AMH.VS.JB

▲ Anne Marie Hurst ▲

Koka Kalim ▲ John Blanche ▲

▲ Anne Marie Hurst ▲

 Amazona Gothique ▲ John Blanche

▲Anne Marie Hurst ▲

 Adeptus Sororitas▲ John Blanche

BURNING THE OIL ▲ ANNE MARIE HURST ▲ JOHN BLANCHE ▲ FEMME MILITANT ▲ SKELETAL FAMILY ▲ AMAZONA GOTHIQUE ▲ GHOST DANCE ▲ SISTERS of BATTLE ▲ KOLA KALIM ▲ PROMISED LAND ▲ DUNGEONPUNK ▲ LUSTRIA ▲ LAURENCE THE ELDER▲ RIVER OF NO RETURN ▲ ADAPTUS SORORITAS▲ BOY LONDON CLOTHING▲ WHITE DWARF 79 ▲ DOMINATOR ▲AMAZONS▲ IMPERIAL MARINES of SPACE ▲ SHE CRIES ALONE ▲ TREES

Addendum historium obscurata: 1 + 2 JB predates AMH. 3 AMH predates JB.

+++ THEE TRANCEMISSION THVS ENDETH+++ 

Gygaxian Airfix Hobbits

Putting together a proud little band of Gygaxian Airfix Hobbits, and so duly I introduce... The Hobbits of the Fourth Farthing Irregulars.

10 Archers, 10 Spearman, 1 Captain

Prompted by Whisky Priest's "How to Oldhammer"  to put together a small warband of cheap and easily available miniatures, just to prove to naysayers that Oldhammer isn't some kind of weird exclusive collectors club... I thought what a great opportunity to not only do that but explore some fantasy wargaming history, kind of celebrate 40 Years of D&D and pay hommage to one of gamings greats, and prove that Oldhammer is actually some kind of weird, tweedy, pipe-smoking, beard stroking rambling cult who sit around whittering on about fairytales and the history of wargaming...

But wait, what is he on about? "Gygaxian Airfix Hobbits" what's them when they're at home? To answer that, dear reader, let us roll back the Fomorian mists of time... back... back...

Back to 1970 where the fantasy gaming industry didn't exist. Just imagine. There were no fantasy miniatures being produced, no rules-sets, no role-playing games, no Warhammer, no D&D, only earth beneath us, and above us only sky. There were, however, small groups of gentlemen gamers and vagabond street urchins pushing little models around, inspired by the Fantasy authors of the day, the likes of Vance, Tolkien, Moorcock, Howard. Into this heady, smoke filled arena, enter Gary Gygax, wargamer and soon to be inventor of Dungeons & Dragons publisher and co-author of Chainmail - rules for medieval miniatures including the "Fantasy Supplement" - wherein all manner of Nazgul, Ents, Balrogs, Orcs and Hobbits were detailed for your wargaming pleasure.

Chainmail represents the very first commercially available fantasy wargames rules - WRGs "Suggested Adaptions of Swords and Sorcery Fantatics" wouldn't appear until 1973, and sadly (or perhaps wisely) avoided the wrath of Tolkien Enterprises Legal Dept. and  neglected the Tolkienesque in favour of some kind of weird Crusader mythos with religious overtones. Chainmail might not quite represent year zero for Fantasy Wargaming, as luminaries such as Tony Bath demonstrate using ancients rules in their own fantasy setting, but returning to the matter in hand...

It all started here. Or hereabouts.

In the Chainmail "Fantasy Supplement" Gary describes Hobbits thusly:

"These little chaps have small place in the wargame, but you may want them for recreation of certain battles. Remember that they are able to blend into the background so make exellent scouts. They can fire a stone as far as an archer shoots, and because of their well known accuracy, for every two Halflings firing count as three on the Missile Fire table."

Nice enough - but no accompanying illustration tells us what this Hobbity "little chap" might look like, or how we might represent such a thing on our tabletops, which is a shame, but very much par for the course on early games - the gamer was supposed to work out for themselves and choose whatever they liked. The idea that there was a peculiar relationship between a specific ruleset and a specific miniatures range had yet to enslave the minds of gamers. Setting the chronometer forward a little to 1971,  in an article in Wargamers Newsletter, Gary states...
 

"...converted Airfix 'Robin Hood' men serve as Hobbits..."

And there we have it, Gary was using Airfix Robin Hood figures as Hobbits, and thus the Gygaxian Airfix Hobbit was born. You can read the full text of Garys article in Wargamer's Newsletter #127 via James Maliszewski's post on Grognardia here where none other than Jervis Johnson issued forth a copy of an extract of a 1972 Wargames Newsletter (edited by Donald Featherstone), and there's a picture below, which you can click, make big, print out on actual paper and pretend like it's the 1970s, maaaan.

Wargamer's Newsletter #127, from October 1972.
via Vintage Wargaming

Wargamer's Newsletter #127, from October 1972.
via Vintage Wargaming

But what are the aforementioned Robin Hood Airfix figures like? Well here's a shot of the original packaging, of the type Gary might very well have purchased back in the day...

Box without hinges, key or lid, yet little green Hobbitses inside are hid

Airfix don't currently list the Robin Hood set on their website any more - but they seem to be listed in various online retailers, and were widely available in HobbyCraft until a short while ago, with a big red £2.99 sticker on them - passed up by me because I'm somewhat lackadaisical when it comes to shopping.  Having "Airfix Robin Hood" on my watchlist on eBay for over a year - determined to pick up a set for under £5 but alas kept missing out, and the ever increasing postage making the likelihood of a total bargain. Found a seller on Play.com selling a box for £4.60 - including postage, for 40 figures. Perfect, I thought, and bought them. Returning to the store they now cost around £7 - still inexpensive in comparison to 40 28mm figures, but the price does seem to fluctuate.

Gygaxian Airfix Hobbits on Amazon
Gygaxian Airfix Hobbits on play.com

And it must be said that Squarehex (purvayors of fine gaming stationary) also have a limited number in stock at a very reasonable price. Squarehex

Airfix -  a British company making model kits and toy soldiers - and probably familiar to most readers of this blog from their airplane, dinosaur and military kits, has a venerable place in our Wargaming history. The name continually crops up in the reminisces of the early fantasy wargames scene, be it Joe Dever, Bryan Ansell, Andy Chambers, everyone around that era talks of playing with Airfix models, whether it's giving Romans ray-guns to recreate the comic-book world of the Trigan Empire or just battling out WWII on the linoleum of youth, Airfix provided the entry-drug into  miniatures skirmish gaming, perhaps much like how Fighting Fantasy would feed the UK RPG scene a decade later.

But what of the figures themselves?

Here's some superbly based and painted up versions by Paul of Paul Bods.

via 1:72 depot.com

 And here they are in the raw, to wit the back of the box, as it were.

Gygaxian Airfix Hobbits

The set contains

• 17 archers (inc. "Robin")
• 10 Spearmen
• 10 Hand weapons (inc. 1 Little John "Axeman")
• 1 Maid Marion (mounted)
• 1 Cleric / Wizard / Friar Tuck

They are really small and quite delicately detailed, they are they aren't heroically proportioned.

My original plan was to use these as Anglo Saxons for the Wildwood  Campaign, along with the Sherrif of Nottingham set for the Normans, based loosely on British Neopaganism and the 1980's TV series Robin of Sherwood. I still might do that, between the conkers and rose-thorns, the earth is good. Anyway, this set is earmarked to be converted into Gygaxian Airfix Hobbits, but how?

From Robin Hood to Old Took

Unfortunately Gary doesn't go into much detail as to how he converted his Airfix Robin Hood figures into Hobbits, nor what his Hobbits looked like. So far my  research has not turned up any pictorial documentation of these figures or Garys early Chainmail fantasy games in action - any help would be most welcome on that front.

We do know that Gary was eclectic in his use of cheap plastic toys - remember that there were no fantasy miniatures to buy at this time, and improvisation, creativity and affordability were the order of the day. And we know that many of the AD&D Monster Manual illustrations and creatures  were based directly on the models being used in Gygax games (an excellent post by fantasy artist Tony Di'Terlizzi here illustrates quite well). While correlation does not prove causation,  it is entirely possible the drawings for the Halfling by Dave Sutherland from the 1977 Monster Manual are based on Gary's personal figures from the Airfix Robin Hood set.

And the weapon-types covered in the Monster Manual under the Halfling entry run like so:

• small sword and short bow 
• small sword and spear 
• short bow 
• sling 
• small sword 
• spear 
• hand axe

Interestingly enough, if we accept that the quarterstaffs are spears, these are exactly as the Airfix Robin Hood figures are armed. Except the addition of slings, which possibly could be converted from the archers.

For now I will let Dave Sutherlands piece dicate the formation of the Fourth Farthing Irregulars warband, 10 bowmen and 10 spearmen, no armour. I'll definitely convert some of the models in the set with cloaks, backpacks and pole-arms and might add some shields to the hand weapons...

Basing 

I have to admit that my reconstruction of the Gygaxian Airfix Hobbit is not going to be 100% authentic. My first intentional deviation - the issue of basing.

Gary may well have based his Hobbits on bits of cardboard, or washers, or nothing at all. However, he definitely didn't use the common slotta-bases that appeared in the mid-80s and I'm not either, and it's highly unlikely Gary used British currency, but that is exactly what I'm going to do.

1971 NEW PENNY

Old bronze coins are still in circulation, and I've been collecting them for a while (and swapping new coins for old  with friends and colleagues, much to their amusement) for intended use aforementioned Wildwood Campaign project, so that's why I have an abundance of them. I'd decided to go with pennies for infantry, UK 1p coins, specifically UK 1p coins minted before 1992, not only does this just fall over the threshold of the end of Oldhammer (1991 being the year Bryan Ansell sold the business to it's current management team, and so marks the end of the "Oldhammer period") but also marks the change from a solid bronze coin to a copper-plated steel (and if one were allowed to melt them down, the solid bronze ones would be more valuable). Add to that, I based my first ever Citadel Miniatures on pennies, so there's personal nostalgia there too.

I'm going to be a hard-core numismatist nerd and only used coins dated 1971 - 1972, to fit the creation window before the article was published - I wouldn't have bothered, but going through the penny-jar discovered I have enough, so job done.

These are quick and easy to identify as they are non-magnetic and the pre 1981 coins have NEW PENNY on them and the date on the Queens side, for final verification. The more practically minded of you might see a magentisable base of modern coins as an advantage in storage and transport, but hey I'm going for historical reconstructionist modelling here, not common sense!

However all of this means the basing for this project is going to cost me a grand total of 21 pence. An inordinate sum of money, I think you'll agree. Their low profile and naturally patined brown edge, and slight weight will make them look and feel really nice.

Currently 20 x 20mm bases would cost £6 from GW, so that's a 'saving' of £5.79 over modern Warhammer.

Conversion Materials

OK. So I need to convert some of the quarterstaff's into more obvious spears, should be simple enough to add a spearhead on the end, or perhaps replace the fragile plastic with a sturdier metal rod / pin. None of the Airfix models have quivers, which strikes me as odd, and Dave Sutherlands Hobbit archer in the Monster Manual is carrying one, so I'll definitely need to add those. Also I'll want to add cloaks and shields to my dual-classed fighter-thief types, and yes, I'm gonna try giving them slightly bigger furry feet. So some modelling material is called for...

Keeping things authentic, Garys Wargaming Newsletter article was published 1972 - two years before Tom Meier accidentally discovered Green Stuff, so GS is out.  Gary mentions "auto body putty" in his  article, but I have no idea that that may be. Miliput has been around since 1968, so is in-period for this project, and according to the manufacturer, got into widespread use in the modelling field in 1970 so seems totally appropriate. Over to Amazon to pick up some Milliput Standard Yellow-Grey for £2.80

 

20g of Green Stuff from GW = £6.20 (31p per gram)
113g of Miliput from amazon = £2.80 (2p per gram)

So that's 15 times cheaper per gram.

---

Oldhammer on a Budget?

So as part of the aim is to demonstrate how accessible Oldhammer can be, a breakdown of costs for The Hobbits of the Fourth Farthing Irregulars.

Models

40 Airfix "Robin Hood" / Gygaxian Airfix Halfling figures:  £4.60
21 pre New Pence 1p coins: £0.21

Modelling supplies

1 Swann Morton scalpel #3 Handle : £2.60
Loctite Super Glue : £1.95
1 pack Milliput : £2.80

That's £12.60 so far, with some things left over to go into the general supplies tin. Note that all of these items are commonly available, without trawling through eBay, entering a Games Workshop, or getting out of ones bed.

I might be using 1:72 models for Hobbits (scale shots will come) but there's no reason not to just play the entire game in 1:72 either by converting random historical armies - following in the footsteps of Gary and Joe Dever, or just buying some of the newer Fantasy ranges that have come on the market in recent years (Dark Alliance come in at around 14p each), but much coverage is out of scope of this post, and I've rambled on enough.

They're behind you!

What Next?

I'm really pleased so far, Gygaxian Airfix Hobbits, an experiment in period modelling, budget gaming, OSR, Oldhammer and hobbitry, highlights  Gygax's ingenuity and creativity back in the 70's and provides us with an alternative route into gaming that avoids both the corporate and collectors markets, "The future", as they say "is History!". Of course the project is not quite finished yet, although we could start playing with our little Hobbits right away, they should really be painted and decorated, and then of course, there's thorny issue of the rules. But first I have 42 little Hobbit feet to sculpt on, with nothing but Milliput a scalpel and some Zeppelin and some Hawkwind...

Heroines for Warmongers

Citadel Orcs, marching to war under the baleful visage of Baroness Thatcher - the Iron Lady.

Margaret Thatcher's head on a Citadel Orc Banner

The Iron Lady, on a banner for Orcs of the White Hand - slaves to Saruman, the evil wizard from Lord of the Rings who lives in Isengard, the Iron Fortress. Painted by then Citadel staff painter Colin Dixon and first appearing in White Dwarf 81 (September 1986), although the photograph above is a different source.

Was there satirical or even political intention in the image? Tried to email Colin to ask, but just got an automated bounce-back, maybe he's gone undercover. Even without intention, the alignment (pun intended) of the then Prime Minister with forces of inhuman evil, may certainly be read as an anti-establishment message, if not an overtly political one. It wouldn't have been the only British fantasy institution to do so at the time, just ask Sylvester McCoy or pick up any copy of 2000AD from the period. Of course, M. Thatcher would go on to win the 1987 election and hold a 3rd Parliment, one assumes voted in by a legion of olive skinned goblinoids, and she becomes an immortal footnote to the Warhammer universe as Empress Margaritha in WFRPs The Enemy Within campaign - surely a deeply cherished accolade.

I have a hazy mental image of a Dwarven banner depicting Arthur Scargill (Trade Unionist and leader of the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1980s) on it, but can't seem to find a source. Perhaps it was Neil Kinnock (leader of the opposition, later vice-president of the European Commission). Maybe it doesn't exist at all but comes from a parallel universe where the editorial jurisdictions of Ians Hislop and Livingstone became strangely merged - 1986 being the year that Hislop took over the editorial reigns of Private Eye, and Ian Livingstone stepped down as the editor-in-chief of White Dwarf...

And speaking of bizarre conglomerates, fast forward to the year 2012 to a more politically apathetic Britain, where people riot on the streets against ennui and radicalists after social reform go urban camping and produce a nice little book explaining economic terms in a slightly less clear nd more fluffy manner than a GCSE text, while extolling the virtues of Waitrose. Apathy and weariness abound, the land of Albion is double-headed up by the unholy alliance of a Conservative and Liberal coalition. And Games Workshop subsidiary Forgeworld give us this beautiful Curs'd Ettin sculpted by Edgar Skomorowski.

Nick Clegg and David Cameron:
AKA the Dick Cleggeron

The Curs’d Ettin can be easily identified by its singular deformities and cruel intellect.
They are born, so it is said, of an ancient treachery against the Dark Gods themselves.

The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron: 306 seats
The Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg: 57 seats

Special rule: Two-headed: The Curs’d Ettin has two distinct personalities
which war for dominance and control.

"safeguarding national security, supporting our troops abroad, tackling the debt crisis, repairing our broken political system and building a stronger society" - Cameron
  "bold, reforming government that puts fairness back into Britain" - Clegg

Option: Gibberer: One of the Curs’d Ettin’s heads has devolved into infantile imbecility,
drooling and wailing constantly.

Coincidence? Probably.

Its hard to imagine a stock-market traded toy company even making the slightest political jest. Yet lurking behind the layers of grim-dark there may be a flicker of social consciousness going on, a little bit of intentional satire gnawing at the edges of the entertainment brand.

 The Cleggeron is available from Forgeworld for about £40 . I'm quite tempted to get one and paint it up,  in Braveheart-like entirely pseudohistorical woad patterns one head Conservative blue, the other Liberal yellow and set him against some LE8 McDeath's Crazed Caledonian Commandos to 'gamify' the impending Scottish referendum "Yooo can toss oor cabers, but yoo will nae tek oor freeedom!". 

The Dick Cleggeron
Originally painted by John Blanche (Via)
Party Political Warpaint photoshopped on by me.

Maggie was no stranger to fantastical portrayals, and seeing how we like ladies (or Baronesses) in armour around here:

Sunday Times Magazine cover (21 April 1980)

Saint Celestine | Games Workshop

I shall leave those images silently hanging, in a John Berger-esque manner, and return to the theme another time.

Moving swiftly on, the source of the Orc Thatcher banner:

Heroes for Wargames | Hardback | Paper Tiger | 1986

Heroes for Wargames (1986), penned by then head-of-sales at GW Stewart Parkinson and published by Paper Tiger. If you don't already have this book, you really, really should get it. It's awesome. Not convinced? Here's some more dodgy camera-phone snaps:

John Blanche: triple headed Minotaur

There is a tonne of old lead painted up and on parade in this book, Chaos Dwarfs,  normal Dwarves, Skaven, Judge Dredd, Eternal Champion, Beastmen, Chaos Warriors ...the list goes on... the book, being published in 1986 kind of straddles two eras, one the era of Chalk and Devers Tabletop Heroes and solid-based citadel, and the other, the era of 'eavy Metal and slotta-bases.

John Blanche: Cthulhu Inferno

Several full-page John Blanche pieces, including Dwarf Lord of Legend box art, Zombie Dragon, McDeath booklet cover,  as well as black and white concept art for Slann (titled "Demon Frogmen" - nice), Chaos Warriors, Knights of Law, Orcs, as well as other black and white pieces by Dave Andrews (some Lichemaster, some others) and other concept art from Tony Ackland and a few from Jes Goodwin, all on crisp white semi-gloss paper that reproduces them beautifully...

John Blanche | Slann and Orc concept sheets

Dave Andrews "Underground Maze of Death"

A fair few dioramas,  a couple of battle scenes (skaven, skeletons, disciples of the red redemption -all around Dave Andrews cardboard buildings  - appeared in Ravening Hordes I think) and some others I'd never seen before. There's some photos of the lads work-benches and some over-the shoulder shots of them pretending to work. The Mad Max poster seems very popular...

Dungeon punk orc, Lord of the Rings Goblin

To be honest, there are about only 14 pages out of the 128 that just seems like filler - black and white photos of miniatures - granted they are sharper photos than the Citadel Compendium images, but they pale in comparison to the artwork and painted miniatures. And the text is a bit basic - explaining what RPGs and Wargames are about, and covering the basics of painting and how models are made - the 'eavy Metal articles from the same period are much more enlightening on that front, but the images here are generally much better quality and larger, and the glossy art stock really helps them sing. The heavy use of chiaroscuro means the figures shapes aren't as clear as they could be - it's evident that the 'art' being referred to is the tradition of oil-painting, rather than say, sculpture. The only other critisism - for a coffee-table book about 'the art of fantasy miniatures', neither the sculptors nor the painters for the individual figures are credited, which his a bit of an oversight. Still, every page raises a smile, and is probably the nicest, most old-school book on Citadel you can get.

Get it at Amazon: Heroes for Wargames .there are a few copies for under a tenner - well worth it methinks. The over £50 probably best left on the shelf. Also ebay.

Dungeonpunking: Rocky Horror / Eternal Champion

ECO5 Eternal Champion Personalities: Tanglebones
via Owl Bears Lair

Richard O'Brien | Riff Raff | Rocky Horror

A little bit similar, one might say... not sure if Elric's manservant Tanglebones is a Goodwin sculpt or not. He did most of the range, so probably. Strangely I always imagined Sourdust from Mervyn Peak's Gormenghast to cut a similar figure.

And Richard O'Brien also appears as the renown Occultist John Dee in Derek Jarmans rather brutal and dirty Elizabethan/Punk time travel mash-up Jubilee, (NSFW) alongside Toyah Wilcox. Should I mention Games Workshops connection to Richard O'Briens TV series Crystal Maze? Probably not, it might complete the circle and open a warp-gate or something.

Oldhammer: Universal Points System

OK, so I've done something on the philosophy of Oldhammer, and it's time for some crunch.  The Universal Point System is the key to achieving game balance and unlocking its creative potential. While more recent 'hammers have turned Point Values into an obfuscating mystery, Oldhammer gives you the tools you need to make the game your own.  So... let's do this!

OLDHAMMER: In Battle There is No Law

'One Profile to Rule them All' 

Attribute		M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Int	Cl	WP	PV
Standard Human		4	3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7	7	7	7	5

If the table above means absolutely nothing to you, then you'll have to go and dig out some old edition of Warhammer. 1st-3rd Warhammer Fantasy Battle or Warhammer 40,0000: Rogue Trader.  Later editions will also work, but you'll have to up-convert everything to the O:UPS.

If only Int, Cl and WP  look a bit unfamiliar - worry not - they are just used to test various psychological effects in Oldhammer and along with Ld are known as personal statistics, and I'll cover what they do in a later post. PV is, of course Point Value. these days you have to buy army books to know this number, but they used to be published in the main rulebook, along with everything else you need.

Oldhammer is a fundamentally humanocentric game. Not because humans are the top of the pile, but because everything else is described in relation to them. Here's how:

Starting with the Standard Human Point Value of 5 as our base,

• For every attribute point above the Standard Human profile, add the appropriate modifier. 
• For every attribute point below the Standard Human profile, deduct the appropriate modifier. 

 This gives the Profile Points Value, and the modifier for each attribute is given below:

Attribute		M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Int	Cl	WP	PV
Modifier		0.25	0.5	0.25	1	1	4	0.25	4	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	-

Example: if we compare the Elf profile to the Standard Human profile we can apply these modifiers  to determine the final points value:

Attribute		M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Int	Cl	WP	PV
Elf		4	4	4	3	3	1	6	1	8	9	9	8	8
Modifier	5	-	+0.5	+0.25	-	-	-	+0.75	-	+0.25	+0.5	+0.5	+0.25	=

However that's not the end of our calculations. If the Profile Points Value is greater than 10, we need to multiply it by something I call the Ugezod Factor.


To find the Ugezod Factor,

1. If the Profile Points Value of the  is between 11-15, then the Ugezod Factor is 1.5
2. If the Profile PV is 16 or larger take the PV,  drop a decimal place and round up to the nearest whole number.  
3. Multiply the Profile PV by the Ugezod Factor for the final Points Value.

Example: the Ogre profile is worked out as below:

Attribute		M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Int	Cl	WP	PPV	PV
Ogre		6	3	2	4	5	3	3	2	5	4	5	7	-
Modifier	5	+0.5	-	-0.5	+1	+2	+8	-	+4	+0.5	-0.75	-0.5	-	18.5	37

The profile points value of the Ogre is 18.5 which is over 15 so we drop a decimal place so it becomes 1.85 which is rounded up to give the Ugezod Factor of 2. The final Points Value of the Ogre is calculated as 18.5 * 2 = 37.

Of course it doesn't quite end there, equipment, magic and hero status can all effect the final PV of a unit, and we will cover these in a later post.

I've created a OpenOffice spreadsheet that does all those calculations for you, and put that here:

oldhammer-statcalc-v001.ods

So, right now, you can design your own troops and monsters, or convert any published profile to the Oldhammer Universal Points System.

---

"Oh mighty, Zhu!" a great clamouring of voices yelled. "Tell us of great weapons, armour from the forge lands , the psychology of battle, mighty leaders, the powers of magic? Surely must these be accounted in the great Book of War."

Long after the echoes of these shouts  fell into black silence, a voice spoke. "Patience, seekers. Let us first reflect on the great powers you have attained so far. The Lord of Khaös smiles, for battle is already upon us. Let the dice be thrown and let blood be spilled before the dawn! "

- Chronicles of the Dark Zhu. Ch. XIIV

---

Converting Chaos

The rules for generating Points Values above appear very much as they were written by Rick Priestly, Richard Halliwell and Bryan Ansell and are published in WFB 2nd Edition and WH40K:RT. The wording is completely new and only the mechanics have been reproduced. By using the system above you'll get the Points Values as published in those two editions - which is the black beating reanimated undead warp-fire powered core of Oldhammer.

You'll find that the points published for other editions are slightly variant. The designers started 'tinkering' with the final values to represent how useful they thought the troops were in 3rd - but the vast majority of profiles published for that edition are still based on this system. In fact the first instance of deviating from purely mechanical points values was in the 2e Ravening Hordes presentation of the Snotlings - which made them considerably cheaper than the original Citadel Journal incarnation.

If you want to convert from an edition that only contains Leadership and is missing the other Personal Profile statistics, choose one of the following methods:

1. All the same as the given Ld.
2. A reasonable number based on the type of creature.
3. Equal that of the 2nd or 3rd edition version of the creature
4. The human baseline: 7
5. Make them zero.

It is worth noting that the modern (8e) profile by itself does not fully account for the published PV - and nor do the additional special rules or equipment. However if one or more of the above techniques are employed, the published points value can, most times, be reached. It's as if the personal profile values are often used  as "hidden" stats, used in calculating the points values but mysteriously missing from the profile.  It would appear this exact system is being used in the GW game design studio today - although they occasionally deviate for no apparent reason from a purely mathematical system.

Again, I'll cover the actual rules effected by the personal profile (Cool, Willpower, etc.) in another post but for now it's enough to fill them in - and note, setting them to zero is a really bad idea, so be prepared to pay a few extra points than you're used to for troops.

Creating Creatures

One advantage of having a public points system is that you can create your own creatures, and everyone can see how and why they cost what they did.

I did a conversion of the AD&D Bugbears to Oldhammer quite some time ago.  I also added in the weapon stats to the final PV - however I now realize that is a mistake. Specific profiles do not have to take specific weapons/armour combinations - these are always options - perhaps you want to use Citadel ADD Bugbears, alongside Otherworlds, or convert weapons. Model choices should not be defined by rules, rules should bend to choice of model. Nonetheless, despite its flaws you can download it and have a look.

Download Bugbear Army List [PDF]

These new creatures are (nearly) entirely balanced in accordance to the Oldhammer Points value system, and so are a fair choice for a given value. 500PV of Bugbear is equal to 500PV of Chaos Dwarves or 500PV of Night Elves. At least that's the theory.

So you can bring much more colour, variety and creativity to the tabletop - you're no longer restricted to "counts as" choices, but can design creatures from the ground up. In fact, introducing new creatures is some of the fun that a Gamesmaster can have, introducing them as surprise allies or fearsome wandering monsters to the armies that players bring to the table - why should the GW design studio have all the fun?

Commentary:

I'm not a mathematician, but the points system itself seems quite elegant - Strength and Toughness balance each other out (being either side of the same to-hit table) so have the same cost. Wounds and Attacks, are also symmetrically costed, being the capability of dealing or receiving damage. The numerical pattern of measuring everything out in quarters and numbers divisible by 4 (the Ugezod Factor kicks in at a profile value of 16+ and all distances also use inches, which are divided into 1/4s and 1/8th ...) gives Oldhammer a glossy coat of mathematical purity.

The points allocation of Weapon Skill being more costly than Ballistic Skill is an interesting choice - Oldhammer appears to value close combat ability over ranged ability. However, points for ranged weapons aren't included in the initial PV (a basic hand weapon is), so usable ranged units already have a higher cost (at least 0.5 PV). However, fast forward 40,000 years and the close-combat bias is still there, why else do Power Gloves make sense?

The Ugezod Factor
named after the infamous Eeza Ugezod

The Ugezod Factor has some interesting repercussions for creature design. As it rounds-up the PV, it means that often additional points of ability can be bought without effecting the points paid for the creature. However, the designers tend not to max out all creatures in this way. Instead the odd point has been given away here or there. Some of this may be to preserve compatibility with earlier editions, but more likely it's to add flavour and variety to the troop types - something to take note of I think.

Finally, I'd love to see what people make of the UPS. Feel free to create or convert any weird and wonderful creature and link to it in the comments!

Update: how to calculate armour values

The Oldhammer Contract

This is a brief guide to  getting the most out of playing Older Editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle - notably 1st, 2nd and 3rd for those coming from later editions of Warhammer , maybe those from the early 1990s onwards (with thanks and apologies to Matt Finch for his Old School D&D Primer.)

OLDHAMMER: In Battle There is No Law

1. The Referee or Games Master


In Oldhammer Fantasy Battle there is a person who is in charge of the game. It's their job to check your armies are correct and everyone plays fairly. It's the Referee's job to remind everyone to take a Fear test when appropriate, and make the decisions on rulings where you've probably been used to 'dicing off'. The Referee never take sides, is totally impartial and his decision is final.

The referee will probably set up the scenario, placing terrain and describing what the objectives of each army are, sometimes in secret. Sometimes it's just to wipe each other out, and sometimes its to capture and hold a specific location, or sometimes more complex - not all sides will have the same objectives, the Goblins might be tying to capture a forest with lots of tasty mushrooms in them, the Dwarves trying to move a goods wagon across the table, neither knows what each others objective is, but the Referee throws them into this situation and the inevitable chaos that will ensue.  Occasionally strange wandering monsters will emerge to roam the battlefield. The local village may be defended by a trained militia or angry mob. These non-player forces are controlled by the Referee, often a threat to both sides, and their actions changing the goals of the scenario as the narrative progresses.

However, it is entirely possible to run a game without a Referee, but it needs the players to have the kind of non-competitive mind-set that comes from role-playing games. All players win by having fun playing the game, if your only fun comes from winning the game at any costs, Oldhammer Fantasy Battle is probably not for you.

2. There are no army lists except your own

Go and burn your Army Books, you don't need them any more. We're going back to basics.

Armies are constructed around a simple Points system, if you have spent X number of points on an army, and another player has spent  the same number of points, then that's fair enough. You aren't restricted by choice of faction or race, if you want to field a troop of Wood Elf Archers in the same army as a troop of Feudal  Knights, then go for it. Want to add in some Gnomes or some Lizard-centaurs or maybe even a Zombie Dragon, then go for it. This is how Forces of Fantasy [WFB1e] first introduced the concept of Army lists to Warhammer, the only restrictions being alignment (Good, Evil or Neutral), an innovation which is intended to preserve the flavour of the setting, and in no way an attempt to ensure armies are 'balanced' in strength.

All characters and wizards have the same access to the same magical weapons and spells, artefacts and war machines are not tied to armies. You want to field a Pump-wagon with your Dwarves? Go ahead. If you can pay the points for it, then you can have it. You can use Old School Fantasy Battle to recreate epic battles from fantasy films and novels, from Moorcock to Tolkien, you're not tied to one particular gaming world, and if you want to just grab whatever minis you have and have a bash, that's good too.

Because you're not restricted to collecting one range of miniatures, slavishly following a single Army Book, you're not forced to buy models that are just OK or playing 'counts as'.  There are no core / special / rare troops, no obligatory choices, you build armies that make sense for your campaign,  your scenario or for your miniatures collection.

While you might have guessed by now, it bears being said explicitly you're not limited to the miniatures of one manufacturer. While WFB1e does indeed lists Citadel order codes, there was nothing in the rules that you had to use those specific miniatures. Joe Dever and Gary Chalk happily suggesting Asgard and Dixon miniatures alongside Citadel miniatures in a Warhammer scenario based on The Lord of the Rings in White Dwarf magazine. You can use historicals from Perry Miniatures, Chaos Warrior HelsVakt from Red Box Games, Pig Faced Orcs from Otherworld, Elves from Thunderbolt Mountain, you can field huge lots of 80's Citadel miniatures you won on eBay, you can even field legions of plastic undead from Mantic, the choice is yours.

If you want to field strange exotic creatures carrying mystical force weapons that there are no rules for, then the points system is there [WFB2e and WH40K:Rogue Trader] to explain how to generate the stat-line and appropriate points values for such creatures. It's up to you and your referee, it's your game: in battle, there is no law.

3. Size does not matter

You do not need a 2000 point army to play the game properly.

Oldhammer Fantasy Battle is designed to scale. If you want to field 5 troops each, then do it, the core rules of Oldhammer Fantasy Battle works as a skirmish rules as well as a mass combat ruleset, which is why exactly the same core combat rules are used in Mordhiem (skirmish) and WFRP1e (one to one combat). It's just that you roll less dice, and you might want a bit more detail other than "dead". Don't worry, you still roll lots of dice, just a few less, and things still end up dead.

In fact the core combat resolution rules were never originally designed as a mass combat game, it is only the unit movement and manoeuvres which are based around the movements of large numbers of troops, the rest of the game actually relies on a 1:1 scale, and that in real wargames speak really means they are skirmish rules.

Oldhammer Fantasy Battle has more psychology rules than it's modern counterparts, there are more statistics for defining troops than later editions: Cool, Willpower, Leadership and Intelligence. That's because the people who created it were early (0e) Dungeons and Dragons players as well as wargamers, they were interested in character level combat as well as character level damage and character development over a series of games. They also were interested in alcoholic Halflings and drug-crazed Amazons, but then again, who isn't?

4. Stop worrying about game balance

As the Spartans will tell you, warfare has never been about perfectly matched armies squaring off at each other, and fantasy warfare even less so. One dark mage can flatten an entire nations army. A small band of heroic Men can overcome hordes of Orcs.  Loosing and winning are not the only outcomes of playing a game. When your Orcs decide to beat the hell out of each other just before they were about to claim victory, that's part of the fun. When a single lucky dice roll turns the tide of a battle, you know the gods are on your side, that's part of the fun.

Because you're not tied to a single Army Book, your investment (time, miniatures, books) is no longer wasted when a newer 'better' Army Book or game edition is released - these just give you more house rules to use, if your Referee and the players choose to. There are no broken armies, unless you create them yourself, if you decide to spend 1000 points in kitting out a single Major Hero with the Greater Rune of Death and 4 Power Weapons, and your opponent brings 1000 Snaga Goblins to the table, then a ridiculous, epic and fun battle will ensue!  Old School Fantasy Battle isn't about competitive army selection, but about: creating and meeting the victory conditions of a narrative scenario, tactics, creating amazing stories of derring-do, seeing what happens when ill-matched warbands face off (think Ogre - a classic board-wargame and scenario that at it's heart is about asymmetry), and ultimately doing battle on the fields, towns and dungeons of your imagination.


5. Tournaments - Just Say "No".


Oldhammer is not a sport. It's a game. And unlike Scrabble or Chess is far too reliant on random factors for player skill to really count in the win/lose/draw stakes.

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Sometimes, I wish I could get away with creatling a retro-clone of Warhammer 2nd edition, with the sci-fi from Rogue Trader intact.


25/01/2013 - OK things have moved on since I wrote this, interested in more? have a look at the Oldhammer community forum and get involved, or yeah leave a comment!

Retrohammer Pig Faced Orcs Army List

Prompted by a post about Warhammer Fantasy Battles 1st Edition army lists over on Fighting Fantasist I thought I'd pull out my new-old retro-styled WFB1 edition army list for Pig Faced Orcs.

Before shelving the whole AD&D Monsters in Warhammer project (well, I've got a spreadsheet full enough for my gaming purposes, but no longer looking to PDF them) I moved away from the WFB1 stat-line, as 'upgrading' to the WFB2 stats means that the list is compatible with pretty much every edition of Warhammer ever, right up to WFB8 and Mordheim (which is a more than adequate upgrade to WFB1s 'roleplay' component) - a much more utilitarian option.

So having moved away from the classic WFB1 the Bugbear army list can pretty much be be used with anything, and so got styled in a more modern approach.

Of course, the 'army list' is still based very much in the WFB 1/ Forces of Fantasy / WFB 2 / Ravening Hordes school of army listing - totally unbalanced and arbitrary in favour of flavour, diversity and narrative over competitive tournament play - something that WFB8 seems to encourage.

Download Bugbear Army List [PDF]

Download Pig Faced Orc Army List [PDF]

Warhammer Hobgoblin Army List

Download Warhammer Hobgoblin Army List [PDF]

This army list is intended to be used for light 'skirmish' type games - more the kind of Army List that appeared in 1st Edition Warhammer supplement "Forces of Fantasy", or 2nd editions Ravening Hordes. It's probably best used for a Warhammer Skirmish type game where both sides have a few hundred points, or with a bit of work converting to a Mordheim warband.

It's a shame Games Workshop relegated the Hobgoblins to just slaves of the Chaos Dwarfs - their background and troop-types are varied and rich with ample opportunity for modellers / collectors and gamers. Perhaps they'll be reinstated in 8th edition.

Most of the races in the Realm of Zhu borrow strongly from the pseudo-historical tradition of fantasy, and indeed Hobgoblins are no exception. The base influence for this is probably the Warhammer Known World where most "races" are based on historical societies, albeit somewhat twisted. Forged in a time when historical wargaming was more popular than fantasy, it makes sense - not only being able to field the more readily available historical figures, but in also having armies from different periods clashing (Medieval Longbows vs. War of the Roses Muskets = Elves vs. Dwarves).

Warhammer Hobgoblins have their origins in an analogy with the medieval Mongolian, where this initial inspiration came from is lost to the mists of time, unless Aly Morrisson cares to explain it. One of the features of AD&D Hobgoblins is their eastern style armour, and perhaps it stems from this. Either way, the Hobgoblins in the Realm of Zhu are a  decidedly nomadic eastern martial society, borrowing from Tibetan mysticism and the great empire of Ghengis Kahn.