 |
| Dominion of the Orc |
The latest (I think) of the prolific Steve Parker's Dominion of... rules brings very fast play solo wargaming into the world(s) of Fantasy wargaming. Anyone who has already tried the format will quickly get started with Dominion of the Orc, which basically plays like Dominion of the Spear with magical knobs on. For me, the fun part is going to be working the Fantasy monsters and "Support" units (including flying units, assassins and Mages, ie Magic Using individuals of various types) into the amies. I tried a couple of games yesterday using my armies of Men and Orcs from my Arnor (Middle Earth) project and I can report an enjoyable outcome! I have a little bit of painting to do before I can try all the Support units but the following hopefully gives a flavour of the Rules. The figures are mostly Copplestone Castings 10-12mm (available in UK from North Star) and the two Mages were, I think, from Pendraken.
The first game was a simple pitch battle, so very much like DotS; the second involved Mages. The Orcs were Attackers in both games and are on the right-hand side in the photos.
.jpg)
The purple mini dice indicate Elite units; the white show unreliable units.
.jpg)
A victory for the Orcs - being the Attackers is an advantage though not overwhelmingly so.
In the second battle, the Orcs deployed a Shaman who raised magical defences for two of the units, indicated by black mini dice.
.jpg)
The Army of Men fielded a Wizard who used an offensive spell that managed to turn one of the Orc units unreliable (some sort of Fear spell?), which was handy as it was an Elite unit that had been magically given more defencive capabilities.
.jpg)
The battle progressed
.jpg)
and this time victory went to the Army of Men
.jpg)
For my games I'm definitely going to add a Home Rule regarding the use of Hero/Anti-Hero units that can be either embedded with a unit (for +1 advantage) or fight independently as an Elite Unit.
.jpg)
A fun Solo game (that could also be played with two players - see App D of the rules) if you like short, sharp battles, and a good way to resolve battles in a mini campaign.
Nice looking games. Yes, Dominion of the Orc is the latest title in the series, but there is also a revised set of army lists for Dominion of the Spear that adjust for using unreliable troops for lights and reluctant allies that may be of interest.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. I had an update regarding the latest expansion to DotS 👍
ReplyDeleteThanks for the DotO report. Looks like it has great potential, and as you mentioned, the intricacies of adding the ‘bolt on’ fantasy variations could really give this legs…👍🏼.
ReplyDeleteCheers Martin - I envisage some fast play mini-campaigns with small armies in the manner of last year's Knockout Campaign perhaps
Deletehttps://pampersandp.blogspot.com/2025/06/simple-knockout-mini-campaign-skomc.html
Yes, you could attach the magic system to any of the other rule sets, Wizards and Napoleon, or maybe the Saga of Tanya the Evil along with flyers....
DeleteExcellent - these look bigger and badder (like an orc) a welcome addition which lends itself to dramatic campaigns ....which reminds me I'm prepping some Hyboria stuff - when Nemedia meets Brythinia (which is the best excuse ever to have Normans vs Greeks), and Conan keeps changing sides...did I mention that your ladder campaign is a brilliant idea!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I have some bags of those minis in 10mm that you are using. To be honest, I am NEVER going to use them. If you want them Jack, email me at ducdegobin(at)gmail(dot)com, and I will post them to you.
Sounds like a great campaign, especially with Conan the Turncoat! (I have patent pending on that book title...)
DeleteMy copy of Dominion of the Orc arrived early last week and, although I have perused it, I’ve yet to play a game.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, there seems plenty of potential for additions, house rules & tinkering. Steve Parker has given some examples for creating monsters in DotO, but I was thinking more along the lines of HotT’s Behemoth classification (big, lumbering beasts capable of wreaking considerable damage - but also with the potential for things to “go wrong”. On reflection, that might be where Steve’s RM Rampaging disadvantage comes in). Hmmm… yet more to mull over.
Campaigning is certainly the way to go. Perhaps have a “pool” of units from which you initially select the Field army. Within the context of the campaign the Victorious troops could have some sort of battlefield Advantage (representing improved morale after their victory). Would the Defeated army have a disadvantage? They might (hey, they just suffered a battlefield defeat) but then again you could argue they may be getting more desperate (so would fight with ferocity). Between campaign battles any “replacement” troops would have to be picked from the remaining pool of troops.
I look forward to reading how you get on with your Hero/anti-Hero experimentation.
Those Copplestone figures look great, although a fair few of my 10mm fantasy figures are picked from GW’s Warmaster ranges.
Cheers,
Geoff
Thanks Geoff. DotO is going to be a useful set of rules for me to play some quick games and I agree that there is plenty of scope for tinkering!
DeleteI like your miniatures, setup and the scope for a quick game.
ReplyDeleteThanks Roger!
DeleteI've been tempted to get it, but grabbed Dominion of the Roses and the alternate army lists for DotSp instead!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, with DotS as a basis you could easily create your own House Rules for Dominion-Fantasy; but Steve's ones are interesting and have added things that I wouldn't have thought of so I'm pleased to have a copy!
Delete