"Crowd funding for a different kind of skirmish game" Topic

Hope this is in the right spot.

I have a design for a set of ww2 skirmish rules focused on more of a pseudo-RPG feeling than the typical large actions we tend to play.

Randomly assemble 4 or 5 guys and go check out that old farm house where the locals said there were some wine bottles buried.
Run a patrol in no mans land.
Meet interesting people who may give you new missions or tasks, or even tag along.

The goal is a fairly narrative kind of game where the players use the events of the game to build the overall story in the campaign.

Mechanics will be relatively simple and chart-less, so you can play the game quickly and in a short time. That way, you can get in a couple of games in one evening.

link

Thanks!

A quick update on how things will look

Q: Will we have to play it as a campaign with all the bits included?

A: No, the game will work on a few different components. Component 1 is the actual combat rules for moving around, resolving attacks and so forth. This will be fairly short and sweet since we want it to quick to play.

Component 2 is the force generators. These will be random tables you roll on to quickly generate a few soldiers of a given nationality.You can use this if you like or you can put on whatever seems to make sense for the game ahead.

Component 3 is the campaign itself. This will involve occasionally finding new locations, meeting new people and missions presenting themselves.

In a typical campaign, the players will likely switch back and forth between these things. You might use the campaign rules to determine that the next mission is retrieving something in an abandoned trench, but assign the forces yourself, based on what makes sense, or you may discover an interesting location and decide to have your men go check it out, then roll randomly to see what you encounter there.

You won't need scenario sheets, just play an episode of Combat! or Rat Patrol before the game.

That's sort of the intention. Whether its funny moments from a TV show, bits from memoirs and novels or whatnot, there's a lot of little gameable moments out there.

Edit: If you want this to become a thing, if you want to do me a solid, share the word out there.

If funding doesn't get big, the game is still going to be a thing, but it'll obviously be a much slower ordeal, since I'll have to concentrate on other things at the same time.

Signed up :)
When do you think the beta will be ready for testing?

There will be three components really, the combat rules (moving and shooting dudes), the campaign/story stuff, and the force generators/characters.

The first component (moving and shooting) is the simplest one and the beta of that should be ready in a few days as it is mostly done, just need to make the transition from notepads to pdf.

Testing that on its own will seem a little weird as thats really only part of the game but that way, it can get some feedback and work while all the juicy bits are coming together.

COOL looking forward to it :)

A quickie update on the page and reposting it here

"Q: How will basic combat work?

A: What I am looking at, at the moment, is essentially a two dice system. When one of your guys fire at a target, you roll two dice, and if either die scores a 1 or a 6, something happens.

The first die is the "hit die" which will inflict a wound or kill on a 1 or 6 respectively.

The second is the "shock die" which will inflict a duck back or bail out on a 1 or 6 respectively.

For simplicity, players just use two different coloured dice.

This means there's no separate morale check to be made and you can tell immediately what happened. Along the way, it'd be cool to have some custom dice made, but we'll see what comes out of it."

If today goes well, the first beta draft of the combat section should be available tonight or tomorrow.

Kids, wife and cat permitting :)

I guess I went too long past the "edit" window. The very first, early, unstable blah blah blah draft of the combat section (specifically) went out today.

If you want in on the testing floor, plenty of time to still chip in.

I am hoping the combat aspects can be nailed down pretty quick, so we can get to work on the cool stuff.

I'm in. Never really played any RPG type games before, but I do understand the need for caffeine and beer.

Paul

Appreciate it!
It will be somewhere in that fussy zone between RPG's and wargames. Like the filling of a delicious pie :)

I have the BETA of the combat and movement mechanic. I have seen a whole heap of rules both published and never quite got there during my time gaming and at Wargames Journal… I must say I think Ivan is onto something here. 15 dollars to fund and get a set of the rules – what have you got to lose?

Will try and get a bat rep up within the week. They seem to be what we need for the inbetween bits for our Bolt Action campaign :)

A video update for ya'll if you are curious about the system a bit

YouTube link

I have done a quick battle report using the beta rules and a few random thoughts on the rules so far.

link

Rich J

Very nice looking game Rich :)

A quick talk today about the general process of getting this game together and avoiding crowd funding fiasco

The first draft of the "forces" section is available to backers as well now. This includes rolling up a random unit (British for now, but it can be adapted to other nationalities) as well as the skills list, so you can flesh out your guys with some unique qualities.

Working on stealth rules and character skills/development now.

Fancy sneaking into a nazi facility to blow something up? Soon my friends, soon.

Combat rules are shaping up good, with a lot of little tweaks based on playtesting. The arsenal is pretty complete and there's rules for tasks, stealth, searching and persuasion as well.

The Force section has tables for Brit and German forces. (easy enough to adapt to USSR and Americans) Skills and specialist gear are done too (and quite a few more skills have been added, though we may still add more stuff).

The Campaign part is very skeletal but coming together. I haven't added the rules effects yet for things like campaign events, injuries and character backgrounds but take a look at whats there so far for a feel of what it'll look like.

Im going to start on the actual mission stuff tomorrow.

This sounds very interesting

It is indeed interesting – we are already planning on fleshing out our Bolt Action campaign league with little squad action patrols between them. I suspect the named squad will not be going in so gung ho in the following BA games though :)

What is there already is probably worth the 15 dollars funding so the final product should be cool.

Rich

I read Surferdude's battle report, great stuff and keep them coming. I only have U.S. infantry ready at the moment. Just got a Fallschirmjager squad in from Artizan but I have to finish finals before I can get around to painting them. I am planning on using the rules as one-off games but also using them in the same way as Surferdude with Chain of Command. Perhaps task one side with a prisoner grab, capture the spy or a HQ raid, etc. If successful they get some sort of bonus in the next game and if not something unexpected may befall them.

I agree that the rules are worth $15 USD as is. They will only get bigger and better plus they are available online anytime to all contributors at the $15 USD and higher level. I think Ivan is on to something here and I'd like to see it grow, so if you are reading this and haven't contributed just pop on over there and part with some cash. Could be some of the best wargaming money you ever spent.

Paul

I'll try and get a report up this week based loosely on the BoB 'Last Patrol' plot. Stealth prisoner grab which could go wrong.

Rich

If you give $10 USD you get the PDF finished rule set which seems a bargain. What price will they be to the public once finished?

Slinky – final price will depend on how snazzy it ends up getting. I am figuring around 15. If I manage to get some pretty professional editing put together, maybe 20.

At 15, you get it a bit cheaper if you buy in early at 10, or if you pay 15, you get the stuff early and get to help test.

Oh, I wanted to touch on one thing:

The rules are meant to be very modular. So you can easily fold them into an ongoing campaign of Bolt Action, Chain of Command, TW&T or anything else like people have discussed above.

As an aside, the campaign rules will bolt unto another skirmish game too without too much fuss if you are in the market for some campaign rules to stick unto something else.

Far far down the road, I'd love to expand things out too. Korea, Vietnam, Flanders, who knows.

How about modern special forces scenarios, would that work at a later date?

That's a definite option as well. Or SWAT stuff.

Maybe some options for in-building fighting.

Just speculating ahead :)

American force table is in. Not a huge amazing feat or anything, it's just modifying the Brit one a little.

They do have slightly less changes of getting SMG's, a small chance of getting a trench gun, smaller chance of LMG (Browning) and a large chance of getting BAR's.

Also they will, on average, generate slightly more men but it won't be super significant.

I've also added an option for each nationality that they can trade in skill rolls for a specific skill (Guts for Brits, Right Place Right Time for Jerries and Over Watch for Yanks)

Next up Soviets and I'll try to fit in one more for each pledge we get (Finnish, Italian, French, Japanese would be obvious candidates)

If you've been waiting for the Russkies, they're now available as well, and the campaign rules are shaping up pretty quickly.

Maybe I'm distracted by the role-playing bit, but is this a typical 2 opposing players game with role-playing aspects? Or co-op / solo?

andy

Typical game is 2 opposing players, but with more campaign details holding it all together.
Think Nuts meets Necromunda in some ways.

It could be played solo or co-op as well

edit: There are some notes and systems for solo play but not a fully fledged "programmed" system.

Hmm intrigued.

Sounds like what i am after for a game on June 6th. $15 USD does sound well worth it, looking forward to seeing the PDF :)

If you're the gentleman that just contributed, check your email for the Google Drive link with the beta files.

Thank you and if you like it, do spread the word! :)

A section on jeeps and the likes being added. Full blown vehicle rules won't be a thing (not really suitable for a game where you have 4 or 5 guys) but a scenario may involve arriving in a jeep or bren carrier or using one as a get away vehicle.

After purchasing the beta PDF's it Been an intersting read. Looking forward to testing the rules this weekend.

Once you've done the rules for a small vehicle you could easily scale them up I think, I'm just thinking of that film with Donald Sutherland in the Sherman against the 3 tigers looking for stolen art. Only a small amount of characters (so fits in with your game's narrative focused style) but still some big vehicles. Keep up the good work! A

Ark3nubis – Good point and I'll give it some thought but the list of stuff I'd love to do is getting very long :)

I think that's one thing we ALL share regardless of genre, game preference or style of play, we all have very long lists, I am no exception! Great stuff, keep it going! A

A quick update video for the day. Apologies for the noise and disheveled shirt, trying to record it guerrilla style

YouTube link

A bit of a feature list so far:

Weapons cover all the usual suspects in an infantry fight, including quirkier stuff like assault rifles and trench guns.
Flamethrowers and mortars for bigger fights.

Jeep getaways!

Hidden sniper scenarios.

Character creation with motivations and backgrounds that influence gameplay. Some people just won't get along.

Random events both during battles and in the campaign.

A simple but effective "squad morale" system that factors in your mens motivations and how they are doing in the campaign.

And even a few "special characters" like the gnarly old sergeant or the hard-bitten british commando.

And I am not saying I am working on a little Zombie supplement for the game. Not at all. :-)

One of the backers did a nice AAR for us. Check it out, if you're still on the fence.

link

Combat rules are more or less 95% done at this point, barring any minor issues

And the final force lists include tables for:

Americans, British and Commonwealth, Free French, Italians, Soviets, Germans, Finnish and an entry for Free Polish.

Anything else will be in the supplements.