{"id":25901,"date":"2022-09-19T13:13:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T12:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/?p=25901"},"modified":"2023-06-25T01:36:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T00:36:49","slug":"sitrep-famous-by-our-swords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2022\/09\/19\/sitrep-famous-by-our-swords\/","title":{"rendered":"SITREP: Famous By Our Swords!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As you may know, I am very much of fantasy games. Having let myself buy more than just moderns, I decided to go hard into getting all the fantasy figures I’d always wanted, but never got around to getting armies for. Combine that with 3d printing giving me all the figures I might want for cheap and a brain that can’t be stopped from writing settings, and suddenly I’ve got a hankering for fantasy world of men, elves and dwarves in puffy sleeves and filled with duty to their Empress versus the monsters of the wilds (although honestly, it’s probably more likely to be nobles fighting nobles).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem I’ve had is finding a ruleset that really hit the spot when it comes to the style of Fantasy game I want to play. I want a game that is balanced to be gritty but simple to pick up and play, as I’ll be mostly playing alongside my sister. I also want something that is filled with plenty of toys and is fun to be tied together into a campaign with some progression, allowing for gradual improvements as the games tick on… Oh and usually a suitably grim wounds table so by the end your grizzled veterans are hobbling their way into combat or sitting out for a contract or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve already tried things like Open Combat (a fantastic system for getting stuff on the table but missing some of the grit I wanted), Frostgrave (great overall system and love the writing but the D20 mechanic seemed not the most intuitive too swingy for my taste) and Rangers (love the RPG element and the co-op but again D20s).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Enter a new challenger, Famous By Our Swords, available on Kofi<\/a>. I was directed to this by a friend of mine I usually talk Ultramoderns with as it was written by a friend of his. After a little look, I was immediately taken by the rules set. I almost feel a little bad putting the fantastically written world-building that starts the book to one side so I can focus on the actual rules. The core mechanics mostly hinge around an interesting activation system (each character has a number of activations that go into a bag to be drawn out at random) that leads to some really interesting situations, a simple “D12 + stat” based combat system and campaign system based around venturing out to solve contracts for the company while slowly improving your crew raising stats and gaining new equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would wholeheartedly say it’s worth taking a look. This definitely feels like it needs a clarification or two, with maybe some additional details or explanations, with one or two places being more suggestions than hard and fast rules. Our main sticking points were activations (more specifically how many actions per activation – we ended up playing one action per activation for some extra tension) and armour (saves are mentioned in the character stats but not in the melee combat process so we missed it out). However, from chatting to the author, these clarifications and ongoing support is planned, and will be freely available for anyone who buys the book. So if you’re looking for something fantasy to play (or maybe have just finished mainlining Battle Brothers<\/a> until a few hours before the game), creating a company in Famous by our Swords and running a few contracts is a pretty great way to spend an evening. I’m definitely going to play some of this, and I think we’ll be seeing more entries in The Empress’s Hounds with my sister rolling up her own warband to serve the Empress and clean out the Marches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

But enough talking about rules, let’s talk about the games. Yep, games! We managed to fit two encounters in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the table from me sat the Dastardly Regular Opponent. Having rolled up a warband of four mercenaries (Hans with his hammer, Freddy with axe and pistol, Petyr with the polearm and Sydney with sword and shield), the company contract was rolled up – turns out the local village graveyard had a minor undead problem, complete with an attached necromancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Turning up at said graveyard revealed the rough estimate of 5 zombies was wrong and instead they would have to fight their way through 7. We technically played the zombies incorrect (the statlines were right but we missed the rules about only knocking them down and the resolve tests) but even so they were a big tar pit, tying up Petyr, Hans and Sydney at the gate. The Necromancer being able to bring them back during his three activations was also pretty irritating, but wildly swinging the polearm allowed Petyr to clear some space for Hans to break through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hans at this point rushed through the gap to get into close combat, swinging the hammer at the gibbering mage. Taking a wound off caused the mage to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reviving a zombie to come assist, the necromancer inadvertently formed a conga line and Petryr was all too happy to cut the music. Hans and Freddy finished off the necromancer (turns out mages are bad in melee with a poisoned blade). After shoving the bodies back into their graves and reliving the necromancer of his coin, the party returned to be paid for the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At which point, the company took 25% of all loot gained. Because even in fantasy, you can’t escape admin fees. On the plus side, the XP gain did allow for some additional activations for each character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

For game 2, the dice rolled up a rescue mission, with the return of the fan favourite Siccarian Ambassador once again in trouble. Still grumbling about how much they had been taxed, the mercenaries took the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then realised what they were up against – Northmen! One leader, three heavily armoured warriors and worst of all, a very angry cow. I used the Cave Troll stats for the Minotaur, replacing it’s club with a spear. With 10 wounds and three activations, monsters are no joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Made worse when the group got bottled up between two halves of the force. The minotaur managed to pummel Hans into the ground and take wounds off both Petyr and Sydney but thanks to the polearm managing to cause two wounds when it hit, we managed to beat back the minotaur as well as the warriors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WIth time going on, we decided to use the Brain\/Brawn campaign skills to see if these heavily beaten mercenaries would have to fight the Lord. Luckily, a successful roll let the Mercenaries bribe their way out of having to fight a very scary man in their wounded state. Mission successful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then the company took their 25% cut. But on the plus side, Hans was only suffering from a maimed hand, putting him at -1 to his combat for the next two contracts. Maybe it’s time to get some guys on the roster (once I paint them up).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

And with that, the games were done. We had a really good time so I think we’ll be playing some more of this. If you want to give Famous By Our Swords a go, you can find it over on Kofi at https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/s\/8f3371f9c4<\/a> for the cost of $5 or more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you may know, I am very much of fantasy games. Having let myself buy more than just moderns, I decided to go hard into getting all the fantasy figures I’d always wanted, but never got around to getting armies for. Combine that with 3d printing giving me all the figures I might want for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":25909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1056,1093,903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy-skirmish","category-features","category-wargaming"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Michael Charge","author_link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/author\/chargedog\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PXL_20220917_211001296-1.jpg","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PXL_20220917_211001296-1.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Fantasy Skirmish<\/a>","Features<\/a>","Wargaming<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Fantasy Skirmish<\/span>","Features<\/span>","Wargaming<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 19\/09\/2022","modified":"Updated on 25\/06\/2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 19\/09\/2022 1:13 pm","modified":"Updated on 25\/06\/2023 1:36 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pvEn5-6JL","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24626,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2021\/12\/02\/sitrep-big-fantasy-warriors-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":25901,"position":0},"title":"SITREP – Big Fantasy Warriors Time","author":"Michael Charge","date":"02\/12\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Aside from finishing off massive impression pieces, hobby time has mostly been focused on Fantasy figures. Mostly Games Workshop's Chaos range. I am well on the way with the limited edition Chaos Warrior that turned up on the weekend (and then I immediately modified). Took me a little bit to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/features\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PXL_20211130_233843092.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PXL_20211130_233843092.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PXL_20211130_233843092.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PXL_20211130_233843092.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PXL_20211130_233843092.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PXL_20211130_233843092.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15288,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/11\/18\/sitrep-zorros-coliveri-swordmaster\/","url_meta":{"origin":25901,"position":1},"title":"SITREP – Zorros Coliveri, Swordmaster","author":"Michael Charge","date":"18\/11\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A member of the same order as O'Dicca and Jochman, Zorros Coliveri, son of Volpe Coliveri, has been described by many others as \"a bounder, a cad and a villain of the highest order.\" He is also, however, a very successful agent of the Midgardian Empire, an expert in hiring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SITREP"","block_context":{"text":"SITREP","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/wargaming\/sitrep\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PXL_20201117_160821765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PXL_20201117_160821765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PXL_20201117_160821765.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PXL_20201117_160821765.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PXL_20201117_160821765.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PXL_20201117_160821765.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25282,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2022\/03\/20\/for-coin-for-contract-halfling-paymaster\/","url_meta":{"origin":25901,"position":2},"title":"For Coin, For Contract – Halfling Paymaster","author":"Michael Charge","date":"20\/03\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Every servant of the Empress has their role. Mine just happens to involve balancing transactions and making sure that mercenaries like yourself fulfil their obligations. And while yes, my usefulness against a horde of orcs or the Northmen may be limited, I do like to think it works better when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy Skirmish"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy Skirmish","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/wargaming\/projects\/fantasy-skirmish\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DSC00315-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DSC00315-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DSC00315-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DSC00315-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DSC00315-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DSC00315-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23300,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2021\/08\/25\/the-empresss-hounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":25901,"position":3},"title":"The Empress’s Hounds","author":"Michael Charge","date":"25\/08\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"An advantage of moving back to Leeds was bringing me closer to friends and family which brings with it the advantage that I have a much wider base of people to see and play games with. One of which is my Sister, who runs her own blog covering her hobbies.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adventures in Midgard"","block_context":{"text":"Adventures in Midgard","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/wargaming\/adventures-in-midgard\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PXL_20210714_205059660-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PXL_20210714_205059660-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PXL_20210714_205059660-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PXL_20210714_205059660-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PXL_20210714_205059660-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PXL_20210714_205059660-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31307,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/04\/28\/sitrep-back-to-fbos\/","url_meta":{"origin":25901,"position":4},"title":"SITREP: Back To FBOS","author":"Michael Charge","date":"28\/04\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"With zombies, knights and golems on the board, it's time for a return to fantasy and Famous By Our Swords!","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/features\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/FBOS.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/FBOS.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/FBOS.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/FBOS.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/FBOS.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12530,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/01\/16\/project-fantasy-skirmish-update-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":25901,"position":5},"title":"Project Fantasy Skirmish – Update 1","author":"Michael Charge","date":"16\/01\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"So it's been a while since I last talked about Fantasy Skirmishing. Mainly because, like a wargames butterfly, I was distracted by something shiny and disappeared off into doing non-wargaming things for a bit (as well as losing motivation). However, this didn't stop me picking more models and continuing to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy Skirmish"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy Skirmish","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/wargaming\/projects\/fantasy-skirmish\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_20200115_215622-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_20200115_215622-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_20200115_215622-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_20200115_215622-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_20200115_215622-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_20200115_215622-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}