The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: New In Her Majesty's Name (IHMN) 2nd Edition Rules!

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare has recently launched the Second Edition of its very popular Victorian Science Fiction/Steampunk rules - In Her Majesty's Name (IHMN).

Originally published by Osprey way back in 2013, it was the most popular of their wargames’ rules range until the arrival of Frostgrave. It was also the first to spawn two supplements. Well, time moves on and since then we at The Ministry have released a series of games based around the same core engine - Daishō (samurai), Blood Eagle (Viking / dark ages), Gothic (horror supplement for IHMN), and Thud & Blunder (high fantasy). With each iteration we have been improving the core rules engine based on playing the game ourselves, thousands of posts on various fora and direct feedback from hundreds of players.

For those unfamiliar with In Her Majesty's Name, it is a narrative skirmish game set in an alternative version of the late Victorian period which has undergone a second industrial revolution. ‘Modern engineering’ has produced high speed locomotives, armoured vehicles, airships and dirigibles, clockwork and electrically powered automata, mechanised walkers and much more.

The players field themed companies of five to twenty figures to carry out covert missions for the Great Powers or other, more shadowy, organisations. They engage in espionage, subterfuge, sabotage, robbery, and outright murder. Some are popular heroes, apparently noble and good. Others have embraced more villainous or darker paths. The companies have access to an immense armoury of weapons, armour, advanced equipment, weird science, strange beasts, specialised talents for individual figures, vehicles, automata, and mechanised walkers. A few can call upon mystical powers, based on those that our Victorian forebears believed might work.

When Osprey kindly released the publishing rights back to us, we decided to return to In Her Majesty's Name and apply all the experience we had gathered. As well as updating the core engine, we have included much new and improved material on vehicles, mechanised walkers, figure equipment, figure abilities and the like. The result is a 196-page, full colour hardback with accompanying digital edition.

Twenty-four example companies are included in the book, along with rules for creating your own themed company. Unlike some similar games, the costing system for all the above is completely open, allowing players to create and field their own companies with all their favourite VSF and Steampunk troops and equipment. The game is figure, scale, and base size agnostic and the only die you will need is a single ten-sider. Although our friends at North Star Military Figures have created a range of excellent VSF figures specifically for IHMN, players are not bound to them. The game also has a unique scenario system that combines scenarios, scenario complications and landscapes together to produce over nine thousand possible combinations. A fully detailed campaign system is included as well. The rules of play are easy to pick up and only cover eighteen pages of the book. In the participation games we run at shows, we can have players from eight years old to a hundred up and playing in under ten minutes.

One aspect that sets it aside from many others is that we believe that each player should be fully engaged in the game at all times. Thus, we do not follow to common IGO-UGO method. Instead, players roll for initiative. In each of a turn's three phases - Movement, Shooting and Fighting - the players alternate (in initiative order) in activating a single figure. So, every action counts. This mechanic removes the tedium of IGO-UGO and eliminates the need for complex reaction systems. Also, there is no roll required for figure activation, which often leaves less able troops doing nothing for turn after turn. In Her Majesty’s Name, and its sister books, give you the ability to field small companies of figures across compact table-sized battlefields, for battles that can easily be completed in an evening at a club.

The Ministry’s games are fully supported by its website (here), a dedicated board on Lead Adventure Forums (here) with thousands of individual threads, and its own very active Facebook page (here) The hardback book is now available directly from North Star Military Figures (here) and the digital edition from SnM Stuff (here).

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: New In Her Majesty's Name Gothic Expansion

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare announced the upcoming release of the In Her Majesty's Name Gothic expansion. This book is now available for pre-order at Northstar Miniatures.

This is the third supplement for the game and has been produced by The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare, authors of IHMN, Daishō and Blood Eagle. Within its pages, you shall find new weapons and equipment, talents and powers, and creatures both normal and supernatural. As well as a host of new companies to fight or, bring on, the darkness that threatens to engulf the Old World.

You will meet old enemies such as Vlad Tepes, Prince of Wallachia, and his nemesis Abraham van Helsing. Play the brave men of the Imperial Nightwatch as they test their modern might against the terrifying vampire minions of the immortal Countess Bathory. Rouse the Village mob to drive out Baron Viktor von Frankenstein and his abominations. Tread the corridors of power as a member of the Illuminati or, join the Gypsies to hunt Werewolves under the full moon. Witness Sampson Caine and the Nuns of the Order of the Bringer of Salvation defend the innocent from the predations of the Dread Monks of Sucevita. Unleash the Unborn upon the terrible White Slavers. You can also upgrade and test your existing IHMN companies against these many terrors.

New scenarios and landscapes will take your companies into dark forests, mist shrouded castles, ancient ruins, pagan altars and grim, fortified villages the length and breadth of Transylvania, Wallachia and the ever-forbidding Carpathian Mountains. This is classic Victorian Gothic Horror at its grisly, horripilating best. It is not recommended for ladies and gentlemen of a nervous disposition, for the darkness will feed upon their terror. It is expected that the book will be ready to despatch by North Star in early March.

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: Official Blood Eagle Wargame Rules Release Announcement

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare is pleased to announce the release of Blood Eagle, skirmish warfare in the legendary Dark Ages.

Using the highly successful skirmish rules, proven in thousands of games of In Her Majesty's Name and Daisho, this game allows you to play the heroic leader of a warband fighting across Northern Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries.

The game is set so you can play it at three levels; historical, heroic and legendary. Thus you can be the noble Saxons bravely resisting brutal Viking raids, have a famous hero such as Egil Skallagrimsson or Jarl Lagertha lead your warband, or go full legendary and introduce warbands such as the Jotun, the Sidhe/Svartalfr or Draugr as well as creatures such as dragons and trolls.

As with our other games we have included the full points costing system and positively encourage players to research and create their own, unique warbands. When creating your heroes and warband you have the choice of dozens of figure traits. If you choose to play at the legendary level you can also choose from a range of both Christian Miracles and Pagan Wyrd magical powers, for this was the age when the pagan peoples of northern Europe made their last stand against the implacable advance of the One God.

There is a scenario, complication and landscapes system that gives you the option of literally thousands of unique engagements. This, in its turn, supports a full campaign system so you can run a series of games culminating in your very own Ragnarok.

The game is already supported by a dedicated blog and a very active Facebook group with five hundred members. Free materials such as reference sheets, new warbands and creatures will be available from the blog. There shall also be regular battle reports and dark age terrain tutorials. The men from the Ministry shall be visiting numerous shows over the summer to run participation games beginning with Salute 2016, so look out for us there. Northstar Miniatures now have the book available for purchase here.

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: Blood Eagle, Skirmish Wargaming in The Viking Age!

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: There are few genres in wargaming that quite get the blood racing like the 9th-10th centuries in northern Europe, the notorious 'Viking Age'. Up until now you could march across those blood-soaked fields with big armies or with little armies, but there were no games that really captured every bone-cracking, skull-splitting, gut-spilling, heroic moment of the period. No game that really allowed you to play Jarl Ragnar Loðbrok and his close companions, Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburgh, the dark Picts, the wild Irish or the stalwart Saxons.

Well good news, Blood Eagle is on its way. Based on the same core rules as In Her Majesty's Name and Daishō, this is a narrative skirmish wargame that is played with 5-15 figures per side on a 1m square board. The core rules have been proven in many thousands of encounters across the world and have been fettled to make them truly suitable for the heroic and grim nature of the period.

Like Daishō, we have set the rules so you can play it as a straight historical game, at a heroic level or go full legendary with monstrous warbands such as the Jotun, Svartalf/Sidhe or Draugr. You will never be stuck playing the same dozen scenarios over and over again because our unique Scenario + Complications + Landscapes system ensures that you will have over three thousand possible game combinations to choose from. These feed into a campaign system that gives you the ability to create and play totally unique sagas of your own.

We have also included the very popular system that allows you to research and then create your own unique warbands. The entire points system is open and there shall be a guiding article on the blog helping you to build it.

There is already a community of over three hundred gamers discussing and preparing for this game on Facebook and we have just launched the supporting blog here. This game shall be launched by us at Salute 2016 under our own imprint - The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare. Like our other book, Daishō, it will be about 96 pages, full colour A4 and cost under £15.

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: Upcoming Blood Eagle - Viking Age Skirmish Game

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare has announced the upcoming release of Blood Eagle, a skirmish wargame set in the violent Viking Age in which you will be able to field mighty warbands. The game will be using the same core rules as In Her Majesty's Name and Daishō.

There are few genres in wargaming that quite get the blood racing like the 9th-10th centuries in northern Europe, the notorious 'Viking Age'. Up until now you could march across those blood-soaked fields with big armies or with little armies, but there were no games that really captured every bone-cracking, skull-splitting, gut-spilling, heroic moment of the period. No game that really allowed you to play Jarl Ragnar Loðbrok and his close companions, Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburgh, the dark Picts, the wild Irish or the stalwart Saxons.

Well good news, Blood Eagle is on its way. Based on the same core rules as In Her Majesty's Name and Daishō, this is a narrative skirmish wargame that is played with 5-15 figures per side on a 1m square board. The core rules have been proven in many thousands of encounters across the world and have been fettled to make them truly suitable for the heroic and grim nature of the period.

Like Daishō, we have set the rules so you can play it as a straight historical game, at a heroic level or go full legendary with monstrous warbands such as the Jotun, Svartalf/Sidhe or Draugr. You will never be stuck playing the same dozen scenarios over and over again because our unique Scenario + Complications + Landscapes system ensures that you will have over three thousand possible game combinations to choose from. These feed into a campaign system that gives you the ability to create and play totally unique sagas of your own.

We have also included the very popular system that allows you to research and then create your own unique warbands. The entire points system is open and there shall be a guiding article on the blog helping you to build it. There is already a community of over three hundred gamers discussing and preparing for this game on Facebook, and we have just launched the supporting blog here. This game shall be launched by us at Salute 2016 under our own imprint - The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare. Like our other book, Daishō, it will be about 96 pages, full colour A4 and cost under £15.

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: An Introduction to Daishō, Skirmish Wargaming in Mystical Japan

The lads over at The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare have posted this nice introduction to their upcoming Daishō game. For those of you unfamiliar with Daishō here is an introduction… Following the success of In Her Majesty’s Name and its supplements, Charles and I spent some time considering what we would like to do next. During the writing of Sleeping Dragon Rising Sun we discovered that both of us have an enduring fascination with medieval and mythical Japan. So, after looking at the current market for skirmish wargames based on this genre we decided to create our own.

Our first decision was which version of Japanese history we would represent. Should we create a straight historical game along the lines of the excellent Ronin by Craig Woodfield? That was an easy decision as we felt there was no need in the market for a second game of the same type.

So then we had to decide whether would we make the game more heroic, along the lines of the many brilliant Japanese martial arts films, or go for the full legendary treatment, as often seen in Japanese manga and anime, and in films like 47 Ronin? In the end, we decided to leave it up to the players to decide by putting in all the elements they would need to run the game as either historical, heroic or legendary.

Thus, you can run fairly plain samurai, ronin, sohei and ninja buntai (companies) with only the historical equipment and skills. Or you can add heroic abilities such as Ki Powers, some extraordinary skills and master-crafted weapons and armour, to make it more like the movies. Or you can go the whole hog and throw in magical powers, legendary weapons, mythical creatures and even demonic buntai such as the oni, bakemono and tengu. Being great fans of Bob Charette’s seminal RPG ‘Bushido’, we both like the latter approach and our games are full of the fantastical.

For players of In Her Majesty’s Name the way you play will feel familiar as we have kept many of that game’s original rules. Both KISS and ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ being our watchwords. However, we have modified them in many places to meet the needs of this exacting genre and added new rules where needed. Despite this you can still learn the basic rules in the course of a single game, and by your third or fourth game you will not need the rulebook at all. Additions include the ability of the more powerful figures to focus and use their Ki to perform extraordinary feats of skill and daring. Ki is depleted as they do this and can only be regenerated by defeating their enemies. You can buy master-crafted armour and weapons for your figures that improve their protection and striking power. The leaders and heroes of your buntai may even have a legendary weapon or armour though these are rare.

The range of skills and powers available to the figures and buntai is quite different to that in In Her Majesty’s Name and reflects the combat techniques of the genre. Like IHMN, each player has a group of figures called a buntai. This includes leaders, specialists and troops. Players can pick their buntai from the ones included in the rules or create their own. They can also hire one of a selection of legendary heroes to assist them. The full points calculation system is included in the book so that creative players can devise their own figures and buntai. There shall even be a points calculator published on the supporting website to take the math out of this process.

One of the key attributes within the game is honour or On. This is critical to understanding the medieval Japanese mindset and is the reward for carrying out right actions. So, when playing in a scenario a buntai earns On by achieving objectives and defeating their enemies. If captured they can deny their enemy On by successfully committing Seppuku. In campaign games On can be used to replenish your forces between battles by trading it to get new figures and equipment.

What we found when we began playtesting this game is that the whole feel is much more heroic than In Her Majesty’s Name and that players get very caught up in the whole feel of the game. Combat is really quite brutal and how you use your heroes and sacrifice your troops, can be critical to success. Frequently only a handful of figures would survive to reap the glory.

We also found that lightly-armoured, but highly skilled, combatants were often more than a match for their mor heavily armed opponents. A Sohei Abbot with no armour and a simple bo staff could easily beat the living daylights out of armoured ashigaru and would give any samurai a run for his money. This is extremely cinematic and great fun.

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: Daishō, Skirmish Wargaming in Mythical Nippon Rules Coming Soon!

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: It is with great pleasure that we can announce that Daishō is now in the care of our printers in Lithuania. With luck and a fair wind this means that the first delivery of Daishō should arrive with the splendid crew at North Star Miniatures in just three weeks’ time. They shall handle sales and distribution for us.

So now is time for you to dive into your lead mountains and dig out those samurai, ronin, monks and ninja figures. Dust them off and get some paint on them because the game you have been waiting for is almost here.

Here is the blurb from the back cover of the book: Have you ever wanted to replicate the incredible feats of swordsmanship you see in movies like 47 Ronin and 13 Assassins? Stand surrounded by half a dozen angry Ashigaru and then, in a single fluid motion, strike them all down? Bring forth fiery darts from heaven and hurl them at your enemies? Face demons from the pits of hell? Disarm and hammer an arrogant Samurai lord into the dust with your bare hands? 

You can do this and much more if you play Daishō, skirmish wargaming in mythical Nippon. This game allows players to field forces of five to fifteen miniatures in a game you can easily complete in an evening on a space only a yard square. The rules are short and simple to learn – few players need to refer to them after their second or third game.

This book provides:

• The core rules of play.

• The complete points system so you can create your own forces.

• Full listings for twelve unique forces.

• Armour, weapons and equipment, both mundane and magical.

• Listings of skills, heroic ki powers and magical powers.

• Fifteen scenarios, supported by seventeen scenario complications.

• Ten detailed landscapes for you to play across, and

• Simple, yet rewarding campaign rules.

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: Daisho - Skirmish Warfare in Medieval, Mystical Nippon!

The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare: Daisho - skirmish warfare in medieval, mystical Nippon!

This month sees the launch of a brand new skirmish game based set in the marvellous, medieval and mythical history of Japan. It is the latest game written by Charles Murton and Craig Cartmell, co-authors of the successful, and Beasts of War award nominated steampunk game: In Her Majesty's Name. The rules shall be released in May by our distributor, North Star Miniatures, under our own publishing imprint - The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare.

In Daisho, each player has a group of 5-15 figures called a buntai. This includes leaders, specialists and troops. Players can choose to just use human buntai, including two types of Samurai, Ronin, Ninja, Kabuki-mono, Bandits, Ryu, Ikko-Ikki and Sohei Monks, or pick one from the legendary forces like Oni, Bakemono and Tengu. If they prefer they can create their own as the full points system is included. They can also hire one of a selection of legendary heroes to assist them.

The rules include extensive, costed, listings of equipment, weapons, armour, magical powers, individual skills and heroic Ki powers. They also have many scenarios, landscapes and a full campaign system. It takes between 45 and 90 minutes to play a game with a force of about 250 points on a table 3'/1m square. The rules can be learned in a single game and by their third players should only need to occasionally use the reference sheet.

You can find out more about the game, get free additional material and see battle reports at our dedicated blog: https://daishogame.wordpress.com/ We shall be running participation games at Salute 2015. Two boards with a range of buntai shall be available for people to play on and try out the rules. If you would like to have a go please go to table GF16.