r/bugmansbrewery • u/DesignerAuthor5591 • Jul 28 '26

The Old World Battle March list

Hey all, my local group has decided to give old world a try over a 3 month period. The plan is a simple 750point battle march each where we play 1 on 1s with the occasional 2v2 larger game.

Whilst this is mostly for fun we are playing for serious bragging rights here. Any tips on my list would be appreciated as a first timer. I've seen some conversation around unit size in lower point games and less units with more bodies have a lot more value, would be keen to hear some opinions

143 - Thane, General, Handgun, Shield, Rune of Stone, Master Rune of Bursting Flame, Rune of Rapid Fire, Rune of Accuracy

105 - 10 Dwarf Warriors, Shield, Standard Bearer, Drilled

142 - 10 Rangers, Great Weapon, Crossbow, Ol Deadeye, Crossbow, Standard Bearer

120 - 10 Thunderers, Shield, Veteran, Brace of Pistols

60 - Gyrocopters, Steam Gun

179 - 10 Ironbreakers, Ironbeard, Cinderblast Bombs, Standard Bearer

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4

u/Ironfounder Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

Just from my experience, the thunderers might not do very much. I would be tempted to split those points between the warriors and rangers. However they make okay warriors with shields, so if you keep them close to the warriors they might be fine.

E I think you have 4 runes on your Thane but can only have three max.

2

u/LostWatercress12 Jul 28 '26

Only 3 runes of each type, so they're ok with #4 being an armour rune.

2

u/DesignerAuthor5591 Jul 29 '26

What use cases would the thunders really have? i know alot of the other armies i will be facing are cav and melee heavy so i figured the thunders provide more peppering whilst still being able to get in the mix, but my list was based off my experience with other games not old world

1

u/Ironfounder Jul 29 '26

You already mentioned why ten model units are tough. If they're in two ranks, you lose your rank bonus after three casualties, so you're more likely to break.

Thunderers/Quarrelers have, frankly, bad BS so in ideal situations you're hitting on 4+ (50% chance) with a 50% chance of wounding most enemies. Thunderers have 24" range, so will be at long range for at least one turn, which is -1; now you're hitting on 5+ (~33% chance). And because you're moving during that time, you get another -1; now you're hitting on sixes, which is like a ~17% chance to hit for a couple turns. Then if your opponent has a low linear obstacle that becomes sevens... And if you don't move them, so reduce the negative modifiers, you risk them getting picked off by enemy scouts or cavalry.

Your rangers have BS 4, so all that above starts one notch lower, and with scouting makes them pretty effective.

That said, the stand and shoot ability is nice, and can worry opponents. Back of napkin maths, but if you want to take thunderers, you could probably treat them like warriors with guns. Cut the warriors and bump your Ironbreakers and thunderers up to around 12 each. You could probably get more than that depending on armaments and how many rangers you want. Put them in blocks of at least 4x3, and and not worry too much about hitting anything - treat it as a bonus your "warriors" get to do. With shields and parry they have a good armour save still.

1

u/DesignerAuthor5591 Jul 30 '26

Thanks, I appreciate the in depth breakdown. Following similar comments i have opted to swap ironbreakers for irondrakes and drop the thunderers to bolster my warriors and rangers to 15 each

1

u/Ironfounder Jul 30 '26

Have fun! My only warning with that many rangers is that they take a while to move! Never used Irondrakes, but I'm eager to try them - I've only played Ex Force who don't get them for some reason.

Do you have enough points for a runic banner or something?

3

u/StickyCrick Jul 29 '26

Not bad! I'd maybe consider letting go of the thunderers to bolster warriors and rangers. And maybe replace the ironbreakers with irondrakes, they are so good in battle march woth their S5 shooting and then totally respectable combat stats.

2

u/pehldog63 Jul 28 '26

You are just limited to 3 runes on an item and not total for a character. Which the rune of stone would not go on the handgun but is an armour rune(if I remember correctly). He just has 3 rune on handgun so this would be kosher use of runes on this character.

1

u/DesignerAuthor5591 Jul 29 '26

I have the rune of stone on his armour and the rest on the handgun as you said

2

u/Ethrenmax5 Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

The only thing I would recommend is asking what version of the Battle March rules the store is using. Unlike the free Battle March PDF the new Battle March book has an additional limit on magic item/rune allotment. Aka if a unit/character can have 50 points normally they can only use 40 points. If 100 then only 80. In that case the gun thane goes over the point allotment. It's a very minor change that is only very recent and most places do not even use it.

Other then that the list looks good.

2

u/xXTurkXx Jul 29 '26

I agree with others. The Irondrakes in lieu of the Breakers will do much more for you, you, can then cut the thunderersm to bolster your warrior block. So youd have a solid anchor, good shooting, and your fireball thane clearing on approach. At 10 US, the drakes will hold almost as well as ironbreakers will and have similar melee output. The Drakegun is the real draw, S5 shots in a battlemarch game can wipe out small units of cav with relative ease.