More Oathmark

I finished up a few more Oathmark figures today. I forgot to take pictures of the group but another 5 Elf Spearmen and 5 Human spearmen are completed.

The Human Champions were also completed as was the Elf maquette.

I also built the 30 Light Elves. There are 2 units of 10 archers (Rangers) and 10 swordsmen (pathfinders).

For now here is a picture of a red headed human champion.

Oathmark Army Planner

This year I have decided to primarily focus my hobby efforts on my fantasy figures, namely Oathmark miniatures and a small smattering of Rangers of Shadow Deep.



I sold off all of my Warhammer figures in the last few years.


 
As I've mentioned before, I have plastic box sets for each of the major races.



I was apprehensive when it came to building the figures as I was nervous to commit to a specific build in the odd chance that the weapon type was too expensive or not effective.



Growing up with Warhammer, I'd check out an army book, create some sample lists, buy the figures and then build accordingly. It made sense to me.



However, with Oathmark, it’s a little different. The rules aren’t out yet. The figures are being slowly released.

On February 5, 2020, Osprey dropped a major bit of information. They released the Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age - Army Planner, which is a PDF with dropdowns that can be selected that you can use to see the points costs of different units.

Finally!

It took me a while to figure out how to open it but what an amazing guide. The only unknowns now are the differences between a King, Prince or General, Captains or Champions, or the 5 levels of spellcasters.

I decided to play around with the lists in the army planner.

Based on what I currently have for Goblins and what I plan on purchasing, I can field something like this:

Goblin King (Mounted)

Gobin Spellcaster Lvl 2(Mounted)

2x 10 Goblin Wolf Riders

Goblin Captain

Goblin Spellcaster (Lvl 3)

2x 15 Goblin Soldiers

2x 10 Goblin Archers

15 Goblin Spearmen

I won’t put the actual points per model but this force rings in at 1754 points.

All in all, it’s a fairly cost effective force. This is how I’m going to create the troops.

For the 65 Soldiers, Spearmen and Archers:

2 boxes of Goblin Infantry

1 additional sprue of Goblin Infantry (on ebay)

For the 20 Goblin Wolf Riders:

1 box of Goblin Wolf Riders

The 5 mounted metal champions or lord miniatures. You could just as easily grab a sprue off ebay once released.

The hero figures are the metal mounted shaman and foot shaman, the free maquette if you backed the nickstarter and the limited edition Uber wolf as the king.

This gives me some wiggle room to upgrade/downgrade the characters to play anywhere from 1500-2000 points or to add a few more things. 2x 10 wolves takes it 1994 points.

My Dwarves on the other hand will look something like this:

Dwarf King

Dwarf Spellcaster (Lvl3)

15 Dwarf Warriors

15 Dwarf Linebreakers

2x15 Soldiers

15 Spearmen

2x10 Archers

This force comes in at 1977 points. It’s even cheaper to purchase than the Goblins

For the 65 Soldiers, Spearmen and Archers:

2 boxes of Dwarf Infantry

1 additional sprue of Dwarf Infantry (on ebay)

The Warriors and Linebreakers come from 1 Dwarf Heavy Infantry box

The King and the Spellcaster both come from the King, Wizard and Musician blister pack.

I’ll share lists for my humans and elves later.

Oathmark

I’ve always loved fantasy skirmish and massed battle games. My journey began when as a 13 year old boy, I wandered into the Games Workshop at the Eaton Centre.

Over the years, I’ve branched away from GW and thus, fantasy. I’d even sold off most of the armies or factions that I had been collecting.

I moved into historical and pulp, moderns and sci-fi but I’ve always held a special place in my gaming heart for fantasy.

When Northstar started teasing Oathmark and the new plastic lines, something deep in the recess of my brain clicked. I modestly backed the first four Nickstarters, for one box of infantry each and that free metal figure.

Like all good hobby purchases, they sat, NIB on my hobby desk of shame for months. It wasn’t until the second round of releases started to be announced that I decided to get my act together.

I quickly build the Dwarves. I toyed around with several unit sizes and armaments. Without having the rules available, I was hesitant and settled on 10 each armed with bow, spear and hand weapons. The spear and hand weapon armed units each have a captain-y type figure and banner bearer as well.

I liked the variety available in each box and the poses. However two things about the dwarves was I did not like quickly popped up. I don’t like the pose of the shield arm. It looked odd, especially without the shield attached. But I suppose it does make sense for a shield wall. I also wasn’t fond of the head/neck joint. You can’t turn or tilt the head for variety/dynamics etc.

I built the Goblins in the same fashion. I liked this kit a lot better. But the head/neck joint was still bothersome.

The human faction was built the same. 10 each of bows, spears and swords. But I only made one captain and one banner bearer.

I was disappointed that I had no rule sets, no point values or weapon attributes to see what flavor I could add to the factions. But my plan was to always add a second box of each so I was confident that I would probably have a well-rounded force in the end.

Then came the Elves. I decided to throw it all on its head. I built 30 spear armed elves, in 3 units of 10. Each with a captain and a banner bearer. I also added helmet plumes on one to differentiate a type of royal guard.

Now, I know what some of you must be thinking, “Elves without bows?” The heresy. I know, I know. But whatever. My second box will balance that out along with the future light elves release.

Anyways, on to the pictures. And as always, excuse the poor photos. I really need to dust off that light box I built.

This is that versatility I was talking about. This photo is one box of Oathmark Human Infantry. For roughly $45.00 CDN I'd say the value here is excellent.

Here are the 10 swordsmen. I like most of the poses. I left the shields off during painting and attached them later. What I didn't realize is that some of the soldiers are literally hiding behind their shields. The figure with the axe (second from left in the rear row) is a prime example. I just need to stay cognizant of that in the future.


My plan for the banner bearer is kind of up in the air. I like the House Mormont sigil (Black Bear on a green field). But I don't want to fork out the $$ for several flags. I'll probably try my hand at making my own.

If you look closely at the rear row, only one figure is actually holding his arrow properly. I don't know what I was thinking at the time. Live and learn. I'm kind of embarrassed. I actually own a bow and have used it, but in my defense, it has been quite a while.


Once I get some games in these guys will be either super accurate or at least I'll have a good argument for why I can't roll dice to save my life. "They can't even hold their arrows correctly, how am I supposed to roll a 6?"

 Lastly the spearmen. Not much to see here aside from some high held shields. At least I'm consistent. I picked up a loose sprue on eBay so will be adding another rank, with a captain and banner bearer.

I "believe" light cavalry may be the next human release. I'd like to add another box set before then to bulk out the force.

Based on 2x 30 figures box sets and 1 5-figure sprue, my initial ideas are:

2x10 archers

2x15 spearmen

1x15 swordsmen

Alrighty. Well. It felt good to get a hobby post in. A lot has happened since last April. I guess I was just in a funk. Too busy to actually sit down and type out what I'd painted or played, bought or sold. Hopefully I can change that.