Of Gods and Mortals: Mythological Wargame Rules (Osprey Wargames)

OverviewOf Gods and Mortals (OGAM) is a set of skirmish rules for Mythology-themed miniature battles. Models represent individual mortals, legends, or gods. Gods and legends move and fight independently, while mortals fight in close or open order groups of 4-8 figures. A typical force will consist of one god, 2-4 legends, and 8-16 mortals. OGAM combines a simple combat system with a great activation/initiative system.The starter sets from NorthStar are just under 1000 points and consist of 15-20 figures. Mortals are 28-30mm, legends tend to be a little larger, and the gods tower over them at 45-75mm! The recommended table size for a standard game is 3′ x 3′ and should not take more than an 30-45 minutes.FormatThe rules are available in both pdf and softback. Production values are great for the price – the softback is $13 on Amazon. The cover shows an epic battle between Greek and Norse forces, and the interior art is exceptional. The layout bothers me as it did with Ronin. New rules sections, even chapters, do not necessarily start at the top of a page. Even holding to 64 pages, it seems like they could rearrange some of the artwork to align things better.Force ListsArmy lists are only provided for four mythologies: Norse, Egyptian, Celtic, and Greek. Each of these can be used to create a huge variety of different forces. A Greek army of Zeus might have nothing in common with an army of Hades or Apollo. There are 7-12 different gods, legends, and mortal unit types for each faction other than the Greeks who are given a dozen gods and over 20 legends and mortal units.Normally I'd consider only 4 factions a limitation, but rules are given for creating your own units, legends, and gods. They are pretty simple, but with the large selection of examples it would be very easy to recreate armies from other mythologies or add to the existing ones.There are 70 traits that represent the special abilities of the characters. For example, Medusa can turn enemies to stone, while Thor can call down lightning, control the weather, and hurl Mjolnir. You can even "Let Loose the Kraken!"GameplayThe most unique aspect of OGAM is the unit activation system. On a player's turn he attempts to activate his units one at a time by rolling 1, 2, or 3d6. For each die that scores equal to or higher than the unit's quality rating the unit is allowed to take one action. The reason to not always roll 3 dice is that there are consequences for failed attempts. Each die lower than the unit's quality gives your opponent a reaction attempt, and if two or more dice fail on the same roll your turn ends.When each unit is activated it can move, shoot, melee, or perform other special abilities. Reaction rolls allow your enemy act on your turn. Each unit can only attempt to activate or react once during each players turn.All combat is competitive die rolls. There's a short list of modifiers that are pretty intuitive. When a legend is defeated by mortals, or a god by any non-god, the defeated figure is allowed a 'save' based on its quality.Other StuffIn addition to the rules and army lists, the book contains five scenarios, basic campaign mechanics, and recommendations for multiplayer games.

This is a fun little rule set in a clean, snappy presentation (as with most of the Osprey blue books).Its biggest pro? It's based on the Song of Blades and Heroes rules.Its biggest con? It's based on the Song of Blades and Heroes rules.Being based on these rules, game play is super simple. You can throw together and play a game pretty quickly. But the rules can often feel too simplistic, leading to the game lacking a sense of depth and feeling too random. (Everything in combat hinges on a single roll of a die from each player, and I've seen the game go horribly badly when players who roll well face players who don't. This issue is lessened somewhat in OGAM because of the nature of the different tiers of models in play (Mortal/Legend/God), but it's still always going to favor high rollers over low rollers.The other major drawback of the game is the lack of a significant campaign system. This game practically begs for a deep system that allows players to grow their warbands as they undertake adventure after adventure. But there's not even a half a page dedicated to campaigns in OGAM.That being said, this is still a fun game with some cool concepts (the model tiers being the main one) presented in a nice package. For the price, it's worth a try - especially if you love the Blades and Heroes system.

This relatively undiscovered skirmish level miniature game, was extremely well designed. The rule book is a joy to read and the game was so well designed, you can be up and running in no time.Basically, for this game, you play a mythological god, and its popular minions and legends, e.g. Zeus, Hercules and Greek soldiers, and fight again other mythos, legends and soldiers. In a hobby consisting of expensive armies to build, complicated set of rules, and lengthy playing time, this is on the opposite end of the spectrum, and because of that, the fun factor is evident.I seriously recommend any and all miniatures players to look into this and Osprey Wargames related games.

A really interesting game invoking the old gods, the worshipers who bring them to life, and the demi-gods who fill the areas in between. Like most of Andrea Sfiligoi's works this is an immensely interactive and fun system for battling between the myths. A point system helps keep the weird aspects competitive between the gods while highlighting the differences between mortal believers, the chosen heroes, and the gods that represent them. It calls out for a Dark Age Greek game of city states battling Persian and Egyptian armies and gods.

This is the 2nd is the group of rules I have bought and I like the over all core rules, I wish they had made more God's and followers. The Idea is a fun one and can be played in a short time table for gamers today do not have that much time. easy and fast paced. I look forward to the Kung Fu rules due out in 2014.Finding the minituers will be a little difficult but really you can play with anything, no point on getting hung up on small details.

Good set of rules. An advanced version of HOT/DBA type of resolution with morale and God combat added. Easy to read and understand, simple to play. Quality of book is as expected from Osprey with good photos and slick finish. However, there are only Greek, Egyptian, Celt/Irish and Norse mythological listings for armies and Legends...no Chinese, Aztec or Japanese. Probably to be released in a series book. Better than the Ronin skirmish rules for Japan; less to keep track of..

This is a wonderful game of small forces doing great things under the gaze of mythic deities.Fast playing and easy to learn, it does a very nice job of bringing mythologies to life in sweeping battles between diverse mythological and historical beings.Well-supported by North Star Miniatures' extensive figure line, this is a very easy game to build an army for and well-worth the investment of time.A terrific game that deserves a huge following.

A nice easy to understand set of wargaming rules for playing games using mythological elements! Highly recommended!

Easy to understand skirmish rules. You do not need a large army to enjoy.

not a bad set of Fantasy rules, with an intersting concept at it's root.

Excellent set of Rules. A perfect chance to use those models you have always wanted to use!

VERY INTRESTING