The Other OSR: They Came From The Necropolis

They Came From The Necropolis is supplement for Forbidden Psalm and Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition is a miniatures game published by Space Penguin Ink. It is a 28 mm skirmish level miniatures game playable with just five miniatures per warband per player and as a systems-agnostic setting, those miniatures can be from any range and publisher. It is also notable for a number of things. First, its background means that it is compatible with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. That means that Player Characters from the roleplaying game can be converted for use with Forbidden Psalm and with a bit of effort, content for Forbidden Psalm, could be adapted to Mörk Borg if a more physical, combative game is desired. Or the Game Master and her players want to scale their game up to handle skirmish encounters on a battlefield rather than in the theatre of the mind.

They Came From The Necropolis is a short affair that provides further additions to the dark and dirty world of Forbidden Psalm. The danger of conflict is a constant threat and every incident of conflict is brutal and uncaring, with few surviving such occurrences unscathed. Yet for the right amount of coin there are some that will enter the employ of others. Mercenaries or sellswords, they can join a warband and serve until the task they have been hired for is complete. Their advantage is that they bring their own equipment, but they will jealously guard it as it represents their livelihood, their capacity to go from one job to another. In game terms, what this means is that a mercenary can be hired for 25 gp and will replace a member of a warband at least temporarily. The mercenary does not have to be outfitted, but will not share or drop his own gear.

The supplement describes and gives stats for twelve such mercenaries. Each not only comes with his equipment, but also details of a feat, a flaw, and a special aspect. They include Pigmen, a Duke, a warrior, Knights, a Falconer, the Wounded, an Alchemist, a Zealot, a Bombardist, Necropolis Priests, Village Heroes, and a Knight and Retainer. For example, the Feat for Warrior lets her player roll two dice and take the better result, but the Flaw of never leaving combat, and the Special of granting a bonus to Melee to other members of the warband, whilst the Wounded has the Feat of being hard to kill and takes less damage with each hit, and the Flaw that when he is downed and gets back up, his Toughness increases, and the Special that he is cheap to hire. What is really is that the combination of the Feat, the Flaw, and the Special builds character in each mercenary, adding a little story potential as well as making them different to play. For example, the Village Heroes have the Feat of ‘Defenders of the Innocent’ which gives them a bonus to damage to monsters and a Flaw of being ‘Untrained’ and suffer a penalty to attack rolls, but their Special is that if they kill a monster, they lose the flaw.

The supplement also includes a ready list of names to give the mercenaries and details one monster. This is the Horse Head Knights, which of course, have the head of a horse, are immune to darkness conditions, and are undying. There is a chance that when they are killed, that they will return to life with full Hit Points!

Physically, They Came From The Necropolis is decently presented, with only a hint of the artpunk styling of Mörk Borg. Most of the mercenaries are given a page each which includes their stats and an illustration, which is that of a fully painted miniature (drawn from the Black Crab Miniatures! range). These are very nicely done, the Pigmen having a beady-eyed porcine face, the Wounded limping along on a stick with his right leg capped at the knew, Necropolis Priests possessing a certain creepiness.

They Came From The Necropolis is a solid expansion for Forbidden Psalm. The stats and mercenaries are quick and easy to add to a warband and each one is interesting enough to make play just that little bit different for the single session or battle, they are hired for.

Mutant Miniature Mayhem II

Since 2015, we have been able to leave the Ark and explore the post-apocalypse, perhaps discover what happened, and even search for somewhere safe to live alongside the different groups. First with the mutants of Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, then with the uplifted animals of Mutant: Genlab Alpha, the robots of Mutant: Year Zero – Mechatron – Rise of the Robots Roleplaying, and with the surviving humans of Mutant: Year Zero – Elysium. These four books consist of campaigns in their own right and they come together in The Gray Death, but the relationships between these diverse groups is not always an easy one and with resources scarce, including artefacts left over from before in the Old Age, it can lead to these very different groups coming to blows—and worse! This then, is the set-up for Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars, a skirmish wargame set in a post-apocalyptic future which takes place in an area known as the Zone.

Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe is a complete skirmish game which comes with everything that you need to play. This includes miniatures, rules, dice, cards, terrain, and more, all designed to be played by two players, aged fourteen and up, and plays in roughly ninety minutes. An expansion, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics adds a second set of factions so that four players can play. Published by Free League Publishing following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars is notable for a number of things. Most obviously, that it is set in the Mutant: Year Zero universe, and not only that, but it is compatible with the four setting and campaign books for Mutant: Year Zero and the Year Zero mechanics such that it is possible to take a Player Character from one of the roleplaying games and adapt it to Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars. In fact, fans of Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days and Mutant: Genlab Alpha will recognise many of figures in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe as being based on the artwork from those books. As will fans of the computer game, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. Both Dux, a duck hybrid, and Bormin, a pig hybrid, are included as miniatures in the core game.

Further, it is designed by Andy Chambers, whose wargames pedigree is unparalleled—Necromunda, Battlefleet Gothic, and Warhammer Fantasy Battle for Games Workshop and Dropzone Commander from Hawk Games. Altogether, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe sounds like an attractive package—and that is before you even get to open the box.

Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics is to date, the only expansion for the game. As with Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars, this comes with can be found ten miniatures, nearly eighty cards, one hundred tokens, ten custom dice, three sheets of cardboard terrain, and a measuring rule. What it does not come with is the rulebook or the map sheet, so the core box is still required to play. The terrain is done in full colour and on heavy cardstock, slotting together easily to create a total of thirteen pieces, consisting of walls, trees, and the ruins of buildings, some of them with an upper floor. The terrain is urban rather than rural, consisting of buildings and walls, with no trees. Notable are the walkways which allow the miniatures to move between buildings above ground level and the damaged remains of a bus, although it could be a train or underground train carriage too. Either way, it is possible to put the miniatures inside it. The terrain also comes apart easily for easy storage. The measuring rule and the tokens are bright and breezy and easy to use and see. The dice consist of two sets, the yellow base dice and the black gear dice, and they are easy to read and feel good in the hand. The cards come in two sizes. The standard size cards consist of the character cards which list each character’s stats, starting gear, and mutations or modules. They are double-sided, one side showing the character healthy, the other when he is bloodied. Other standard size cards depict obstacles and monsters that might be encountered during play, as well as Trigger cards initiate events in a scenario when they are drawn. The small cards consist of the starting equipment, modules, and mutations for the characters, as well as artefacts that can be found and are often being fought over in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars.

Then of course, there are the miniatures. These are done in 32 millimetre, a durable plastic, and divided into two sets of five. One set of five from the Nova Cult Psionicists and one set of five from the Mechatron Robots. All ten miniatures are highly detailed and highly individualised and really stand out in play. As with the miniatures in the core game, they have been given a simple wash that makes them stand out a little more on the table and gives them a matt finish that makes them easier to handle. Fans of the roleplaying games Mutant: Year Zero – Mechatron – Rise of the Robots Roleplaying and Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days will recognise some of the characters portrayed by the miniatures. Lastly, the miniatures, cards, and dice all sit in their own tray which has a lid, for very easy storage. There is even an empty slot on the try in which the game’s tokens can be readily stored.

The scenario booklet for Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics runs to just eight pages and is mostly dominated by the expansion set’s five scenarios. Together they form a linked mini-campaign that plays out across the Zone. A new threat has arisen, one capable of taking control of factions and turning them against each other. This begins with ‘Scenario 1: Monster Bonanza’, which sees more and monsters driven to attack the factions, whilst the true nature of the threat, a murderous mutant chieftain called the Hydra, is revealed in ‘Scenario 2: The Hydra Rises’. In ‘Scenario 3: Escorting the Emperor’, the humans of the Ancients—as depicted in Mutant: Year Zero – Elysium—have returned to build the future of the Dawnworld, but needs protection from the Hydra. In this scenario, the Emperor’s Scrap Carriage—making use of the new terrain piece included in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics—needs to be escorted across the map as it is attacked by Hydra forces, and again, a player’s faction may find itself fulling under Hydra’s influence. The Hydra’s ability to spread his psionic influence is revealed in ‘Scenario 4: Beacons of Hope’, whilst he is finally confronted in ‘Scenario 5: Final Showdown’. All but the first scenario requires a minimum of three players, and all can be played with four players, so at least one of the factions from the core box is required to play through the campaign. They all make use of the Trigger cards to add events and escalate the threat present throughout the mini-campaign.

Each of the two factions in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics are notably different to each other. The Mechatron Robots all have low Survival scores, reflecting their weakness when it comes to avoiding or taking advantage the dangers of the Zone or take of them, whereas the Nova Cult Psionicists are more varied in their ability scores. The Mechatron Robots are also equipped differently to the Nova Cult Psionicists. Where the Nova Cult Psionicists have Mutations such as ‘Puppeteer’, ‘Magnetism’, and ‘Clairvoyance’, the Mechatron Robots have Modules like ‘Pincers’, ‘System Override’, and ‘Grenade Launch’. Each of the models in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics, as in the core game, begins play with a standard Mutation or Module, to which is added a random one at the beginning of play. Other cards add a range of threats and encounters, such as ‘Acid Grass’, ‘Psionic Butterflies’, and ‘Magnetic Field’.

Physically, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics is very well put together and every is of a decent quality. The cards and the tokens are bright and colourful, the terrain and the map sheet are sturdy if suitably drab, the dice feel good in the hand, and the rulebook is light and easy to read. Above all, the miniatures are superb and really stand out in play, and are pleasingly individual so that you do get attached to them.

Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics opens up a lot of utility and versatility for Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe. New factions and thus new character types, plus new monsters and a new campaign. The only downside to the new campaign is that most of its scenarios require a minimum of three players, limiting its use. There are ways around that, such as the players taking it in turn to control a third faction or playing with two factions each. Of course, there is nothing to stop the scenarios from the core set being played through again, but with the two new factions from Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics. In fact, this a good option if there are only two players and if the players want to get used to playing the new factions before leaping into the campaign in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics.

If you enjoyed Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe, then Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics is definitely going to give you more of what you want.

Friday Faction: BattleTech Universe

In 2024, BattleTech is forty years old. Infamously, the game of ‘big, stompy robots’, in the four decades since the original publication of BattleTech: A Game of Armoured Combat by the FASA Corporation in 1984, the miniatures combat game has been expanded with numerous sets of new rules, supplements, several ranges of miniatures—both plastic and metal, over one hundred novels, a cartoon series, a collectible card game, and multiple computer games. What all of these have done—especially the novels—is develop the background and setting, covering a history that begins in the twenty-first century and runs all the way into the thirty-second century. It is detailed, involves multiple factions, hundreds of personalities, and a region of interstellar space surrounding Earth with a radius of roughly five hundred light years. Yet with this wealth of detail comes a complexity which leaves the prospective player to wonder where he should start with the game, which faction should he pick and why, and how did the current situation in the BattleTech universe get to be like it is. These are also questions—and more, that BattleTech Universe addresses and answers.

BattleTech Universe is the key lore book for the BattleTech setting. Published by Catalyst Game Labs, this is a complete history of the Inner Sphere from the theoretical foundations of the Kearny-Fuchida drive in 2018 and the launch of the TAS Pathfinder in 2107 through the Age of War and the Terran Hegemony, the foundation of the Great Houses, to the establishment of the Star League and a golden age. Then with the Amaris Coup, the collapse of the Star League, and the Exodus of the Star League Defence Force under General Aleksandr Kerensky, on through the Succession Wars that threatened a technological collapse into the fourth millennium and thirty-first century, to the Clan Invasion and the devastating onslaught of the invaders’ technologically advanced battlemech designs, the Dark Age that followed a collapse in the interstellar communications network, and ultimately, the capture of Terra by the Clans and the ascension of the ilClan, the one Clan to govern the others. In the process, the book not only provides a history of the BattleTech setting, but also gives a description of the current state of the Inner Sphere.

BattleTech Universe is really a book of two halves, though they are not equal halves. Less than a third of the book, the first half lays the foundation for the longer, second half. The development of the battlemech, the foundation of the Great Houses—Davion, Kurita, Liao Marik, and Steiner—and the four Succession Wars fought to decide which one of them would succeed to the position of First Lord and re-establish the Star League. This includes the development of the technology fundamental to the setting and its neo-feudalism—the battlemech and the pilots who become the new knights of the Inner Sphere. First with the Mackie, and then with its armour and weaponry, including autocannons, lasers, missile launchers, and more. Notable designs are highlighted, such as the Banshee, the Thunderbolt, and Frankenmechs! This groundwork sets everything up for what follows—the conflicts, the intrigues, the clash of personalities, the coming of the Clans, and much, much more. The reason that the second half is both longer and far more detailed is simple. It only covers one-hundred-and-twenty-six years, but these years are when the game is set and when the game’s setting is being developed as an active intellectual property, with events and clashes and stories within the setting that support new supplements and expansions for the game, giving new technologies and battlemech designs for players to deploy, and new battles to fight via new supplements and expansions for the game.

Throughout, BattleTech Universe highlights particular events such as the War of 3039, Operation Revival which saw the invasion of the Inner Sphere in 3049 and the battle of Tukayyid, the Word of Blake Jihad, the foundation of the Second Star League, and their consequences. This is supported by detailed background on the Clans and their culture and their technology, highlighting the radical differences between it and that of the Inner Sphere, and shining a spotlight on the feared Mad Cat battlemech and the baffling use of Elemental Battle Armour. Personalities, such as Victor Steiner-Davion and his resentful sister, Katherine Steiner-Davion, and more up to date with Yori Kurita, Julian Davion, and Danai Liao-Centrella, as well as the ilKhan, Alaric Ward, are given short biographies, including discussion of what motivated them. In between, other aspects of the BattleTech universe are not ignored. Thus, there are sections devoted to the major corporations of the Inner Sphere, the intelligence agencies operated by the Great Houses and other factions, and then, in between, there are maps, the changes in boundaries marking major changes in the history of the Inner Sphere and showing the winners and losers and which faction possesses which worlds.

The last third of BattleTech Universe is devoted to its many factions. Beginning with the five Great Houses, each faction is presented with its history, culture, and goals as well as what its future might be. For each of the eight Clans still existing in 3151, there is a similarly lengthy examination of their history and culture, and then shorter overviews of the twelve Lost Clans. The major kingdoms of the Periphery are given similar treatments, whilst the minor states are given a broad overview. Lastly, the most notable mercenary units are detailed, many of them well known across the Inner Sphere, such as Wolf’s Dragoons, the Gray Death Legion, and the Kell Hounds.

Physically, BattleTech Universe is a coffee table style full of great artwork drawn from the forty years of BattleTech’s publishing history combined with short, easy to digest essays on innumerable subjects. The book is well written, the artwork excellent, and the maps give some scale of the Inner Sphere, but each time they do show a large swathe of occupied space on just a couple of pages. If there is anything missing, it is an index and a bibliography of all of the books that the authors have drawn from for the contents of BattleTech Universe. That might have also helped for any reader wanting to delve deeper into the subject.

BattleTech Universe is an engaging and readable overview of the BattleTech setting and its history. Dedicated fans will probably prefer to delve deep into the supplements and sourcebooks that they have on their bookshelves, but this does not mean they will not enjoy the grand sweep of history presented in its pages, whilst those new to BattleTech will find BattleTech Universe a very useful introduction, readying them for the battlefield.

The Other OSR: Dungeons & Death

Dungeons & Death is supplement for Forbidden Psalm and Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition is a miniatures game published by Space Penguin Ink. It is a 28 mm skirmish level miniatures game playable with just five miniatures per warband per player and as a systems-agnostic setting, those miniatures can be from any range and publisher. It is also notable for a number of things. First, its background means that it is compatible with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. That means that Player Characters from the roleplaying game can be converted for use with Forbidden Psalm and with a bit of effort, content for Forbidden Psalm, could be adapted to Mörk Borg if a more physical, combative game is desired. Or the Game Master and her players want to scale their game up to handle skirmish encounters on a battlefield rather than in the theatre of the mind.

Dungeons & Death is itself notable for the fact that it contains three scenarios created from fantastic terrain created and painted by the members of the Forbidden Psalm Community. The supplement makes a point of including photographs taken of these three pieces of terrain and each of these is amazing! Not only do the photographs show off the skills of the contributors in terms of sculpting and painting, but they are great handouts should the Game Master want to show them to her players to give them an idea on what they are facing. Otherwise, Dungeons & Death is a short anthology that contains three scenarios and a new set of rules for creating random dungeons that players can take their warbands delving into their depths.

All three scenarios follow the standard format for Forbidden Psalm scenarios, which are presented on two-page spreads. On the left-hand side are entries for the scenario’s ‘Goal’, ‘Reward’, ‘Set-up and Treasure’, ‘Deployment’, and ‘Threats’, plus suggestions for ‘Solo Play’ and ‘Co-op’ play. A time limit is given last. On the right-hand side are mechanics and elements specific to the scenario, which typically includes the stats for monsters and the rules particular to the scenario, a basic map of the set-up, plus a piece of descriptive text to be read out when the players’ warband arriving at the objective for the scenario.

The first of the scenarios is ‘Skull Cave’. Based on a fantastic model and painting of a skull, partially overgrown with vines, its jaw lying separate, and its mouth, gaping wide open. It is claimed that this the skull of giant and it still contains the calcified remains of the giant’s brain. If the Player Characters can get inside the cave, then they can mine the brain fragments. These can be sold for gold or they can be consumed to remove all conditions and heal damage. However, neither the mining of the skull or consuming of the brain fragments is without its risks. The skull could collapse and consuming a brain fragment could transform the Player Character into a monster! A monster that he and his compatriots fought earlier at the mouth of the cave. ‘Skull Cave’ basically takes a classic fantasy roleplaying adventure, that of discovering a body, typically that of a god or a giant, which can then be explored and navigated as it were a dungeon, and turns it in a wargaming encounter.

‘Pies and Lies’ is the second scenario and starts with the Player Characters inside a pie shop. A very quaint pie shop with some utterly lovely pies on display. They have come to steal the pies, but unfortunately, the shop furniture has other ideas and is going to batter the Player Characters as they make a run for it with pies in hand. The treasure consists of the pies themselves and so the aim is to get out of the windows before the pie shop easts someone. Otherwise, ‘Pies and Lies’ is a bit silly.

‘The Statue’ is set in Dawnblight, where the Player Characters suddenly come across a square where a band of hooded people stand around a strange goat-headed statue, chanting for it to awaken. The Player Characters a limited amount of time before the hooded strangers complete their ritual and the statue comes alive! If the statue wakes up, the battle gets even more difficult, but if its is defeated, its skull can be worn as the Helm of the Goat, which has some fun magical effects.

‘Endless Dungeons’ is a set of tables for creating dungeons—networks of corridors and rooms below Dawnblight—which can be mapped out by hand or using dungeon tiles. The starting room is always a standard size, but once a Character opens a door, he can begin rolling dice on the various included tables. These include room size, contents, doors, conditions, monsters either from the Forbidden Psalm rulebook or the Footsteps supplement, NPCs, and so on. The NPCs are daft, including an ‘Intelligent Sock Stealing Goblin’ and a ‘Little Saucepan Man’, who will both join the Player Characters on their search of the dungeon. There is a table of special events that is more sensible. Essentially, a dungeon played using these rules can be played for a long as player wants and can still get the members of warband out of the dungeon. The environment, of course, is dangerous, but there is plenty of opportunity for reward too.

Physically, Dungeons & Death is decently presented, with only a hint of the artpunk styling of Mörk Borg. The wargaming scenarios are clearly laid out and easy to read, and the rules for creating dungeons are easy to use at the table. The illustrations are not too bad, but the photographs are good.

Dungeons & Death is a solid enough expansion for Forbidden Psalm. The scenarios are easy to set up and play and do not demand too much in the way of miniatures or terrain, which is what you expect of Forbidden Psalm. Plus, the dungeon rules are serviceable, but there is an element of silliness which runs counter to the tone of Mörk Borg and some may find to be out of place. Dungeons & Death is not as much use for Mörk Borg—since Mörk Borg and Forbidden Psalm are compatible—and the scenarios are more single encounters than proper adventures. That makes them easy to add to campaign though.

Mutant Miniature Mayhem

Since 2015, we have been able to leave the Ark and explore the post-apocalypse, perhaps discover what happened, and even search for somewhere safe to live alongside the different groups. First with the mutants of Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, then with the uplifted animals of Mutant: Genlab Alpha, the robots of Mutant: Year Zero – Mechatron – Rise of the Robots Roleplaying, and with the surviving humans of Mutant: Year Zero – Elysium. These four books consist of campaigns in their own right and they come together in The Gray Death, but the relationships between these diverse groups is not always an easy one and with resources scarce, including artefacts left over from before in the Old Age, it can lead to these very different groups coming to blows—and worse! This then, is the set-up for Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars, a skirmish wargame set in a post-apocalyptic future which takes place in an area known as the Zone.

Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe is a complete skirmish game which comes with everything that you need to play. This includes miniatures, rules, dice, cards, terrain, and more, all designed to be played by two players, aged fourteen and up, and plays in roughly ninety minutes. An expansion, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics adds a second set of factions so that four players can play. Published by Free League Publishing following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars is notable for a number of things. Most obviously, that it is set in the Mutant: Year Zero universe, and not only that, but it is compatible with the four setting and campaign books for Mutant: Year Zero and the Year Zero mechanics such that it is possible to take a Player Character from one of the roleplaying games and adapt it to Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars. In fact, fans of Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days and Mutant: Genlab Alpha will recognise many of figures in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe as being based on the artwork from those books. As will fans of the computer game, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. Both Dux, a duck hybrid, and Bormin, a pig hybrid, are included as miniatures in the core game.

Further, it is designed by Andy Chambers, whose wargames pedigree is unparalleled—Necromunda, Battlefleet Gothic, and Warhammer Fantasy Battle for Games Workshop and Dropzone Commander from Hawk Games. Altogether, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe sounds like an attractive package—and that is before you even get to open the box.

Inside Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars can be found ten miniatures, over eighty cards, over one hundred tokens, ten custom dice, three sheets of cardboard terrain, a map sheet, a measuring rule, and a rulebook. Open the book and the first thing you see is the map sheet and the cardboard terrain. The map sheet is thirty-six inches square, on heavy paper, and double-sided. Both show a rough scrubland in green and brown, whilst one of them has a dual carriage way running across it. The terrain is done in full colour and on heavy cardstock, slotting together easily to create a total of ten pieces, consisting of walls, trees, and the ruins of buildings, some of them with an upper floor. The terrain also comes apart easily for easy storage. The measuring rule and the tokens are bright and breezy and easy to use and see. The dice consist of two sets, the yellow base dice and the black gear dice, and they are easy to read and feel good in the hand. The cards come in two sizes. The standard size cards consist of the character cards which list each character’s stats, starting gear, and mutations. They are double-sided, one side showing the character healthy, the other when he is bloodied. Other standard size cards depict obstacles and monsters that might be encountered during play. The small cards consist of the starting equipment and mutations for the characters, as well as artefacts that can be found and are often being fought over in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars.

Then of course, there are the miniatures. These are done in 32 millimetre, a durable plastic, and divided into two sets of five. One set of five from the Ark Mutants and one set of five from the Genlab Tribe Mutants. The Nova Cult Mutants and the Mechatron Robots do not appear in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe, but are included in the expansion, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics. All ten miniatures are highly detailed and highly individualised and really stand out in play. Lastly, the miniatures, cards, and dice all sit in their own tray which has a lid, for very easy storage. There is even an empty slot on the try in which the game’s tokens can be readily stored.

The rules booklet runs to just twenty-four pages—and half of that is dedicated to the core set’s five scenarios. Each character or miniature is defined by four Attributes—Ranged, Melee, Survival, and Health. Ranged and Melee covers the types of attacks a miniature can make, Survival a measure of how well he avoid the dangers of the Zone or take advantage of them, and Health indicates how much damage he can take before he is Broken and cannot act until he recovers. Miniatures also have Mutations and Modules. The Modules are specific to Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Robots & Psionics, whilst everyone else uses Mutations. Ark Mutants use physical mutations, like ‘Acid Spit’ and ‘Four-Armed’, whilst ‘Antlers’ and ‘Flight Response’ are used by the Genlab Alpha Mutants. These are activated in play using M-points, which a player acquires by pushing combat rolls or from Zone cards.

Mechanically, anyone who has played Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days or any roleplaying game from Free League Publishing will be familiar with Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars. They all use the Year Zero engine. This involves a player rolling six-sided dice and aiming to roll one or more successes, indicated by the Radiation symbol. The dice pool will be made up of two dice types. The yellow Base Dice are rolled for a miniature’s Attributes, whilst the black Gear Dice are rolled for any weapons he is wielding, armour he is wearing, or item he is using. One success is enough to hit, but more Successes indicates more hits and more potential damage inflicted. If the attack is a miss or the player wants more Successes, he can Push the roll. This allows him to reroll any dice that did not roll Radiation symbols or Biohazard symbols on the base Dice or the Explosion Symbols on the Gear Dice. Pushing a dice roll, though, has consequences. If there are any Biohazard symbols on the base Dice generates M-points, whilst Explosion Symbols on the Gear Dice indicate damage has been done to the gear used, reducing the bonuses that the Gear provides. If that bonus is reduced to zero, then that Gear is broken and can no longer be used.

Any miniature which is successfully attacked will take damage equal to the number of Radiation symbols rolled on both the Base Dice and the Gear Dice. Fortunately, armour and cover can provide protection— armour and cover against ranged attacks and armour only against melee attacks. Armour and cover indicate the number of Gear Dice the defending player rolls and for each success or Radiation symbol rolled, the damage suffered is reduced by one. Damage is deducted from a miniature’s Health and if this falls below zero, he is Broken. In which case, the only action he can take is a Recovery action and if successful, he is considered to be Bloodied. His player turns the miniature’s card over onto its Bloodied side, and if the miniature suffers enough damage again to be considered Broken, he is actually Taken Out and removed from the game.

Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars is played as a series of rounds. At the start of a round, an Action Token is placed in a cup for each miniature. Over the course of a round, when a token from a faction is drawn, that faction’s player can activate one of his miniatures who has not been yet activated. This continues until all of the Action Tokens have been drawn and each miniature activated. When activated, a miniature can do one of two options. Either enter Overwatch so that the miniature can make a ranged later in the round, or take an Action. This can be ‘Move & Attack’, ‘Aimed Fire’, ‘Charge’, ‘Recover’, ‘Assist recovery’, ‘Simple Operation’, ‘Activate Mutation/Module’, and more. All of the Actions are clearly explained and many are accompanied by an example. The rules also cover finding, using, and losing artefacts, and adding Zone Tokens which add a random event determined by drawing a Zone Card. These might indicate that the miniature has discovered a ‘Rot Hotspot’ and must make a Survival Test, gaining an M-point if it is passed and a point of damage if failed, set off an event in the scenario with a ‘Trigger card, or disturbed a monster in the Zone, such as a Razorback or a Landshark. There are only four monsters in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars, but they are all nasty.

In addition, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars includes rules for campaign which allows the miniatures to improve and keep a single found artefact each between scenarios, a guide to converting characters from the roleplaying games, and solo play. The latter allow a player to play on his own or co-operate with another, the rules suggesting that this is a good way to teach the rules. The advice is that solo play should not involve too complex a scenario. There is also a quick and dirty guide for a player creating his own characters, but the player would have to provide his own miniatures.

Play in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars continues until either one faction has all of its miniatures are Taken Out or have left the table, or the scenario objectives have been achieved. There are five scenarios in Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars. These start with ‘Throw Down’, a simple scrap between factions for artefacts and Victory Points gained from defeating the other side, but with a time limit set by a worsening shower of acid rain! They continue with ‘Block War’, which has the same objectives as well as Victory Points gained from holding buildings. Others involve a street fight for juicy loot, a chase, and the defence of one faction’s ark. They are all fairly straightforward, uncomplicated affairs. For veteran wargamers they may be too basic, but for anyone new to the hobby, they are fine.

Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars is easy to learn and set-up. From opening the box to setting up, the first game can be ready in thirty minutes. The rules are light enough to read in that time and setting up the first scenario and the terrain is very easy. Then once it is set up, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars is fun to play. It helps that the artwork on the cards captures the vibrancy, weirdness, and grottiness of the Zone, and the miniatures reflect this. There is a giddy absurdity to leading a mutant with insect wings, another wearing a diving helmet who can give off spores, and another who can eat the Rot that poisons everyone into a scrap against anthropomorphic duck armed with a crossbow, a boar-man with a giant club who charges into battle, and Moose-man who can gore with antlers, all fighting over a flamethrower, cooking pan that can be worn on the head as armour, or a speed limit sign that can be used as a shield! As with any skirmish game, it plays fast with lots of back-and-forth action, the Action Token mechanic means that play can swing this way or that, as can the dice rolls. Plus, as with any other Year Zero engine game, there is always that need to Push the rolls to succeed, but knowing that if you do, there may be consequences. The game is not too tactically complex either, a player needing to take advantage of cover, try and work his miniatures into the right position to get close enough to close with a melee attack, and then when the time is right unleash a devasting Mutation move! The miniatures or mutants are quite hardy, so it take two or more attempts them to be Broken and then again Taken Out, aided of course, by the luck of the Action Tokens and the dice rolls.

Physically, Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe is very well put together and everything is of a decent quality. The cards and the tokens are bright and colourful, the terrain and the map sheet are sturdy if suitably drab, the dice feel good in the hand, and the rulebook is light and easy to read. Above all, the miniatures are superb and really stand out in play, and are pleasingly individual so that you do get attached to them.

Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe is very impressive, very complete, and above all, very accessible. A veteran wargamer will pick this up with ease and appreciate its fast-playing, light mechanics, whilst anyone new to wargaming will be eased in those same light mechanics. Anyone who has played any of the roleplaying games that this skirmish game is based upon will find much that is familiar and also pick the game up with ease. All will love the miniatures that capture the weirdness and wackiness of the Zone. Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Wars – Skirmish Mayhem in the Mutant: Year Zero Universe is fun, fast, and sometimes freaky with the mutations, a great skirmish wargaming adaptation of the Mutant: Year Zero setting.

The Other OSR: Forbidden Psalm

The end is nigh and there is no denying it. The seas rise. The forests spread. Crops fail. Wars continue without reason. The dead walk the land. Peasants suffer taxes, plague, and worse. As the world takes one more breath closer to dying, the arch-priestess Josilfa stands in the pulpit in the great cathedral to the god Nechrubel in the city of Galgenbeck in the land of Tveland, preaching that prophecies of the Two-Headed Basilisk are coming true. The apocalypse is pending and the inquisition of the Two-Headed Basilisks will see to it that no apostate or heretic turn their face away from the end or find salvation in other gods. Yet there are some who would deny all the signs around them and even say that there is another way. That the masses need heed to the pontification of arch-priestess Josilfa in her doom mongering prophecies of the Two-Headed Basilisk, that the darkness can be held back. Vriprix the Mad Wizard is one such voice. He believes that the Forbidden Psalm, a nameless scripture, contains the necessary knowledge to do so, and is located deep in the ruins of the city of Kergüs. He will not emerge from behind the doors of his castle home, but his pockets run deep, and he has gold aplenty to hire mercenaries and freebooters to undertake tasks for him. This is the set-up for Forbidden Psalm: The End Times Edition.

Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition is a miniatures game published by Space Penguin Ink. It is notable for a number of things. First—as the background suggests—it is compatible with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. That means that Player Characters can be converted to use with Forbidden Psalm and with a bit of effort, the campaign that comes in Forbidden Psalm, could be adapted to Mörk Borg if a more physical, combative game is desired. Like Mörk Borg, a set of polyhedral dice is required to play Forbidden Psalm.

Second, it is a 28 mm skirmish level miniatures game playable with just five miniatures per warband per player and as a systems-agnostic setting, those miniatures can be from any range and publisher, meaning that a player can easily tailor his band to his choice. It is played on two-foot square board and Forbidden Psalm does include rules for the co-operative play, solo play, versus mode, and multiplayer play with three or four participants. The scale and numbers of Forbidden Psalm puts it roughly on a par with a Frostgrave: Fantasy Wargames in the Frozen City and Mordheim.

Third, Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition is not one book, but two. It compiles two volumes. The core rules, Forbidden Psalm, and the campaign, ‘Footsteps of the Mad Wizard’. This is a twenty-six-part campaign and if Footsteps of the Mad Wizard is run using Mörk Borg, it would actually make it the first campaign for Mörk Borg.

A warband in Forbidden Psalm consists of five miniatures. Each has four stats—Agility, Presence, Strength, and Toughness, Hit Points based on his Toughness, a randomly determined Flaw and Feat, and then some equipment. The latter comes out of a starting budget of fifty gold for all of the Warband. If a player wants his warband to include a Spellcaster, this must be paid for, who is then generated as a standard figure complete with stats, Feat and Flaw, and so on, plus two scrolls—one clean and one unclean—that he will begin play with. Pets—including a pet rock, which is good for throwing—and a Slug Wizard can also be purchased and mercenaries be hired. These are more expensive options than hiring the spellcaster. Forbidden Psalm provides examples of both pets and mercenaries.

Råtta Strejkbrytare
Agility +3 Presence +1 Strength -3 Toughness +0
Hit Points: 8
Flaw: Loner (-1 to tests within two inches of an ally)
Feat: Rat Catcher (free Bag o’ Rats)
Equipment: Short sword, light armour, backpack, lantern, bandages

Set-up and game play in Forbidden Psalm is simple. Pick a scenario to play and set up the board, determine weather and conditions, roll for initiative, and deploy according to the scenario. Then from one round to the next, the participants determine initiative, take it in turns to activate a figure, then monsters, and that is it. Play proceeds like this until the objective for the scenario has either been achieved or it proves impossible to do so. Movement is based on a figure’s Agility stat, and each figure can act and move once when activated. An action can be to make an attack, use an item of equipment or a feat, read a scroll, interact with treasure or scenario objects, drag a down figure a short distance, and so on. If a Test has to be made, it is rolled on a twenty-sided die, the aim being to roll twelve or more. A roll of one is a fumble and a roll of twenty is a critical. Combat is equally as simple, though in melee combat, the defender has a chance to strike back, though with a penalty. A figure reduced to zero Hit Points is ‘Downed’, but is killed if reduced to negative Hit Points. A ‘Downed’ can still die at the end of the scenario or he might simply have a wound or even a wound and a new Feat he has learned!

Both players begin a scenario with each possessing access to six Omens. These grant fantastic, one-off benefits such as dealing maximum damage, forcing the reroll of any dice, cancelling out one critical or fumble.

Magic takes the form of reading scrolls. This simply requires a test versus the figure’s Presence stat. This does not consume the scroll and the figure can read a scroll again and again over the course of a scenario. On a failure or a Critical, the figure gains a Tragedy. Tragedies are accrued and carried over from one game to the next. They are then used and expunged as modifiers to rolls on the Calamity Table, such as when a player rolls a Fumble when reading a scroll. A Calamity, such as everything feeling fine, but on roll of seven on the twenty-sided die whenever the figure is activated, his head explodes and he dies, or the figure’s arm becomes permanently hostile to the figure and punches him every round until the limb is amputated, lasts for a whole scenario.

The rules for Forbidden Psalm run to some forty pages, but that covers everything—warband creation, magic, movement, action, combat, and so on. They are clear and easy to read and grasp, and anyone who has played another set of miniatures wargame rules will be able to adjust with ease, as to be fair, will anyone who has played Mörk Borg. The remainder of Forbidden Psalm is divided between some twenty-five or so monsters and the campaign. The monsters include ‘The Blind Spider Queen’, ‘Blood Rage Vampire’, the ‘Corpse Collector’ of the front cover to Forbidden Psalm, both ‘Dismembered Ghouls’ and ‘Faecal Ghouls’, the ‘Mutant Chicken of Kalkoroth’ (complete with laser eyes), and lastly, the scythe-armed ‘The Editors’ which stuff the mouths of Downed figures with paper covered in mad ramblings and so kill them, rising the next round as Disciples of the Editors! If a monster is killed, its organs can be harvested as ‘Sweet Meats’ and sold. However, this requires a successful Presence Test otherwise the figure realises that his actions are so disgusting he must make a Morale Test! Overall, this is a solid selection of suitably vile monsters and it would be easy to add more from Mörk Borg.

The campaign in Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition combines the shorter campaign from the original rulebook for Forbidden Psalm and In the Footsteps of the Mad Wizard, and together they take up half of the book. In this, the extremely reclusive Vriprix the Mad Wizard hires the Player Characters to undertake various tasks, such as exploring a nearby house for Black-Spotted Fungus, killing a rival wizard, finding the culprit who has stolen his socks(!), and more… Each clearly states the goal for the Player Characters, rewards, set-up and deployment, threats, and then how to run it in solo and co-operative play, plus some colour text to read out, especially if it is being run as part of a Mörk Borg game. After Vriprix disappears at the end of the part of the campaign, the rest concerns the Player Characters’ attempts to track him down in the city of Dawnblight in the Kergüs region. Here they will find one of their number imprisoned and have to rescue him from Ice Prisons, scavenge for food to keep the Hogs Head Inn running, kill the innkeeper’s ex-lover-now Faecal Ghoul and return with proof, hunt ravenous monsters and try to survive when they turn on them, and so on. It is a fun campaign in whatever format it is being run. There are notes too on what the Player Characters can do between missions and improve themselves. In general, the scenarios are sufficiently complex for Forbidden Psalm, but they may need a little fleshing out here and there to work as anything other than very straightforward scenarios.

Physically, Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition is decently done and keeps everything clear and simple, and so it is very easy to read. In terms of art style, Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition avoids the illegibility of the Artpunk style of the standard Mörk Borg title.

Although not written as one, Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition has the simplicity and ease of use of an introductory wargame, made all the easier by its low demands in terms of miniatures and terrain pieces required. The compatibility between Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition and Mörk Borg also highlights the simplicity and adaptability of the Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying game, not just to another setting or genre, but an entirely different type of game—the miniatures wargame—and then back again. All of which is supported by over twenty scenarios which can be played in solo, co-operative, and player-versus mode or run as straightforward roleplaying scenarios. Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition is a solid set of skirmish miniatures combat rules, perfect for the Mörk Borg devotee, suitable for the wargames enthusiastic wanting a straightforward set of rules, and good for the Game Master who wants an undemanding campaign.

1983: Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game

1974 is an important year for the gaming hobby. It is the year that Dungeons & Dragons was introduced, the original RPG from which all other RPGs would ultimately be derived and the original RPG from which so many computer games would draw for their inspiration. It is fitting that the current owner of the game, Wizards of the Coast, released the new version, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, in the year of the game’s fortieth anniversary. To celebrate this, Reviews from R’lyeh will be running a series of reviews from the hobby’s anniversary years, thus there will be reviews from 1974, from 1984, from 1994, and from 2004—the thirtieth, twentieth, and tenth anniversaries of the titles. These will be retrospectives, in each case an opportunity to re-appraise interesting titles and true classics decades on from the year of their original release.

—oOo—

Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game was published by Games Workshop in 1983. The spiritual successor to the earlier Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules, but produced for a larger audience that by then the game would have through Games Workshop’s magazine, White Dwarf and through the popularity of the miniatures being produced by the publisher and Games Workshop’s partner company, Citadel Miniatures. Of course, it would prove to be a success and more. It would go on to spawn multiple editions, innumerable spin-off games, multiple editions of an actual roleplaying game, and as an intellectual property have novels and computer games developed from it. On this foundation, Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game has in forty years turned Games Workshop into a multimillion-pound, London Stock Exchange-listed company that has dominated the wargames hobby and industry.

Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game consists of a box containing three books and a set of errata, which in subsequent printings would be inserted into the centre of the first book as a separate appendix. The three volumes are Vol 1: Tabletop Battles, Vol 2: Magic, and Vol 3: Characters. All three are done in black and white and illustrated by Tony Ackland. The game is designed to be played fielding regiments of figures ranging in size between five and fifty figures, though it does not say this about halfway through Vol 1: Tabletop Battles and then individual figures when the roleplaying aspect comes into play via Vol 3: Characters. Vol 1: Tabletop Battles is the longest of the three and presents the rules for mass combat on the battlefield. There is little in the way of an introduction before the basics of the game are being explained, beginning with an explanation of dice notation and the game’s turn sequence. During his turn, a player has a Movement Phase, a Shooting Phase (for all players with forces with missile weapons), a Combat Phase, a Second Movement Phase for any troops that did not fight, a Magic Phase when spells are cast and their effects implemented, and a Rout Phase when routed and pursuing troops. Movement is in inches and is determined by troop type and type of mount, and accounts difficult ground, obstacles, charging, counter charging, and so on. Psychology plays a role in unit interactions, whether that is hatred of another race, or fear, terror, or a state of frenzy. For example, as is traditional, Goblins hate Dwarves, so will always attempt to attack them and fear Elves, so need to overcome that fear to face them. Some creatures, such Ogres, suffer from Stupidity, and can forget what they are doing on the battlefield.

Units themselves have ratings for their Move, Weapon Skill, Bow Skill, (Attack) Strength, Toughness, Wounds, Initiative, and Attacks. These typically range between one and six, although some can go much higher, for example, both Weapon Skill Bow Skill range between one and ten, and can be numbers or letters. For example, Attack Strength ranges from one and Weak to six and Irresistible, whilst Toughness ranges from A for Halflings and Lesser Goblins to F for Dragons and other very large creatures. In general, once combat is engaged, whether missile or mêlée combat, the attacker rolls a handful of six-sided dice—Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game needs a lot of six-sided dice, but does not actually say this until, again, halfway through Vol 1: Tabletop Battles—and attempts to roll as high as possible. This is modified by factors such as cover and range and is done on a figure-per-figure basis, so the game really does need a lot of lot of six-sided dice in addition to the other polyhedral dice. Rolling to hit is only the first step, as for each successful hit, a second roll is made against the Toughness of the target, using the Attack Strength of the missile weapon when shooting and the Attack Strength of the figure in mêlée combat, to see whether a wound or an automatic kill is registered—in some cases some combatants only have a single Wound and will die anyway, others have multiple Wounds and take multiple hits to kill. Finally, for each successful wound or kill result, the defendant rolls more dice to make a Saving Throw against each one. The Saving Throw is based on the armour worn and its type.

And that, fundamentally, is it to the core rules of Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game. There are rules for weapons differentiation and monsters and advanced rules for things such as critical hits, follow on combat, and so on. The Appendix (or errata) runs to eight pages and adds further advanced rules like return fire and fighting defensively, throws in a few ideas like siege craft and even Warp Frenzy and Warp Spasm. The Appendix also serves as a reference sheet for the game’s core tables.

The second half of Vol 1: Tabletop Battles gives advice on both tabletop battles and fighting in dungeons, the latter intended for underground battles such as between Goblins and Dwarves through tunnels and caverns. There are rules too for flying creatures and then Vol 1: Tabletop Battles gives an introductory battle, ‘The Ziggurat of Doom’. Here, a band of six noble and heroic Dwarves led by Thorgrim Branedimm, who is armed with Foebane, an ancient and magical Warhammer. Chased by a band of Goblins, the Dwarves take refuge atop a ziggurat standing in the clearing in the jungle. They have time to collect a few rocks to throw down on the Goblins, but this is a desperate stand against wave after wave of the Goblins. The Goblin player scores points for killing the Dwarves, whilst the Dwarf player receives points for simply surviving. Variation in the Goblin type—Goblins, Red Goblins, Night Goblins, or even Hobgoblins—allow for some replicability, as does swapping sides. The remainder of Vol 1: Tabletop Battles consists of Creature Lists, including men and humanoid monsters, numerous monsters such as the Jabberwok, and numerous werecreatures and types of undead.

Vol 2: Magic defines wizards, their use of magic on the battlefield, and spells. Wizards have a Mastery Level, ranging from one and Novice/Initiate to four and Magician/Mage. Their Constitution determines how much magic a Wizard can cast before he is exhausted. Life Energy is lost whenever a spell is cast, but is a long-term factor for roleplaying campaigns rather than battlefield encounters. All Wizards possess an innate magical sense and lob fireballs back and forth between each other in Wizard duels. When casting a new spell or a spell of a higher Mastery Level, it possible for the spellcasting to be fumbled. The creation of Wizards for the battlefield is random, but is combined with the rules for character creation in Vol. 3: Characters.

A spell is described in terms of Time to Prepare, Talismans, Spell Level, Energy cost, Time to Rest, and Remarks. Time to Prepare is the number of active player movement phases a Wizard must remain stationary in order to ready the spell, Talismans or magical devices required to cast, the Spell Level is the Spell Mastery required to cast a spell, the Energy Cost is deducted from both Constitution and Life Energy, and where Constitution is recovered, Life Energy is not. Time to Rest is the number of active player movement phases the Wizard must spend inactive—but can defend himself—before preparing another spell. The combination of the Time to Prepare and Time to Rest, then, prevents a Wizard from wandering around the battlefield like a mobile field gun, blasting away at all and sundry. Vol 2: Magic then includes a full list of spells. This spell list feels proscribed with none of the flexibility or complexity of the earlier Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules, but there is a good range of spells given here. The rules also cover Necromancy, magic specialisation, and a list of richly detailed enchanted objects.

Vol. 3: Characters covers the roleplaying aspect of Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game. Surprisingly, there is a longer introduction to this book than there is to the whole game in Vol 1: Tabletop Battles. A Player Character looks like this, and two things are apparent from the format. First, the Player Character is incredibly fragile with just the single Wound, and second, this does actually look very similar to what a Player Character from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay looks like. Of course, this should be no surprise, given that the roleplaying game is derived from these rules. The result is also highly random so that a Player Character could end being a brilliant archer who is also a Pharmacist and a Transvestite—which really is listed under the skills!—or a Prince who is a Fisherman and a Miner!

Name: Holger Muller

Social Status: Freeman
Race: Human
Age: 18
Sex: Male
Intelligence: 5
Cool: 8
Will Power: 8
Leadership: 1

Attacks: 1
Wounds: 1
Initiative: 4
Weaponskill: 3
Bowskill: 1
Strength: 2
Toughness: B
Move: 4”

Armour: mail shirt
Weapons: Sword and boat hook
Skills: Ship’s Mate, Pickpocket

A Player Character can advance for doing things like defeating enemies, surviving adventures, defeating Wizards, and acquiring gold. As a Player Character acquires more Experience Points, he can advance certain attributes and when he passes certain thresholds, he choose to advance any of the ones previously selected. A Wizard Player Character can learn more spells and eventually increase his Mastery Level. Vol. 3: Characters suggests possible Alignments—Good, Neutral, Evil, Avarice, and Hunger—for both Player Characters and NPCs and monsters, and it also provides a means to alleviate the fragility of the Player Character, or at least avoid the possibility of certain death. Thus, if a Player Character is killed or looses all of his Wounds, the player can then instead roll for an injury, which can something that the Player Character can recover from, such as a concussion, or be permanent, like a severe wound to the arm that prevents him from using the arm. There is still the chance of death even so, and if not, the Player Character will be out of action for a number of turns and must recover for several weeks. Nevertheless, until a Player Character acquires a total of five hundred Experience Points, he is going to wander around with a single Wound, hoping that he is going to be lucky enough to survive… If a Player Character does die, then replacing him is a matter of a few random rolls, yet how many more times does a character have to die before his player gets annoyed with the game?

Vol. 3: Characters also suggests a few adventure ideas, gives a price list for arms, armour, weapons, and other goods, lists employment that a Player Character might undertake to earn a living, and gives a set of encounter tables. Rounding out Vol. 3: Characters, though, is a full scenario, ‘The Redwake River Valley’. The Player Characters are employed to find out why the town of Ath Cliath has lost contact with the settlements to the north and the envoys they sent previously. Essentially, this a broadly detailed sandbox in which the Player Characters will discover Goblins on the march and settlements being attacked and sacked, and may be in time in defend one or more, and perhaps find an ally or two and learn what is going on. It feels very inspired by The Lord of the Rings and especially The Two Towers and it is serviceable enough, though not a great adventure, you could have fun playing it. Of course, there are notes on what miniatures to order from Citadel Miniatures to be able to run the scenario.

The roleplaying game presented in Vol. 3: Characters and thus Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game is perfunctory at best, underwritten at worst. There is no real guidance on the play of this aspect of the game, there is no means of handling tasks that a roleplaying game normally would—even in 1983, there is no way of handling the interaction between NPCs and the Player Characters, and the character options are extremely limited. The player has a choice of a Fighting Man who is likely to die very quickly and a Wizard who has to stand still for lengthy periods of time to cast magic and is also to die very quickly. No objectives for the Player Characters are discussed and the idea that a player might want to bring his character onto the battlefield looks absurd given their frail nature.

There is the genesis of the Old World and Chaos in Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game, but you have to look between the cracks to find it, such as Warp Frenzy and Warp Spasm. There are some oddities too, like the Night Elves and the Red Goblins, which either have their name changed or be excised for later editions. It shows too in the attributes used for monsters, soldiery, and Player Characters, which will change slightly for later editions of the game and for the roleplaying game. The fact that the figures on the battlefield and the characters in the roleplaying aspect of the game share the same attribute is to be applauded, but the fragility of the Player Characters is not. They are not designed to survive the world that Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game suggests and definitely not the battlefield. If a Player Character does, it will be primarily due to luck and not anything that the player will have done. Of course, Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game is precursor to the grim and perilous world of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, but even that gave the Player Character some resilience where Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game does not.

Physically, Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game is in general, not too badly presented. It is easy to read and grasp, Tony Ackland’s pen and ink illustrations are good, and John Blanche’s cover is great. However, it does need a good edit.

—oOo—

Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game was reviewed in White Dwarf Issue 43 (July 1983) by Joe Dever. He awarded the rules eight of ten and said, “If you regularly wargame with miniatures, or have been wondering what additional fun you could have from your rapidly growing collection of fantasy figures, then I recommend you check out Warhammer and let battle commence!”

If the only wholly positive review was to appear in the pages of White Dwarf, it is hardly a surprise, but other magazines took a more critical assessment. Chris Hunter reviewed it in Imagine No. 8 (November 1983). He said, “My main criticism of Warhammer is that Citadel seem to have provided a mass combat system which cannot be used to the full by the characters that the role-playing section generates, at least not until they have become experienced enough to lead, rather than be led, into battle. The mass combat rules are very good, probably some of the best available for fantasy combat; but surely a better way of selling them would have been to publish them separately from the role-playing rules as a standalone supplement.” before concluding that, “Finally, then, if you are looking for a mass fantasy combat system, I recommend Warhammer; but if all you want is a role-playing game, it would perhaps be better to look elsewhere, at least, until further role-playing supplements have been brought out.”

In Dragon #85 (May 1984), Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game was reviewed by Ken Rolston in ‘Advanced hack-and-slash – Combat plays a big role in four fantasy games’, along with the earlier Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules. His evaluation was that. “Warhammer is exceptionally simple and playable for a miniatures rules system. The presentation is good in comparison to other miniatures rules, and adequate in comparison to recent FRP games. The rules sacrifice detail and comprehensiveness for simplicity, but most of the important aspects of tabletop battles are addressed. Though hardly a model of English usage or proofreading, the rules are well-organized and readable. The game has strong action potential, and the flavor of the fantasy elements is quite satisfying.” but like other reviews in concluded that, “The rules are not readily compatible with other published role-playing systems; adapting Warhammer to other FRP rules would be a major do-it-yourself project and of dubious value. It could be a satisfactory introductory role-playing game for a beginner or for someone willing to convert his campaign to Warhammer rules, but its most likely application is for occasional mass combat tabletop games independent of your role-playing campaign.”

This was followed in the same issue with ‘Warhammer FRP system falls flat’ by Katherine Kerr. From title, let alone the opening remarks, it was clear that she was not impressed, stating, “…[I]t’s one of the most irritating new games I’ve ever read. Warhammer has all the potential to be a good game – in fact, parts of it are very good – but overall it’s a sloppy, amateurish piece of work that needs rewriting, editing, and extending to be a playable system.” She was highly critical throughout, leaving her to ask the question at the end, “Is Warhammer worth buying? The answer depends on the potential purchaser. An experienced referee who’s discontented with the magic system in some other game might well profit from the magic rules in Warhammer. Anyone who revels in gory combat to the exclusion of all else will enjoy the game heartily. The novice gamer, or any gamer who’s looking for a complete rules system, should save his hard-earned cash. Perhaps someday the game will be revised to make it live up to its potential; until then, it will be a curiosity and nothing more.”

Edwin J. Rotondaro reviewed Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game in Space Gamer #72 (January-February 1985) in the magazine’s regular ‘Capsule Reviews’ department. He was in agreement with many of the other reviews: “Overall, I have to say that Warhammer is a good miniatures game, but a terrible roleplaying game. The system is flexible enough to be used as a mass combat module in most RPGs, but you have to decide whether it's worth $12.95 for a set of fantasy miniatures rules.”

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Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game is an important game for the influence it would have on the wargames, miniatures, and roleplaying industries, but it is not a great game. Or rather it is both a good game and a bad game. The miniatures rules are very good, decently explained, and serve as a good introduction to fantasy wargaming, whilst the roleplaying rules are bad, underwritten and ill-explained. The concept of integrating roleplaying characters onto the battlefield is a good one, but in Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game it is poorly handled. Ultimately, the two would have split to get the best of both, and consequently Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game can be regarded as a classic game more because of its influence rather than its overall design, even though parts of it are very good.

1978: Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules

1974 is an important year for the gaming hobby. It is the year that Dungeons & Dragons was introduced, the original RPG from which all other RPGs would ultimately be derived and the original RPG from which so many computer games would draw for their inspiration. It is fitting that the current owner of the game, Wizards of the Coast, released the new version, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, in the year of the game’s fortieth anniversary. To celebrate this, Reviews from R’lyeh will be running a series of reviews from the hobby’s anniversary years, thus there will be reviews from 1974, from 1984, from 1994, and from 2004—the thirtieth, twentieth, and tenth anniversaries of the titles. These will be retrospectives, in each case an opportunity to re-appraise interesting titles and true classics decades on from the year of their original release.

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The origins of roleplaying, of course, lie in wargames and the development of both would weave back and forth between the two over the first decade or so of the history of the roleplaying game. They had begun, of course, with Chainmail out of which would come Dungeons & Dragons. In the United Kingdom, the interaction between the two would arguably culminate in the publication of the Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy Roleplaying Game in 1983 by Games Workshop. This hybrid between the wargames rules and the roleplaying game would form the basis for the future of Games Workshop, and both a hobby and an industry in their own right. Its origins lie in Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules, which like Chainmail and Dungeons & Dragons, combined mediaeval warfare with the fantasy genre. Designed by Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestley, who would go on to design numerous games and supplements for Games Workshop, the first edition of Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules was published by Tabletop Games in 1978 with a second edition that followed in 1981. It is the latter, second edition of the rules that is being reviewed here.

Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules are not mass combat rules, but a set of skirmish rules designed to handle thirty figures per side. There is no setting as such, but there are descriptions of a mini-pantheon of gods and army lists of goblins, Wood Elves, High Elves, Dragon men, and more. Notably, it is advised that battles be conducted with an umpire—or Game Master—present to not only handle results difficulties, but also set up plots, games, work out the abilities of the troops on each side, and arrange the terrain and any hidden features. This is optional, but as an option, it removes the involvement of the players from any battle until they arrive at the table and begin writing orders. What it suggests, especially with the inclusion of single hero and magic user figures, is that Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules could be used as ‘Braunstein’ style of wargame, although it is not explored in its pages. Really, the role of the single Hero figure is undertake great feats of martial prowess and the role of the single Magic User figure is to employ great spells, both on the battlefield.

Once a battle has been set up, play progresses in a manner similar to many other wargames rules. Players write their orders, and then from one round to the next, players take in turns to move their troops, missile fire is conducted, morale tests are conducted for troops who have suffered missile fire, mêlée engagements are fought, morale is tested again for any remaining troops who have been fighting, and the round ends. This is simple and straightforward, and will be recognised by most wargamers today. Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules, though, wastes very little time in getting to the rules. Troops, of all types, are primarily classified by their Strength Value. This is where the rules—and we are only on page three—begin to get a bit fiddly. A figure has a Strength Value ranging between three and thirty, but this can go higher. Halflings have a Strength Value of three, Humans have six, Medium Giants have eighteen, and Large Giants have Thirty. Mythical creatures given stats in Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules include classics such as Wyverns, Centaurs, Harpies, and Gargoyles, whilst the inclusion of the Tree Men shows the influence of The Lord of the Rings and of Owl Bears the influence of Dungeons & Dragons. These are joined by sillier options like the incredibly lethal Fat Corgies—one of which could win a battle on its own, if you could find a suitable miniature, that is—and Stampeding Cattle. Of course, in the second edition of the rules there are a handful of suggested codes for various figures from the then fledgling Citadel Miniatures. The listed Strength Value though, is only a base. Armour increases Strength Value piece by piece, the value depending on the size of the wearer. It takes a bit of arithmetic to work what the final Strength Value is for a figure. The figure’s Ability Factor, ranging from -10% for peasant and slave troops to +1-% for household troops and guards, modifies this further. Morale Value ranges from ‘A’ for staunch household troops to ‘E’ for disgruntled or starving troops. Most troops are rated at ‘C’. A unit of troops can be ‘Drilled’, ‘Organised’, ‘Tribal’, or ‘Levy’, a categorisation which dictates the speed at which its troops can replace (or elect) a leader lost in combat. Every unit will have leader who can be targeted. The categorisation also helps determine whether a unit is routed, force to retire, or simply okay when it is forced to make a morale check, whether due to suffering high casualties, being attacked by a superior force or foe, or even a nearby allied unit suffering a loss of morale and breaking. Non-intelligent creatures suffer a panic test instead of a morale test.

Movement allows for Walk, Trot, and Run speeds, and flying too. Both mêlée and missile attacks have a base percentage chance of striking, varying by weapon type, and a Killing Power value according to the size of the wielder. Modified by range and size of the target, the final percentage chance of striking is multiplied by the number of figures in a unit. This results in a total equal to hundreds of percentile points. A single hit is scored for each full one hundred percent and then percentile dice are rolled for the remainder to see if another hit is scored. For example, a unit of ten peasant levy troops has a base chance of hitting with their billhooks of 35%. This is multiplied by ten to give a total of 350%, to give three guaranteed hits and a 50% chance of a fourth. To work out the effectiveness of an attack, the defendant’s Strength Value is divided by the attacker’s Killing Power. This is multiplied by the number of hits to determine the percentage chance of the defendant being killing. For example, a unit of ten peasant levy troops with a Killing Power of seven attacks a single, fully armoured knight with a Strength Value of sixteen. Dividing the Strength Value by the Killing Power and then multiplying it by the number of peasant levies (16/7×10) gives a 22% chance of them killing the knight. To quote the rules, “This may sound complex but it isn’t.” In fact, it actually is because of the way in which it is worded. Thankfully, two handy charts, Chart A for determining the percentage chance of hitting and Chart B for working out the percentage chance of hitting a killing blow, both handle all of this heavy lifting for the player or the Umpire.

As you would expect, Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules provides rules for unit organisation, using bases, the observational awareness of units, and much more, but a third of the book is devoted to magic and spells. A Magic User is treated as a standard figure on the battlefield, but his use of magic adds a lot of extra detail. A Magic User is graded according to the type of spells he can cast, from ‘A’ to ‘Z’, with ‘A’ being the worst grade and ‘Z’ the best, so that he can be good at all spells, better at some, and worse at others. He also has a Constitution which indicates how many spells he can cast before he gets tired, sixteen or seventeen being the expected average. (It is suggested that this actually be rolled on three six-sided dice as in a roleplaying game.) The type and number of spells known by a Magic User is determined by the Campaign Organiser, otherwise known as the ‘Tin God’, by which of course, the writer means the Umpire. They are allotted randomly, but other methods are suggested to, though not in any great detail. If the rules are being used as a roleplaying game, only the one spell should be known to the novice Magic User, another nod to Dungeons & Dragons.

There are spells listed in Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules, as well as some good examples, such as ‘Swords into flowers’, which turns any non-magical weapon within 10” into a bunch of flowers, the rules are not just a simple listing system of spells, but by design, a costing system. They allow for the creation of spells with specific battlefield effects. Each spell takes into account nineteen factors. These start with range, and then take into account whether the effect of the spell is to kill, is on an area or individual targets, creates an object, raise the dead, inflict general or specific destruction, movement, immobilise, transmute, mind control, change the senses, illusionary, shrink or enlarge, protect against ordinary weapons or magic, raise a magic barrier, and lastly, its length of time. Each factor that the design of the spell takes into account increases the Difficulty Points value of the spell. For example, a Mind Control spell with a range of 5-15” (1 DP), affects a single target (1 DP), and influences the minds of sapient creatures (3 DP), for two throw periods (2 DP), has a total Difficulty Point value of 7. To successfully cast the spell, the Magic User’s player cross references the Magic User’s Grade, either in the specific type of magic or in general magic, with the Difficulty Point value of the spell. This gives a percentage vale that the player must roll under to succeed. Casting a spell, whether successfully or unsuccessfully, will temporarily tire a Magic User, preventing him form casting a spell again for a few rounds as well as reducing his Constitution, again, also temporarily. The lower his Constitution, the more difficult it becomes for the Magic User to at first cast spells, then move, and even speak. If a Magic User’s Constitution falls to zero, he is dead.

Alongside the rules for spell design, there are rules for variable magic and then spell specialities, including charms, necromancy, summoning, and elementalism. There is a lot of fully worked out detail in both the rules and effects of these, including imnformation about the types of creatures and elementals summoned by the summoner and the elementalist, respectively. This is followed by a set of sixteen pre-designed spells that the Umpire can pull of the shelf quickly as part of his preparation. To support the summoner, Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules includes a sample mini-pantheon and summoning circle of deities. The chief deity, Aarlum, sits in a circle of neutrality, but the two houses to his right, Ashra and Oona and Aleel are inclined towards law and good, whilst the two houses to his left, Calyn and Tanith, are inclined to chaos and evil. Only a true neutral summoner can summon Aarlum or his forces, and similarly, the summoner must be aligned with the other gods to summon their forces. When they are summoned, they will enter into a pact with the summoner for a number of rounds. Full details of their manifestations are given in each case. Lastly, a handful of magic items are briefly described.

The Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules are rounded out with a set of five appendices. These in turn covers the use of buildings and the laying of sieges, setting things on fire and its effects, several army lists and assorted monsters, some play hints, and rules for wounds and kills as well as creating heroes. A Hero has a random Strength Value and Ability Factor, with a high Strength Value also increasing his Killing Power. In general, a Hero fights in hand-to-hand combat, but there is an option for a missile specialist too. The hints in the fourth appendix are really more a collection of random ideas, such as the anachronistic inclusion of  Science Fiction weapons, the use of the scenery to set the battlefield, converting miniatures, preparing games, and so on.

Physically, the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules are well presented. Much of it is also well written and the artwork, mostly hewing to a Swords & Sorcery style, is serviceable enough. As befitting that genre, there is some nudity, but it feels out of place in the book itself. However, there are points where the writing is unclear, such as in the way in which kills are worked out.

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Ken Rolston reviewed the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules in ‘Advanced hack-and-slash – Combat plays a big role in four fantasy games’ in Dragon #85 (May 1984) along with Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game. His evaluation was that, “Reaper is not a state-of-the-art fantasy wargame. The best thing that can be said about the vague and incomplete rules is that they are flexible and open to local customized variants. The real value will be for established fantasy miniatures gamers who already have satisfactory wargame rules (like Wargames Research Group’s War Game Rules, the standard rules for ancient, classical, and medieval historical miniatures warfare) but are looking for a good magic system. With the basic principles of Reaper’s magic system and a lot of work, the spells and magic items of a local campaign can be worked into large-scale fantasy engagements. At $8, Reaper’s price is a value for the experienced fantasy miniatures gamer. For a beginner unfamiliar with miniatures wargaming, it will not be a good introduction to the hobby; Warhammer would be far preferable.

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The Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules are over forty years old, but they could be brought to the table and a battle fought with them and it would provide an exciting game experience. It might not be as slick or as smooth as more modern designs, but the rules do work as intended. Whilst not necessarily complex in play, they are complex in terms of set-up, in designing units with the determination of the Strength Value of each figure and in the designing of individual spells. Nor is there any real advice on setting up a battle or specifically for the Umpire, on designing one. Yet the complexity—which has been eased between the two editions of the rules—has its benefits. The determination of the Strength Value means that a figure can be accurately represented on the battlefield according to the armour worn and the weapon wielded. Similarly, the spell design system allows the creation of individual spells to both great effect and variation, and this system really is the highlight of the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules. The system was highly innovative at the time and were it to have been incorporated into a roleplaying game it would have been recognised as a great piece of design. There are hints that the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules could handle roleplaying, though more likely on the battlefield in a ‘Braunstein’ style rather in the traditional fantasy roleplaying style of dungeon delving. This though, is an aspect that the rules do not explore.

The Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules combine classic fantasy with both complexity and choice. The magic rules and spell design system stand out and could have been a supplement all of their very own. As the precursor to the Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy Roleplaying Game of 1983, the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules foreshadow what was to come, but remain a playable and demanding—especially in terms of set-up—set of rules.