Easy E wrote:Thanks for sharing.
I have a few thoughts if you do not mind....
Activation:
1. You mention in the activation dice that if you pull a dice you can assign it to a unit and give it an order, but only if a commander is in range. Is the range the 3"/6" AOE or is it something different?
2. Can you assign the same unit multiple die?
3. All other whats go back in the bag?
This section is a bit unclear to me at the moment. Bolt Action, Gates of Antarres uses this dice draw system, as does Swordpoint (
IIRC). My question to you is, what about this system do you like? Why this system and not another?
Thanks for looking Easy.
1.) The activation is done by the bolt action dice. As in
BA, you place a die next to the unit you would like to order and that order is carried out regardless of whether a commander is nearby. However a commander may buff certain orders like "Advance" and "Rally." This is mentioned in the Brigadier General Section and CinC Sections, but I can see it needs clarification. Further, if a commander is in Range for an "Advance" move that move is not randomized. Also If a commander is in range when the unit takes morale hits or receives a "Rally" order, that unit uses the commanders leadership rather than the base number.
2.) One die per unit. No die to commanders. I will clarify that above.
3.) I will make the change there.
Easy E wrote:Thanks for sharing.
Movement:
Hmm, you are using randomized movement. Interesting choice at 28MM scale. Cann you tell me what you are trying to accomplish with randomized movement? I want to know more.
The reason for random movement is to give the feel of orders being garbled, ineffective or delayed. I didn't spell that out since I'm trying to keep the rules "lean." Also I thought it would be a neat way to use direct command from brigadiers and CinC being much more effective. Hence the AOE buffs mentioned above.
Easy E wrote:Thanks for sharing.
Shooting:
Straight forward enough. Where do you measure range and
LOS from? Any point on any base to any point on the base? The flag bearing base only?
True
LOS from base to base per unit? Would it not be easier to simply give a cover mod if any of the target was obscured?
By the way, 45 degree angles by base as well? Not just tot he front 180 of the unit?
I like shoot and Save mechanics. It gives your opponent somethign to do.
I intended
LOS to work as follows: If any of the unit is partially obscured to ANY of the shooter's bases by terrain or within area terrain, the target should receive a cover save. If the target is similarly blocked by a friendly unit, half as many dice are rolled AND cover is awarded. I will look at the wording. It was a little confusing in Black Powder, I thought this was simpler. Open to alternatives. In retrospect, I see what you mean about
LOS from unit or base by base. I had planned on per unit. I hadn't considered a target being PARTIALLY out of
LOS. Not sure how should I should handle that. Maybe also a simple "half the number of dice rolled" again. this could mean that a target unit, outside of front arc AND partially obscured by a friendly unit would only be shot at with 1/4th the amount of dice 6 goes to 3 goes to 2 dice. And the target gets cover. Thoughts?
Easy E wrote:Thanks for sharing.
Charging:
1.) Perhaps a failed charge could lead to some Morale "hits" as well? Just a random thought as post charge the unit is disrupted.
2.) What happens if the bases do not line up nicely? Is there a group up move? Do they align automatically?
Terrain:
3.) Perhaps simplify it further. I think Lion /Dragon Rampant/Men Who Would Be Kings/Pikeman's Lament all do a great job at this. It simplifies gameplay a lot and avoids a lot of If This/Then That type of rules.
Overall:
A pretty solid start for some fun over toy soldiers. Just a few things to clarify or simplify.
1.) A failed charge will likely be devastating to the charging unit anyway. If they are caught in the open, at short range, in attack formation, or line formation that opens them to enfilading fire or at least fire in an open field (a la The Charge of the Light Brigade). In fact, I think I should also allow adjacent commanders to buff a unit to guarantee a known charge distance. What do you think of that?
2.) If bases do not line up, the attacker loses attack dice. I felt this needed some clarification anyway so I should edit that too. Here's what I was trying to convey by example. Imagine a line charging another line. Lets say the target has already been ordered to advance to its current position. These lines are oblique to each other. lets say that the charger's bases are represented by a "back slash" and the target is the "pipe." They approach each other as follows:
Charger------------------> Target
\----------------------------->|
-\---------------------------->|
--\--------------------------->|
---\-------------------------->|
----\------------------------->|
-----\------------------------>|
Lets say the charger doesn't roll high enough to make full contact and ends up as follows.
---------------------------\--|
----------------------------\-|
-----------------------------||
-----------------------------||
-----------------------------||
-----------------------------||
In this case, the charger only gets to make 4 dice rolls as only 4 bases are b2b. Where as if they had rolled higher, they could roll 6. Now, there is also a possibility of an oblique or flank charge that I detailed in the rules. An oblique would be a similar situation. Each base cannot move higher than the roll. If you want to attack with more dice, you'll have to give it a charge order on the following turn to completely align. Also, I intentionally have the flank charge / rear not as good as rear charge.
Easy thank you for looking. I will make edits to the above post later today and add date/version.