Wargames

Posts that touch on the topic of conflict simulation

RT Pocket

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This thing isn’t mine, but it’s awesome

Back in 2021

In these dark times a glimmer of joy pieced my heart when a friend shared with me RT Pocket. Yes that RT, and it’s an amazing summary of the game. The most I did was upload to Lulu and futz with the cover a bit.

Get Yours

You grab your own copy at the link shared above, or if you’d like to order an at cost print copy you can find that here.

Littorally

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The USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93) represented in the game

Inspiration

Sometime in 2022 I stumbled across an interview with Sebastian Bae discussing his upcoming wargame Littoral Commander; a wargame set in a near future Indo-Pacifc. I was fascinated and promptly ordered a copy from the Dietz Foundation.

Shake Down Cruise

In 2023 I hosted my first game of Littoral Commander for 6 players at Pacificon, a local tabletop game convention I’ve been attending since the 80s.

All 7 of us had a very enjoyable 4 hour session, learning the game, experimenting with the mechanics, and many of us ready to play again. One interesting component of the game is the tracking of hits and resources associated with each unit / counter, which is done in the core game with cards and cubes. I found that particular aspect to be a bit cumbersome, while really appreciating the unique resources of each unit.

The outset of our first game

At the Ready

Rather than give up on the game for being “too fiddly” I was convinced that these details could be better managed on paper. It has taken me some time to return to the concept, but requests to play Littoral Commander have inspired me to action.

I have created a Google Sheet (linked here) here that can produce a paper roster for any given scenario and task force. Hits and resources for any given unit can be tracked using a simple checklist model.

Sample roster from the Luzon Pass scenario

Tomorrow’s Matrix War

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Peter Andrew Jones – Today We Choose Faces
w/ Prisma filter, originally seen here

I’ve been fascinated with the Tomrrow’s War rule set, difficult but fascinating. My summary of those core rules here.

Equally fascinating is the the Matrix Game concept, info here.

Being holed up for the past two’ish years I’ve turned my attention back to miniature wargaming, but friends are distant and my days are often full. I said to myself “self, you ought to setup a remote game”. “Good idea self, let’s try making that a Matrix game too”.

Recruited a few friends to help me with my madman’s plan. Linked below is an evolving collection of our comms, where everything done via bcc’d e-mail – forcing a fog of war amongst the players.

We made good progress with the scenario and background setup in our first week. Then high summer hit, two graduations and a wedding yet to come. We should get back to this game in a few more week, setting up a table with some miniatures and dedicated player photos.

Progressive notes for our game linked here.

For the King!

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…and parliament I suppose, for those of you with a more puritanical bent.

Original work by Will Nickless
Worcester Royalist Charge – English Civil War – 1976

There is a very fine To The Strongest variant for the ECW, titled For King & Parliament, which our club has had on the table these past few months. We are working our way through a nicely organized collection of scenarios for the period as well, the Siege of Norchester.

Part of my learning method is simplification, here is my first K&P effort.

I’ll continue to refine this quick reference if the inspiration strikes. Please let me know if your have questions about these rules or my interpenetration. We’ve been playing a good deal and expect we will continue to do so.

Streamlined To The Strongest +Battlefield Generator

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Information spread across multiple sources, locations, or systems is difficult to access. This is a maximum of my professional world and applies equally to my hobby world, especially with complex or evolving rulesets.

To the Strongest is one such use case where periodic updates via the Even Stronger compilation add or clarify rules from the core book. I have taken on a small project to summarize the core rules, simplifying where I can, and adding the ES amendments.

That streamlined TTS effort is now available here.

I’ve posted previously on the topic of To the Strongest here, which includes:

  • A reformatted quick reference sheet,
  • Video tutorial on playing the game with Table Top Simulator, AND
  • A video of a demonstration game

Have also updated my QRS, dropping the troop specific melee and shooting modifiers from the reference sheet in favor of including those details in the STTS unit summary. I feel that such modifiers should be included in an army list not the core reference.

April 9 Update

The Streamlined To The Strongest summary has been updated with the latest Even Stronger v12 update.

Links:
– STTS summary keeps its original link
– Updated QRS available here, and original post links also update
– Army list template that might be helpful available here

April 18 Update

Have just finished another random generator tool, this time for TTS battlefields. That tool available here, sample output follows:

July 13 Update

Here’s my first attempt with the random battlefield generator, working as designed.

I’ve had a thought about roads, which should always be an easy activation if following the track.

This house rule provides a further improvement to the use of a road even while in open ground.

Nov 10 Update

Have updated the battlefield generator with some logic that reflects card draws and added some graphics for final map layout. All links remain the same.