A New General's Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Battleaxe Fantasy Generals, or BFG, is a homage to a certain rank-and-flank fantasy battle game that ended over a decade ago. While the game is no longer supported, gamers around the world have tried to keep it alive by playing prior editions or making their own, new versions.
This is one of those new versions.
To start, this section is intended to provide you, the player, with an overview of the game and hobby that is Battleaxe. In addtion, this should provide you an idea of what you will need in order to play a game of any size. This includes recommendations on peripherals to how to go about collecting an army and getting it on the table and ready to play.
So, without further ado...

WELCOME TO BATTLEAXE!

The drumbeat of war sounds across the ravaged landscape. Battleaxe is a dark and dangerous world, full of magic and forces light and foul, a time of constant strife. BFG brings war to your tabletop, where you command your armies to astounding victory or terrible defeat, daring maneuvers and brutal slaughter.
Battleaxe puts you in command of a force of your choosing, comprised of miniatures of 25-32mm scale. Gleaming regiments of High Elves, chittering hordes of Skaven, foul mutants of Chaos, desperate blocks of Imperial defenders, to name just a few. Your army will march, maneuver, outflank, and charge into battle against your foes. At your command, bows and arrows, complex artillery, and steel great and small will be taken up in your name and the bodies of your chosen army will be hurled into the fray in search of glorious victory! Led by heroes of legend, backed up by monsters great and ancient, it is up to you to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat!

THE HOBBY

Battleaxe is more than just a board game, but a hobby built to reward your creativity as well. Collect miniatures, assemble and paint them into a army you would be proud to put on the table! There is terrain to be made, tabletops to represent your battlefields, and a rich history to explore and push forward with your actions! Your only limit is your imagination. It can be a lot of work, but as a wise person once said, "Glory won lightly is not glory at all."

HOW THIS DOCUMENT WORKS

This document lays out the full rules of how your army moves, shoots, fights, and slings magical spells to defeat your foe. In addition to the core "how to play", you will find rules for fielding brave heroes and terrible monsters and war machines great and small. Everything you will need to play a complete and dynamic game.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PLAY?

At your table, you and your opponent(s) will need the following items:

An Army

Both you and your opponent will need an army to battle with! From fast, lithe armies like Dark Elves that mix infantry, cavalry, and monsters to the slow but solid infantry lines and devastating war machines of a Dwarf army, Battleaxe has over a dozen army types to choose from. Each force is different and characterful in its own right, but best of all each army can be built in countless combinations. Players can choose their favorite models, exploit a favorite game tactic or collect as their whims dictate. No two armies need be alike.
It might take a while to amass a large collection of painted figures, but a finished army gloriously arrayed upon a battlefield is a rewarding sight and well worth the effort.
In this battle an Empire army, including war machines and mounted knights, takes on an invasion of Warriors of Chaos bolstered by hideous beasts and even a Giant. The fate of this village hangs in the balance. All the scenic pieces on top of the gaming table are plastic Citadel kits by Games Workshop, assembled and painted just like the model soldiers themselves.
The gaming table shown here is the Citadel Realm of Battle Gameboard (also by Games Workshop), which is made up of 2' by 2' tiles that can be rearranged in different configurations to vary your battles.

1. RULEBOOK
When first learning how to play you’ll find yourself consulting the rulebook fairly often during the course of a battle. After a few matches, however, the bulk of gameplay will become second nature and you’ll soon find that you only need to check the book for occasional reference or to find clarification for an unusual game situation.
2. TAPE MEASURE
The bounce of a cannonball, the flight of a griffon, the charge of a regiment of knights mounted atop giant lizards or the range of a wizard’s fireball are all measured in inches. A tape measure or other measuring device marked in inches is therefore a necessity.
3. TEMPLATES
Some weapons, such as stone throwers or the highly feared Flame Cannon of the Dwarfs, affect a large area and can destroy many models at once. By placing the correctly sized template in place, players can determine how many models are hit.
4. A BATTLEFIELD
What turns your flat surface into a battlefield is the addition of terrain. This could consist of any number of strange magical features such as a fungal forest, a river of blood, a fell temple to some dark power, or the heaped skull-totems of a barbaric race. You will need at least a few terrain pieces to play Battleaxe because the tactical demands that terrain puts on commanders is an important and exciting part of the game (although when you’re starting out, many gamers use piles of books for hills, cardboard boxes for buildings and other stand-in solutions). Often the player who can best read the ‘lay of the land’ to his army’s advantage wins the battle.
5. A PLAYING SURFACE
Any flat surface can become the battlefield for armies to fight over. A dedicated playing space is ideal, but a kitchen table, flat workbench or even the floor will do. Try to avoid having to disassemble an ongoing battle to accommodate a family meal or, in the case of a ‘floor war’, having some of your troops trodden upon by unwary interlopers.
6. DICE
Battleaxe uses six-sided dice to work out effects such as combat and shooting. It’s useful to have quite a few dice on hand as combats are tumultuous affairs requiring fistfuls of dice to be rolled at a time. A few differently coloured dice are handy to work out specific rolls for heroes. You will also need an artillery dice and a scatter dice to work out certain spell and war machine effects (see the General Principles chapter).
7. PEN & PAPER (OR OTHER NOTE TAKING DEVICES)
In the midst of a bloody Battleaxe battle it is easy to forget key information. Having pen and paper handy so you can jot down how many wounds have been inflicted upon large monsters, or which unit has been cursed with an ongoing spell, will allow you to get on with the game instead of trying to remember minutiae.
OPTIONAL: MOVEMENT TRAYS
In Battleaxe a grouped formation of troops is called a unit. Some units can be fairly large, consisting of 20, 30 or even more models. Moving these models individually can take quite a bit of time, so many players keep the units ‘blocked’ together by use of a base or movement tray. These can be custom-made or bought and will greatly aid moving larger units– don’t field a horde without them!

These units are ranked up on movement trays to make it easier for the player to move them around the battlefield.

MUSTERING YOUR FORCES

Battleaxe is a game of armies clashing on the tabletop. In order to play, you’ll need an army of your own, but which will you choose? Perhaps a black-hearted and monster-filled force of Dark Elves, or an army from Bretonnia, the knights bedecked in armour and magnificent heraldry, the magically animated Tomb King hordes or ironclad elite Warriors of Chaos?
Battleaxe presents over a dozen army types, each with its own unique look, troop types, game rules, and defining attributes. For instance, a High Elf army is characterised by its relatively low numbers of highly skilled warriors, its wide choice of fighting elites, and its access to elegant, yet deadly monsters like Dragons and Griffons. High Elves are masters of powerful, but largely defensive magic. Conversely, the chaotic ratmen known as Skaven are a horde army – a fighting force whose common tactic is to swamp their enemies with an expendable tide of cheap troops. Mixed in with the massed assaults are devastating, but occasionally self-destructing arcane war machines. Skaven magic is wildly offensive but occasionally risky to its own side.
Not only is there a wide variety of different army types with varying characteristics to choose from, but each army is itself made up of many unique troop choices and options. It is possible to compose armies of the same type in countless different and rewarding ways. So how do you choose an army and how big should it be?
There are as many different reasons to choose an army as there are gamers. Some collect armies based on the look of the models, the army’s tactics or special rules, or perhaps the force’s background or ethos. Some players can’t settle on a single force and purchase miniatures from a spectrum of different armies. The only ‘right way’ is the method that feels right for you.
It is possible to start playing small games of Battleaxe with an army made up of three to four units, including a model to represent the army’s General – the hero (or villain!) that is commanding the force. Such a game can be played within an hour. There is no upwards limit to the size of an army and some particularly avid collectors can field massive forces that include hundreds or even thousands of models. In addition, many players are fortunate enough to have amassed more than one army to game with.

ARMIES OF BATTLEAXE

Players seeking more information about a chosen army should reference the Battleaxe army documents. Each document in this supplemental series focuses on a single army, providing in-depth background, a bestiary that lists all the troop types and their rules, plus new magical weapons and other items, expertly painted example models, and an army list that will help you to organize your army.

Some hobbyists pour over every bit of background text, or fluff, pondering how their force fits into the larger Battleaxe world. They may try to slot their army into existing story, or even create new stories of their own to describe their force and how it is special. A player often puts much passion into their army. Competitive players hone their forces by playing many practice matches, forever tweaking their army selection between games and agonizing over equipment options. Top model painters lavish incredible levels of detail upon each and every model, spending particular attention to the centerpiece figures like monsters and leaders.

FIGHTING A BATTLE

So what is it like to play a Battleaxe battle? The next few pages will give you a general idea – running through the stages of setting up the battlefield, deploying the armies, fighting out the battle, and determining if you have won glorious victory or suffered ignominious defeat.
The Fighting a Battle section presents a number of ‘pitched battles’. Each of these explains how to play a slightly different type of battle, ranging from a straightforward clash of battlelines to a fight in a mountain pass or the defence of a watchtower. Players can roll a dice to decide which pitched battle they will play or simply choose one.

SETTING UP A BATTLE

Next, you will need a battlefield, be it the kitchen table, the floor, or a fully modelled wargames board.
Once you and your opponent have your armies mustered ready for battle, the first step in playing a game of Battleaxe is setting up the battlefield. Both players work together to place pieces of terrain on the tabletop, representing haunted forests, fortified watchtowers, rocky hills, magical monuments, and other strange features that make up the landscape in the world of Battleaxe. The best battlefields not only pose tactical challenges to the players, but also look great. This is your chance to set the scene of your battle and bring a bit of the Battleaxe world alive. How to set your battlefield up is also covered in the Fighting a Battle section.

DEPLOY YOUR ARMIES

With the terrain set up it is now time to choose table sides and deploy armies. Each player rolls a dice and whoever rolls highest picks the side of the table he wishes his army to start on. The player that lost the dice roll will set up on the opposite side. The two players then take it in turns to place their regiments, war machines, monsters, etc.
This is where you must start applying tactical thought – from which direction will the enemy troops advance? Is there high ground from which archers or war machines can rain death upon the foe? Can your models reach any special terrain features that grant useful benefits to your army? In other words, how can you best exploit the lay of the land to give your army a better chance of destroying your enemy?
Details on how to deploy can be found in the Fighting a Battle section.

TO BATTLE

Now that both sides are deployed it is time to fight the battle! Players take turns to act with their armies. During a turn a player will first manoeuvre his units, perhaps charging some into combat with the foe. Next he will unleash magical spells from his Wizards, and shooting attacks such as archery or cannon-fire. Lastly, any close combats are fought out, after which his turn is over and the other player takes his turn.
During your own turn you will be busy trying to apply your masterful battle plan. You will be moving models, measuring the range of potential bowfire (or other missiles and spells), working out close combat results and generally trying your best to destroy your foe’s army.
During your opponent’s turn, in addition to watching him trying to dismantle your forces, you will have to make various dice rolls, such as testing to see if your armour protects you, if you can dispel enemy magic or if any of your units panic due to the onslaught of the foe.
Casualties – models that are slain over the course of the battle – are removed from play and placed somewhere safe off the battlefield. Thus, as the game progresses, units dwindle in size or disappear altogether in the bloody fighting.

VICTORY

Each pitched battle explains how many turns to play for and how to work out who has won the game. Often the victor will be obvious – one side’s troops will be in tatters – mostly dead or fleeing, perhaps with their General slain. Other battles are decided by seizing enemy banners or capturing a strategic objective – a watchtower or other piece of terrain. Whatever the outcome, only a rematch will give you the chance for further glory or sweet revenge.
Regardless of outcome, conqueror or vanquished, it is customary to shake your opponent’s hand. Good sportsmanship is always key. We call this THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE.

Next - THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE >>