15mm is Back! +Tanks

Why 15mm are great:

Firstly, they are pretty kid-proof/cheap. A fall from the table may separate them off a base but rarely cause damage unlike a resin LoTR which will explode. Key criteria when you have an enthusiastic 9 year old.

Secondly, they are cheap (see above).

Thirdly, they are (usually) easy to paint; also you need to use brighter colours with smaller sizes which is fun.

Fourthly, I and my son watched Lawrence of Arabia + The Mummy (cool FFL opening scene) 

Finally, they are the best scale for vehicles (big enough to be cool - sorry 1:300 - small enough to be affordable) so are the scale for my Tankhiem rules

So in between 21 IKEA kits (hopefully that's it for this house) I did some painting:

 

While the regular troops were super fast to paint, the uniform-yet-not uniform Arabs took longer than I'd like...

These Taureg have not been washed and highlighted yet, but are nice and bright as needed for 15mm scale

 

More Arabs in a different paint scheme - they can be opposing clans or mixed together...

 

This helps work towards a few 2025 resolutions:

- finish 3 unpainted projects

- update, playtest and play homebrew rules with my son

WW1 Ottomans to fight the Arabs - also to be city-state mercenaries in the deserts of Tankheim.

Sommer's 1999 The Mummy is one of my favourite movies, and when I found the Foreign Legion (yet unpainted) I wondered if I had..... yep. I also have these guys. Back when postage from USA was affordable and not more than the actual cost of the order.The undead seem a reasonable mix in the world of Tankheim...

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Quick rant: While postage seems a lot, at least I can see reasons why it costs (fuel, manpower etc). I'd like to know why STLs or resin 3D prints cost more than GW's finest. Yeah, Spectre Miniatures, I'm looking at you - $13 for a 3D print edging out Killwager's $10 a print; or $50 for a 5-man STL. In 28mm. And that doesn't include postage. I get my MESBG sculpts commercially 3D printed and they do licenced minis (so the sculptor still gets their cut) for $3 each... so there's no need to be charging $13 for a 3D print... it's a tiny chunk of resin - not even metal....

While I'm at it - what's with the price of PDF's? It's literally a download which would be fractions of a cent in overhead. I was browsing on wargamesvault and $20USD ($30AUD) is about the norm for indie rules, and I noped out. (A pity, because stuff like this looks interesting).

It's crazy a handmade PDF costs the same as a physical, hardback bestseller from the bookstore which actually had to be published physically and printed....  I mean I get people would like to write the rules as a full time job, but really guys.... 

I'd love to test and support more rules and miniature lines, but they literally have priced themself into the "crazier than GW" zone. It's like wanting to support your local theatre group but they charge more than tickets a Broadway production...

 /rant

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Anyway, talking about home-made rules, I've done my annual meddle with my Tankheim rules. You know, when the poison gas and chemicals of the Great War turned 1930s Europe into a wasteland of mutants, cannibals and roaming tank pirates? Where convoys of halftracks fend off both wolfpacks and tank bandits, and private militias of fortified city-states war among the ruins?

These rules are a bit more complicated than my usual fare, as it's kinda a tank-RPG/skirmish - "Tank Mordheim" if you like - with 4-8 tanks per side, all with characterful crews and custom WW2 tanks. 

After reading through Titanicus, I added "cinematic deaths" and increased the focus on firing arcs.

Here's the rough premise:

Each 'turn' has a movement phase and a shooting phase. Players alternate activating tanks within each phase. So far, so simple. But.....

Currently I use what I call 1.5 activation - you get 1 action each phase with the possibility of a 2nd bonus action if your crew is good. It's an extra, perhaps unecessary, dice roll, sure, but I like that better crew can react more predictably and reliably under pressure - do 'more stuff' than an oblivious or panicking rookie crew.

Also, you always get to do something - just better crews can do more. I dislike rules where 'friction' means you lose your go - which is just unsatisfying.

A Panther performs a simple move action - which includes up to 45d change of direction.

A movement action might be a normal move + 45d turn, a 45-90d pivot, or a reverse at half speed or less. Also speedy sprint moves to allow more flanking and discourage baseline camping. So an good crew would pass a crew check on a 3+ and often take two actions, outmaneuvering weaker crews.

A combat action might be shooting, aiming, or acquiring a target. So far, this is pretty similar to games like FoW and indeed mechanics are pretty basic; roll d6 over 3+ at 12", 4" at 24", 5+ at 25"+ etc etc. As you can see, a better crew might aim more carefully or pump out more shots (up to RoF limits).

However, you may perform actions out of phase - a combat action in the move phase and a move action in the combat phase - it just costs as a double action (a single shot in the movement phase for example would need both actions)... this is to allow more decisions.

The PzIII is in the Panther's rear 90d arc. Not only is the Panther's armour weaker, but it must also spend an action to acquire the PzIII by travsersing it's turret. Perhaps the Panther is a D with a slow, handcranked turret and cannot engage the Panzer III anyway.

This PzIII is only in the side arc. Even a Panther D could engage it, if it acquired it successfully. Fixed tank destroyers like Stugs may only acquire frontal targets.
 

Acquiring is where the facing comes into it. Tanks have a 90d front and rear arc. Targets within the frontal 90d and within range (varies depending on target size/cover) are automatically spotted. Light/recce/open topped vehicles have wider arcs/greater range. 

Any target outside this arc/range must be acquired. This means the commander and gunner work together to spot the target and traverse the turret (if it has one). This costs an action. Obviously armour is also weaker through their side and rear arcs, so flanking should be powerful.

The other complicated/er than normal bit is the damage. There's a 3+/4+/5+ d6 roll to hit - so 40K - and a then a roll to damage (based on relative armour vs gun - thanks Warcry) which can result in a now-more-cinematic instakill "brew up" or location damage.

Damage sounds complicated but is pretty easy. Roll a red d6 for location and place next to the tank. Shots can hit engines, tracks, crew compartment, turret rings/optics etc. This renders the element inoperable until repaired (change the red damage d6 to a black d6 to denote the repaired state). A damaged-but-repaired engine might restrict a tank to half speed, for example. Subsequent hits to damaged locations usually destroy the tank.  So if I want I can roll 3 dice all at a time; a white hit dice, a blue pen dice, and a red location dice.

The aim of this more complex system is to give more cinematic battles, where a Cromwell is tracked and slews around, a Tiger gets it's turret jammed, a burning Sherman plunges on and rams into a building, or a ammo-racked T-34 explodes and takes out a nearby ally.

 

 

This tank has copped a '2' - engine hit. The red dice means it is immobile until repaired. Once repaired, it is replaced with a black '2' which shows it can move - but only half speed.

I'm also making a bunch of special rules. Not normally my thing, but it's tank RPG, so *shrugs* - I'm including rules like Slow Reverse, Busy Commander, No Radio, Slow Loading, Slow Traverse, Wet Ammo Rack, Superior Optics, Open Topped, Flammable Engine, Neutral Steering, etc - each of which is a simple rule with descriptive text. Basically things to help add flavour and differentiate your T-34 from your PzIV from your Sherman...

My son is enjoying the 15mm focus, and has ordered his own medieval knights plus some rather nice Uruk Hai in 15mm. While in a dollar shop he bought this castle from the garden aisle:

I spent literally 5 minutes adding a bit of colour and it's perfect for 15mm if not precisely to scale everywhere... He's pretty pleased with it. Once we paint his Eureka orcs I'll post them here - they're pretty movie-accurate actually and I'd recommend them for anyone who wants to play the now OOP War of the Ring...

Anyway, back to my IKEA pile before my wife gets home and sees my (lack of) progress...

New Years Musings (+Low Resistance/High resistance rules)

Well, I'll spare you a list of resolutions and jump straight into it. My main resolution (if one is expected) is to just play more with my toys, as my boy is now old enough to join in and is super interested.

Micro vs Macro

Or: should you be able to make this decision?

Just been thinking about this a bit lately, as there a few PC games I WANT to like but they allow (and encourage) the player to unnecessarily micro. Nebulous is amazing in theory - like the Expanse TV show. Like a more tactical Homeworld. EW. Missiles. Inertia. CIWS. Quasi hard sci if. But you are controlling quite a few spaceships and microing every decision on those ships. So instead of being a task force commander, you are acting as 4-6 individual captains at the same time. As well as making decisions that weapons and radar operators on those ships should be able to make individually. To make it worse you have to fight the AI.

Similar - the Call to Arms/Men of War series RTS has you controlling multiple squads and vehicles. It should be a grittier, realistic Company of Heroes but when you move individual soldiers and you are telling individuals to throw grenades, reload or even to lie down when fired at... it's just needless micro. It's a decision you shouldn't need to make. It's like a platoon or company commander telling each and every grunt under their command where to throw a grenade, when to reload - even if they should take cover or not. Madness.

In both games you are clicking madly, excessively interacting with the game/with a needless mental load, doing a job/making needless decisions. The UI would have to be very slick to enable this (narrator: it was not.)

Another PC game I often enjoy - Steel Division - treads a fine line here. You may control a dozen tanks, a dozen infantry squads, and a handful of artillery or aircraft - but at least it's possible to order groups and have the AI sort them out, or issue broad orders. It's less optimal than microing things yourself, but the micro isn't forced on you. 

 

I couldn't afford a $661 Smaug so here's my $30 3D printed mini-dragon.

OK, how does this apply to wargames?

Choose the right focus to start with: 

For example, aerial wargames seem to always have this issue. Most have you plotting each yank on the stick and throttle - precisely controlling up to a handful of aircraft simultaneously like a hivemind. It's unfeasible (game wise) and unrealistic. 

Choose the right mechanics & rules:

Sometimes the game mechanics are to blame. For example 40K started out as a quasi-skirmish game and turned into a sort of mass battle game. The game mechanics kinda evolved over time too, but it was a 'micro' game forced to a macro scale.  Mechanics like "coherency" (you know the one, the 'everyone in a squad must be within 2" of each other') are aimed at this; turning 40-50 individual minis into maybe 4-5 "units" or groups. 

Finally, choose an accessible/slick UI. aka Unobtrusive rules.

In the case of a PC game, it's the options, the interfacing with the game. Another game I want to like (X4) has an amazing premise (be anything from a space pirate to a galactic emperor, trading, mining, building star bases and fleets... a limitless sandbox) but a hideous interface. 120+ keybinds! Windows within windows.  

In the case of a wargame, that interface is the mechanics and the rulebook. They both need to be slick, consistent, intuitive, easily memorised. Unobtrusive.

A good set of rules should offer minimal resistance between having the idea (tactic) and executing it.

This "resistance" could take the form of excessive complexity (needing to consult charts or rulebooks) or merely. It could be merely making unnecessary rolls, modifiers or math in a combat sequence. 

I use the word resistance in a sense like electricity. A game with low resistance flows. A game with high resistance has may obstructions/interruptions in the flow.

In Nebulous and X4, the clunky UI means a lot of friction in trying to implement ideas. In Steel Division, you are still trying to control too many troops/variables but at there is an attempt to reduce friction by "smart" AI orders. In F-Zero, there is a deliberate attempt to minimize clicking and make orders as intuitive as possible. 

Gothmog's sword broke. I think it's the second breakage in the 125 LoTR resins painted in 2025 which isn't a bad failure %  for resin I suppose, given the vastly cheaper (usually 1/4 to 1/6th) of the price to GW plastics.

For wargame examples, Skirmish Sangin had so many % and modifiers to simply shoot a gun. That's not intuitive - there is a lot to do between saying "I shoot at that guy" and executing the shot. That's obtrusive rules.

Blood Red Skies reduces friction by abstacting away individual fighter pilot micromanagement and exact heights and speed in favour of "he has more energy/better position than the other guy." I'm not a fan, but the mechanics are also really simple and easy - just roll x amount of dice and count 6s.

Killwager used its own 'special' terminology, renaming ordinary wargaming terms into 'measures' and 'flow' when the rules had unusual concepts to start with - it created needless friction.

While I like Battlefleet Gothic (and am painting a fleet as soon as I get another pot of gold Retributor Armour) having a chart to consult for weapons batteries adds needless interaction with the rules. Simply saying something like "Roll a dice - 5 or 6 hits - for each weapon battery" would remove the need to have a chart. Decrease the resistance. 

Anyway, this has been a recent train of thought. It's not new - I think I touched on it here - but the two thoughts:

#1: is this game forcing needless micromanaging, and 

#2 - is the UI bad/aka do the rules have needless friction

...have been on my mind; hopefully this posts shows my thought process and how I think they're linked.

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I thought I wouldn't do a 2025 "resolution" list, but on reflection I will, as it may inform my next few posts (also: I have just finished my last LoTR batch and am in need of direction...)

1. Build my own DIY terrain mat from a paint drop sheet, build terrain with my daughter

2. Create the original 5 Mordhiem warbands (+Vermintide-esque co op homebrew rules) and play with my kids

3. Finalize a 2025 version of my post-apocalyptic tank wargame and play with my son (who thinks warbands of pirates, WW2-era tanks and mutants are cool)

4. Collect the final few notable missing ME:SBG (eagles, wringwraith, Rohirrim heroes) to my 1500+ collection and go back and tidy up some paint jobs and basing; play games with my kids/visitors; allow myself to expand on one other game system (cowboys, pirates?)

5. Paint my Battlefleet Gothic fleets, play with my kids

6. Do a 2025 update and playtest of all my ongoing homebrew rules (aeronef, supercavitating submarine fighters, EvE+Lost Fleet space, FAC/PT-boat space, jets, not-Mordhiem, modern pulp, sci fi horror)

7. Paint 3 of my 15 unpainted projects - samurai/Greeks/modern SF/ECW/40K/Weird War II/15mm Lawrence of Arabia/Infinity/Confrontation 3/Quar/vikings vs zombies/40K(!) skirmish/Heavy Gear/Dropfleet/Deep Rock Galactic before starting anything new

8. Find wargaming projects for my kids - daughter has Necromunda warband/likes anything with female warriors (Sisters of Sigmar?) son likes medieval/fantasy mass battle (box of Perry plastics?)

9. Allow myself one new system - Trench Crusade(?)

10. Start a new homebrew system (Vikings vs ice zombies, Hellgate, STALKER, racing cars, Vermintide)

There's a pretty common theme here - and that's to get minis on the table, and involve my children more. Despite the huge amount of unfinished projects (~800 minis?), I'm actually powering through my lead mountain - I've painted 1200+ in the last 3 years with about 300 incoming. 

....I reckon by 2029 I'll have a clean workbench....