"Character Rules for TSATF" Topic

I'm planning to run a large TSATF scenario in the late winter/early spring: outnumbered Brits defending costal town against Mahdists and pirates with reinforcements coming by boat and train :)

I want to have some pregame things going on to add some variety – purchasing extra troops or barricades, scouts to slow or protect the train, and, among other things, special characters.

My question is this. Has anyone used or come up with any special rules for adding characters into their games?

Nothing extremely complicated (I'm not looking for a role playing game) just something extra to add some flavor to the game.

I don't have a very precise idea at the moment of how I want to do this so I'm interested to see what others have tried.

Thanks
The Major

You can easily take the character creator information from SvP. I use it quite a bit to get a feeling for my commanders:

"SCIENCE versus PLUCK
or
too much for the Mahdi"
THE SUDAN CAMPAIGNS 1881-99

A VICTORIAN WARGAME
BY HOWARD WHITEHOUSE

Hey You is right; Howard's Science vs Pluck is a great resource to mine for ideas and you can use what you want and adapt it to your use. Available from Wargames Vault for about $5. USD

I added the following for mounted figures (like named officers) that gives them a little extra chance of survival.

WOUNDS TO MOUNTED TROOPS.

EACH TIME A MOUNTED TROOPER IS WOUNDED, ROLL 1D6 AND CONSULT THE TABLE BELOW:

DIE ROLL HORSE RIDER

1 WOUND DISMOUNTED – WOUNDED – DRAW CARD FOR RIDER
2 WOUND DISMOUNTED
3 WOUND DISMOUNTED
4 WOUND DISMOUNTED
5 O.K. WOUND/DISMOUNTED
6 O.K. WOUND/MOUNTED – DISMOUNTED IF KILLED

Wounded troopers can ride their own horse with the following restrictions:

1) The wounded trooper must be led by an unwounded trooper.

2) The wounded trooper will take 1 one die penalty on each move.

It takes one die of movement for a mounted trooper to transfer a wounded trooper off his own horse and on to the unwounded trooper's horse (ride double).

It takes one die of movement for a mounted trooper to pick up a dismounted trooper.

It takes two dice of movement for a mounted trooper to pick up a wounded trooper (and ride double at normal movement).

It takes two dice of movement for a mounted trooper to get a free horse to a dismounted trooper and get him mounted.

Troopers riding double cannot charge.

As loose as TSATF plays, I really don't think you need special rules to create characters. Just built it into the narrative.

Another side of this is in my Zulu war campaign. I have run twice and it uses the actual people involved.

It plays out kinda like W.W.D.D. – What Would Durnford Do.

Thanks for all the ideas so far. I really appreciate them.

I'm trying to get my local gaming store group interested in historical wargaming. It's all 40K/Warmahordes/X wing right now. I have nothing against these games (I've played plenty of them in the past and still do) but I'm really keen to see some thing else played. TSATF, I thought, would be a good choice because it really captures the flavor of the period. Adding (a little) more detailed characters is an extra touch.

This is the type of character you will get out of SvP, just for example:

Name: Colonel John Campbell
Age 54
Social Class Nobility
Intellect Brilliant
Physique Small
Professionalism Ambitious
Bravery Heroic
Personality Well Liked
Prior Experience: 1 Campaign and Staff Experience
Characteristic: Enemies in High Places
Characteristic: Well Educated
Characteristic: Gambler

Thanks Hey You. I did get SvP and have been looking through it to get some ideas on how to mesh it with TSATF.

I actually used to have a copy of SvP that I downloaded for free somewhere years ago. Alas, that was lost in the great Zip Drive disappearance of 'ot' 17! ☹️

I'd follow the KISS principle and just name officer figures and assign them modifiers that apply to their unit:
Target shooting aficionado: Unit gets +1 on fire
Classically trained duelist: Unit gets +1 on melee
Health nut: Unit rolls one extra die on movement and throws out lowest
Cool under fire: Unit gets plus one on morale
Rowdy: One extra movement die and +1 melee on charges
Dilettante: Unit gets minus one on morale
Maybe make the modifiers random at the beginning of the game and they go away if that officer dies.

Great idea Murvihill. Easy to add to the pre existing framework of the rules without significant changes. They also appear fairly flexible.

One of my characters is the wife of the local governor. The cool under fire modifier would work great for her.

Mjr Stalwart, I came up with some simple "character" rules while working on my The Wind And The Lion convention game based on the final battle scene in that suburb movie. I wanted something fun, that would add a touch, but wouldn't chance the balance or feel of the game. I gave the lead characters some special advantages. The following is a cut n paste from my House Rules file.

Keeping with the basic TSATF rules mechanisms I've generated some scenario specific "Character Abilities" that adds a bit of flavor without creating an imbalance or changes in the mechanics of the rules.

Character casualties:
Captain Jerome and Sgt. Adams will ignore the first kill casualty cards. The next card will take effect and a second wound will kill. Wounded figures drop the high die for all movement and are a -1 on ALL die rolls.

Mrs. Pedecaris will ignore the first wound or kill casualty cards, the next card will take affect as pulled.

The Raisuli will ignore the first wound or kill casualty cards. The next kill will wound and two wounds will kill. Wounded figures drop the high die for all movement and are a -1 on ALL die rolls.

Character Abilities:
For added flavor or scenario specific items an additional plus or minus can be given to characters for shooting, melee, sighting, etc. Special abilities can be added like healing, field craft, scouting, etc…

Cheers,
JB

One thing I've used over the years is to give special characters "wounds". Whether in melee or from shooting, characters need to be hit 2-3 times before actually drawing a card as a casualty. This adds some survivability. I too follow the KISS mentality. Sometimes I give a character a special weapon, or a slight advantage in combat, or some sort of ability that would affect nearby units. For example, I sometimes grant Afghan special characters a rule where they can allow a single friendly unit an auto close in melee.

Hope this is helpful!

J