54. Mixed units in Oathmark

Last time I promised, that I will post about my homebrew rules for mixed units in Oathmark. And promises have to kept!

53. Oathmark: Bane of kings

The time has come, I finally arrived to the third and latest supplement for Oathmark: Bane of kings! Does it have a new faction, as in Oathbreakers? No. Can it still be better, then Battlesworn? Yes!

52. Oathmark: Oathbreakers

Oathbreakers was the second Oathmark supplement, and it was a big one! Not because it was thicker or printed on larger pages, but because it introduced a brand new faction: Undead!

47. Seventyfive

I know, this is not a real post, but I achieved a very important point this week: I varnished 75 miniatures! 75 ready! 75 less to paint!

There are plus 5 miniatures, which needed re-varnishing (were too glossy). But also 10 forest pieces (where varnish should help prevent the foliage from baldness). Content is coming!

37. Frostgrave sets in Oathmark (with bonus rules for Gnolls and Snake-men)

As my sons got 2 boxes of Frostgrave for Christmas (Gnolls and Snake-men), it was urgent to build them. But building without planning gets not 100% usage of the possibilities... Making a Frostgrave warband from 20 miniatures is not a big deal, but what else is possible? Using them in Oathmark is a pretty obvious offer. But how? First step of this planning is to set the limitations:

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.

33. Oathmark Halflings!

Im not planning to make a news channel out of this blog, but now, I have to make an exception. Because there are great news for every Oathmark fan! Joe McCullough announced on his blog, that halflings arrived to the Marches!

25. Future of Oathmark

Oathmark is a relatively new game (published in April of 2020), so it has a (hopefully) long future ahead with a lot of new stuff coming. In this post, I want to take look in that future. Lets make the sequence according to the certainty, beginning with the already announced things and ending with the wishes...

Bane of Kings, the next supplement book, will be published in June of 2021. It will focus on the effects of time on the kingdom. What does that mean? Plagues, new alliances, deaths of leaders and rise of new ones. Sure, but what does that really mean? I dont know, but Im very curious about it (already pre-ordered it)! There will be some other new rules: formations (for example: phalanx, shield wall, skirmish line). I think, this will be a very good addition to the basic rules, it can add a new tactical layer to the game, without becoming too complicated. And new military expeditions (wit new scenarios), as already usual by the Oathmark supplements. I also read some rumors (dont ask where, I cant remember), that maybe all races will become chariots (I hear some dwarfs cheering!)...

24. Oathmark human army II.

Now let’s continue with the characters. I had no special source they are all made of the same sets, as the units (with one exception):

• Mounted king: with sword on a barded horse
• Mounted wizard: I used here a head and the hands form the Frostgrave wizard set, on a horse and body from a Perry knight. Tried to grind the armor plates from the legs, but the body is not so obviously armored, so I let it be. At the end, he got a giant (and ugly sculpted) cloak, made from epoxy putty (like the mounted elven wizard).
• Mounted champion: heavy armor, giant axe, and a separated body part form an enemy
  

23. Oathmark human army I.

The Oathmark army intro series comes to the end (yet). Because now, it came to the fourth race from the basic rulebook: humans. I know, Oathbreakers were released, and so there is also the undead faction, but we in the family don’t own undead units (except 11 skeletons, 7 ghouls/zombies and some character miniatures). So what does Northstar has for humans? This will be the shortest list, because it’s the only faction (expect the undeads), which has only one plastix box:

• Human Infantry: the meanwhile common, 30 miniatures with the options of making (full) units of spearman (yes, at last, they are really men), archers and soldiers, with additional bits for champions and standard bearers. They have a dark-age Magnum P.I. design (lots of mustaches). I cant tell much more about this box, because I don’t own it. Why? Because for humans, there are oceans of options from seas of manufacturers out on the market, no need to be fantasy, historical ranges fit as well. And I fell in love with another range…
  

22. Oathmark dwarven army

Next stop: dwarves, who belong to my smaller son. I stick to the structure of the former army introductions, and begin with the official Northstar range:

• Dwarf Infantry:  business as usual, there are 30 bodies with chainmail (5 different), 30 spear holding, 30 hand weapon holding, 30 bow holding, 30 shield holding hands, with a lot of head options (with or without helmets), and some additional bits to make champions and standard bearers (one/one on every sprue). So every standard unit can be made of it. The details are not so fine as by the goblins, but the overall look is still very satisfying. My personal problem with this set are the archers: I don’t like the idea of dwarven archers, because they have too short hands for a normal bow. They should get crossbows, but I know, that technology is non-existing in the Oathmark universe. But in mine it is… The point value of a box is between 450 (soldiers and archers) and 480 (spearman/speardwarf, but I promise, that was the last time…).
  
  

21. Christmas special 2020

It was a pretty special year from a lot of aspects. Here and now I just want to emphasize one of it. Because of the limited options for spending the free time, I landed this year by my unfulfilled, childhood passion: tabletop games and miniatures. I jumped into a lot of projects (maybe got a bit addicted...), and Im enjoying them a lot. But maybe the biggest pleasure is, that my family joined me in this! That is why not only this year, but the Christmas was also very miniature heavy:

20. Oathmark goblin army

Lets take a look at the goblins of my son. I think, the easiest way to do this, to follow the structure of the elven army introduction, so lets begin with the official Oathmark range of Northstar:

• Goblin infantry: 30 goblins, with the option of build soldiers, archers, spearman (speargoblin), and as usual, these options are valid for all the miniatures. Yes, 30 bodies with light armor, 30 spears, 30 bows, 30 hand weapons, 30 shields. And a lot of different head options. And parts for champions and standard bearers. You can do what ever you want with their boxes, and I think that is great! The design is pretty "realistic" (or "tolkienesque"). In my opinion, goblins are the best sculpted and detailed miniatures from their Oathmark range! The point value of the box varies from 300 (soldiers or archers) to 330 (spearman).
  

19. Oathmark elven army

As I already showed the elven cavalry conversion, maybe it’s the easiest to begin the family army showcase with the elven troops. Let’s start with the official options, the Northstar range. Till now, there are two plastic boxes and four metal plaster pack available:

• Elf infantry: 30 miniatures with full options to build all of them as soldiers, archers or spearman (spearelf?), with some additional parts to make champions and standard bearers (like in all the Northstar plastic boxes). All of them are lightly armored with chain mails and high helmets. The point value of the box varies (depending on what you make of it) 600 (soldiers) and 720 (archers).
  

18. Home made Oathmark units

I really love Oathmark (otherwise I would not made a blog dedicated to it...), but its not flawless. One of that little flaws for me, is the (yet) limited selection of units. There are a lot of general units, but I miss some more specialized ones, that make a little more difference between the races, and I also miss some traditional fantasy races. I didn't want to invent anything new, I basically just transferred something from the good old WHFB feeling... But when something doesn't exist officially, you can help yourself by home-brewing them!