"Hand -to-hand combat resolution: simple with some color" Topic

I wanted more than comparing numbers of die results so I took a few ideas that other people have had and nailed them together:

When a fighter attacks a foe in hand-to-hand combat, roll 1 or more d6's applying the results below.

Results:
1: Bad guy is hit. Good guy rolls d6. If result is equal to
or higher than foe's armor, foe is wounded. In many
systems, this means the foe is out of action.
2: Bad guy is stunned and will suffer -1 penalty to combat
next round. Multiple stuns are cumulative but only last
until end of next round.
3: Bad guy is pushed back. Good guy may choose to follow up.
4: Good guy is pushed back. Bad guy may choose to follow up.
5: Good guy is stunned and will suffer -1 penalty to combat
next round. Multiple stuns are cumulative but only last
until end of next round.
6: Good guy is hit. Bad guy rolls d6. If result is equal to
or higher than foe's armor, foe is wounded.
("Stunned" means somehow disadvantaged, off-balance, out of position, whatever and should be marked with a small bead or whatever is handy.)

In many cases, the fighters' skill will not be equal, so:
If the fighters' combat skills are equal, roll one die.
If one fighter has a +1 combat skill advantage, roll one
die, and the higher skilled fighter may choose to reroll
the die. Rerolls stand.
If one fighter has a +2 advantage, roll 2 dice and the
higher skilled fighter may choose which die result to use.
If one fighter has a +3 advantage, roll 2 dice and the
higher skilled fighter may choose which die result to use,
or may reroll 1 die. Rerolls stand.
If one fighter has a +4 advantage, roll 2 dice and the
higher skilled fighter may choose which die result to use,
or may reroll both dice, again choosing which die result
to use.
And so on.

In the case of outnumbered foes total one side's combat skill, compare total skills against one fighter.

I drew symbols on regular d6's to add visual appeal by seeing the results on the dice. I am using it for LOTR skirmishes and the results so far seem to be visceral and quick with only book-keeping for the stunned figures.

Are these for skirmish (1:1) or tactical level rules (1:5/10)?

Skirmish level- one figure represents one fighter.

Interesting. Probably want some modifiers to the armor roll on a hit, so you can model weapons/critters that bypass or penetrate armor easily. Your plate mail shouldn't work as well against a dragon bite as it does against a sword swing.

How do you handle ganging up? Does it just give a "combat skill advantage" bonus or does each of the outnumbering models roll its own dice?

For hits, you should modify the 'to hit' roll by any bonuses or penalties the hitting attacker has, such as greater or weaker strength, a two-handed weapon, etc.

For ganging up, (I called outnumbering in the above post) total the combat skills against one fighter and compare them. So three guys with skill of 3, totalling 9 against one guy with a skill of 5, would have an advantage of 4, meaning they would (once, not each) together roll 2 dice, being able to reroll both of them, but choosing only one effect.

I like rolling off with the high die winning. Throw a few modifiers in there and let the carnage commence!

Sounds like how I like to do it. And there's no reason why you should limit the number of figures you play with, just because you roll for each set of combats. Doesn't anybody else like getting down to details and watching each man fight for himself? It just seems so static when you push blocks of minis together and roll dice for the lot, blah.

KT, I think scale really matters for these kinds of things. Resolving individual combats in large scale affairs is about as exciting as watching paint dry, at least for me.

Porcusursinus: large numbers of figures works fine if you have more players, and if each combat resolution is done in one or at most two rolls, then move swiftly down the line. Watching your little men push their way in or get backed up or kill or be killed or run away is enormously engaging if you like getting "down with the boys" and seeing what happens to them. Of course, in the smaller scales, imho anything smaller than 20mm, you have so many miniatures that you mount them on element bases anyway. And then the whole approach of "each figure is one of my guys" is non existent. At the point you may as well just roll for the lot in one go and have it over with.