Other Projects: Darkest Africa, Back of Beyond and VSF

All my developments and research on alternative fantasy and science fiction settings have generated some other projects which I'm looking at just now. 

First up is a look at Darkest Africa which presents an alternative African setting based loosely on Central and East Africa of the late 19^th Century. This fantastic adaptation is populated by exotic tribes, mythical races and features lost civilisations. The inclusion of special rules for leaders and personalities provides an individual heroic and adventuring perspective. Forces involve British and German Imperial regulars ranged against Native Tribes, Intelligent Reptile Men, an Anubian Egytian Undead army based on the Mummy Returns, a Lost Legion of Rome and Zanzibari Arabs.

The second setting is inspired by some games I've seen on the Edinburgh Wargamers' Web Page looking at a Back of Beyond Campaigns in Central Asia 1919-25. The Back of Beyond period adaptation allows the recreation of events which played out in Central Asia during the 1920's set against the backdrop of the Russian Civil War. It allows both historical and what if games with a range of troop types, factions and weaponry. There is scope for aircraft, tanks, armoured cars, trucks and gunboats and the inclusion of special rules for leaders and personalities. The various factions represented are:

Red Army (Bolsheviks). Based on the forces on the Turkestan and Eastern Fronts and including Cheka, Siberian Rifles and Red Guard.

White Russians. Supporters of the late Tsar, these anti-Bolshevik troops include elite Officer Corps and Cossack Partisans.

British in India. A possible intervention force and something of a regional super-power.

Turkish Army. Although they didn't intervene in Central Asia outside Georgia they could have intervened under the leadership of Enver Pasha.

Afghans. The Afghan Regular Army, a little outdated, but a useful foil to British interests in the region.

Chinese Warlords. Forces of local Chinese governors supported by Western advisors. They include ferocious sword-wielding "Dare to Die" troops.

Mongolian Tribes. Equestrian armies of tribesmen who either swamp their opponents or, more usually, get mown down.

Last up are ongoing developmentS of my VSF and solar system based science-fiction adaptations. These are still WIP but reaching a point of completion now so I will be posting details soon.

Middle Earth: Third Age Eriador

I've completed my rules adaptation for this specific setting in Tolkien's Third Age dealing with the Northern Kingdom of Arnor and the emergent successor states which waged a number of wars against the Witch-King of Angmar. It is now posted in the Files Section of the Yahoo Group webpage.

I've posted it as a standalone version comparable to my C&S Archaeron adaptation of the AMW Rules. I'm quite pleased with how these turned out and hope to fight some battles over the coming months to see how they play out. I've been able to reflect my thoughts on a Dark Age / Early Medieval cultural overlay onto the various forces and factions. There is a bit of artistic license in my interpretation but I was generally motivated by a desire to keep the fantasy low key, albeit with the infusion of non-human races and some limited magical powers.

Fantasy Rules: Some More Setting Variants

There has recently been some discussion on the AMW Yahoo Group concerning the Fantasy variant I posted some time ago in the Files section. This got me contemplating additional settings that I could develop new army lists for, formulate some special rules and ultimately play a few games.

My current fantasy setting is the Archaeron World based on the C&S First Edition campaign developed by Ed Simbalist. On reflection there were a few other Fantasy settings that I'd actively gamed back in the 1980s. So the candidates so far for development are:

1. The Young Kingdoms of Moorcock's Elric novels. I ran a Stormbringer campaign.

2. Dragon Pass / Praxian armies of the Runequest Glorantha setting. I played in a RQ first edition setting in the early 80s.

3. AD&D massed battles setting. This would allow combats between factions and races in a wilderness / frontier region, various subterranean locations and optional extensions of the skirmish rules to allow some dungeon style games. These would be based on my earliest adventures and RPG settings and bring in some of my favourite characters as leaders and personalities.

4. Regarding a Tolkein setting, I'd used MERP to game a Northern wilderness campaign.  From this interest I was contemplating looking at a specific section of history in the Third Age which focused on the struggle in the North between Arnor and Angmar. This could cover the Civil Wars and the Wars v the Witch King and include some interesting armies. It also has much less in the form of pre-canned third party design and views as to the setting's look and feel than the Lord of the Rings period. My original imagination when I read the books was of a late Dark Age world with a good dose of monsters and subtle magic. If I enjoy this I might be tempted to extend this forward to the War of the Ring or maybe into other conflicts in Middle Earth's History.