The UK city of Nottingham is globally famous for just two things – it’s the home of Warhammer, and of the mythical English outlaw Robin Hood and his band of merry men. There are surprisingly few wargames about the myth despite how perfect it would be, and Games Workshop has only ever lightly alluded to the connection, with the special character Bertrand the brigand and his bowmen of Bergerac released during fifth edition Warhammer fantasy. US indie developer Black Site Studios is seeking to correct that with its next game Outlaws: the Curse of Sherwood Forest.
The pitch is simple: King Richard has been betrayed, Robin Hood is missing, and the Curse of King John leads England towards a dark fate. Up to four players will control a team of four Outlaws, picking from eight classes with distinct abilities. It’s a story-driven campaign game, in which each adventure is linked together with rules for gaining experience, developing new skills, and attracting companions (human and animal) to accompany your growing band.
That makes the structure of Outlaws pretty similar to Ranges of Shadowdeep by Joseph McCullough, though it’s not running on the same D20 dice engine. The models revealed so far include monopose and multipart Outlaws and Kings Men, plus spirits and creatures of the deep woods.
Black Site Studios is currently seeking funds on Gamefound to release the Outlaws rulebook and a range of miniatures in both physical and digital editions. If you’re feeling particularly flush you can pledge for a stack of MDF building kits that include a castle and the city walls of Nottingham itself. The campaign is open until Wednesday October 14.
Black Site Studios began life making high quality MDF wargames terrain, but has branched out to make niche wargames with focused themes and strong identities, games like Lunar (astronauts fighting cosmonauts on the moon during the Cold War), Don’t Look Back (the quintessential horror wargame), or We Played God (Jurassic Park with the serial numbers filed off).
I haven’t playtested Outlaws yet, but you can download a free Quickstart rules PDF from the Gamefound campaign page. If you give it a try, share your thoughts in the Wargamer Discord community!
Source: Wargamer
