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:
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
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...
--
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
--
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.
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.
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...
No comments:
Post a Comment