This article is the second in a three part look at the new Oathmark table-top miniature wargame from Osprey Publishing. The first article took a look at the Oathmark book, this article will discuss the rule system and the third will discuss how the system plays on the table-top and whether the rules give you a good experience.
This part of the review will discuss the rules with an aim to see how well they work together, how well written they are and if they make sense.
This is a long article so grab your favourite hot beverage and get ready to do some reading. Or you can just jump to the end and read the conclusions.
The Oathmark rulebook is split into three sections: the core rules, Advanced Rules and the army lists and campaign rules. The book suggests that you use the core rules for a game or two but if you are an experienced table-top gamer you can jump in and read the entire book and start playing.
Models in Oathmark are defined by seven stats: Activation, Movement, Fight, Shoot, Defence, Combat Dice and Health. All of them are fairly intuitive except for the Combat Dice stat which we will look at later.
In addition, each unit has a point value (for a single model), a set of Special Abilities, a Base Size and equipment list. In Oathmark there are no set unit sizes so you pay the points for the number of models. So your unit of Dwarven archers can have 12 models in it if that is all you have or want.
While the game lists specific weapons for models it also notes that, aside from ranged weapons being required on models with them, people are free to model their units as they see fit. There is a flexibility in this system that we will see frequently.
One thing to note is that there is not a list of equipment in the game other than a list of ranges for ranged weapons. If one unit of Dwarven Linebreakers have two-handed axes and another has two handed glaives they both act as Linebreakers. You don’t need to remember the combat modifiers for two-handed axes.
The only real stipulation in regards to modelling is that each unit has an Officer that is visually distinct from the other troops. This model acts as a point for Line of Sight, manoeuvres and other interactions in the Advanced Rules so it needs to be easy to see.
Units
Units in the game are either five models wide or, in the case of medium-sized monsters (those on 50×50 bases), three wide. Units can have a maximum of four ranks of figures except for medium-sized monsters which can only have a single rank. So the largest unit in Oathmark will be 20 infantry sized models. No Warhammer Fantasy Battle ‘Deathstars’ here.
The rules have a single paragraph to describe the various unit facings and how to draw them. It is quick and easy as are the LOS rules. Line of Sight is drawn through the front rank from the Officer model. Simple.
Activation
Each turn in Oathmark starts with an initiative roll. Each player rolls 2 D10s with the second D10 being used to break ties. If both are the same then you reroll and hope that the RNG gods aren’t that fickle again. Most of the systems in the game use a 2D10 roll.
Once you have determined which player is going first, players take turns activating a unit. To activate it, you select a unit and then roll 2D10 and compare it to the unit’s Activation stat. If either of the dice is equal to or greater than the Activation value then the unit has been activated successfully and can do up to two actions. If both of them are below the Activation value then it has failed and can do a single, simple action.
At no point will you not be able to do something with your models, no matter how bad their Activation stat is, and at no point will you ever fail an activation and then not be able to move your entire army. You still have choices to make in regard to when you activate units but the results of a failed activation are a kink in your plans and not a disaster.
Oathmark uses an alternating activation scheme which I think almost every game should use. It not only keeps you engaged in the game during the turn but each decision you make has weight. Do you hold off on activating your unit of spearmen to take a shot with your archers? Or will your opponent charge the spearmen next? It is these decisions that make a good game and also make it fun.
Once you have activated a unit it can either move, shoot, manoeuvre or use a special ability if it has one (such as casting a spell). If the unit failed it’s activation then it can only move, shoot or manoeuvre and won’t be able to do things like cast spells. Or move into combat. If you want to charge an opponent you need to pass your activation.
Movement
Moving is very simple. You either move directly forward up to your movement stat in inches, or move up to half that value backward or to either side. There are rules for rough ground and terrain that take up about a page an a half and cover most of the terrain you’ll see in your standard mass-combat game.
Manoeuvres are just as simple. You can only do one per activation and you either Pivot around the Officer, Wheel from one side of the unit or the other or do an About Face. Friendly units can scoot out of the way when you do a manoeuvre, you can’t contact an enemy unit and hitting rough ground ends your activation once the manoeuvre is done.
It is at this point that you realise that what Jospeh McCullough has done (or at least appears to have done) is taken every annoying and pissy rule interaction from Warhammer Fantasy Battles and done away with them. I like mass combat games. I just tend to not like mass-combat rules. Nothing sucks the life of a game than not being able to turn a unit because it slightly clips a neighbour. There is none of that here.
Engaging an enemy unit in combat is just as easy. You just need to have line of sight to the enemy before doing your move. You can’t use a manoeuvre to get into combat but you can do one prior to your move so you get line of sight. If your activated unit has managed to move into combat with an enemy you need to do a free move to wheel them so they are flush. Flank charges are determined by which arc you make contact with and this is one of the few parts of the rules where I wanted some additional clarification.
Combat
Melee and ranged combat in Oathmark are slightly different than in many mass-combat games. You check the Combat Dice stat for each model in the front rank and multiply that number by the number of models. The number of combat dice you roll is maxed out at 5 even if the total is more than 5.
You and your opponent determine a target number by subtracting your Fight value from your opponent’s Defence value. This then gets increased or decreased based on the number of full ranks you have, whether you got in a flank charge or whether the target is Disordered. Units with high Fight stats are going to do better than units with lower Fight stats but this will be balanced out by rank bonuses. Maybe your Goblins are chaff but you have more of them so you get a bump to your target number.
Once you determine these target numbers (each unit has its own) you roll your D10s and each dice that equals or exceeds the target does a wound. Most units in the ame only have a single point of Health so you remove models to indicate wounds. Monsters and some character models have a higher Health stat so you need to track the Health remaining in those models.
Combat has two ways in which it interacts with the activation system. If the target you are fighting has already activated then their target number is one higher. If they haven’t been activated they fight a little better but after the combat they are considered to have been activated. So do you charge the slightly winded Dwarf Warriors that moved up this turn or do you try to attack the Elven Swordmen who haven’t moved yet but might try to position themselves for a flank charge? Choices make for a good game.
After combat the units that inflicted the most wounds can either move themselves back 1″ or move their opponent back 1″ or 6″. If it was a tie then both units move back 1″. Units do not stay locked in combat in Oathmark which avoids pages of rules detailing multiple charge situations.
Shooting
Shooting is very similar. You determine if your unit has line of sight to a target and if it is in range. You also have to shoot at the closest enemy that you have line of sight to unless you have the Aimed Fire or Indirect Fire special ability. You then add up the Combat Dice for each model in the front rank, to a maximum of 5, and determine the target number by subtracting the unit’s Shoot value from the target’s Defence. As with melee combat you lower that target number based on the number of full ranks you have, whether your unit has moved, if the target is Disordered or if there is cover. You then roll your D10s and each one that equals or exceeds the target number causes a wound.
Morale
Units that take wounds in melee or shooting combat need to take a morale test to see if they become Disordered or Broken. You roll 2D10 and compare them to the unit’s Activation stat. The dice are modified by the number of wounds taken, the number of ranks in the unit and whether it was a shooting attack. If one or more of the dice equal or exceed the Activation stat then the check has been passed. If both are under then the check failed and the unit is Disordered. If the unit was already Disordered then it is Broken and removed from the table.
Disordered units suffer a penalty to activation. If they pass an activation check they are no longer disordered but can only do a simple action. If they fail they remain disordered and can only do a simple action. Units that are disordered have penalties in combat and in any subsequent morale checks the make.
Units that break and leave the table also have the potential to cause a cascade of panic that may lead to units close by becoming disordered or even broken.
Core rules summary
The core Oathmark rules are quite simple and seemed to be aimed at giving you room to be flexible when unforeseen interactions come about instead of trying to write more rules to deal with them.
Combat is simple, and consistent and the modifiers to combat are small in number and easy to remember. For instance, combat maxes out at five combat dice in all cases. Movement rules are similarly without added complexity and the core of the game seems to be designed to have you play a game and not play the rules.
Advanced Rules
The phrase ‘advanced rules’ is a bit of a misnomer. These are additional rules to add characters, monsters and artillery to the game but they are no more complex than the core rules.
Characters
There are three types of characters in Oathmark: Commanders, Champions and Spellcasters. Commanders are models like the Dwarven King or Elven Prince. These are combat models of varying degrees of martial potency that all have varying levels of the Command special ability. Command gives two benefits; it lets you roll for activation and morale with three dice instead of two and it also lets the model try to activate more units at the same time.
Champions are replacements for the Officer in a unit (but only a unit from the same race) and they all have a higher CD and add a Champion Dice to combats. That dice will, if it hits, generate two wounds instead of one. In addition, if the result is a ten then you can choose to put all of the results onto the target unit’s Officer or Character in an attempt to destroy them. Units without an Officer are hampered in the game by only rolling a single dice for Activation or Morale. Champions appear to have a small impact in combat but really come into their own once the unit has been taken down to a few models.
Finally, Spellcasters are able, based on their level, to attempt to cast spells when they activate. You can pick spells up the the casters level when you start the game. Spells are cast by checking the difficulty of the spell and then rolling a number of D10s equal to the casters level. If any equal or exceed the difficulty then the spell goes off. Each race has their own distinct set of spells and there are also a set of general spells that any caster can use.
The concept of a Champion Dice is used in several other places in the rules as a way to generate more damage when needed. Some spells reference it. Monsters reference it. Some special abilities do. It is a useful shorthand and a quick way to reuse a concept to keep the rules simple.
Artillery and Monsters
Monsters are defined in the game as units that don’t benefit from the Command special ability, always roll the Champion Dice and have restrictions on rank size. That is it. Nice and simple.
Artillery is a bit more complex. Artillery has its own shooting process and its own set of modifiers for combat. In the entire game, this is the one area where the rules look more like a typical mass-combat system. The rules themselves aren’t difficult and once you run through them a time or two they become second nature but if you are going to refer to the rules in a game I suspect that it will be in this area since it doesn’t follow the standard shooting rules.
Artillery doesn’t seem to be overpowered and its main role seems to be using Indirect Fire to shoot over terrain and units.
Army Building
Oathmark has two army building systems. A basic system to use in one-off battles and a more elaborate system that expands on that and integrates with the campaign system in the rules.
Oathmark has few limitations in how you build an army. Champions have to be in units of the same race and you can’t have more than four of the same unit in an army. Other than that; the sky is the limit. You can mix fantasy races together. Have an Elven Spellcaster with your army of Dwarves and Goblins if you want. You can build an army entirely made up of Elves if you want but you can also add smaller elements from each of the factions if you have less than an armies worth of Goblins or Dwarves. It is a refreshing system that doesn’t require you to build huge groups of a single unit type or even of the same fantasy race.
For more of a structured army building experience you first build a Kingdom. If you recall earlier in the article the photo of the Dwarven Archer unit indicated the terrain that it came from. In this case a Dwarven City.
The book includes a Kingdom Sheet (and you can download it from the Osprey website) and you fill in each section of a map with a terrain type that you pick from the rulebook. Each ring, or Region in the parlance of the rules, has one or more spaces that you can add terrain types to. You start with Region 1 at the centre of your Kingdom and move out to Region 5 at the far edges. Each race has their own list of available terrains and they are rated with a rarity from 1 – 3. Region 1 contains a City of one of the races and this choice limits the rarity of terrain elements that you can pick for your other Regions. Each terrain choice includes one or more unit types that it provides.
Cities typically provide all of your Characters as well as the basic troop types for that race. You can have cities from other races as well but they can only be in Regions 2-4. There are also Unaligned terrain types so if you want to have a unit of Gargoyles you had better save space for an Ancient Ruins somewhere. This then provides you with a set of unit types to draw from. You don’t need to use them all in your army at once but you have the potential to do so.
Region 5 is the outer limits of the explored area of your Kingdom and there are no terrain types there to begin with. It is the typical entry point into your Kingdom for enemy forces.
The Kingdom system provides you a unique way to pick your army but also to personalize it at the same time. And it fits into the Campaign System to provide a really unique system.
Campaign System
What impresses me the most about the campaign system is how much it accomplishes with so few rules. After you build your Kingdoms, you and an opponent roll to see what type of battle you are having. This determines not the scenario but the goal of the game. What territory will be attacked and what the possible outcome of the game is.
The Campaign System uses the Kingdom map to determine what areas are open for attack and you can then pick areas of your opponent’s Kingdom to attack depending on the battle type. When you start out you are going to be possibly limited to attacking their empty Region 5 areas but as you play more games you may occupy more of their territory and it opens up more areas for you to attack.
Occupying a territory doesn’t stop your opponent from using the troops from that area but it does apply a modifier to activating them in a battle if you choose them. If you begin to have more and more territory occupied then your army will slowly become less effective as these modifiers start to apply to more and more units.
That is something you need to keep in mind when you build your army for a game. Maybe you don’t include your Ogres since you are trying to take back the Rough Hills terrain they came from and you don’t want to risk using them with their Activation stat increased from 6 to 7?
Once you pick a battle type and an army you can pick from one of the five scenarios in the book. These are all fairly basic scenarios but if Frostgrave is any indication there will be many more coming. You can pick from Pitched Battles, Oathmark battles where you are trying to defend or destroy terrain, bridge crossings, chance encounters or a pitched battle in the middle of a wind and rainstorm.
The system provides a very quick and easy way to build some character into your campaign battles and each terrain element that you fight over also comes with its own ideas for terrain for the table. It is not just a battle anywhere it is a battle for control of a monastery, silver mines or a slave camp.
Magic
The Magic system follows the theme of the main rules by trying to reduce excessive rules by simplifying the spells. Spells either have an immediate, one-time effect, or they last the entire game. There are no timing issues. There is no tracking the effect period of a spell.
Spellcasters can pick a number of spells up to their Spellcaster level from either the generic list or their faction’s list. Spells can be cast any number of time but a caster can only attempt one spell per turn. Units can benefit, or be effected by, a spell only once so you can’t stack buffs. All spells require line of sight unless noted and last all game unless noted.
Each faction has a unique set of spells but it is difficult to see if there is an overarching theme to the spells. So only Dwarves can cast Lightning Bolt, Elves have access to Trueflight (to buff archers) and Humans can cast Mud.
The magic isn’t a rigidly driven by theme as it is in games like Age of Sigmar but limiting spells to different races does mean that, in the context of the army building rules, that there are reasons for having access to more than one type of Spellcaster.
Special Abilities
There are 26 different special abilities in the game. Five of them define the type of model such as Monster, Artillery or Champion. Some add labels such as Large that are used in the rules to trigger exceptions. The rest add new combat abilities or special attacks. Some Special Abilities are paired in that they counteract each other. The Brace ability, typically found in units with spears, will counteract the Charge ability.
There isn’t a lot that is interesting or unique in the Oathmark abilities but there are some like Shielding or Wild Charge that require the player to make a decision whether to use them or not. Shielding can reduce the dice an opponent gets in combat but at the cost of one of your own dice. Wild Charge lets you reroll a dice but also lets your opponent do the same. They are simple choices but they add another layer to combat resolution with a minimum of rules.
My absolute favourite Special Ability though has to be Fire Over. It lets a unit with ranged weapons fire over a unit in the same army as long as it is within 3″ of it. Your spearmen can advance towards the enemy with the support of archers without having to widen the frontage of your army unnecessarily.
Observations and Conclusion
Oathmark is a concise set of rules that presents mass-combat gaming for people that just want a fun game. WFB for the rest of us. It tosses out many of the particular rules interactions that make games like Warhammer Fantasy Battle complex and prone to arguments. The rules seem to limit themselves to the core essence of mass-combat and allow you to fudge the small stuff.
Ranks still matter in the game but they are used in a very streamlined manner. Flanks attacks are more potent but the rules are easy to digest. Morale is still present but you don’t have to determine when a unit is or is not below half-strength just count the casualties that happen during the combat. There is an element of chance in the activation and morale system but not so much that it can debilitate the game. So it contains all the core elements of a mass-combat system but it lets you play the game and enjoy it.
There are a few simple systems in the rules that are used, and extended, consistently and you get the feeling, after a single reading, that you have grasped the rules. Where there are exceptions, and there are very few, they make sense quickly because they still follow the same structure as other parts of the rules. The idea of simplicity and player choice infuse the book and it makes for an exciting set of rules. For me choices make a game. But if you don’t use an option or make a choice because you don’t understand the rules fully then the rules have failed you.
And if Oathmark was just the rules and some army lists then it would still be an exciting game. What really elevates it is the Kingdom and Campaign system. Building a Kingdom with specific terrain elements and then fighting over them brings the campaign system to life and presents so many opportunities for terrain building and storybuilding. It just seems ripe with the potential for fun.
The writing in the book tries to stay away from prescriptive text but there are a few areas where it might have been helpful. Simple Actions are defined in the book but in a more passive way than most rulebooks and it makes you think that there is a more precise definition somewhere. The rules for shooting at Large and Enormous units are a bit odd and it took me a few minutes (and some help from the Oathmark Facebook group) to figure them out.
Those are really the exceptions in a very well written and well crafted set of rules. The final part of this review will discuss how the rules work on the table-top and what sort of game experience they provide.
Pile of dice 
You must be logged in to post a comment.