Where to begin?

[Jubal]

So what should we begin with?

My initial thoughts are that we should start with roughly War of the Ring armies. There's a question of how generic we make them too, I guess; it would make life simpler if human soldier were more one-size-fits-all, but also make things feel less diverse perhaps.

[BrokenIronSights]

Around the War of the Ring would be best I feel, as it's the era that most fans are the most comfortable with. If we used a Valhalla style stat/warrior generation system (Making troop skill be any of: Levy, Milita, Trained, Veteran, Hero, Bezerker) then we could make humans one-size-fits-all but restrict specifics based on culture? For example, if you making a warband for Rohan, then your infantry would have to be restricted from "Levy/milita" to "Veterans" to represent that rohan restricts its infantry to either "Villager with a weapon" or "Royal guard" and have the Rohirim be either "Trained" or "Veterans", as they're the main fighting force.

[Jubal]

I like that idea a lot, yes - keeping the system lightweight and easy to pick up & use should be a priority I think.

I guess a further question is the war VS scenario element - are we restricting the system to direct military stuff, and do we want more scenario options, and to what extent are we bothered about statting up all the heroes in minute detail?

[BrokenIronSights]

My thoughts are as follows:

- Keep the ruleset lightweight and easy to pickup/follow.
- Keep all special rules/limitations faction specific to give the factions a flavor.
- Make most of the lists/list restrictions scenario based, so someone that's played/knows the game can have everything ready and worked out.
- Make it as easy to teach as possible.
- Ensure that durring gameplay, your playing your opponent, not the rules.