59. Weather and daytime effects in Oathmark

Wargames basically want to simulate a real world with all its features, so we don’t need to jump to another dimension or time (and gather troops, supply them, kill a lot of living creatures, risking the life of a bunch of other ones, including ours) to test our tactical and strategical skills (and sometimes, maybe have a little fun). Of course this simulation is not perfect, but some very obvious, real world features are missing in a lot (I wouldn’t risk to say the most, however I think it would be true) of rulesets. Are in these other worlds or times no day and night? No seasons? No weather?

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!

51. Oathmark: Battlesworn

I’m still not getting a review writer, but as the already 3rd supplement is published for Oathmark, I thought that I make a short series about them. Let’s start with the first one, because (to spoiler my post) its leaves a better feeling at the end if we get the worst things first. And Battlesworn is the worst of the Oathmark series…

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!

40. Banners for Oathmark

If you imagine a view of a tabletop wargame, what do you see? I bet, that the first two things, what you think of, are the painted miniatures, and the terrain. Obviously, these are the most important. But what is the third thing? Thats a harder question... At first, but after thinking a while my answer is pretty clear: banners!

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!

32. Black powder weapons in Oathmark

Oathmark setting is in technological terms like european early medieval: there are no crossbows (which I wont accept, because dwarves have to have crossbows, so I made house rules for them), not to mention black power weapons. But what if… What if once somebody would invent a magical powder, which explodes if ignited? And what if somebody puts that powder in a tube, and throws a rock on before igniting it? What if the kingdoms of the Marches would get primitive black powder weapons? Maybe it doesn’t fit the initial idea of Oathmark, but as its just a house rule and not a must, I don’t see big problems here (if You want to use house rules, just agree it with your opponent, if not, You can use your miniatures as archers and catapults after all).

31. Modular wooden fort II.

Let’s continue last week’s project with building the more complicated parts!

The tower: I made it 1 floor high, and a floor is for 28mm miniatures approximately 50mm. So, for the walls, 100 and 110mm long sticks are needed (50-60mm as for the walls plus 50mm for the floor). But there has to be doors and windows! Placing the doors for the best versatility is according to this example (and sketch):

30. Modular wooden fort I.

Back in business! After a short break, last weekend I got back, and finally started doing something. I decided, that I will work through my open projects (hopefully all of them...). The first step was not painting (at least for now), but building terrain. A little time ago I started to build a modular wooden fortress. I had two reasons for it. The first one was that I started to write siege rules for Oathmark, and I need to have something to try them out. The other one was, as I saw a youtube video on the TWS channel, which show a very quick way to build wooden fortifications. I basically built the same with some modifications.

First step was planning (as always), I had to decide the main dimensions. My insulation foam (XPS, extruded polystyrene, but it can be made of the cheaper EPS, expanded polystyrene also) is 30mm thick, so the embankment, where the miniatures will stand, will have that height (by the way, in my siege rules, there will be different walls, depending on their height, material, and number of ranks, that has place on them). The battlement is an additional 20mm and (because of the serrated form) 30mm higher. The width and depth was also not a big question. It will be a pretty small wall (the smallest one according to my rules), so it is enough if a single row of Oathmark unit has place on it. The width is at least 5x25mm, so I went with 130mm to have a bit space.

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!)...

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…).
  
  

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!

15. Siege of Oathmark

This will be a special post, because here will be nothing about miniatures or introduction of rules. This will be fiction of rules.

I read on Bloodbeards blog an idea: siege setting in Oathmark. I find this great, I would love it (I was always amazed by the painting: Siege of Acre)! So I started to think about possibilities, how this could be implemented in the rules. I don't know if any other fantasy rank-and-flank system has any special rules for siege (are there any?), so the following will be my personal, one man brainstorming about it (I try to write it systematic, but I can’t guarantee the solid lucidity).

3. What is Oathmark?

Last time I wrote about Frostgrave, now it´s time for a short introduction of Oathmark!