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[Ourph]

Originally Posted by Retreater

Ok. I'll try some questions about WHFRP.

Does it require (or recommend) that you purchase the WH Battle Game miniatures?

Using miniatures makes keeping track of combat a lot easier (just like in D&D) but it's definitely possible to do without. I can't recall any encouragement toward buying miniatures in the book (Games Workshop or otherwise).

Are there rules (in the core book or in supplements) about the warmachines - like the Screaming Bell of the Skaven, Snotling Pump Wagons, Earthshaker Cannons, etc.?

War machines aren't covered in the core book. There are a few passages about them in the Tome of Corruption and Children of the Horned Rat (Skaven sourcebook). The rules assume skirmish-level combat, not mass warfare (hence, few rules for warmachines). The Skaven book does go into some detail on smaller scale "magi-tech" in the Skaven book (Warp Pistols, etc.).

How many copies of the core book are necessary at the gaming table? Do you think 5-6 players could realistically share a book?

For actual play, players don't really need access to a book. Spellcasters can download spellcards from the BI website (fan created and hosted there) that give abbreviated spell descriptions and once the players are familiar with combat actions there's really no need to reference the rules. My group of 5 (plus me, the GM, making 6) share two books for character creation. I've made a chargen summary sheet that reproduces a few of the tables, which helps. Sharing books makes the process take a bit longer, but it is definitely workable.

Generally speaking, how long in real time does a standard combat take (assuming you know the rules pretty well)?

In my experience, most combats take between 10-15 minutes when the number of "monsters" is about equal to the number of PCs (i.e. 4-5 combatants on each side). I use a modified critical table for mooks that breaks critical hits down into "WP test vs. Fear", "Automatic Fear" and "Instant Death" that helps to speed combat along (frightened combatants run away from battle). The nice thing about WFRP is that this number stays pretty constant throughout the progression of the PCs. IMC, the PCs are into their 3rd and 4th careers at this point (equivalent of 12th-15th level in D&D) and the fights are taking about the same amount of time as they took when the PCs were first created. The only time a combat really stretches beyond 15 minutes is when the PCs are fighting lots and lots of weaker creatures (15-20 goblins for example). Even with the really large and complex combats most are finished in under half an hour.