"Sword and Shield Skirmish Games" Topic

It seems there are two kinds of games like this:

The first is almost role playing -- requiring record keeping for each figure. Wounds, Armor Damage, individual characteristics etc. Lots of status counters etc.

The second involves a comparative die roll and someone usually is killed. These type of games generally are more about units anyway. Chain Mail, WAB, LoTR etc.

Is there anything in between? No record keeping, combat that results in something other than kill/fight-on/missed me!

Without any record keeping, how would you do that?
It could only be dead/alive. Even a wound marker is record keeping.

Well,

Figures could be driven back;

Knocked down;

Cower

Hide

I dunno. Lots of possibilities that would not require a book on each figure.

mjc

It seems to me that if you have no record keeping any thing more than Healthy/Wounded/Dead is not going to be possible.

Beyond that some sort of record keeping is required.

There are games such as Pig Wars or the Goal Syatem "Chaos in …" series that are very light on record keeping.

Song of Blades and Heroes might be what you are after. It is a fantasy game, but easily modified for historicals. I have played a SoBaH variant with morale rules stolen from Strandhogg, and it worked quite well.

Cheers! – Hans

In skirmish games: Fighters are assigned a polyhedral die representing their fight ability. The better the skill, the lower the die. Fighter's armor is rated at 1 point for light armor, 2 for heavy, 1 extra for shield, etc.

Both roll their die and the lower die result is subtracted from the higher. The difference in die rolls is compared to the higher roller's armor. Ties yield no result.
Difference is = or less than armor: the foe is pushed 1".
Difference is 1 more than armor: the foe is stunned. Lay
the figure down to show this.
Difference is 2 more than armor: the foe loses a wound,
usually meaning killed.
For each point higher than 2 more than armor, the winning fighter gets bonus actions. It costs 1 point to move 1", and 2 points to make another attack. Bonus moves and attacks can be made in any sequence the controlling players wishes.
Extra bit: Heavy weapons add 1 to the Difference in rolls after the die results are compared.

Example:
Arg of the North is a d8 and has a sword, light armor and a shield (=armor 2).
Bronk of the South is a d6 and has a sword, heavy armor and a shield.
Arg rolls a 5 and Bronk rolls a 2. Bronk wins by 3 and so kills Arg, who was a regular human with only 1 wound. Bronk also gets an bonus point, and he choses to move 1" forward.

That is the best I have been able to come up with in my eternal quest for simple fantasy combat rules. Howzat?

Go download "Chain Reaction: Swordplay" and "Savage Worlds: Showdown". Two very different but easy to play games that have multiple damage results. Personally I give the edge to "Swordplay", but of course tastes vary.

Have you taken a look at the rule for "Duels" in WAB's Siege & Conquest? It may be of interest to you. Dean

Mordheim / Warhammer Skirmish might meet your criteria.

True, there is a statline for each figure and that dictates what to roll to hit and when successful, what to roll to wound, plus what save can be made. Also what to roll for climbing obstacles, etc.

But, there is no pencil and paper record keeping or status markers for wounds. Each time a model is wounded, a D6 is rolled: 5-6, out of action, remove from table; 3-4, stunned, place the model face down; 1-2, knocked down, place the model face up. In the following turn, knocked down models stand up (the miniature is stood up). Stunned models are turned over (turned face up), making them knocked down.

That's for most warrior models which have one wound on their statline.

Heroic and other tough figures have 2 or more wounds on their statline; these are reduced by 1 each time they take a wound. When they are at 1 they behave as any other model.

Despite the fact that I haven't played enough skirmish games to really know what I'm talking about, I still have an opinion. Most of this thread has focused on resolution of individual combats. All well and good, but arguably the most trivial part of a skirmish game. More important is a robust reaction system, since many combatants, particularly if engaged, will be out of direct control of leaders. Also, a command and control system that takes into account the ability of a leader to observe, react, and communicate, depending on the circumstances (a leader fending off blows is probably only capable of leading by example, and only if others can see or hear him). Finally, all the above should take into account that unit cohesion and morale are paramount while at the same time allowing for individual action and initiative under special circumstances.

How do you record a figure is cowering without some sort of record keeping?
Sounds like a status counter and "lots of status counters" are precluded.

If you wanted quicker record keeping I've used a method for reffing rpg that might be interesting.
I have a piece of foam board attached to a clipboard.
Print a stat sheet.
PVA this to the foamboard.
I then use coloured pins to record status.