Building Your First Oathmark Kingdom: What Makes Army Building Different?
Building Your First Oathmark Kingdom: What Makes Army Building Different?
Most fantasy miniature games ask you to build an army. Oathmark asks you to build a kingdom. That difference sounds small until you begin creating your first force. Instead of simply choosing a faction and selecting units from its army list, Oathmark connects your army to the fantasy realm it comes from. Your kingdom determines which troops, creatures, characters, and allies are available to recruit.
That means army building begins before you ever start calculating points. You need to decide who lives in your kingdom — which races control its cities and settlements, what kind of military that kingdom would realistically field, and how its peoples came to fight alongside one another.
Browse miniatures, rulebooks, expansions, and army sets in our Oathmark collection at Tistaminis.
Oathmark Army Building in One Minute
In Oathmark, your army is connected to a kingdom made up of different territories. Those territories determine which units your kingdom can recruit. This means you can build mixed fantasy forces containing combinations of Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, Orcs, Undead, and other creatures rather than being restricted to one traditional race.
The important beginner lesson is simple: build the fantasy army you want to own first, then design a kingdom that supports it.
Why Oathmark Army Building Feels Different
| Traditional Fantasy Game | Oathmark |
|---|---|
| Choose faction | Create kingdom |
| Select units from faction list | Territories determine available units |
| Mixed races often restricted | Mixed-race armies are part of the core concept |
| Lore usually predetermined | You create much of your kingdom’s identity |
| Army exists primarily for battle | Army represents the military forces of a realm |
| Collection follows faction | Kingdom can follow your miniature collection |
The Big Difference
Oathmark asks you to explain why these units fight together. The answer is your kingdom.
STEP 1 Decide What Kind of Kingdom You Want
Before worrying about optimization, decide what sounds fun. A Human kingdom supported by Dwarf mercenaries. An ancient Elven realm with Human frontier settlements. A Goblin empire controlling Orc territories. A Dwarf mountain kingdom with Human trading towns. A fallen kingdom where several races now compete for survival. None of these requires faction purity — that freedom is one of Oathmark’s biggest strengths.
Excellent for Existing Collections
Before buying an entirely new Oathmark army, look through the fantasy miniatures you already own. Thirty Human spearmen, twenty Dwarf warriors, twenty Elf archers, a wizard, and a dragon can potentially become the military of one kingdom. In many games those miniatures represent pieces of several unrelated armies — in Oathmark, they may already be your starting force.
STEP 2 Choose Your Core Race
While Oathmark supports mixed forces, most beginners will find it easier to start with one primary race that provides the visual identity of the army, then add secondary races as supporting elements.
| Core Race | Best For | Natural Kingdom Themes |
|---|---|---|
| Humans | Flexible, blank-canvas armies — excellent first choice | Feudal realms, frontier kingdoms, fallen empires, mercenary states |
| Elves | Archery, elite troops, magic, elegant visual style | Ancient kingdoms, forest realms, high fantasy with Human border settlements |
| Dwarves | Disciplined infantry, heavy armour, grinding battle lines | Mountain holds, mining settlements, border wars with Goblins |
| Goblins | Horde aesthetics, monsters, chaotic mixed armies | Expansionist empires, opportunistic alliances, Orc-allied kingdoms |
| Orcs | Aggressive infantry, brute-force tactics, monster support | Warbands grown into kingdoms, conquest-driven realms |
| Undead | Unique unit behaviour, immune to morale in conventional sense | Conquered territories ruled by dark lords, kingdoms that fell and rose again |
STEP 3 Build Around Battlefield Roles
Once you have a kingdom concept, think about what the army needs on the table. A balanced fantasy army usually wants some combination of line infantry, heavy infantry, ranged troops, cavalry, characters, magic, fast units, and monster or unusual support. Your secondary races can help fill any gaps.
Example: How a Role Gap Becomes a Story
Your main army is Human — spearmen, cavalry, archers. You add Dwarf heavy infantry because you want a durable unit holding the centre. Now army building has created narrative: why are the Dwarves there? Perhaps their mountain hold is part of your kingdom. Perhaps they owe allegiance to the Human king. Perhaps both peoples share a common enemy. That interaction between army building and world building is where Oathmark becomes especially interesting.
STEP 4 Think in Regiments, Not Individual Models
Oathmark is a rank-and-flank fantasy wargame. Your miniatures operate as formed units rather than independent skirmishers, so the visual building block of your army is the regiment. Instead of thinking “I need one cool swordsman,” think “I want a regiment of twenty Human spearmen” or “I want a block of Dwarf heavy infantry.”
Rank-and-flank games look best when units have visual mass. That makes multi-part plastic infantry boxes particularly useful. North Star Military Figures’ Oathmark range was designed around this concept, with plastic kits providing substantial numbers of miniatures for regiment building. Browse the Oathmark miniature range for infantry, cavalry, characters, creatures, and army-building options.
STEP 5 Do Not Build Your First Army Too Large
One of the most common mistakes in rank-and-flank gaming is buying an enormous army before playing a single game. Start with a few infantry units, one ranged option, a character, and perhaps one cavalry or specialist unit — then play. After several games you will know whether you need more mobility, more ranged pressure, larger infantry blocks, magic, or a monster. Buy in stages; Oathmark’s kingdom system gives you enormous long-term freedom, but you do not need to exercise all of it in your first purchase.
Three Example Beginner Kingdoms
Kingdom 1: Human Realm With Dwarf Allies
Theme: A Human realm controls fertile lowlands while an ancient Dwarf hold protects the mountain passes. The two peoples have maintained an alliance for generations.
Army core: Human spearmen, Human archers, Human cavalry
Allied contingent: Dwarf heavy infantry, Dwarf character
Why it works: Humans provide the visual majority. Dwarves create one distinctive allied block that fills the heavy-infantry role. The army looks coherent while demonstrating exactly what makes Oathmark different from single-race systems.
Kingdom 2: Elven Realm With Human Frontier Settlements
Theme: An ancient Elven kingdom protects several Human settlements located along its frontier. The Humans have served the Elven crown for generations and fight alongside their lords.
Army core: Elf infantry, Elf archers, Elf characters and magic
Allied contingent: Human spearmen, Human cavalry
Why it works: The Elven core provides the elite backbone while Human troops offer numbers and cavalry mobility. The visual contrast between the two races is dramatic on the tabletop, and the narrative writes itself.
Kingdom 3: Goblin Empire With Orc Warbands
Theme: A cunning Goblin warlord has united several Orc clans under one banner, building a brutal but effective military machine through a mixture of fear, tribute, and opportunity.
Army core: Goblin infantry formations, Goblin wolf riders, Goblin characters
Allied contingent: Orc warriors, monsters
Why it works: The horde aesthetic works especially well in Oathmark because the game rewards large formations. This kingdom also opens up some of the most characterful modelling opportunities in the range.
Painting Your Kingdom: Visual Cohesion Tips
Because Oathmark armies can contain several different races, it is worth thinking about how to make the collection look like one kingdom rather than several unrelated forces assembled on the same table.
| Technique | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Shared basing scheme | Using the same basing style and colours on all units ties the army together regardless of race |
| Unifying accent colour | A single colour appearing on shields, banners, or cloth across all races creates visual belonging |
| Consistent base rim colour | Simple but very effective — the same rim colour on every base unifies the collection |
| Kingdom heraldry | A shared symbol or device appearing on the shields of multiple races suggests common allegiance |
| Primary race colour palette | Allied races that partially echo the main race’s palette feel like subjects rather than strangers |
Campaign Play and the Kingdom System
Everything above describes army building for standalone battles. But Oathmark Second Edition is primarily designed around its kingdom campaign — and in that context, the territory system becomes even more meaningful. Territories are not just an army-list unlock mechanism: they represent land your kingdom controls, battles will be fought over them, and the results of those battles will determine how your realm grows or contracts over the course of the campaign.
That means the kingdom you build at the start of a campaign is not the kingdom you will have at the end. Some territories may be lost. Others may be conquered. Legendary Heroes will accumulate history. The army you start with will change. Building your kingdom with some narrative flexibility — knowing that it can evolve — is a better approach than trying to optimize it completely before you play your first game.
Final Thought
Oathmark’s army-building system is one of the most creative in fantasy wargaming precisely because it does not separate the hobby question — what do I want to collect and paint? — from the game question — what forces does my army need? The kingdom system bridges those two things. Build the army that excites you as a hobbyist. Then build a kingdom that explains why it exists. That combination is what makes Oathmark genuinely different.
Browse the range in our Oathmark collection at Tistaminis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to follow the kingdom rules to play Oathmark?
For standalone battles you can build a force using the army lists without constructing a formal kingdom. The kingdom system becomes mandatory — and most rewarding — during campaign play. Even for one-off games, however, the territory concept is useful as a mental framework for deciding which races your force can plausibly include.
Can I use miniatures from other manufacturers in my Oathmark army?
Yes. Oathmark has no official miniature exclusivity requirement. The game describes unit types rather than requiring specific official sculpts. Historical plastic infantry, other fantasy manufacturers, and converted models are all commonly used. This makes Oathmark particularly attractive for players with existing fantasy collections they want to build into a coherent force.
How many miniatures do I need to start?
A small starting force for Oathmark might be three or four infantry units of ten to twenty models each, a character or two, and a ranged unit. That gives you enough to learn the game without a massive painting commitment. Oathmark Second Edition specifically encourages starting with a kingdom of only a few territories and expanding through campaign play rather than building a complete finished army before your first game.
Can I mix any races in Oathmark?
In principle yes — the kingdom system is designed to support mixed-race forces. In practice, the specific units available to your army depend on which territories your kingdom controls. Some territory types unlock specific racial units. The rules provide guidance on which races and unit types are available from each territory type. When building your first kingdom, starting with two compatible races and expanding from there is more manageable than trying to include every possible race at once.
What is the best first purchase for Oathmark?
The Oathmark Second Edition rulebook is the essential starting point — it contains the complete rules, kingdom system, and army lists. From there, one or two plastic infantry boxes for your primary race gives you enough models to begin. Browse what we currently have in stock in our Oathmark collection at Tistaminis.
Shop Oathmark at Tistaminis
We stock Oathmark miniatures including infantry, cavalry, heroes, creatures, and support models for all major races. Ships from Canada.