Ømen Tide
Skirmish wargame of zealotry and cosmic maritime horror. Three models per player on a 16×16 inch board, with a deck of poker cards in place of dice and an Omen Zone that rewrites which suit rules each round.
"Next on the plate after current commissions. Cards instead of dice, seashell zealots, and a 16×16 diorama board. I can't wait to dig into this game."
What is Ømen Tide
Ømen Tide is an indie skirmish wargame of zealotry, decay, and cosmic horror, designed by Pawl Boracchi and Simon “4ydra” Schnitzler. The setting is a remote medieval island where the colossal corpse of a leviathan has washed up on the beach. The locals worship it, slide into madness, and tear themselves apart in religious civil wars as they uncover the gods of the deep. Pretty shells are involved. So are crabs.
Each player runs a small warband of three zealots, 28 to 32mm scale (max 40mm, round bases), fighting over relics, omens, and pieces of the dead god. The game is fully miniature-agnostic but the designers explicitly want you to kitbash with seashells, which is half the appeal.
The rules are free in perpetuity. Development is funded through the designers’ Patreon.
How it plays
Combat uses a standard deck of poker cards instead of dice. In a clash, both players pick a card from their hand and reveal at the same time. Highest card wins.
The twist is the Omen Zone: every round a new suit is appointed as the Omen, and that suit becomes stronger than the others until the next round flips it. Card economy and timing matter as much as the model on the table. The Joker is the measuring stick. (The second one, optionally, measures longer distances.) Fast and brutal in the way you’d hope a card-driven skirmish would be.
What you need to play
- 2 players.
- 3 miniatures per player. 28 to 32mm scale, max 40mm, round bases. Kitbashed with seashells is the encouraged path. Model-agnostic otherwise.
- A standard deck of poker cards with at least one Joker (two is better — one is also used as a measuring tool). The game assumes standard 2.5” × 3.5” cards.
- A 16” × 16” board. Heavy diorama focus: rocky formations, statues, ruins, beach. (If you use non-standard cards, scale the board to 5 short sides + 1 long side of those cards.)
- A handful of tokens for objectives and activations. The rulebook recommends shells. Use shells.
- The free rules from the official Google Drive.
How to support and join in
- Back the Patreon to fuel continued development.
- Join the Discord to share kitbashes, swap shell-zealot photos, and debate the holiness of crabs.
The Hobbinomicon take
This is one of the projects I’m most inspired by right now. As soon as I wrap my current commissions, Ømen Tide is next on the plate. Free rules, a 16×16 board to actually build out, model-agnostic, and the design openly encourages kitbashing. It’s all the right hooks for me to pour real hobby time into.