Part of building Desiderium is fleshing out the initial ideas for factions. We’ve made a list builder for the game that allows players to build units, then compile them into lists. I thought it might be a fun exercise to explore my current ideas for the rat faction: Les États de Sombreval. Or Les Sombrevals. Name change pending, probably. This is too much of a mouthful.

The driving idea is that they’re the normal human faction, but rats. Simple, right? I didn’t originally intend for them to be where someone throws their Skaven, but instead to be a home for models of rat knights and rat mages that represent a nation of upstanding, normal people who happen to have whiskers.

After the events of Tentcon and the Fall of Verrance, I’ve accepted they are now somewhat tainted by the void, so I’ve been mapping out my units and trying to understand where and how that fits in. I’ve dismissed the idea of a full void themed subfaction, and instead I’m trying to understand where these new units might fit. Let’s step through and think about while also exploring a few unit “types” I look for when I build a faction. This is by no means exhaustive or properly named.

Line Units

Please note that all names might change.

Basic soldiers. This is a D6 system and they hit on 4+ in melee, 5+ in range. They move 8″, which is a touch fast. Their armor is 5+. You’ll know they do have a 6″ shoot, somewhat hidden there. All units in our game can shoot to some extent. No special rules: these are your classic line infantry.

The big swords. These are the big two handed rats that charge into battle and wreck enemies. They’re your elite infantry.

The Shadows. The idea here is a unit of melee troops with magic. I have not added spells, because the spells I want don’t exist yet (so they’re really cheap at 41 points until those are added). It would be some form of corruption magic, likely debuffing enemy in a way that allows other units in the faction to hit them harder. My notion is to provide a more “Skilled” line unit that permits for greater reach on the battlefield. They bring an 18″ shoot but can stand up in battle about as well as the default line unit for the faction. Their magic will help fill the gap and they should sit well alongside other, larger batches of line units.

The Hammers

This is what I think of as the units that hit real hard. In actual unit categories, this would probably be a mix of different categories (e.g., specialists, brutes).

The Beast. Simple, brutal, and effective. I love units like this. He hits you like a truck with nothing fancy about it.

The motors. These are missing an “Impact” rule of some sort that we haven’t settled. Essentially, they hit hard in the first round and then try to escape so they can hit again. A pretty classic heavy cavalry concept.

So now we’ve got our basic concepts, which raises the questions of how the “Void” might interact with this category. I think the obvious answer is honestly pretty fun, so let’s roll with it for now:

The Knives. Assassins that barrel across the battlefield at high speed. They’re hard to see, quite fragile, and quite dangerous. Classic glass cannons that you have to look out for. I’d consider them more of a psychological play than anything. If I saw this unit on the battlefield, I’d have to start thinking about what I need to dedicate to get them off the battlefield. Right now they have “Concealed,” but I’d gladly consider replacing that with something less drastic. I want them to require a solution, but be so fragile they’re not worth bringing multiples of without a solid delivery plan.

They add another element of finesse to the army, which you can tell by now the rats really need.

The Flavor

Units that help bring a faction some of its flavor. They fill many roles, but these are the defining pieces that align a faction’s identity.

Let’s get to the final idea I’ve had so far, the spellcaster:

The Void Caller. The idea here is to have a disposable wizard unit that is not a hero. I’d want to restrict their spell selection to the set of void spells we come up with as we flesh out the concept. His focus should be on corruption or interference. I’m particularly fond of spells that interact with terrain or units in interesting ways, so imagine “Voiding” a wall and creating a path, or a spell that removes a unit from the battlefield for one turn. It’s a world of high magic, so I want to

I’m sure I can come up with more and the above might not make it into the final game–they don’t won’t make it in their exact forms seen here. This post was, selfishly, just meant to help me think it through a touch more. As I look at what I have for the Sombrevals right now, I can see that they need units that allow for a less straightforward playstyle. They were meant to be the basic faction, but I think we can get away with adding some optional flair that provides additional options or layers to their play. In fact, I love the idea that these are just augments; they’re the things you bring to help flesh out a force but not the focus of the force’s design.

That’s what the void is to the rats now. It’s something so useful you basically have to use some of it, but it’s not a force you allow to take over your whole world. They now live in a society that still seeks the best for its people, but understands that survival entails doing what you must.

Even if that means embracing l’appele du vide.