Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I'd asked before about ideas for homebrewing warcry.

And I have some thoughts.

Background: Don't get me wrong - warcry is a great little game, and definitely a new favourite of mine but I cannot help the urge to tinker and make the game a bit less, I dunno - static and a Little bit more, dynamic? plus... lockdown and I need to get my Gaming fix in somehow!

I mean, I like models to interact, and 'fight it out', rather than take turn walloping each other over the head and to have a non-interactive 'defence' number when the other guy is attacking. To me, gw's old lotr:sbg is a perfect example of models 'fighting it out' in the fight phase (with a roll off), whereas privateer press WMH is a good example of the latter. You stand there in their turn, and you cannot fight back. You just take it. You're ability to dodge, weave, fight, block etc is represented by a non-dynamic stat. Not that either is necessarily wrong, mind. I just did t realise how much I enjoyed the ability to attack and defend and interact until I played lotr again, and now I find it hard to go back, and truth is, as much as I enjoy warcry, I was always looking for that little something to add, even if Iit makes it a bit more complex (but not too much - it's simplicity is the biggest draw).

elsewhere, I came across some chat relating to the game Bushido. I did some looking. the game looked extremely complex. Like WMH+1 or infinity squared kind of complex. It's a bIt too much...That said, there are some absolute gems of ideas in there that I thought gave me what I wanted. Well, combined with some ideas from shadespire too!

Now, a disclaimer. we have a casual group. We don't really powergame or play 'list-building-for-advantage'. We more or less play out of the box warbands (well, maybe with some more 'warrior' types and less 'specialists') but generally, the box warbands would be what we would chuck at each other. I am not sure how well my tinkering will stand up to 'list-building-for-advantage' but for us, it's not really a concern. Our games are also more 'meet in the middle and kill the other guy'. I'm more interested in your thoughts on the mechanics.

Assume in most ways that warcry as portrayed in the box stays as it is. My changes are a and follows:

Double/triple/quads: just stick with the 'universal' ones, plus doubles for 'special attacks' like shield bash, thrown weapons or drags. My group is less interested in every warband having its own unique list of special moves, so this is just to cut out what they're not interested in, not that there's actually a problem with it.

So, everyone gets two action-tokens in a turn. The game is aa - I declare an action, you declare an action. Some actions cost 1point, some cost 2.
When a model no longer has tokens, it gets an exhaustion token. (Catching their breath for a moment)

1-point actions:

Attack. As per. However, if unengaged, you can move before your attack equal to your move stat. (This replaces separate move and attack actions)
Disengage. As per.
Scenario interaction: grab the loot etc.

2-point actions:

Charge. Move up to twice your move stat in a straight line, make your attacks, get a charge bonus ( barge bonus equals +1 to your dice roll. Crits are 5s or 6s, hits are one up what they would normally be)
Double time. Move at twice your move stat+2".

Combat interactions are straight from bushido (with a little from shadespire).
If my guy attacks yours, via a charge or an attack, you have to fight back (and spend and action to do so).
Secretly split your dice between attack dice and defend dice.
Attack dice is resolved as str versus toughness, as per. Crits and hits as per.
Defend dice is resolved as str versus str (think of it as targeting the attack, rather than targeting the model defending...). A defence crit cancels an attacking crit, or hit. A defend hit cancels an attacking hit. (A little like shadespire here)
Any 1s rolled count as fumbles and the other guy gets to make a bonus attack.

If you attack an exhausted model, they must spend the exhaustion token to fight back. They generate their attack dice as their card says, however the attacker also generates an equal amount of dice, up to their attack stat.

(Eg, 4attack warrior attacks an exhausted clone of himself. Defender spends the exhaustion token, generates 4 attacks, but the attacker also gets a bonus of 4 attacks for a total of 8. If the attacker had 3 attacks instead of 4 and the defender was 4, the attacker would only get a bonus of 3 as that's as high as his stat goes.

Like I said, casual games, and a bit of fun. What do ye think?