Lohwand: Tharkallan Imaginifers of the Heartland Legions

 

Roman Imaginifer

Each of the Tharkallan Heartland Legions has an Imaginifer who stands with the Legate's command party overseeing the legion's part in the battle. The standard is topped with a golden image of the Emperor and is an embodiment of his authority and power; it is a symbol of the Empire's reach and indicates that the legion bearing it acts according to the Emperor's commands. But, in Lohwand at least, it is more than just a symbol.

Imaginifer Magic

The Imaginifer standard can act as a conduit for a Far-Seeing spell cast within the Imperial Palace. The standard bearer provides the power to allow the standard to function in this manner. As such the bearers must be specially chosen and trained. 

When activated a connection is facilitated between the Emperor's Far-Seeing device, either a Palantir or a Scrying Bowl, and the Imaginifer. Range is not generally a factor; at least it has not been to date, though stormy weather at either end can disrupt the spell. When used in this manner the Imaginifer image acts as a sort of viewport, allowing the Emperor to see what could be seen from the vantage point of the standard, just as if he were standing there himself. The Emperor can only see in the direction the standard is facing but the spell allows commands to be transmitted to the bearer who then shifts the banner as appropriately. 

The Emperor does not cast the spell himself, of course, but has a High Seer from the College of Magic enact the spell. The standard "sees" with excellent eyesight, which can be further enhanced to many times magnification by the High Seer. 

It is possible for the Emperor to issue missives or commands to the legion through the voice of the standard bearer though this adds an additional drain on his stamina and so must be used sparingly.

Lohwand: Armatura v4.0

  

Some slight changes and additions...

Lohwand: Armatura v3.0

Armatura v. 3.0 (Front)

Following on from my earlier post I have again revised the front of the Armatura cheat sheet to reflect the new ideas. Also, I realized I had the nomenclature all wrong for the cards, calling the "court" cards "suit" cards. Apologies if that caused some scratching of heads! 

The main changes are that now, within the colour block that a player uses for activations - i.e. red or black, one suit is considered "higher" than the other. So Hearts and Spades are "high", Diamonds and Clubs are not.

Having made the changes, I now see yet another: under "Initiative" I say that Aces are considered "high" for that purpose. It should read that they can be "high" i.e. 14 or "low" i.e. 1 as the player wishes. Also, "high" suits can be used to break ties. That is, a 7 of Hearts (high) would beat a 7 of clubs (low).

I've also tried to cover the end of Game a little better. I'm thinking about it from a campaign perspective, rather than the "Sunday afternoon" sort of game. So if a side is reduced to the point where it fails the Army Morale roll and has lost, then there may be pursuit or there may not.

If there isn't then it is essentially like a typical game where it just "ends"  with no more fighting. The losing side is assumed to withdraw from the field as they can with no more game-play.

If, however, there is pursuit, then the losing sides units have to attempt to withdraw from the field. The units all now have Fear as a modifier, though the better units may not be too affected still. Some units that were already fearful (i.e. militias) now become terrified as well, so that should mean they collapse in short order.

Lohwand: Aces Wild!

While re-editing my Armatura cheat sheets I am recognizing nuances I hadn't noticed before.

I am already using the D10 to represent eleven values, with the '0' representing a '10' or a '0' depending on circumstances. The "Counting Zeroes" concept.

Yesterday I realized that the Ace in a deck of cards is essentially the same, with the ability to be either the highest card or the lowest. So how can I incorporate that feature? I have some ideas.

Then, today, I recalled how a friend had good and bad events in a deck based on the two red or black suits - hearts good/diamonds bad - or whatever. So now I am thinking there is room for further variations to be added to the card activation.

Example:

One side is activating on red, the other black. If Hearts are better than Diamonds, and Spades better than Clubs what is the effect? One effect could be that if a unit is activated with a Heart or Spade it gains a +1 to the Combat Result* if it is also "Counting Zeroes". 

*There will be a Combat Result table that determines how a melee is progressing.

Another option is to allow a unit that is no longer Counting Zeroes to count them for that activation - i.e. +10% to the die rolls.

A third option is to have Exceptional Leaders, as in Fire and Fury, and provide a bonus if the Exceptional Leader is present when the card is played.

Getting back to the Aces, they could function similar, but could also be linked to the "Counting Zeroes" concept. That is, if a unit is Counting Zeroes the Ace is high card; if not, then it is low card. If high card, they might have a special Command Action similar to those I already described. If low card, the suit of the Ace might still come into play as given in the examples above.

Incorporating these ideas means re-vamping my cheat sheet! I'll have to find room somewhere as they probably should go on the front page of the sheet.  *sigh*

Lohwand: Armatura v2.0

Front

I realized pretty quick that I'd left a lot of stuff out of version 1.0 - not that it would fit on a LTR sized cheat sheet anyhow. So first thing I did was resize my sheet to tabloid, 11" x 17".

Then I set about adding in the stuff I'd left out because of space or just plumb forgotten to include. The new front of the sheet is shown above. I'm still working on the back, but already I've made a few tiny edits to the front so I expect there'll be a version 3 soon enough. :-)

One thing I noticed was a player, most likely me, could pick up a card but then pass, and as long as his opponent, also most likely me, didn't also pass, he could keep accumulating quite a hand of cards. Which sounds likely a shifty, Scipio Africanus sort of thing to do, so I've changed it so it you want to pass you have to discard a card. It still lets you get rid of the chaff but at least your hand doesn't get any bigger. 

I think there are a couple of other edits as well, but here is v2.0 before the edits.

Lohwand: Armatura v1.0

Armatura (Front)

Armatura (Back)

Here is the cheat sheet for the rules I am intending to use for my Lohwand campaign. It isn't a complete set of rules but I've tried to fit on all the essentials.

It still needs a little cleaning up, as I just took the sheet for A Band of Joyous Heroes and modified it. As I intend to use this for my large scale Lohwand campaign I have modified the move stick slightly. The older (lesser) distances still show - please ignore.

Figure scale: 54 to 60mm

Figure ratio: approx. 1:24  (This is based upon my prototype cohort organization.)

Movement and Ranges use a range stick based upon a common bamboo chopstick - see cheat sheet for illustration.

Unit Traits:

Virtis - a unit's fighting ability. Roll equal or under on a D10 to score a "hit".

Disciplina - a unit's discipline. Used for morale checks, and also determine the complexity of maneuvers permitted.

Labor - a unit's ability to perform engineering tasks: build roads and bridges, siege works, mining/counter-mining, and similar.

Zeroes: Recognizing that a D10 is typically numbered 0-9, and that this actually allows for eleven possible options. The concept of "Counting Zeroes" is explained in brief on the cheat sheet. It essentially amounts to a 10% bonus to units that can count it.

Armatura: found in the melee section, this is an ability possessed by certain units (i.e. veteran Roman legionaries) that reflects their combat training and skill, giving them a bonus. A Knight of St. John, or Spartan Hoplite might also have the trait.

Lohwand: The Legions of the Tharkallan Empire, Part 2

XForce 60 mm Early Imperial Romans

Expeditionary Force (or XForce) is a manufacturer of 54 mm and 60 mm plastic figures based in Singapore. Their range is quite impressive and is expanding rapidly. The 60 mm ranges include Ancients and now WW2. It is the Ancients that I am interested in to build forces for my Lohwand campaign.

I am using the Early Imperial Romans for my Tharkallan legions, as I blogged about in a previous post. Since then my first order has arrived: a sampling of Legion II Augusta, the command box, a cavalry box and a box of Scorpio bolt throwers.

In the picture above are the figures from two Legio II boxes and some of the figures from a command box. The bases are 3mm MDF cut 5" wide by 4" deep. I've been toying with organization. I am planning to drill holes for magnets and then put steel paper on the bottom of each figure base. I wouldn't have to fix the figures on the base permanently if I do this. The problem is I would likely need to leave the base un-flocked, perhaps just painted green and I am not sure if I want that look. I know it is a "Toy Soldier" aesthetic but I am used to flocked bases that blend with the ground cloth.

I might be able to dress the base up leaving room for the figure base, either tracing the outline exactly or allowing sufficient extra space around it. I have yet to verify how regular the XForce bases are. i.e. do they use a standard base size and shape for all their 60 mm figures? 

The figures arrayed above are set up in one layout I am contemplating. I am trying to replicate the tactical deployment of an EIR Century, which I will then use to represent a cohort in my games. I'm struggling to determine where the command elements stood during battle, however.  Here I have the Centurion in the first rank, right-hand file, the Aquilifer in the center of the front rank, the Optio (2IC) behind the ranks keeping order and discipline, along with the musician and Signifer. The Imagifer (when I get one) I am intending to place with the Legate commanding the legion. I'm just not confident I've got it right. Maybe the Signifer and the Aquilifer should be swapped out?

This would, I think, be the 1st Cohort, which should be double strength. So maybe the Signifer goes with one half and the Aquilifer the other? Would either of these two standard bearers really be in the front rank? The other cohorts would just have Signifers. 

Note that I am not intending to build a full ten cohorts! I think what I will do is build three or four for a couple of legions at least to start, maybe expanding to cover all the XForce options. (I have to also consider the Auxilia!) I will use this organization, or something similar for smaller games, but for really large battles have each base of six figures represent a cohort.

I haven't seen the contents of the Auxiliary Infantry box yet so I'll have to leave the planning on hold for those.

EDIT: Osprey is having an ebook sale - 40% off general history and games (inc wargames and Frostgrave) until August 31st, 2020. I picked up some and then splurged and bought a regularly priced book about the Roman army (not sure of the actual title).

Skimming it last night seems to indicate that I have the Centurion placed correctly, and the Optio, and that the Aquilifer and Signifer do go in the middle of the front rank. The Aquilifer (i.e. Eagle Bearer) would replace the Signifer in the 1st Cohort. Still not sure about where to put the musician, but I am thinking behind the ranks with the Optio as I don't think he could fight very well while carrying that horn.

Also, it suggests that not all legions had double strength 1st Cohortes. This I will have to research more. If I do use a double strength 1st Cohort, it will be two times the illustrated organization with a Signifer in the second century. My thinking being that the Signifer is displaying all the honours and awards granted and while guarding the Eagle is a great honour the men would still want to display all their achievements.

Lastly: I need to double check my spelling for all these latin terms!