It was 2000 and something and Too Fat Lardies had broken onto the miniature wargaming scene. They brought with them a simpler approach to the rule mechanics, focusing on degrading morale and leadership qualities, along with a passion for the history before the game.
One of the first sets our group settled on was Dux Britanniarum, a dark ages rule set with an abstracted campaign system. Perfect for our group! But like many things we quickly become distracted by the next shinny thing on the horizon, rinse and repeat.
I’ve been waiting to go back to Dux Britanniarum, perhaps someday I will. Fortunately in those heady days of collecting and painting a new scale I also prepared a quick reference sheet, available here.
Too Fat Lardies’ rulebooks tend to read a bit like historical essays. They meander a bit from subject to subject, key points buried in abstracted sections. Far different from the technical manual approach that I associate with the US tradition.
This quick reference should be helpful when finally returning to Dux Britanniarum.
For those not familiar with To the Strongest – it is a British rule set published in 2015 – covering ancient through medieval wargaming. This game is a played on a grid, uses playing cards instead of dice, and very well suited to Table Top Simulator.
I’ve played a bit of To the Strongest on the physical tabletop, struggled with some of the basic concepts, and wrestled with army lists that assume some basic knowledge of the rules. All difficult points when learning a game. Settling into the 1066 tournament with group of seasoned players was a challenge. Falling back on my go to strategy of creating reference materials I refined the quick reference sheet for clarity & made reference materials out of the army lists themselves.
Have pulled together an introduction to virtual wargaming with To the Strongest using Tabletop Simulator: TTS on TTS. Hope it will inspire some to try miniature wargaming in a virtual space.
Update – March 21
Recently I recorded an actual play session. This might be a good way to learn how to play or at least gain an understanding of the game mechanics
Top down photo of a Warmaster Empire command stand w/ iOS Prisma Gothic filter
I’ve been chasing the online miniature wargaming dragon for a good while now – have had experience with Cyberboard, Vassal, Full Thrust Java Client, Table Top Simulator (unsucessfully), and now Roll20 (successfully).
For me Roll20 get’s closest to pushing units on the table top realtime with reasonable graphics. My first real implementation here, beyond the standard RPG, has been for Warmaster. This post describes that process of setting up such an environment.
Example of what’s been produced with this method
Tools Used
iPhone – camera & photo edits
Tripod – platform for the top down photograph
Prisma iOS app – photo filter
iPad – tablet based graphical editing
Apple Pencil – fine point stylus
Magic Eraser iOS app – transparency editor
Desktop PC – runs Roll20 in any web browser
MS Paint – creates the basic template
Roll20 – the tabletop platform
Photos
Shoot top down photos of a Warmaster army – 1 photo for each unique base type
Crop all photos to roughly same dimension
Push these photo through a filter – a bit more illustrative than photographic
Export filtered photos to iPad
Remove photo boarders with transparency editor – use Magic Eraser or similar
Import photos to PC
Create a “scaling reference” – 40x20mm = 280x140px – save this as a png – use MS Paint or similar
Roll20 Game
Create new game for Roll20
Configure new “map” – no grid – 5cm = 70px – 6×4 foot table = 37×25
Drag & drop appropriate texture or aerial photo to map, ensure it is on the “map layer”
Go to the “journal” – create a new “character” – edit that character so that Name = Basic Template, In Player’s Journals = All Players, Can be Edited… = All Players – save these changes
Again open & edit the “Basic Template”, click duplicate button x times
Drag & drop stand scaling reference to the table top
Drag & drop appropriate unit photo the table top
Scale the unit photo to the scaling reference
Select the re-scaled
Open one of the “Basic Template” copies and edit – Name = appropriate unit name – click “use selected token” – ensure that “all players” is set for journals & controls – save changes
Repeat
Roll20 Macros
You may wish to create the following macros – ensuring that they are shared with “all players” and marked as “in bar” – these provide a simple button to throw x dice.
#1d6
/r 1d6
#2d6
/r 2d6
#3d6
/r 3d6
#Attack
/em attacks
/r ?{How many attacks}d6s>4
***Note: 5+ vs defended & 6+ vs fortified***
#Save
/em saves
/r ?{How many saves}d6s>?{Armor value}
#Drive-Back
/em checking drive backs
/r ?{How many hits}d6s
***Target confused on any d6 = 6***
***Target driven off if result greater than its movement rate***
Have created Mighty Empires assets and kicked off a 5 player campaign. Mighty Empire tiles are available here. Use them as a deck of cards in Roll20 on a unique map.
Have also posted a new video an actual play from the first battle fought in our Mighty Empires campaign. Empire(1185 pts) vs Empire (1500 pts). This condensed to 30 minutes to provide a good overview of Warmaster game play on the Roll20 interface.
At the beginning of 2020 we rang in the new year with a buddy’s birthday, celebrating as we normally do: friends, food, and games. This is day long affair where we cram as many games as we can into 12 or so hours. This years theme “I Can’t Drive 55”.
First on the docket was the new’ish hot wheels set published by Osprey, Gaslands. There was much kit bashing of $1 hotwheels, though I opted for a simpler approach the overall look of the table was impressive.
We had two single lap races, the first to test-drive the rules & the second to compete for a custom trophy. It was fitting that the youngest amongst us would take home that prize. Fun times. . .
Get your motor running
Fun times for sure! The game scratches that Car Wars to Hotwheels conversion I’ve had for years, but I found the rules needlessly wordy and complex. Trusty iPad to the rescue where I consolidated the rules to a scant 2 pages! Find that summary here, along with a generic vehicle control panel, dice labels / reference charts.
Prisma Canoe filter iOS – WHFB 1e cover – original art by John Blanche
In 1980-something I started going to my first game conventions. These were not just for Dungeons & Dragons, but full of so much more. One of these things was a tabletop game played with toy soldiers – hundreds of them really. This was Warhammer and this game inspired me in new ways.
Miniature wargaming is one aspect of my tabletop gaming hobby, perhaps a smaller part these last few years, but extremely influential in how I enjoy these games. Warhammer was clearly the culprit that propelled me down this path, inspired me to pick-up a brush, amass hordes of “lead figures”, and build railroad scenery like a man processed.
Warhammer during this time was… odd. Army composition was left to the players, there were few restrictions on how games were organized and even fewer supporting materials beyond the core rules. The good ‘ol days.
The first Citadel book I cherished after the rules – more cover art by John Blanche.
This magazine provided a complete scenario; 3 unique forces each with competing objectives; card stock buildings to cut, fold, and assemble; advertisements for special miniatures; comics strips…
This was the begining of the end.
Today one can flip through the virtual pages of this journal. Such a joy, and it was during one of these flights of fancy that I decided recreate that game of my youth with the mastery of the hobby I now possessed. It was successful – it was glorious – the game was a bit awkward.
Video journal for the centerpiece for this scenario – YouTube playlist
Below is a photo gallery of the game in action. Fun project – fun times.
