I played another game of modified Morschauser's Shock Period Rules last night - testing a few tweaks made since the last game.
Human Heavy Infantry clashes with Marine Iguanas (Move 9", Front Melee 4, Rear Melee 2, SP 6, unarmored) |
They worked well and gave an exciting game with unexpected highs and lows for both sides, and a lot of narrative flavor.
Here is a link to the document for those interested: Modifications for Morschasuer’s Shock Period Rules for Fantasy
The modifications are intended to result in satisfying games of an hour or less, with 6 units per side, clearly in the One Hour Wargames way, and I have not tried them with more or fewer units.
Pteranodons were statted with the monster table - a mix of picking and rolling: Move 12", Melee Front 4, Rear 2, SP 8, 2d6 when attacking, and tagged with armored and flyer. |
They require a copy of Morschauser's How to Play War Games in Miniature, original or the John Curry reprint as I have, to fill in the blanks.
It's inexpensive to get the e-book version and it is by far my favorite of the wargaming classics, only just behind Little Wars, and I highly recommend it.
Human hero captures the hill but the lizards would reclaim it. It would change hands several times. |
I feel that 10 turns has worked well in my games with these rules using One Hour Wargames scenarios, however, if you want to play 15 turns per OHW, by all means.
This plucky unit of Geckos (bog standard Skirmishers in my modifications) held off the enemy General's unit repeatedly. |
Going forward, I think, if the result is not obvious after turn 10, I may roll 1d6 and subtract 1 from the score. The result will be how many turns remain (so, on a 1, the game is over).
In the end, the humans claimed the hill, but the lizards were in clear control of the cross-roads. A tie! |
The game pictured above was surprisingly well-balanced, probably by accident.
What I find most surprising about Morschauser's approach, is that even without +/- to die rolls, only different unit stats, the different unit types feel different, and benefit from being used in ways that, to my mind, make sense.
Now, admittedly, skirmishers holding the hill was not the best choice, but deployment was determined by die roll.
That they held their own was a delightful surprise, and exactly what I want from the rules.
No comments:
Post a Comment