Swords, Spells, and Tiny Paws: An Introduction to Burrows & Badgers
- Ric V
- Jun 28
- 3 min read
If the idea of a grizzled badger knight leading a hot-tempered shrew rogue and a spell-slinging bat into a tactical woodland skirmish sounds incredible, then you are exactly where you need to be.
Burrows & Badgers, designed by Michael Lovejoy and published by Osprey Games, is a tabletop miniatures skirmish game that traded the grimdark space marines and classic fantasy elves for a richly detailed, anthropomorphic world.
The Setting: A Fractured Kingdom
The game is set in the year 799, tracking from the founding of Albion. The primary backdrop is the Kingdom of Northymbra, a beautiful but deeply troubled land caught in political chaos.
The iron grip of the royal family is slipping. To the south, a rising "Freebeast" Republic promises equality for all but threatens to bring its own kind of trouble. Between roving bandit clans, apocalyptic cults, and internal power struggles, the common beasts of the realm are just trying to survive a dark era. This tension sets the stage for small-scale, narrative-driven clashes where your custom band of animals fights for coin, survival, or a grand cause.
The Cast: From Mice to Wildcats
One of the best features of the system is the sheer variety of species you can bring to the table. The game brilliantly maps physical traits to gameplay statistics, making every species feel completely distinct:
The Heavy Hitters: Badgers and wildcats are massive, terrifying powerhouses on the battlefield. A single badger is treated with wary respect by everyone else.
The Swift and Nimble: Hares are often considered the finest natural warriors in the land, exchanging brute force for lightning speed and incredible weapon skill. Squirrels and otters bring their own high-mobility advantages.
The Small but Tenacious: Mice are abundant, but shrews are the real surprise package. They are short-tempered and ferocious, routinely throwing themselves at enemies three times their size.
Specialized Beasts: Moles possess immense physical strength but poor eyesight, making them terrible shots but brutal in melee. Meanwhile, creatures like bats take to the night sky as agile aerial hunters and magic users.
How it Plays: Vibe Over Tournament Grit
Mechanically, the game utilizes the full spectrum of polyhedral dice (woo hoo I get to use all my math rocks!), ranging from standard four-sided dice all the way up to twenty-sided dice. Opposing models resolve actions through a dynamic roll-off system, keeping matches fast, interactive, and beautifully unpredictable.
However, the real magic of this system is the focus on narrative campaigns. The rulebook openly states that if you are looking for a hyper-competitive, perfectly balanced tournament grind, this probably isn't your game.
Instead, it is a game meant to be enjoyed over a series of connected matches. Your heroes earn experience, learn new fighting skills, and buy magical equipment. They also suffer permanent major or minor injuries, struggle with upkeep costs, and slowly upgrade their warband's secret den between battles. You are essentially playing out a tabletop story where a lucky strike from a sparrow can change the fate of your favorite hero forever.
Whether you want to build a noble band of Royalists or a underhanded crew of city thieves, the game offers a refreshing, cinematic break from standard fantasy tropes.
What Makes it special
Michael Lovejoy and his wife Jo, make this whole game studio operate. To hand carved miniatures cast in their garage, to being active to answer questions directly in the facebook group. Everyone who orders raves about the quality and packaging, they are truely the gold standard in a game designer whose game is their child. Cheers to Oathsworn.
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