"Hero System for modern combat skirmish" Topic

(This is a little something I cooked up while thinking of all those Hero books going to waste not being played. Originally posted at Hero System forums). Thanks to Weasel for putting out the concepts behind this rules mash-up for Hero [No end in sight].

Link referred to in the post: link

I'm thinking Hero with miniatures for modern combat. Some of the stuff I've come up with for now, for miniatures skirmish combat using the Hero system rules:

Deployment movement. Characters move up to their normal movement allowances during pre-combat maneuvering. Turn length is variable, and actions can be taken normally using the Hero system turn sequence. Characters can use skills normally without combat penalties (defusing an IED for example), or establishing a overwatch when using sniper rifles or crew-served weapons.

Combat movement. Modern soldiers have to move in full kit during combat, under fire and using whatever cover they can find. Thus characters move in short bounds during combat, preferably from cover to cover. Take the normal movement values of a character and divide it with the number of phases a character can act in. This is the basis of combat movement allowance. Minimum movement is 1cm using quiet walking movement (1cm per meter of movement on the table) during a phase, moving stealthily and probably during close quarters combat inside a building. Clearing rooms safely inside buildings is slow going. Faster combat movement is simply the running distance divvied up by the number of phases a character has. This represents the quick dashes from cover to cover when in combat.

Overwatch. The offensive version of aborting to dodge when in combat. When a field of fire is established during pre-combat movement and deployment phase (or during combat using a full phase action, full turn when setting up a crew-served weapon), characters can abort their upcoming action to fire on a character that is moving in their line of sight.

Weapons stats. I used these calculations when coming up with damage by caliber and other weapon qualities: link I ignored the strength minimum given the fact that most characters are trained soldiers, and experts at using their weapons during combat. The armor multiplier rules are good and the main reason I used these rules. (M27 IAR: Armor Multiplier=0, Base Damage: 2d6 [5.56mm NATO], Armor Penetration Modifier: 0, Stun Modifier: 0, Per Mod: +4, CQB modifier: -1, Range Modifier: +2, OCV: +1, ROF: 14 rounds per phase)

Blinds. Depending on the scenario, characters or groups of characters move under blinds until detected by a successful INT roll (sight, hearing, etc.). Movement during the deployment phase can be either hidden or in the "open" (a convoy of vehicles and soldiers). Detecting hostiles initiates normal combat, and all movement becomes combat movement. During combat, perception rolls are made when a direct line of sight can be contested (by cover, range, darkness or weather) and a perception roll is required by a character trying to spot a hostile.

Suppressive and automatic fire. Take a weapons rate of fire, divide it by the beaten zone of the fire (in 2cm increments) and you get the possible number of hits per every 2cm of beaten zone. One can assign each beaten zone a number of rounds (volume of fire) used to suppress that area. Suppressive fire lasts a number of phases limited by the ROF and magazine size of the weapon used (a 30-round magazine with ROF of 14, can cover beaten zones with a maximum of 14 rounds per phase, divide the ROF between beaten zones, or choose to fire less rounds into a given beaten zone. This allowance assumes a trained soldier with strict fire discipline. Untrained soldiers would most likely use the full ROF of the weapon to cover a beaten zone, trying to get hits on anything that moves). Characters that were taking offensive actions inside the beaten zone prior to the automatic or suppressive fire, must abort to get back in to cover, or take a possible hit. Possible hits are resolved like normal attacks, taking cover, movement, visibility and other factors into account, rolling once for each possible hit. Characters that try to take actions inside a beaten zone of fire, must take a Grace Under Fire test to be able to act, and risk getting hit by possible hits in the beaten zone.

That's it for now. I spend a couple of hours thinking things through and trying to fit Hero with some principles used in miniatures games that I know of. This should make Hero gameable with miniatures using small changes, and allows for relative realism in the end result.

(Hero has a solid combat system that I've run in a role playing game before and liked it. It is pretty simple actually. Going in depth with characters allows their use for campaigns and awarding individual experience points, and super-skills are an excellent way to flesh out single soldiers in your roster. One can also use the extended equipment in the source books to flesh out weapons and gadgets the characters use in battles, and out of them. There are rules for explosives, weapons gadgets, sci-fi weapons, vehicles, skills, superpowers and everything else one could think of when looking for a system to game. Given these tweaks I think one can run enjoyable games that still feel realistic and in-depth enough for all sorts of gamers, and you can always use optional rules to include more detail (wounding, disabling, bleeding) and other effects to modify the game experience.

Not terribly familiar with Hero but we've run GURPS as a skirmish wargame / RPG and had a great time, though it got pretty intense to keep track of.

From what I've seen of Hero books, they seem pretty similar.

Hero is mostly about "dramatic realism" and it can be used to run even super powered individuals. The system can be used for various genres given the effect-based powers and tactical combat, which is why it works for miniatures too (5th edition actually had movement in inches).

The selling point of the game has been that you can create any sort of character in the system (similar to GURPS). The negative is it's "complexity", which means that the character creation takes a while. Combat can be simple or complex depending on what you're looking for.

yeah, I have friends who play both and they tend to with Hero for more heroic games and GURPS for more down to earth things, while remaking that you can do either with either system.

For wargaming, you'd probably want some premade templates (though I never use the points systems for NPC's, just assign and go)