NECROMOLDS

We’re here to raise the dead and smash monsters, and we’ve already run out of dead to raise

Words by Christopher John Eggett

What does defeat mean for an individual soldier in a wargame? Being spirited away by a giant hand? Tipped on its side, prone? Neither of these really approach the fidelity of being eviscerated by a plasma cannon or skewered by an arrow through the chest. What if, instead of a giant but gentle hand removing a hard working unit from play, that hand descended with the intention of smashing the defeated figure?

That’s where we start with Necromolds, an entry-level family friendly game of war and attrition that uses play-dough monsters as the ground troops slogging it out on a neon battlefield. It’s a jump for Clint Bohaty, the game’s designer, from his previous tile flipping, fox hunting game, Hounded.

“It’s a fantasy monster army moulding and smashing game,” says Bohaty reading from the box with a grin, commenting it reminds him of old Warhammer boxes.

“It’s a skirmish game that you can play with your family,” says Bohaty, “it’s an introduction to wargaming – a rules light miniature wargame where both players are wizards battling each other on by raising up golems to fight on their behalf.”

Let’s explore the smash-or-be-smashed world of Necromolds and see if it really is the way to trick your family into wargaming.

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE

All of the monsters, or golems, in the game are created from spell book moulds which players fill with their clay and close to form their army. This army is raised from the ground itself in a form of geomancy, or play-doughmancy, each monster offering its own themed collection of debris and detritus that it’s formed out of. The idea from the game came from something equally as magical however, tabletop gaming convention halls.

“Whenever I go to game conventions, I love to play. I usually just play a tabletop RPG, but I like to get a wargame in,” says Bohaty, “I just think it’s so fun to move all those little minis on the battlefield. And usually the people who host miniature war games at conventions are super talented.”

“I think it was in 2017 I noticed that more and more families were playing D&D together. But I didn’t see any families or young kids in the wargaming room. And I thought that was kind of odd because as a kid, I would think this stuff is so cool. You know, all these little characters on these giant battlefields. So I tried to figure out, well, why?” says Bohaty, “one of the major things was how fragile a lot of the pieces are. All those miniatures that people make are so beautiful, they’re almost their own little pieces of art.”