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Dark Ages of Annwn is a 28mm, unit-based PvPvE/solo survival skirmish game set in a mythical Wales. You command villagers trying to make it through the seasons, fending off folk horrors, remnants of a fallen Empire and rival factions, forging their own tales of heroism and tragedy. Published as Electi Studio's Blaster Vol. 8, designed by Will RD (Forbidden Psalm, Last War, Kill Sample Process).
Dark Ages of Annwn is a unit-based skirmish game: you command roughly four to five units of four miniatures each, on individual round bases, plus a single hero.
Every unit has a dice type (D8, D10, D12, etc...) representing its training level and combat readiness, and its model count determines how many dice are rolled. A unit can be activated multiple times in a round, but by doing so you reduce its dice value until it rests. This creates interesting tactical tension: Do you want to push a good unit hard and watch it get exhausted, or spend a turn letting them catch their breath?
Scenarios mix player warbands with hostile NPCs, which run themselves off a short behaviour script — nobody plays the monsters. If you're particularly (un)lucky, you might also get a random Legendary Monster spawn at a random table edge!
The game can be played as a one-off, but it particularly shines in a campaign where competitive and solo gameplay can be combined. Campaign play includes thematic rules for seasons, and village upkeep and improvement is a core component of the game. Warbands of mismatched strength are balanced using an underdog mechanic, making sure that players don't fall behind and possibly even letting new players join an ongoing campaign.
Getting ready for Dark Ages of Annwn is a medium sized project. You will need about 20 to 25 miniatures per side at 'regular' scale (generally 28mm, but 25–32mm works just as well), plus a handful of monsters and animals, and a small to medium amount of appropriate rural terrain.
The only unique miniatures are some of the monsters, so if you already have an early middle ages miniatures collection and some fitting terrain, you might be able to get started with minimum fuss!
The game is explicitly miniatures agnostic. Being set in the early middle ages, you have an abundance of miniature ranges available (physical or 3D printable) to compose your warband — just take your pick. You will need some lightly armoured militia (spearmen, slingers, archers, etc...) and a couple more elite models in the mix.
Then there are the monsters. Electi Studio offers a good selection of the models as official STLs, but there is also ample opportunity for kitbashing and conversions. The rules cover beings such as Llamhigyn Y Dwr (a demonic toad), Twrch Trwyth (a mythic boar), Y Ddraig Goch (red dragon) and many more. These can be really interesting projects in their own right.
Nearly every scenario is 3×3 ft with medium density rural dark-ages terrain. Think stuff like a woodland area, a river, a hill, a sheep pen, a graveyard etc. Generally, this would be undistinguishable from regular historical terrain.
There are no points. You get a fixed starting warband and shape it to your liking by trading training levels one-for-one: raise one unit a step by dropping another a step. You can even drop a unit entirely if you want to trade quantity for quality. Units are either Melee, Ranged or Beast and you get to choose how many of each you will field (within some constraints). Finally, you pick a hero: melee, ranged, or magical.
The game really leans into the idea that this is not a professional army by granting each of your units a random pair of upside/downside characteristics that you learn before you equip them. These are villagers after all, and you must learn how to work with them in these dark and desperate times!
During the campaign your warband will gain experience and new units can be recruited over time.
Dark Ages of Annwn is set in historically inspired early middle ages, shrouded in mystery, folklore, and myth. An Empire that once held the land has fallen, and the gates to the otherworld — Annwn — are opening. Even though the setting has strong fantastical elements, at its core it is grounded. You are playing stories of everyday men and women trying to simply survive through the year.
The bestiary is drawn straight from Welsh folklore and the book cites the Red Book of Hergest and the White Book of Rhydderch as sources, explicitly framing itself as part of the wider effort to recentre these stories on their Celtic origins. It also invites you to make your own — the oral tradition means nobody owns the "true" version anyway.
Community on Discord and Instagram; battle reports and photos via electi-studio.com/connect
Content for this page was written for Indie Tabletop Club by Artur Muller based on an interview with the creator(s) and the game's rulebook. Images used with permission.