Oathmark Second Edition: New Rules, Major Changes & What Current Players Need to Know

Oathmark: Second Edition has arrived, bringing Joseph A. McCullough's mass-battle fantasy wargame into its next era. Rather than replacing the game players already know, the new edition takes the foundation of the original Oathmark and expands it with revised kingdom-building, stronger magic, additional scenarios, more distinctive races, integrated undead armies, Legendary Heroes, chariots and numerous balance adjustments.

That distinction is important for existing players. Oathmark Second Edition is not a complete redesign that makes years of experience—or an existing miniature collection—irrelevant. The fundamental activation and combat systems remain recognizable. Instead, the second edition is largely about expanding what Oathmark can do while putting its kingdom-building campaign system at the centre of the experience.

For players looking to start a new kingdom—or expand an army they already own—you can browse the Oathmark range available from TistaMinis, including plastic infantry, cavalry and other units suitable for building large fantasy armies.

What Is Oathmark Second Edition?

Oathmark: Second Edition – Battles of the Lost Age is the revised and expanded edition of Osprey Games' fantasy mass-battle system by Joseph A. McCullough, the designer also known for games including Frostgrave, Stargrave and The Silver Bayonet.

The original Oathmark established itself as an alternative approach to fantasy rank-and-flank gaming. Instead of choosing a rigid predetermined faction, players construct their own kingdoms. The territories within that kingdom determine which troops can be recruited, making army construction part of the world-building process.

Second Edition pushes that idea considerably further.

Osprey describes the new edition as a revised and expanded version developed from years of player feedback. Crucially, McCullough has confirmed that the game has not fundamentally changed: activation and combat continue to use the familiar core mechanics.

Oathmark First Edition vs Second Edition: Major Changes

Area	First Edition	Second Edition
Core Combat	Original Oathmark activation and combat system	Fundamentally retained
Kingdoms	Campaign system supporting the battle game	Moved to the centre of the Oathmark experience
Starting Kingdom	Original kingdom-building structure	Players encouraged to begin with only 2–3 filled regions
Kingdom Regions	Five-region structure	Sixth Borderlands region added
Undead	Expanded through supplementary material	Integrated into the core rules
Chariots	Outside the original core rules	Included in the core rules
Legendary Heroes	No equivalent core progression system	Heroes can gain traits and develop through campaigns
Magic	Intentionally restrained	Spellcasters improved and spells generally more accessible
Magic Items	Relatively limited use	Expanded, with many becoming less expensive
Core Scenarios	5 scenarios	8 scenarios, including revisions to existing battles
Racial Identity	Some races had stronger unique characteristics than others	Additional racial rules improve differentiation
Monsters	Original monster rules	Reviewed, with some monsters becoming less reliable
Artillery	Included Champion Die	Champion Die removed

1. The Core Oathmark Battle System Is Staying

This may be the single most reassuring piece of news for veteran players.

According to McCullough, there is more that is similar between the two editions than different. The familiar activation and combat mechanics remain intact.

That means Second Edition should still feel like Oathmark when armies reach the battlefield.

This is a sensible direction. Oathmark's attraction has never depended on reinventing the entire mass-battle genre. Its relatively straightforward battle mechanics allow players to concentrate on formations, positioning, army composition and the narrative surrounding their kingdom.

What This Means for Existing Players

You should not need to relearn your army from scratch.

There will certainly be revised rules, profiles and interactions worth learning, but veterans should have a substantial head start over completely new players. Familiar concepts remain relevant, while the newer systems expand what happens around those battles.

2. Kingdom Building Is Now at the Heart of Oathmark

The biggest philosophical change may not be a combat mechanic at all.

McCullough has explained that First Edition was essentially presented as a game of battles with a campaign system added to it. Second Edition reverses that emphasis. Oathmark is now presented more explicitly as a game about kingdoms in which battles determine the story of those kingdoms.

The rulebook therefore introduces kingdom creation before throwing players directly into battle mechanics.

This reinforces one of the things that makes Oathmark unusual among fantasy wargames: your army is supposed to represent somewhere.

Regions determine the troops available for recruitment. As your realm develops, new territories can provide access to additional units and new possibilities for your army.

3. Smaller Starting Kingdoms Should Make Campaigns Easier to Begin

Second Edition encourages players to begin their kingdoms with only two or three regions filled.

That has several practical advantages.

• New players can begin with fewer troop types.
• Initial armies can be smaller and easier to collect.
• Campaigns have more room for meaningful expansion.
• New troop types can appear naturally as territory is acquired.
• The narrative of the kingdom develops alongside the miniature collection.

This could be particularly useful for someone entering Oathmark for the first time. Instead of deciding immediately what a completed 2,000-point fantasy kingdom might look like, a player can establish its core identity and allow the campaign to influence what gets added next.

If you are building from scratch, the large plastic infantry sets in the Oathmark miniature collection remain an excellent foundation for Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, Orcs and undead forces.

4. The New Sixth Region: The Borderlands

Kingdoms now gain a sixth region: the Borderlands.

This is not simply another normal territory slot. Troops raised from the Borderlands are less reliable, creating an interesting trade-off between gaining access to unusual or powerful options and being able to depend on them.

The Borderlands also interact with monsters. Some particularly powerful creatures are restricted by where they can exist within a kingdom.

The dragon is the clearest example revealed by the designer: it can only be included in a kingdom through the Borderlands, making the creature inherently less dependable.

It is an elegant thematic concept. A dragon should not feel like another ordinary regiment that happens to have better statistics. Recruiting one means dealing with a dangerous creature existing on the fringes of civilization.

5. Campaigns Now Progress Through Kingdom Turns

The campaign structure has been revised around a sequence of kingdom turns, with each involving some form of battle.

The types of battles and their outcomes have been adjusted to reinforce the growth and story of the kingdom.

This matters because campaigns can sometimes become little more than loosely connected normal games. Second Edition appears designed to make the consequences of battles more directly relevant to the realm players are constructing.

Win territory and your recruitment options may grow. Lose what you fought for and your kingdom's development can move in a very different direction.

Can You Still Play One-Off Oathmark Battles?

Yes.

Players who are interested primarily in rank-and-flank battles are not being forced into a long campaign. You can still assemble an appropriate kingdom and army and play standalone games.

The campaign has become more central to the presentation of Oathmark, but it has not replaced ordinary matched battles.

6. Undead Armies Are Now in the Core Rules

One of the most immediately noticeable additions is the integration of Undead armies into the core Second Edition rulebook.

Undead previously received extensive support through Oathmark's supplementary material. Second Edition treats them as sufficiently fundamental to the game that their rules belong alongside the other major armies.

This should make undead armies considerably easier to approach for new players and also simplify mixed-kingdom construction involving undead troops.

It is worth noting that the undead have also received balance adjustments. McCullough has indicated that some undead units are now somewhat more brittle.

What This Means for Undead Players

If you already have an army of Skeletons or Revenants, the move to Second Edition does not mean abandoning it. Instead, expect to revisit unit rules and army construction as you transition your existing collection into the revised system.

For players starting an undead force, plastic Skeleton Infantry and Revenant Infantry provide strong foundations for building the large formations expected in a mass-battle game.

7. Chariots Move Into the Core Game

Chariots are another unit type being incorporated directly into the Second Edition core rules.

Like undead, their inclusion makes the main rulebook more complete. Players no longer need to treat them as something peripheral to the central Oathmark experience.

For hobbyists, this also expands the possibilities when designing kingdoms inspired by ancient civilizations, barbarian hosts, goblin tribes or other fantasy cultures where chariots make thematic sense.

8. Legendary Heroes Bring Character Progression to Your Army

One of the most interesting new systems is Legendary Heroes.

Oathmark campaigns have always been good at creating stories. Second Edition gives those stories a stronger mechanical connection to individual characters.

A Legendary Hero can begin as a Champion, Commander or Spellcaster, provided the figure is not a monster. The character receives a Heroic Trait, increasing its cost by 30 points.

As campaigns continue, heroes can accumulate experience and gain additional traits that allow them to perform abilities outside the normal expectations of troops on the battlefield.

Only One Legendary Hero Normally Fights in an Army

Your kingdom may contain records of multiple Legendary Heroes, but an army normally fields only one Legendary Hero in a battle. Players can agree to exceptional circumstances allowing more.

This restriction is important because it prevents Oathmark from turning into a superhero game where characters overshadow the regiments surrounding them.

The blocks of infantry remain the heart of the battle.

Legendary Heroes Can Die

Character progression also carries risk.

If a Legendary Hero reaches zero Health or flees the battlefield, the player rolls on a survival table to determine what happened.

The hero may survive to fight another day—or their legend may come to an abrupt end.

9. Elves, Humans and Dwarves Gain More Racial Identity

One criticism of highly flexible fantasy army systems is that different races can eventually begin to feel like variations on the same statistical framework.

Second Edition introduces additional distinctions without completely rebuilding each race.

Three revealed examples are:

• Elves – Eldest
• Humans – Hasty
• Dwarves – Children of Stone

Orcs retain their characteristic Wild Charge, while the undead continue to rely more heavily on distinctive special rules.

McCullough has emphasized that the new racial distinctions are not enormous game-changing mechanics. They are intended to provide additional flavour and help each people feel slightly more distinct.

Why This Is Good for Mixed Kingdoms

The change becomes particularly interesting because Oathmark encourages mixed armies.

If Elves, Humans, Dwarves and Goblins can all exist within the same kingdom, small mechanical distinctions give players more reason to think about what each race contributes rather than choosing miniatures purely by statistics.

10. Magic Is Getting Stronger

Magic receives one of the more substantial gameplay adjustments.

McCullough has acknowledged that spellcasters were deliberately conservative in First Edition. Coming from Frostgrave—a game where magic is central—he did not want wizards to dominate a mass-battle game.

The result may have gone too far in the opposite direction.

Second Edition therefore improves spellcasters in several ways:

• Spellcasters know more spells.
• Many spells are easier to cast.
• Spellcasters can attempt magic using a simple action at a penalty.
• Magic items have been expanded.
• Many magic items have become cheaper.

Orc and Goblin spellcasters should particularly benefit because their difficulties successfully casting spells were specifically identified during the redesign.

Will Magic Dominate Oathmark Second Edition?

That does not appear to be the intention.

The design philosophy remains that Oathmark is fundamentally about manoeuvring and fighting with bodies of troops. Wizards are becoming more useful, but magic is not supposed to replace the importance of formations, positioning and conventional units.

For current players who rarely considered spellcasters worth their points, however, it is probably time to examine them again.

11. Magic Items Should Become More Relevant

The magic review extends beyond spellcasters.

Magic items have been expanded, while many existing options have become less expensive because they were rarely selected under First Edition.

This is a small change that could have a significant effect on army-building decisions.

An interesting magic item is not really adding anything to the game if its cost means players almost never take it. Lower costs should allow more of these options to reach the battlefield without forcing players to sacrifice too much of their main army.

12. More Scenarios: Five Becomes Eight

The original core book contained five scenarios. Second Edition increases this to eight.

Existing scenarios have also been reviewed rather than simply copied into the new book. McCullough specifically pointed to the River scenario as one that needed additional attention.

Scenario variety is especially important in a campaign-focused game. Repeatedly playing a straightforward line-up-and-destroy-the-enemy battle can make even an excellent combat system feel repetitive.

Different objectives force players to reconsider:

• Deployment.
• Army composition.
• Movement.
• Terrain.
• Risk management.
• When to preserve a unit rather than commit it.

Eight scenarios in the core rules should provide a stronger foundation before players even begin exploring additional Oathmark material.

13. Monsters Are Being Rebalanced

Monsters remain part of the spectacle of fantasy mass battles, but Second Edition is deliberately avoiding making them the dominant element of an army.

Some monsters have therefore become less reliable.

The dragon is again the clearest example. Restricting dragons to the Borderlands means that taking one carries a thematic disadvantage alongside its obvious battlefield potential.

This reinforces the idea that monsters should be exceptional.

A battlefield containing a dragon should feel different because a dragon has appeared—not because every optimized army automatically includes one.

14. Artillery Loses the Champion Die

Not every change is a major new system.

Among the smaller balance revisions confirmed by McCullough is the removal of the Champion Die from artillery.

This is a good example of the type of adjustment veteran players should expect throughout Second Edition: recognizable units operating inside the same fundamental game, but with specific rules changed after years of actual play.

15. What Happens to Your Existing Oathmark Miniatures?

For most current players, this will be the practical question that matters most.

Your existing army remains useful.

Second Edition is not tied to a wholesale replacement of the miniature range, nor does its core design suddenly demand a completely different type of fantasy army.

If you already own formations of:

• Human Infantry
• Dwarf Infantry
• Elf Infantry
• Goblin Infantry
• Orc Infantry
• Skeletons
• Revenants
• Cavalry
• Characters
• Spellcasters
• Monsters

those models remain the basis of your kingdom.

What may change is how you choose to organize and expand that collection.

How Oathmark Second Edition Will Impact Current Players

Current Player	Likely Impact
Casual battle player	Low learning curve because the core combat system remains familiar.
Campaign player	Significant improvement, with kingdoms and progression taking a larger role.
Undead player	Core integration plus revised balance makes the new rules especially relevant.
Magic-heavy player	Spellcasters and magic items deserve another look.
Orc/Goblin player	Improved spellcasting should make magical support more practical.
Monster-heavy player	Expect more restrictions and reliability considerations.
Existing army owner	Miniature collection remains relevant; army choices may need adjustment.
New player	Smaller starting kingdoms provide a more gradual entry into collecting an army.

Do Current Players Need to Rebuild Their Armies?

There is no indication that established players need to tear apart their collections and start again.

However, it would be wise to avoid assuming that an optimized First Edition army list can simply be copied directly into Second Edition without review.

Unit adjustments, racial abilities, changes to magic, monster reliability and other balance revisions can all affect how an existing force performs.

The better approach is to treat your existing collection as the foundation of the new kingdom.

1. Keep your existing miniatures.
2. Rebuild the kingdom using Second Edition rules.
3. Review updated unit profiles and abilities.
4. Recalculate army lists under the new rules.
5. Reconsider spellcasters and magic items.
6. Look at whether your kingdom would benefit from undead, chariots or a Borderlands choice.
7. Create a Legendary Hero from an existing favourite character.
8. Play several games before purchasing units purely for competitive reasons.

Does Oathmark Second Edition Require New Miniatures?

No. Oathmark remains a miniature-friendly fantasy wargame rather than a system built around constantly replacing models when a new rules edition arrives.

That is particularly valuable for hobbyists with heavily converted armies or collections assembled from multiple fantasy ranges.

The Second Edition changes may certainly give you reasons to add models—especially spellcasters, chariots, undead, characters or units unlocked as your kingdom grows—but that is different from making an existing collection obsolete.

If the new edition inspires an expansion, browse the Oathmark range at TistaMinis or explore other suitable miniatures in our wider wargames collection.

Is Second Edition Better for New Oathmark Players?

Potentially, yes.

Oathmark has always offered considerable freedom, but freedom can create its own problem: new players may not know what they are supposed to buy.

The greater emphasis on starting with a small kingdom gives beginners a clearer progression.

Start with a couple of regions. Build the corresponding troops. Fight battles. Expand the kingdom. Add the new units your expanding realm allows.

That makes collecting the army part of the experience rather than something that must be completed before the experience begins.

A Good Second Edition Starting Approach

A completely new player could begin with:

1. The Oathmark Second Edition rulebook.
2. One main race for the kingdom.
3. One or two plastic infantry boxes.
4. A commander or spellcaster.
5. Essential assembly and painting supplies.

Then expand once you understand both the rules and the identity of your kingdom.

For modelling essentials, TistaMinis also carries hobby supplies and tools as well as a broad selection of miniature paints.

What Hasn't Changed?

With all the discussion surrounding a new edition, it is easy to focus exclusively on differences.

Several of Oathmark's most important characteristics remain intact:

• It is still a mass-battle fantasy wargame.
• Core activation remains familiar.
• Core combat remains familiar.
• Ranked formations remain central.
• Players can create their own kingdoms.
• Mixed-race armies remain an important part of the system.
• One-off games remain possible.
• The game remains focused on armies rather than superheroes.
• Existing miniature collections remain useful.

That continuity may ultimately be Second Edition's greatest strength.

Oathmark did not need to become a completely different game. It needed refinement in areas that years of campaigns and battles showed could be stronger.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict: What Oathmark Second Edition Means for the Game

Oathmark Second Edition appears to understand what made the original game appealing.

Instead of discarding a proven battle system, the new edition concentrates much of its attention on the areas surrounding it: kingdom development, campaigns, racial identity, magic, characters, scenarios and army variety.

The shift toward treating Oathmark as a game about kingdoms may prove to be the most important change of all. Smaller starting realms, a sixth Borderlands region and campaign-driven expansion give players more reason to care about where their armies come from and what happens after a battle ends.

Legendary Heroes provide individual stories without turning the game into a character-dominated skirmish system. Stronger spellcasters should make magic more worthwhile without replacing conventional troops. Undead and chariots joining the core rules make the main book more complete, while revised monsters, artillery and scenarios show the benefit of several years of actual player experience.

For existing players, perhaps the best news is what Second Edition doesn't do. It does not ask you to throw away the army you spent years building. It does not abandon Oathmark's core activation and combat mechanics. And it does not remove the freedom to build the fantasy kingdom you actually want.

Instead, it gives those armies a larger world in which to fight.

Whether you are returning to the Lost Age or starting your first kingdom, you can explore the Oathmark range at TistaMinis, along with our wider selection of fantasy wargames and miniature hobby supplies.