Autarch Domains at War Kickstarter

[Blackwarder]

Hi every one!

I'm surprised that no one posted it before, Autarch have launched a kickstarter campaign for their campaign level and tactical miniature level mass combat and now Koewn at Crowbar and Brick have written a comprehending review of both systems so head over to his blog and check it out and if you are intrested than pledge.

Warder

 

[Blackwarder]

Any one pledged? if so what do you think of the rules?

Warder

 

[Moorcrys]

If you're at all interested in armies clashing, siege warfare, battlefield magic, high-level 'domain' play, recruiting armies, building and deploying forces to take a castle or city, raiding supply lines, etc. I don't think I can do it justice by trying to explain how good it is.

It also allows for battles between armies and still has very solid and interesting mechanics for heroic forays/missions by PCs in the midst of it all.

I don't want to sound like an ad for it, although based on how much I liked the material I'm now a backer. If you're at all interested in the above I recommend you check it out. The writing for it is done and even if you back it at a minimal level, you can check out the full rules for yourself. The kickstarter is for layout, counters, and art.

Cheers.

(Edited a couple times - man I hate trying to type a cohesive thought using an iPhone)

 

[GX.Sigma]

Are the rules easily adaptable to (for example) D&D Next?

Edit: Ah, they answered my question in the first two paragraphs:

Because Domains at War always emphasizes the role of individual commanders, when they confront one another to battlefield duels or lead from the front in a heroic foray you'll need to have a RPG system on hand for 1:1 scale combat . It's easy to use Domains at War as a mass combat supplement for all the most popular fantasy RPGs, but it's designed specifically for the Adventurer Conqueror King System.

So it looks like Domains at War can be used as a standalone wargame, or in conjunction with any D&D/retroclone. Sounds cool, I'll check out the $5 version.

 

[darjr]

from the kickstarter

It's easy to use Domains at War as a mass combat supplement for all the most popular fantasy RPGs, but it's designed specifically for the Adventurer Conqueror King System.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/domains-at-war

 

[GX.Sigma]

I pledged at the $5 level--how can I download it?

Edit: Oh, they answered this too. I should really read before I comment.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

Are the rules easily adaptable to (for example) D&D Next?

I played Domains at War last night as a stand-alone wargame with Paul from Blog of Holding, who's been keeping up with the Next playtest a lot more closely than I have. We decided to recreate the Battle of Arsuf, which - with the aid of a book on medieval war that he had on his Iphone - we were able to set up and play in a single evening. (We decided to call it a draw at 1 am, but it would have been over for me sooner if his dice luck hadn't been so bad!)

With so many units for each of us to command, we focused purely on using Richard, Saladin, etc. as generals and commanders. At the end I was maneuvering for a heroic duel with the Lionheart that I hoped would have routed his forces, and also given us a chance to try out the integration with the RPG layer and pick Paul's brain about compatibility with Next. The thing that we were both impressed by was how at the mass combat/wargame level the choices we made produced battle lines and reversals of fortune that felt like the historical event. Paul said he didn't need to know the rules, he could play just by doing what would make sense as a medieval commander.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I'm exploring the rules right now. It looks like they'd be totally compatible with Next, since the heroic forays (which use the RPG combat system) are totally separate from the main action (which doesn't). Some of the spells won't work the same as written (due to different areas, etc.), but I think I can convert those.

The only thing I'm concerned about is that it seems really (really) complicated. Should I be concerned?

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

That's good to hear! There are cases where a hero can deal unit hit points to a unit, or take HP after being targeted by a unit's UHP attack, but I've heard of people using D@W in their 4E games where hit points are more variant from ACKS.

Most of the complexity is either:
- customization; making new units, changing the scale of combat, etc.
- covering all the things that could be used for mass combat by characters in a RPG, like fireball spells or drums of panic
- world-building stuff that you would have built up through play in the course of a campaign but can be a lot to do all from scratch

Here's a report of a D@W battle that estimates it could be done in 10 minutes plus thinking time. My experience with Battles has been more like "in the length of an average RPG session" but I usually am teaching new players, not facing experienced ones.