"How have YOU modified Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames?" Topic

Now that i have a half dozen fights using the black powder version of the rules, I am starting to tinker with them like any self respecting wargamer who cannot leave well enough alone.

I am working on some simple AWI mods to add some chrome such as Infantry melee, elite troops, Rifles, and militia. When done, it will probably bump it up to a 90 minutes wargame.

I am also considering some sort of simple command and control mechanism, but cannot decide if I want to rip off DBx, Fire and Fury, or Black Powder.

So, what sort of modifications have you made? They are beautifully elegant in my opinion, but I cannot resist the temptation.

I am looking mostly at how to change the basic dice mechanic from throwing a single 1D6 to something a little less volatile, yet produces roughly the same number of hits on average (3 or 4). Throwing a single die makes the game too wild and luck-oriented. Then again, what wargame that uses chance elements isn't? :)

Average die?

Maybe you could use a bucket of dice with 4-6 being a hit? That would give you more of a bell curve for each shot.

Here are some of the changes I am fiddling with for AWI Southern Campaign:

Aggressive: The troops are armed with bayonets and happy to use them. May charge, cause d6+2 hits, if enemy not destroyed, bounce back 3 inches.

Elite: Once per game may rally off d6 hits (I would reserve this for Grenadiers and maybe light bobs, possibly Hessians)

Militia: Take double hits from hand to hand. Also thinking about -2 on firing for really poor militia

Rifles: Skirmishers but only -1 on firing

New terrain, light woods: does not impede movement for any units, but skirmishers over 6" range only take half hits from firing.

I have play-tested none of these yet so YMMV.

Any command and control thoughts?

The more dice the more extreme the possible results, even if there is a tendency to the average.

What if you roll 6d6, every 4+ counts as a hit. So the chances of getting 1 hit or 6 hits is now 1/64 instead of 1/6.

Seems less probable extreme results and since you are using 6 dice, you cannot get more or less hits than with a single d6. Unless of course my math is wrong.

I personally like the swings of the single d6, so will stick with it.

pretty good as is but I like adding melee rules for horse and musket.

If I want more I would use Neil's Introduction to Wargaming which gives slightly more meat. Only drawback is that it doesn't cover 18th century. But it does show how he designs other periods if you want to take a stab at it for AWI.

Anything more and I move to Black Powder or Muskets and Tomahawks.

Sorry Tin Man, didn't understand the comparison.

@advocate:

I think it breaks down like this, been a while since I had statistics, I used cuneiform in college.

As written the rules give a flat distribution per firing roll. I think if you rolled 6d6 and counted 4-6 as a hit, you get 0-6 hits per shot, but the distribution is:

0 Hits: 0.015625
1 Hit: 0.09375
2 Hits: 0.234375
3 Hits: 0.3125
4 Hits: 0.234375
5 Hits: 0.09375
6 Hits: 0.015625

Probably not worth the effort, but it would bell curve the distribution and give you more predictability. I am going to stick with the d6 as I like the drama of swings in fortune and it gives a nice fog of war. Why did my unit roll 3 1's in a row for firing? Maybe the powder is wet…

Wouldn't it be easier just to use 2D6/2? (fractions rounded up)

You still get a bell curve, and you'll retain the minimum of one hit, and it makes he weaker units marginally more effective.

We actually like the 1D6, it produces outrageous swings in fortune.

If I want more I would use Neil's Introduction to Wargaming which gives slightly more meat. Only drawback is that it doesn't cover 18th century. But it does show how he designs other periods if you want to take a stab at it for AWI.

I would use his Simplicity in Practice as a base for C18. It is $1.99 USD in the pdf of Battlegames 23 payhip.com/b/0awc

Here is my review with some combat mechanism modifications. link

And one for simplicity in practice if you go that route. link

I have that issue of Battlegames and will give SIP a swing. Thanks for all of the replies, I am going to fire up the blog again soon and will post my results.

I am getting ready to do another sell off so I can focus on fewer periods and will actually start gaming…