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Post by chicagowiz on Dec 2, 2016 12:03:30 GMT -6
Chaos Wars is a ruleset by Ral Partha, first published in the mid 80s and based on an older set calls "Rules by Ral". It's a fairly simple wargame, based on a d6 +/- modifiers mechanic. It has magic, war machines, characters, creatures and troops. I have a feeling most readers of OD&D know about it, so I'm probably preaching to the choir. In 2015, Iron Wind Metals brought Ral Partha Chaos Wars back with a Kickstarter of a lot of minis and the rules. They did a second Kickstarter earlier this year. I did a blog series on "Learning Chaos Wars" - I had the rules, let's use them! Over the past 3 months, I've broken down the rules and played them, learning about the game. I thought some folks here might be interested, so here's the links to the series! Part 1 - Chaos Wars BasicsPart 1.5 - Chaos Wars "Quick Starter"Part 2 - Mechanics BasicsPart 3 - Morale and Rallying Part 4 - Characters/Leaders and TerrainPart 5 - Fantasy Troops and CreaturesPart 6 - Magic and War MachinesI hope you enjoy the series as much as I enjoyed learning Chaos Wars. As a ruleset for my ongoing Dark Ages fantasy campaign, I am definitely using it as my go-to game! With a few Chgowiz-tweaks (tm) of course... Let me know what you think?
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Post by foxroe on Dec 4, 2016 2:08:08 GMT -6
Looks cool, and it's free! Well, except for the miniatures. Have to read up on this.
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Post by chicagowiz on Dec 5, 2016 13:22:17 GMT -6
Looks cool, and it's free! Well, except for the miniatures. Have to read up on this. Yes, it is free! The miniatures are still the same Ral Partha's that were beloved in the 80s/90s. Let me know how your games go!
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Post by foxroe on Dec 5, 2016 19:00:14 GMT -6
Do you (or does anyone else) know of a good source for blank cardboard chits? It might be easier (and cheaper) to get someone to play this (and Chainmail, Grognard, etc.) if I avoid miniatures for the time being.
Edit: Or maybe I could chop out some scrabble-like tiles from square wood stock on my band saw. What's better, 3/4" or 1" squares? I was skimming through CW Book 1 but I don't see base sized called out; I'm assuming 1"? Sorry, complete wargaming neophyte here.
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Post by chicagowiz on Dec 5, 2016 19:05:26 GMT -6
Do you (or does anyone else) know of a good source for blank cardboard chits? It might be easier (and cheaper) to get someone to play this (and Chainmail, Grognard, etc.) if I avoid miniatures for the time being. Only from doing Google Searches for something like that.
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Post by derv on Dec 5, 2016 21:35:00 GMT -6
Do you (or does anyone else) know of a good source for blank cardboard chits? It might be easier (and cheaper) to get someone to play this (and Chainmail, Grognard, etc.) if I avoid miniatures for the time being. Edit: Or maybe I could chop out some scrabble-like tiles from square wood stock on my band saw. What's better, 3/4" or 1" squares? I was skimming through CW Book 1 but I don't see base sized called out; I'm assuming 1"? Sorry, complete wargaming neophyte here. I've used ceramic floor tiles that come in 1" squares. They're sold in a 1 foot square sheet that has about 100+ little tiles. I bought mine on clearance for a buck. New, they might be $6-10. The appeal of miniatures is the aesthetics. Chits are a little blah. So, you can jazz them up by surfing for images of soldiers and monsters. Copy, size, paste, and duplicate with software like Paint. Then print out on sticker paper, cut, and apply to the tiles. This will work fine for infantry. For cavalry, you want a base that is the same width as your footmen, but 2x as long. Your band saw might be a good option. Either 3/4" or 1" fronts will work. I don't think Chaos Wars specifies a standard. You'll need 12 for a unit of infantry and 6 for a unit of cavalry. An army is made up of two or more units per side. You will also need a minimum of one powerful leader type per side. This would be it's own chit or tile. I say go for it. Chaos Wars is a fun game. Mike did a nice job of reviewing it in stages.
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Post by chicagowiz on Dec 5, 2016 22:14:29 GMT -6
Chaos Wars doesn't require any sort of base size. It's pretty lax on that. I tend to go with 1" squares for infantry/characters, 1x2" for cavalry and then whatever works for creatures and war machines.
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Post by foxroe on Dec 6, 2016 0:07:18 GMT -6
Cool. Thanks guys!
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