Skirmish Rules Testing: Summary

Having got the end of of my mammoth skirmish rules test I thought it would be useful to do a summary and index piece so that people can get a quick heads up on my view of them all (and this is of course all just my view based on what I want from a game, your mileage my vary).  I've also pulled together what a Frankenstein set might be like - pulling together the best bits from each - and finally on my thoughts on my own set. I've also added Skirmish Sangin and 7TV into the mix, which whilst not in this mega-test I have also played in the recent past.

Reviews Summary

Danger Close 9/10

• Pros: Really good set, all on one sheet A4. Covers most the bases.
• Cons: Activation not ideal

Snapshot 1/10

• Cons: Too lethal, no cover or spot

Azhanti High Lightning 5/10 -> 7/10

• Pros: Surprisingly good for age. Good morale.
• Cons: Dreadful activation. No spotting.

Chain Reaction/Nuts/FNG 6/10

• Pros: Good NPC AI once spotted. Nice campiagn/pre-game/scenarios.
• Cons: Unclear. Odd inverse activation.

Black Ops 6/10

• Pros: Nice guard AI.
• Cons: Noise disappointing. Surprisingly pedestrian for a "big name" release (or because of?)

FiveCore 5.5/10

• Pros: Nice patrol mode and campaign rules. Use of Kill and Suppress dice nice.
• Cons: Rules all over the place. Keep changing dice. Hard to kill. V few DMs.

Albedo ACP164  8/10

• Pros: Well balanced, card system very neat, usable and quick. Nice morale and movt.
• Cons: No spotting (in advanced). No suppression/aimed shots yet. Too many out-of-ammo.

Paragon 4/10

• Pros: Body part effect.
• Cons: Very basic DMs, simultaneous movement. Minimal morale. Hard to hit. No suppression/spot.

FUBAR 6/10

• Pros: Short
• Cons: Ranges too short. No UGL difference. Hard to activate or kill. Few DMs. Poor suppression.

Gruntz 5/10

• Pros: Unit cards nice
• Cons: Very short ranges, very few DMs, lots of stats. Change both ends of die roll. Rapid kills.

Victory Decision: Raid 6/10

• Pros: Nice actions options.
• Cons: Ranges only just OK. Very bloody. Odd wound recovery and not cumulative. No suppression. No morale. Opposed per figure activation.

Fireteam: Modern 7/10

• Pros: Nice activation and action model. Has spotting and reasonable stress. Some suppression.
• Cons: Few DMs. Very bloody. Poor indirect fire.

Skirmish Sangin 7/10

• Pros: Poses and pose chits. Unconscious & mission change mechanic. OK basic mechanics.
• Cons: Very complex per action activation. No suppression. Poorly laid out.

7TV 3/10

• Cons: Star/cast model/countdown doesn't work so well in simulations. IGOUGO. Defend then attack roles. Blurred ranged/melee system. No spot/suppress/IDF. Not really designed for this.

So if forced to choose I'd probably be happy to play both Danger Close and ACP164 as is, with a marginal preference for Danger Close detail wise, but I'd miss the ACP card  approach!

Frankenstein Rules

So given what I think needs to be in a set of skirmish rules which would I choose for each bit?

• Activation: Fireteam:Modern with user choice but random Red/Blue and opportunity to trump
• Actions: Fireteam:Modern or Victory Decision: Raid
• Movement: ACP164 randomness. Skirmish Sangin poses.
• Spotting: Danger Close, good above/below
• Aimed Fire: Danger Close or ACP164
• Suppressive Fire: None really did it right!
• Indirect Fire: Danger Close or ACP164
• Morale: AHL or ACP164
• Wounding: ACP164 or Paragon
• NPC AI: Bits of FiveCore/Chain Reaction/Black Ops
• Scenario/Campaign Builder:  FiveCore/Chain Reaction

Thoughts for My Rules

And what I'm probably looking for in my rules:

• Core Mechanic:  Probably D20, so effectively 5% changes. But do like the card model (suppose could generate afterwards). Also toying with FATE dice.
• Activation: Need to be able to choose who to activate, so can do proper fire & manoeuvre, but with some friction, Fireteam:Modern really is pretty close.
• Actions: A good range, at least 6, maybe even 12 so you feel like you have choices to make, perhaps with different ones for interior and exterior (maybe even 1s and 5s "bounds" as the two engagement types have different feels to them).
• Movement: Some element of randomness, even if just +/- 1 or 2 units. Also differentiate between "patrol" (actually a quite slow walk), "jog" (fast, but not out of breath) and "run" (very fast and out of breath)
• Spotting: Full DM set, including cover and up/down storey, and movement and size
• Aimed Fire: Long ranges, but rapid fall off of DMs. Can spend actions to aim better. Out of ammo (not quite as frequent as ACP164) and also gun jam. Might do to hit target area, then body part locations THEN base save role on both cover for that location and any armour. Extra detail would be worth it I think.
• Suppressive Fire: Add up weight of fire, spread across target frontage, reduced change to kill but higher chance of suppression. Little you can do if suppressed except keep head down or fall back, or very unaimed fire. WRG mech rules had it pretty good.
• Indirect Fire: Roll for on target/offset/direction - must always go "bang" somewhere! Less side ways deviation if line-of-sight (eg UGL)
• Morale: Some form of stress for person, and then unit morale based on casualties. Mission change for "western" forces. Maybe even some sort of "TV" rating as I think was planned for Fighting Season. Would like to include the Flight/Fuss/Fight model from Brains and Bullets book.
• Wounding: Body location and minor/serious/dead.
• NPC AI: Guard, fighting patrol, ambush and encounter modes? Keep to cover.
• Scenario/Campaign Builder: Steal ideas from FiveCore/Chain Reaction, but not a key focus!

Oh well, time to start play-testing!