@Space Ghost
In answer to your questions Brian:
Combat System – The system does offer decision making and tactics with regards to what individual models do.
Positioning is important. There are also a number of other ways to gain an advantage whether that is through Psychological Attacks (e.g. Taunting an enemy towards you or Intimidating them to the point that their characteristics drop) or Forcing the enemy back into friends who can finish the model off. Plus using the terrain to your advantage. The game is very situational so the best course of action will depend on what the environment is that your models are in and their positions, strengths/weaknesses etc. at the time of decision making.
To make a hand-to-hand attack you compare the attackers Attack value vs the defenders Defence value, this tells you whether you roll 1, 2, or 3 dice in attack. When you attack you could fumble, miss, force the opponent back or hit them. You choose a score from the dice you have rolled to apply. Sometimes you may find you want to Force Back an enemy rather than strike a blow. It depends on what you're trying to achieve. There are modifiers and various skills and abilities that you can give to your fighters which may influence the way you play.
WargameVault -I'm aware of the site but haven't got around to looking at it properly yet.
You can download Open Combat direct from the secondthunder.com website. After payment has processed you are presented with a download link.
Hope this helps!
Carl
reports from the final California Gen Con...