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Terrible, Fond Wars Game Mechanics Experiment: Combat Skills

Steven TrustrumMinis Playtesting, Savage Worlds, Terrible Fond Wars, Wargaming Leave a Comment

The varied combat skills of a catapult, ghouls, rat swarm, and necromancer 6mm miniatures

Ghouls (left), a necromancer (center back), a MBT rat swarm (center front), and a goblin catapult (right)

Welcome to the very first game mechanics experiment for the upcoming mass combat game from Misfit StudiosTerrible, Fond Wars. The game gets its name from Robert E. Lee’s famous quote, “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.” It will draw on its Savage Worlds role-playing game roots to create an extensive, adaptable 6mm mass combat system.

(By the way, join our new Terrible, Fond Wars Facebook community for game development updates and the like.)

Why 6mm?

Because Savage Worlds already has Showdown for individual 25mm or 28mm miniatures combat. I want something new that fits massive battles and big stakes on the table while retaining a sense of familiarity. This means Terrible, Fond Wars must be true to its RPG roots while accommodating a mass combat scale. This standard includes how fast and easy the rules must be despite any changes for mass combat wargaming.

Where to Start?

Terrible, Fond Wars is a mass combat game, so it makes sense to start by talking about combat skills. Although I’m sure the existing Savage Worlds combat mechanics could be adapted as-are for mass combat, I want to first experiment with wargame-aligned alternatives.

Mass combat wargaming design philosophy often means resolving as much combat as possible with as few dice rolls as necessary. To that end, attacks and damage are usually handled in a single roll and are similarly answered in a single roll to resist. This is not how Savage Worlds plays as a role-playing game, though. Similarly, keeping things as simple as possible typically means using only one die type for most (if not all) resolutions. Again, this is not the Savage Worlds way.

The challenge, then, is deriving a combat skills mechanic for Terrible, Fond Wars from the existing Savage Worlds mechanics. This must be done in a consistent fashion that doesn’t sacrifice balance. In other words, the importance and respective impact of attack and damage rolls, Toughness, and Parry in the RPG can’t be lost in favor of streamlining combat for a wargame.

Let’s have a look at what I’m currently experimenting with for combat skills. This is done with the caveat that everything is still in testing as I experiment to find a system that works. So, nothing is even remotely final yet. (To be honest, I may find nothing works and stick to the role-playing game’s combat rolls.) Let’s see how things turn out.

Streamlining Combat Skills: Attack and Defense

(By the way, “Attack” and “Defense” are both working names at this point. I may settle on something else if I opt for this new combat skills method.)

Wargames tend to use d6s and nothing else. So, I thought a method of streamlining game mechanics that also uses d6s would be a good fit. To this end, I created a table that takes the most damage a creature can inflict with a given attack and compares it to the related skill rolled to attack. The result is a dice pool that would be rolled whenever that attack is used. A separate dice pool would be calculated for each attack the troop is capable of.

Calculating the Attack skill

At its heart, the Attack skill calculation is simple and can be made for any genre or Savage Worlds creature. Attacks can also be unusual (e.g., area) and/or have modifiers (e.g., AP.) I’ve not yet figured out how all of these modifiers will be worked into a mass combat system, but that’s why I’m experimenting with these combat skills. Can all the role-playing game’s combat elements find a place in this new game mechanic, or is it not going to work?

The experimental Attack skill is calculated by comparing to factors to a table to determine a dice pool. On the left is the attack’s relevant skill (e.g., arcane skill, Athletics, Fighting, Shooting.) Along the top is the maximum damage the attack can inflict. Cross-referencing the two indicates the attack’s dice pool

Some rare attacks in the role-playing game don’t normally require an attack roll. In such instances, use the attack’s maximum damage in place of the usual combat skills (e.g., Fighting) to calculate the Attack skill. For example, a swarm’s bite/sting automatically inflicts 2d4 damage on everything in its Blast Template. No combat skills are used to attack. So, the equivalent of 2d4 damage under the Skill column is a d8. This produces a d6 Attack skill.

Skill Maximum Damage
<4 4 or 5 6 or 7 8 or 9 10 or 11 12 13 to 16 17 to 20 21 to 24 25 to +28 29 to 32 *
None/Unskilled NA d6–2 d6–2 d6–1 d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6
d4 d6–2 d6–2 d6–1 d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6
d6 d6–2 d6–1 d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6
d8 d6–1 d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6
d10 d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6
d12 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6
d12+1 to +4 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6
d12+5 to +8 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6 7d6
d12+9 to +12 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6 7d6 7d6
d12+13 to +16 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6 7d6 7d6 8d6
d12+17 to +20 * 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6 7d6 7d6 8d6 8d6 *

* Pattern continues if required

NA: Not Applicable. The unit is incapable of mounting an effective attack of the respective type.

Calculating the Defense skill

The Defense skill’s dice pool is calculated in much the same way as that of the Attack skill but using Toughness and Parry. Again, I’m still experimenting, so not all factors (e.g., armor) have yet to be fully worked out. Should armor just be ignored beyond how it attributes to the creature’s overall Toughness, for example? If so, where does this leave AP? These considerations will have to be worked out if I feel the basic combat skills experiment is worth pursuing further.

Parry

Toughness

<4

4 or 5 6 or 7 8 or 9 10 or 11 12 13 to 16 17 to 20 21 to 24 25 to +28

29 to 32 *

<1

NA

d6–2 d6–2 d6–1 d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6

3d6

1

d6–2

d6–2 d6–1 d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6

4d6

2

d6–2

d6–1 d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6

4d6

3

d6–1

d6–1 d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6

5d6

4

d6–1

d6 d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6

5d6

5

d6

d6 2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6

6d6

6

d6

2d6 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6

6d6

7

2d6

2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6

7d6

8

2d6

3d6 3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6 7d6

7d6

9

3d6

3d6 4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6 7d6 7d6

8d6

10 *

3d6

4d6 4d6 5d6 5d6 6d6 6d6 7d6 7d6 8d6

8d6 *

* Pattern continues if required

NA: Not Applicable. The unit is incapable of mounting an effective defense.

How to determine damage

Now that I’ve shown you how Attack and Defense skills are calculated in my experiment, you’re probably wondering about damage. Let’s begin to address this by defining how our dice pools work.

As with the Savage Worlds role-playing game, every die in a dice pool that rolls a 4 or higher is successful. Also, each die can both Ace and result in a raise. Every raise is counted as an additional success. In my experiment, the Attack skill roll goes first. The attacker tabulates all successes after Aces and raises are accounted for. Next comes the target’s Defense skill roll. Successes are similarly tabulated following any Aces and raises.

Every Defense skill success cancels out an Attack skill success. Every remaining Attack skill success (if any) is used to determine the degree of harm inflicted.

Sample Unit Combat Skills

Let’s look at some examples of calculating combat skills using the miniatures in the accompanying photo.

  • Ghouls: A ghoul has Fighting d12 and causes Str+d4 (d8+d4; maximum 12) damage with its bite and claws, resulting in Attack 3d6. Its Parry 5 combined with Toughness 8 produces Defense 2d6. (Ghoul figures by Microworld Games.)
  • MBT Rat Swarm: A swarm of rats bites for 2d4 damage (maximum 8) without requiring a Fighting roll. As previously explained, this means it is treated the same as the damage 2d4 (Fighting d8), producing Attack d6. The swarm’s Parry 4 and Toughness 7 results in Defense d6. (Rat swarm by Citadel/Games Workshop.)
  • Catapult with goblin crew: The catapult’s damage is 3d6 (maximum 18) and the goblin crew has Shooting d6. This produces Attack 3d6. As a siege engine, the catapult has Parry 0 and Toughness 10, producing Defence d6–1. (Goblin/hobgoblin catapult figures by Microworld Games.)
  • Necromancer: Let’s use the veteran mage from the Fantasy Companion as a foundation for building a necromancer. This unit is a bit more complex because it has multiple attack options and combat skills. In close quarters, this spellcaster is unskilled at Fighting and has Strength d4 (maximum 4) unarmed damage for Attack d6–2. Using bolt, the necromancer has Spellcasting d10 and has 2d6 (maximum 12) typical damage. The result is Attack 3d6. Parry is 4 and Toughness is 5, producing Defense d6. (Vampire necromancer by Forest Dragon, gravestone by Perfect Six.)

Combat Skills Takeaways

Now that I’ve explained my combat skills experiment let’s put the upsides and downsides on the table for consideration.

Upsides

First, let’s look at the benefits of pushing through with this experiment to create a dice pool game mechanic.

  • Streamlined. The dice pool system simplifies combat and should be faster. There are fewer factors to keep track of.
  • Successes are simple. Comparing the respective combat skills’ successes to determine damage remains relatively easy to do and understand.
  • Focusing on d6s means most wargamers already have what they need for combats.

Downsides

As with any new game mechanic experiment, there are also detriments and obstacles to consider.

  • Additional calculations. Some players may not like calculating all the successes generated by raises.
  • Converting creatures. Savage Worlds creatures and weapons cannot simply be ported into the mass combat rules. Time is needed to convert them.
  • Savage Worlds players have to learn a new game mechanic.

Combat skills experiment next steps

The next steps in my combat skills experiment are largely two-fold, as I see it.

Next step 1: There remain various factors that have to be considered when calculating combat skills. For example, how can AP (and consequently armor) be factored in without creating separate dice pools for AP and non-AP attacks? Also, how do Heavy Weapons and Heavy Armor fit in? If we start making separate, situational dice pools for each attack, the streamlining and simplifying goal is compromised.

Next step 2: Balance needs to be worked out between combat skills. As things currently stand, it seems to me that the Defense skill can quickly begin to outpace the Attack skill, creating unbalance in favor of the latter. I need to run some mock combats (and hopefully get some feedback from you, the reader) to see how this plays out and how to adjust accordingly if needed. Is this because Parry’s role in determining the Defense skill is far more significant than that of Fighting, Athletics, or Shooting in determining the Attack skill pool?

These and other considerations have to be pondered if my combat skills experiment is to prove fruitful. If I keep running into obstacles and problems, though, I’ll probably end up sticking with the same combat process as the role-playing game.

How you can help with feedback

Leave me your thoughts on this combat skills experiment. You can respond here or on whatever social media platform you found the link to this article. Better yet, try converting some of your favorite Savage Worlds creatures and characters. Give some dice pools a few test rolls to help me learn if combat outcome probabilities are skewed by this system. I want your help and participation to see if the role-playing game system works best or if my combat skills system shows promise.

Steven Trustrum has been writing in the RPG industry since the end of the '90s and publishing via Misfit Studios since 2003. Aside from writing and publishing role-playing game content, he ... dabbles ... in content and social media marketing.

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