Of Armies And Hordes No.1 By The Book!

Well here it is, our first Proper all done, dusted and delivered Of Armies & Hordes game.  It's a near copy to one of our first beta tests.

What you need:  16 same colour, 3 different D6 dice per each side.  Unit markers Or status markers Or both.




Planning the game:
We worked out that 12cm a square (same size as CD) works well in out penny basing method for 15mm.  Our 3ft square table provides 6x6 square.  So base-line of 6 squares.  You can shoehorn 16  units. We use each figure, so the 16 horde rabble opposite will fill any square.  Do a quick calculation.  Flying and fast you can ignore as they can go over or into the second square in.  You can work out monsters or be lazy and call them "4's".

Lets look at the forces below.  The table is quite busy so better to use 8's so they can go through the rough.  Samurai have 1x 16, 2x8,  2x6's + a 4.  So I could cram the whole lot into 3 squares.  If I wanted a bigger game on an open table I could double the number, not the cost, of participants.

Oni.  I've planned this force as the retinue of a Dai Oni. 4x 4, 4 monsters, 4 monsters & giant, 2 cavalry,  So use more space, but still only 4.

Here's the toys.  I've deliberately left in the zero amounts so you can see my choices.

Units	No.	Points	Total	Samurai
1	4	34	136	Follower Archers
1	8	47	376	Samurai Archers
1	16	14	224	Peasant Mob
	0	9	0	Villagers
1	6	79	474	Samurai Cavalry
1	8	38	304	Samurai Infantry
1	6	29	174	Follower Infantry
	0	35	0	Monk infantry
	1	92	92	Samurai Cavalry General
	1	242	242	Greater Dragon
1	0	72	0	Tengu
7	0	0	2022

Unit	No.	Points	Total	Bakemono
	0	5	0	Goblin Rabble
1	8	27	216	Goblin Polearm
1	6	38	228	Goblin Polearm Riders
2	6	46	276	Goblin Wolf Riders Archers
2	16	29	464	Goblin Archers
1	3	58	174	Centepedes &Spiders
	0	176	0	Kirin
	2	82	164	Naga
	0	116	0	Bakemono Pussy Kat
	0	80	0	Baron Greenbaku
1	2	98	196	Armoured Oni
	1	155	155	Gen. Dai Oni All Gods Are Bastards
1	0	73	0	Oni
1	0	76	0	Jorogumo, Spider Woman
0	1	148	148	Godzillasaurus
10	0	0	2021	Totals

The points are a lot more than we were used to in the beta test- so you get less, or simply use more points.  2,000 is the recommended max so I've gone with that, but I can see 2-3,00 for an evening game.

The spreadsheet. Well- I've added 3 columns to a copy (hint) of the sheet as seen above.  Makes planning an army very easy. I cut n paste units I want, adjusting as I go.  Printing comes out so small as to be just about unusable.  Plus, it won't cut n paste into here.  The new army lists work, so I'll copy that format in future.  Drat, more work!  Most of you know how Ganesha works.  3 stats here and a small number of "apps".

Samurai
Dragon 3,4,8, Monster level 3, flying,
extra lives 4
Cavalry general 3,2,6. General, mounted, fast, shooters 3

Samurai cavalry 3,2,6. Mounted, fast, shooters 3
Samurai infantry 4,3,6.
Samurai archers 4,1,6, Shooters 3

Followers 4,3,4.
Follower archers 4,1,4. Shooters 2
Peasants 4,1,5. Rabble horde.


Bakemono
General Dai Oni All Gods Are Bastards 4,5,7. Giant Level 2, Resilient, 4 extralives, general.
Armoured Oni 4,4,7. Monster level 1, Resilient, 3 extra lives.
Centepedes 4, 3,7. Resilient, poison/venom.
Naga 4,5,7. Giant level 3, swamp walk.
Godzillasaurus 4,3,7. Monster Level2, Dragon breath Level2, Tough, extra lives 2, poison/venom.

Riders, polearm. 4,1,6.  Mounted, fast.
Riders archers 4,1,6. Mounted, fast, shooters 1.
Archers 4,0,5. Shooters 1.
Polearm 4,1,4. Devastating charge.

I took this map and did my best to replicate it as if I hadn't been forewarned.  The 2 piece hill is an icecream tub lid with cd's on top.  The second hill a small box.  Rough and lake filled in with chalk.
Field a scourer. I lost the deep wood- I also added a continuation of the road from the village into the wood.

Deployment.  Tony won the toss and deployed first.  Due to spaceconstraints some of my Samurai are still off-table.

Tony ignored the village and went all-out for the higher hill.

I got the initiative (2 fails) and my cavalry start shootiing.

I come of worse.  Another quick initiative change.

Godzillasaurus!  Breath weapon does nothing-.

All Gods are Bastards isn't a sit-at-the-back type general.

Softened by the archers who kill 1 more in he goes. With a mighty swing of his axe he kills 2.

 My cavalry goes down fighting, he loses 1 life.

Godzillasaurus goes in again, but I get good.  My Samurai have attack of 3, Godzillasaurus armour of 7.  A 6 is always successful.  Despite 2 extra lives I roll 5 kills.

My dragon attacks the flank of the archers.  Easy to imagine a rolling battle with teeth and arrows flying everywhere! The dragon wins, but only killing 1, so the archers retire a square.

There's a little chart for "dead" generals.  My Samurai kills All Gods Are Bastards.  That translates to captured.  This is a little gem!

So with a dead general, morale is rolled. These below are the troops who remember other appointments--.

Most of the rest have gone backwards, an unplanned regroup.

The cavalry are still there-

Dragon gets the hill, which had been my plan.  But my (now) largest and best unit is now guarding the enemy general!

Now comes the Battle of the Hill.

Oh look, I'm in the village!

Crash of giants, one goes and the other repulsed.

This looks an uneven battle, the polearms cannot damage armour 8.  But Tony proves he can also roll 6's.  I kill 3 (1 each per dice rolled) but the dragon is dead!

And my last unit comes on!

My samurai archers take on the polearms and easily slaughter the reduced unit.

Now I hold the hill again.

On reaction my Samurai pull the Dai Oni uphill.

The enemy closes in.  I'm trying to get my troops OUT of the village with no success!

I think this is called a target rich environment.

The Oni tries, but is repulsed.

The dread centipedes!

They too are repulsed!

 In come the cavalry!  But despite a rear attack they cannot gain the hill!

The archers have spotted my general and go for him.  He has a reaction, so can either run or charge--.

In he goes and is killed!  I lose my followers plus the archers abandon the hill!  By luck he gets a mount and escapes unharmed!

So ends the bloody battle for the hill.

So what now? Everyone is hurt.  I have their general and a clear path (protected by the lake) back to the village.  So a sort of stalemate.  Both sides could claim victory.  now the forces withdrawl. An all-out attack on the village to reclaim their general, a frantic mobilisation!  Game 2!  all thanks to that little chart-.

The forces and my new movement bases which worked well.  They'll be better once weathered in and stop shedding.

These are too dull, I need to rethink & repaint the mounts.  I tried the broom-bristle method to add hafts, turning swords into naginatas.  Not overly pleased with results.  Head swaps worked better.

I was lazy and painted all my original goblins green.

Not finished-.