Dogs of War

Download v1.0 here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30816182/Warha...ies-Cathay

As most of you know by now, I'm pretty much finished with both Araby and Kislev (except for adding a few special characters later on and some more artwork, rest depends of feedback), and as such I'm moving on to write my next book, Cathay. After doing a lot of researching on both Chinese history and mythology, I have managed to break it down into a wide section of choices, as follows:

Special Characters:
Xen Huong, the Celestial Dragon Emperor
The Nameless (Jet Li in "Hero". Do I need to say more?)
Li Tsun Tsin (female warlord)
Fei Yu (grand general)
The Monkey King (based on Sun Wukong)
...and some vampire dude probably

Lords:
Warlord (fighter)
Wu Jen Lord (wizard)

Heroes:
Marshal (fighter)
Wu Jen (wizard)
Strategist (support)
Celestial Dragon (also as a mount)
- War Drums (support)

Mounts:
Kirin (flying unicorn)
Warhorse (self-explanatory)
Bastion Chariot (chariot, extra crew, extra horses)

Core:
Imperial Infantry (spears/halberds/bows)
Chu-ko-nu (cathayan repeater crossbows)
Mangudai (bows, fast cavalry)
Imperial Lancer (light armour,halberds, horses)
Cataphracts (heavy cavalry)
Rocketeers (skirmish, close range missile explosives)
Monkey Warriors (skirmish, blowpipes)
Hill Tribesmen (skirmish (raiders rule), frenzy, javelins/spears, shields)

Swordsaints (cathayan longswords, heavy armour)
Nightblades (scouts, skirmish, two hand weapons)
Celestial Dragon Monks (skirmish, martial arts)
Emperors Guard (glaives)
Bastion Chariot (chariot)
Foo Statues (ogres, 3+ AS)
Stormhurler Ballista (repeater bolt thrower)

Firearrow (Rocket Battery)
Dragon Cannon (cannon with blast template)
Phoenix (flying monster, breath attack, re-birth)
Terracotta Warriors (unbreakable, 6+ward/MR(1))

And that would be it, I got pretty much all the fluff, magic items and artwork I need already, but any more ideas and feedback would be much appreciated.

I think 'wide' selection of choices is the corect term. I hope you consider cutting down the amount of choices as the book progresses, because having too many is the first thing that hits me.

Definitely, this is just the first draft. Special and rare will likely stay as they are though, most armies seems to have at least 6/4 or them nowadays, but the core section will likely be cut down. Then again, if you compare them to say, Empire, this is only one special more, they have the same amount of core and rare, but the empire have two more lord choices and one more hero choice.
I think that the most important thing is that everything fulfils a role, and is not too complicated rules-wise.

I think the only appropriate response at this point would be "Squee!"
I eagerly await the publication of this army book.

Glad you like it so far
I have been going through the feedback from other forums in what they would like to see in a Cathay army and (ignoring all pleas for Geishas, Samurai's and Ninjas and other various Japanese units) I have them pretty much all down (expect for the paper dragon you see in parades).

I would say you don't need anything to be removed - the choice is good and I know I wouldn't remove anything. I'm happy to help if you want.
Verezzo

Well, I already did remove a few things. Not to worry though, I simply merged the Imperial Lancers with the Cataphracts, and gave them option for firelances (which is the weapon rocketeers use), so it's really all in there, without being to clattered.
Not sure if I need any help at the moment, it has been really easy to find material for everything and the fluff is mostly finished (except for the main background of Cathay, where I have a lot of editing to do to make it more "historically" correct). If I can think of something later though, I'll let you know. I will definitely need playtesters at least

You might want to include some Hung Mercenary Horse Archers. The Hung are the Mongols of Warhammer.

Actually, the Ungols or the Hobgoblins are the mongols of warhammer, hung are just the chaos version of mongols

And if you google "mangudai" you might see I already have that in the list

Well I'm definitely happy to Play Test. As I said though, PM me if you want anything

Oh, I'm looking forward to this book!
The only thing I could cut down a bit are the Core-Shooting Options:
Imperial Infantry can get Bows, then theChu-ko-nu (nice idea btw ), Light Cav. with Bows, the Rocketeers, Skirmishers with Blowpipes AND improved Skirmishers with Javelins (though they're frenzied, so maybe not really shooting )

Not that I don't like the variety, but most armies tend to focus on one type of shooting: Empire/Dwarfs on Crossbows/Handguns, Greenskins on bows, Lizards on Shortrange etc.
But maybe we will see in the Playtesting, that it's ok...just a thought of mine.

Greetings
Mork

True, but it also means they will fulfil different roles; Imperial Infantry for long range, Chu Ko Nu for short range (and lots of shots!), mangudai for harassment, monkey warriors for high toughness monsters. The rocketeers are already incorporated into the heavy cavalry (now called Dragon Lancers), so that's one less to worry about, and the Hill Tribesmen will not be used that much for shooting, really.

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Oh, and I am currently working on the Art of War abilities for the strategist, so if anyone has any ideas for that I would be interested in hearing them. So far I have:

Reform as charge reaction
March and Fire, all models may fire
Ignore panic friendly units
Rally Automatically
Always March
+2 Armour save with shields, no marching
Turn/change formation and move no penalties
Enemies lose charge bonuses
win combat, get flank bonus
Redeploy unit within 6"
+1 to go first
+1 to choose sides
firebombs
Make normal move before game

I was thinking have Heavy Cavalry be able to use a rule like the Bret's Lance formation.

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Just thought of another one (), you should have one that gives you +1 to one of your stats when you charge.

Lance formation would be a bit too much like Bretonnia, Cathay's cavalry isn't really that great
+1 to one of your stats doesn't really say much, what did you have in mind and how would it work fluffwise?

I was thinking of having the strategist shout some quick words of advice at them as they charged ! When are we getting the first copy of this book on this thread - I am desperate to have a look after your brilliant work on Araby and Kislev!

I'm just having trouble seeing which stat the strategist yelling advice could help out. Initiative is kinda pointless, 'cause they're charging, so maybe Weapon Skill to reflect the group being better able to work together? You don't see too many WS buffs out there.

Where's the Terracotta Warriors?

I could possibly give them a +1 to hit bonus, to actually make it worth something. Need some fluff to go with that though...

And I'm working on the book as fast as I can, got most of the bestiary done, will soon begin on the army list itself, then magic items, then main fluff. I can post a "playtest version only" quite soon, the main fluff isn't really that important.

And Bilbo, check the first post

Foo status?

Foo STATUES

They are chinese temple dogs, that guard the (surprise) temples of china. You'll see exactly what they are in Cathay soon

clay, brown painted ogres?

That would be more align to the terracotta soldiers, although they won't exactly be ogres either.

(04-18-2010 01:04 PM)M4cR1II3n Wrote: [ -> ]I could possibly give them a +1 to hit bonus, to actually make it worth something. Need some fluff to go with that though...

I think the way to fluff it would be to have the strategist organizing them beforehand and giving good commands. A well-coordinated formation has an easier time hitting its opponents than a loosely-coordinated one, as the well-coordinated guys work together better. The way I look at it is kinda how the way our good squad leaders position their guys better, so they get shot less and have a better chance of tagging the enemy. Does that sound good enough?

Yeah, sure, I'll work it into something

Please can we get a play test version - no fluff though. I kike your work so much I can't wait see.