with Spears. You can get twice as many of them as the equivalent number of Elves. That's something we will have to ponder.

-There are two spells which reduce a unit's wounds. The basic spell can be used on any unit, the advanced spell can only be used on Shaken units, making it worse. Maybe switch them around. Ok. I'll probabaly do that.

-Does the magic phase happen before or after units are given orders? Before any orders are given.

-In Hail Caesar, unit frontage is more important than models in the unit, and in WFB you have minis based on all sorts of base sizes. Perhaps setting a specific frontage would be better than doing unit size by model count. Is frontage really that important. 8x Beastmen vs. 8xWitch Elves seemed ok to me.

-The fear rule makes reference to units testing their Ld. In HC units don't have an Ld, only officers. Unlike WFB all units are essentially the same, so goblins will have the same odds as troll slayers. Maybe change to test on Commander's leadership. Maybe introduce a Fearless/Fearful rule. Some units are immune. Some are more prone. Fear should only be used sparingly as a special rule. Probably more like WFB 'Terror'

Cheers!

Keep 'em coming.

Sample Army Lists are coming soon!

[Mike the Pike]

Here are the 4 army lists I came up with...

Beastmen
https://mega.nz/#!6xYW3BBa!9HBMJPoNRqrH ... V9lJAH-DCA

Dark Elves
https://mega.nz/#!bhAQzRDC!_DllBnp3tEKB ... ZSprJm48rY

Dwarves
https://mega.nz/#!b9ITBBqL!njG40twg1eBf ... UXiWdGqz9I

Orcs and Goblins
https://mega.nz/#!yoo0hTBT!jBuLhcQAOy-w ... clBktpBuAQ

If you have the time and inclination, feel free to make your own and add it here.

[Primarch]

Some more quick questions:

How many chariots should be in a unit?

How do division commanders charge? Do they need to give themselves an order?

-In Hail Caesar, unit frontage is more important than models in the unit, and in WFB you have minis based on all sorts of base sizes. Perhaps setting a specific frontage would be better than doing unit size by model count. Is frontage really that important. 8x Beastmen vs. 8xWitch Elves seemed ok to me.

Variable frontage isn't a big deal, but a unit of infantry with 8 minis on 20mm is 160mm wide. A unit of infnatry with 8 minis on 25mm is 200mm wide. To get a unit into assault, you need to have at least half the width of the unit in contact. A unit of 5 cavalry on 25mm bases is 125mm wide. To get 2 heavy cavalry units into contact with an infantry unit, you need a frontage of 187.5mm. So a standard unit of orcs can get pounded by 2 units of Blood Knights, but a standard unit of goblins cannot.

[The Other Dave]

Color me interested! I'd be happy to take the rules for a test drive some time.

[Lovejoy]

You're aware of this I expect, but in case-

http://adyswargamesden.com/shadow-storm ... aesar-pdf/

That's a link to the Shadowstorm Hail Caesar conversion, which was developed if I remember rightly by the author of both Albion Triumphants for Black Powder. It's not an official Warlord project, but it has the blessing of Rick Priestley.

Spevna and I are (in theory...No, it WILL happen) going to have a go at 3rd edition, Hail Mike seems like a goer as well though..colour me interested!

[Primarch]

It's just a shame Pikey did this AFTER I got rid of my WFB armies. Coincidence?

Also, we'll need to do something about the name. Hail Mike just seems ridiculous.

[Mike the Pike]

Color me interested

colour me interested!

However you spell it, is OK by me, as long as the colour is purple

I had heard about 'Shadow Storm' and had a quick read through. It seemed quite good but then it started having big tables of magic items and character traits etc. and it just seemed IMHO to be a bit too focused on Characters

I made HM, because the thing I like seeing the most in WFB is lots of troops on the board, bashing each other's brains out. I loved the characters, magic system and items too but thought that the game relied on what sort of killer combo you could make from them rather than focusing on the men/elves/goes/orcs/gob is in the midst of the melee.

That's my 2 cents worth anyway.

Keep the ideas and thoughts rolling in. I posted the 'rules' up, but I really want your input so we can all get back into Fantasy a.s.a.p.

[Mike the Pike]

Coincidence?

No, it was quite deliberate

Also, we'll need to do something about the name. Hail Mike just seems ridiculous.

And wHORe is any better?

[kojibear]

Coincidence?

No, it was quite deliberate

Also, we'll need to do something about the name. Hail Mike just seems ridiculous.

And wHORe is any better?

Point to the Kiwi!


(The fact I, too, am a Kiwi in no way influenced this decision)