Two Hour Dungeon Crawl - First Thoughts

I had my first full play through of THW Games Design's Two Hour Dungeon Crawl tonight and I thoroughly enjoyed myself!  It is a very quick but challenging distillation of dungeon crawl rules.  It is based on familiar THW concepts - so lots of discrete simple tables to generate opposition and their reactions - but they are soon assimilitaed and game play becomes very quick indeed.  I imagine that one could get very proficient at these rules and the game would really rocket along.

As with all THW games that I am aware of, the most important mechanic is a test against the Reputation of the character (whether player or game controlled) to generate a number of successes.  The absolute or relative number of successes (depending on the situation) then determines what happens next.  It is quite a quick and bloody game: the dungeon I got through tonight would have taken my RPG group about 6 hours of play back in the 80s!  But make no mistake, this is not an easy game to win - there are many quick ways to die!  It is however a very easy game to play.
There are some pretty good and crucially quick systems for generating missions, opponents, magic items and loot and so forth; but the game architecture is so open that you could easily include or alter most of it to make the game you want.  There is no background 'fluff' as such, but there are plenty of stats for the archetypical fantasy races.  If you want to play with figures, this makes it easy to use whatever you happen to have; it is however perfectly possible to play it with pencils and paper only.  For this test, I used some miniatures and tiles for the combats, but designed and went through the dungeon on paper.

So, how did my mission go?

I had a party of 5 (all humans): a Rep 5 Knight/Caster (i.e. Mage); a Rep 4 Thief, a Rep 4 Soldier, A Rep 4 Soldier/Shooter (i.e. Archer) and a Rep 3 Knight/Caster.   That last one was an unusual combination of dice rolling.  My mission was to get rid of a big, bad Orc chieftain, who very unusually specialized in archery!  An Orcish Robin Hood figure, perhaps...anyway, my thief was killed by a trap, my soldier fell into a deep abyss and my soldier/shooter was killed in a fight; only the two knights escaping with lives, treasure and the head of the Orc...there were numerous interludes along the way - secret rooms found and explored, minions fought, a group of Elves enountered and pleasantries exchanged!

So a very encouraging start with these rules. The way threats are generated can be very deadly, which keeps the challenge level high, but the rules are simple enough to be grasped quite easily - a very important thing for the solo player who is playing one side and administering the other.


Just a few pictures, to give a little taster:

A large group of Goblins track down the intruding adventurers; our brave heroes get the drop on them however, as a crossbow bolt flies into the lead goblin...(goblins a mixture of GW's Lord of the Rings and some Heroquest goblins)

The other side: from the left, a Shield Wolf shield maiden; a Perry miniatures late C15 figure with female head, another Perry, a Perry Wars of the Roses billmen.  The thief had already been killed by this point!

Our heroes getting the better of this one, most of the goblins have been killed or are down, injured

The coup de grace...

Nuts! Normandy Campaign Mission 04 - Attack on Ferme de Champignons de St Jean

After the second successful reconnaissance mission of the campaign, our plucky platoon of Tyneside Scottish has been ordered to fight through a small series of buildings around a mushroom farm to re-start the battalion's advance.  Again, this mission is carried out in full platoon strength, the order of battle being broady similar to that in the first, unsuccessful attack. German defenders, as ever, would be generated by the Nuts! rules according to the luck of the dice

The Mission:

 

The battlefield area.  A stream bisects some farmland, overlooked by a hill.

And from a slightly different angle

The British Platoon decides to push left, trying to avoid the buildings as much as possible.  The majority of the platoon are positioned to give fire support to cover the advance or withdrawal of 1 Section, as required.

A slightly more close-up shot of the same

1 Sect traverses the field...

And makes it! They cautiously approach the building (top-left) when they are alerted to a German section defending the hill.  Luckily, they have got the drop on the Germans and fire first.  The German MG42 is quickly silenced before it can retaliate and the German section is effectively pinned in its positions.

And the view from the Germans on the hill back towards the British.

The Bren gun on the flank of the British Pl adds its fire from the flank onto the German section too.

Where the hell did that building come from !?!?  One of the quirks of Nuts! is that you can occasionally generate another building, on the basis that it was hidden just out of view and so unknown to the friendly force commander.  Such a thing happened here.  A German section opens up, luckily with little effect.

1 section advances but spots Germand in the bigger building.  Again, the British get the drop on their opponents and SMG fire wounds a German.

Another angle

Accurate fire from the British allowed the to manoeuvre in safetly and they are now lining a new hedge (left of photo).  The British temporarily silence a German machinegunner in the taller building top-left.

After a fierce exchange of fire and a further couple of casualties on both sides, a German section breaks and runs for it!

A second German squad breaks after the Brits manage to get a grenade into the building - three Germans immediately fall seriously wounded, including the Gefreiter.

From the British side.

Concentrated fire from the British heavy weapons kills two more Germans and breaks the final German section.  The British complete their advance across the table without further incident.

Game Notes:
A strong British victory this, partly from good fortune in twice getting the drop on German defenders, partly from being able to bring superior firepower to each individual firefight, despite being roughly the same size overall.  German losses were 3 KIA, 6 WIA against 3 WIA amongst the British (all in the exchange of fire when the British were lining the hedgerow).
There is a definite advantage in gameplay as you get more and more familiarity with the reaction and firing tables, it really speeds up the battles.  There is a fair bit of dice-rolling in these platoon sized battles, but nothing too onerous.  I had to make up the effect of the 2" mortar firing HE on the building, as the rules as written don't feature mortars but this was pretty easy to do.  The building suddenly turning up was a surprise, but it didn't jar too much - sometimes you do just notice a building once you have gone past it! Anyway, the rules continue to give an admirable game. I'm getting more used to using the multiple-based figures as just giving a good approximation of location, and then working from a section card to determine outcomes.  If you have been following the campaign, you will notice the much quicker and stronger generation of German enemies in this "attack" mission in comparison to the "patrol" missions.
British Campaign Morale is at 6, Investment Level is at 4.
German Campaign Morale is at 1, Investment Level is at 2,

As previously, the set up is:2'x2' board, the terrain homemade, the figures are mainly from Baccus 6mm, with some from GHQ and Adler too, buildings from Leven Miniatures and Baccus..  Obviously the rules are Nuts! Final Edition.

Nuts! Normandy '44 Campaign - Mission 02: Attack on Blanchemaison

Following on from their success in their intial patrol mission, our plucky Brits from the Tyneside Scottish have been assigned their second task in the Nuts! Final Version Normandy 1944 campaign - an attack on the edge of the small town of Blanche Maison.

Nuts! Final Edition

The "Attack" mission calls for the deployment of a full platoon, so I used the following order of battle:

Platoon HQ:
Me - Platoon Commander (SMG) Rep 6
Sgt Kerr - (SMG) Rep 5
Pte Hopkins - Rifle/Signaller Rep 4
PIAT team (2 x Rep 4)
2" Mortar team (1 x Rep 4, 2 x Rep 3)

1 Section:




Cpl Williams - Section Commander (rifle) Rep 5
LCpl Robson - Section 2IC (rifle) Rep 4
Pte Charlton - Bren Gunner Rep5
Pte Todd - Bren Gunner 2nd Rep 4
Pte Armstrong -  Rifleman Rep 4
Pte Brown - Rifleman Rep5
Pte Elliot - Rifleman Rep3
Pte Johnson - Rifleman Rep4

2 Section:
Cpl Robinson - Section Commander (rifle) Rep 5
+7 inc. JNCO, Bren Gunner + no.2, 4 Riflemen (all Rep 4)

3 Section:
 Cpl Armstrong - Section Commander (rifle) Rep 5
+9 inc. JNCO, Bren Gunner + no.2, 4 Riflemen (Rep 4, except Rifleman 9 & 10 are Rep 3)

The Battle:

The SW approach to Blanche Maison.  The British approach from the South (bottom), using the hedge, contours and buildings for cover. 

A closer look from the lead element of 2 Section towards the pond and the village

1 Section approach a farm on the right flank

...and the riflemen move through whilst the Bren covers the road junction.  The Bren team guns down a Panzerschrek team which attempts to nip across the road past the hedge.

Eek! The remainder of a German Platoon turns up on the British left flank!  The riflemen of 3 section engage and there are casualties on both sides.  The German machinegunners are temporarily silenced as they suffer three wounded, but one of the British riflemen is killed out right.

Another German section is generated and tries to outflank 3 Section.  However, 1 Section is in the perfect position to enfilade the Germans as they cross the road.  In less than a minute, half the Germans are hors de combat.

A wider view at the same moment.

When the German NCO goes down, the Germans caught on the road break and run.

Situation on the left at the end of the battle - more Germans are generated (off-picture top right) so the British Pl Comd, after losing another man to the German platoon in the field (who have got their MG42s back into action), decides to withdraw.  This was carried out without further ado.  Mission failed!

Outcome: That didn't go too well, did it?!  The Germans were clearly in the village in company strength and the Brit Pl Comd figured that pushing the attack would be suicidal.  Because the actual firefights in the game happened in circumstances helpful to the British, the Germans lost more men (4 KIA, 8 WIA) against 2 KIA, 4 WIA for the British, but there was clearly no chance once the second German Platoon was generated.  This is just the way it goes in Nuts! though...the advantages that the British gained in the firefights were lost because of the formidable German reinforcement rolls.

Game Notes: Not an entirely satisfactory game, this.  Nothing at all to do with the rules, which again performed admirably, but from set-up issues on my part. After the success of the first game, I once again plumped for using my 6mm figures.  However, although individually-based 6mm figures were okay in section-strength, when I began to set-up a full platoon, it just became annoying.  So, I decided to use the multiple-based figures which I normally use for WRG 1925-1950 Platoon and Company-level actions, figuring that since much of the information was kept on rosters anyway, I would simply use the rosters for engagements and not worry too much about the status of individual figures.  This all worked absolutely fine.  Where the problems did arise was that Nuts! really requires that the exact position of each figure in relation to the terrain and LOS is known, in a way impossible with multi-based figures.  So this meant I had to put in a "reality test" at various stages, to work out where figures within the section would be in reality, using the base only as indicative.  This did work after a fashion, but it did slow and stress the game, because it didn't rattle along with its normal speed.  It may be that this can be made to work, but I will need to do some more thinking and testing before I try this again.  Or I may just switch and use my 15mm figures!  The reason that I haven't done this is that I don't have much 15mm terrain and I have a far smaller selection of 15mm vehicles, should they be needed.  So more thought needed before I proceed.
Rules were of course the Nuts! final version from Two Hour Wargames, figures from Baccus, Adler and GHQ, buildings from Total Battle Miniatures and Leven Miniatures.

Nuts! First Impressions...

I played through a game of Nuts! properly for the first time today.  I have Nuts! version 2 rather than the final edition, unfortunately:

This game deals with WW2 skirmish combat, covering everything from a group of a few men up to a couple of platoons and a few vehicles.  It uses the famed Two Hour Wargames reaction system, which is ideal for solo and co-operative play (although nothing I saw makes me think this wouldn't work well as a face-to-face game).

First Impressions

The basic mechanics of the game are REP (reputation, i.e. skill level) and reaction tests (normally 2D6 vs. REP) in a variety of situations which determines the actions of troops.  The way the game seems to work by a player carrying out an action, which may or may not lead to numerous subsequent reactions.  All of this chain of reactions is executed before the next deliberate move is made.  The principle is pretty simple.  One interesting design choice is to make sure that each exchange of fire has to finish (even if simply by one party ducking out of sight) before beginning the next set of reactions or actions.
The reaction tests are all the kind of things you would expect and take into account suppression and morale and so on.  The weapons values at first glance all seem reasonable.
Although I was very pleased with the game and I am looking to explore it much further, the person I really want to recommend it to is my 13-year old self: he would have just loved this game!
Anyway, I played the simple introductory scenario within the rules and had a very enjoyable quick game:

Four British soldiers approach from the North (top); the Germans have a sentry at the apex of the stone walls and a sentry outside the building

The Germans catch sight of the British and open fire

Grenadier Dorfel shoots superbly and kills the unfortunate British tommy after exchangin several shots

The British Corporal replies with his Sten, missing the German at the apex but hitting the sentry at the door

A closer view

The combined fire of the three British soldiers wounds the other German too

The British corporal takes one of the riflemen around the flank; whilst the other riflemen keeps observing the house

The British flanking movement runs into trouble as the German squad leader spots the lead riflemen and shoots him

The British corporal wins a shootout with the German NCO, then rushes up to the farm: the MG42 team have panicked and the cheery Corporal takes the two men prisoner

Game Notes:
I didn't encounter any particular problems with this game.  The only slight doubt I had was how cover and concealment worked.  The scenario notes stated that the allies started 2cm into the woods and that the two Germans outside of the house should take an in-sight test.  I deduced from this that troops can "see" 12cm into the woods.  So the Brits had to work quite far around the flank to avoid being seen from the house. This is a little different from typical skirmish rules. But overall, it was all pretty intuitive.
One crucial point is that there are a number of rules which make the game slightly more "movie" - basically the rules have "stars" who can cheat death and behave more heroically at will.  If I hadn't played with these rules then the Brit Corporal would have lost the firefight and the result of the encounter would have been the reverse.  But I can see that the rules would work equally well - although with a slightly different feel - if one just ignored these special powers.
For this test, I used 6mm figures on a 36cm x 36cm playing area(!), with measurments changed from inches into centimetres.  It worked fine.  Figures were a mixture of German GHQ 6mm and Baccus 6mm Brits, as is the building.  It took about 30 minutes to play, I think, but over half of that was me checking the rules.  I'd imagine this little vignette could be played out in less than 10 minutes once I am more familiar with the systems.