Pendraken Warband Fantasy Army Packs - Hill dwarves - Figures Review

Today a mysterious package arrived from Pendraken Miniatures.  See here for further discussions on that.

However, it included a Hill dwarf army pack for the new Warband fantasy rules.

I thought I'd put up a review of what I found within.

OK, in the interests of full disclosure, I'm the author of Pendraken's Warband rules, but other than that I have no connection to the company - other than being a loyal customer for many years.  My review therefore will contain my own views, unbiased by any agreements or arrangements with Pendraken.

OK, lets get started.  Here's the army pack.

It comes with eight 100x50mm bases, which are the recommended size for units in the Warband rules.  I think it would be useful to include some Minibits dice and dice frames too, but people will no doubt have different views on how to record unit Morale loss.  And I suppose the army packs will be useful for more than Warband, so no worries.

Onto the good stuff though, the figures.  the army pack contains 6 packs of varying size and compostion.  In Warband terms this appears to give you enough for the core units, but will leave you needing to add in additional unit selections from the optional units.  No problem really, as Pendraken couldn't possibly anticipate all the differnt possible army builds.  For wider use you get a solid mass of warriors, a cadre of supporting archers, a command unit, a magic user unit, and some fun stuff - a unit of dwarf hound riders and some artillery (of course!)

The command pack contains five miniatures.  I recognise these from the existing range and this is true across all of these miniatures.  Pendraken appears to have updated its existing stock with resculpts and improvements rather than creating entirely new stuff.  In the brief time I've had to consider this, I actually quite like the idea.  I have a lot of older Pendraken fantasy miniatures and these new improved versions will fit in with that older stuff, while still looking better.  Anyway, here's the five commanders.  I'm still not keen on the standard bearer, and I think I'll do something around converting it to a proper flagpole.  Otherwise these are excellent, well cast figures.

My rating (out of 10)

Pose quality: 6

Pose variation:  10

Sculpting: 7

Casting: 8

The next pack is a small coterie of magic users.  The old dwarf spell casters were a mixed bag really.  The skull-staff chaps I really liked, but the other druid types, not so much.  These appear entirely new figures and jolly fun they are too.  They obviously place great store in magic staffs which is cool, and one reminded me of Tommy Cooper for some reason.  In any case, these are great little minis, well sculpted and cast.  The pack also includes some sort of dolmen or magic rock which has an axe on it.  We all know dwarves worship their axes so this is fun!  Like most of these new packs it's also becoming clear that the breadth of different poses is very impressive.  So far, each figure is different.

Spoon, jar, jar, spoon...hurhurhur...just like that!

My rating (out of 10)

Pose quality: 7

Pose variation:  10

Sculpting: 8

Casting: 9

Hound riders next.  Or dog riders?  Either way they're marvellously bonkers!  These again are upgrades to the older stock, and very good upgrades too.  They are single piece castings, and while in the pack of 12 figures there are three basic 'types' of pose, each individual figure appears to have slightly different details.  Amazing!  The figures are quite static, but i don't expect the stoic dwarf riders are that keen in charging about the place, and carrying a pot-bellied dwarf I reckon the hounds definitely aren't keen.

Charge?  Me?  Don't be a fool.

My rating (out of 10)

Pose quality: 6

Pose variation:  8

Sculpting: 7

Casting: 9

Dwarves like artillery right?  We all know this.  Well, Pendraken's Hill dwarf army pack doesn't disappoint on that score.  The artillery pack includes enough ordnance to fill a 100x50mm base, or if you want to thin them out a bit, perhaps add some diorama details, maybe even two.

Here we get two pudgy little bombards, and a couple of flame-embellished cannons.  And enough crew and balls to keep the lead flying.  I've not seen the older dwarf artillery models so I can't compare them, but this lot is excellent.  The sculpts are characterful, the casting clean, and again there's heaps of variation in detail among the various figures.

The number twelve next I think Nori; the number eight bounced off that troll like a castle wall...

 

My rating (out of 10)

Pose quality: 8

Pose variation:  8

Sculpting: 7

Casting: 8

Right, now we're moving into the bulk of the army pack, the core infantry.  First up we have the archers.  Or should if be 'archers' with the Hill dwarves?  After all, the figures in the pack (26 of 'em) are split over three weapon loads - bows, blunderbusses, and...well...we'll come to that.

The archers are excellent figures and Pendraken have finally sorted out their 'stubby bow' problem with the new fixes.  Every archer is a similar pose with different details (helmets, beards, noses, back-shields, etc.) which means no two really look the same.  Excellent work here.

Twanggggg!!!!!  Every one a coconut...

I've always liked the Pendraken dwarves with blunderbusses.  Really nice little miniatures, and this lot have been given a similar revamp.  Loads of variation, so your gun-line will look quite ragtag.  

And then...well...the crossbow models are suffering hte old 'stubby' problem still.  I presume this is something to do with the casting process that means broad 'sideways' protrusions aren't possible so that's always going to be a problem with the crossbows?  Looking at the figure though, I'm thinking it might be a relatively simple conversion to put a cross bar on the front to make the crossbow look better.  This looks like a glitch in an otherwise excellent revamp for the Hill dwarves so far.

My rating (out of 10)

Pose quality: 8

Pose variation:  8

Sculpting: 7 (2 for the crossbows)

Casting: 9

And now...the hooligans.  All 75 of 'em.

The main battleline will be formed by the Hill dwarves close fighting infantry.  You get five basic poses, but as above, within each pose the details are different.  I haven't had a close inspection yet, but it certainly appears that there are basically 75 different figures here.  Again the differences include helmet, beard, minor pose, etc. variations.  If that's right, that's an amazing achievement for Pendraken.

You get two poses of dwarves armed with spears, and both aren't bad.  For me though, dwarves just don't look right with spears.  That's a personal preference of course and these figures are perfectly fine.

This pose is much more my sort of thing.  Stoic dwarves with heave armour and heavy hammers of all different designs.  Very good little figures.

These truimphant chaps are probably easily recognisable from the older range, and they've been updated with better sculpted weapons, and variations such as shields.

And finally another stoic pose with lots of variation in the detail.

My rating (out of 10)

Pose quality: 8

Pose variation:  9

Sculpting: 8

Casting: 9

I think this is where the army pack finishes, and a great little starter army it provides.  however, my bundle included a bunch of extras that will cover some of the optional upgrades in the Warband Hill dwarf army lists.

First up the gyrocopters.  The pack has three in and each pilot appears to be different.  Once again superb variation.  The scults are interesting and the casting super-clean.  In fact across everything I've seen so far, there's almost no flash, no miscasting, and no dull detail.  Excellent.

With the gyrocopters, there is a bit of an issue; when you put the rotor blades on, they appear to clobber the pilot on the head!  I think a small modification to raise them off the body slightly will be worth the effort.

My rating (out of 10)

Pose quality: 8

Pose variation:  7

Sculpting: 6

Casting: 8

And finally, what I presume is a unit of berserkers or perhaps elite warriors.  There are twenty five figures in the pack, with five basic poses.  Again within each pose there is tremendous variation.  Excellent work.

And the detail is often incredible - just look at this rune-blade!  Wow!!

My rating (out of 10)

Pose quality: 9

Pose variation:  10

Sculpting: 9

Casting: 9

So, all told, the new sculpts and army pack contents are an excellent start to a Hill dwarf army.  Very impressive.

Pendraken Warband Fantasy Army Packs - Figures Review

Today a mysterious package arrived from Pendraken Miniatures.

I prised it open to find the bounty of two of their new fantasy army packs designed around the Warband fantasy rules.

With some relish I scoured through the packs to find that most contained the much anticipated resculpted goblin and hill dwarf ranges, and also some lovely new sculpts.

I think these are due for release in the next few days so I thought I'd put up a review of what I've found in the packs.

Doorstep booty...arr mateys...

OK, in the interests of full disclosure, I'm the author of Pendraken's Warband rules, but other than that I have no connection to the company - other than being a loyal customer for many years.  My review therefore will contain my own views, unbiased by any agreements or arrangements with Pendraken.

As this post could become exceptionally long, what I'll do is review the generic figures here, and then split the Hill dwarves and Goblins into different posts.

So, the 'other stuff' in no particular order...

First up, what appear to be some treemen, ents, huorns, or other generic arboreal creatures.  These are new sculpts I think and really rather jolly good.  There are three different poses, and six figures in the pack I received.
The sculpting, poses and detail is exceptional, and almost completely flash-free.  Their texture will be super-easy to paint (dry brush), and I'm looking at the poses and thinking it will be very easy to glue on foliage if you;re that way inclined.

My rating (out of 10)
Pose quality: 7
Pose variation: 6
Sculpting: 8
Casting: 8

Next up are some fire elementals, and these are really nice. Again, there are three poses and they each appear to be a sheet or column of flame with a human face screaming out of it.  Casting and quality are superb.

My rating (out of 10)
Pose quality: 6
Pose variation: 6
Sculpting: 8
Casting: 9

Following from the fire elementals are some earth, stone, or rock creatures.  Presumably also elementals.  Some of these appear familiar but some (if not all) are cerainly new sculpts. I particularly like the 'genie' rising from the ground!  Once again, well done all round and I think these will be very easy to paint also. 

My rating (out of 10)
Pose quality: 6
Pose variation: 6
Sculpting: 8
Casting: 8

The next pack are...i'm not sure if these are water elementals or air elementals.  To be honest, they'll do for either, and also sort of creatures of mystical energy.  Like the fire elementals, they're fierce-looking and dynamic figures, with good variation and excellent sculpting.  Detail is amazingly crisp and clear

My rating (out of 10)
Pose quality: 7
Pose variation: 6
Sculpting: 9
Casting: 9

Onto what I think are ogres, although they could also be small giants.  The pack contains three different poses, and i recognise one from the older ranges.  The other two (with axe and sword) I think are new figures.  All are very good although a little static.  They look like they'll make good single figures in a unit, but could look a little 'samey' if used in large numbers together.

My rating (out of 10)
Pose quality: 5
Pose variation: 6
Sculpting: 7
Casting: 8

And finally, a pack of six giants.  These are lovely new miniatures that remind me of old D&D hill giants, or perhaps creatures like Tolkien's Beorn.  they are much smaller than Pendrakens older giant figure, and considerably different, having a naturalistic style.  The detail is exceptionally good, crisp, and will take paint well.

My rating (out of 10)
Pose quality: 7
Pose variation: 6
Sculpting: 9
Casting: 8

So some very nice new miniatures there.  I'll be using them all for one or more of my Warband armies I suspect. Pendraken are really upping their game to take their fantasy ranges forwards.

Moving on, you'll find the review of the Hill dwarf army pack here, and the review of the Goblin army pack here.

Warband - Designer's Diary Part 1

Find them here

WHAT ARE THEY INTENDED FOR?

Warband is intended as a rule set for competitive play between balanced forces, and this has influenced much of its design.  As rules for fantasy wargaming, they are mostly freed from the need to simulate or replicate historical battle frictions (although during play testing we played a few ‘historical’ battles with some rather pleasing results).  This makes the rules firmly a game and this goal has been at the heart of how the rules were developed.  It meant that I wasn't try to replicate any specific historical battle results or the ways in which ancient armies interacted with each other.  This is both a problem, in that there's no standard to assess when I got things 'right', but also very useful and it meant I had the flexibility to define what a 'successful design' looked like.

If the rules are played as intended, with balanced 500 point armies in competitive ‘tournament style’ games, players should get the best out of them.  Of course that doesn’t stop players using them for other types of play, including narrative battles, unbalanced engagements, and so on.  They should work well for these types of game too, especially if you introduce victory objectives other than simple 'kill 'em all'.

How this intention framed the development of the game was simple - I was looking to ensure that everything in the rules was balanced. 

In building a force, it should be difficult to 'math-hammer' (or min-max) the game so that you optimise a build and gain a skewed advantage in the game.  

Of course army design is still vital so a player can and should look to make a warband they enjoy playing with and which fits their play style (whether a cautious defensive player or wild attacking player).  Players should find that while you can create a focussed force, that will be secondary to good tactical play.

In playing during a game turn, if you lose an advantage in one part of the turn, you should be able to gain an advantage elsewhere.  Hopefully players will find fairly quickly that this is the case, in particular in the tensions between movement, shooting, and melee sequences.

Of course, its also desirable to have an element of randomness in the mix too, and trying to get the right balance army building, tactical exploitation, and random chance is tough.  There are certainly 'pinch points' in the game where good or bad luck can throw your designs, plans and tactics into disarray.  However, the spread of dice rolling across most actions means that a player shouldn't get totally wrecked by a couple of bad results.  Without this randomness, each battle would be predictable and rather dull.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

The development of Warband was guided by four principles, that they should be;

• Simple to learn
• Balanced
• Challenging to master, and
• Fun to play

The rules were also written under the ‘if in doubt, leave it out’ premise and so most of the rules in the book are there because during development and playtesting I found it to be something that was necessary to make clear.  Every rule was tested by asking:

• Is it simple and intuitive?
• Does it unbalance the game?
• Does it add to the challenge of playing?
• Does it add to the fun of a game?

Rules that failed any of these tests were either redrafted, or where found to be unnecessary, removed entirely.  Less is more I think and with the simple application of common sense, players should find the rules flow simply and 'as expected'.

Hopefully there shouldn’t be anything too convoluted or complex in the rules, although to ensure the game plays properly, there is no doubt some wording that sneaked through the ‘keep it simple’ net.

So, something the players won't find in the rules is anything devastatingly innovative.  I've found that many rule sets that try to do this, just feel a bit...well...gimmicky.  I've tried not to reinvent the wheel but instead to refine, hone, and make intuitive, what I think needs to happen in a set of rules for a game to work well.  After all, all wargame rules have to do the same basic things:

• Command and control
• Movement
• Shooting
• Fighting
• Morale

In my view, these basics should happen without too much thought on the part of the players, or you end up 'playing the rules' rather than 'playing the game'.  

I don't want Warband players to have to stop their excellent strategems and tactics to trawl through arcane rules on how to determine the morale of their troops.  Hopefully I've achieved that.

CORE MECHANIC

Therefore, core mechanic is kept as simple as possible, mostly to get it out of the way of playing.  A common characteristic of many rules is that different elements of the game use different rules principles to achieve their results.  This means you have to remember which rules you need at each stage. 

Warband uses a very simple core ‘engine’ that is the same for all task resolutions across the game.  Movement, shooting, melee, and protection is handled in the same way, which means that once you learn this, and the small number of conditional modifiers, it stops getting in the way of you playing the game and lets you concentrate on trying to beat your opponent.  After all, that's where the fun is, isn't it? 

Warband’s task resolution is all done using ‘dice pools’, i.e. a variable number of six-sided dice.  These dice are rolled against a fixed ‘target number’ which means all you need to do is assess the number of dice you roll and pick out the 4, 5, and 6 results to determine how successful you have been.

Why use this method?  Well, the maths, calculations, and considerations are therefore simple and linear.  This makes the game accessible to players of all ages without bogging them down in complexity. 

Also, a units' basic ‘dice pools’ are matched to its points cost which keeps the game balanced.  Powerful units cost more and are therefore rarer on the battlefield.  This inherent balance is affected by two main processes; conditional modifiers, and commander’s influence. 

Conditional modifiers come from a player's ability to plan and manoeuvre their units to gain tactical advantages (such as flank attacks) and they reward good play by weighting the dice balance in that player's favour.  There's also an element of tying this into how a player structures their army and places terrain at the start of the battle.  A well structured wood elf army, with well deployed woodland terrain will give the player inherent advantages, especially if that player then plays a tactically sound game.  Of course the opponent will be trying to do the same!

A warband commander’s influence comes from the variable ‘command points’ ability which allows the player to decide where in the battle they want to further weight the dice balance.  A commander's influence at the right point can change the battle completely.  That said, players will probably find that most games will pass through three stages, and using a commander well at each stage is vital.  What these stages are and how to use the commander...well figuring that out will be all part of the fun!

Thus the core mechanic provides the player with a simple and readily understandable set of probabilities that will help fight a challenging battle and play a fun game.  Of course as we’re dealing with dice, those probabilities will always be subject to the tyranny of randomness!  This is also designed into the game, as wherever possible we’ve tried to make each action or decision uncertain.  You can never be quite sure your troops will move where you want them to, or fight quite as well as you expect, or stand instead of running, and that means you’ll face constant tactical challenges throughout the game.

Around this core mechanic, the remaining rules are kept as simple as possible.  Where there is necessary complexity, I've tried to lay out the rules into clear and linear sequences.  Follow these and what seems difficult should become simple, and this lets you get on with having fun playing the game.

Warband

It's funny how life works out sometimes, and if you're anything like me you'll have lived what has felt like a series of different lives.  I'm currently bumbling through a fairly hum-drum life working in privacy law (via archaeology) in 'the real world' (although I've always rather felt that spending 8 hours a day riding a desk is somewhat unreal).  Weird things happen though, and this week something in that vein happened to me.

I've mentioned a few times on this blog here, here, and here over the past year or two, a little project I've been beavering away on, and this week it budded into the public realm.

What is that, you may ask?  Well its the release of a set of wargame rules I've written, now enshrined as...

It became self-aware on Pendraken's forum 21st Jan 2015.

Why is this weird?  Because it all sort of happened by accident, or rather without intent.  My general approach to life is fairly laid back and I've often found that things unfold in their own time, usually as they should, and so it has been with this particular venture.  

I'll step back a bit and give you a little background.  This all began a few years ago when my gaming group and I were casting round for a set of rules to play our 'A Very British Civil War' games.  You'll find a fair bit about that on this blog.  Not happy with any of the rules we used, I set about cobbling together some simple and home-brewed.  They didn't quite fit and so I shelved them.  

I've been a lifelong reader and writer, and my current job involves writing and ideas that range from legal, technical, procedural, to public marketing messages.  This part of my job I very much like as I enjoy ideas and words and systems and structures; and playing about with those.  Myers-Briggs tells me I'm INTP.  I also spend a lot of time writing fiction, and of course that first novel is always 'nearly ready'.  One day, one day, when the time's right...

Anyway, a while later I was playing a few different games, including Impetus and 'big battle' Hordes of the Things.  Building the HotT armies, I was using Pendraken's excellent 10mm fantasy miniatures.  I had a bunch left over and got to thinking that I really liked Impetus' 'big bases' and it occurred to me that rather than four rather downtrodden figures on a tiny base (the WRG standard) a HotT army with big bases would look excellent.

I threw together a base of orcs and it was really a revelation.  It was clear that Pendraken miniatures really came into their own massed up on a big base, and as a vignette.  I want an army like this, I thought.

OK, so, I like the DBx stable of games, and played DBM at tournament level for several years (not that I was much good mind you), and while I love HotT, it is ultimately a bit 'hollow' in terms of game play, so I wanted a set of rules that would accommodate fantasy games with these new big bases.  Casting about I found little to inspire me so I dug out those old AVBCW rules, which I thought had some interesting concepts in them.

Thus began a long, arduous process of designing, redesigning, play testing, developing, and generally bashing into shape a set of rules that I provisionally titled 'Warband'.

Tentatively I put on a game or two for my group of friends.  They held together, or rather 'didn't fall over'.  'Interesting', I thought.  Time went on.  More testing and development ensued.  I gave them to some friends in other groups to playtest, and surprisingly got a lot of feedback, mostly (but not entirely) positive.  

So the beavering, tinkering, twiddling and tweaking continued, and soon I was looking at what appeared to me to be a fairly mature and decent set of rules.  At this juncture I shall set about blowing my own trumpet.

My wargaming group and I are fairly free-roaming and we play an awful lot of different games (currently Bolt Action's getting the limelight).  For a good while, my interests took me elsewhere (including extensive Dux Bellorum and Dystopian Wars battles), and I also became involved in roleplaying and board gaming groups (after a hiatus of some years subsequent to my latest relocation away from the Shire); as a result Warband was left collecting dust.

One thing I think anyone who buys Pendraken's products probably notices is the exceptional customer service and customer-focussed ethos the Leon, Dave and the team have.  I'd go so far as to say they're second to none in the hobby, and that very much endears them to me.  This means that you'll probably end up chatting with them, maybe even getting to know them (as a vendor at least).

I don't remember exactly when or how, but I found myself talking to Leon about wargames rules, and why Pendraken don't do their own.  That may even have been at their stand at one of the many shows they attend.  My memory ain't what it used to be, but then it never was - ask my wife.  A while later I dug Warband out again, having forgotten about them, reread the draft - it needed work but I thought 'you know what, if I'd bought these I'd play them'.

And so, the discussions with Pendraken continued and our interests aligned.  Yeah, so I now found myself in the position of writing a set of rules, sort of for a company I'd been a long loyal customer of.  

It got real.  

I put my head down and started to take things seriously, spending a lot of spare time writing and testing in earnest.  If this was going to happen I didn't want to let Leon down.  Also, when I do something, I like to do it well; after all a professional is just someone who does something + time.  Doing things well is often an aspiration more than a realisation though.  Yoda was wrong.

Many more highly enjoyable test games and redrafts later, that weird thing hit again...and now I find myself potentially added 'game designer' to my somewhat eclectic CV.

We're at pre-release stage, but these rules I've lived with for a couple of years now will be on sale soon and they will no longer be mine.  To be honest, they already don't feel like mine...

I've no idea what people will think of them; the best I can hope is some people enjoy playing them.  I'm looking forwards to becoming one of those players.

Bolt Action Russians: Part 2 - the cavalry arrives!

With the 'core force' done I'm steadily building up and trying out various options.  Reading through the rules, army lists, and with a few practice games under my belt, the effectiveness of close assault has become quite evident.

My core force: this has turned out to be a highly successful 1000pt build so far.  Aggressive, flexible, and able to achieve most objectives in most of the scenarios.

So the possibilities of cavalry look quite appealing.  I put an order in to Copplestone, whose figures are pretty much exceptional quality across all their ranges.  From their Back of Beyond range I ordered two packs of White Russian Cossacks and a pack of White Russian Cossack Standard Bearers.

When they arrived however, the standard bearers were missing and a pack of Caucasian Cossack Cavalry were included instead.

The erroneous Caucasians lurking in the box.

Bob loves this wheat-based packing material for some reason.  She's not happy that we stop her from eating it though.

Hmm...

So I emailed Copplestone to raise the issue.  A few day's later this arrived!  

Copplestone simply sent the missing pack, not asking for the return of the pack sent in error etc.

All I can say is thank you Copplestone!  Excellent customer service well above and beyond the expected level.  

Anyway, I'll be painting these chaps up in the next week or two ready to take into battle.  They look splendid.  Great sculpts, well cast with minimal flash and beautiful crisp details.

The standard bearers don't come with flag poles so I'll have to pick up some brass rods next time I'm at the model store.  I normally have some knocking about but I appear to have run out.