Publisher: Reaper Miniatures
Designer: Ed Pugh
Artists: Tim Collier, Mark Kidwell, and David Pugh
Year: 2011
Players: Two or more players
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 60 minutes or more
Pages: 144 page softcover
Genre: Large scale fantasy miniatures battle rules
MSRP: $19.95
I can say that I played my first “true” fantasy miniatures game back in my freshman year of high school. Prior to that I had painted figures from some of the various manufacturers at the time like Ral Partha and Grenadier but hadn’t really done anything with them except maybe pull them out when we played D&D. Then I stumbled across Knights & Magick. The rules were quick playing, for the time, and one aspect of the game (as well as many other miniature rules systems back in the day) was that you could use any manufacturer’s miniatures you could get your hands on.
Warlord Fantasy Miniature Rules from Reaper Miniatures brings back memories of this long ago set of rules.
The rule book is soft cover and 144 pages long but only thirty four pages are devoted to the actual mechanics of the game. Although the cover is full-color, all interior pages are black and white. These pages contain a mix of line art along with photos of miniatures illustrating the rules. The rest of the book contains the data cards for each of the more than 400 individual units as well as a description of the world of Taltos in which the ten warring factions within the game call home.
The rules are well laid out and most gamers should be able to get a handle on the rules within about ten to fifteen minutes or so.
Each player will assemble a skirmish sized force, based on a predetermined point value, and then take that group of units head to head against other opponents on the battlefield. then fielding that force against those of other players on a tabletop. The battles are fought using the Reaper Adventure Game Engine (RAGE), a system that utilizes D20 for resolution. Regardless of the number of factions fighting it out, victory will go to the last player standing or he or she that delves out the most casualties within a set number of turns.
Gameplay seems well balanced and even a larger scale fight, of thirty or so figures took just over an hour and a half to play to completion. The system utilizes step reduction damage and those who have played something along the lines of say HeroClix will easily understand the concept; as units take hits, their capabilities for movement and combat diminish. Another interesting aspect of Warlord is you can use whatever miniatures you have on hand. A great many other miniature games out there require the gamer to purchase figures to represent specific units. Obviously this leaves no doubt what those units are but this also means many of these other games become priced out of the average gamer’s budget.
In Warlord, units are graded based upon their leadership role on the battlefield as opposed to whether the unit is melee, ranged, or spellcasting. For myself, this means a lot more flexibility in how you set up your forces for the coming battle. Instead of a rock/paper/scissors approach to tactics, you’ll find that your units become more individualized and unique. I found this to be a lot of fun and was one of the things that reminded me of the rules system from all those years ago.
Of course, if you’d like to take part in Reaper sanctioned tournaments you’ll have to field those Reaper minis that correspond to each unit card but what you do in the privacy of your own home is completely up to you; if you have those old Grenadier, or Ral Patha, or just about any other 25mm fantasy mini out there simply rebase them and go to town. This leads to one of the strongest buying aspects to Warlord – you don’t have to shell out a lot of dough to field your forces. Reaper offers some of the best valued miniatures in the industry, and you’ll see plenty of reviews of their different figure lines in the very near future, but your hands aren’t tied by only being allowed to field Reaper minis. Reaper also provides downloadable playing aids and an online army builder so you can easily print out everything you need without worrying about damaging the rule book.
Warlord is a great value for an all-inclusive, tactical fantasy system; you’ll never have to buy another book because everything you need to have is right there in one volume. Add in the fact that Reaper produces some fantastic figures for about a third of the price you’d pay for comparable miniatures from other companies – oh, you know who I’m talking about – and you are looking at one heck of a bargain. All of this would mean nothing if the game wasn’t loads of fun but it is! Rather than fielding a few heroes and a slew of specialized unit groups, Warlord allows all of your figures to be heroic and capable of turning the tide of battle at any time!
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