Introduction Aventuria is a continent on the planet of Dere, the world of the German role-playing game Das Schwarze Auge produced by Fanpro (Fantasy Productions) which is very popular in Germany and other German speaking countries. The game is well supported by adventures, background materials and novels. The skirmish game Armalion shares the same background Aventuria has a rich history and culture, which lends itself well not only to role-playing, but also to wargaming and fantasy campaigns. Magic, divine intervention and sundry monsters appear in battle, but with the exception of some extraordinary "Demons' Battles", play only a minor role in the outcome. Thus they lend themselves well to a playing style where most of the fighting is done by conventional troops. It is a nice background for "Hordes of the Things"  games or for any other set of fantasy rules. An additional attraction is that most of the soldiers in Aventuria are based on historical prototypes and historical wargaming figures can easily be used.  Here I present army lists for "Hordes of the Things" for the various powers that play a role in Aventuria. Some Years ago, the gaming company FASA produced an English language version of  Das Schwarze Auge under the title Realms of Arcania. This apparently, has not sold well and is now out of print. There are rumors of a new English version, but at present, they are just rumors. However, an extensive English description of the game can be found here and its world is detailed here.

Figures: The German Company Fantasy Productions produces large 25 mm figures for Das Schwarze Auge. However, most of the races are standard fantasy fare and human dress and equipment is closely modeled on historical prototypes. So figures from many manufacturers can be used, especially if you want to game in other scales. And indeed, you can pitch Japanese Samurai against Medieval Germans or  Conquistadores against Vikings in 'historical' encounters.
Most armies on Aventuria are equal-opportunity employers, so feel free to mix in any women warriors you can find.

In Aventuria, gunpowder has not been invented yet, so all artillery pieces are catapults. Use Medieval or Ancient (Hellenistic/Roman) models for artillery with crews appropriate to the rest of the force.
 

As befits a fantasy world, Aventuria has many Magicians, Witches, Shamans etc. capable of working Arcane Magic. Most human magicians in the better organized realms leave the tasks of leading armies to those better qualified to do so. Thus, armies can not be led by magicians. However, magicians are often sought as advisers and sometimes used as support in battle. Unless otherwise stated, any army can include one magician. These are not explicitly included in the army lists.

Religion and Clerics

Most of the people, including Dwarves and (to a lesser degree) Elves, in Aventuria believe in the pantheon of the Twelve Gods. Like many ancient pantheons, it has one God or Goddess for one aspect of nature or human life. Thus, there is Praios the Sun-God, Lord of Justice and Truth or Rondra, Goddess of War and Thunder. For more details. read here. Each of the gods has his or her own well organized church. In the present era, the churches cooperate with each other, but there have been times where they fought and persecuted each other.

The major exceptions are the people of Maraskan and the Novadis who have their own religions. Orcs, Goblins and some other races also have their own cults.

Although HoTT specifies that the cleric troop type should only be allowed to 'Ethical Monotheistic' religions, the churches and priests of the Twelve Gods are always described in terms that closely fit the role of Clerics in HoTT, including the animosity to magic.Thus, they are treated as Clerics under the rules.

Typically, the churches keep out of secular politics and clerics will not play a role when human forces fight each other. However, they are usually present to support the people of Aventuria when they are threatened by evil forces. Thus, any Human or Dwarf force in Aventuria that fights a non-human or Borbarad army can field a cleric. This is not specifically mentioned in the army lists below. In especially dire circumstances they will even cooperate with magicians: Borbarad forces do not get the +2 bonus against magical attack due to a cleric or paladin on the enemy side.

Military Orders Various churches of the Twelve Gods have military orders that fight against Demonic forces and Unbelievers and protect their Mother Church. However, only the church of Rondra, Goddess of War, has forces that are numerous enough to merit an army list. The Amazons are an all-female military order and the largest such order. They are largely independent of the rest of the Church of Rondra and have on various occasions fought without assistance from the rest of the church.

Figures: The various orders wear different styles of dress and armour. You can use either figures for Medieval military Orders or Ancient Hellenistic/Roman figures, the more splendid the better. Amazons are in the Classical Greek Style with Bronze cuirass and skirts of leather strips. Foot brethren in Medieval Armour should fight with two-handed swords.

Rules::As they are especially protected by their goddess, elements of the military orders get a +1 tactical factor against magical attack. This is not cumulative with the +2 factor due to being within 600 p of a cleric or paladin, that is, you can claim either one or the other advantage, but not both. A Military Order army cannot include a magician, unless fighting against an Evil force.
Allies:The military orders also support most other human armies in a fight against evil. Armies from the Empire, Horas' Realm, Al'Anfa or the Bornland that fight a Nasty or Evil army can field up to two elements from the above list instead of a cleric.
 

Heroes with near superhuman powers are rare in Aventuria, so few armies merit including an hero. Among the few exceptions are the Amazon queen Yppolita and the 'Sword King' Raidri Conchobair, vassal of the Emperor.
If you want, feel free to use a party of role-playing game adventurers as a hero in your game. However, they should be of sufficiently high level to justify this, otherwise, they might better be represented as an element of sneakers, blades, knights or whatever fits the composition of the group best.

There are numerous bands of mercenaries from many backgrounds in Aventuria, and few generals disdain to use them if they have the necessary financial means. Thus, unless otherwise stated, any army may replace one of its elements with one elements from any other army. Only 'unnatural' forces, such as undead and demons cannot be used.
Mercenaries often retain their native dress and weaponry. The long-established and well-organized mercenary units operating in the Empire and Horas Realm favour brightly coloured Landsknecht garb.

Fortifications
At least two major battles were fought at the Troll's Gate, a narrow mountain valley controlling the western approaches to The Empire. Centuries ago, the valley was blocked by a massive wall. Additionally, in both battles, the defenders skiped the approaches to the wall with obstacles. The following rules are suggested for this:
* Troops on the wall count as uphill, so the wall gives +1 to foot troops defending it
* No mounted troops except behemoths can defend the wall.
* The terrain in front of the wall counts as bad going.
* The terrain on the defender's side of the wall counts as good going
* Except at a road gate or breach, mounted troops cannot cross the wall. Only riders or behemoths, but not other mounted troops can attack across the wall. Behemoths do not follow up across the wall. Instead they attack the wall in the same bound.
* Behemoths, Engineers and artillery can attack an undefended section the wall as they attack a stronghold. An element-wide breach is produced if the attacker's result is higher than the wall's.The attacker stays in place if he gets less than the wall, the attacker recoils if his result is half or less than the wall's - there was some mishap during the work and theattackers have to regroup..
* A breach can be crossed by any trops, but counts as bad going.
* The attacker should get more army points than the defender to balance the  battle.

Photographs Copyright K.H.Ranitzsch
Figure copyrights by their respective manufacturers
Graphics on this page: Copyright by FASA (US)/Fantasy Productions (DE)