no-name-games

[no-name-games]

Hi all! I'm Chris and I run No Name Games. My goal with all my stuff is to give people big experiences in small packages. I've done several solo RPGs plus a few wargames - I'd love if you checked out my stuff!

indie ttrpg designers, lemme see that body of work!!

i just wanna see the vibes! reblog with a screenshot or list of cool stuff you've made/worked on!

definitely drop a link to your stuff, but try not to get too salesy please!

[no-name-games]

Minion Monday: The Hoplite

For today, the first Minion Monday, I thought I'd talk about Greek hoplites - the standard Greek infantry of the Hellenistic period, and, consequently, one of the standard minion types available in Demigod.

Hoplites were the most common type of foot-soldiers in from the 7th to about the 4th century BCE. Any ordinary male citizen of the Greek city-states who had sufficient means (that is, the money to pay for it) was expected to provide his own equipment - at minimum, a spear and a shield.

All of the Greek city-states had some system of compulsory military service. Athens required all 18-20 year-olds to serve, while Sparta required all male citizens over the age of 20 to be part of the standing army. Thebes had its Sacred Band - an elite force of the Theban army comprised of 150 pairs of male lovers who swore to defend each other to the death.

All Greek hoplites were armed with an 8-foot long wooden spear known as a doru or dory and a ~3-foot, deeply-dished wooden shield known as an aspis.

Protection came in a variety of forms: leather-lined bronze helmets; a bronze, leather, or linen breastplate (linothorax); and bronze graves to protect the shins.

Hoplite Warfare

Hoplites were organized into regiments (lokhoi) of several hundred men each. Each lokhoi fought in ranks eight or more men deep (known as a phalanx), the first rank of which was known as the promachos line. Phalanxes stood in close ranks, with half of the shield of one man protecting his neighbor on his left side. This meant that phalanxes often moved forward at a right angle - each man seeking to keep behind the shield of his neighbor. The result was that the right flank, which was unshielded, broke first. Competent commanders kept their best troops on their right flank to avoid this, and it was also the flank that was attacked first by cavalry and other units. Greek hoplites advanced at a walk, usually accompanied by drumming or warcries. Once they engaged the enemy, the hoplites would thrust their spears over-arm (to get over the enemy armor), after which the lines would push and shove against each other or draw swords for close-quarter fighting. The engagement would end when one side broke ranks and retreated.

How Do Hoplites Function In Demigod?

Hoplites in Demigod are some of your best infantry minions. Their Combat of 3 means that they will win a fight more often than not, especially against weaker opponents like hypaspists (to be covered in a future article). Being equipped with a spear means that they will push back opponents 3" versus the standard inch - perfect for getting out of combat or allowing an archer to line up a shot. However, all of this comes at a cost - the hoplite's large aspis shield means that he moves a little slower than heavily-armed opponents - all things to keep in mind when choosing your minions!

[no-name-games]

Slowly working on the first expansion to Demigod, which deals with Your Dudes being paid by King Eurystheus to complete Herakles' labors before he can.

[no-name-games]

Why Does Demigod Exist?

Demigod exists because I couldn't find a good Greek mythology skirmish wargame. Joe McCullough's Frostgrave existed, but I wasn't aware of anything that specifically scratched that Greek mythology itch.

So I decided to write it. And that process began with me going "what do I like about Frostgrave?", keeping those bits, and then adding bits to it so that most resembled the game I wanted to play.

So what bits did I add? What did I take away?

The wizard and the apprentice are both gone. In their place are the major hero (your wizard analogue) and two minor heroes (your apprentice analogues). But only the major hero can cast spells - called boons in Demigod. if you want more traditional spells, you'll have to find spell scrolls.

It's not just "wizard" and the "apprentices" that rank up. By completing quests, your party earns Renown, which allows them to do things like establish a base, hire better minions, and even hire legendary heroes.

More legendary items, including celestial bronze weapons and armor. Keen-eyed readers will even find some shout-outs to Percy Jackson.

The number of core missions has been slimmed down to 6 to make it easier to run encounters - you can just roll a D6 and you're good to go.

The objective of the game has been changed slightly - you're trying to ascend to godhood, so the mission changes to "complete the quest" instead of "kill the other team".

The nature of the missions has changed as well - several of them offer win conditions that are different from "kill the other team" - such as "get this model off the board" and "get more than half your own models off the board". Hopefully all of this produces the game I want to play - that is, a game where you play as a bunch of heroes going on quests. I like to think it does, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[no-name-games]

Absolutely love the vibes - going to check this out!

If you're hoping for some environment-based horror in time for Halloween, why not face down the trees behind your house that know your deadly secret in the tabletop game Los Árboles? Designed to run on a diceless, mathless, GM-less system and easy to set up and complete in 1-2 hours, Los Árboles is perfect for horror fans new and old to embrace the darkness -- and the trees.

Check it out on itchio.

[no-name-games]

Dark Sun Dwellers by Kerem Beyit                          

[no-name-games]

One of the hoplites I'm painting for my own Demigod warband - one of the Warlord Games hoplite plastics. Solid models, but not sure about the blue plume.

[no-name-games]

What is Demigod?

Besides being the game I launched a couple days ago on Itch and DriveThruRPG, Demigod is my love-letter to skirmish wargames and the Percy Jackson series of books, as well as Greek mythology. It all started when I had the thought "what if Frostgrave, but with Greek mythology?" And thus, Demigod was born. The system is an attempt to capture the general "questing" feel of some of the core Greek myths, as well as introduce some myths that not everyone might have heard of.

If you decide to give it a look, I'd love to hear what you think!

[no-name-games]

The cover for my first-ever game, Demigod. Available on Itch and DriveThruRPG.