One of the things I love most about indie miniature wargames is how deep their creators can delve into a single, extremely specific nerdy interest. Torch and Shield is a warband skirmish game - think Mordheim, Frostgrave, or Necromunda - that's laser-focused on dwarves delving into the ruins of lost Holds in search of loot, like Balin's doomed attempt to recapture the Mines of Moria from The Lord of the Rings.
I reckon a good 50% of the audience has already clicked off this article, either because that premise is far too niche, or because Torch and Shield sounds so perfect for them that they're already Googling where to buy it. For the undecided and dwarf-curious who remain, I'll give you a quick run down on one of the most charmingly hyper-specific miniature wargames I've encountered in years.
I received a PDF copy of the rules for Torch and Shield from developer Grimskald, along with its first expansion and a character mini that is lost somewhere on my painting desk, while editor Alex has a printed copy of the rulebook. Playing the game requires dungeon tiles - you can download a print and play set from the Grimskald website - plus miniatures for dwarf adventurers and monsters. An official range of miniatures is available, but the game will work with any collection of short-legged grumblers you might already possess.
This article is purely my first impressions from reading the rulebook. That read through has left me keen to test it -and as I'm one of several Warhammer: The Old World players at my local club who happens to collect the Dwarfen Mountain Holds, and there are a lot of Mordheim fans, so I don't think I'm going to struggle to get a game.
Torch and Shield has a very specific scope: this is a game about dwarves delving into lost Holds in search of treasure, battling against rival dwarf warbands to secure the loot, and trying not to get eaten alive by the monsters lurking in the dark. While the campaign framework is familiar from other warband games - your crew gains experience and can suffer casualties that persist between games - the rest of the rules have been tailored around the core fantasy of dwarven dungeon delves.
The options open to you will let your warband do just about anything that a group of dwarves with their back to the wall might think to do. Remember the scene in Fellowship of the Ring where the party try to barricade the door to Balin's tomb? You can do that. Doors can be locked, or broken down, or blocked up with furniture. Piles of crates can be assembled into a makeshift barrier, and then the monsters can try to leap over them or simply tear them apart.
Light and dark are critical. Dwarves can see in the dark, but not as well as the monsters can. So as well as a loadout of axes, shields, and crossbows, your warriors will descend into the depths armed with torches and lanterns. Beyond the range of your light monsters are harder to hit and more dangerous, while dwarves in shadow find some actions hindered, and are at risk of random encounters with unseen horrors. And if the game goes on long enough, the lights will begin to sputter out…
I can imagine a simpler version of this game in which models have light sources tied to their belt, but Torch and Shield handles them in a very crunchy way - light sources are physical objects that your dwarfs need to carry around. If they ever want to use that other hand for fighting they'll need to drop the light source, and might even get separated from it by the push and pull of combat. You could chuck a torch into a darkened room to illuminate the monster within for long-range firepower, or throw a delicate lantern as an impromptu firebomb and set anything that it hits ablaze.
In combat, each of the classic fantasy weapons has its own role. Hammers are the best tool for knocking back enemies to clear paths through tight corridors, while picks can pierce through armor, and axes deal extra damage provided they can wound. For the more metropolitan dwarf, a sword will win a drawn combat, making them very handy for weak and numerous monsters.
Spears and ranged weapons can damage big monsters before you ever have to engage them and - given how damage works - this makes them a lot more susceptible to being finished off in melee. And there are rules for classic dwarven weapon loadouts like paired axes or massive two-handed mauls.
There's plenty of other equipment, most of it tailored to the specifics of dungeon delving, but some of it is here for sheer dwarfiness. The game's equivalent of potions is 'Dwarven Master Brews', a whole menu of rune-infused ales - complete with tasting notes - that have varied one-off effects. There's even a human ale, 'Manling Piss', which your dwarves will never drink, but which they can throw into the face of another dwarf to cool them off from a berserker rage.
This is just a tour of the surface levels on top of a whole treasure vault of dwarven content. Beyond the core rulebook there's already one expansion, Darker Halls, which adds new scenarios, monsters, and mercenaries, while the Vaults of Zarn campaign expansion is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. This promises to deliver on the "reclaim the Mines of Moria" fantasy that the core rules are geared around, letting you unlock new scenarios as your dwarves delve through a sprawling underworld.
I haven't touched on the setting, because if you know dwarves from any kind of fantasy, you already know what to expect. They're grumpy, they hold grudges, they covet gold, they're better metalworkers than humans, they hate the elves, and they've been driven out of their ancient underground kingdom after a terrible catastrophe. There's nothing wrong with playing the hits if you're a good performer, and the writers at Grimskald definitely know their dwarves.
If you'd like to learn more about Torch and Shield, you'll often find designer Daniel Etherington hanging out in the Wargamer Discord community. We imagine he's a bit busy with the Kickstarter at the moment, but he's very friendly when not rushed off his feet.
If you're after a source of dungeon tiles and miniatures, Wargamer has a guide to the best dungeon crawler board games with some likely options.