Bones of a Warlord

Ok so you are one of the 16000 or so folks that backed the Reaper Bones KS and perhaps you are wondering what you are going to do with all of those miniatures once they arrive (aside from stare at them and wonder what you got yourself into). Obviously you purchased them because they were cheap (lets face it half price or less is cheap) and they are probably very useful to you in some game like one of the DnD variants, but is there anything else you can do with them?

Well it turns out that Reaper makes a skirmish scale war game called Warlord and the Bones KS, combined with the existing Bones line makes a lot of these miniatures immediately useful to that game. Alternatively you can check out the more free-form “use whatever mini you like” Song of Blades and Heroes (PDF version here). However I’m going to focus on the Warlord game for this entry (mostly because I’ve been tinkering with it lately).

The Warlord Rules are found in 2 books; Warlord 2E and Warlord: Savage North. The only real difference between these books is the armies they detail, and their price. You can get either book (or both) here from Reaper. In addition to the print rules you can find the basic rules of the game a datacard and model search and army builder tool at reapergames.com and then there is a community as part of Reaper’s forums (here).

Bones Support of Armies

It is quickly obvious that not all the armies got equal support, but the Necropolis and Kargir armies have enough support and are made up of fairly generic models anyway to be worth investigating, and so I have.

Bones Armies

So the standard army size for Warlord tournaments is 1000 points and there are a number of factors to consider into that construction. Firstly 4 Troops (groups of models that go on the same initiative) is a good minimum, because you get 1 card in the initiative deck for each Troop you have, secondly Reaper allows proxies of models in official tournaments as long as they are Reaper models and what you are using them as is clear to both players.

Warlord has 1 quirk, it uses square bases, fortunately it uses them in sizes that align with DnD and right now I know of only 1 problematic model in this regard for the 2 forces; Boneripper. For DnD you want him on a 25mm base, for Warlord he belongs on a 40mm base (fortunately you can base him on a 25mm and just stick him to a 40mm base for Warlord use).

So here goes.. These lists assume you got nothing from the KS, you need to figure out details for yourself for what you need based on what you got in the KS. The listing of KS next to a model is merely to indicate that it is in the KS and will have a code in March.

Necropolis: 999 points

This army has 1 metal model required; Elsabeth Briarkiss (14131), though I’m sure you could figure out a proxy if you really wanted.

Troop 1
1 Judas Bloodspire, Anointed of Hars (KS) + Magic Weapon
1 Naomi, Mistress of Wings (77027) + Phylactery
1 Bat Swarm (KS)
2 Skeletal Archer (77018 x2 – covers whole force)
2 Skeletal Swordman (77017 x2 – covers whole force)
2 Skeletal Spearmen (77001×2 – covers whole force)
2 Chattel (Proxy: Townsfolk KS – Thanks to smokingwrekage on the Reaper forums for the suggestion here)

Troop 2  
1 Elsabeth Briarkiss (14131) + Magic Weapon
2 Skeletal Swordsman
2 Skeletal Archer
2 Skeletal Spearman
2 Chattel

Troop 3  
1 Railor the Unbodied (77007)
6 Zombie (77014×2)

Troop 4 
3 Gargoyle (77028×3)

Troop 5    
Kaena, Banshee (Proxy: LaBella deMornay KS)

Army Item - Luck Stone

Kargir 998 Points

Requires 1 metal model; Torg, Tundra Stalker (14602). The duplicate of Troop 3 as Troop 4 is fine, and is done to keep within the Bones paradigm except that 1 metal model.

Troop 1
1 Kavorgh (KS) – Magic Weapon
1 Granak the Butcher (KS)
3 Black Orc Hunter x 3 (KS)
2 Goblin Stinger (77024 x1)

Troop 2
1 Torg, Tundra Stalker (14602) – Book of Tactics
3 Tundra Stalker (KS)

Troop 3
1 Boneflayer (77012)
1 Venomspite, Gnoll Sniper (KS) – Magic Ranged Weapon
1 Black Orc Archer
2 Goblin Sticker
2 Goblin Swarmer

Troop 4
1 Boneflayer (77012)
1 Venomspite, Gnoll Sniper (KS) – Magic Ranged Weapon
1 Black Orc Archer
2 Goblin Sticker
2 Goblin Swarmer

These two forces use a range of the rules of the Warlord game and will allow you to explore the strategies and play of the game in a range of ways. Just watch out for Judas getting among the goblins, he is a brutal goblin killing machine who will heal himself in the process.

Beyond the Base

Adding a few models to each force then lets you create very different forces quite quickly and for a low-cost still, this being one of the great problems with war games of course that typically a force will set you back quite a lot of money. While Warlord has its expensive armies, the addition of Bones lets you build basic forces using a mix of hero and Soldier models for most armies at a low-cost (sub $100 if you have the Bones KS) all the while adding a range of models that are good for most FRPGs.

So if you end up enjoying the hobby of collecting and painting miniatures I do recommend that you have a look at the Warlord and what you can do with the miniatures you will soon have and the direction a little investment in the skirmish game might give you.