We used some homemade "toy soldier" rules, but I noticed I never debriefed them on our blog.
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| Flags of the various regiments in my two toy soldier armies. |
There were two key ideas in the rules:
- The timetrack. I discussed this mechanic before, so will not explain the concept again.
- Delayed damege resolution: since units were activated at various intervals governed by the time track, I used the mechanic that once a unit was hit by fire, it simply got a marker. A unit amassed markers, until it was activated. Only then would all the damage markers be resolved. I thought this was a good way of introducing fog of war, and giving neither side the certainty of the outcome of specific firing actions.
So how did the full rules work?
The first sheet (shown below) simply shows the various actions a unit can perform when it is activated. A move and Double move cost a different number of action points (as shown on the timetrack), as do a fire and concentrated fire action. The fire actions also show the damage points inflicted on the target unit.
The second part of the first page contains damage resolution. When a unit is activated, simply roll a D6 for each damage marker to "save", then roll another D6 for each remaining marker and read out the results. The coloured bars correspond to coloured status markers placed next to each unit.
The second page lists soms "fun effects": what happens when the Commander in Chief is being hit, and some random events when you roll low on the D12 to determine your activation points for the turn.
So how did the rules work?
The time track mechanic worked really well. It needs some more tuning, but nothing too drastic.
However, the "delayed damage resolution" was not really fun. I underestimated the joy you get when you fire at the enemy, and immediately see the anage done, instead of waiting till the opponent activates that unit again. It resulted in units in the front line collecting lots of damage markers. We would simply "fire some more", just to add some more damage, just "to be sure".
So I will probably rewrite the rules such that damage is resolved immediately, with the "saving roll" incorporated in the "to hit" roll of the attacker.
I was planning to run a more extensive version at CRISIS in Antwerp this fall, but since CRISIS has been cancelled, it will take some time ...
Interesting to see the rules and read your thoughts on them.
ReplyDeleteA most striking photo at the top of this post.
ReplyDeleteI really like the sound of these mechanics Phil. They seem to be novel approaches/adaptations of what various published sets have used. The time track is particularly interesting. Is a unit able to keep going with its current 'order' once it has activated and moved to the 'back of the queue' on the timetrack, or do you need to activate units each turn?
I would not throw out your delayed damage so quickly. Perhaps morph it into a morale test? I recently bought and did a first play-test of "Twilight of the Sun King". In these fire and mêlée effects are bundled into one and are determined at the beginning of the player's turn. Units that need to do (due to small arms, artillery fire or mêlée) do a morale test at the beginning of the turn. Effects are determined and then any movement may occur (including charges).
(Should you be interested, I have a review and playtest in a post on my Slow Solo Wargaming blog, along with links to other reviews of the rules).
Regards, James
W.r.t. the timetrack: You need to activate the unit again. But, if you have enough "command points" available, you could order the same unit right away, but since it will be further down the timetrack, it will cost you more command points. The idea is that units take time to carry out an order, so it will take some time before you can activate them at minimal cost again, but you could do it if you really want, but at a higher cost. Of course, this requires a good balance between the cost of activating units, and the number of command points you receive each turn (currently D12, with 12 units on the field). During the playtests we had players who would only activate at a unit if it showed up in front of the timetrack, but there were others who would activate the same unit several times in a row, but then burning through their command points at a faster rate. That leaves a nice decision space for the players.
DeleteW.r.t. delayed damage resolution: yes, I will have to look into that some more. I'll check out the review on your blog.