Wargames Atlantic has posted an article with loads of details and hints about their upcoming 10mm mass combat game Classic Fantasy Battles. Let’s dive in!
Since joining Wargames Atlantic, rules author Andy Hobday has been working on a 10mm mass combat game called Classic Fantasy Battles (when not working on The Barons’ War 2nd Edition!). According to WA the game is in the “play testing and refinement” phase and slated for release in late 2025 or early ’26. That release will involve a “massive two player box” and now for the first time we have some insight into it’s likely contents, as well as some other aspects of the ranges for the game.
WA has said that the box set and the game itself will be “good vs evil” rather than racial factions, but that the primary forces in the box set will be Orcs and Dwarves. These two factions are pretty fully fleshed out, with ranged units, cavalry, and a variety of infantry on both sides. But the Good vs Evil theme means armies don’t have to be made up of a single race, and WA have both shown and teased a huge number of extra units. The two units they have show off are skeleton swordsmen (Boneblades) and human cavalry (Horselords).
Observant readers will notice that the skeleton frame pictures above is considerably smaller than that of the dwarves and has only one unit type on it. The plan for non-core armies is to release smaller frames of specific unit types. Undead, for instance will apparently have archers, cavalry, spears, scythes, and more! Not every unit will receive additional releases, however. Apparently Horselords are a faction made up of a single unit type, and mercenaries will be just a single unit, rather than a whole faction.
Still, the breadth of the range sounds incredibly ambitious. In discussing good and evil armies WA said that a “Good army may have a mix of Dwarven units, Horselords cavalry, Elven halberdiers, Halfling pikemen, Landsknecht Ogre mercenaries, a friendly Giant, Treemen, and a variety of others. An Evil army may have several Orc units, a Goblin swarm, Landsknecht Ogre mercenaries, an unfriendly Giant, Boneblades (Undead Swordsmen), Boneriders (Undead Cavalry), and Trolls. An army may be comprised solely of a dragon!”
Some commenters have pointed out that this isn’t exactly a promise to produce all of these miniatures, but it does show that they are at least being considered and will very likely make it into the rules. WA has supplemented their plastic kits with 3D files for a long time now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these units (especially the mercenaries) are released this way. Lastly, there was another teaser related to human factions. WA has confirmed that the Samurai and Azincourt miniatures that are already in the works will not be official factions for the game, though there will likely be some special rules and army lists that allow you to field them as mercenaries or whole armies, but part of the reason for this is that WA has another human faction in the works for Classic Fantasy Battles besides the Horselords. Who they will be is anybody’s guess.
What do you think? Are you sufficiently hyped for Classic Fantasy Battles? Are you looking forward to future releases and the massive box set? Let us know in the comments!
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