Reply To: [unofficial weekender] It's all in the background. Or is it?

[limburger 22458xp 1]

I’ve had my day of fun at the “Spellenspektakel” convention.
I think this was the first time actual wargames were being played.

I spoke to the author of “argueing when …”.
The rules are based on the matrix games that are often used in ‘real’ wargaming.
Instead of having statistics it is more like a roleplaying game.
Players describe an event what they want to happen (this may even include stuff the opposing force does!).
This is then summarized in key words which then results in a probability (much like how a DM in a RPG sets the difficulty).
Players roll 3D6 and if they succeed then whatever they described happens …

https://tabletopmatrixwargames689972109.wordpress.com

I played a game of “with hot lead and cold steal” that the author of the book had setup.
The game was a scenario set near Gettysburg in the American civil war.
Rules were fairly easy to grasp. You roll to see how many orders/staff you get on a turn.
You can then use those orders as a bonus to your roll for initiative. So you’re going to have to decide if gaining the initiative is worth not being able to move your troops around.

When activating a group you roll to see if it does as you tell it to, but when you roll a 1 something unique happens.

We managed to get a draw, which was more or less caused by the enemy suddenly deciding to charge (they rolled a 1 on their activation which gave the result).

https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/osprey-blog/2023/with-hot-lead-and-cold-steel-design-diary/