New Army Ideas

[Warwick]

I was thinking about Warlord and the many armies and models and ways they can be twisted together. I play Freelance and Mercs mostly so this isn't unusual. It occured to me that Reaper doesn't have to build an entire new faction to have a new army possible on the field. By making new lists of the currently availble models, they can have all new factions. One of the easiest armies would be an alliance between like-minded peoples. Why does this have to be a Freelance army all the time? Why can't Elves, Dwarves, and Crusdaers take to the field under one banner and have some cool faction ability to boot? As an example, here is my ideas for the Ulgaria Alliance. Keep in mind I don't really expect the details presented to be taken as an attempt to form rules for Reaper. It's an example of the possibilities Warlord has; new armies with minimum effort and everyone wins. And I love writing background fluff.

 

Ulgaria is a small trading town with a multi-racial population, hardly worth noting except for one thing. A decade ago Overlord forces threatened to wipe it out. This particular Overlord raid was being led by a bloodthirsty and infamous man, Baron Griell, whose name had become synonymous with brutal and profitable slave trading. An Elf scout intercepted a message containing Baron Griell’s intention and brought the matter to his superior, Emion. Not willing to let Ulgaria fall to slavers, but not having enough forces to stop Baron Griell himself, Emion sent a runner to a nearby Dwarf mine and to a Crusader outpost seeking any aid. Expecting little or no response, Emion set out to face Baron Griell with his own troops outnumbered by many times. The night before battle was to be joined, his preparations were interrupted by two visitors, one Human and one Dwarf. Much was talked about that night, and much agreed upon in haste that could not have been agreed upon anywhere but in a tent on the eve of battle. An alliance was forged. When the sun rose, Baron Griell faced a combined force of Elves, Dwarfs, and Crusaders that rivaled his own. He scoffed at them, though, remarking their divided loyalties and tactics could never match his own united and experienced troops. He ordered the charge at Ulgaria. Very few Overlord troops survived to report to Craclaw. When the fighting was over, the three leaders met again in the tent. Knowing one battle might easily be forgotten, they each swore to spread the tale of a united force of good, and to send what aid they could to the others should a threat as terrible as Baron Griell rise again in their province. This agreement was called the Ulgaria Alliance. On some few occasions, the Ulgaria Alliance has reformed to ride under one banner, to the dismay of all who stand before it.

 

Rules for fielding an Ulgaria Alliance Army.

1. Must include at least one unit from each Good army: Elves, Dwarves, Crusaders.

2. Each unit must be composed entirely of models from one faction. No mixing Elves and Dwarves, etc.

3. United Purpose - Any model in base-to-base combat with an enemy gains +1 to hit on attacks and Defensive Strikes as long as at least one other model from a different Good faction is also in base-to-base combat with the same enemy model. This bonus can never be more than +1.

4. Unified Front - A model from a specific Good faction cannot be All Alone as long as any model from the same Good faction is alive anywhere in the battle.

5. One Banner - The Ulgaria Alliance is often formed to either thwart or kill a single enemy who has become too strong or offending for one faction to deal with alone, as they did to Baron Griell. Determine which model in the enemy’s army is worth the most points at the start of the game. All Leader and Elite models in the Ulgaria Alliance gain +1 when attacking this model.

[Qwyksilver]

Not a bad idea. Even if it never makes it to a sub-Faction SA. Again, remember the Freelance SA is nearly limitless flexibility in build design, although you do limit this somewhat by further restricting the alignment.

 

This would make a phenomenal scenario idea for an advanced demo, something around 3000 points per side.

 

I could easily see Crusaders fielding their Cavalry, Elves their Archers, Dwarves their Melee to create a large, well rounded force using the strengths of each faction. Perfect for a 6-8 person 4 hour block at a Con, like Castlebuilder and Sergei's siege that they ran.

[Brushmaster]

Not a bad idea. Even if it never makes it to a sub-Faction SA. Again, remember the Freelance SA is nearly limitless flexibility in build design, although you do limit this somewhat by further restricting the alignment.

 

This would make a phenomenal scenario idea for an advanced demo, something around 3000 points per side.

 

I could easily see Crusaders fielding their Cavalry, Elves their Archers, Dwarves their Melee to create a large, well rounded force using the strengths of each faction. Perfect for a 6-8 person 4 hour block at a Con, like Castlebuilder and Sergei's siege that they ran.

 

Who'd be the evil alliance ? Just can't see any of those getting along even for their own collective benefit . Maybe Darkspawn , Overlords and Mercs .

[Qwyksilver]

It wouldn't have to be an evil alliance. Just a massive collection of Evil

 

Maybe just a GIANT Necropolis army. The dead of battles past have risen from their grave and seek to bolster their ranks with the people of Ulgaria.

 

Look at the Crusader fluff in the book. There was a giant siege at Denelspire essentially with Templars and allies who later joined the Crusaders trying to regain the tower from the Darkspawn infestation.

 

Some Lesser Baron in Craclaw is seeking to climb the hierachy and wrest control of one of the 7 ruling families. In order to do so, he needs to fill his coffers before he begins his assault on the family. He attacks the city to gather slaves for sale. The victory will provide him with slaves, material resources and wealth, and a safe haven in the event his attempted coup in Craclaw fails.

[Storminator]

I'd love to see this happen many times. Instead of just listing some criteria for the army, make a specific list of models the army can use, slap on a Faction SA, and call it an army. If Reaper did this with some regularity, I'm sure there will be some folks that run out and some minis just to try out the new army. Considering you can put a pdf up on the web for an afternoon's work, I'd make army lists every month.

 

PS

[Froggy the Great]

I made an army list...then Reaper went and changed all the points for 1.2 and I haven't gone back and recalculated anything.

[Stubbdog]

the one problem factor comes back to the whole idea of the entire shooty army list thing...

 

1. Must include at least one unit from each Good army: Elves, Dwarves, Crusaders.

2. Each unit must be composed entirely of models from one faction. No mixing Elves and Dwarves, etc.

 

would need to add some sort of restrictions related to the number of shooters...

[Qwyksilver]

Not really, since of the 3 armies, the only one you'd need to fear are Elves. Dwarves are potent, but their short range makes them very killable, and does anyone truly fear ICA?

[wildbill]

And don't forget that Dwarf piercers would not have the benefit of Bane either. Hence, they are even less potent! Merc xbows have the same stats, except one better MOV. Piercers have Volley instead. Take your pick...

 

Wild Bill

[Storminator]

the one problem factor comes back to the whole idea of the entire shooty army list thing...

 

1. Must include at least one unit from each Good army: Elves, Dwarves, Crusaders.

2. Each unit must be composed entirely of models from one faction. No mixing Elves and Dwarves, etc.

 

would need to add some sort of restrictions related to the number of shooters...

 

That's why I advocated a fixed list. There's no need to worry about all-shooty-armies if Vale Archers are the only ranged units on the list.

 

PS

[wildbill]

To me, having only Vale Archers would make sense, along with having Ivy Crown Skirmishers and maybe Unforgiven. From the Dwarves, Halberdiers and Warriors. No Swiftaxes or Shieldmaidens. You would still have to either have some tank solos or tank elites, though, just to make the force somewhat viable.

 

Wild Bill

[Storminator]

Here's what I'm thinking of (I'm sure it could use some tweaking):

 

Hidden in the slums of Taltos are the feared and reviled Snake Cults. Worshipping an ancient and demonic god, these Cults pray on the oppressed and downtrodden. Promising freedom and enlightenment, Cult leaders amass followers of all persuasions. The following models are available to a Snake Cult army:

 

Leaders

Lupine Lord

Selwyn

Sir Malcolm

Vysa

 

Elites

Syphrilla

Ian

Lunk (U)

Kevis (U)

Ombur

Hospitalier (U)

Durgam Deepmug (U)

 

Adepts

Merc Warriors

Isiri Archers

Bladesisters

 

Grunts

Bondslaves

Khamsin Herdsmen

Dervishes

Vale Warriors

Chattel

 

Solos

Minotaur (N-U)

Snorri

Niriodel (U)

 

All models’ Affiliation becomes Snake Cult/Evil.

 

Faction SAs: Poison Vial. Three models may be equipped with a single use of the Poison SA. Anytime the model inflicts a wound it may choose to add the Poison condition to the wounded model. No model may carry more than one Poison Vial

 

Secrets of the Snake: All Leader and Solo models gain the SA 360.

 

The Minotaur becomes non-unique in a Snake Cult List. Models with a (U) designation become unique in a Snake Cult list. The training Chattel receives is so strong that it sometimes overcomes the indoctrination of the Snake Cult. An enemy Vampire may call on a Snake Cult Chattel to sacrifice itself for Vampiric Feeding. If the Vampire beats the SC Chattel on a Dis check, the Chattel is sacrificed, just as if it were part of the Vampire’s Fighting Company.

 

PS

[wrightjd]

How about this for an idea: you can only take adepts from one of the armies included in the alliance? First this limits the number of high DV models you could possibly field and also limits the number of shooter types. Then maybe as a "faction" ability you could make one adept model a grunt, but couldn't be a shooter type. The second part may be a bit complicated though.

[Sivrel]

for some strange reason your homemade faction made me start thinking of Conan.