Greetings!
Ive been reading through the "Rise of..." forum, but I was wondering if any fluff or details on the various armies, or even a world map exists?
I'm a little spoiled thanks to GW, but I thought that surely someone has something somewhere that could add to the color of the factions.
Mainly I'd like to see what there may be in regards to politics between the races and cultures. Do Dwarves enthusiastically assist Elves or Orks, or is there rampant racism from the usual suspects?
Someone help me justify Elves and Vampires!
They all hate each other! There is no world map, it's up to you to fill in the details! ;D
I think it's left vague so you can match it to something already established or make up your own. As Mad Lemmy suggests just have everyone hate each other.
I'm starting with Dwarfs and Undead, so will build my world from there. As I add new armies, I'll expand the world...
Quote from: ErHo on 31 August 2017, 06:29:52 PM
Someone help me justify Elves and Vampires!
Honestly, there's no justifiable case for either. Or so a Dwarf once told me.
In Lord of the rings
Elves.
Other races
Dwarves, Have been enemies in the past. Will ally if they have common foe
Men , Will support men although reluctant to get too involved. Will do so for good of Middle earth
Halflings - Same as men
Orcs , goblins, Trolls - Hate them
Undead- Have no fear or thought of them but they are allies in Battle of Pelenor Fields
Men and Halflings
Dwarves - Will trade with them and treat them as men with strange ways
Elves - Do they exist? Hold them in awe
Orcs , goblins, Trolls - Hate them
Undead- Fear them but they are allies in Battle of Pelenor Fields
Dwarves
Men and Halflings- Will trade with them and treat them as Dwarves with strange ways
Elves -Have been enemies in the past. Will ally if they have common foe
Orcs , goblins, Trolls - Hate them
Undead- Fear them but they are allies in Battle of Pelenor Fields
Orcs, Goblin and Trolls
Hate everybody even each other.
Undead
Will fight anyone who disturbs them
In most mythology, before Tolkien hijacked it, elves steal babies, cause trouble at home, mislead travellers, and cast glamour over mortals, usually to enslave or r*pe them. The main difference from vampires seems to me that the latter are generally solitary and joyless types (again, before they got Cruised and Pitted), while elves are often quite organised.
(Ducks into bunker and pulls hatch shut after checking supplies.)
So they pretty much worked for the federal government, 'nuff said.
(Ducking into my own hardened silo :D)
Like the man said, Elves are terrific. They inspire terror...
To be fair to Tolkien, what his Elves are mostly good at is plunging the world in bloody multi generational warfare across millennia whilst butchering any one / anything that doesn't agree with their hubris. The namby-pamby fol-de-rol left overs by LotR are the ones who went "whooooo, nope, mass murder and fraticide and inciting a massive war with actual gods? Nope, nope, nope!" and took up basket weaving and posing instead :D
Hi ErHo,
Quote
... I was wondering if any fluff or details on the various armies, or even a world map exists?
Beyond the fluff in the army description, no there isn't, and as for a "world map", no.
Warband was written with the specific intention of leaving these things vague; even the "fluff" is optional. the reason was to allow you to take those armies and use them in your own worlds, settings, and campaigns.
As you say, some of the hobby behemoths spoonfeed you everything with a jealously guarded "canon".
I'd encourage you to create your own world and add your own "colour to the factions" to start your battles.
To give a little bit more away, these rules were written more with the "Dungeons & Dragons" sandbox approach in mind.
QuoteMainly I'd like to see what there may be in regards to politics between the races and cultures.
Thats for you to have fun with! If you feel inclined, maybe you'd like to post up some details of the world you build for yourself? :)
QuoteDo Dwarves enthusiastically assist Elves or Orks, or is there rampant racism from the usual suspects?
That's entirely up to you.
I would point out though, that there are no restrictions as to the allies and mercenaries an army may take so goblins and dwarves can fight in the same army as centaurs. Again, the free mix of the D&D approach is somethin i personally prefer over the, as you say, "racist" approach of some companies.
Quote
Someone help me justify Elves and Vampires!
You don't need help to justify it! Its fine if in your world, elves and vampires are firm allies. :D Let your imagination free.
Good luck, have fun, and play more Warband!
Chieftain
Quote from: Orcs on 01 September 2017, 01:06:19 PM
Orcs, Goblin and Trolls -
Hate everybody, even each other.
Which group does Ian belong in?
None - they wont let me join...
Quote from: ianrs54 on 02 September 2017, 06:52:29 AM
None - they won't let me join...
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
A short time ago, in a land not so far away,
Dwelled two chappies called Leon and Dave.
They toiled atop their mountain of metal,
Working both day and night to meet the needs of the world.
Creating great gouts of flame and clangs of thunder,
The northern skies shook as clouds of fire blotted out the stars.
For they were the Harbingers of the Gods.
And this was the world of... [Warband?]
Oh, and there was also another little chap called Brian. And he was a very naughty boy!
Don't forget the Casting Dwarves
And in those days dwelt there nothing in the land of Tenmil.
All was formless and void and Dayev, Lord of Lead,
Looked upon the void and liked it not.
And he called together the Masters of Putty, saying,
"Make me the forms of men and beasts,
Of dwarves and orcs and all manner of undead things
And I shall cast them into pits of rubber
And I shall cast their essence into the fire
And I shall pour their molten essence into the rubber
And the world of Tenmil shall be peopled!"
Then the Masters of Putty laboured mightily
A work of hands and days and blood sacrifice
And the Masters of Putty did cry out,
"B*****ks! Sliced my finger again!"
And Dayev looked upon the work
That the Masters of Putty had wrought
And it was good. Well, good enough :P
And Dayev brought together the Casting Dwarves
Saying,"Mould me these things
And place them in the Bags of Ziplok
And send them out into all the world!"
And Lee-on, son of Dayev,
God of the Forum and of all things internet
And of those who stay up very late at night,
Spread the word to the faithful
Of all the things that had been wrought.
And the beings dwelt in the Bags of Ziplok
And all of Tenmil was at peace.
And Lee-on said to the Lords of Tenmil
"See what we have wrought and be content."
But the Lords of Tenmil cried out,
"Where are my armoured Duckmen
And what happened to the Ratmen."
And Lee-on cried out in a great voice,
"Give me strength, some people are never happy!"
And the Lords of Tenmil gathered their armies
And the lead beings that had lived in peace
Were clad in coats of many colours
And set upon lands of many hues and contours
And sent forth into battle on behalf of the Lords.
And the Orcs did battle with the Dwarves and the High Elves
And the Hugh Elves (but the less said about that the better)
For Orcs do love a battle and will mix it up with anyone
Even other Orcs if there's no-one else!
And the Wood Elves looked upon the Orcs saying,
We are lovers of peace and tranquility
And you are violent thugs, always looking for a fight,
And we despise you, but you are very handy in a fight,
So come and fight alongside us.
And the ancient friendships and rivalries
Among the Lords of Tenmil
Lead to some very strange alliances indeed.
And Dayev looked upon the wars that raged
In the Land of Tenmil and said to Lee-on
"They'll need reinforcements,
Better get casting!"
:) :) :)
:-bd :-bd :-bd :-bd :-bd :-bd :-bd :-bd :-bd :-bd
I hope we get some sort of recognition in the 2nd ed. of the rules for all of this ;)
Calling the place Tenmil is brilliant!
Excellent!
Like the inclusion of Hugh Elves and Duckmen!
Ducks off. :P
Cheers - Phil
=D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Laughing out loud gets you odd looks on a train :-[
Sing, Muse...
=D> =D> ;D ;D
Quote from: FierceKitty on 01 September 2017, 01:36:18 PM
In most mythology, before Tolkien hijacked it, elves steal babies, cause trouble at home, mislead travellers, and cast glamour over mortals, usually to enslave or r*pe them. The main difference from vampires seems to me that the latter are generally solitary and joyless types (again, before they got Cruised and Pitted), while elves are often quite organised.
.... rope them?
(.... and then what?) :-\
Ask the Ministry of Truth, who seem to have programmed a censor into the system.
Don't want to be seen to revive an old thread, but, this is an idea I have been contemplating... Writing a few short stories about the armies and their homelands... Possibly leading upto to how we see the figures today. But my concern is how would you create a main character without having "hero" figurines? Or main characters atleast. This is why I made a thread about potential hero characters and miniatures...
Surely your "main character" is your army's general.
As ML said, the Hero Special Ability (p10) allows you to field lesser heroes as part of a unit - possibly the hero and his personal retinue. Thorin and his dwarven band or Achilles and the Myrmidons, for example.
Adding other Special Abilities to the unit would allow you to model some other powers or abilities a hero has, if required.
You're aware how many lesser generals Malekith and The Pheonix King had? I wouldn't consider a general to be a "hero" was talking about unique heroes...
Given the size of Warband armies each of those lesser generals would command a group of Warband sized armies many of which would be lead by one of the unique heroes.
Frankly the plethora of GW heroes is more about marketing than storytelling. It's why I moved from Warhammer to Warmaster.
Heroes in literature and folklore are generally up there with hen's teeth and rocking horse excrement in terms of rarity.
For me, heroes are definitely in the "less is more" category.
I'm talking maybe 1/2 heroes each army... Not around 10
Just my opinion... But many people getting wargaming for many reasons, be it lore, gaming, modelling, collecting or just because a group of friends thought it would be cool...
I've been contemplating the idea for.many years, 26 years old. Had my first experience with 40k at around 8, when one of my evening carers (dad at work, single parent family) used to bring his stuff around and we'd sit and I'd just watch him build and paint...
Now move on a few years, into secondary school, I joined a wargaming club, but focused on WWII wargaming... But the problem was it never grabbed me, I enjoyed playing but I always new the backstory and results... It sucked...
Fast forward to 2012... I picked up 3 rather large books, by Games Workshop, One being "The Sundering" which stood out by far... It was then that I was really grabbed by wargaming, the Character (hero-ish) Malekith... Such a dark tale of friendship, betrayal and murder... Such a deep plot... But it wasn't until this year only a few weeks ago that I actually took a plunge into any type of wargaming... I chose pendraken... Which shows such great potential and is an amazing product.
And with the AoS essentially renovating WFB there is a massive open gap for those wanting big army fantasy battles... And at 10mm the possibility is endless... Some.of like the lore, some of us like the game... But to me, it will be that journey I took with the character... What's wrong with creating something similar for this? If anything it is a much better scale in which to do it... Imagine massive battles with a dragon legion, 100's of foot soldiers, cavalry, artillery...
With the lore so much more could be created... Just 1 book could be enough to bring Warband to a whole new level!!!!
A generational thing maybe?
I started wargaming in my early teens, in the 1960s, and my introduction to fantasy wargames, in the form of "Chainmail" and "World of Greyhawk" was still decades away.
We devised our own scenarios for games and fought vaguely historical match ups.
Rulebooks were regularly in the form of purple inked, Roneod foolscap sheets to begin with.
Having been used to DIY gaming from the start I've never had much truck with companies attempts to spoon feed me their versions of imaginary worlds.
Rightly or wrongly, I've always held that the fantasy worlds I've come up with have been better than anything GW ever produced and even when playing with GW figures using GW rules we rarely stuck to the background "fluff."
I still prefer Warmaster to Warband but I've played a few games of the latter now and have never had a problem fielding an army that fitted the concept I had ... and I've never used one of the official Warband armies either ... don't tell Leon! :)
In my day "fantasy" meant pitting Ancient Egyptians against Imperial Romans.
We shouldn't ignore the role of "hero" in historical. Think the Illiad with it's cast of heroes and lots of other blokes there as spear-fodder; the Sagas of the Norsemen and the early heroic Samurai.
I'm sure the concept of "hero" is a primirive one, when the leader was the chap who was bestest at fighting, 'cos if he wasn't someone else would become leader. Naturally enough, come wartime*, you'd expect your biggest, baddest warrior to take centre stage, and if he fell ... well oops!
*four seasons of Ancients: plant, war, reap, try not to die of the cold or hunger.
We have discussed at various times that all wargaming is fantasy with historic (prehaps) differing only in having a few more constraints in the backstory. I like that newer rules in all genre seem to be adding the hero or "big man" concept.
Incidently, I originally took up wargaming to impress girls.
Quote from: d_Guy on 11 October 2017, 01:49:31 PM
Incidently, I originally took up wargaming to impress girls.
How's that working out for you? ;)
Quote from: d_Guy on 11 October 2017, 01:49:31 PM
We have discussed at various times that all wargaming is fantasy with historic (prehaps) differing only in having a few more constraints in the backstory. I like that newer rules in all genre seem to be adding the hero or "big man" concept.
Incidently, I originally took up wargaming to impress girls.
(http://img01.lachschon.de/images/123440_womanizer_1.jpg)
;D just so.
When I meet my future wife in college I had gained sufficient life experience to (initially) hid the fact from her.
I remember my first attempt at showing off some deftly painted Space Marines to a girl, one glance at them I knew to abort the mission and quickly change the topic.
15 years later, by the time I showed them to the gal that eventually became my wife, I had a display case which included the same minis from the first(a definate 'long-game' payoff)
I was bolder, and more prepared to fly that freak flag... The awesome case lighting probably helped!