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Author Topic: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?  (Read 2352 times)

Offline NickNascati

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Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« on: December 10, 2019, 11:39:48 PM »
All,
     I just watched a fascinating documentary on the demise of the Neanderthal and their interaction with more modern humans.  What rules are out there that handle skirmishes between tribes of 6 - 12 figures?  Hunting could be a side thing, but tribal action should be the main focus.  I want simple rules.

                                                                            Nick

Offline LeadAsbestos

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2019, 12:19:48 AM »
Tribal: Primeval would be my first choice. Uses the standard Tribal rules, then adds a nice selection of Prehistoric elements/options to give it the right flavor. Great stuff, and very versatile.

Offline NickNascati

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2019, 12:32:16 AM »
What can you tell me about it, complexity, etc.?  I'm looking for simple rules.

Offline LeadAsbestos

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2019, 12:42:12 AM »
IIRC, 5 man squads for troops broken up by weapon, long, short, or ranged, with multi-wound heroes/leaders as their own units. All actions, combat and movement, are made with a standard deck of playing cards. No dice at all.
Games are fought over honour. a point system that is used to do morale, 'army' building, and victory conditions all in one.
Super simple, but lots of flavor based on period. I've played prehistorics, Norse, Maya, and Trojan War battles all pretty effectively.
« Last Edit: December 11, 2019, 12:44:51 AM by LeadAsbestos »

Offline LeadAsbestos

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Offline von Lucky

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2019, 09:11:24 AM »
I second Tribal and its Primeval supplement. Simple yet versatile.
- Karsten

"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality."
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Offline zippyfusenet

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2019, 07:35:58 PM »
Nick, I admit that I bought a copy of Tribal and haven't played it. My impression is that it would be best to have more than 6-12 figures per side for an interesting game. Again, I haven't actually played the rules. The pdf is inexpensive enough to buy on speculation.

For simple rules with 6-12 per side, take a look at Ganesha Games Song of Drums and Tomahawks. The rules are written for North American frontier skirmishing in the 18th century, but could easily be adapted to paleolithic skirmishes. Eliminate muskets and bows, and pencil in thrown rocks and spears and/or spear throwers for short range missile weapons, it should work.
You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

Offline Elk101

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2019, 07:47:36 PM »
You have Fistful of Lead, don't you? Surely that's ideal?

Offline NickNascati

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2019, 10:06:38 PM »
Elk101,
            Yep, that was my first thought. 

Offline NickNascati

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2019, 10:08:15 PM »
Irv,
      Hmmn, I hadn’t thought of Drums and Tomahawks.  I guess that would work.  I think I still have it.

Offline von Lucky

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #10 on: December 13, 2019, 10:18:56 PM »
Nick, I admit that I bought a copy of Tribal and haven't played it. My impression is that it would be best to have more than 6-12 figures per side for an interesting game. Again, I haven't actually played the rules. The pdf is inexpensive enough to buy on speculation.

Correct, 12 miniatures is the minimum recommended for Tribal (1 Chief, 1 Hero and 2 units of five Warriors each). That said, the games are still pretty interesting once you add Skills and scenarios into the mix. Recommended upper limit is adding another 1-2 Heroes and 1-2 units of five Warriors each.

Offline NickNascati

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2019, 11:35:06 PM »
I have the pdfs of both, gifted by a friend.  12 figures seems like a lot to me for the type of warfare the rules portray.

Offline zippyfusenet

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #12 on: December 14, 2019, 02:43:31 AM »
12 figures seems like a lot to me for the type of warfare the rules portray.

I think that Tribal was originally oriented toward warfare among neolithic farmers, where war parties might range from a dozen men or more from a village up to a couple of hundred men for a major effort by a complex chiefdom. Whereas paleolithic hunter-gatherer bands would be much smaller; 6 to 12 fighting men from a band of 30 to 50 souls seems reasonable to me. I recently read an estimate that the entire population of ice age Europe from the Urals to the Atlantic may have been no more than a few thousand people. Tundra doesn't support many apex predators per hundreds of square miles.

Offline NickNascati

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Re: Prehistoric tribe versus tribe rules?
« Reply #13 on: December 14, 2019, 02:48:34 AM »
Yeah, I think Tribal is designed more for historical periods, it has examples for Maoris, Aztecs and Vikings.  So a bit beyond small village groups.