Random Notes

I don't have much to say at the moment, but here are some things that have been going through my head in relation to games.

- I guess I'm the only person around who isn't thrilled with Tunnels & Trolls. I'm happy for those of you who have been waiting for this.

- I don't know what to make of the things going on with Dwimmermount. I'm sure that it will work out in the end, but I am sadly reminded of the problems that plagued Space 1889 when it was first published.

- It's amazing how many things can go wrong with a boardgame. Still, Ogre is a great game and everything will be excellent, I am sure.

- It's been so long since I've created an adventure in the old style that I forgot how difficult it can be to design a secret door. Does anyone know of any resources that outline different types of secret doors?

- I'm developing a more precise understanding of what my ideal game should look like. Sadly for me, there is no published game that sits in exactly that sweet spot (I'm pretty sure that it's somewhere in the space between OD&D, Runequest, GURPS, Swordbearer, Flashing Blades, Pendragon, and Hârnmaster). I suppose that as my understanding becomes more complete I will be designing something that works there.

- I want to do another Obscure Games review, but I'm just not sure which game I want to do.  Maybe I'll do another poll to find out what other people want to see.

- Pathfinder MMO. But it can't use the Pathfinder rules in any way. O… K? Things have gotten weird in the mainstream gaming companies.

- I played the new X-Wing miniatures game yesterday. It was fun, and feels like flying space fighters in the Star Wars universe should feel. It helps that I won both games (I flew an X-Wing against two TIE fighters, the first time using the quick start rules, the second using the full rules), though the second game was extremely close - I actually lost until my opponent recalled that he wasn't allowed to fire in the situation we were in. I got the opportunity to exclaim, "I can't shake him!" So, that was satisfying.

Obscure Games: Fantasy Wargaming, Part Four

"Compleat" is an exaggeration, but still there's
a lot in there.

This series began here.

The Large scale combat rules in Fantasy Wargaming were the first time I saw miniatures rules in a roleplaying game. I knew that there was a connection, but this was the place that I saw the connection firsthand.

The system is designed to handle a variable scale. That is, the number of warriors per figure can be changed easily, and the ground scale recalculated to fit. That way, if the players are limited in the number of figures available, they can still manage battles of nearly any size. There are some problems with the system as presented, but they could probably be easily overcome with a little development. For instance, in the rules as written there is no provision for changing the time scale of a turn, so that if, say, a figure represents 300 warriors and the ground scale is therefore 1" = 150 paces, the movement of open order infantry remains 80 paces per turn, or about a half inch!

For convenience, the designers chose to use the basing conventions common at the time, specifically the ones set out in the WRG Ancients/Medieval rules (which I have mentioned before).

In each turn of the miniatures game, there are four phases. Movement comes first, and is pretty simple. Different types of troops are given a base move, and different types of terrain modify that movement. Next comes Distant combat, which is missile fire. There is a formula for determining the number of casualties from missile fire each Distant combat phase. The third phase is Close combat. This uses the smaller force as a base 100%, and the larger force as the percentage of the smaller force (so that if one force is 100 men, and the other 150, then the larger force counts as 150%). This is then modified by a number of factors and then applied to a base a tenth of the men involved in the combat. So, if a force has 320 men and a total percentage of 161, they would inflict 32 x 1.61 = 52 casualties (the number is rounded up). Whichever side inflicts fewer casualties then recoils. This leads to the fourth phase, Morale. This is figured by a quick calculation from a base level (90 to 110), modified by situation. The result is compared a table (another table!) giving a result from (at the low end) "Drop everything, scatter and run like hell away from enemy" through the best "Obey orders" on up to "Charge as a disorganized open order mob at nearest enemy". Morale is good to have, but too much can be as bad as none at all!

There's a short section regarding personality and leader type figures, which gives some basic guidelines, but nothing too constraining (or helpful). And that's it. There is no provision for incorporating the magic system, monsters, particular characters, and so on, that being left to the Referee. In general, the Large scale combat system is not well integrated into the roleplaying rules, and you get the impression that the designers just wanted to present their own miniatures rules.

I also see that I did forget one element of character creation. A warrior character should select a troop type appropriate to his or her culture and time. This gives the weapons and armor that the character uses best. Those troop types are also used to select troops for mass combat. So, even though a starting character has zero in all three levels, there should still be a "class" of sorts selected. We'll be looking at the ones for magicians and religious types soon enough, but warriors have their own set of options.

Next time, we'll start to look at the magic rules.

Miniatures Companies: A Request To You Readers

I am wanting to make a list here (for my use and yours) of companies which currently exist and which make miniatures suitable for fantasy gaming. I would prefer to avoid companies which traffic exclusively in the "heroic" style (super-buff warriors with spiky bits and whatnot) or companies that produce miniatures entirely for their own game settings (Games Workshop and Privateer, I'm looking at you). Mostly, I'm interested in classic fantasy figure styles, historical medieval and ancients, and so forth. Pig-faced orcs! Stuff from the old Grenadier and Ral Partha lines! That sort of thing. (I mean, it doesn't have to be specifically pig-faced orcs, or classic figure lines. Just in that style.)

If you can, include a link to the company's website or an address to write to them if they don't have a web presence (as if that would happen).

Edit to add: Right on schedule, ckutalik over at Hill Cantons posted about plastic minis.