My little Fantasy-skirmish-wargame

[bal3000]

Hey all,

I just sent Keeten a set of fantasy skirmish wargame rules I call SKULL CRUSHER. Check it out when it gets put up.

It's FOUR pages long, has TWO evil armies catered for and is about as far removed from GW as a wargame can be without being ludo. If you're quick about it you could probably play about TWO or THREE games in a lunch break.

all feedback and abuse welcome.

[Rob Lang]

FOUR pages? I am not sure I will have the time.

[Max W]

I've looked through it, and think that the Un-dead would definitely be my choice of race if I were to play this. Here's why:

Zombies (with one handed weapons) cost 2 points, and have a defense modifier of +2.
Shields cost 1 point and give a +1 defensive bonus.
Heavy Armor costs 2 and gives a +2 to defense.

Zombies with shields, heavy armor, and their complementary one-handed weapons cost 5 points and have a +5 defensive bonus.

That means that it is impossible for a non-orc who is not armed with a bow or two handed weapon to kill an Armor Zombie.

The chance of an orc without a bow or two handed weapon (or a non-orc with a short or long bow or 2 handed weapon) killing an Armor Zombie is one out of thirty-six. Here's proof:

Y=Armor Zombie Remains Intact (it's already dead, so I can't say "lives")
N=Armor Zombie is Destroyed
X 6 7 8 9 10 11 Armor Zombie's Roll
2 Y Y Y Y...Y...Y
3 Y Y Y Y...Y...Y
4 Y Y Y Y...Y...Y
5 Y Y Y Y...Y...Y
6 Y Y Y Y...Y...Y
7 N Y Y Y...Y...Y
^Opponent's Roll

Similarly, someone with a crossbow or an orc with a two handed weapon (or bow) has a 3 out of 36 chance of killing an Armor Zombie.

Only an orc with a crossbow has a decent chance of killing an Armor Zombie: 6 out of 36.

And all that for 5 points! Considering that most enemy missile troops will be elves ( who cost 5 points without a missile weapon), that's pretty cheap.

Also, an army fielding a force of Armor Zombies may want to consider using goblins with long bows and light armor as counter-missile troops and orcs armed with two handed weapons and heavy armor as a sort of strike force for decapitation attacks.

Of course, the Counter-Missile Goblins would cost 8 points each, and the Strike Force Orcs would cost 7 points, so they should be used judiciously. Cause, you know, you can't just throw around 8 point units. They're expensive.

I really wouldn't use humans for anything but as leaders though. But I would use them as leaders. Human Pride!

And if you wanted to exploit the rules to make an unstoppable unit I guess you could spend 11 points on an orc with a crossbow and heavy armor, but that'd be sort of unfair.

[bal3000]

Hey Max.

That's a lot of thought you've put into my little game. Thank you.

I envisioned players just taking a bunch of minis out of a box, giving them points values based on what they have on them, dividing them into 2 or more equal value groups and going for it....and very few fantasy mini zombies I've seen wear armour.

I thought it would be balanced because zombies are slow and if the leader takes actions in the battle it reduces his command of his troops. I imagined an Un-dead army to be a sluggish , tough horde that has to swamp it's opponents one by one in order to win.

I suggest a house rule here if you're going to arm and armour the troops on paper regardless of how they look or what they're carrying. Simply assume that Un-dead just don't wear armour and that it doesn't add to a zombie / skeleton's Defensive Bonus.

Lemme know how actual play goes down.

Oh and yes....I'm prejudiced against non-humans too!

[Max W]

Actually, about armor wearing zombie miniatures: half of the miniatures I have are wearing platemail, carrying shields, and have gray skin. They came pre-painted.

But I think I will probably implement that house rule, and just assume that awful combat reflexes negate any real benefit that armor would give to the living dead. Or maybe the armor is made of tin foil or something.

[Age of Fable]

Or the armour is what they were buried in, and so is weakened by age.

OR - maybe when zombies come across a dead non-zombie character, they have to stay there eating it for a certain period of time.