Fr e e Pr evie w

Skirmisher Publishing LLC

499 Mystic Parkway
Spring Branch, TX 78070

Email: ragnarok@skirmisher.com
Website: http://www.skirmisher.com
d-Infinity Online: http://www.d-Infinity.net

Authors: Clint Staples, Skirmisher Game Development Group

Editor: Michael O. Varhola
Artist: Bob Greyvenstein (cover images, R:AW logo)
Photographer: Clint Staples
Layout & Design: Bob Greyvenstein

Ragnarok: Age of Wolves is Copyright 2018 by Skirmisher Publishing LLC, to include any and all associated logos and identifying
marks, including all Skirmisher Publishing LLC products and product line names, campaign settings and any elements of those
settings; any and all artwork, photographs, designs, depictions, illustrations, maps, likenesses, symbols, and graphic designs
presented in the context of this book; and any and all dialogue, incidents, plots, stories, storylines, thematic elements, and concepts
contained herein. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material contained in this work by any means without written permission
from the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for purposes of review.

This book is protected under international treaties and the copyright laws of the United States of America. Mention or reference to
any company, product, or other copyrighted or trademarked material in no way constitutes a challenge to the respective copyright
or trademark concerned. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance of its contents to actual people, organizations, places,
or events is purely coincidental.

First Publication: April 2018

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Table of Contents
Introduction 5 Stakes 37
Saga of the Wyrmson 5 Siegecraft in the North 38
What You Will Need to Play 6 Fighting On or Around Buildings 38
Breaching Walls 38
Philosophy of the Game 6
Attacks Against Structures 38
What You See Is What You Get 7
Effects of Breaches 39
Things Not in R:AW 7
Collapse 38
Making of a Warrior 9 Fire & Hall Burning 38
Rank 9 Sallying Out of a Burning Hall 38
Wargear 9 Attacking with Fire 40
Weapons 11 Burning Structures 40
Named Character vs. Follower 13 Runes 43
Special Abilities 13 Basics 43
Playing Ragnarok: Age of Wolves 19 Drawing the Runes 43
Resolving Actions 19 Three Aett & Runic Descriptions 43
Setting Up 19 Playing a Rune 45
Facing (SIDEBAR: Facing & Basing) 20 Magic, Spells, & Spellcasting 45
Beginning Play 20 Spells & Spellcasting 45
Wyrd Die & Bonus Dice 20 Spell List 47
Turn Sequence 20
Men & Monsters of the North 53
Order of Play: 20
Entries Explained 53
Initiative 20
Followers 54
Movement Phase 20
Magic & Missiles Phase 21 Named Characters 60
Melee Phase 22 Monsters 67
End Phase 25 Elementals 68

Hiding and Perception 25 Glossary 71

Hide in Cover 25 Campaign: Saga of Eirik Wyrmson 75
Perception 25 Factions & Allies 75
Hidden Items 25 Hunting the Outlaw
(SIDEBAR: Survival Rolls) 76
Engagement 26
Lair of the Wyrm’s Son 78
Size of Creatures 26
A Cold Day in Hel 79
Evasion & Engagement 26 A Terrible Ally 81
Terrain and its Effects 28 Aftermath:
Terrain Table 29 Continuing the Saga of the Wyrmson 83
30
32

Optional Rules 35
Advanced Mounted Combat 35
Optional Mounted Combat Rules 35
Dragging Riders from their Mounts 35
Flying Creatures 36

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Introduction
A cloaked figure stumbled from the shadowed mouth
of the cave into the feeble light of the waning sun. It
took three lurching steps and then fell hard, its helmet
bounding free to tumble across the rocks …
“Come on!”
Groa’s harsh whisper startled the rough-looking men
nearest her into action. The diminutive woman led the
pair forward, her catskin cloak flapping in the heat and
smoke that poured from the cavern mouth. Hesitantly,
the brigands followed, one cursing as he stumbled over
the jumble of rock near the entryway.
Groa took note of the clear space in front of the cave
mouth. All around, the rocks were jagged blades of
stone, but before the entrance to the cave they were
rounded, flattened, and crumbling as if compressed and
worn by repeated passage of some great weight. She
muttered her charm, knowing how little it would aid her
should she disturb the one Eirik had come to see.
Reaching the crumpled form, Groa turned Eirik’s face to
the light. She echoed his pained outcry with a gasp of
shock.
He lived!
Then she saw his hands where they clasped the mail over
his belly. At first the red flesh seemed seared and scarred,
but then seemed as if it might be covered with scales …
The nails were long and sharp, the talons of a beast on
hands shaped like those of a man. Despite all that Groa
had seen in her apprenticeship to the seidrkona Yrsa, she
shied from the body of this man that she loved.
As if her start drew a response from black hole in the
mountainside, the sun’s light was occluded by the stride
of something from within. Groa stepped back again, fear
rising as her hand raised her distaff, and began to utter
the charm that she was sure would end in her death.
The shadow was that of a lesser thing, not of the one
they feared, but was still terrible to behold. It was not
much larger than a horse, the heavy tread of its four
talons causing the rocks to tremble, so different from the
great Wyrm’s serpentine movement. Its savage head,
also red-scaled, regarded her with lantern-bright eyes as
it pawed the stones with talons that made her think again
of Eirik’s transformed hands.
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Although it sidled back and to one side, preternaturally
agile even amid such poor footing, the monster made no
move to attack.
Groa held back her spell, risked a look for the brigands,
and saw that they had fled.
Looking back at the scaly beast before her, she noticed
a fine gilded saddle worthy of a jarl upon its back. Groa
smiled for the first time since the killing of Sigtyrr, and
their hasty flight from Gautaborg. Her lover’s petition
had been successful. Eirik Sigtyrr’s Bane, outlawed by
Hugleik Gautking, was no more, and had become Eirik
Wyrmson.
So begins his saga …
Ragnarok: Age of Wolves is a skirmish-level game for
novice and experienced tabletop gamers alike. R:AW
seeks to emulate the desperate small-scale action that
might result during the Fimblvintr, the first stage of the
Viking Apocalypse, when winter simply ceases to end.
When food grows scarce and crops will not grow, banditry
becomes rife as formerly good folk are driven to extremes
and bad men take advantage of chaos and hardship. Other
good people, the lucky ones, retreat to the stronghold
a jarl or chieftain, or barricade their steading doors and
pray to the beleaguered gods for succor.
And beyond the cold and snow, monsters haunt the
wilds and prowl the outskirts of settlement and steading
alike. Huldrfolk, never easy neighbors, but generally
peaceful if left undisturbed, now move to defend their
sacred groves and to seize places once devoted to
gods who now seem absent. Trolls and their ilk gather,
marauders sweeping brigands and more into their bands
(or their bellies). Whispers abound of gaunt giant wolves
and worse, glimpsed in the swirl of a snowstorm. And
where such beasts and everlasting winter hold sway, the
Hrimthursar cannot be far behind.
In Ragnarok: Age of Wolves we have created a set of
fun, fast-playing and evocative rules that allow you to
fight out the desperate battles and skirmishes of the
Fimblvintr. We have also built a campaign of battles
to take you through the struggle of one man trying to
preserve something of his honor, his life, and the people
and creatures who depend on him for survival. Finally,
we have crafted the Aftermath, which gives you some
ideas on how to expand the strife to include the other
creatures and Sagas unfolding during the Ragnarok!
What You Will Need To Play
• These Ragnarok: Age of Wolves skirmish
wargame rules.
• Miniatures that you can use to represent the warriors
and monsters of the Viking apocalypse. You will
probably want 10 or more per side, and R:AW can
run considerably larger forces, so the upper limit is
up to you (we recommend 20 or so figures per side
for a good two hour game). You can use whatever
you have, and there are many fine manufacturers
that make great Viking models, so you should not
have trouble finding some. Alternately, check out
d-Infinity Online game magazine at www.d-Infinity.
net for a list of some great ones. If you want to get
models that are really good matches for the heroes,
monsters, and followers detailed in the campaign
“Saga of Eirik Wyrmson,” check out the section on
“Men & Monsters of the North” for details and the
photos scattered throughout the book.
• Several range sticks or tape measures scaled
in inches. Distances are scaled to Humans as
approximately 30 mm figures, so if you are using
larger or smaller figures then halve or double the
ranges as appropriate.
• A handful of six-sided dice. You will need at least two
that are the same (and six or more is better), and
one that stands out from the rest that will serve as
your Wyrd Die and which represents the fickle hand
of the Norns (the force of fate in the Viking mind).
To enable you to draw Runes, you will also need an
eight-sided die.
• Useful but not required are a set of tokens to
place near figures to denote a Declared Charge,
or other statuses (e.g., Wounded). There are third-
party suppliers of such things, but you can use
dice or bingo chips or make your own thematically
appropriate ones.
• A play area. One at least three feet square is ideal, but
you can get by with a smaller one without too much
trouble if you keep the overall number of figures on
the lower side, or if you want a shorter game with
less time and opportunity for maneuvering. Ideally,
you will have a cloth or mat to cover your play area,
but that is purely aesthetic.
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• Terrain keeps the game interesting and makes for
more tactical play, and hills, trees, scrub, buildings,
a stream, or whatever you might have will all help.
We have left the details on terrain for the campaign
game pretty light so that you can work with what
you have.
• You might want to print out copies of the stat blocks
for the men or monsters you are fighting with, which
will allow you to mark down things like remaining
Health and other conditions (and we hereby
cheerfully grant you permission to do so).
Philosophy of the Game
As far as we are concerned, there is enough strife in
the knock-down, drag-out fight that is the Ragnarok, so
there should not be any around the table. This is a game
played for fun. We encourage you to play the figures you
enjoy, treat you opponents with honor and respect (they
are your friends, right?), and understand that the one
who has the bragging rights today is likely to be eating
crow next time.
With all that in mind, there are no point values for the
warriors and denizens of the Fimblvintr. We leave it up
to your sense of fun, challenge and fair play, to balance
your forces. For a balanced battle, try to keep the total
amount of Health on each side about even, but this is
only an approximate gauge.
Different models perform better or worse depending
on a number of factors, some of which are beyond the
control of their warlord. Giants, for example, are truly
deadly foes, but an Outright Kill result from a lowly
archer can put an arrow in the eye of even the toughest
monster, or hero. In this sense, a Frost Giant with 5
Health is a vulnerable to instant death as is a lowly carl.
Having said this, you are the one playing this game and
should feel free to make it your own. If you do not have
Ulfhednar figures (you should, but hey, not everyone is
perfect), and you want to use the extra berserkers you
have in your collection, so be it. Run it by your opponent,
ask if he or she has any subs they want to make, and then
roll the dice.
What You See Is What You Get
We encourage you to use figures that accurately model
what the character can do, to include what it wears, rides,
and fights with. This is not always possible, and as long
as you can keep track that is fine. If you are using proxy
models, by which we mean figures that do not really look
like what they are representing on the table, make sure
you give your friends across the table a heads up on what
the models in question are wielding and the like.
If a character is listed a having multiple weapons, use
common sense about whether every one needs to be
represented on the model. This is another reason why
it is a good idea to go over your warbands with all the
players beforehand, making sure that everyone knows
what it going on with models’ equipment. There are
good surprises and bad surprises in a tabletop game,
and finding out that the light nomad warrior figures
are actually proxies for Drakkar-mounted close combat
death machines is not a “good” one.
Warriors armed with multiple weapons do not necessarily
use them all in a particular turn. A warrior with a ranged
attack can shoot, and also fight with its melee weapon in
the Melee Phase. Which weapon a warrior uses is up to the
controlling player. Some weapons are particularly good
when charging, others are better when the shieldwalls
have locked and fighting is at very close quarters. Unless
the character has an ability like two-weapon fighting, it
can make only a single attack in the Melee Phase.
Things Not in R:AW
“Unit” Cohesion: R:AW is a fluid game that can be played
with as few as a handful of figures per opponent, or with
forces of 30 or more per side. Unit cohesion is entirely
up to the one who controls those figures. You can move
every figure as an individual, all of them in conjunction
with one another, or anything in between, as you see fit.
With larger numbers of warriors, you may find it
convenient, and appropriate, to group figures together,
and it can speed and ease play if you do so with similar
warriors as appropriate (e.g., treating them as a unit
when rolling for Charge Distance). Other times, you
might want to do so for thematic or tactical reasons or
a combination of these. Thus, for example, you might
have a Named Character lead a small cadre of special
followers, or a band of shieldmen moving and fighting
as a unit, because you want them to stick together and
employ the shieldwall maneuver in melee.
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All the above, and more, are perfectly acceptable, and
encouraged.
But you do not have to keep figures together. If you
want to split up a unit of six warriors, charging some and
leaving the others where they are, that is fine. Indeed,
sometimes figures will split up whether you like it or not
(Berserkers, we are looking at you!), and this is OK too.
So is bringing them together, and you can have any of
your warriors join another group or a Named Character
at will without requiring any sort of success roll. You
should probably mention this to your opponents, just for
the sake of friendly play.
Morale: Going hand-in-hand with the idea of flexible
“unit” cohesion is the lack of an imposed morale system
that forces you to make rolls to determine whether your
warriors are brave or stupid enough to stay in the fight.
You, as warlord of your band, determine when a warrior
or a warband has fought long enough, and this is
encouraged by the Victory Point system we use in R:AW.
In just about every battle, you lose VPs with every warrior
who falls, or with every Wound dealt to you (i.e., every
point of Health removed from your force). It is up to you
to keep the overall conditions for victory in mind.
Can you squeeze out a win by staying for another round
and going for a couple of quick Victory Point grabs? Can
you inflict enough damage this turn to even the score,
and put you in better enough shape to triumph? Have
you got enough VP right now to eke out a narrow win but
can see a massacre imminent in a turn or two of distance
as your opponent masses for a counter-attack? Or have
you already lost enough that you cannot recover? In such
cases, retreat can preserve your dignity, managing a
close loss instead of a debacle.
There are reasons you might run. If you and your friends
are playing for fun and bragging rights, for example, you
might prefer to have the admiration of your peers for
managing a close loss rather that fight to the last and lose
overwhelmingly. It is your call. Maybe the overwhelming
loss will include an epic fight as one of your heroes falls,
but you might rather have him around for the next fight.
Indeed, in a campaign game like the one we present in
R:AW, this can make a difference in later battles. Survival
rolls are not a sure thing and you have to manage your
next battle even as you are conducting the current one.
This trio of Ulfhednar with swords and spears are followers, whereas the Ulfhednar Mage beside
them, Vald Wolfwarden, is a Named Character.

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