NagoyaHammer.com

At NagoyaHammer this year, I ran a few games of my own, home-made gaming system. It's based on a few ideas I have been kicking around for a while now and I finally have a reason for getting it all down on paper so to speak. A friend of mine runs a small business selling 2D paper minis online and wanted a game to go alongside his products as a way to increase his business. Right now, neither of us are expecting to make millions or to replace GW, (we'd love to of course, but we are both trying to be realistic). For myself, I'd be happy to see my name in print and I am kind of sick of games that I enjoy being dropped by their writers and only surviving through the efforts of dozens of poorly thought out house rules. Hence, I am writing my own game and using my own (poorly thought out?) house rules.

The idea of the game is somewhere on the Mordheim/Cutlass/Malifaux end of the scale. A small skirmish game with maybe a dozen models per player maximum, backed up by a campaign system and continued development of both the setting and the rules. The plan is to do several versions of the game/rules to fit different purposes.
1: A simple version to be released for free as a demo pack alongside the existing 2D minis, with no plan to expand it.
2: A full version of the rules with all new races and concepts alongside brand new 2D minis, with plans to expand if things take off.
3: A full version of the rules using whatever minis people want to use as something to play at Joshin and to function as a test platform for new ideas and finding any potential flaws in the game.

Having run/played 5 games now, I think the core mechanics seem stable enough, though nowhere near ready to be released to the public just yet. More testing is very much needed, which I'm hoping a few of you will be willing to help out with. So, if you feel like playing some games of something new, with free rules and no need to buy any new minis, you should probably keep your eyes on the forum over the near future. It won't be easy though, my defensive attitude about criticism, crippling anxiety about being well suited to writing a game and my inherent laziness is a trifecta of hurdles to overcome.

Now, despite the comparisons drawn above, this game will NOT be Mordheim V2 or anything similar. As I add stuff to the game, I want to avoid plagiarizing existing works as much as possible. So, you will be able to use GW minis, but you shouldn't necessarily expect them to function in the same manner as they do in WFB. Certain traits may be emphasized, minimalized or simply removed in favour of game balance and differentiating it from what has come before. I will try to avoid changing stuff simply for the sake of change though.

Anyway, I hope that has given you something to think about and I will post more stuff up over the next few days so that you can get a better idea of what is what. With some support, I hope to make a game that all of us can enjoy playing.

I'm keen to give it a whirl mate. Happy to play test the rules.

Supper keen please hook me up with a demo pack

The idea is really interesting. I'd like to see it of course.

Already started painting a warband!

Took a look at the rules. Looks solid and simple enough, "Mordheim-lite", right?
You have a link to the 2-d figures? Be interested to see what they look like.
Just a thought, if this is all about tying into the print-it-yourself figures, you could really just kick the whole thing loose from dice and inches and your usual mini game. Just some general ideas here, but maybe like each faction has a special deck of action cards or something to handle randomization. The flat-figs could have their stats printed on their feet and you black out health boxes or what ever. Print out special spell effect markers and things. The size of the effect is simply what is printed. Movement distances could be a special marker. The Ratmen faction markers might be longer than the humans, Dwarves shorter. Again, just musing here. no solid ideas. But the whole 2-D figure idea seems to lend itself to something other than a generic miniatures skirimish system. Already have Mordheim, Songs of B&H, HoT, for that.
I got ranged combat! To resolve ranged attacks, place your face as close to the firing model's and blow! If the target flat is knocked over, remove from play!
Sorry, that was a little tooooo outside the box........

Make some Undead rules! I'd love an excuse to shake the crypt dust off my ghoulies!

So.... instead of one tape measure, players need multiple measuring sticks? It's been done, Songs of Blades and Heroes, X-Wing, Saga, Of Gods and Mortals.
I'll see if I can dig up a link to the figures, though they won't be the final version by a long shot. Eventually, there will be templates for various spell effects, but since they will take a while to design, it's easier to use measurements for the time being.
The ranged combat idea might just work, I'll give it some thought.

Primarch wrote:So.... instead of one tape measure, players need multiple measuring sticks? It's been done, Songs of Blades and Heroes, X-Wing, Saga, Of Gods and Mortals.
I'll see if I can dig up a link to the figures, though they won't be the final version by a long shot. Eventually, there will be templates for various spell effects, but since they will take a while to design, it's easier to use measurements for the time being.
The ranged combat idea might just work, I'll give it some thought.

Yeah, I'm sure nothing I rattled off if original, but just thinking as these flat figs are a unique sort of thing, maybe a different sort of game is in order. I have no real ideas about what direction to push, but the general idea is interesting.

So, I have done a half dozen demo games of HoR so far and no-one has said (to my face), that they hate it, so I am happy with that.
I have most of the remaining warbands almost done, just in need of being changed into Pdf files and a few scenarios jotted out.
Is there any interest in getting a small campaign going? I'd like to test out the campaign rules and see how the game plays without me being involved in every game? At about 60-90 minutes per game, I figure we can get 2-3 games in at Joshin easily, giving some warbands a chance to grab an advance or two.
A group of 4+ should be enough to get the ball rolling, but obviously more is better than less.

The remaining warband I have planned is:
Ogres


If anyone has any requests/ideas, let me know.

So, any takers for a campaign?

I'd be keen. It's a short enough game to fit into most Joshins (last month was an exception, as I owe Prim a game). I plan to try out Beastmen and Goblins. In terms of requests, hirelings/specialist mercenaries (whatever you choose to call them) a la Mordheim would be fun.
In time, additional faction troops would be nice (cav such as beastman centaurs, knights, heavy hitters like trolls, etc)