Really like the channel (just discovered it recently). I own Bladestorm, having purchased it in the 90s, but haven’t played it much. Oddly enough, I use a lot of the miniatures Grenadier made for the game. Bladestorm was one of the systems that inspired me to design my own recently published fantasy miniatures wargame, Fights of Fantasy. Leaders in my rules function in a way similar to what you describe in your video. While they provide a morale modifier to their unit, each leader also possesses a trait which helps some facet of their troops’ performance in battle.
I've played this game a few times and have always enjoyed it. I really like the one dice roll combat mechanic. I remember going to GenCon in Milwaukee in the late 90s and signing up to playtest a RIFTS miniature game being run by the I.C.E. guys which I believe used the same core mechanics as Bladestorm. I remember it being a ton of fun. The guy running the game was taking our feedback on what factions we wanted to see in the game, among other things. Too bad it never came to fruition, but I've heard rumors in the gaming sphere that Palladium wasn't the easiest company to work with. Thanks for the video. This game is definitely a classic imo.
Nice price. I always did like the damage mechanics (in both this and Silent Death). Interestingly the original edition boxed set didn't include the Bestiary. I had to buy mine separately. It really was a skirmish game. The bladestorm mechanic was really an excuse to limit the size of battles because individual figures were actually quite complex and record keeping would definitely have slowed to game down unbearably. [And it's metric. Or "rest of world" measurements. ]
There seems to be a lot of crunch needing to keep track of during a solo game. Not sure it's my jam but looking forward to watching the rules in action.
I think you're right. We need to stress test this rule set. The big thing, looking at the stat lines, is that even block troops track hit points by individuals? That seems a little crazy.
Another great video. This is a cool old game when people wanted more crunch in their rules, or at least claimed they did. That Bestiary is an expansion book that contains even more scenarios too. It's neat that it was included in the sealed box. I guess ICE needed to move them all out at some later point. This is going to be a rough system to solo at more than a dozen figures a side. I remember wounds being a bit of a hassle to deal with and needing the rosters pretty extensively.
Yeah, tracking hits by individual will be something else. I'm going to bolt on a system to handle it a little more smoothly than dice on the table or somewhat.
good to see this game and i enjoyed playing it. as i recall, melee is conducted simultaneous each time you fight. an exchange on opponents attack and another exchange on your attack during your go. (two swings a turn). so he should have swiped back before running off iirc. casting spells, oddly is only done once a turn. the mass battles and formations were a pain to play so i just stuck to individual skirmish with this. the manoeuvres are good, i liked those. also when i rolled a death die, i chose not to use the "1" death die when calculating damage it seemed more of a "death die result" that way. i look forward to seeing the play throughs. quick edit: oh also stick to army list is good and try not to have too many high defence figures (14+ ish i think) or bad attackers like 2d6-3 etc.
That's an Alternative Armies mini, I believe it's part of a "human characters" set found in the Tabletop 15mm Fantasy category in the sidebar of the site.
At 3:36 did the box growl at you? Have you unwittingly released something? Recall MERPS from the days you found out about Tolkein from the printed page.
Bought both Bladestorm and Silent Death back in the day... Thought they were very comprehensive and clever in the day... especially enjoyed Silent Death as space combat games were somewhat a rarity back then.
Iron Crown's Rolemaster ruleset was pretty cool. I thought that mechanically it put D&D to shame, even if D&D did the whole worldbuilding/lore thing better. Character Law changed the way I thought about how tabletop games should work. Might take a look at this just based on the creator.
A lot of it was brilliant. I wish I had enough experience to speak authoritatively about it. It looks like the kind of game that can really shine, if you use it for the right job.
Really like the channel (just discovered it recently). I own Bladestorm, having purchased it in the 90s, but haven’t played it much. Oddly enough, I use a lot of the miniatures Grenadier made for the game. Bladestorm was one of the systems that inspired me to design my own recently published fantasy miniatures wargame, Fights of Fantasy. Leaders in my rules function in a way similar to what you describe in your video. While they provide a morale modifier to their unit, each leader also possesses a trait which helps some facet of their troops’ performance in battle.
I've played this game a few times and have always enjoyed it. I really like the one dice roll combat mechanic. I remember going to GenCon in Milwaukee in the late 90s and signing up to playtest a RIFTS miniature game being run by the I.C.E. guys which I believe used the same core mechanics as Bladestorm. I remember it being a ton of fun. The guy running the game was taking our feedback on what factions we wanted to see in the game, among other things. Too bad it never came to fruition, but I've heard rumors in the gaming sphere that Palladium wasn't the easiest company to work with. Thanks for the video. This game is definitely a classic imo.
"Is that an elf or a girl?" Amazing as always.
All of them look that way LOL:)!!!!!
Nice price. I always did like the damage mechanics (in both this and Silent Death). Interestingly the original edition boxed set didn't include the Bestiary. I had to buy mine separately.
It really was a skirmish game. The bladestorm mechanic was really an excuse to limit the size of battles because individual figures were actually quite complex and record keeping would definitely have slowed to game down unbearably.
[And it's metric. Or "rest of world" measurements. ]
One of the first games I tried running solo!
There seems to be a lot of crunch needing to keep track of during a solo game. Not sure it's my jam but looking forward to watching the rules in action.
I think you're right. We need to stress test this rule set. The big thing, looking at the stat lines, is that even block troops track hit points by individuals? That seems a little crazy.
Another great video. This is a cool old game when people wanted more crunch in their rules, or at least claimed they did. That Bestiary is an expansion book that contains even more scenarios too. It's neat that it was included in the sealed box. I guess ICE needed to move them all out at some later point.
This is going to be a rough system to solo at more than a dozen figures a side. I remember wounds being a bit of a hassle to deal with and needing the rosters pretty extensively.
Yeah, tracking hits by individual will be something else. I'm going to bolt on a system to handle it a little more smoothly than dice on the table or somewhat.
good to see this game and i enjoyed playing it. as i recall, melee is conducted simultaneous each time you fight. an exchange on opponents attack and another exchange on your attack during your go. (two swings a turn). so he should have swiped back before running off iirc. casting spells, oddly is only done once a turn. the mass battles and formations were a pain to play so i just stuck to individual skirmish with this. the manoeuvres are good, i liked those. also when i rolled a death die, i chose not to use the "1" death die when calculating damage it seemed more of a "death die result" that way. i look forward to seeing the play throughs.
quick edit: oh also stick to army list is good and try not to have too many high defence figures (14+ ish i think) or bad attackers like 2d6-3 etc.
Good advice. I'm going to try to run through all 20 scenarios first, then maybe kludge some Dragon Rampant scenarios into the game.
That box art looks like the work of the great Angus McBride, I'm a bit of a fan of his. The game does look interesting.
It is the venerable Mr. McBride! Good eye.
I remember seeing this on the shelves but never looked into it but played a lot of Silent Death and enjoyed it thanks for the overview of it.
Oooooo, an Angus McBride cover!!! Too cool
Which 15mm figure is that, with the shield and crested(?) helmet?
That's an Alternative Armies mini, I believe it's part of a "human characters" set found in the Tabletop 15mm Fantasy category in the sidebar of the site.
@ Thanks!
@ Found him:
#508 “Fighter in Chainmail with pack and sword”
Thanks!
Blast from the past. :)
At 3:36 did the box growl at you? Have you unwittingly released something? Recall MERPS from the days you found out about Tolkein from the printed page.
I wish it had a sci fi version 🙏
Have 1st and 2nd edition of this for years now and have always wanted to get a game in never got a chance but I really should just do it solo!
Bought both Bladestorm and Silent Death back in the day... Thought they were very comprehensive and clever in the day... especially enjoyed Silent Death as space combat games were somewhat a rarity back then.
There is a great tank game for Hammers Slammers hovertanks based on Silent Death.
...there is?!? WHERE?
@@noahdoyle6780 If you Google "Hammer's Slammers: Game Rules - The Werelords" you should find it.
Sounds like your rooster also enjoys Bladestorm.
Iron Crown's Rolemaster ruleset was pretty cool. I thought that mechanically it put D&D to shame, even if D&D did the whole worldbuilding/lore thing better. Character Law changed the way I thought about how tabletop games should work.
Might take a look at this just based on the creator.
A lot of it was brilliant. I wish I had enough experience to speak authoritatively about it. It looks like the kind of game that can really shine, if you use it for the right job.
we were NOT prudish in 1990! that was like the heyday pinnacle of sanity!