Warlord Warlord - the state of play

[Deadeye_Jake]

Which model gets proxied with the donkey?

 

[Qwyksilver]

Which model gets proxied with the donkey?

 

Any dwarf.  Stubborn bunch of arses they are.

[UltraSalem]

So I just started last month getting back into minis after a 25 year hiatus. Dug out my old undead and orc fantasy armies, sold off a bunch of space marines. Found the fantasy rules I had been writing/developing myself off and on over those 25 years with no actual playtime, figured there's no point doing another one with so many out there and accessible these days. So I went hunting through all the rules systems out there (that weren't by that one big company), and came across Warlord. It looked pretty decent for a more skirmish level game.

 

My first major reinvestment into the hobby has been backing the Bones III kickstarter. I hope my current enthusiasm for the hobby lasts 13 months..... ;)

 

I think I should be able to get a few people in my small boardgame to at least try Warlord. Might kick up to Kings of War for a more larger scale battle, as I think a few people in the local games store gaming group mentioned it.

 

What I didn't realise though was that Warlord was pretty much hanging in the breeze with no support. Like others in this thread have suggested, this Bones kickstarter looks to be a good base to get interest back into Warlord. I'm keen to come along for that ride!

 

I'm also tempted to buy the bones Dragons Don't Share kit, almost just for the scenery parts. Dedicated scenery cost around that much anyway, but I'd also get a dragon and some heroes!

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

So I just started last month getting back into minis after a 25 year hiatus. Dug out my old undead and orc fantasy armies, sold off a bunch of space marines. Found the fantasy rules I had been writing/developing myself off and on over those 25 years with no actual playtime, figured there's no point doing another one with so many out there and accessible these days. So I went hunting through all the rules systems out there (that weren't by that one big company), and came across Warlord. It looked pretty decent for a more skirmish level game.

 

My first major reinvestment into the hobby has been backing the Bones III kickstarter. I hope my current enthusiasm for the hobby lasts 13 months..... ;)

 

I think I should be able to get a few people in my small boardgame to at least try Warlord. Might kick up to Kings of War for a more larger scale battle, as I think a few people in the local games store gaming group mentioned it.

 

What I didn't realise though was that Warlord was pretty much hanging in the breeze with no support. Like others in this thread have suggested, this Bones kickstarter looks to be a good base to get interest back into Warlord. I'm keen to come along for that ride!

 

I'm also tempted to buy the bones Dragons Don't Share kit, almost just for the scenery parts. Dedicated scenery cost around that much anyway, but I'd also get a dragon and some heroes!

Well, while people say there is no support, that all depends on what you expect for support.  It is a fully built self contained game, with complete rules that don't require revision every 1-2 years in order to sell new models.  Each faction has all of the models released (I think, I haven't done a data card by data card check in a while).

 

The only real area lacking support IMHO, is promotion.  The only official tournament that I am aware of is ReaperCon.  I think there used to be some at GenCon, but I never make it there and haven't heard anything in a while.

[WolfLord]

There used to be a tournament at Gen Con, but they stopped when Reaper started going to Pax in Seattle.

[smokingwreckage]

So yeah, these are still the official, uptodate rules with full errata and forums open here at Reaper.

It's not "unsupported", it's just not leeching you of $30-$120 per annum just to keep playing.

[Vil-hatarn]

Was there a tournament at Reapercon this year?

[joshuaslater]

I'm currently painting 40K Mandrakes with Privateer Press left arms in a jungle scheme to play a game where the models were never made for a stat block in Chronopia.

 

Crom laughs at your unsupported!

[TGP]

Was there a tournament at Reapercon this year?

no

[Doug's Workshop]

Warlord can't possibly be dead.  I played a game yesterday.  The fact that I seemed to have won may indicate that certain levels of Hades have frozen over, however.

 

Go play in the game stores!  Have fun, and let people see you're having fun.  The more people who see the game, the more likely that someone who is a "node" for gamers will take notice and spread the word.

[UltraSalem]

Not sure how well it works as a 1 player game. ;) I'll certainly put feelers out though and see who else might be interested in a game at my local store.

[Blackhawk]

 

If you want fluff, look up the faction books. I believe all the original 8 were published. They're still floating around places like ebay, and amazon.

Crusaders, Reven, Necropolis, Nefsokar, and Overlords were the only Faction books released.  They were great books, but the problem was, they were being written by the Reaper staff who were also trying to manage their day-to-day jobs at the factory as well.  Too many hats, not enough heads.

 

At that point, the plan to make individual faction books was dropped, and instead a multifaction book was going to come out.

 

RAGE Chronicles was sort of a precursor to that.  

 

Then the rules got rebooted with 2.0.

 

If you can get your hands on it, the old Dark Heavens Apocalypse boxed set has a ton of fluff about the various countries and powers in Adon (Warlord game world) that Warlord is based directly off from.  Even the Savage North armies are based on stuff from Apocalypse.

 

 

I've got all but the Overlords book, including the DH:A box set which I found new, still in the shrink-wrap, just a couple of years ago.  I got it for $25, which isn't bad given that it came with 8 metal Reaper miniatures.  I collected them all while running a Savage Worlds campaign that went very, very well.  Note to Reaper:  We may have broken Vestonia.  Sorry 'bout that.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to add a few resources.  The old issues of Casketworks have a great deal of setting info, both in the copy text for certain products and in full articles set in Adon.  Also don't forget Warlord Rising, Warlord Revenge, and Apprentice Mage: A Warlord Story, all novels set in Adon.  Two of them are currently available in the Kindle lending library for Prime members, too.

 

 

[KruleBear]

Thanks for the heads up on the Kindle availability of these books.

[rgtriplec]

 

If you want fluff, look up the faction books. I believe all the original 8 were published. They're still floating around places like ebay, and amazon.

Crusaders, Reven, Necropolis, Nefsokar, and Overlords were the only Faction books released.  They were great books, but the problem was, they were being written by the Reaper staff who were also trying to manage their day-to-day jobs at the factory as well.  Too many hats, not enough heads.

 

At that point, the plan to make individual faction books was dropped, and instead a multifaction book was going to come out.

 

RAGE Chronicles was sort of a precursor to that.  

 

Then the rules got rebooted with 2.0.

 

If you can get your hands on it, the old Dark Heavens Apocalypse boxed set has a ton of fluff about the various countries and powers in Adon (Warlord game world) that Warlord is based directly off from.  Even the Savage North armies are based on stuff from Apocalypse.

 

 

I doubt the too few heads thing was the reason the books stopped. It may have played a part, but Reaper overhauled the game to the point that all the previous books filled with outdated information.

[Shakandara]

No, actually, I'm pretty sure Mike is 100% correct on that point. The faction books were being produced back in the days where Soon became a punchline, in no smaller part because those books kept getting delayed in their release longer and longer. The overhauls of Warlord (the days of the RAGE chronicles) didn't happen until after the faction book plan was abandoned.

 

It's nice to see the game being talked about, even if it is mostly an obituary.

 

~v