Warmaster - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Warmaster is a ruleset for tabletop wargames

Miniature wargaming

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...

written by Rick Priestley

Rick Priestley

Rick Priestley is a miniature wargaming designer and author who lives near Nottingham, England.Priestley worked extensively for Games Workshop...

, published by Specialist Games

Specialist Games

Specialist Games is division of Games Workshop which sells tabletop wargames that are no longer part of Games Workshop's core market ....

(a division of Games Workshop

Games Workshop

Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...

), and set in the Warhammer Fantasy
Warhammer Fantasy (setting)
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...

setting. It is different from Warhammer Fantasy Battle

Warhammer Fantasy Battle

Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting....

s in both appearance and gameplay. It is intended for 10 –12 mm miniatures

Miniature figure

A miniature figure is a small-scale representation of a historical or mythological entity used in miniature wargames, role-playing games, and dioramas. Miniature figures are commonly made of metal, plastic, or paper...

. Basic troops are based on stands, of which typically three make a unit. Generals, Heroes and Wizards are mounted individually or with their retinue

Retinue

A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage, a suite of "retainers".-Etymology:...

.

Gameplay focuses on command and control. While magic

Magic (gaming)

Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...

is used in the game, its effects on the game are limited. The game is designed to focus on the general's ability to command rather than just the armies ability to fight.

In the Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...

universe, Epic
Epic (game)
Epic is a tabletop wargame set in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. Where Warhammer 40,000 involves small battles between forces of a few squads of troops and two or three vehicles, Epic features battles between armies consisting of dozens of tanks and hundreds of soldiers...

fills much the same "large scale battle" role as Warmaster does in Warhammer Fantasy, though the two systems do not share rules.

Releases

The original version, the fantasy ruleset Warmaster, was first released in 2000. As with most of the "specialist" games products, the support strategy from Games Workshop

Games Workshop

Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...

has evolved over time. Once a part of the Specialist Games division, Warmaster is now directly supported by Games Workshop itself, albeit at a reduced level. Most miniatures remain in print. A freely downloadable "Living Rulebook", along with supplements and archived magazine articles, are available through the main Games Workshop website and the fan-administered site Specialist Games.

In mid 2006, a new online supplement was added to the Specialist Games website, known as Warmaster Armies. This supplement includes slightly revised lists for the six original armies (High Elves, Empire, Dwarfs, Chaos, Orcs and Goblins, and Tomb Kings of Khemri), alongside new lists for eight forces (Dark Elves, Skaven, Bretonnians, Lizardmen, Kislevites, Vampire Counts, Daemonic Hordes, and Araby).

This was followed in 2009 by a fan-based supplement release. This included a large number of alternative, trial or fan designed army lists. The Warmuster publication aims to promote ongoing development of the game.

In 2010 Warmuster issue 2 was released, which compiled and clarified the siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

rules written for the game over the preceding 10 years.

Battle of Five Armies

In 2005 Games Workshop

Games Workshop

Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...

released a boxed game called Great Battles of Middle Earth: The Battle of Five Armies based on the battle from the book "The Hobbit

The Hobbit

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...

". The rules are heavily based on Warmaster, and it uses the same miniature scale. The boxed set contains rules, plastic 10 mm miniatures, and scenery (Plastic hills and a cardboard river).

Additional miniatures for this game were cast in white metal

White metal

The white metals are any of several light-colored alloys used as a base for plated silverware, ornaments or novelties, as well as any of several lead-base or tin-base alloys used for things like bearings, jewellery, miniature figures, fusible plugs, some medals and metal type.Some of the metals...

. While detailed in the box set rule book, these extra miniatures were sold separately. They were discontinued shortly after being released. The box set remains in print.

Warmaster Ancients

Also in 2005 Warhammer Historical published Warmaster Ancients, a modified version of the Fantasy rules suitable for battles covering a period from early Biblical times to 1066. The rules are different from the original 'fantasy' version to better represent historical battles and units.

October 2006 saw the release of Warmaster Ancient Armies, which includes 20 new army lists (all of which are set prior to 1000 AD), along with rules for campaign play and a number of new rule clarifications and unit modifications. The campaign rules have been described as a good way of linking battles, but are not suitable for historical campaigns.

A new ruleset for the Medieval period was released in December 2008. This ruleset has a number of significant differences with the Fantasy and Ancients version.

Warmaster Gameplay

Warmaster works at a higher organisation level than Warhammer Fantasy

Warhammer Fantasy Battle

Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting....

to represent very large battles in the Warhammer world. The components of an army are divided into two basic types: units and characters. In the original 10 mm Games Workshop-produced miniatures, figures are cast 5 men to a strip, though many gamers base their miniatures with other maker's figures to produce 4-12 figure-per-base bases in order to create a variety of mass effects. Standard bases for Warmaster Ancients are 40 mm x 20 mm elements. Units are normally made of three such elements each. Infantry are based along the 40 mm edge, while cavalry, chariots, monsters and artillery are based along the 20 mm edge. Characters represent commanders such as generals, heroes and wizards and may be based as the player desires, generally on round diorama-sculpted coins or 40 or 20mm wide bases in order for them to be included directly in combat alongside the troops.

Gameplay proceeds with the rolling of dice

Dice

A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...

. Units in Warmaster must be activated and moved by rolling against the command value of a character; units can be activated multiple times, though the roll becomes progressively more difficult. If a commander fails his activation roll, he can no longer command units in that turn. Units may be moved into contact with enemy troops and are considered charging. To enable commanders to move their armies around, units can be formed into brigades of up to four units.

Once all units have been moved eligible units are allowed to shoot and wizards may attempt to cast a spell. Shooting is not very deadly, but any hits scored may force an enemy unit to fall back and cost the player further command rolls to draw back into combat. Shooting is therefore primarily aimed at disrupting enemy formation and cohesion rather than destroy them.

After the shooting phase follows the combat phase, all units involved in combat may roll a number of six-sided dice equivalent to their attack value. Units based along the 20 mm edge have a tremendous advantage against units based on the 40 mm edge, allowing them to pack all their attacks in a narrow frontage, with two units being able to combine their attacks onto a single enemy unit. Once two units have exchanged blows the number of hits are totalled. The loser with the lowest total hits is forced to fall back, while the winner has the option to stand, pursue or fall back. Fights may continue, even against multiple enemy units in succession, until one side is destroyed or the attacker does not wish to pursue the enemy.

The rules are for some wargamers a little abstract – it is not clear for instance how much time a turn represents. Others deem the amount of dice rolling excessive.

Warmaster Ancients Gameplay

Even before Warmaster Ancients were published, there had been attempts to use the fantasy rules for purely historical armies. However, they had significant drawbacks – cavalry under the fantasy rules were too powerful, skirmishers too weak and some historical troop types were not catered for at all.

The gameplay for Warmaster Ancients follows the same basic procedure as Warmaster Fantasy, but differs in the following way:

Magic, dragons and other such are naturally not present in this rule set (although historical large creatures, such as elephants, are present in some armies).

Units may only receive three consecutive orders.

Combat is limited to two exchanges, unlike the fantasy version, where units may continue to attack as long as they have valid targets in range. This allows players to reinforce their troops under attack.

There are special rules for many historical unit types. Units based on the 20 mm edge are designated as "shock troops" and include heavy cavalry, elephants and phalanges using pikes – their greater hitting power is offset by their shorter frontage which opens them to outflanking. Among the most important new troop types are skirmishers, mobile light troops that can evade an enemy charge and can be used to delay an enemy advance.

Spin-offs for other periods

Quite a few rulesets have been written using the basic warmaster mechanics. This includes even the 20th century with Cold War Commander and Blitzkrieg Commander.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.