Burrows & Badgers
The Kingdom of Northymbra is a land in turmoil. King Redwulf is missing, and his son rules as regent in his stead, facing threats from within and without: growing dissention among the knights and nobles of the realm, whispers of revolution from the Freebeasts, Wildbeasts encroaching on the borders, and bandits of all stripes making the most of the chaos.
Burrows & Badgers is a tabletop skirmish game set in the ancient realm of Northymbra, a kingdom where mice, badgers, toads and other animals wear armour, wield swords, and cast magic spells.
Your tabletop becomes part of the Kingdom of Northymbra, whose ruined villages, haunted forests, and misty marshes play host to brutal ambushes and desperate skirmishes. Lead your warband from battle to battle, and uphold the name of your faction, whether you stand with Reinert's Royalists, the Freebeasts of the Fox Families, or simply for your own glory or survival.
Each model in Burrows & Badgers represents an individual character, and can be selected from a wide range of species - from the humble mouse to the mighty badger - and armed and equipped as desired. Scenarios link into ongoing campaigns, where heroes and villains may make their names and the assistance of infamous mercenaries might mean the difference between victory and defeat.
GorillaGrody wrote: a mercenary Badger.
We played the “Lost in the Fog” scenario. Each figure activated had a 50/50 chance of wandering off in the wrong direction. Her Lizard Mage, named Von Cellphone, managed to teleport his Hedgehog friend off the side of the board to safety, but took a few turns to successfully bamf himself to safety. Meanwhile, my squirrels, Joey Condom and his brother Skeevy, ganged up on a mithril clad mouse, gave up, saw a break in the fog, and escaped the board (as Wildbeasts factionistas they’d scoped things out earlier and got a jump on things). A little scrimmage formed in the middle of the board until my toad bodyguard Bippo wised up and scrabbled for the exit, winning by a hair. Afterwards everyone went back to labor on their den except for my Badger, who did a little farm work for cash, and Squeeg Leggings, my leader, who saved an alchemist from drowning and won a few healing potions. Love this game.
Michael Barnes wrote: I’m not looking at this stuff la la la y’all are talking about a game that doesn’t exist la la la
This is the game I’ve wanted from Osprey over the course of a dozen books, but of course it’s a very specific painting project, too, one for which mere proxies would never work.
Except for the fact that it’s really great, I’m afraid that, in its specificity, it’s all too easy to avoid.
I actually quickly touched base with the sculptor/author and he assured me he’s working on a new book of scenarios. So it’s getting support.
Well worth the effort.
ubarose wrote: Someone needs to write a review of this for the site.
I will! I'm still working on my promised follow-up to the Warhammer saga, comparing more user-friendly indie systems to the Warhammer system. I just got a little caught up in work and life stuff (which phrase will be etched on my tombstone).
www.oathswornminiatures.co.uk/
They have an extremely high character 1980s/1990s GW vibe... before the sculpting got admittedly better but the models because less off-beat.
Gary Sax wrote: I mean, look at THIS cat:
burrowsandbadgers.com/gallery-image/g13.jpg
He’s in my painting queue now.
BaronDonut wrote: GG, this game seems like the perfect overlapping Venn diagram between your favorite things and Ish's favorite things.
This bears the mark of truth. Ish has flipped her wig over this game.
She won and leveled herself up mainly by outfitting her team with Fearlessless vs my Badger, whose Fearful ability has a tendency to disarm any opponent.
Joey Condom, the squirrel, got ganged up on and walked away with a new limp.
Her raccoon walked away from unconsciousness unscathed, and with extra experience.
Anyway, this is mainly another excuse to post pics.
stormseeker75 wrote: How complex are the rules compared to Song of Blades and Heroes?
They’re comparably complex, if not less so. Very much at the level of Frostgrave, except instead of using a bunch of modifiers on a d20, instead you just level up polyhedrals.
blatz wrote: After seeing your minis and checking out the rules, I caved and bought the book. My daughter might actually play this one with me and I’m already cooking up some terrain. Plus, those minis would make a pretty great Frostgrave warband.
Oh good! It’s a great ruleset and the minis are utterly charming. I’m a curmudgeon when it comes to miniatures games, and this system just hits the spot for me. Glad you heard the good news, brother.
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As for Frostgrave, I have some issues with the capriciousness of having everything depend on the role of a d20, but it’s fun nevertheless. It’s also a lot easier to proxy in miniatures and still stay within the mood.