This post is a recollection of the principal milestones achieved during the project,
So many events happened, it is hard to trace them all. Fortunately, the News structure allows to recall most of them.
-=-=-
The initial impetus for the project can be found here, in a post on The Warhamer Forum written on June 30, 2015:
warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=98&t=129642
The first versions of the rules were created very quickly:
Pre-alpha sneak peek version 1.0July 11, 2015
The 9th Age - Version 0.1 Alpha - Aug 4th 2015
It included Rules, Balance, Lores, and the first army book, Beastmen- v0.1
Temporary Army Compendium - Sep 11th 2015
Translations were made at a very early stage of the project:
First translation: The 9th Age - Italian - Aug 14th 2015
The 9th Age - Spanish - Sep 3rd 2015
The 9th Age - German - Sep 4th 2015
The 9th Age - French - Oct 19th 2015
Non-English Forum Section - Oct 30th 2015
The 9th Age - Polish v0.11.x - Jan 6th 2016
Chinese Translation! - Nov 7th, 2018
... and probably more to come!
The rules evolved progressively towards the first version.
the Fantasy Battles: 9th Age rulebook is finished - Sep 9th 2015 - This is the start of a new Age - the 9th Age.
Update: Beta version 0.6 - Sep 15th 2015
The 9th Age - Full Beta release v0.9 - Nov 2nd 2015
The 9th Age - Beta release v0.10 - Dec 8th 2015
The 9th Age - Magic Cards v0.10.1 - Dec 11th 2015
The 9th Age 0.99 Release - Mar 8th 2016
0.99.4 Official Announcement - Apr 15th 2016
Release of Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age V1.0 - Apr 30th 2016
But V1.0 was hardly released when the next move was considered: Changes to the Rules, Army Books and Project Structure - Aug 10th, 2016.
V1.1 is a minor change including some quick fixes and a few corrections on the balance: The HOTFIX is here! - Sep 2nd 2016
Release of Fantasy Battles version 1.2.0 - Oct 25th 2016 - included an overhaul of magic paths and army composition; unit's points basically doubled and templat disappeared.
Version 1.3 is out! with the explicit intention to improve on the previous version's changes.
As this pace of changes prove too fast for our community (and our team) to follow, we gave them an Important News! Freezing the Rules! on Jan 17th 2017.
Meanwhile, we started to prepare the 2nd edition.
We decided to involve the community deeply, not only for brainstorming several important aspects (like the whole Magic system), but also for a long phase of beta testing.
The first beta edition was delivered on Dec 17th 2017, immediately followed with updates to every army book. The beta process was explained in detail, and the Gold second edition was delivered 0n 21st December 2018.
Tournaments have been using T9A rules since before the V1 version. In particular, we are proud to mention:
The early decision to trust T9A: ETC 2016 goes 9th Age! Oct 1st 2015
And here it went: First Impressions of the ETC 2016 - The Glorious Battles at the ETC 2016 in Athens - Aug 09th, 2016
Our own T9A tournament is planned: First Official Annual T9A Masters! scheduled Nov 11-13 2016 in Herford, Germany
with the First official T9A tournament trailer, Jul 17th
The background took longer to deliver. It started with two army books before the full fulebook itself.
Release of UD full army book in Version 0.11.0 Beta - Dec 24th 2015.
The Trewi: Sylvan Elves! - May 17th 2016
Paths of Magic full book 1.2.0 - Oct 25th 2016
Full Basic Rule Book Release (FBRB) was provided, as sheduled, on Dec 24th 2016.
Scrolls deliver regularly some more background. See in particular the Issue 12 of the 9th Scroll
The first Full Army Book made for the 2nd Edition (then in its initial beta release), Warriors of the Dark Gods, was released on Dec 24th 2017
The second 2nd Edition Army Book was released (in its public beta version) immediately after the Gold 2nd Edition rules: Daemon Legions, on Dec 24th, 2018.
At the time, the designation "Full" Army Book was replaced by "Legendary" Army Book, which included rules, artwork and background.
Then a couple changes happened. New version numbering for T9A documents since Jan 2020; A new LAB-Process in Feb 2020; and since Nov 2020, Legendary Army Books released in no less than 6 versions per faction!
The new process was implemented for the third LAB took, Infernal Dwarves, which was released on Dec 23rd, 2020.
We started to create some Seperate Supplement: Åsklanders Auxiliary Army List on Jan 1st 2018
Rules supplements were created as well: T9A Scenario Supplement Alpha Release on Dec 10th 2018,
T9A Supplement: Lands of T9A on Jan 2nd, 2019.
Background-only supplements appeared, in support of the factions as they were getting a LAB upgrade:
- Circling the Abyss on Dec 17th 2018, on Warrions of the Dark Gods and Daemon Legions,
- The Epic of Kibotesh, May 14th 2020, on Infernal Dwarves,
- Beauty and Terror, Apr 9th 2021, on Dread Elves,
- Tales of Chivalry, Jul 8th 2021, on Knights of Equitaine,
- A New Dawn, Oct 14th 2021, on Saurian Ancients,
- Whispers from Below, Feb 13th 2022, on the Vermin Swarm
Finally, on 10 March 2022, the Background Compendium was released - a long overdue promise made since 2017...
The same day was released the interactive map of all the 16 factions.
-=-=-
We developed a second game: on Apr 16th 2017, The Quick Starter is Released!
Designed to be easier than the main game, it targets both beginners and casual players interested in short games.
This QS game became the first game to get a company to create a package with rules and models (and terrain) on Oct 26th, 2017: Something really extrordinary
The the QS was amended to become Essence of War. See here the differences with the main game.
-=-=-
The forum constantly evolved to provide always more services to Hobbyists.
The 9th Age forum - Sep 7th 2015
Models - Sep 10th 2015
Map Search Function - Sep 22nd 2015
New 9th Age Gallery - Nov 15th 2015
Weekly blog update - Dec 7th 2015
The 9th Age - Lexicon over 1000 articles - Dec 10th 2015
The 9th Age - IRC Chat - Jan 6th 2016
Mailing-List - Jan 18th 2016
Release-Info Mailing-List - Mar 8th 2016
Shieldwolf Miniatures supports The 9th Age - Apr 18th 2016
Links to external faction forums - Apr 19th 2016
First edition of The 9th Age Supporting Companies Newsletter, July 13th 2016
We first presented The Hobby Hub (TM) on Aug 19th, 2016.
A new homepage was delivered on July 1st, 2019.
T9A has been present on Social Media
9th Age on YouTube - Sep 27th 2015
The 9th Age on Bell of Lost Souls - Jul 14th, 2016
We also started our own magazine: The 9th Scroll! - Oct 10th, 2016, 1st edition. First two madmagz.com/magazine/863268#/ and admagz.com/magazine/865241#/
It seems that T9A got players' interest, as shown in a poll from wargamesillustrated.net/your-favorite-wargames-rules-are/, 12 Sep, 2016: "Interestingly, the entirely free, fan-produced Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age has made a good showing". Indeed, T9A scored 3rd, after two WW2 games. This makes T9A the favorite Fantasy game rated by the magazine!
We got our Wikipedia page in 2017, an initiative independant from the team.
Finally, if you wish to have a snapshot at what T9A was after exactly 1 year, here it is:
One year of The 9th Age project June 30th, 2016, with a descriptions of many achievements and stats at that time.
The Second Year of T9A in Review updates that description at the end of June 2017.
The third year of T9A in review. pursues this tradition of a yearly report. Sept 2018.
The fourth year of The 9th Age in review. Almost on time, 5 July 2019.
The fifth year of T9A in review, 2 July 2020 - the year of the virus.
Happy Birthday, T9A! Six Years and running!, 30 June 2021 - more tools online than ever.
We were proud to reach 10.000 members in the forum on Jan 5th 2017.
-=-=-
If you are a Doctoral Researcher in Modern History, looking to specialize in massive community-driven project, do not look further:
this post provides you all you need for your PhD.
I hope it will also satisfy the curiosity of our members, and the pride of our team members!
So many events happened, it is hard to trace them all. Fortunately, the News structure allows to recall most of them.
-=-=-
The initial impetus for the project can be found here, in a post on The Warhamer Forum written on June 30, 2015:
warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=98&t=129642
The first versions of the rules were created very quickly:
Pre-alpha sneak peek version 1.0July 11, 2015
The 9th Age - Version 0.1 Alpha - Aug 4th 2015
It included Rules, Balance, Lores, and the first army book, Beastmen- v0.1
Temporary Army Compendium - Sep 11th 2015
Translations were made at a very early stage of the project:
First translation: The 9th Age - Italian - Aug 14th 2015
The 9th Age - Spanish - Sep 3rd 2015
The 9th Age - German - Sep 4th 2015
The 9th Age - French - Oct 19th 2015
Non-English Forum Section - Oct 30th 2015
The 9th Age - Polish v0.11.x - Jan 6th 2016
Chinese Translation! - Nov 7th, 2018
... and probably more to come!
The rules evolved progressively towards the first version.
the Fantasy Battles: 9th Age rulebook is finished - Sep 9th 2015 - This is the start of a new Age - the 9th Age.
Update: Beta version 0.6 - Sep 15th 2015
The 9th Age - Full Beta release v0.9 - Nov 2nd 2015
The 9th Age - Beta release v0.10 - Dec 8th 2015
The 9th Age - Magic Cards v0.10.1 - Dec 11th 2015
The 9th Age 0.99 Release - Mar 8th 2016
0.99.4 Official Announcement - Apr 15th 2016
Release of Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age V1.0 - Apr 30th 2016
But V1.0 was hardly released when the next move was considered: Changes to the Rules, Army Books and Project Structure - Aug 10th, 2016.
V1.1 is a minor change including some quick fixes and a few corrections on the balance: The HOTFIX is here! - Sep 2nd 2016
Release of Fantasy Battles version 1.2.0 - Oct 25th 2016 - included an overhaul of magic paths and army composition; unit's points basically doubled and templat disappeared.
Version 1.3 is out! with the explicit intention to improve on the previous version's changes.
As this pace of changes prove too fast for our community (and our team) to follow, we gave them an Important News! Freezing the Rules! on Jan 17th 2017.
Meanwhile, we started to prepare the 2nd edition.
We decided to involve the community deeply, not only for brainstorming several important aspects (like the whole Magic system), but also for a long phase of beta testing.
The first beta edition was delivered on Dec 17th 2017, immediately followed with updates to every army book. The beta process was explained in detail, and the Gold second edition was delivered 0n 21st December 2018.
Tournaments have been using T9A rules since before the V1 version. In particular, we are proud to mention:
The early decision to trust T9A: ETC 2016 goes 9th Age! Oct 1st 2015
And here it went: First Impressions of the ETC 2016 - The Glorious Battles at the ETC 2016 in Athens - Aug 09th, 2016
Our own T9A tournament is planned: First Official Annual T9A Masters! scheduled Nov 11-13 2016 in Herford, Germany
with the First official T9A tournament trailer, Jul 17th
The background took longer to deliver. It started with two army books before the full fulebook itself.
Release of UD full army book in Version 0.11.0 Beta - Dec 24th 2015.
The Trewi: Sylvan Elves! - May 17th 2016
Paths of Magic full book 1.2.0 - Oct 25th 2016
Full Basic Rule Book Release (FBRB) was provided, as sheduled, on Dec 24th 2016.
Scrolls deliver regularly some more background. See in particular the Issue 12 of the 9th Scroll
The first Full Army Book made for the 2nd Edition (then in its initial beta release), Warriors of the Dark Gods, was released on Dec 24th 2017
The second 2nd Edition Army Book was released (in its public beta version) immediately after the Gold 2nd Edition rules: Daemon Legions, on Dec 24th, 2018.
At the time, the designation "Full" Army Book was replaced by "Legendary" Army Book, which included rules, artwork and background.
Then a couple changes happened. New version numbering for T9A documents since Jan 2020; A new LAB-Process in Feb 2020; and since Nov 2020, Legendary Army Books released in no less than 6 versions per faction!
The new process was implemented for the third LAB took, Infernal Dwarves, which was released on Dec 23rd, 2020.
We started to create some Seperate Supplement: Åsklanders Auxiliary Army List on Jan 1st 2018
Rules supplements were created as well: T9A Scenario Supplement Alpha Release on Dec 10th 2018,
T9A Supplement: Lands of T9A on Jan 2nd, 2019.
Background-only supplements appeared, in support of the factions as they were getting a LAB upgrade:
- Circling the Abyss on Dec 17th 2018, on Warrions of the Dark Gods and Daemon Legions,
- The Epic of Kibotesh, May 14th 2020, on Infernal Dwarves,
- Beauty and Terror, Apr 9th 2021, on Dread Elves,
- Tales of Chivalry, Jul 8th 2021, on Knights of Equitaine,
- A New Dawn, Oct 14th 2021, on Saurian Ancients,
- Whispers from Below, Feb 13th 2022, on the Vermin Swarm
Finally, on 10 March 2022, the Background Compendium was released - a long overdue promise made since 2017...
The same day was released the interactive map of all the 16 factions.
-=-=-
We developed a second game: on Apr 16th 2017, The Quick Starter is Released!
Designed to be easier than the main game, it targets both beginners and casual players interested in short games.
This QS game became the first game to get a company to create a package with rules and models (and terrain) on Oct 26th, 2017: Something really extrordinary
The the QS was amended to become Essence of War. See here the differences with the main game.
-=-=-
The forum constantly evolved to provide always more services to Hobbyists.
The 9th Age forum - Sep 7th 2015
Models - Sep 10th 2015
Map Search Function - Sep 22nd 2015
New 9th Age Gallery - Nov 15th 2015
Weekly blog update - Dec 7th 2015
The 9th Age - Lexicon over 1000 articles - Dec 10th 2015
The 9th Age - IRC Chat - Jan 6th 2016
Mailing-List - Jan 18th 2016
Release-Info Mailing-List - Mar 8th 2016
Shieldwolf Miniatures supports The 9th Age - Apr 18th 2016
Links to external faction forums - Apr 19th 2016
First edition of The 9th Age Supporting Companies Newsletter, July 13th 2016
We first presented The Hobby Hub (TM) on Aug 19th, 2016.
A new homepage was delivered on July 1st, 2019.
T9A has been present on Social Media
9th Age on YouTube - Sep 27th 2015
The 9th Age on Bell of Lost Souls - Jul 14th, 2016
We also started our own magazine: The 9th Scroll! - Oct 10th, 2016, 1st edition. First two madmagz.com/magazine/863268#/ and admagz.com/magazine/865241#/
It seems that T9A got players' interest, as shown in a poll from wargamesillustrated.net/your-favorite-wargames-rules-are/, 12 Sep, 2016: "Interestingly, the entirely free, fan-produced Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age has made a good showing". Indeed, T9A scored 3rd, after two WW2 games. This makes T9A the favorite Fantasy game rated by the magazine!
We got our Wikipedia page in 2017, an initiative independant from the team.
Finally, if you wish to have a snapshot at what T9A was after exactly 1 year, here it is:
One year of The 9th Age project June 30th, 2016, with a descriptions of many achievements and stats at that time.
The Second Year of T9A in Review updates that description at the end of June 2017.
The third year of T9A in review. pursues this tradition of a yearly report. Sept 2018.
The fourth year of The 9th Age in review. Almost on time, 5 July 2019.
The fifth year of T9A in review, 2 July 2020 - the year of the virus.
Happy Birthday, T9A! Six Years and running!, 30 June 2021 - more tools online than ever.
We were proud to reach 10.000 members in the forum on Jan 5th 2017.
-=-=-
If you are a Doctoral Researcher in Modern History, looking to specialize in massive community-driven project, do not look further:
this post provides you all you need for your PhD.
I hope it will also satisfy the curiosity of our members, and the pride of our team members!
Advisory Board
Background Team
Social Media Team