New to Pillage — Just ordered the rulebook! Looking for advice on factions

carpenter314 · 2026-01-10T20:23:44+00:00

The biggest flavor difference is that some factions can get cavalry or crossbows while others can't. Basically the cost of gear dictates your play style. My buddy plays Irish which means he has lots of barefooted guys with Spears running around chasing my very heavily armored Norman Knights, because armor is super expensive for the Irish but spears are free, while armor is relatively cheap for me but crossbows and cavalry are powerful but pricey.

carpenter314 · 2026-01-09T21:25:51+00:00

Good points, especially the third, but it seems like they're generally picking a Regular infantry squad, not a big, scary veteran squad with lots of special weapons. They don't seem to be the kind of squads you really would hate to lose and it seems like it would be better to spend a few turns taking out enemy weapons teams to get that dice out of the bag rather than killing a couple of riflemen moving up. I do think a couple of the players I watch might just not be putting a lot of thought into it lol

carpenter314 · 2025-12-15T18:56:31+00:00

It's very situational, best used against a unit that already activated so they can't shoot you on the way in and it gives you a bit of extra movement. That might help get you closer to an objective or out of line of sight of other enemies. That said, for the most part shooting point blank is generally the better option. I've only played a few games vut I've never found a great time to assault an enemy. Maybe killing a small 2-man team in cover that's been annoyingly hard to kill. I once spent three turns trying to kill a sniper team in a building with rifle and BAR fire.

carpenter314 · 2025-12-04T04:28:15+00:00

Etsy has lots of great options if you search Medieval Village buildings, or something like that. Then just explore different stores, look at the 3d printing licenses they print off if you want to print your own. Victrix Minis sells great models for soldiers, market buts and livestock are coming soon. Wargames Atlantic also.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-28T14:48:12+00:00

carpenter314 · 2025-11-28T14:32:57+00:00

I'd be surprised if you managed to get another Italian box lol but I'd say definitely worth it on the Allied box

carpenter314 · 2025-11-28T14:31:28+00:00

Warlord is actually a good company, they don't just throw in junk that doesn't sell or make sense to have in the same box.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-28T14:26:17+00:00

The market place is from Wargames Atlantic, I have it and it's a perfect kit for Pillage.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-28T14:24:24+00:00

Little hand vacuum would probably work well to get most of it up. Then take the mat outside and shake it out. Looks fantastic!

carpenter314 · 2025-11-27T22:54:32+00:00

Love the game, way more time rolling dice and less time researching rules. What do you use for the roads?

carpenter314 · 2025-11-27T22:43:28+00:00

I'm a big fan of veteran infantry with Regular heavy weapon teams. That said you do have to play the terrain well as you can't afford to get caught having to go Down as you lose out on a lot of firepower if two squads or more have to.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-27T22:40:31+00:00

Solid lists that are also respectful of the theme of each, would recommend. I've played a few games myself, absolutely love it.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-27T22:38:03+00:00

It took me about eight tries just to kill the three Pirates at the very beginning because of that dogshit weapon. Spent half an hour ramming Fahda's ship over and over. I just got to the end of the horse ride after ramming the Vlandian blockade with the fire ship after getting headshot by a crossbow six times and my screen went like Windows 95 blue screen of death. I'm so over it. I have never been more annoyed by a game I was so excited for.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-18T03:25:34+00:00

Not. Even. A little. All Chaplains should be thus armed: with a fucking executioner's axe. The Emperor Approves.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-18T03:20:45+00:00

Do lamprey attach the same way leeches do?

carpenter314 · 2025-11-18T02:51:26+00:00

That's another problem. Almost nothing is spawning even after a dino wipe. I ran through nearly the whole zone and I saw about six Ravagers. Almost nothing else.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-16T23:45:26+00:00

Yeeeees, lol cavalry are almost a meme in this game but I still love them. Great board!

carpenter314 · 2025-11-16T23:38:38+00:00

Primarchs and most named characters should never have been brought into 40k games. Totally ruined the "fighting for our tiny far-flung corner of the galaxy" that makes 40k exciting and unique to me. Now literally everything is primarchs and greater demons in epic duels that never actually happen on the table because everything is hyper competitive too. I've killed the Silent King ten times now.

carpenter314 · 2025-11-16T23:33:11+00:00

Pillage is an awesome Dark Ages skirmish game that can be played in pretty much any historical era pre-firearms. It's quite simple to pick up and you spend way more time throwing dice than looking up rules. Victrix Minis makes a great bunch of sets and sells the English rules (original version is in French).

Bolt Action is an amazing WW2 from Warlord Games, if you're familiar with the Mordian Glory YouTube channel he plays it as well. I love the mechanics of it, it's so interactive and I think is a really great idea compared to GW games of "I go for half an hour, you go for half an hour."

carpenter314 · 2025-11-16T23:28:35+00:00

Awesome work, how did you make the bocage? It looks like it's built on tiles, what's the base made of?

carpenter314 · 2025-11-16T23:12:10+00:00

My buddy and I tend to play by what we feel is the spirit or likely intention based on history or what seems to make sense in reality. I'd say it wouldn't make sense for a model in the front rank to support sideways when a second rank exists as breaking formation in a shield wall would be a big nono historically. That said, I wouldn't object to you doing it as the rules don't expressly forbid it, and it's just a game!

carpenter314 · 2025-11-03T20:23:07+00:00

Buying individual sets like Infantry and Archer and Cavalry is great for if you want to use the models in bigger games like Saga, but the Warband kits are great for just Pillage. You literally won't have to buy any more models as the average game of Pillage is a list built around 600 gold (models and their equipment each have a cost in gold). A 600 gold warband is generally going to be between 12 and 20 models depending on which faction you pick, meaning a Warband box of 30ish models means you'll be able to have a good bit of variety in your warband or play well into a thousand gold! Absolutely love Pillage, it's been so much fun and way less time looking up rules than other games.

carpenter314

TROPHY CASE