The Excuse Plot of the game takes place on the huge, Greenland-sized Isle of Mages, which once was a paradise, until a war between powerful Wizards devastated it. In the crossfire, three of the Wizards survived, and now they are once again fighting among themselves in order to retrieve artifacts of the past. Fearing to use their most devastating weapons once again, they've decided to summon forth warriors who could fight for them. To this end, they've created artifacts, which were sent across time and space, ending up in the hands of some of the best warriors in history. Whenever such a group faced a truly deadly threat, the artifact would transport them onto the Isle, into the service of the Wizard.
Battles are done with squads of three to seven models, each a unique character with different stats. While the game mostly lacks special rules, squads are distinguished by their unque artifacts, held by the commander. Armies can be further augmented with warmachines, monsters, battlemages, and siege weapons. The game's most notable feature is "real shooting", used by siege weapons - cannons, catapults, and ballistas. They are powered by springs or rubber bands, and can knock down not only enemy models, but even some terrain. As such, solid terrain is extremely important in gameplay, preventing sessions from turning into a shooting range. Models with guns or bows can also use normal, "virtual" shooting.
The wargame hasn't been released in the West, but its models are officially sold in generic brand boxed setsnote without siege weapons, terrain, or rules.
Битвы Fantasy provides examples of:
- Amazon Brigade: Legion "Amazons", obviously. They are the only official all-female squad in the game. Gameplay-wise, they are reasonably cheap and decent in melee, but have no armor.
- And I Must Scream: The chronicle on the Legion "Tomb Guardians" tells that the squad in question used to be medieval bandits from Syria. Their artifact was created by a Wizard who has long been defeated, and after being pulled onto the Isle, the group was left stuck in the vault, dying from hunger and thirst over and over only to be revived by the artifact. By the time the Necromancer finds and recruits them, they are reduced to bare bones, still animated by its power.
- Armor Is Useless: Averted; armor is useful, because each armor point makes the enemy roll one less die in the virtual shooting phase. Since many history-based models have only bows or flintlock rifles, which are represented by Shooting 1, even a single point of armor makes the model invulnerable to many shooters. Considering that Shooting 4 represents RPGs and small mortars, the Armor 3 of the Order "Paladins" makes for ridiculous protection.
- Army of The Ages: Each Wizard's army is one, containing both medieval and sci-fi warriors, as well as fantasy creatures. Players themselves may opt to invoke this, or give their army a specific theme.
- Been There, Shaped History: Downplayed. Historical squads with backstories are often said to be involved into a certain famous historical event. For example, Druzhina "Hawk" was involved into the war with Byzantine Empire in 907, while Squad "Warriors of Mithra" were personal bodyguards of the Persian king Darius III, the Immortals. However, none of them actually shaped history that much, given that they almost died in the process, and were only saved by the artifact.
- Bottomless Magazines: Averted in the chronicles, where it's stated that gunpowder is known on the Isle, but warriors with more advanced weapons are out of luck, and will eventually run out of ammo. One chronicle even shows the leader of "Canopus" losing his recon drone when it runs out of power. Played straight in gameplay, where "out of bullets" is never a problem. However, it's Justified by the statement that these warriors tend to ration their ammo, firing single shots instead of bursts.
- A Commander Is You: Played with; none of the actual factions has any real specialization. Rather, it's squad "themes" that have similar properties, though the game doesn't bother to sort them.
- Historic warriors are the Spammer, having the lowest point cost of units, and thus being able to field more squads. However, they are weak individually, forcing the player to gang up on stronger enemies, and abuse their artifacts, adding a dash of a Technical faction.
- Fantasy warriors are the Elitist Brute, with them being very strong in melee, but often few in numbers, with many fantasy squads having only four warriors instead of five due to their large size. Notably, the only two squads that can't shoot from any siedge weapons ("Centaurs" and "Werewolves") are both fantasy-based.
- Sci-fi warriors are Balanced, having both cheaper and pricier squads. Most of them are very good shooters, and they have several models with Shooting 4, making them the Ranger.
- Cool Versus Awesome: Most squads are substantially cool, and they will fight each other. Many sets feed into this theme; Knights vs. Lizardmen and Pirates vs. Cyberzombies are both actual starter sets.
- Creator Provincialism: Downplayed; there are several squads that represent Russia, whereas most other countries get maybe one or two. However, these squads don't have any unique advantages, and are split between several factions. The following squads related to Russia are currently present in the game:
- Squad "Heroes of Shipka" are soldiers from the Tenth Russo-Turkish War
, named after the battle of Shipka. Their artifact, "White General", is named after a general from this war, Mikhail Skobelev, who had it as a nickname. - Kuren "Kuban Freemen" are the Kuban Cossacks. Their set has them fight Turkish Corps "Izmail", who are named after siege of Izmail, dating both squads to the Seventh Russo-Turkish War.
- Battalions "Bagration" and "Borodino" are soldiers from The Napoleonic Wars, the former named after Pyotr Bagration, a Russian general of Georgian origin, and the latter - after the battle of Borodino, the key engagement of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. Naturally, the latter squad is pitted against French Battalion "Waterloo" in their set.
- Battalion "Poltava" are from The Great Northern War, being named after the battle of Poltava. Notably, they don't have their enemies Swedes to fight against.
- Druzhinas "Falcon" and "Hawk" are mentioned in the chronicle to be fighting against Byzantine Empire in the war of 907.
- Platoon "Stalingrad" is obviously named after the battle of Stalingrad, but whether they are truly from it is questionable - their weapons look fairly futuristic and different from the real deal.
- Squad "New Siberia" is complicated. They are actually a Transplant from the game's sister system Bronepekhota, where they are named "Ruthenian Guard". Except Ruthenia is a medieval exonym for ancient Rus', meaning that the squad likely hails from a Fantasy Counterpart Culture for Russia.
- Squad "Heroes of Shipka" are soldiers from the Tenth Russo-Turkish War
- Dr. Fakenstein: A chronicle on Brigade "Necros" says that they used to be Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War, who were reanimated by... Professor Frankenstein. He's actually named slightly different from the real deal in Russian, but this alternate spelling is actually closer to the real German reading.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- One chronicle puts a particular emphasis on the fact that combatants are not just some fantasy creatures, but humans. Fast forward a few years, and the game has elves, dwarves, minotaurs and lizardmen.
- The "Empire" version of the rules lacks armor and virtual shooting, even for those models that have bows or guns (the justification is that they shoot only at point blank range to conserve ammo, but it applies to archers as well). It also has Close Combat bonus measured in half-points, which, in turn, are oddly small, placing much more emphasis on lucky die rolls over strategy. Tellingly, later editions almost doubled Close Combat bonus for most warriors, while lowering it for shooters.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The three Wizards are only ever called Sorcerer, Warlock, and Necromancer. Apparently, they conceal their true names because this knowledge can be used against them.
- Everything's Louder with Bagpipes: The Squad "Roxburgh" is a squad of Scottish riflemen, who are led by a bagpipe-playing commander. It seems to be the squad's artifact, the Bagpipe of the Winds, which makes them better shooters.
- Evil vs. Evil: None of the three Wizards is really "good"; they all hate each other for no known reason, and they all fough in the war that decimated the Isle. Now, Warlock does place his trust in the natives of the Isle and the nature magic, while Necromancer is the most obviously sinister one, but ultimately all three of them are just fighting for power.
- Geo Effects: Having the high ground (warrior's feet are higher than the target's head) makes virtual shooting more powerful by giving the shooter roll one more die.
- God Guise: Both "Warriors of Mithra" and "Tomb Guardians" mistake their respective summoners for the evil god Ahriman. According to Necromancer, it's not uncommon for summoned warriors to mistake a Wizard for one of their deities.
- Horny Vikings:
- Company "Asterisk" are labeled as "vikings" on the squad box, and they indeed have horned helmets. However, their artifact is "Druidic Lightning", which is Celtic, rather than Norse.
- Druzhina "Konung", on the other hand, are labeled as "varangians", which are just vikings who settled in Eastern Europe. They are depicted more realistically, wearing chainmail instead of animal skins, and normal, non-horned helmets.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Models with a shield almost always have one more point of armor when compared to other warriors from the same squad.
- Magitek: While all three Wizards aren't averse to using both magic and technology, Sorcerer is the one who actively combines them, even turning himself into a magic-powered cyborg.
- Mirror Character: Orders "Guards of Darkness" and "Paladins" exactly mirror each other. Both are squads of five Mighty Glacier warriors, with one woman in their ranks, almost the same point cost, and artifacts that directly oppose each other; the former killing enemy warriors, the latter ressurecting your own.
- Necromancer: Necromancer is one of three Wizards, and he used to field an army of undead horrors. Now he's reduced to using the same summoned warriors as everyone else, though his army still "coincidentally" contains skeletons and zombies.
- No Range Like Point-Blank Range:
- Virtual shooting works best when used at a short distance, adding two dice to the shooter. With it, even primitive bows can punch through all but the heaviest armor. Averted for real shooting, which doesn't work if the siege weapon is blocked by an enemy warrior that stands too close.
- The "Empire" ruleset justifies its lack of virtual shooting with the statement that warriors save their ammo for most desperate situations, namely close combat. As such, the game incorporates guns into their Close Combat score. Somehow, it also includes bows, who cannot shoot at range, either. This was removed in later editions.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: Squad "Centaurs" consists of four centaurs, who wear heavy armor. They are one of the fastest squads in the game and have huge bonuses in melee.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Squad "Combat Gnomes"note are short, armored dwarves, armed with hammers, maces, axes... and an inexplicable punch dagger. Their artifact in "Magical Gunpowder", which affects siege weapons. Chronicles also mention some craftsmen dwarves, who used to work for one of the Wizards. There's no mention of whether they hate elves or drink booze, though.
- Our Elves Are Different: There are two elven squads in the game, though neither of them have any chronicles.
- Squad "Elitar" are more of a High Elves flavor, being clad in armor and fighting with swords and bardiches. Their artifact, "Source of Eternity", allows them to revive their fallen warriors.
- Squad "Avalon", on the other hand, are distinctly Wood Elves. They are armed with bows, and their artifact, "Elven Arrow", makes them even better shooters.
- Our Minotaurs Are Different: Squad "Minotaurs" are a group of four bull-headed humanoids with hooved legs, who fight with axes and swords. Like other monstrous squads, they are decently fast and strong in melee, but suffer from their relatively large size. In a nod to the original legend, their artifact is named "Ghost of the Labyrinth", and it allows them to walk through walls.
- Our Orcs Are Different: Orcs is one of the most numerous categories of squads in the game.
- Gang "Grobag", labeled as "mutant orcs" for some reason, are your typical ugly-as-sin, green-skinned humanoids, who use primitive weapons and wear no armor, though they are apparently tough enough that even without it they have some Armor points.
- Gang "Uruk-Tag", or "mountain orcs", are Expies of Saruman's Uruk-hai, using heavy armor and weapons and thus being better in melee.
- Brigade "Gugluk" are closely modelled after orks from Warhammer 40,000, and as such they have More Dakka, including two models with Shooting 4. However, the resemblance was too close, and their production was cancelled due to a lawsuit, with only armlist and some pre-production models surviving. Instead, Brigade "Gulrog" was produced as a replacement.
- Goblin-Companies "Cobra", "Python", and "Boa" are nominally, well, goblins, but they are still orc-sized, and have the same affinity to modern firearms. Notably, they are some of the most stable models in the game, sometimes able to withstand direct hits from siege weapons.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Combat Pack "Werewolves" are four armor-clad wolf-men, armed with nasty-looking knives. They do not transform, at least not in gameplay, and their artifact, "Call of the Full Moon", allows them to ressurect their fallen for every enemy killed. Notably, they lack any clearance, indicating that their claws are not precise enough to operate siege weapons.
- Overly Cool Play Space: Back cover of several sets shows models posed on a diorama-style field. The thing is, playing Битвы Fantasy on such a field is a horrible idea, due to models standing firmly being extremely important in deciding the results of real shooting.
- Paladin: Order "Paladins" are a group of five heavily armed warriors, who are very slow, but great in melee. Their "Keeper of Light" artifact can ressurect their fallen, and they are pitched against the "Guards of Darkness" in their set.
- Power Creep, Power Seep: Half-naked barbarians (such as Druzhina "Wolfhound") can beat combat robots from the future (such as Squad "Cyber-Skeletons") in melee with a good enough roll. Lightly-armed and unarmored units do tend to cost less, sometimes even half as much as the strongest ones, but there's no mention on how they can break through the futuristic armor of space cyborgs. At least shooting is justified - warriors with modern and futuristic weapons are stated to ration their ammo, negating the advantage of their higher rate of fire.
- La Résistance: According to the chronicle, Psi-Team "Zero" were freedom fighters from the XXII century, who fought against a MegaCorp, whose favorite tactic against every rebel was usage of copious amounts of Deadly Gas "Xi".
- Revenant Zombie: All undead squads are implied to still have their minds, due to emotions being the key to the activation of artifacts. More specifically, "Tomb Guardians" were kept alive by their artifact, though they really wish they weren't, and they are lucid enough to immediately pledge their allegiance to "Ahriman" (Necromancer).
- Lizard Folk: Combat Pack "Hydra" is composed of warriors with lizard-like heads. Oddly enough, the box art for the set featuring them gives one of them a human skin color, except for his monstrous head.
- Smurfette Principle: There are four squads featuring women, and, aside from all-female "Amazons", all of them have only one woman in their ranks. They are: "Paladins", "Guards of Darkness", and "Hydra".
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Some squads with a popular theme were completely redone for higher model quality and better scaling, but their original versions were never really invalidated. As such, there are two Roman Legions - "Saturn" and "Jupiter", which are very similar, down to the warriors' poses, but have different stats and artifacts, and the former is long out of production.
- Transplant:
- Several squads were taken from another Tehnolog's wargame, Bronepekhota, only being enlarged to fit Bitvy Fantasy's scale. Examples include Squad "New Siberia" and Gang "Dark Hundred".
- UNL warmachines are taken directly from Tehnolog's board game series Cyberpunk, for which they were something of a Series Mascot.
- Units Not to Scale: The game isn't entirely consistent with its scale, and some models may appear too short or too tall. Early squads had it worse; they were conceived more as toys rather than wargame miniatures, and some were as tall as 70mm. They were eventually phased out and some replaced with Suspiciously Similar Substitutes.
- Universal Driver's License: Played with; each warrior has their own "clearance" stat, and can shoot from a siege weapon only if its type corresponds to their clearance. However, moving a siege weapon is possible even without any clearance.
- Unwinnable by Design: The difference of 5 between Close Combat scores means that the superior model can't ever lose to the inferior, and the difference of 6 makes it always win. Granted, Close Combat 0 (a raw die roll) is mostly seen on shooters or the weakest and cheapest models, and Close Combat 5 or 6 (die roll +5/6) is almost exclusive to lone, pricey warmachines. Group combat is also an option.
- Wizards' War: The backstory involves an all-out war between the powerful Wizards that once lived on the Isle, described as a fairly short, but apocalyptic event, when Wizards destroyed each others' dwellings with insanely powerful spells. The three Wizards that field their squads in the game are the only ones who survived it through some means.
- Xenomorph Xerox: Soldiers of the Sturm-Cluster "Canopus" have elongated heads, tapering off into a "tail", and scary, exposed teeth. In fact, they are actually called "Aliens"note on the squad box. However, the chronicle on the Tehnolog's website clarifies that they are actually Full-Conversion Cyborgs, modified for boarding operations. The scary look, apparently, was recommended by psychologists for intimidation.
