Fantasy Wargames in a Doom Age of Black Powder
What is SLUDGE?
SLUDGE IS A MINIATURE AGNOSTIC WARGAME RULESET BY ESTEEMED GAME DESIGNER SEAN SUTTER
Sludge is designed for players to build grim fantasy armies using various historical miniatures. The rules are designed to represent a black powder age with a fantastical emphasis on powerful knights and dark magic. Battle hardened line infantry will form the backbone of your force. These core troops will be supported by noble knights and strange magicians. Sludge is an invitation to collect and convert an army from a dark ahistorical setting, and a delightfully dark battle game with a brutal and distinct play style.
Enter a bleak and decaying world of unending warfare in an anachronistic nightmare.
Getting Started
GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE GAME
As I stated before, Sludge is an invitation to collect and convert an army from a dark ahistorical setting. Which means that you are welcome to use any miniatures you wish. You are welcome to create a force using historical miniatures, fantasy miniatures, or any mixture of the two. The rules themselves and the “official” setting have a specific flavor that I am trying to evoke. But Sludge should be a place where you are free to convert and kitbash something totally unique to your desires. That said, the rules do have a strong flavor of their own. There is a strong emphasis on gore, horror, brutality, and faith. So while there is a lot of room to accommodate your imagination, it also delivers a specific and unique take on fantasy wargaming.
Broadly speaking, Sludge fits into a black powder era. It is an age of infantry superiority. Most of your army will be equipped with muskets, however there are also competitive rules for pole weapons and bows. With these rules you can easily build an army from the medieval to early-modern eras and anything in-between. Using these brutal rules you can enter the decaying world of SLUDGE but you may also choose to push your own setting. You are welcome to dive into a the iconic fantasy of the olde world, or solidly plant your banner in a hard historical era. With guns and knights slugging it out on gore soaked battlefields, the western imagination of feudal Japan springs to mind. Your existing Napoleonic troops may march to their doom in the grim folklore of the Russian winter. Or perhaps you will start a completely new hobby project inspired by the sketches and lore in the Sludge core rules.
The game includes dark fantasy elements. The whole setting is built on the ancient conception of Yggdrasil, the world tree, mashed through the imagination of Dante’s Inferno. It is as if the nine worlds of Norse Mythology astrologically aligned with the Nine Rings of Hell. The decaying lands hang in the tangled branches of the world tree as the nine hells bleed into one another. It was the greedy thirst for power that began killing the world tree, and the abuse of the world tree persists even into the twilight of the worlds.
Your army will likely include a couple fantasy units. The core rules for Sludge include three magical heroic units. Arcanists are extremely valuable field enchanters that support your battle lines. Dark sorcerers sew horror and disorder among your enemies, and faithful Chaplains bring the blessings of the godhead to protect your troops from the horrors of war. I would also consider the Foot Knights a fantasy unit. They are unmatched blood-soaked champions. Imagine heavily armed warriors from the hight of medieval era with armor that can easily stop musket shot smashing into line infantry. Just amazing.
What You Need To Play
Sludge is a tabletop wargame where two players command battalions of grim warriors against one another. To play SLUDGE you will need the following components.
The Rules: The core rules for SLUDGE are available as a PDF on this website. A “quick rules reference” sheet is available to download below.
Miniatures: Each player will need an army to command. This game is an excuse to make historical fantasy armies and is designed to use 28mm miniatures. The photography features both the official Sludge miniature range, sculpted by Me, and models from Perry Miniatures with some resin SLUDGE conversion bits added to shift the setting away from history and into a strange realm. I will go more in-depth about collecting an army in the following section.
Dice: We use dice to resolve events of chance. You’ll need d10s and d6s. Each player will want at least two d10s and maybe twenty d6s.
Measuring tool: Ranges are in inches.
Play Area: Expect to use a 4’x4’ area. 400+ point games probably need a 4’x6’ battlefield. You will also want to build various terrain elements to decorate your battlefield and add strategic complications.
Tokens: Game effects need to be marked with tokens. Most notable are Stress, and Gore tokens. Gore tokens must be modeled on 1” or 25mm circles. Gore is a physical and psychological presence on the battlefield, and the placement of gore directly changes the game state.
Token Sheets are available to purchase or you can download print and play versions below. The sheets are laid out for use with a 1” circle punch. These crafting tools are fairly inexpensive and because the rules require a specific size, I made the tokens that size.
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