Battle of Bloodyburn Bridge (Oathmark)

 King Stefan of Storace was jubilant. His troops were still picking bits of the army of Elkall-Anuz from the hooves of their destriers. Now he would strike harder against the ancient enemy. Control of Bloodyburn Bridge would give him a bridgehead into the heart of the enemy kingdom.

The Armies

The Kingdom of Storace

• 1 Human Prince with 19 Soldiers
• 1 Elven Champion with 9 Linebreakers
• 1 Human Champion with 18 Archers
• 1 Human Champion with 18 Archers

The Kingdom of Elkall-Anuz

• 1 Orc Captain
• 1 Orc Shaman (Level 5: Fireball, Poison Cloud, Weakness, Horrify, Fear)
• 1 Orc Assistant Shaman (Level 1: Fireball)
• 12 SpearOrcs
• 4 Trolls
• 10 Elf Archers

The Battlefield

The battlefield has a river running across it between the two armies. A bridge lies at the centre and two fords can be found, one upstream and the other downstream of the bridge.

The Kingdom of Storace is red. The Kingdom of Elkall-Anuz is blue.

The Elkall-Anuzian captain has chosen to position a single troll on the bridge as a scout and holds the rest of his force in reserve in the centre, ready to deploy in response to Storace aggression. The plan is simple: move to the enemy, engage them and destroy them as they attempt to cross the river.

The prince of Storace's scouts report the presence of a troll booth on the bridge, so he has chosen to try to ford the river on his right flank rather than pay to cross with dry feet. He forms up in a battle column with his archers leading. The plan is to rush the ford with the linebreakers and soldiers and force the outnumbered defenders back, while the archers provide covering fire to disrupt the enemy formations.

The Battle

The orcish captain knew that he and his troops had been hung out to dry. The only question in his mind was whether they would hold out long enough. He could see the Storacians advancing on his left flank towards a ford, so he ordered his trolls forward to disrupt the advance. They did this willingly, seeing tender elvish flesh ahead of them. Meanwhile his chief shaman launched fireballs at the enemy archers that crisped several of them. The assistant shaman was less competent.

Storace on the left of the photo.

His lead troll engaged the elven halberdiers, killing two of them but was cut to ribbons itself. Meanwhile, his elven archers were on the receiving end of massive barrages of arrows from the human archers and were already suffering heavy casualties. Nevertheless, they gave as good as they got. Between the shaman's fireballs and the elven archery, the target human archers were suffering badly, not that it seemed to bother them.

Over on the Storace right flank, there was a certain amount of confusion. The human commander was trying to urge his soldiers past the archers in front of them, but there was not space enough and the archers were so focused on shooting the enemy that they paid little attention to their prince.

The other trolls charged over the bridge and were the bane of many elves, but the elves were stout of heart and slew two of the trolls, driving the remaining one back onto the bridge. Meanwhile, the human prince had sorted out the issues with his archers and had moved up to the ford. The orc shamans turned their attention to the human soldiers and the elven archers did the same. The soldiers hunkered down behind their shields and weathered the storm.

As the human prince crossed the river, the chief shaman blasted his unit with a fireball, but only caused a single casualty. Still, this was enough to disrupt the unit, which could not believe that someone had dared attack it.

By now, the elven archers were reduced to a single warrior, the elven halberdiers and the last troll had killed each other, and the spearorcs were racing towards the ford and the enemy soldiers. It was too late. They had lost the ground and thus the battle.

The battle ended at the end of the fifth turn because the humans had more troops on the orcish side of the river than the orcs had. In the end, sheer numbers told. Of course, it also helped that the humans were unreasonably lucky with their morale tests.

The key was the massed missile fire of the humans that far outweighed the skill of the elven archers on the orcish side. It basically whittled down the orcs until there were too few of them. If the humans had failed their morale checks like they should have done (statistically speaking), then it might have been different.

The orcish assistant shaman was rubbish too. He only cast a single fireball that did no damage, despite trying every turn. His boss got off a spell every turn and did good damage to the humans, but again the human morale checks were too good.

It was good to get another Oathmark game played. The rules are simple and effective, and easy to play solo. I hope that the second edition due out later this year does not spoil that. I like that Oathmark has a medieval feel to it, and that it does not over-complicate the game play. I have not encountered any truly difficult situations to adjudicate yet, and that is nice.

Battle for the Ancient Oathmarks (Oathmark)

 Following their victory on the Plain of Towers, the hordes of Elkall-Anuz have become even more hawkish. Their control of the River Galder offers new opportunities for their army, while the Kingdom of Storace has vowed revenge and occupied an area with silver-bearing lodes, while the orcs were establishing control of the river.

The Armies

The Kingdom of Storace

1 Prince with a Starsilver Sword and 9 heavy cavalry

1 Champion with 4 cavalry

1 Mounted spellcaster (Level 1 with Fireball)

The Kingdom of Elkall-Anuz

1 Champion with 9 elf soldiers

2 units of 10 elf archers

1 unit of 3 trolls

1 unit of 1 troll

The Battlefield

A relatively flat plain with a stone circle (oathmark) in the centre. Two oathmarks (standing stones) lie to either side of the Elkall-Anuz deployment area, and ruined structures lie near the left and centre oathmarks. A wooded copse lies near the central oathmark. A marsh lies against the Storace deployment area, providing a convenient secure flank.

Storace at the top of the picture. Elkall-Anuz at the bottom

The army of Storace, led by Prince Rohr advanced around marshy ground, ready to sweep down on the feeble orcish horde they were to face. With him was his trusty advisor and wizard, Combibulan the Prestidigitous and two companies of his household cavalry. In his hand, Prince Rohr bore the dread starsilver sword Slicer.

"Milord, I believe these orcs are elves! And I spy trolls too. The orcs are not playing fair once more."

"Did you really believe that those uncultured oafs would ever play fair? Pah! They shall be as dust beneath our feet. I hope you brought your good hoofpick with you for clearing out bits of elf and troll from your horse's hooves."

The Battle

Seeing the enemy approaching from their right flank, the elven commander ordered his archers and soldiers to wheel. Arrows and fireballs began to fly but no casualties were caused. The human cavalry raced towards the oathmark in front of them, while Prince Rohr led his personal bodyguard towards the central oathmark.

"Mah rock. You cain't have!"

One troll took it upon himself to guard an oathmark while the fight developed in the centre.

Prince Rohr raced forward as members of his guard fell to elven arrows. Not long before he would reach them and they would die like dogs.

His guard slammed home against the elven archers and cut down half of them in one go, but their morale held and they held their lines in front of him.

The trolls tried to remember how to manoeuvre to face the oncoming cavalry as the rest of the army of Elkall-Anuz sought to protect their central oathmark.

The human cavalry tore down an oathmark and raced behind the trolls towards the other standing stone. Suddenly inspired, the trolls performed a complex manoeuvre that allowed them to fall on the human cavalry as it tried to sneak past. Meanwhile, Prince Rohr and his remaining knights had trampled the elven archers underfoot and driven them off, before engaging the elven soldiers. Thought cut down to half their number, Prince Rohr was still confident that his knights would carry the day. It is said that Prince Rohr was never not confident though, no matter what.

Combibulan, meanwhile had lost his way a bit, but now found it and launched a blistering fireball at the archers in the stone circle. The archers held, but their numbers were much reduced.

The trolls finished off the human cavalry, but then got distracted eating them. Prince Rohr led his men against the elven soldiers and drove them back once more, causing chaos and dismay in their ranks.

With the soldiers in disarray, Prince Rohr was able to pivot his cavalry and charge the archers in the stone circle. Despite this disrupting his ranks, the archers were annihilated.

The trolls continued to not respond to orders and were having huge difficulty leaving their meal behind to support the rest of their army. Seizing the initiative, Prince Rohr ordered his men to tear down the oathmark. Seeing that his goal was achieved, he gathered his troops and returned home in time for tea and biscuits.

The Result

This was a victory for the Kingdom of Storace won on the very last turn of the game. It could so easily have gone either way. If the elven archers had managed to score one more hit on the human heavy cavalry, the unit would not have been large enough to destroy the oathmark. If the trolls had not failed so many activation rolls, they would have got close enough for their presence to prevent either or both oathmarks being destroyed. If the elves had won the initiative on the last turn, the last remaining soldiers could have reached the oathmark and might have prevented its destruction, although the spellcaster represented a real threat to that: a good fireball would have destroyed them. So many ifs!

To some extent, the ifs are all a result of both players choosing small elite forces. An orcish horde with many more speedbumps would have been much harder for the humans to deal with. A human horde that could attack on more than one front would have presented a similar problem for the orcs.

All in all, this was a fun game. Both players had come up with simple but effective plans that I found easy to implement, and I feel that either of them could have won.

The Battle of The Plain of Towers (Oathmark)

 The hawks are in ascendence in both Elkall-Anuz and Storace, and both are seeking to expand. The orc leader, Overlord Padraig of the Valley, has ordered his armies to seize nearby territories and to add them to his kingdom. Meanwhile King Steven von Kurzhosen has declared that these territories must be his. Thus, the stage is set for a clash.

This is a mini-campaign to test how to make a pbem game work using the principles set out in a previous post. The players have control of their kingdoms, will muster their own armies and will write battle plans, but I shall play out the battles solo. The two players are my long-suffering opponent, Steve, and my long-suffering brother, Patrick.

The campaign takes place in a period of expansionism on both realms' part. They begin with 3 territories and the winner of each battle has first choice of their next territory from a list based on the figures I own. The goal is to play 7 battles that will help the players organically develop their kingdoms for a future campaign.

In this first battle, both players have 750 points. Each battle after that will add 250 points to the army size, so the final battle will be 2250 points. If this pbem works, I hope to run the mini-campaigns from the expansions using the full kingdoms as the basis for them. Running a full Oathmark campaign might also be on the cards, but first I need to finish this campaign.

The campaign map below shows the state of play at the start. Both kingdoms have a capital city and two territories. I have chosen to make a hex map of the kingdoms, because it is easier in Campaign Cartographer 3+ than the standard kingdom sheet. I do not anticipate any significant issues with it, but this mini-campaign is all about finding out whether there will be any or not. The main difference between this and the standard kingdom map is that each hex in each row borders on the same number of territories as all other hexes (mostly), while some territories in the same ring on the kingdom sheet border more than others.

The Armies

The Kingdom of Elkall-Anuz (Patrick)

1 Captain with 13 Orc Warriors

1 unit of 10 Orc SpearOrcs

2 units each of 10 Orc Archers

The Kingdom of Storace (Steve)

1 Human Champion with 11 Human Warriors

1 Human Champion with 4 Human Cavalry

1 unit of 10 Human Soldiers

1 unit of 10 Human Archers

1 Human Spellcaster (Level 1 with Fireball)

The Battlefield

The two armies have met on the Plain of Towers. This largely open area of moorland lies in the no-man's land between the two kingdoms. It is an area of low rises and sparse vegetation with the eponymous towers lying ruined across the whole plain. As the armies deploy to use the tiny amount of available terrain, they yell insults across the dividing plain.

The view from the human lines (l to r: cavalry, spellcaster, archers, warriors, soldiers)

The view from the Orc lines (l to r: archers, soldiers, warriors, archers)

As I set the armies up, I realised that I could easily have set the battlefield up as a 4' x 4' equivalent space and not really lost anything. The armies look tiny in the 6' x 4' equivalent space. That is because they are!

Steve's plan is to move his cavalry to the right flank while advancing on the ruin directly in front of his infantry and driving the orcs before him. He sent me a few more details, but that is the gist of it. Patrick's plan is to advance to missile range, then let the humans come towards his orcs and shoot them.

The Battle

With the insults called out and the boasts made, both armies advanced. The human spellcaster moved up and lobbed a fireball at the orc archers on the left flank, but it guttered out short of the unit, inflicting no damage. Seeing the danger, the archers headed for the ruins of Orcumont Tower to their left. The rest of the human infantry advanced, although the archers were less enthusiastic than the others. Meanwhile, the spearorcs and orc warriors moved up into the lee of the hill in front of them, hoping that it would shield them from the wrath of the spellcaster. The orc archers stayed where they were on the hill, ready to rain arrows on the cavalry. However, the cavalry had other orders and wheeled neatly in an obvious move towards their own right flank.

End of turn 1

Seeing an opportunity, the orc archers moved off the hill and fired a volley at extreme range. A cavalryman died. First blood to the orcs, but the archers soon regretted it. Seeing the archers, the spellcaster lobbed a fireball into their midst and three archers fell dead, charred to a crisp. Meanwhile, the human infantry continued to advance, the orc archers took up position in Orcumont tower, and the orc soldiers and warriors moved onto the hill, as the human cavalry continued their manoeuvres, successfully blocking line of sight for the spellcaster.

End of turn 2

The two armies closed the distance between them rapidly. Arrows flew, though none were killed by them, the spellcaster moved into the cover of nearby Grouchy Tower but did not find the opportunity to launch another fireball. The human warriors, led by their champion, charged the orc archers in Orcumont Tower. Despite casualties, the orcs' morale held and it was the warriors who were repelled. Seeing that their manoeuvres would lead to nothing, the human cavalry did an about face and raced towards the orc archers on their left flank.

End of turn 3

The occupants of Orcumont Tower were sore beset by human soldiers, who charged them in the flank, leaving them disordered. The soldiers drew back to catch their breath before renewing their assault, and the human warriors charged in. This was too much for the few surviving orc archers, who fled the field. The spearorcs had, by now, engaged the human archers and many archers fell in the melee. The cavalry charged the orcs on the hill, seeing that they could not reach a softer target, and all but their champion fell, as the orc captain kept his line strong. The battle was furious and bloody now.

End of turn 4

The orcs seized the initiative in the next phase of the battle and charged the lone champion, who fell under their massive orcish feet, but not before he had slain several warriors and left the orc captain's unit disordered. The spellcaster seemed to have lost her lighter and failed to cast a fireball again. The human warriors managed to turn about towards the orc spears, but the assault on Orcumont Tower had left them in ragged order and that was all they could do. The soldiers wheeled in good order, having caught their breath, and began their march towards the remaining orcs, as the orc spears and the human archers both successfully dressed their ranks and prepared for more carnage.

End of turn 5

Seeing the champion fall, the spellcaster managed to find the right spell and got revenge against the warriors as her fireball fried three more, but the captain held his unit together and advanced off the hill, ready for the fray once more. The orc archers took revenge for the spellcaster's deeds, and pinned her to the ground with several arrows. The human archers slew another spearorc, but the spearorcs were made of tough stuff and merely charged the human warriors, slaying many and forcing them back, as the soldiers desperately sought to manoeuvre round them.

End of turn 6

The spearorcs charged the flank of the human warriors again, but were driven back for the loss of nearly half their remaining number. Hails of arrows fell on them next, but they held their ground, though disordered. The human archers themselves suffered badly under orcish arrows as the other remaining units manoeuvred to return to the fray.

End of turn 7

As dusk fell, the human soldiers fell on the last of the spearorcs and cut them down. Arrows flew from both sides, and the orc warriors fell on the human soldiers in turn, driving them back and disrupting the manoeuvres of the human warriors. Panting with exhaustion, the armies surveyed the slaughter fields in the encroaching darkness and as one agreed silently that this was enough. Just a handful of humans and orcs remained. The Army of Storace conceded defeat and trudged back to their camp. The Army of Elkall-Anuz had won this time, but the remaining human champion swore that things would be different when next they met.

End of game

The Result

The final casualty tally was:

• Humans 503
• Orcs 412

This gave victory to the orcs, who get first choice of a new territory for their army. The actual figures left on the table were 16 humans and 15 orcs, so it was a close-run thing in that measure. For me, I think the key moment was the humans' decision to march their cavalry over to the other flank, leading to the cavalry being out of the fight for too long. It also helped that the orcs won the initiative for the last few turns, so they were able to pick their fights.

The solo system worked quite well, and the activation rolls ensured a modicum of chaos as crucial units failed to activate and exploit their advantages.

PBEM framework for an Oathmark campaign

 I'm thinking of running a PBEM for two friends, specifically with Oathmark, but I feel that this process could work for a lot of miniatures games. One of the things that triggered this was watching Ash and Stone's video about playing Oathmark solo, a technique that could work well for me as GM fighting battles on behalf of two players. Watch the video here and check the info on it for a download of his solo rules:

That pretty much covers the tabletop side of things. For the campaign, the kingdoms that each player has would be publicly available, so players will know what types of troops they might face, and the available figures for each terrain type are listed on the Oathmark page on this blog. That gives the players some degree of foreknowledge, but they will not know what the enemy army will actually look like until they face it in the field.

 The key question for me is how to streamline the campaign, so that it involves the fewest possible exchanges of emails. If I strictly follow the sequence of play in the Oathmark rule book, I get something like the following:

1. Players muster their armies and send the lists to the GM
2. The GM checks the lists and tells the players what the scenario and battlefield layout are
3. Players send the GM a deployment map each.
4. The GM tells the players how the enemy is deployed.
5. Players then send the GM a battle plan each.
6. The GM fights the battle, reports the results and adjudicates how this affects the campaign.
7. If the campaign will continue, start at point 1 again.

This framework involves three emails from the players to the GM and three from the GM to the players. I wonder if it would make a huge difference to the progress of the individual battles if the sequence started with the GM sending the players the battlefield map and the scenario, and they then reply with their army for that battle and their list, deployment and proposed tactics. That would result in the following sequence:

1. The GM informs the players about the scenario and the battlefield layout.
2. Players muster their armies and send the GM army lists and a deployment map each.
3. The GM tells the players how the enemy is deployed.
4. Players then send the GM a battle plan each.
5. The GM fights the battle, reports the results and adjudicates how this affects the campaign.
6. If the campaign will continue, start at point 1 again.

That is still three emails from the GM but reduces the input required from the players. It would be possible to reduce it still further by combining points 2 and 4, resulting in this sequence:

1. The GM informs the players about the scenario and the battlefield layout.
2. Players muster their armies and send the GM their army lists, a deployment map each and their battle plan.
3. The GM fights the battle, reports the results and adjudicates how this affects the campaign.
4. If the campaign will continue, start at point 1 again.

This reduces the campaign turn to two emails from the GM and one from the players, but also reduces the level of control the players have, because they must plan their tactics in more general terms without knowing how the enemy army is deployed. Some players would react against this, while others would be happy sending more general orders to try to cover various eventualities. I guess it would come down to the players' preferences and desire to be actively involved, plus their willingness and ability to respond quickly to game emails. With a planned turnaround of one month per battle, it should not be impossible to follow the first framework, but I shall have to ask my players what they think.

An Elf Army for Oathmark

  It is time for the elves to take to the field in Oathmark now, so I am currently working on painting up all the elf figures I have. I decided to hold a parade to see where I have got to with the past few weeks' painting in the hope that it encourages me to keep on keeping on. It's slow going (for reasons), but I have completed a few units and am working on more. I'll post again once all the elves are painted

In my background/head canon, the elves themselves embody a strange duality with their use of technomantic constructs alongside nature magic. The final army will include both constructs and walking trees, when I eventually paint them. This is mainly an excuse to use figures I already have, but need to get around to painting.

The whole army

The whole army currently amounts to around 5000 points, so I can easily field a standard 2500 point Oathmark army with a range of options. Elves are expensive, so you do not get many of them for your gold pieces.

Unless otherwise noted, all the figures in this army are 15mm figures from the Demonworld range sold by Ral Partha Europe, although some of these actual figures were bought before RPE acquired the range.

Looking at these pictures, I am reminded that I really do need to get a better set-up for taking photos, and take more time over them!

Elven leaders and champions

These are the elite Sidhe. Many have lived hundreds of years and carry the weight of that experience into battle with them.

Tally: 6

Elven spellcasters

Battlefield support is provided by an eclectic bunch of sorcerous types.

Tally: 5

Elven soldiers and spears

The rank and file of the Elven army is a person with a shield and a spear or other hand weapon. Even though they are the lowest ranking troops, they are still more highly trained and better motivated than their human or Orc equivalents. I am using Elves with spears to represent both types of troops for the time being, but I do have plans for more standard foot-soldiers.

Tally: 20

Elven archers

Elven archers are the best standard missile troops of all the races, which also makes them very expensive.

Tally: 20

Elven linebreakers

Elves with polearms and big swords are useful for disrupting enemy formations. They like to get stuck in and cleave their way through the enemy's ranks.

Tally: 10

Elven hunt master

Elves are great fans of the hunt and maintain kennels of dogs trained for this purpose, but they do not distinguish the social hunt from the hunt on the battlefield. It is all just a hunt to them.

The hounds do not fit comfortably nose to tail, so I am using spacer bases and counting those as part of the unit to make it a larger unit.

Tally: 20

Rangers

Elven rangers are masters of stealth, camouflage and laying traps. They are also deadly archers. As such, they are consummate light troops who excel in their roles of scouting and harassing the enemy. 

Tally: 10

Elven mounted rangers

These fine unicorn riders are crackshots and highly mobile, ready to plague the flanks of any enemies by raining sharp pointy death from afar.

Tally: 12

Ballistae

Elven artillery support is provided by ballista constructs. These products of ancient Elven technomancy carry huge bows that are devastating to enemy massed troops. They are supported by a small contingent of Elven skirmishers, whose main role is to restock the arrows and provide light support, but the constructs are vulnerable to close assault just the same.

Tally: 4

Modrons from Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures as the ballistae, supported by RPE Elven skirmishers

Wulvers

These giant, animal-like people are fearsome forest dwellers. They are rarely seen by others, except when they join the army to fight, which they do exceptionally well. In part this is because their wounds knit closed even as the weapon is withdrawn from it, and in part because they are simply exceptionally violent and love fighting.

Tally: 6

Battle cats

Elven Battle Cats are eldritch giant cats that side with both the Seelie and Unseelie for mysterious reasons of their own. They are fast, light troops who can harass the flanks of the enemy effectively, while that enemy is distracted by the heavy troops to their front. I am using the wolf stats from the Goblin list for these.

Tally: 12

Nekomata from Alternative Armies

Animated trees

Some elven sorcerers specialise in nature magic over technomancy. They are able to animate the great trees of the forest and bring them to the battlefield.

I am defining these animated trees as Living Statues from the Bane of Kings supplement, although it is tempting to field them as Animated Idols instead, as a nod to the nature gods of the elves.

Tally: 3

Roll Call: Creatures and Monsters for Oathmark

 This is a miscellaneous list of monsters for Oathmark that are not part of the human or orc terrain lists, which I have covered in previous posts. It does not actually make much difference which terrain list the creatures are in, but it makes for a neat way to divide up my posts. Most of these monsters are not technically 15mm figures, but they have one significant benefit over other figures that I might prefer: I already had them.

Eachy

These weird, gangly humanoid figures with massive talons on their hands live in lakes and feed on unwary travellers. They drag them to the bottom of their lake, where they feast on the drowned victim, eating everything but the liver, which floats to the surface of the lake and is all that anyone will find of them ever again. I am using doppelgangers from the Temple of Elemental Evil boardgame for these creatures for now, but have my eyes on some of the Demonworld figures that should suit nicely at a later date.

Tally: 3

Temple of Elemental Evil Doppelgangers

Barghest

In ages past, Elven technomancers created strange and terrifying war machines and unleashed them against their enemies. Barghests are just one such creation. All tales of eldritch black dogs with burning red eyes that prey on unwary travellers stem from these. The figures are some kind of mechanical giant dog that I found in the local games shop and liked the look of. Barghests are another entry from the Dwarf terrain list.

Tally: 2

Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures: Iron Defender

Bodach

The Bodach is a fey creature sometimes called a redcap, because it dyes its cap in the blood of its victims. It usually takes the form of an older, human man, and uses its cunning and magic to lure its victims to their deaths. Sometimes the Bodach will side with an army because it sees the chance for even more carnage and destruction, and an even redder cap.

Tally: 1

Two Dragons peasant

Dragon

Everyone knows what a dragon is, right? In Oathmark, they can be wyrms that slither along or have wings and fly. I only have flying dragons so far, and way more than any person needs for a game like Oathmark. The collection includes a 15mm dragon from Alternative Armies, and two 28mm DDM dragons that look more impressive with my 15mm collection. Why do I need three dragons? I really don't but I do like having a choice.

Tally: 3

An Alternative Armies 15mm dragon and two D&D Miniatures 28mm prepaints

Gargoyles

These are 10mm Gargoyles from Pendraken. Each really needs the space of two normal figures because of the wings, so I use spacer bases to make them not look ridiculously crowded. This has the added benefit of making the figures go further, meaning that 12 figures count as a full unit of 20.

Tally: 20

10mm Pendrakon Gargoyles

Roll Call: The Seelie (Humans and related monsters for Oathmark)

 The Seelie forces are the humans and their allies against the Unseelie. The Unseelie consider humans to be a blight on the land, and they may have a point from their perspective: humans cut down holy hawthorn bushes, plant their farms over the grave mounds of the Fair Folk and block access to the Other Realm by tolling their bells and chanting their prayers so loudly that none can find their way from Here to There. Humans think that the Unseelie are being unreasonable and making a fuss about nothing.

For more on my head canon for this conflict, see my roll call of the Unseelie. There I lay out the basis for the two main forces of any future game: The Seelie versus the Unseelie.

The Figures

This is the full roll call of human-related figures. The whole force works out to somewhat over 6000 points. There are a few unit types that I do not have for the human forces, but there is still plenty of choice, especially when considering that I can draw on the other species as well. Most of the figures here are Two Dragons Vikings and Normans, with a smattering of Tabletop Games fantasy adventurers plus some ogres from Ral Partha Europe's Demonworld range, and a couple of figures plucked from boardgames.

The whole army arrayed. What are the chances I shall ever field all of it at one time?

Human leaders and champions

These are the elitest of the elite in the human armies. They lead and inspire the other humans to greatness, and many are legends in their own lunchtimes. I have way more character figures than I shall ever field in a single Oathmark army, but it is nice to have a choice.

Tally: 5 mounted and 14 dismounted

Two Dragons Normans and Essex Miniatures Vikings

Human spellcasters

Battlefield support is provided by an eclectic bunch of sorcerous types. Again, I have more than I need but they will all get names and become beloved to me as they achieve glorious sorcerous exploits.

Tally: 7

Ral Partha Europe and Tabletop Fantasy Sorcerers. The TTF ones are scrawnier but carry a much greater weight of nostalgia for me

Human soldiers (and possibly spears)

The rank and file of every human army is a person with a shield and a spear or other hand weapon. Because many of these have spears, I could field them as spear units instead if I choose to, but I am listing them here as soldiers, because I also have an idea of buying figures for a high medieval army with long spears or pikes to use as spear units. I wonder if this is one of those ideas that will never come to fruition. Either way, soldiers or spear units, they are the backbone of the army. Some of these figures have been in my Pile of Shame since the early 90s, so it is a great feeling to have got them all painted at last.

Tally: 80

Two Dragons Vikings and Normans

Human archers

These basic missile troops gain strength from their numbers rather than their individual skill. The carry a range of missile weapons from bows to crossbows to thrown rocks. I lump them all together as basic archers. After all, you cannot afford to be fussy when you are recruiting from the lower echelons of society. At least they do not smell as bad as the militia!

Tally: 43

Two Dragons Vikings, Normans and peasants

Human warriors

The better class of soldier has a chain vest or hauberk as well as their shield and sword/spear.

Tally: 35

Two Dragons Vikings and Normans with two Asgard 15mm barbarians towering over the others at the back

Human linebreakers

Men with big axes or two-handed swords are useful when the heavy cavalry are not suited to the terrain. The linebreakers are just such a shock unit. Armed with large axes and good armour, they are well-practised at cleaving their way through their foes.

Tally: 17

Two Dragons Vikings

Human militia

What they lack in quality they make up for in quantity and pungency. They are also useful for carrying things for the rest of the army.

Tally: 60

A mix of Two Dragons peasants and Essex Mniatures monks

Human cavalry

These are lightly armoured cavalry, usually younger men who have yet to prove themselves, but they are fast and can still hit hard with all the enthusiasm of youth and a young person's firm belief that they will always survive and win.

Tally: 11

Two Dragons Normans

Human heavy cavalry

The heavy cavalry are the elite of society, just one rank below the commanders and champions. They are well-armed, well-armoured and their foes know to fear their thunderous charges. While they might do poorly against a fully-formed unit of soldiers with spears readied, they will almost certainly sweep unprepared infantry away.

Tally: 24

Two Dragons Norman cavalry supported by a couple of Essex Miniatures Vikings

Ogres

These can be either normal ogres or ogre linebreakers according to whim. With the large swords and axes, they are more like the latter, while the former should technically have shields. However, the terrain that gives you ogres makes you choose either normal or linebreakers, so there will be no confusion there.

Tally: 6

Ral Partha Europe Ogres

Buggane

Buggane are large, shaggy ogre-like beings with an innate magical ability. I am using bugbears from the Temple of Elemental Evil boardgame for these. They are larger than I would really like. In scale they are about 25 feet tall, which makes them as tall as giants are meant to be and thus far too large, but I have them and do not need to buy more figures, so I am content with that for now. If I play enough Oathmark, I might replace the figures with some that are more in scale and use the bugbears as giants, but that is a plan for another time.

Tally: 3

Bugbears from the Temple of Elemental Evil boardgame doing sterling proxy service

Giant

Massive humanoid monsters. They are constantly hungry because it is hard to gather enough food when you are this big, so they will fight for food. This is a Mage Knight berserker, who is very giant-like when placed next to 15mm figures.

Tally: 1

Mage Knight Berserker doing service as a giant