"Chance Cards...Suggestions needed" Topic

Since this whole Covid-19 thing hit I find that I'm playing more solo wargames, and so for some tips I picked up Donald Featherstone's Solo Wargaming, and one of his suggestions that I liked was the use of Chance Cards. These are cards that introduce various random elements, both good and bad, into the battle to add an element of unpredictability to a situation(a solo game) that can be pretty predictable.

As I'm sure most of you TMP grognards are pretty familiar with the concept, and that chance cards aren't strictly for solo games, I won't be long-winded with the lead up…

Just wondering what are some of your experiences with chance cards or similar mechanics to add some unpredictability to your games, and how did they work out? My main periods are ancients, ACW and WW2(East/West front) but any period or generic info is also welcome.

Extra points if it gets a laugh at the gaming table. TIA!

One of my gaming group does some very good VBCW games and his rules have the added spice of chance cards.
My favourites are ….

Miss Balmers left the light on again….
Miss Balmers getting changed and has left the light on again! Roll for each unit until a 6 is rolled, that unit cannot move during the current or next game-turn as they are watching the show. If it is a woman's unit they will fire at the window this current gt and then move as normal next Game Turn.

1 x Brew up!
This turn, only foreigners may move. All may fire as usual.

Arc of Fire allowed for random events. It uses a card draw activation system and 2 extrac cards were added to the deck. If 1 was drawn before the other, a random event out of 100 given in the rulebook occurred.
Some were the usual; severe thunderstorm happens affecting movement, extra movement or fire for next unit, next souldier targeted goes bazerk and will charge enemy for HtH combat, or morale improves due to letters from home. Other events: crazed dog appeaars and attacks random souldier; effect as if shot at til dog is shot, squad had rancid food causing diarrhea -2 to morale rolls, turret gear malfunction jammed turret, good scrounger finds light mg with ammo, or finds grenades etc, or vd-next squad had encounter with the local ladies of the evening and the entense itching causes a -1 drm to their to hit rolls for rest of game.

What level are you playing at?

Here is a SNAFU Chart I'm using for WWII 1:1 action. The events are from first-person accounts and after-action reports.

link

Enjoy

Wolfhag

Death in the Family

For tribal/irregulars/barbarians or what have you units, especially when allies.
A chieftan/clan head/high religious leader has died and your units just learned of it. Roll an appropriate die size and that many elements/units/ "go home" to settle issues.

The Bribe Worked!!
Roll a D10/ D20 if you get a 1 then a random non-core unit (ally, auxiliary, militia, levy or similar likely low morale type) switch sides.
Extra fun can be had with a die role for before or during battle.

Yo mama!
Pre-battle insults rile up one of the units making them subject to morale checks that lead to unplanned advance/charges (actual numeric effect would depend on game system) This is one of those that could be good or bad. Depends on which unit, where they are and what the plan was. Nothing like having your heavy cavalry charge through your infantry screen, or the berserkers you hoped would break through having an added "oomph" to their charge.

Too much wine.
One of the leaders (assuming the game system has multiple generals/ captains/ chiefs of some sort to a side) has a hangover and consistently uses any modifiers to one less or one better effect. An even chance of which, effects the same leader for the entire game. Example: A leader might typically have a +1 "bonus" for units doing something, with this in effect they become either 0 or 2.
For extra fun roll for separate items that could be affected such a minus on morale but plus on combat damage. Don't roll until the first time you use the "bonus" ability.

Which way flew the cuckoo?
Auguries (can't remember the proper word for predictions base on bird flights) before battle give one nationality/ tribe/ ethnic group of soldier a plus or minus on all morale related activities. Random to select which group and which way the "bonus" goes.
Could be a significant affect on relatively homogeneous armies like Republican Rome and less so on something Persian with lots of nationalities.

Love that chart, Wolfhag.

Need one for grunts too, for skirmish games.

Lots of stuff to add in to make life interesting, e.g.:

Mines
"Friendly Fire", which isn't, by the way
Sprained Ankle
Weapons Jam
Exhaustion
Fog
Rain
Snow
Wind
Air Attack

You have widely cross posted, so this is not just for the WWII site where I found it?

I have almost never thrown dice, but did try the solo vice in the 1970s. (I do mean wargaming). I did try WWII amphibious and airborne assault, Napoleonics and even WWI.

But it worked best for Napoleonics and all applied to your side. The opposition was purely drawn card driven.

Your last messenger was hit by a cannon ball before delivery.

Your last order to a subordinate has him confused and he has not moved as ordered.

Your extreme right (or left) wing unit has suddenly moved forward by half a mile, on local orders.

It was such fun coming up with so many random possibilities, which transfer perfectly to the horse and musket era. You need at least fifty such cards. Rain, smoke blinding some units, senseless (ie you cannot calculate for it) panic, but above all these are messages not getting through or not being obeyed, or else, like the Light Brigade, misunderstood.

Thanks Thresher01,
Absolutely will have one for the Grunts. I already have some written for the stupid stuff and mistakes I've made. My son is helping too with some of his experiences when deployed. These are not necessarily "random" actions but non-optimum and unexpected events that would occur within a Platoon in the middle of combat.

The infantry rules are a WIP but should be ready at the end of the year. I already have all of the different HHAT weapons in the game. We'll be using Immediate Action Drills from the manual that the player will have some control over, Aggressiveness Checks to advance under fire and a simultaneous small arms fire system based on a unit's volume of fire. Small unit leadership plays a crucial role.

Wolfhag

What level are you playing at?

I play generally at a grand tactical level where things affect units and not individual soldiers, unless those soldiers happen to be say a leader or a messenger. Not skirmish level.

You have widely cross posted, so this is not just for the WWII site where I found it?

Correct. My main areas of interest are Ancients, ACW and WW2. I cross-posted to those boards to try to get some period specific examples, but generic examples are more than welcome.

I think the trick is to make any such event have some effect but not be totally game-changing. A chance card that causes half your units to leave the game or start fighting among themselves is too powerful.

As others have already indicated, real-world events, or even fictional ones from appropriate books/movies/whatever are the best source of inspiration. For example:

* Maybe one unit has heard rumours of gold to be "recovered" in a nearby town; all movement towards that area will be more enthusiastic than normal – and conversely, movement /away/ from the target area will be met with resistance ("Kelly's Heroes").

* Perhaps a corrupt or incompetent commander has sold or traded some of the unit's ammunition and their shooting isn't as effective as it should be (I seem to remember that some Chinese fort commanders sold some/all the gunpowder for their cannons before the ?Boxer rebellion? ?Opium Wars?).

* Alternatively, an enterprising unit may have equipped themselves with extra, non-regulation kit and have an unexpected capability, at least until they have used it up (Xenophon's hoplites contained men who could use slings, at least one British unit used a captured Panther tank in Normandy…).

* A previous encounter may have left 2 opposing units with a grudge against each other. Should they come into melee with each other then it is more bloody than average (take your pick, though any Conan-esque sword-and-sandal movie tends to have a revenge element!).

…and many more.

We had a medieval game once using "chance" cards. One player tried to cross a stream only to have the card create a "baptism" at the exact location he was trying to cross. Held him up for a couple of turns. The game master even had the religious figures to put on the table, blocking the stream crossing.

Jim

We have used them from time to time – in a Mexican Civil War game we had four sides (Mexican Federal gov, Mexican State gov, Zapistas, US Marines intervention force) who each had different objectives; we used Chance cards for things like civilians appearing, soldatos deciding to change sides, local boys deciding to unite against the Yanquis, sudden stormy weather, etc) – worked out pretty well to give an exciting game!

Force on Force has Fog of War cards. Geared for moderns, but can obviously be translated as needed. Some good ideas.

On the production side, doing a bit of old school would save you money and lower the game's cost.
Develop a matrix table with die rolls producing a chance result. You can even have space for more than you would using cards.
The table is great for immediate use results. If you intend to allow a player to store results, then you would have to use a chit or marker to be issued with the roll.

I have played several games where they have been used and can be great fun adding a little flavor and stirring things up. However I agree with colgar6, they should not be game changers.

One of the things that makes me furious is arbitrary rules, rulings or events which completely undo all your moves and strategy during a game. A card which says something like "Miscommunications causes confusion, no unit may advance closer to the enemy for 1 turn" can be frustrating but realistic. One that says "Communication problems plague your units, no unit may advance any closer to the enemy for the rest of the game", while it may be realistic, kind of defeats the whole purpose of the game.

We did a Spanish Civil War game (using Worlds Aflame) where the officers at republican HQ fall to arguing the fine points of the Hegelian dialectic and they had no command range until the owning player rolled a 6 on a D6.

This works for any period with religious or political extremes.

ECW rules File Leader had an officer incidents table like this with multiple, often entertaining, outcomes.

Thanks for all the input guys. Plenty of food for thought.

We did a Spanish Civil War game (using Worlds Aflame) where the officers at republican HQ fall to arguing the fine points of the Hegelian dialectic and they had no command range until the owning player rolled a 6 on a D6.

This works for any period with religious or political extremes.

You could use something like that with the WW2 Soviets, when the troop commander and the commissar disagree.

I came up with a house rule when playing an ancient battle, with separate groups per side, solo. I would roll for each group. As I recall the results were something like this:

a) Group stays on defense; won't move except to protect itself.

b) Group may advance and attack up to half of the tables depth.

c) Group must attack closest enemy.

It's been awhile, but I think the roll also affected the groups command range (plus or minus). Pretty simple but it added something I had no control over.

I inflicted a tiger-risk in a Burma game.

I inflicted a tiger-risk in a Burma game.

Yes! I'm adding that one for my VN Firebase game. Maybe snakes too. Other critter activity at night may make the unit give away their position.

Wolfhag

When I was in boot camp a sailor fell out of ranks because a wasp tried to land on his nose.