Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age
5/5
()
About this ebook
Created by Joseph A. McCullough, designer of Frostgrave and Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago, Oathmark is a mass-battle fantasy wargame that puts you in command of the fantasy army you've always wanted, whether a company of stalwart dwarves or a mixed force with proud elves, noble men, and wild goblins standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the battle-line. Fight through an integrated campaign system and develop your realms from battle to battle, adding new territories, recruiting new troop types, and growing to eclipse your rivals… or lose what you fought so hard to gain and fall as so many would-be emperors before you.
Joseph A. McCullough
Joseph A. McCullough's first brush with writing for games was as co-author of The Grey Mountains supplement for the Middle-Earth Role-Playing Game, and he has remained passionate about Fantasy gaming since, going on to become an award-winning game designer. He is the creator of the “Frostgrave Family” of skirmish wargames (the Fantasy titles Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago, Rangers of Shadow Deep, and the Sci-Fi evolution, Stargrave) and of the Oathmark Fantasy battle game and The Silver Bayonet, a game of Napoleonic Gothic Horror. The latest information on his game design and other writing can be found at: josephamccullough.com.
Read more from Joseph A. Mc Cullough
Stargrave: Hope Eternal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Silver Bayonet: A Wargame of Napoleonic Gothic Horror Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stargrave: Science Fiction Wargames in the Ravaged Galaxy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stargrave: Quarantine 37 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZombies: A Hunter’s Guide Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Oathmark: Oathbreakers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stargrave: The Last Prospector Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOathmark: Battlesworn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago: Gods of Fire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOathmark: Bane of Kings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silver Bayonet: The Carpathians: Castle Fier Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrostgrave: Ghost Archipelago: Cities of Bronze Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrostgrave: Ghost Archipelago: Fantasy Wargames in the Lost Isles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragonslayers: From Beowulf to St. George Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Steampunk Soldiers: The American Frontier Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Steampunk Soldiers: Uniforms & Weapons from the Age of Steam Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science Fiction & Fantasy Quiz Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Victory's Knife Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story of Santa Claus Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Oathmark
Related ebooks
Oathmark: Oathbreakers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oathmark: Battlesworn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Frostgrave: Second Edition: Fantasy Wargames in the Frozen City Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Burrows & Badgers: A Skirmish Game of Anthropomorphic Animals Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago: Fantasy Wargames in the Lost Isles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frostgrave: The Wizards’ Conclave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kobolds & Cobblestones: Fantasy Gang Rumbles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Frostgrave: Perilous Dark Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lion Rampant: Second Edition: Medieval Wargaming Rules Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsXenos Rampant: Science Fiction Wargame Battles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRogue Stars: Skirmish Wargaming in a Science Fiction Underworld Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frostgrave: The Maze of Malcor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dracula's America: Shadows of the West: A Wargame Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Frostgrave: Fireheart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Frostgrave: Into the Breeding Pits Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outremer: Faith and Blood: Skirmish Wargames in the Crusades Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frostgrave: Dark Alchemy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zona Alfa: Salvage and Survival in the Exclusion Zone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One-hour Skirmish Wargames: Fast-play Dice-less Rules for Small-unit Actions from Napoleonics to Sci-Fi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A World Aflame: Interwar Wargame Rules 1918–39 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tabletop Wargames: A Designers’ and Writers’ Handbook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Of Gods and Mortals: Mythological Wargame Rules Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pikeman’s Lament: Pike and Shot Wargaming Rules Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Absolute Emperor: Napoleonic Wargame Battles Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A Fistful of Kung Fu: Hong Kong Movie Wargame Rules Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One-Hour Wargames: Practical Tabletop Battles for those with Limited Time and Space Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men of Bronze: Ancient Greek Hoplite Battles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Developing the Portable Wargame Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRebels and Patriots: Wargaming Rules for North America: Colonies to Civil War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Paleomythic: A Roleplaying Game of Stone and Sorcery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Fantasy For You
Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote: [Complete & Illustrated] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Measure: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Will of the Many Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Oathmark
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Oathmark - Joseph A. McCullough
INTRODUCTION
THE BASICS
WHAT IS WARGAMING?
WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY
Miniatures
The Table
Terrain
Dice
Measuring Device
Kingdom and Army Sheets
PLAYING THE GAME
FIGURES
UNITS
Unit Sizes
The Officer
Units-of-One
Facings
LINE OF SIGHT
SETTING THE TABLE
THE TURN
INITIATIVE
ACTIVATION
ACTIONS
Move
Obstructions
Movement Off Table
Manoeuvre
Pivot
Wheel
About Face
Shoot
Special Abilities
Simple Actions
COMBAT
Round of Combat
1. Determine Combat Dice
2. Calculate Target Number
3. Roll Combat Dice
4. Determine Hits
5. Apply Hits and Remove Casualties
6. Morale Test
7. Pushback
Round of Combat Example
Combat Against Units in Defensive Works
SHOOTING ATTACKS
1. Check Line of Sight, Range, and Priority
2. Determine Combat Dice
3. Determine Target Number
4. Roll Combat Dice
5. Determine Hits
6. Apply Hits and Remove Casualties
7. Morale Test
Shooting Attack Example
MORALE
Morale Tests for Units-of-One
Disordered Units
Cascading Panic
ENDING THE GAME
ADVANCED RULES
CHARACTERS
Characters in Combat
Commanders
Champions
Death of an Officer
Spellcasters
SPLITTING AND JOINING UNITS
MONSTERS
ARTILLERY
MAGIC ITEMS
STRANGE AND CATASTROPHIC EVENTS
BUILDING AN ARMY
CREATE A KINGDOM
Dwarf Terrain List
Human Terrain List
Elf Terrain List
Goblin and Orc Terrain List
Unaligned Terrain List
ASSEMBLE AN ARMY
Unit Limit
FIGURE LISTS
Dwarf List
Human List
Elf List
Goblin and Orc List
Unaligned Creature List
THE CAMPAIGN
PRINCIPLES OF WAR
Determine the Battle Type
Muster Your Army
Select a Scenario
Fight the Battle
Record the Results
SCENARIOS
Pitched Battle
Oathmarks
Bridge the River
Chance Engagement
Wind and Rain
APPENDIX A: SPECIAL ABILITIES
APPENDIX B: SPELLS
General Spells
Dwarf Spells
Elf Spells
Human Spells
Goblin and Orc Spells
APPENDIX C: MAGIC ITEMS
Battle-worn the Marches lay, weary, blood-soaked soil.
While oathmarks torn from temples mourn
The faith of foes in times forgotten…
Fragment, The Lay of the Marches
Once a great battlefield, the rocky hills and fields of the Marches are now remembered only in burnt fragments of parchment and mouldy, forgotten books. Warlords used fire and sword to carve out kingdoms and led campaigns of war and conquest in the shadows of the ruined empire. It was an age in which men, elves, dwarves, goblins and others lived and worked together; giving their oathmarks to whomever stood strongest and carving their pledges in standing stones, ancient trees, and even the bones of their enemies.
An age of destruction and strife. An age of blackguards and heroes. An age lost to time.
Welcome to the Marches, an ancient land of men, elves, dwarves, goblins, and orcs torn apart by war. This book contains all the rules you need to assemble and command an army of Oathmark miniatures in an attempt to defeat your enemies. This section introduces the basic concepts of wargaming, explains some important terminology, and discusses all the items you need to play the game. Some of you are certainly veteran wargamers with numerous campaigns and rules-systems under your belt, while others are completely new to the hobby. Either way, it is always good to start with the basics to ensure everyone is on the same page.
What Is Wargaming?
At its most basic level, wargaming is a fancy term for using a set of rules, like these, to play with toy soldiers on a table. Players take on the roles of generals and kings, commanding their soldiers to march, fight, fire volleys of arrows, cast spells, using the soldiers’ abilities to defeat the enemy, and claim the battlefield. The rules explain how each of these abilities work.
When the soldiers come into direct conflict, such as when two units fight, the players roll dice to determine the outcome. Players receive bonuses based on their troop quality, how much support a unit has, any magical protection, and other such factors that might influence the combat; still, there is always a random element. This delightful uncertainty is one of the major differences between tabletop wargaming and a traditional board game, such as chess. Well, that and the lack of a gameboard.
As you become more involved in wargaming, you will soon realize there is a lot more to the hobby than just playing the game. The wargaming hobby also includes collecting and painting miniatures, making terrain, planning armies and campaigns, and discussing strategy and tactics with your friends for hours on end!
What You Need To Play
Apart from this book, you need several other items to play Oathmark: miniatures, a table, terrain, dice, some sort of measuring device, and copies of the Kingdom Sheet and Army Sheet from the back of this book. Each of these items is discussed in detail below.
MINIATURES
Miniatures are the key elements of the tabletop wargaming hobby. Essentially, miniatures are toy soldiers, sculpted to a high level of detail and cast in either metal or plastic. Official Oathmark miniatures are produced by North Star Military Figures and Osprey Games and can be purchased from your local hobby store or online from www.northstarfigures.com.
Each miniature in Oathmark represents one man (or elf, goblin, troll, etc.), and is usually referred to as a figure. Most figures are grouped together with other similar figures into blocks called units. All figures and units under a single player’s command are known as an army. This is explained in more detail later.
To play to the game, each player needs their own army with a minimum of about 30 figures, the number that comes in one box of plastic Oathmark Dwarf, Goblin, Elf, or Human Infantry. After playing a couple games at this basic level, however, most players decide to expand their armies to contain numerous different units with varying strengths and abilities. That’s fine; the Oathmark rules work just as well for armies of 300 figures as they do for armies of 30.
It is worth noting that all Oathmark miniatures come unpainted and, in the case of plastic figures, unassembled. So, if you are just starting out, you may also want to invest in some glue, paints, paintbrushes, and other such hobby tools.
BASE SIZE
Every Oathmark figure comes with a plastic base; in the case of human-sized models, this is a 25 x 25mm square. Larger figures may have larger bases. It is important to mount your figures on the appropriate-sized base, as this represents how much area that figure takes up and controls on the battlefield and affects how the figure moves and fights, especially when it is part of a unit. The base size of every creature in this book is listed in its description.
Veteran wargamers, especially those who use armies from other games, may already have figures with different-sized bases. That is fine. Since most units in Oathmark are five figures wide, it is possible to construct movement trays to give a unit the correct footprint. So, if you have a unit of 10 human archers, you could make a tray 125mm wide by 50mm deep, and roughly organize the archers into two rows of 5 figures each. Even if you use Oathmark bases, you may want to consider using movement trays, as it is much faster to move a unit on a tray than to move each individual figure separately.
THE TABLE
After miniatures, the most crucial item is a table. It is called tabletop wargaming, after all! Oathmark does not require a specific table size to play, but you do want to make sure you have enough room for the armies you are using. For example, you could play a game with 30 figures per player on a 2’ x 4’ table. A larger game, in which each player has 100 or more figures under their command, would require a larger table: something more like 4’ x 6’.
For most people, the decision on table size usually comes down to whatever is available. If this is the case, size your armies accordingly. You do not want huge areas of open table space, but you do want to make sure units have plenty of room to manoeuvre. At the end of the day, smaller tables make for shorter, bloodier games; larger tables allow for slower, more tactical battles.
Most wargamers like to cover their table with some kind of cloth to make it look more like a proper battlefield. Numerous companies sell specific battlefield cloths or mats that work wonderfully, but even a simple green sheet can make a huge difference to the look and feel of your game. The cloth also helps hold the figures in place and keeps them from sliding around on slick tabletops, which can cause minor problems.
TERRAIN
While it is perfectly acceptable to play Oathmark on an empty table, most players find the game more visually appealing and tactically interesting when they include terrain. Terrain is any kind of scenery that sits on the table; it can include hills, rivers, villages, ruins, and even ancient standing stones covered in oathmarks left by some long-forgotten warlord. If you are just beginning in the hobby, you can start by using a couple of books to represent hills and a few rocks to represent boulders. This gives players a bit more to think about as they march their armies around the table, and provides some strategic points to fight over.
As you get deeper into the hobby, you may want to upgrade your terrain by either making your own (there are loads of how-to videos online) or by purchasing some