I picked up the rulebook last month, and just had a quick solo game (using my Vikings and Irish Saga figures) today to try and clarify how things worked. Though the basic rules seem relatively straightforward, there are some elements which led to me being very confused about how the game is meant to work.
It seems that only a hero can order a charge - an individual figure can't charge by themselves. I assume that they can just move (or run) into base to base contact with an enemy figure and then have a combat in the combat phase, but don't get the bonus for a charge?
Is there anything stopping an enemy from simply moving away after a figure has moved into base to base contact with them (via a move, run, or charge action)? In the situation I had, a Viking moved into base contact with an Irish figure with javelins. The Irish then activated, did a move to move away, and then a shoot action to throw a javelin. There doesn't seem to be anything in the rules preventing this. This isn't particularly wrong, but does make it hard to force a melee against someone who doesn't want to melee.
After a combat, what happens if there is no winner? After a melee following a charge, no wounds were caused by either side. Do both sides simply remain in base contact? Or does one side always fall back?
When a hero gives a charge command, after the melee, do all individual fights count as different melees for purposes of winning and losing? So could some Vikings fall back, and some Irish fall back? Or do you total up all wounds and one whole side gets pushed back?
The rules seem inconsistent on swords. On page 16 it says that they provide no modifiers, on page 22 it says they give +1 to experienced warriors. I assumed the more specific rules on p.22 were correct.
The only difference in armour seems to be whether a figure is experienced or inexperienced. My Irish warriors have little or no armour, but they count the same as my Viking hearthguard in heavy mail.
It could be that I'm overthinking some things, but it would be nice to get some clarifications. I have a more detailed write up of my first game on my blog:
https://blog.notasnark.net/2024/12/brethren.html
I'd really like to give things a second go, because it seems to allow types of games not easily possible in the current rules I play (mostly Saga and *Rampant). But after my first attempt I was feeling somewhat confused.
Thanks!
Hi Thank you for the Questions!
You are correct, any model can move or run into base contact with another and not receive a charge bonus. If a model has been engaged by an enemy it cannot then activate. This is in the errata on the rules page and I am updating the books over Christmas break so this will be clarified in there for books purchased in 2025. When no wounds are inflicted, the losing model withdraws back 1" away from the winning model. If it cannot move back due to terrain or other models then please see the "desperate" rule. Yes after the charge has been declared, all combats are treated as individual fights so models will be pushed back across both sides depending on which individual model is the winner.
For swords, the modifier is relevant for whichever unit type it specifies gets it. I have re-written this for the Christmas update. Yes the armour differences for the most part are variations of inexperienced (Defence 2) Experienced (Defence 3) Combat Hero (Defence 4) for both the basic army builder in the rulebook and factions in the army books although the army books do have more variations among units. For example, the Irish faction in the Dark Age book has the 'Wolf Warrior', a lightly armored fighter but still has Defence of 3 to represent that he is a tougher warrior although cannot equip a shield. If you wanted to have more accurate representation of your warriors, you can use the custom faction builder in the Armies Of The Dark Age book and include another unit's stats that you feel works for your army.
I did originally design the game to represent different specific armours such as leather, gambesons, mail etc. however it became difficult to represent all of their armour values and have them be beaten using a D6. And it also became confusing when playing against someone else where they have models that look identical (both in mail for example) but are two different unit types. So it became clear that I had to just have two main troop types with further faction specific units to avoid confusion between players and keep the game fast paced.
I hope these answers have cleared up a few things and if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!
Many Thanks
Matt