[Ivan Sorensen]

Right now? restocking my paints and brushes since they’re in pretty bad shape after last time we moved.

[Ivan Sorensen]

> Stephen

I apologize that you found No End in Sight unsatisfactory. Sometimes a game does not connect with someone. Has happened to me as well.
Other players and reviewers have had different experiences.

Unfortunately I don’t have my old emails any longer due to a problem with gmail and my own stupidity, so I cannot refer back to any prior discussions.
As an older title, (the second we ever did, in fact) there are aspects that aren’t worded as clearly as they could be, certainly.

* * *

As far as firing dice, as Jack alludes to, the entire point behind the Shock and Kill dice is to encapsulate everything into a single die roll.
In my view combat is either attrition based or state based.

Attrition based combat means we tally up hits (Command Decision, Blitzkrieg Commander) or remove guys (most games with individual figures. IABSM f.x.)
A unit may falter through a bolt-on morale check (25% casualties, whatever) or combat may be entirely attrition based (as we did with Hammer of Democracy) but fundamentally the counting and removing of guys or accumulation of damage is what drives the game system.

State based combat means we ignore these factors and instead look at the unit overall: Is it currently capable of fighting?
This is as old as the trusty old Squad Leader board game: Units are okay or they are Broken or they are dead.
The Fivecore dice just expand that to a few more cases (okay / pinned / broken / damaged / dead).

As John Hill said all those years ago, whether a squad is being hit by a machine gun burst, a grenade or a sniper doesn’t matter. The outcomes are the same: Either the squad as an entity is okay or it is not.

(mandatory disclaimer – I’m not opining that state based combat is superior though it may be superior for specific cases or tastes. I’ve written and played state based and attrition based games alike, including the RCW game mentioned upthread)

[Ivan Sorensen]

A rather substantial update in fact!
Lots of little new things have been added, as well as a couple of tweaks. The update doesn’t require buying anything, simply download your file again.

If you already have the main game, you can still take advantage of the bundle deal to get supplements cheaper. Just make sure you are logged in already and it should discount the price for you

[Ivan Sorensen]

Deleted User wrote:

More questions
Can individuals make ranged attacks as standard or only if the miniature is armed with a bow?
I thought I read individuals are armed with bow but couldn’t find it.

This probably isnt as clear as it ought to be but indiivduals still get a class, so they can have a ranged weapon if they are the appropriate type.

Exhaustion.
Seems like being attacked doesn’t make a group exhausted.
Also an exhausted group can take an engage action?

Correct on both counts. Getting psyched up to go up and fight exhausts the unit, receiving the attack does not. (but the counter attack next turn does). it creates more of a flow.

Exhausted troops can engage (dutifully trudging forward) but are of cause at a penalty.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Deleted User wrote:

Typo
Page 11 “a a padded coat”
page 21 “could each an a”
Page 56 under Captain “If the either die”

Thanks, will fix

I like the rules for fighting out numbered, I can see my people not surviving even more.

The ones who fall in battle are saved from dysentery and the black death.

Every group must have a leader?

In theory, you don’t have if you wanted some hapless villagers in a scenario.

Critical blow
Doesn’t seem worth while to roll to demount and non-critical struck vs critical struck.

It doesn’t come up much. I just wanted to add it in as a possibility really.

Leaders
I like their advantage even vs characters.

Thanks, its the tough old sergeant right?

Champion mentioned ‘Heavy’ troop?

It should read Shield.

Whats the beefit of status rewards?

In a campaign, they allow you one roll on the campaign reinforcement table.

So all individuals have +1 Combat, but they can’t improve on that through campaign and only through upgrades?

For now, yes.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Thanks for sharing. Your table setup does look rather dreary and choking! (in a good way!)

[Ivan Sorensen]

I think they feel quite positive. Not a huge splash but definitely caught some attention.

It’s very likely it’ll get an expansion into a full set down the road.

[Ivan Sorensen]

“Trade” can mean many things but it’s every turn. Your rifle is safe 🙂

[Ivan Sorensen]

It means things like a character talking to the “camera” or talking about game mechanics “in person”.

[Ivan Sorensen]

I am glad you liked it.
This was basically to test the waters and see if there was interest, so I was trying to make it a “real game” without putting a whole 150 page monster out there.

[Ivan Sorensen]

I suppose ostrich cavalry does have 4 legs, between the mount and rider!

Mounted javelins I’d just do as mounted skirmishers. Warband types to me are foot Chargers but I could see other arguments as well.

[Ivan Sorensen]

The tool kit is partially done but I keep being unhappy with it, so I keep putting it back, then going back and changing some things. I may need to just sit down and rewrite it from scratch.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheers! No AAR’s yet but Im sure they’ll come.

Details here https://fivemennormandy.blogspot.com/2020/03/medieval-warfare.html

Individual or war band advancement between games?

Captains can improve their Charisma score (which is how they grant bonus actions), Fighters can become a Duellist if they kill another Fighter hand to hand. Scouts can get promoted to Fighter or Captain status.

Units don’t improve their stats but can earn a veteran leader or have their leader promoted to an independent character.

There’s also a “reward” table where your commander can get a nice fur cloak or a fancy helmet 🙂

Figures defined by role (scout, fighter, captain) and weapon only or are there skill/quality grades too?

You get both.

All troops fit a “class” (Light, Shield, Polearm, Missile, Skirmish, Charger, Fire, Rabble) and then have four stats (Speed, Fighting skill, Armor, Bravery)
Individual models additionally are either a Fighter, Captain or Scout.

There’s a base profile for each class so you don’t have to do anything if you want to just grab some mini’s and play, but if you use the points system, you can upgrade stats to make particular/better units.

[Ivan Sorensen]

This comic book style is 100% my jam. Very nicely done and glad you had a good time!

[Ivan Sorensen]

Unless a fan sheet is out there, I don’t believe we ever did one.
I keep my characters on index cards.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Tony S wrote:

Is the engine new, or is it related to Hammer, Scum of the Earth or 5Core? I know Scum is gunpowder oriented, but it seems to fit your goal of small units. And it’s sadly neglected – it’s a fun, simple and fast system.

Glad you enjoy it. Unfortunately there’s only one of me so I have to be kind of ruthless in picking where to put my efforts. Only so much time to go around 🙁

This is a new engine specifically for the task, though it has some similarities to the Five Parsecs engine I suppose.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheers. It’s a set of rules for “big skirmish” medieval warfare that I am working on.

Broadly speaking: 1-to-1 scale. “Units” are groups of 3 or 6 men, with a few characters. Fast playing, aimed at raids, small skirmishes etc.
The default will be around 20-30 figures each but its meant to scale down very well, so you could have a couple of guys getting into a fight if you liked.

Leaning more on the rules lite side. I think the entire book with some extra goodies will be in the 50 page range and that’s with points system, a way to build scenarios etc.

Why is it being written? There’s been a lot of great medieval minis games in recent years that are playable with not a lot of mini’s, but I wanted something that was specifically “1 figure is definitely 1 man” and which would skirmish well.

Let me know if you have any questions. I am doing the final touches on the rules currently. Hoping a release in April but we’ll see.

[Ivan Sorensen]

I definitely empathize with the desire for a printed copy, but once you are up to speed, you can probably just add any rules tweaks in the margins with pencil and keep the campaign tables and such printed out.

[Ivan Sorensen]

I can’t speak to Thomaston’s specific preferences, but some people prefer the longer, grindier campaign of 1e. How weapons are handled changed as well. You can mix and match them pretty well though.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheers friend.
After the big updates (particularly the new Enemies table), any updates for the next 3-4 months will be trivial ones (correcting or clarifying things) and focusing on supplements, so go ahead and print the rules out.
1.15 fx. was just clarifying one page.

[Ivan Sorensen]

The answer is “Not just yet”.

With the open/license version of Squad Hammer, I’ve gotten some interesting things in the email from people but the focus has been on the solo gaming material the past couple of months.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheers!

It’s an evolution of that system.

Changes (from the top of my memory):

It has a separate armor/toughness roll ala 5L.

Pinning is a factor to ranged combat to give a bit more of a gritty atmosphere.

Close combat is closer to 5P. There’s no exchanges.

Character tracking is a bit easier. There are skills now which give a +1 to a specific type of roll, but none affect the battle field and there’s no “break the rules” type skills.

The campaign has actions you can take as usual, though they are “rationed” a bit differently this time. Probably closer to 5L in that sense?
There’s actually 11 different campaign objectives you can pick, depending on whether you want to play a shorter or longer campaign.
Anything from simply playing 20 campaign turns to playing until a single character gets 20 kills or you max out your home base factors.

The exploration step each turn is very similar to 5L with battles, random encounters (who might join you) and events that can happen.

Hope that helps?

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheers. Only remove a guy if you roll a natural 1 to stand.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheerios.

Yes, apply the new morale system to melee as well. It should read “Squads test morale once in any Phase where they lost a figure”.

In some rare cases this can result in a unit testing twice. This is intended (they’re obviously under a heavy attack) but if you find your troops are a bit too shaky this way, amend it so a unit that passes in the firing phase only tests a second time after melee if they took MORE casualties in the melee phase than in the firing phase.

A unit in melee counts as being in cover for morale purposes if they are lined up defending a wall or similar and none of the enemies have gone around (or over) the obstacle. Once an enemy is among the squad, they are considered to be in the open (and will break).

Shaken units fight normally in melee. The presence of an enemy bolsters their courage a bit.

[Ivan Sorensen]

HoD does have more moving parts (tracking Support points, different combat rules for tanks).

if the goal is to go simpler, I don’t think there’s anything to stop you in just using Core. Just divide things up into “light tank”, “medium tank” and “heavy tank” and its fine. Even a non-tank nerd can tell a Tiger is bigger than a Panzer II.

Use the normal damage system. Obviously big tanks take 2 less damage. Long barrel guns on the model do +1 damage.

I dont think you’d have problems “porting” elements of Democracy over. In fact the Support and damage systems were tested with basic Squad Hammer first. It just depends on how much (or little) detail you ultimately want.

Grab Winter Hammer as well, for an example of (limited theater) ww2 hammer.

Cheers!

[Ivan Sorensen]

It’s not written so clear.
Its intended to mean “Cannot fire, can take other actions at minus one die”.

That being said, I know from emails I’ve gotten that some people allow firing at minus one for aces and heroes or for all characters.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Trailsplash ?

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheerios. Glad you are enjoying it and that you found the upgrade worthwhile.
Answers below:

Salvaging equipment
Originally I intended this not to be possible, but as you say, it makes more narrative sense and I think most people play that you can.
Do remember the rules for equipment damage though.

Dashing
Light, militia or no armor may dash +3″ total.
The “standard dash” assumes Partial or Full armor.

Experience
Looks right to me!

Attributes
The restriction is for XP specifically.

Heroes
No specific restriction no. The different challenge levels is just your starting position.
Over time you could end up with all heroes (or all Followers..)

[Ivan Sorensen]

Correct.

[Ivan Sorensen]

I’ve always set up from the start and alternating, unless its an attack/defense, in which case I prefer setting up the defenders first.

I do actually kinda like “beaming down” on first activation though. Like they are deploying from march.

[Ivan Sorensen]

A friend is also working on a straight up cyberpunk “Hackers vs corp security” hack of Squad Hammer, which is nearing completion. Adapting some of that into Dredd shouldn’t be too hard.

[Ivan Sorensen]

I am so sorry, this had been sitting in my email for a while and got lost 🙁

* Vehicles only roll once for their machine gun fire (since realistically, the guns probably aren’t all able to line up an individual target). But if you have 3 MG’s (or 2 and one of them is a .50 cal) they do not suffer the increased target number that vehicle machine guns usually do.

* Currently there is no minimum range.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheers.

I don’t think you should have any trouble there. Obviously tank warfare is a rather different beast, especially as in HoD, tanks don’t have hit points, but there’s enough detail in there that a platoon vs platoon tank battle (to start with) should be fun.

I probably wouldn’t recommend it as a permanent tank simulation solution, but to get you started, absolutely.

Hope that helps?

[Ivan Sorensen]

Sorry for the delay, I’ve been travelling.

Once per “cause” outside of special scenario circumstances (such as a huge ammo stockpile).

[Ivan Sorensen]

The values were assigned with the assumption that their limited range would be balanced out by the assault advantage, so damage should be the same as the equivalent rifle type.
Your values are fine.

Speaking of points costs, I have been pondering that maybe the low end of the points scale needs to be wider, to allow more/better differentiation. Trying to fit all the infantry into, essentially, a 15 or so point spread is a little tight.

Thoughts ?

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheers friend.

You can only take the fixed 3″ move when you are “safe”.
So troops advancing out of sight? Can use it.
Troops moving up to the corner or a building? Can use it.
Troops in the open? Have to rush.

Now troops advancing on, say, a stone fence? I’d be tempted to say they are “safe” unless the enemy have troops on a roof top (for example).
They’d still be visible to fire upon normally but would not take reactions.

The way I view fire in the game is like this:
Ordered fire (You spend activations to shoot) is the troops concentrating their efforts on something that is important to the mission, pointed out by their leader etc.)
Reaction fire is spontaneous fire that happens to an obvious target.

So a grunt rushes from cover to cover? Clear target, so someone is going to take some shots at him = Reaction fire.

The same grunt in the open but stationary? Would be on the ground and hard to see. You can shoot at him in your turn (ordered fire) but he isn’t subject to reaction fire until he moves again.

Hope thats clearer as far as the intentions?

Absolute Timing – Yeah, it’ll go on the list for any future updates.

Machine gun talk
For me, the FG42 or BAR would be “light automatics” due to lack of easy-swap barrels and frequent reloading.
The BAR was operated by a crew, though since you have to shift or lift the gun to reload, that’s less useful than for the Bren (f.x.).
As fr as I know (which may well be wrong) the FG42 was operated mostly as a rifle, but since it has superior firepower to other WW2 weapons, it would get the LA designation.

For game purposes, we do add the firepower of any crew figures, since it ended up being much easier in play (just count the number of men, then add any machine gun bonus for the squad).
A more realistic / simulation option would be to increase the machine gun bonus but not allow the crew to fire.

That’s easily done, the problem we ran into originally is that a lot of miniatures packs don’t give you proper loader/assistant figures for SAWs 🙁

That’s a lot of imperfect answers but I hope it gives a bit of light into the muddy realm of game design compromises 🙂

[Ivan Sorensen]

Right, so I think “smoke” is something most games do kind of abstractly because it’s not that easy to piece together.
Even reading period infantry manuals, its not that clear.
(pun somewhat intended?)

Infantry smoke is limited in real life by: Range (as far as you can throw the grenade, which on a gaming table isnt far), the fact that it takes a while to build up, limited ammo (1 smoke grenade per soldier seems typical) and the fact they don’t really produce that much smoke per grenade.

I also noticed that soldiers accounts dont talk about smoke all that much, but I don’t know if that’s because they just take its use for granted and dont bother or because it wasn’t as useful as we tend to assume it must have been ?

With those limits in mind, I felt that relying on mortars for smoke for a big advance seemed more realistic, while infantry can use their smoke capacity defensively.
It also goes to emphasize the need for combined arms in the game.

Of course all of this may well be wrong!

[Ivan Sorensen]

madman wrote:

Well I had a couple questions after we played our first game of NEiS V 2.0. We played badly and botched up quite a few rules. Understandable for a very first and rushed try. So I reread the rules up to before buildings, so to the end of page 26. I couldn’t find answers to my questions so I am not as blind as I think I am. It also brought up lots more questions. I went through the NEiS threads here which clarified only a couple questions and resulted in more head scratching. What follows is my questions, answers where I found them, and associated “what the” moments they might have raised. The last bit is of me being rules anal. I used to play against the world’s biggest rules lawyer so everything had to have only one interpretation or answer and in keeping with that thinking carrying on I present the last word.

Cheers mate. Answers below.
NEIS goes back a ways so it’s not a “water proof” in the writing as I might have liked today. I’ll certainly take these into account when the time comes to update things.

Questions

1. Reaction Fire

When does this occur, only during rushes or anytime a valid target presents itself? My example is my activated unit rounds the corner of a building. Standing there are my opponent’s forces. Since I am on an activation which allows movement and firing I can shoot at him.

Can he reaction fire at me or only “normal” fire during his next activation assuming he is not exhausted?
If he is exhausted can he still reaction fire?
Are both fires simultaneous or does activation fire or reaction fire always go first?

The relevant rule here is “Moving Cautiously” at the bottom of page 15. Troops moving into sight but within cover (for example on a building corner) do NOT trigger reaction fire.

As you are getting at, reaction fire is specifically in response to a failed rush.

Troops can reaction fire as long as they are not pinned down, even if Exhausted.

Newer games of mine have a section that talks about timing, but NEIS predates that, so let me explain it here:
My games always use what I all “absolute timing” which means everything is resolved as it happens.

So lets say Trooper Jones shoots at your men, then I run across the street suffering reaction fire and those who make it want to shoot at you.
Resolve Jones first, then move and resolve reaction fires, finally the survivors shoot back.

2. Break check

Is this conducted once for each leader’s unit at the end of a turn?
Or is it conducted after each activation by any unit which took any adverse (pin, wound or kill) result?
Based on a game example in TWW it appears to be the second above which means a unit can be subject to massive break checks in a single turn. In fact they can be subject to a break check after every single activation from either side during a turn if unlucky enough to be repeatedly under fire and taking effects.

This may change in a future version since I am not 100% content with it right now, but the intention is that any time you take fire, you make a Break check.
For units in cover, pressure only builds if you took casualties or have untreated wounded, so most break checks are passed automatically.

Troops in the open are incredibly fragile, maybe a bit too much.

I’d try it as written a couple times, but if its a problem, limit it to once per phase.

3. Pin removal

Do you have to activate the leader then do pin removals or not? So if you have two pins to remove does it cost 3 points or 2? I assume 3 if one of the pins is the leader.

The leader does not have to be active himself to do pin removal.

4. Do leaders activate for free

Again based on an example from TWW it appears leaders can move for free. They only have to pay their own activation point if they wish to fire, unpin themselves (subject to the answer from above), or perform any activity from the action point cost table. If they wish to group fire they have to pay 2 activation points, one for their men and one for themselves.

Correct. We assume leaders have enough initiative to move where they are needed.

5. Reaction Fire

Since the rules as written only cover fire against rushing troops this may answer 1 above. In reaction fire all rolls are for hits not pins and since they can only fire at targets which didn’t make their rush distance check those troops are already pinned. Does this apply in any way to 1 above as in the situation stated can you only generate “hits” and all troops now in LOS (and firing) are automatically pinned as they stopped without cover.

If they rush and fail their rush roll (I say Im rushing 4 inch, but roll a 2) they are pinned automatically and we roll for hits.
If they rush in the open and succeed in the rush roll, they dont get pinned but as they have no cover, I get to roll for hits (“advancing in the open” page 16)

6. Morale, Casualties, and Stress leader casualties

What constitutes a casualty for game terms and ?
Are pinned troops casualties?
Are treated wounded casualties?
Are untreated wounded casualties?
Are dead casualties?

Casualties are wounded (regardless of treatment) and dead.

Pinned are NOT casualties.

7. Close Assaults and reaction fire

Again reaction fire raises its ugly head. A unit being assaulted is allowed reaction fire, only if it can/cannot activate? Is the reaction fire before, simultaneous or after assaulting fire?

Unless a given figure is Wounded or Pinned, they can always React.

Absolute timing applies so move up, take reaction fire, then conduct the assault.

Can you change the usage of “shock dice” to pin dice?
Can you change the usage of “kill dice” to hit dice?

I’ll certainly ponder that. The terms were chosen because I had an older game that used the same dice terms, but that may not be needed any longer.

Please use one term for one thing. It makes clarity and life so much easier.

Agreed.

You define a light automatic weapon and a SAW. How is an RPK much different from an M249? How would a bren gun rate? Is an MG 34 or 42 a crew served or SAW? When used bi pod or tripod? Belt fed vs magazine fed? Again being anal but it really becomes opinion. An MG 34/42 was treated as both a SAW and as a medium support weapon as were many post war machine guns, but in game terms how would a full size cartridge firing weapon be treated? I can see the division being X number of round magazine treat it as a light automatic and Y round magazine or belt fed as a SAW. If not used as a squad weapon but as a platoon or company level asset then it becomes a crew served weapon. Alternatively a light automatic requires one crew a SAW two but only 3 dice and a crew served two but four dice, dependent on trooper quality.

As you suggest, it really depends on personal views.
My take is that if an infantry squad is hauling it around and it’s used as part of that infantry team, its an SAW.

If it’s deployed on its own with a big pile of spare ammo, then its “crew served”.

That’s not entirely water-proof but I feel like it fits well enough.

So in a WW2 context, I wouldn’t worry about a Bren vs DP vs MG34 personally. They’re all SAW’s.

Some players feel strongly that the GPMG in the squad role should be superior option to a magazine fed weapon. If so, I might suggest +3 firepower but does not get the loader bonus.

In that view: Bren +2, MG34 in squad role +3, MG34 on tripod and with linked belts +3 (+4 with loader).

THAT BEING SAID, there’s probably a hundred arguments that could be made for why I’m wrong about that 🙂

Hope the above helps and I hope your second outing with the rules is smoother!
It’s a bit of a beast, compared to how a lot of other games work.

Best wishes
Ivan

[Ivan Sorensen]

No problem! I happened to be working on something when the email notification popped in!

[Ivan Sorensen]

Cheers friend.

I assume you mean “how can the moving soldier shoot” in that example?
If not, let me know and I’ll clarify.

As written, the combat rules say “Active figures may fire all at the same group or may direct their fire against multiple targets and may fire before or after moving.”

So lets say our soldier is behind a building and wants to rush across a 3″ wide street, to a building on the other side.

Example 1:
He can fire before he makes the rush, if he’s in sight of the bad guys.
(as he may shoot before moving)

Example 2:
He cannot move half-way, shoot, and then move the rest of the distance.
(As you must shoot before or after the move, not during)

Example 3:
If he makes the rush, he could stop at the corner of the other building and shoot from there.
(As he may shoot after moving, and if the rush was a success, he isn’t pinned).

I hope that helps?
If not, let me know and I’ll see if I can clarify it more or draw something.

[Author]

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