"New Prehistoric Animal Hunting Rules" Topic

Did CC author these?

No, CP – Chris Peers

Close anyway.

As Jeff Foxworthy said about anti-shark suits, "There's only one way to test them."

Sherman, crank up the Way-Back!

The biggest question that pops into my mind is…
Why?

What, Monster Island not good enough? Or Gurps? I mean, do we really need miniature rules on how to hunt Prehistoric Badgers?

I'm sure these rules must tickle somebody's fancy. As much as I'm also sure that the moment I say that we now have rules to cover every single gaming niche on the planet, there'll be a news article tomorrow about some other game ruleset.

Cheers!

I'd think it would be too much challenge to hunt extinct perhistoric mammals -- it's probably hard to track down and get a bead on an extinct animal!

The biggest question that pops into my mind is…
Why?

And it's not even the first prehistoric-animal-hunting set of rules – Irregular has a set, and so does Steve Barber Models.

Why?

The same reason we have all those useless WW2 rules, and all the silly ACW rules, and the looney Napoleonics rules, and the glorious Ancients rules, and the not quite pointless array of Medieval and Western Gunfight rules….

We like variety in our rules. Otherwise there would be ONE set of rules for each Period, period.

Besides anybody who thinks hunting prehistoric beasties is easy has never tried tossing an atlatl…

"Why?"

Because some people want to play lost worlds hunting games? Why not?

AX

PDFs!

$30 USD (including shipping) for 36 pages (which I'm sure don't need to be in color) isn't going to happen.

Well, it tickles my fancy.

The other rulesets Mr. Peers has written seem to be OOP, so a soloable set of prehistoric mega-mammalian hunting rules is worth $25 USD to me. Sure, I could have spent that money on a large pizza, but the ruleset is very nice, readable, and educational. I look forward to playing it.

And for the record, the booklet is choc full of pictures of miniatures, historical illustrations, a completely unnecessary but hilariously frightening centrefold of a hunting party in trouble, and 2 pages of adverts – one for DeeZee minatures and Copplestone Castings, and one for wargamesillustrated online shop rulesets.

It does smell though. Hmmm.

I agree with the KZIN approach to hunting/warefare…

a wild sceam as you leap to attack! tis challenge enough…just ask Louis Wu and Speaker to Animals…

*slish…slish*

I already have Saurian Safari and Mammalian Mayhem (also from Chris Peers), looks like this is a blend of both. Do I need it though, with both of those already on the shelf?

Here's a quick review of the Tooth and Claw rules from the Lost World Safari Yahoo group, bearing in mind I haven't actually played any games with them yet.

The rules are in glossy colour format throughout although the rulebook is quite slim, more like a magazine supplement in fact. There are 31 pages of text and a large double spread centre section featuring a game in progress. The last couple of pages are adverts for WI, Dee Zee and Copplestone which seems a waste of space.

The contents page on the inside front cover is a welcome addition if you're familiar with Chris Peers rules! There are 10 chapters covering introduction to the game, setting up, crreating characters, sequence of play, positioning of animals, human movement, spotting and shooting, animal attacks, animal statistics and scenrios plus a page of alternative settings at the back.

The rules are written in the usual extended prose 'narrative' style favoured by the author which can make finding specific rule references a bit hit and miss. However, they do read well and are clearly explained, with some nice photos and contemporary drawings to add colour.

The mechanics are very similar (if not virtually identical) to Saurian Safari although there are a few nice touches such as personal traits for characters e.g. nerves of steel, rules for gunbearers, stalk movement, snap shooting and so on. The game sequence follows the familiar rolls for animals to appear, stats to determine priority of movement, rolls for spotting and shooting plus effects of hits and animal reactions. These are largely the same as Saurian Safari
including misfires, reloading etc.

The animals are well covered and include a wide(ish) range of Ice Age / Prehistoric beasties. If you have a look at the DZ miniatures range you won't be surprised to find them all featues in the rules, together with a few additions such as Terror Birds, giant gorilla type things etc. There's plenty of variety and the reaction tables give a nice randomising effect when it comes to their behaviour.

As expected there are a few things missing, most notably a QRS (although I suspect someone will produce one sooner or later).

There are also no rules for terrain affecting movement e.g. snow, swamp, etc or for vehicles of any kind, unlike Saurian Safari. The rules also seem gauged toward one off games rather than linked scenarios, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view.

Overall, a set of rules with some good familiar features which should help speed play but perhaps a little too glossy at the expense of innovation.

Worth getting if you haven't tried to play Saurian Safari or as a change from your usual huntng party v. dinosaurs scenarios.

Jim

Why do we "need" another set of ANY rules? Maybe the author thinks the others stink? Maybe he thinks he can do a better job? Maybe he needs the money? Maybe he is a fabulously wealthy dilletante with nothing better to do?
We don't "need" anything on TMP. This is a HOBBY, for crying out loud, and by definition, something you do in your spare time, and with disposeable income.
I have tried out about 7 AWI rules, and there is definitely a "need" for more, because none of them satisfy my strange "need" to do it my way, and see the battles unfold as I think they should. Not even the rules I wrote myself.

Is ther a "need" for plastic ACW? Of course not.
Is there a "need" to move Historicon? To me, no. To others…
Is there a "need" for Lee's Legion on foot? Well, yes, actually, there is…

There is no "need" to justify anything on TMP. All are equally pointless and equally valuable.

Boy, that really annoyed me. I thought I hid it well, though. I needed to vent.

Bravo, the OFM! Barkeep, buy him a round on me.

I agree with the OFM. Down with the naysayers!

What the OFM said. And believe this is not the last set of rules that will come out on this topic or for that matter any genre or period. Game rules are like making beer that last batch was realy good but if I tweak the ingrediants just a bit I bet I can do it better. Like the OFM there are certain areas of interest in wargaming that I have yet to find what I am looking for. And even for the eras/genres/periods that I have found what I think are the perfect rules I would never prevent myself from trying out another rules system for that area of gaming if I thought it might do it different or better. So why? Because one can.

(Murmurs of approval in the House for the OFM)… "Hear him! Hear him!"

What is wrong with having a choice, after all?

In the words of Morgan Freeman "Allah loves wondrous variety"
and if that don't work….it's a game not a way of life!

maybe i'm missing something wargaming is like any other area of business. what a world if we all had the same cars, same mobiles, same plasma TV's etc etc The days of guys casting a few figs in their garage has gone the innovation of new products hitting the wargames tables has never been so high. call me a sceptic but maybe it's us, the wargamers that need to be dragged into the 21st centuary, we are all free to choose our cars so why not rules, figures etc. Just because there are 1300CC engines on the road is no reason for someone to stop making 1300 CC cars.
we all have that choice thankfully.

I have tried the rules, simple but fun, add few bits and pieces of my own creation and hey presto! a good evenings entertainment.

Yep – we tried the rules last weekend, and a good time was had by all. If you think game for hunting dino's is silly, don't play!