FINAL FOLK HORRORS: More Fun With Skirmish Gaming

In my last post, I talk about looking at Sun Rot through the lens of OD&D and how recently I've been looking more into miniature-based skirmish games. But don't worry, I am still exploring the fever-dream isles of Cuccagna and running my own campaign in Miranda Elkin's Nightwick Abbey.

This is the finished Folk Horrors I set by Ana Polanšćak. I am really excited about receiving the Folk Horrors III, which finished its KS back in June. I particularly like the cow-headed bellmen (well, here I did kitbash one into some sorta hive/fungus mutant). And a lot of these miniatures would just make better "goblins" or wicked druids. I think they really will do well in a Dolmenwood campaign.

The skirmish/minature games that interest me right now, from most complex and classically wargame to least overhead and more narrative:

Mordheim: I would love to get some regular play, but I don't have the time to completely learn its rules and it would be up to me to field two armies and make terrain for it. I'll have to put in some time to see what I can pull together.

Trench Crusade: If I can't go with an old classic, I can buy the starter box for a (potentially) new one? I threw in for The Carcass Front. The quickstart rules seem to be pretty easy to understand and it looks like out of the box there are two cool armies and a couple of campaigns. Since I usually have to be the guy to start stuff with my group, this seems like an all-in-one for me.

1490 DOOM: Since what's in the Trench box might be too much for people and I do like Mordheim's emphasis on height, the 3-model king-of-the-hill battle over 2 x 2 feet seems like a nice cross-section. 

Forbidden Psalms 28: So, FP28 seems like a good all-purpose skirmish game that has a fun, messy 'Borg vibe. I think Turm 24 covered in MAG 28 convinced me it would be a good ruleset to have on hand. A little bit bigger than 1490 DOOM at 5 miniatures per warband, but easy enough to whip them up. And because it uses Mork Borg's stats and procedures, its simple enough to convert back and forth between them.

Sun Rot: I said a lot already, but I think I am falling in line with its thesis about providing a simple mechanism for roleplay, but one that generates interesting outcomes for both the player and GM. For me this is great to just through cool minis on top of cool terrtain and just play something. I also have always had an idea in my head about a minis game where you can just look at the model you are using a build a character visually, outside of Psalms, Sun Rot might be the next best thing.

And what's a wargame without terrain? 

Well earlier this year I also go into learning how to make terrain from a fantastic video by Summon Lesser Maker. Its about crafting Mordheim terrain cheaply. But why I think its helpful is less from a budget perspective and more that you might already by most of the materials at home and can begin as soon as you have glue and cardboard.

A SIMPLE DUNGEON SETUP: What You Need & What To Buy

 

This one picture captures how
many of the below materials are used

Its easy to get caught up in buying an expensive terrain set to run miniatures-based games of D&D or other tabletop RPGs. But through trial, error, and a few con games, I think I have some solid suggestions that make for a good-looking, minimal setup that packs easily.

DOORS: 4 minimum, but 6-8 optimal; it sounds excessive be in dungeons I do find the PC are often able to investigate enough space in a turn to use all eight doors: The one they entered, 3-4 in a room, then opening one of those doors and being about to see 1-2 more; so often 6-8 on the table at a time

COLUMNS: 6-8 wooden thread spools; a common dungeon feature yet I am sure rarely accurately used but, again, are helpful cover

WOOD BLOCKS: 20 seems to work well in combination with dungeon tiles below; I think I picked this up from Questing Beast, but 1in x 1in wood blocks are really versatile as to what they can become in a dungeon: throne, table, collapsed wall, lever, door etc;

BOOKSHELVES: 1-2 bookshelves never hurts because these are often key searchable features; I know it seems very specific, but for some reason its the one thing I often reach for in a room.

ALTER & SUMMONING CIRCLE: One (1) each because they often are focal points for action; not super important because its easy enough to be made or represented by wood blocks, but if you find a nice looking one- its worth the purchase; can be combined with bookshelves for a wizard room or used as a table for a bar

ROCKS: 4-6 rocks you find off the ground or can steal from a planter can make good terrain or denote crumbled walls/statues in a space; good too if you have a large room and want a little more terrain inside

GLASS BEADS: 10-12 in colors blue, green, and 2-3 in red; clumped together its a pool, in a line a river, if its green they could be slimes; red could be status effects or animated blood or just "treasure thing here"

The making of a 30' x 20' cardboard tile;
start to finish shown on one tile (right to left)

CARDBOARD TILES: Like most of the US, you've undoubtedly received an Amazon packed in the last month or if you order some of the above, one or two will be on their way, but instead of throwing it away you can recycle it into dungeon tiles. Sizes I like (assuming 1in = 5ft square):

• 1-2 6in x 6in which makes a 30' x 30' room
• 2-4 6in x 4in which makes a 30' x 20' room
• 4-6 6in x 2in which makes a 30' x 10' room
• 4-6 2in x 2in which makes a 10' x 10' square
• 4-6 2in x 1in which makes a 10' x 5' rectangle
• The last two can be colored black on the back to use as room features

And there you have it! Fully functional modular dungeon terrain that packs pretty light and represents a lot of what you need. Now that you've read the list, scroll back up and see how things are used in the first picture!