Gaming Universes

The aim of this page is to cross-reference the "gaming universes" I have built up, the figures available for them, the rules sets I like to use for them and, if relevant, any ongoing future notes / plot ideas for campaigns.

This has been updated in June 2026.

 

1. Jungle Deep

I play in this universe either with the RoSD supplements, or the 5LFTB procedural campaign system, and want to start using Burrows and Badgers for a special project. 

Type : Fantasy

Figures : 28mm Anthropomorphics; 28mm Fantasy, Ancients and Medievals

Rules sets :   Burrows and Badgers; Five Leagues from the Borderland; Rangers of Shadow Deep

Where I am at :

THE RESCUE (RoSD) :

The heroes need to escape the Snake Pit.  If they do, they will be able to exit the Dungeon Dark, and proceed with the attempt to rescue the Lorenthian heir.  If not, they will never be heard of again...I may choose to swap out one of the Rangers in favor of another, an easy pretext being that they were also in the Snake Pit...

 

THE ISLAND (RoSD) :

Everything is now ready - Rangers, Companions, the missions to play and in what order

 

 

THE FOUNDING OF ALLADORE (B&B)

The first scenario is all ready to play, and the profiles done 

 

An overarching guideline is to consider this as the foundation story of Alladore, in which future legends are reality. Try and build unnatural events, symbolism and mysticism into the storyline and the scenarios, rather than rooting them more traditionally in reality and politics.

Although the scenarios will drive the development of the story, I have a sketch outline in mind.

The first phase is Erenthal’s flight ; just like Odysseus, he is blown completely off course by an unnnatural storm. At least one scenario will portray this journey, and the following scenario their shipwreck at the place later known as « King’s Landing ».

The company, bedraggled and beset, have arrived in a place known as Northymbra. It is inhabited by Elain, although unlike those of Euwera, they are fractured along species lines and there has been a recent and very bloody war, the War of Storms, which has created great hardship. The borders of these relatively civilised lands are no longer able to contain the hostile creatures and monsters that infest the wilderlands. The aim here is to integrate Burrows & Badgers lore into the campaign, at least as much as can be, as I imagine a more Dark Age rather than Late Medieval / Renaissance setting for Northymbra.

Erenthal and his company travel to the closest town, named Warren Percy, in which they become embroiled in the very question of the royal succession. Use the B&B Warren Percy affair for this. My idea is that at the end of it, pretty much as per the background, Erenthal has control of the King, will face their rival Prince Reinhart, and will eventually end up on the throne of Northymbra.

His aim is to heal the fractures of Northymbra and make it a place for all. The tip of his spear are the Rangers, whom he founds and charters. They are to push back the monsters that roam on the borders, secure the wilderlands, act as the King’s emissaries within the kingdom – his missi dominici – and as his ambassadors with the exterior. The second phase of the story follows the exploits of the first Rangers.

It is one such Ranger that first crosses the wilderlands and enters into contact with the great Hu-Man civilisation of the North (Persian-style clothing). It is her, also, that first sees the sails of the ships of the Aegyptus. They have followed their adversaries and crossed the ocean. The third phase of the story follows the battles between Hu-Mans and Aegyptus – I could actually fight some pitched battles with all the figures I have, which would be wonderful – the former assisted by the Rangers.

During the fourth phase, the Fey inform Erenthal that the Aegyptus must be physically contained in the North, and provide him with the means to do so. That tragically involves locking them in with the Hu-Mans. Erenthal covers up this necessary but terrible deed by attempting to erase all traces of the knowledge of Hu-Mans as civilised beings in the South, portraying them instead as barely sentient savages.

Last of all, King Erenthal divides Northymbra into the kingdoms of Alladore and Lorenthia, so as to transmit them to his sons and avoid bloodshed between them, the two having grown up hating one another.

What I still need to do for this :

-  Add King's Landing and Warren Percy to the "present day" map of Alladore !

-  Create a Founding of Alladore map....based on the Northymbra lore in B&B !

-  Modify the background stories for the characters I had posted before thinking it up, and replace their RoSD profile with a B&B profile

-  Create the background stories for the other characters, along with their B&B profile

-  Stock profiles for the Bad Guys ! 

 

THE VALE (5LfTB) : 

Drake's Seven have vanquished both The Ruin Within and the Curse of War are forced to leave the region. Their erstwhile allies, the Cult of Sisyn, have been revaled as the Whispers from Beyond; it will be up to another group of the Rangers of Alladore (who do not need to start at Level 0) to come to the Vale and deal with them.  Something I might play with 5LfTB, or RoSD.

 

 

2. The Hyborian Age

These are ongoing campaigns of my own invention, but generally using the official or semi-official scenarios, with or without modifications.

With the fall of Ardon, things have taken a dramatic turn in the North.  I intend to set up a new campaign, depicting the consequences for the Watch, whose members are now isolated and must try to make it back to the Aifreweia.

In parallel, as the two will fit together very well chronologically and thematically, the new Witchman in Ardon is raising some very powerful Undead, three Wraiths...which I will play as the "heroes", unleashing them against the Aifreweia.  My campaign rules will be slightly modified, so that wounds inflicted on the wraiths cause some permanent loss.  Things are still seen from the perspective of the true heroes, who are hoping to wear down the wraiths before they can attain their target.

The two campaigns will also interact, with one influencing the other, up until the final battle at the Aifreweia played from both perspectives.  

Type : Fantasy

Figures : 28mm Fantasy, Ancients and Medievals

Rules sets :  Conan

Where I am at :

 

i. I have selected the two sets of scenarios for the double campaign

The campaign involving the Watch will include Gawayn, Kerim and Ygritte, but also, as new characters, Aarah, Shaan'Hya and Unpainted Mareska, 

 

The campaign involving the Aifreweia will include (played by the Overlord !) Marotte, Chimène, Zoraya, but also new characters such as Eadric, Viking Girl, Isabeau Laroche, Jolie the Scribe and Unpainted Barbarian, Unpainted Beowa,  Unpainted Female Knight, Unpainted Viking Man

 

I also need to add the new Hyperborean Witchwoman to the list of "Named Enemies" (she will sometimes play as a Hero alongside her leading Undead !)  

 

ii. Write the seventh and ultimate scenario of the Veiled One, which will see the heroes on the battlefield of the Shamla Pass (deploying my "Battlelore Mythology" units for an epic feel), trying to reach Natohk so as to use on him the Mitra artefacts they found under his temple.

3. King of Kings 7th century BCE

This will be the story of Cyrus the Great's companions, seeking to bring him to the throne but having to fight a mythological battle against Ahriman and his Daeva and human allies to do so. 

The early days of the Persian Empire comes with a rich mythology, both Zoroastrian and pre- Zoroastrian, with Ahriman and his demons, Ahura Mazda and angel-like avatars...The source material is abundant (Avesta, Shah-Nameh, 1001 Arabian Nights, and perhaps some Iranian TV series). There are also connections to numerous other entities : Babylon, the Hebrews, the Scythians, the legendary Amazons.... 

To boot, I have already done research and work for my Battlelore Mythology army, and I have plentiful Persian troops. 

I am not quite sure what rules set I intend to use, for the moment.

Type : Semi-Historical

Figures : 28mm Historical / Fantasy 

Rules sets :  TBD

Where I am at :

Not yet started, although I already have a large collection of basic troops.

4. The Mediterranean World 1040

I had initially considered a campaign built around Byzance, but didn't much like the idea of recreating all my Steppe armies.  A sudden brainwave had me recenter the idea on Fatimid Egypt, which opened up all sorts of interesting possibilities with Medieval African armies.  I figure that if I one day finish painting all of these armies, I can spread further east, to the Seljuks, China,...

Type : Historical

Figures : 15mm Medieval 

Rules sets :  Fantastic Battles Historical

Where I am at :

I have identified the DBA equivalents for this campaign.

The "core" armies are III/66 Fatimid Egyptian (to paint), III/65 Nikephorian Byzantine (to flesh out), III/33 Early Muslim North Africa and Sicily (to flesh out), III/52 Norman (to paint), III/54a Dynastic Bedouin (to flesh out), III/61 Dynastic Kurdish (to flesh out).

The first and priority group of "peripheral" armies are those of North Africa; II/55c Beja (to purchase), II/62a Abyssinian & Horn of Africa (to purchase), III/12 Christian Nubian (to purchase), III/69 Western Sudanese (to purchase), III/70 Tuareg (to purchase), III/75 Islamic Berber (to flesh out ?)

A second group of "peripheral" armies is possible, although I think it unlikely I would go that far, as there are other regions and periods that also  interest me !  Nonetheless, they would be those of the Middle East; III/51 Bagratid Armenian (to purchase), III/58c Daylami (to purchase), III/71a Georgian (to purchase), III/74b Seljuq Turk (to purchase) 

5. Vienna 1683

I liked the idea of massed battles in 6mm, and one period I have not explored is the 17th century.  I chose a period and region that both allowed a mix of pike and black powder, and also Western vs Eastern.  After a lot of hesitation, I have decided to paint armies in roughly the following order : Imperialist; Russians; Ottomans; French; Swedes; Polish-Lithuanian.  I may not, of course, get through them all, but the first three will be enough to get some gaming !

 

Type : Historical

Figures : 6mm Wars of the Sun King, Great Northern War

Rules sets :  Ga Pa, Polemos GNW

Where I am at :

Not yet started, but they are on the paint tray !

6. Carnevale 1795

I would like to play the Carnevale rules, after some minor background tweaks.  I was mainly looking for a game that mixes history and fantasy, and also black powder weapons with reloading rules and hand to hand combat.

The idea is to play the game from the viewpoint of the Vatican, with a sanity mechanism that will gradually affect the heroes, and also influence their secondary objectives (for example, they have to crucify so-called heretics...).

The principal enemy will be the Rashaar, whose presence will of course affect sanity.

The Patricians will disrupt the plans of the two opponents.  I am building a Masquerata faction supported by the corrupt Venetian City Guard, and want to do a second faction representing the Doge, using a French Guard (with Freebooter figures) supported by the Venetian Navy. 

 

Type : Fantasy-Historical

Figures : 18th Century

Rules sets :  Carnevale

Where I am at :

Not yet started, but painting for some test plays has begun

 

7. The 1809 Campaign

Not necessarily the full campaign per se, but perhaps the breaking down of one or more major battles of the campaign, into divisional level battlefields.

Type : Historical

Figures : 15mm Napoleonics (French, Rhine Confederation, Austrians)

Rules sets :  Soldiers of Napoleon

Where I am at :

Not yet started, painting is underway

 

8. The Tungan Uprising 1865-1878

The historical uprising in Central Asia, but with extended involvement of external powers.

Type : Historical

Figures : 15mm Colonial (Kashgari, Chinese, Russians)

Rules sets :  Principles of War

Where I am at :

Not yet started

 

 

9. War of Sinkiang 1921-

An alternative history campaign, which presumes that the unlikely "Army of God" was launched by the Bolchevik regime into Central Asia, shortly after the end of WWI.

Type : Historical

Figures : 28mm Back of Beyond

Rules sets :  Setting the East Ablaze

Where I am at :

Yang Zengxin having opened up the way to Turfan, and reinforced it, the second phase has come to an end.

The Armée de Dieu will therefore be convinced by Yang Zengxin to head along the north road.  Update all the leaders objectives (libellé "Armées") to take into account these recent events.

Write the next scenario (which will be obvious once the different objectives are laid out).

10. Red Barricades 1942

The epic ASL campaign...

Type : Historical

Figures : -

Rules sets :  ASL

Where I am at :

I played the first two days back in 2024, but it has been so long that I am going to start over.

I have thought out a cunning plan.  I will start by playing through some scenarios on the map, to get back in touch with the rules.  Once the kids head off to University in September, I can set up a second games table in one of their rooms, and have the RB Campaign out permanently !  That is important as, even assuming only 20 out of the 30 days are played, with an average game 6 turns long, the campaign will take at least 6 months. 

Once I have played Red Barricades all the way through - something I have waited 35 years to do ! - I have been looking at Croix de Guerre II, which includes the 1940 Dinant campaign game.  Everything I have read about it makes it look really interesting.  I almost bought it already, as it is becoming hard to find, but it is also pretty costly, so I'll wait to make sure I enjoy RB.

Last up, MMP is planning to reprint Hatten in Flames, which is a complete change of focus with Americans (which I also have) and Germans and a nice mix of rural terrain, AFVs and line infantry (rather than the elite formations that figure in so many non-RB campaigns, and which I do not enjoy playing, either because of the ideology they represent, or the fact that they were simply not the majority of fighting men).

11. Five Parsecs from Home

After three attempts to create a universe I want to actually play in, I have finally come up with The Best Idea Ever, which can now be found over at the specific blog.  The idea is to use 5PfH for the first few adventures, to give some momentum, and then introduce the Story Clock idea, which might eventually take over entirely.

I have also extended this into the realm of 6mm Sci-Fi ground forces, playing out the battles that feature as a small part of each planet description !  I may go further, into the domain of starship battles.

Type : Science Fiction

Figures : 28mm Sci-Fi; 2mm Starships; 6mm Sci-Fi

Rules sets :  Flying Lead; A Billion Suns; Future War Commander 2

Where I am at :

 

The game is ready, I just need to paint one figure, generate the first scenario, and think about the Story Clock

As for 6mm, testing is complete, game aids are updated and ready and I am waiting on an order to paint up the command structure for both sides, after which I can play a full game

 

 

12. Club Games

Different rules sets that I use for club games, either short campaigns or one-offs

Type : Various

Figures : 15mm Biblical (Hittites, Syrians); 15mm Classical (Syracusan Greek, Carthaginian); 15mm Medieval (Nikephorian Byzantine, Khazars, Sicilian Arab, Fatimid Egyptian, Normans in Sicily); 15mm Renaissance (Dutch East India Company); 15mm Napoleonics (French, Austrians); 15mm Colonial (Ottoman Turks, Arab Revolt); 2mm Starships; 6mm Sci-Fi; 28mm Fantasy

Rules sets :  Briskars; Battlelore Mythologie; Fantastic Battles Historical; Banner War; Command and Colors Ancients; DBA; Irregular Wars; Tactique; Fistful of Lead; Black Ops; Future War Commander 2; A Billion Suns

 

13. Non-Universe Solo Games

Different rules sets that I use for solo games without any particular connection between them, just pitting different armies head to head.

Type : Various

Figures : 15mm Classical (Syracusan Greek, Carthaginian)

Rules sets :  Banner War

Where I am at :

All good !