Series: Dark Ages | Publication Date: June 2, 2003
To the Victors Go the Spoils Whether its a Holy War or battle of succession, strife brings opportunity. The inhabitants of the Dark Medieval, mortal and supernatural, are rarely satisfied with what they have. Call it what you like a righteous cause or an ancient grudge war is hell, but the rewards can be worth the risks. Do you have the courage, the intelligence and the skill to lead an army to victory? The Victor Writes History Dark Ages: Spoils of War is the sister title to Right of Princes and contains information on how to raise an army, attack and overtake a foes holdings, and beat an enemy through stealth, diplomacy and assassination. It contains information on both the historical and supernatural applications of war in the Dark Medieval, and how players can turn these weapons to their characters advantage.
On March 22, 1974, Ari Marmell was hatched out of an egg laid by a rooster on the night of the full moon. Due a mix-up, he wound up in the infant ward at a hospital in New York, where he was claimed as a (relatively) normal human and taken home. He and his family fled New York barely a year later, either because his father received a job offer in Houston, or because they were chased by angry mobs with pitchforks; reports are unclear.
For the next 27 years, Ari lived in Houston. His father told him bedtime stories when he was in preschool and kindergarten, stories without which he might never have become a writer. He received his first roleplaying game--the red Dungeons & Dragons boxed set--at age 9, and the AD&D Players Handbook followed less than a year later. He spent very little time on class work or studies for the next, oh, 13 years, instead spending his efforts on far more important things like fighting orcs, riding dragons, and rescuing extremely beautiful princesses.
Ari went to college at the University of Houston. He began in the Psychology program, but quickly changed his major to Creative Writing. It was in the first week of class that he met his wife-to-be, who goes by the name of George. (No, it's not short for Georgia, Georgette, Georgiana, or anything else that could possibly make sense.) It was also in college that he wrote his first novel, one that he is now determined will never see the light of day, and charitably calls a "learning experience."
In short, Ari graduated in late '96, married George in March of 1997, honeymooned in New Orleans, worked several jobs he hated for the next several years, and quit the last of them in 2000 due to ongoing health issues. During this time, he wrote four more novels, two of which are actually pretty decent. It was also during this time that he managed to break into the roleplaying industry, having attracted the attention of Justin Achilli (developer of Vampire: The Masquerade) with a project submission inspired by his trip to New Orleans.
He and George moved to Austin in mid-2001 so George could attend graduate school while Ari continued to work as a freelance writer. They live there today, along with a large orange cat named Leloo and a smaller gray cat named Pippin who seems unable to grasp the notion that strings, ribbons, and plastic bags do not make up a viable part of the food chain. His first published novel, Gehenna: The Final Night, appeared on shelves in January of 2004.
Today, Ari is shifting his focus from freelancing to more fiction and novel-writing. His second novel, Agents of Artifice, was released by Wizards of the Coast in February of '09. His third novel, The Conqueror's Shadow, was released by Spectra in February 2010. (This was his first published non-tie-in novel.)
Ari's forthcoming novels include The Warlord's Legacy (Spectra, early 2011), the Goblin Corps (Pyr Books mid- to late 2011), and Household Gods (Pyr Books, 2012). You can learn more about him, and keep up with his news and release schedule, at www.mouseferatu.com.
This review is from: Dark Ages Spoils of War (Paperback)
Tactics, siegecraft, naval battle... its all described in this "war book" for the new Dark Ages line from White Wolf.
Just in case you are figuring that you don't plan to play Vampire, but are in the mood for another DA game, be it Mage, Inquisitor, or Werewolf; they have rules for all of them here too.
Frankly it is a brilliant move that is way to long in the coming: put out a source book that covers your entire spread of books. Not one book of combat abilities for each character type you have available to you.
This book delivers what it promises to: how to make war in the Dark Ages, particularly against other supernatural opponents.
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