I suspect its a byproduct of having played too much WRG Ancients at too young an age. At least I'm not rolling average dice and consulting charts but I have been making rules decisions that limit extreme results and encourage average ones. No wonder the games have been more average and less exciting than those I imagined. It was me! Its been a frequent seesaw battle for years, usually taking place in my subconscious where it is fairly safe but its out now and I've gone back and tweaked my 54mm rules to increase the possible range of combat and rallying results.
It needs testing though, a little game perhaps. Just the thing for a quiet Sunday.
Were WRG Ancients notorious for this, limiting the fluctuations in combat results?
ReplyDeleteIn the early days. You crossed referenced a factor, applied modifiers then applied the difference between 2 dice both average dice for regulars so very little spread,(high morale troops could not score worse than -1 on the die roll) the result crossed referenced on a chart gave how many 1/20ths of a figure you had killed.
DeleteThe morale charts used 3 dice crossed referenced with a chart. Again average dice for regulars. Not total predictability but very narrow limits in most cases.
I look forward to seeing your little game and hope it works well for you.
ReplyDeleteGame postponed by an unusually warm sunny day. Too good to waste inside!
DeleteI’ll be daydreaming of your game as I cleanup the garage on Sunday. Looking forward to the report.
ReplyDeleteNo pressure then :)
DeleteI's think that, especially if you're playing solo, randomness becomes even more important. It would be one of the major tools by which you could surprise yourself in-game.
ReplyDeleteDepends on one's tastes and preferences. A little uncertainty is good, especially in combat but I don't enjoy the sort of the wargame which makes takes away too much of a player's command decision power but that's a long discussion.
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ReplyDeleteWRG 6th edition ancients are still played at my gaming club (not by me I would add)!
DeleteWe played 'A Gentleman's War' last week - plenty of randomness there!
I did play some 6th but I cut my teeth on 3rd ed and played often up to the 5th.
DeleteYes AGW has plenty of randomness and makes a good game against an opponent and could do so for some styles of solo game but not quite what I am looking for here. Its also not the only thing that I am missing so the revised set will once again have a bit more of the spirit of Featherstone or Lawford and Young about it.
Testing ... testing ... testing
ReplyDeletethen test some more