Pride of Lions.Indd
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Sample file OVERVIEW AND PHILOSOPHY and units moving through one another. I have never enjoyed fi ddling with such details and playing “traffi c cop,” although realizing that in real life troops do get in one another’s way THESE RULES seek to provide a fast and fun game of fantasy and that such crowding has sometimes determined victory mass combat. It is the designer’s belief that the best games and defeat, as when Hannibal destroyed the Roman army result from a combination of simple rules mechanics and at Cannae. These rules compromise with realism in favor the opportunity for the players to make many decisions. of speed and ease of play, and hopefully of enjoyment. In PRIDE OF LIONS the role of each player is that of the Players will have plenty of things to worry about without commanding general of the army or warlord of the horde. bothering themselves with the sort of details that the unit Magic, and the courage and skills of individual heroes, can commanders, or their sergeants, should be handling. affect the game, but the outcome of the battle will depend Each turn begins with players issuing orders to eligible mainly on the clash of large units of common fi ghters units by laying inverted movement chits behind each unit. operating under the general’s orders. Maintaining a coherent After a magic phase, which can result in a unit’s orders battle line, (or, better, TWO battle lines, as reserves are very being changed involuntarily or randomly, all orders are useful) is not obligatory but is amply rewarded by the rules. revealed and movement is conducted simultaneously by There is, by deliberate choice, a degree of unhistorical all sides but in a strict sequence, with the most aggressive looseness in the rules, particularly as regards formations movement (charges) coming fi rst and skirmishers going - 2 - last. Both melee combat and missile fi re are conducted through opposed die rolls, using dice of various sizes from WHAT IS D4s to D24’s, with the difference between the die rolls “THE SPLINTERED LIGHT”? determining the outcome. Factors such as terrain, magic, It is a phrase from JRR Tolkien’s poem MYTHOPOEIA. The special weapons and tactics, and leadership and heroism by most relevant part, for those creating fantasy worlds, reads: characters all affect the game either through the movement chits or the die rolls. The heart of Man is not compound of lies, but draws some wisdom from the only Wise, I assume that players will read the rules through once, and still recalls him. Though now long estranged, and will then refer to them as needed to fi nd necessary Man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed. information in the middle of playing a game. The most Dis-graced he may be, yet is not dethroned, important and generally applicable rules are given in bold. This and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned, enables players to skim quickly to fi nd what they need. his world-dominion by creative act: Examples are in italics. not his to worship the great Artefact, Man, Sub-creator, the refracted light Commentary, both design notes and advice on tactics, through whom is splintered from a single White is boxed. to many hues, and endlessly combined in living shapes that move from mind to mind. Some material is repeated. I have tried to include relevant Though all the crannies of the world we fi lled information everywhere it applies, for ease of reference with Elves and Goblins, though we dared to build during a game. Gods and their houses out of dark and light, and sowed the seed of dragons, ‘twas our right These rules are lengthy, but most of that is provision for (used or misused). The right has not decayed. special weapons, troop types, and forms of magic. If players We make still by the law in which we’re made. are not using air units, there is no need to read or learn that section of the rules. If both sides are using shamanic I will confi rm what astute readers would soon suspect: I am magic, there is no need to read the sections on runemagic a Christian, and like Tolkien hope to describe a world that is or necromancy. And the last third of the book is mainly not our own reality, yet is consistent with what I understand generic army lists, spell lists, and scenarios. of God’s. I am at best an amateur theologian, and if those more knowledgeable of Christianity believe I have missed WHERE DOES THE TITLE the mark somehow, I shall be glad to be instructed. "PRIDE OF LIONS" COME FROM? My son David McBride owns Splintered Light Miniatures, http://www.splinteredlightminis.com. David’s fi rstSample range of WHATfile HAS THIS TO DO WITH SPLINTERED fantasy miniatures was the leonines. You can see them at LIGHT MINIATURES? http://www.splinteredlightminis.com/leonines.html. We wanted a campaign setting for them, with a cultural background. David and I work closely together, but his focus is on the We also wanted to be able to fi ght battles using the same production and sale of miniatures, while mine is on the rules miniatures on both sides. We developed the idea of rival and the world. Many of the races of the World of Splintered leonine societies, the Sun Pride plains dwellers and the Dark Light are produced in 15mm miniature by David. There Pride forest folk, with the Blood Pride berserkers and the will eventually be a campaign supplement with a full map Moon Pride spooks. I began to write and we began to play and cultural background for many races, for all of the the rules at this time, and the name came naturally. A year miniatures line sold by Splintered Light and many more later I bought a lot of painted 15mm Zulus at a convention besides. The photos throughout this book show a variety of fl ea market, and we had several blisters of old Ral Partha Splintered Light miniatures. wimmicks (lion centaurs) and so the hybrid human-leonine Black Pride was born. - 3 - WHAT HAS THIS TO DO WITH GANESHA ANYTHING ELSE COMING? GAMES’ SONG OF BLADES AND HEROES? Glad you asked. A campaign rules system for PRIDE is Nothing directly. Andrea Sfi ligoi, founder of Ganesha nearly done, tied to the cultures as described in the army Games and author of SONG OF BLADES is a friend, and books, and a skirmish game using PRIDE-based miniatures we have edited and contributed to each other’s work. I did with a 1:1 scale (line troops based on 40mm squares a supplement for him, SONG OF THE SPLINTERED and commanders and specialists based individually) is LANDS, and he did some of the artwork for PRIDE OF underway. LIONS. SONG OF THE SPLINTERED LANDS is set in my world, and some of its cultural background (particularly the Druid of Wyldewood, the Dwarven King of Mountain Home, and King Shade and the goblins of Moonglade) is CONTACT INFORMATION also to be found in PRIDE OF LIONS. Website: www.splinteredlightminis.com WHY A SECOND EDITION? HOW IS THIS ONE DIFFERENT? We have a LOT more experience of gaming with these rules now, and 2nd edition refl ects lessons learned. There are numerous tweaks, as well as places where a longer explanation seemed necessary for clarity. There are lots of photos, partly to show off our miniatures but also as examples of play. And there are some substantial changes: 1. The point system is completely revised, with much greater detail, and applies now to characters as well as to units. 2. Dwarven rune magic is much more detailed. 3. Godfearers’ “magic” – prayer and spiritual gifts – is also far more detailed and extensive. 4. Spirits are developed further. 5. There are more and longer generic army lists andSample spell file lists. 6. And the movement sequence of air units is better. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SECTION ON THE LEONINES? It will re-appear soon as one of the “army books” including cultural background, army and spell lists, photos of our painted units, and more. Other books appearing soon will include Wyldewood’s elves and halfl ings; the dwarves of Mountain Home; the goblinoids of Moonglade; the Godfearers of Logres (fantasy Romano-British); the Odin- worshipping Saex; the necromancers of the Vasty Vault; the dark dwarves of Khamsin; the Entropy-worshipping hyena people, and the plains-dwellers of the Sea of Grass. These will be available as inexpensive pdf downloads. SAAEXEX CHHAMPIONAMPION - 4 - TABLE OF CONTENTS AND OUTLINE OF RULES Sequence of Play ............................18 How Units Move ............................19 Overview and Philosophy ..............................2 Movement and facing ............................20 Where the Rules Come From .......................... 3-4 Movement and Morale States .......................20 Moving and Interpenetration ......................20 Part One: Basic Rules .............................. 8 Interpenetrating Shaken or Units ..............................8 Routing Friends ............................20 Troop Types ..............................8 Multiple Chargers and Defenders .................21 Close Order Infantry ..............................8 Terrain and Movement ............................22 Loose Order Infantry ..............................8 How Units Fight .......................22-23 Large Battle Beasts ..............................8 Table: Factors Affecting Die Level in Melee 24 Cavalry ..............................8 Defending Against Multiple Attackers ........25 Die Levels ..............................9 Combat Results Table (CRT) .......................25 Morale States .........................9-10 Applying the CRT ............................26 Good Order ..............................9 Morale Effects from the CRT ................26 Disordered ..............................9