Age of Blood Wargaming in the Viking Age
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age of blood wargaming in the Viking age age of blood wargaming in the Viking age 1 Initiative phase Written by Tom Hinshelwood Thanks to Neil Fawcett Alain Padfield Steven Roads John Platt Paul Heywood Ian Murphy Paul Matthews Produced by www.wargamesjournal.com Copyright Tom Hinshelwood 2005 age of blood wargaming in the Viking age 2 Foreward Working on Age of Blood has been a long journey but one far from arduous. The first set of rules was released on Wargames Journal almost two years ago now and this new edition has been something that I’ve wanted to complete for some time. What started as a simple revision of the original rules quickly grew into a major overhaul as I tried to add every conceivable thing I could think of to make the game more fun to play, in both the battle and campaign rules. One of the reasons for originally writing the game was because I wanted to play skirmish games in which heroes can be truly heroic and battles can be fast and unpredictable affairs - where you can never really know what might happen next. Being able to customise heroes and watch them progress and develop satisfyingly was something I’ve worked very hard to get right. Not only in allowing heroes to gain injuries, improve characteristics and gain special abilities, but also in a way that does not make them invincible. Even the hardest hero possible in these rules can still be defeated, and not just by similarly tough heroes. Even unarmoured peasants can be dangerous if there are enough of them. The campaign system in these rules is somewhat of a resource management game in itself. Different commodities (loot) can be acquired (stolen) and then traded (fenced) in different locations around Europe for varying amounts of profit. One of the keys to a successful warband is shrewd trading. Knowing what to sell where to sell it can be the difference in scraping by and making a fortune. Not everyone will want to try their hand at the campaign elements of the game and that’s fine - the rules can still be played as a typical skirmish wargame, either a purely historical or quasi-fantasy one. The game, though very detailed, is simple in its mechanics and easy to pick up, but with its many layers of depth one that’s difficult to master – at least that’s the intent. Tom Hinshelwood, July 2005 email: [email protected] age of blood wargaming in the Viking age 3 contents Introduction 6 hand-to-hand 21 The campaign 6 Hand to Hand Actions 21 What you need 6 Attack 21 Game mechanics 7 Duel 22 Types of Model 7 Defensive Fighting 22 Characteristics 8 Multiple Attack 22 The turn 9 Swap Weapon 22 Actions 9 Shieldwall 23 Charges 23 Prone 23 Initiative 10 No Actions Left 23 Flank Attacks 24 Fate 10 Critical Hits 24 Order of play 10 Free Attacks 24 Bravery 10 Fumbles 24 Retreating 11 Supporting 24 Two Hands 25 Movement 12 Steeds 26 Movement Actions 12 Line of Sight 12 Reach 12 terrifying foes 27777 Turning 13 Move 13 Run 13 Injury 28 Shieldwall 13 Flee 14 Wounded 28 Charge 14 Injuries 28 Hide 14 War wounds 29 Terrain 15 Climbing 15 Falling 16 Weapons 31 Jumping 16 Swimming 16 Knife 31 Withdrawing 17 Sword 31 Spear 31 Maul 31 Ranged 18 Axe 32 Broad axe 32 Ranged Actions 18 Bow 32 Ranged Categories 18 Cover 18 Shoot 19 Throw 19 Aim 19 Melee Combat 20 age of blood wargaming in the Viking age 4 Age of blood Armour 33 Trading 57777 Shield 33 Loot 57 Leather Jerkin 33 Trading list 58 Chain Hauberk 33 Helmet 33 Limb Guards 33 Special characters 59 The warband 34 Sorcerer 59 Skald 60 Hersir 34 Duelist 60 Birthrights 34 Shield maiden 61 Renown 36 Godi 62 Champions 36 Ulfhednar 62 Berserkers 37 Huscarls 38 Carls 38 Sorcery 63 Nationality 38 Equipment 39 Spell List 64 Ships 40 Sample Warbands 41 Name Generator 42 Scenarios 65 Pre battle 43 Destinations 65 The Raid 67 The Battle 70 Scenarios 43 The Quest 72 Getting there 43 The Viking world 44 Storms 46 bestiary 77737 Post battle 47777 Monster Traits 73 Warriors 74 Heroes 75 Horses 76 Renown 48 Canines 77 Bears 77 Trolls 78 Experience 49 Giants 79 Dragon 79 Draugr 80 Traits 50 Maahiset 80 Werewolves 80 Physical 51 Combat 52 Wits 53 Reputation 54 Sailing 55 Supernatural 56 age of blood wargaming in the Viking age 5 introduction Age of Blood is a skirmish-level battle game In a campaign you can purchase better in which players take control of bands of weapons and armour for your warriors and Vikings and lead them on bloody adventures hire special characters to accompany you. The in search of loot and glory. These rules contain heroes of your raiding party gather experience all the information you will need to know in every time they fight which enables them to order to play either one off games or complete improve their abilities and gain new traits campaigns. (special talents). The game is designed for use with 25mm or With enough skill and luck you can take 28mm miniatures, though any individual your warband from its humble beginnings and based model from 15mm to 40mm can be transform it into a legendary fighting used. Play is possible with any scale but brotherhood whose very name inspires terror. distances and measurements would need to be proportionately reworked. What you need Age of Blood’s focus is on the fantastical aspects of Viking history and as such is more concerned with the legends and heroic sagas You’ll need the typical wargaming then trying to depict a realist view of the era. These rules are loosely set in the 9 th Century, paraphernalia to play this game including tape though the supernatural is prevalent in many measures, counters, dice, terrain and models. aspects of the game including fate, magic and The most important requirement is having monsters. enough models for your both warband and its enemies. If desired though the supernatural elements to the rules can easily be ignored so that the game can be played as a purely historical wargame. The campaign Incorporated into the game is a campaign system whereby the abilities and wealth of a raiding party can rise and fall depending on its successes and failures on the battlefield. A warband will typically begin with around 20 Vikings (enough to crew a small ship), but over the course of a campaign this amount can rise and fall. Potentially a warband could have upwards of 100 models. age of blood wargaming in the Viking age 6 Age of blood Game mechanics For example: In an attempt to pursue Fafnir, an enemy warrior tries to jump the stream as well. Unfortunately a 1 is roll, and with only Agility 1, the total of 2 is nowhere near the 10 required. Not All tests made in Age of Blood are only does the warrior fail to jump the stream but he attempted by rolling ten-sided dice (D10’s). also wounds himself in the process, falling on the No other dice is used. To attempt a task a sharp rocks. characteristic test for the warrior is made by rolling a D10 and adding the appropriate characteristic to the result. Types of model For example: The mighty champion Fafnir is attempting to slay Halfdan, a hated foe. To try and hack his enemy down Fafnir rolls a D10 and adds A raiding party is made up of two distinct his Strength 5 to the roll of 8, resulting in a total of types of combatants, warriors and heroes. 13. Warrior is the universal term for all standard troops in the game and will make up the bulk of a party of Vikings. To determine whether the task attempted is successful the enemy player also makes a roll. This system is known as making an opposed Heroes, however, are the great fighters of the roll. Whoever gets the highest number wins raiding party, capable of performing the opposed roll and succeeds in the incredible deeds worthy of song. Heroes are attempted task or in stopping it. far more potent then warriors and unique special rules are assigned to them which are For example: Halfdan makes a Fortitude test to unavailable to normal warriors. oppose Fafnir’s Strength test. Halfdan rolls 11 in total and so Fafnir wins the opposed roll and kills Halfdan. During battles heroes amass experience depending on how well they perform. When enough experience has been gained the hero At other times the player does not make an increases an honour level, or just level. This opposed roll but rolls against a static difficulty then allows them to improve their number to determine whether the task is characteristics and hence their potency in successful. battle. For example: After killing Halfdan, Fafnir must Heroes begin at honour 1 and can potentially leap across a fast flowing stream to engage more rise as high as level 5. A Viking who achieves enemies. To jump across he must get 10 or higher such a feat is truly a hero of legendary by rolling a D10 and adding his Agility. proportions and all enemies would do well to avoid him at all costs. For most tests made it is possible to either get a spectacularly bad failure, known as a When the term warrior or model is used in fumble, or an amazingly good success, known this rulebook it refers to all types of as a critical success or just critical for short.