My main interests are historical, but I like to dabble in fantasy wargaming. My main areas of fantasy interest are semi-historical armies (historical troops plus mythological creatures), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Tolkien's Middle Earth and certain science fiction which time has moved from the "Sci-Fi" to the "Fantasy" categories. For full sized battles I use the "Hordes of the Things" rules. For smaller scale actions I either adapt my existing rules or write new rule sets.
Greek Myth Skirmishing ("Wrath of the Gods")
Modern Horror Skirmishing ("Slayer of Vampyres")
Skirmishing in Middle Earth ("Wilderland")
Ancients and Early Medieval Page
Like many other "De Bellis Antiquitatis" (DBA) fans, I enjoy the occasional "Hordes of the Things" (HotT) game. I have 15 mm, 10 mm and 6 mm armies for HotT. I am planning to do some 25 mm/28 HotT armies.
The 15 mm HotT armies include Red Martians and Green (giant) Martians from the Edgar Rice Burroughs "Barsoom" series, Arab, Tuareg with Eagles, Hobbits and Undead. I have also been doing some Middle Earth warfare in 15 mm with Elf, Dwarf and Goblin armies.
In 10 mm I have Barbarian and Medieval armies. These are based and treated as 15 mm. Although they were easy to paint I feel that the elements look a bit sparse. I am not intending to start any more 10 mm projects.
In 6 mm I have Lord of the Rings "baddies" (mainly goblins) and "goodies" (mainly elves). Adding my historical Greeks I can do a pair of 6 mm Greek mythology armies. I have enough odds and ends to convert my historical 6mm Gauls and New Kingdom Egyptians into the HotT counterparts.
One problem of using 6 mm scale for HotT
is that the elements with individual characters, that is heroes,
paladins, clerics and magicians, look a bit empty with between 1
and 3 figures on. (An element of spears, for example, would have
16 figures on and occupy a smaller area.) One solution is to use
10 mm figures for these special elements. This helps make the
figures more noticable and reduces the empty space slightly.
Behemoths and other creatures larger than normal elephants look effective in 6mm. They can be bigger in proportion to the human sized troops and still fit on the base. Again, creatures sold as being 10 mm scale sometimes work well.
Baccus do excellent elves, dwarves and goblins; they also do useful historical troops such as Greek hoplites and Celtic warband. Some of the Irregular Miniatures 6 mm fantasy creatures are very good. Pendraken also do a lot of beautifully sculpted and moulded 10 mm figures which can be useful. For instance, a tentacled sea monster can easily do service in a 6 mm game as the watcher in the water outside Moria (water lurker).
I see most of my future HotT armies being in 15 mm. In my opinion fantasy wargames benefit from larger figures than 6mm. You often need to be able to recognise individual characters much more than in historical wargaming. Historical wargaming tends to pit humans against humans. This is not necessarily the case in fantasy. You want to see easily what you have.
Some of my 15 mm historical DBA armies have appeared with add-ons to make them into HotT armies. My Etruscan League army has taken the field with the aid of the god Maris (one of my 25mm Etruscan hoplites rebased). One of my Early Northern European Barbarian armies has, by addition of a Magician element (Druid with priestess) become a fantasy Bronze Age army. The Tullian Romans (Romans when they still used hoplites in Rome) has been used with beast (wolf) support. My Greek hoplite armies are beginning to acquire optional riders who could never dismount for anatomical reasons.
The easy way to convert historical armies is often to replace the psiloi (infantry skirmisher) DBA elements with HotT specific troop types. Most troop types convert readily from DBA to HotT but there are minor problems.
Greek mythology skirmish games give me a chance too get more from my 25 mm hoplites, as well as collect such exotica as harpies and centaurs. Although there is a good case for setting Greek mythological scenarios during the late bronze age, I tend to set them in the hoplite era. My own preference is for fairly early hoplite figures with bell cuirass.
Originally I used my existing rule set "Warband" with additional Greek Mythology rules supplement. Later, I found that I wanted a slightly different game for small battles of the classical period, so I wrote "Century". "Century" uses larger units. I wrote "Wrath of the Gods" as a Greek Mythology supplement for "Century". However, I found it preferable to simplify "Century" for mythological fantasy scenarios. I also found it to be a nuisance having too many documents in my hands at once when trying to play. I therefore rewrote "Wrath of the Gods" as a game in its own right. More about Wrath of the Gods.
Download Wrath of the Gods rules (You will need Acrobat Reader. See the Links section of the Home Page if you do not have it.)
For the original Greek Mythology supplement for "Warband", see "Myth".
(For more information about "Warband" and "Century" please see the Ancients and Early Medieval page.)
Currently I am developing "Slayer of Vampyres", a skirmish game based upon a certain American TV series. In particular it is aimed at the first 3 seasons, before she goes to college. At present this project is at an early stage of development. I am sure that the rules still have many rough edges, and would welcome feedback. More About "Slayer of Vampyres" There are now a few scenarios. Scenarios for the "Slayer of Vampyres" Rules
Download Slayer of Vampyres rules (You will need Acrobat Reader. See the Links section of the Home Page if you do not have it.)
I have begun work on "Wilderland", a set of skirmish rules intended for the Middle Earth of J. R. R. Tolkein's books. Whilst "Wilderland" is under development I warmly welcome suggestions and other feedback. I intend to get the rules for humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits, goblins, uruks, wolves and wargs in a reasonable state before introducing too many exotic creatures. More About Wilderland
Download Wilderland rules (You will need Acrobat Reader. See the Links section of the Home Page if you do not have it.)