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Tuesday 17 September 2013

Scratching that irresistible itch

Have you ever had a mental itch that just HAD to be 'scratched'? You know what I mean; an irresistible idea that just won't go away and that you have just GOT to use? I have ... and it is a result of Archduke Piccolo's very simple and very effective method for using normal D6 dice to determine the outcomes of combat.

Ever since I read his original blog entry I had wanted to incorporate his dice system into a simple set of wargames rules for the late 19th century ... and today I decided that I just had to 'scratch' that 'itch'. At present my progress can best be described as 'slow but steady', and I doubt if the first draft will be ready much before the weekend, but when I do I would hope to play-test the rules fairly soon afterwards.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Bob,

    As a man of numerous 'itches' - all needing a degree of scratching - you have my sympathy! I will look out for the end result with relish...!

    Seriously though, what a great idea and I one that is crying out to be expanded upon.

    All the best,

    DC

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  2. David Crook,

    I have been experimenting with the dice concept and the results are interesting. One thing I noticed almost as soon as I started was that it is very quick and easy to 'see' the results

    I have decided that doubles should count as hits on units that are in the open and that it will require a triple to cause a hit on a unit that is behind hard cover.

    I have also decided that there will a single combat system for fire and close combat, with infantry, cavalry, and artillery throwing dice as per BATTLE CRY.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  3. "I have decided that doubles should count as hits on units that are in the open and that it will require a triple to cause a hit on a unit that is behind hard cover."

    A triple '1' to hit Artillery in hard cover? How many dice would be rolled per combat?

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  4. I should just mention, I think, that in its present incarnation, I take doubles as forcing retreats and triples as 'kills'. The idea there is to try and reduce the attrition rate (though it was not successful in my little example).

    I did consider some jiggery pokery with higher numbers of the same pip score (quadruples and higher), but aside from whether to call four 1 'kill' or two retreats, or one side or the other chooses, I haven't yet decided.

    To any force I added an arbitrary two dice. This was to allow a single unit of cavalry, say, a chance, however remote, of scoring a 'kill'. As for terrain, I hadn't yet decided, but was leaning towards counting only towns, fortifications and maybe mountainous regions, all of which would advantage a defender. But what sort of advantage: a plus to the force, or a multiplier?

    The sort of game I had in mind was probably something along the lines of the R.L. Stevenson/Lloyd Osbourne sort of map game. But I can see that the whole idea could be adapted to other systems.

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  5. Combat systems with the outcome shown directly on the dice, Reisswitz rides again!

    Look forward to seeing the outcome of your trials.

    Cheers

    Nick

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  6. Kaptain Kobold,

    A good point. I shall have another think about using the triple dice score causing hits on units in hard cover.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  7. Archduke Piccolo,

    What you have written in your comment makes things a bit clearer.

    I hope to use your dice mechanism in a tactical wargame rather than a strategic one ... and I suspect that I will have to make compromises regarding terrain effects that would not be required in a strategic wargame.

    I don't know if what I plan to do will work, but I will have fun giving it a go.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  8. Nic101 (Nick),

    It is such a simple system that it just has to be used!

    All the best,

    Bob

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