36. Polishing Oathmark

I stated a lot of times how much I Oathmark like (just take a look on the title of my blog). Although, after more then dozen various battles (unfortunately we dont have the time to play that much), I think, there are some small parts of the ruleset, which could use a little polishing. So I did it (all of the following is a correction according to my mindset and experience). These are only small changes of the existing rules, there are no new rules, and there shouldn’t be a significant impact on the game balance. The only exception are the army building limitations, but this is only an option for some battles, and if used, it should serve a better balance, not a worse one.

1. When building an army, following limitations has to be applied:

• Min 50% basic troops

Basic troops (below point value 30):

• Every Spearman
• Every Soldier
• Every Archer
• Every Warrior
• Every Linebreaker
• Dwarf Border Guard
• Dwarf Militia
• Human Ranger
• Human Militia
• Human Mounted Ranger
• Elf Ranger
• Elf Pathguard
• Elf Huntmaster
• Goblin Slave
• Goblin Slave Slinger
• Goblin Wolf Rider
• Goblin Wolf Rider Scout
• Wolf
• Ghoul
• Halfling Border Scout
• Hound
• Gargoyle
• Engineer (for every faction)

Why? Because without any limitations, the armies can be unbalanced. Fighting against a full army of charging Heavy Cavalry, or just Dragons and Knuckers is no fun. This is less the case, if using Kingdom building, where the rules limit the availability of the units, then in a simple, use-what-you-have battle. Therefore I would recommend it as an optional rule for these types of battles.

2. Elf Mounted Rangers have CD 2.

Why? Because every mounted unit has CD 2, and above that, Elf mounted Rangers are pretty expensive.

3. Spells range is limited to 32 inches.

Why? Because without that, spellcasters can be too stationary units, especially if they can be placed on high ground. 32 inches are still pretty far, so it shouldn’t be as big limitation.

4. Artillery cant kill a character in a unit.

Why? Because a lucky hit at the beginning of a game could ruin a side completely. And if a rain of arrows from sniping elves can’t kill a character, then why should a falling rock?

5. If Target Number (TN) is higher then 10, with every 10 rolled comes a second roll, where TN-5 means a hit. So if TN is 12, the second roll will hit on 7.

Why? Because the original rule (in the second roll the Target Number is always 8) doesn’t takes in account, how much the TN is higher then 10. And so has every combat against highly armored units a very low hit chance. With TN-5, the hit on 8 is for example 2 rows of Goblin Slaves against a Dragon.

6. If there is any border-situation regarding the rules, roll a D10, and it will be in favor of the first side if 1-5, and of the second side if 6-10 is rolled.

Why? Because here are some situations, where the decision is on the edge. Its much better to simple roll a dice, then to argue, and lose the fun.

 

If this post seems to be a bit lazy, you're right, it is... But I think that these refinements are important, and can really increase the gaming experience a bit!