Idle Thoughts 2

These are untried, untested ideas, mostly"borrowed" from or "inspired" by various rules sets.

Possible turn sequence:


1. Roll for Action Points (AP)
2. Act (Fire, Move)
3. Conduct Hand to Hand Combat


Action Points: The active side rolls 2D6. The result is the number of AP that side has to work with. If the result is doubles also draw a random event (card, chart, or other mechanism). AP are spent to move or fire (or other possible actions). Hand to hand combat is separate and costs no AP. Disciplined troops, like British Colonial armies, can use up to 2 AP per unit. So a unit could move and fire, fire twice, move twice, and in any order, so they could fire and then move or move and then fire. Undisciplined troops, like natives, can only use 1 AP per unit. The player decides which units act when and how.

Each unit spends 1 AP to move or fire, where a unit is defined as 1 individual, 1 stand or group of figures or 1 stand and attached individuals, acting together, doing the same actions.


Some of my thinking behind this: It's simple, with 1 die roll per turn. It gives the player control over which units act if not all are able to. It gives disciplined troops an advantage over undisciplined ones, which, to my thinking, is important in Colonial games and some fantasy games. It gives me freedom and flexibility to add to it later without changing the basics. For example, I could add other types of actions such as demolition of a bridge, breaching a wall or barricade, and other engineer/sapper tasks. I could add some actions that take more than 1 AP to complete (in a single turn or over multiple turns). Or I could have modifiers to the die roll, for example, a very good commander might add 1 to the roll. I'm sure there are downsides to this idea as well. Of course, this is not a new or original idea either.

Idle Thoughts

Lately I seem to have little time or little energy for much gaming or painting, so my mind turns to thoughts of gaming in brief idle moments. Thinking about what kind of gaming I want to do, where my inspiration comes from, and where my interests and hobby "habits" take me.

As far as inspiration goes, mine is more of the cinematic and literary sort. I do enjoy reading about history from time to time. But what really gets me interested in games is the story. Larger than life characters, exotic locations, compelling stories, pure entertainment. Especially in the manner of old Hollywood movies from the 30's and 40's, Beau Geste, Gunga Din, Lives of a Bengal Lancer, various westerns and adventure movies. Usually there are a few named major players and the often numerous unnamed extras and minions and masses. With room for sequels and/or serials.

As far as the kind of gaming and my hobby "habits" go (my disinterest in painting large numbers of similar or identical figures, my often slow painting output, my inclination to collect and paint all sorts of miniatures for diverse eras and genres that catch my eye, to name a few), simple rules with simple mechanisms, simple turn sequences, no bookkeeping, no tabletop clutter, small footprint, and a small numbers of figures are all key.

I want to play games where I can use a small number of figures (and possibly stands) to fight something that feels more like a battle than a skirmish. I want to have larger than life main characters and also groups or units of "extras", where the units of "extras" could be as few as one figure or maybe as many as 6 or 8 (or maybe even 10 or so for a horde of natives or goblins, for example). I want to be able to include monsters, dinosaurs and other beasts, vehicles, as well as musicians (especially pipers for my Highlanders), sergeants, standard-bearers, scouts, medical persons, and even recurring villains. And I want to keep it simple! (ha ha) I want to be able to play solo without tacked on or clunky mechanisms to get around rules designed for non-solo play. That means things like hidden movement, card hand management and other "secret" information and planning should be avoided. I also want there to be enough randomness and spontaneity and tension to make an interesting engaging story for me while I play, but I also want to have some control and input. I want to play the game, not have the game play itself.

I have played various games and rules over the decades, and have had a look at numerous others, but have yet to find any rules that match all of my criteria. (rules I have tried that have come closest to fitting the bill include, but are not limited to, TSATF (I am aware of the small unit variations of these and other rules), some of the THW rules, GASLIGHT, Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame, the "Song of" rules, HOTT, Pith Helmet). There are quite a few things I like about all of those, but none of them "tick all the boxes". So that takes my mental wanderings into the realm of writing my own rules. I am by no means a Bob Cordery or Ross Mac and have no pretensions to think I can write something original or that anyone else would find useful, but maybe I can play with ideas that appeal to me. As I have written before I often play "fast and loose" with rules (or with "not so much rules as more guidelines") so who knows where this will take me.

Now, some of the thoughts I have had include the following:
1. Roll for initiative once, before the first turn. Alternatively, a scenario might give one side the initiative, for example, if one side ambushes the other. Then it's "you-go-I-go" after that. First step in a side's turn is to roll for "action points". Action points are used to perform actions, which include moving and firing, in any order. This way who is doing what when will go back and forth. (this is just an intro to the whole concept)
2. Movement and ranges for any ranged combat use sticks divided into 3 distances, short, medium and long (borrowed from the "Song of" rules). Units can only move in a straight line on any one "stick", but maneuverable units might get multiple "sticks". For example, a light infantry unit might get  2 short "sticks" vs. a line unit getting 1 long "stick".
3. Still trying to work out how combat and firing should work. I'm torn between using stands for units (fewer "pieces" to move around) vs. individual figures (more flexibility), or possibly a combination (maybe stands for units and single figures for individuals, getting back to the cinematic idea of named players and extras). Of course I could play with my magnetic bases until I get the basing sorted out. I want to be able to have small units of Brits and their allies stand up to "hordes" of natives, for example. I also want to do something similar with my fantasy armies of dwarves and orcs and goblins and elves, and others.

I will likely be posting more "idle thoughts" as I ponder some more, and will try to entitle all such posts as such for ease of skipping over for anyone who is not interested. If anyone is still here, my thanks to you! I would be interested in any thoughts you might have to share.

Warrior Women and Woolly Wildlife

Expeditions into the wilds of Afrodesia might encounter the fierce and striking warrior women, possible source of tales of Amazons.

Rumors of strange beasts abound in Afrodesia. One rumor speaks of large rhinos with long horns and reddish woolly fur. Surely not in the jungles. These beasts, if they do exist, are most likely found at higher elevations with cooler climates.

More from the Rajah of Djalhi

These are Foundry figures. The two servants of the Rajah in the blue turbans came with the elephant previously posted. The sepoy is Mungo Gin, formerly regimental bhisti and a first-class fighting man (now I just need to find the rest of the sepoys, and maybe some sergeants three! ha ha.)

Of Mountains and Pachyderms

I managed to finish up some things that have been sitting on my painting desk for weeks. First is another profile mountain. This was intended as a mountain gateway for my dwarves, but after completing it I decided I should've left the middle mountain without a hole so I could use the piece as is as plain mountains, and could also add a freestanding piece as a closed door or an open one. I don't really need the actual hole.

Standing in front of the mountain is Ellie the elephant.

And finally, from Bossanova, the Poltroons. These are light cavalry, commanded by Captain Scramski.

You know the drill, click to make pictures bigger.

All Quiet. Yeah, Too Quiet.

My apologies for the lack of posts (over 2 months!). I've been busy with so-called "real life", work, travel, etc. Nothing bad and much of it good, but it often leaves me too exhausted to do much with gaming-related hobby stuff the times I'm at home. Hopefully things will slack off a bit soon! Still, I have been making some slow progress on painting miniatures (but probably have too many different ones on the go) and some new terrain pieces. Hopefully I can get some things finished up before May has come and gone!
In the meantime, I'm still alive and kicking.
I recently watched a movie titled either Northwest Frontier or Flames Over India (seems like both titles were showing at different times in my netflix instant queue). It's a good movie and seems like a good source of inspiration for a NW Frontier/India game. The main stars include Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Herbert Lom, among others. The basic premise is an old run-down train is recruited to try to whisk away a small group of people from a besieged Indian town garrisoned by British forces.
I also watched a lesser B movie called Khyber Patrol (with Raymond Burr as an Afghan soldier, which was something to see. He was actually quite good. The movie itself was fine if you take it as it is.). This movie could also provide some inspiration for Colonial games.

Symbolic?

A megatherium or giant sloth, for "lost lands" types of games.