Sixties' Spy Skirmish - Free Rules Which I Just Wrote

[The Worker]

Inspired by the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang range (Artizan and Copplestone) following a bout of playing No-One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M's Way, I sat down and bashed these rules out.

Have a gander, give me some feedback. I'd also like to see suggestions for Boss, Rogue Agent and Agent Abilities.

Above all - feel free to use these rules for your own mad creations! Just don't sell 'em on or else Rover will come and bring you to the frickin' laser sharks.

Sixties’ Spy Skirmishes – 28mm Fast Play Skirmish Rules
by
Patrick Cullen

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General Concept: simple, fast-play ‘beer ‘n’ crisps’ rules for spoof spy stories.

Inspiration: The Man From U.N.C.L.E, The Avengers, No-One Lives Forever 1 & 2, The Prisoner, Austin Powers, Modesty Blaize, Bond, that sort of thing.

Basic Rules:

Scales:

Time Scale: 1 turn = 30 seconds
Ground Scale: 1” = 6’(2 yards)

The Players:

The Criminal Mastermind:

This player is the GM. They are responsible for rules arbitration, character creation, scenario tomfoolery and evil laughter at (in)appropriate moments. If there are only two players, the Criminal Mastermind will control the Antagonists.

Protagonists:

These are the Agents, working for organisations such as MI6, the CIA, UNITY, and others. Ideally, each Agent will be controlled by a different player.

Antagonists:

Goons – expendable and dim guards.
Henchmen – slightly less expendable, slightly less dim.
Enemy or Rogue Agents – just as good as the Agents!
Lieutenants – clever and cunning, but undermined by their ‘helpful’ assistants.
The Boss – Superintelligent crime genii or cunning Eastern Bloc Generals!

All the Antagonists are controlled by one player – preferably not the Criminal Mastermind!

Character Profiles:

The Protagonists:

Each Agent has a profile that looks like this:

Agent Name   Cool: 6   Brains: 3   Brawn: 4
Special Abilities:   Crackshot (Pistol), Softly Softly, Debonair

Cool represents how calm and collected (and, well, cool) the Agent is. The higher the number, the less fazed they will be by the unexpected or a loss of Brawn. The lowest is 1, the highest is 10.

Brains represents the Agent’s intelligence and ability to operate equipment she or he is unfamiliar with, as well as linguistic abilities etc etc. Again, the higher the better, with 10 (a MENSA level genius) being the maximum.

Brawn is a representation of the Agent’s physical toughness and ability to keep moving and fighting. For every hit they take, Brawn is reduced by 1. The higher the better. Brawn ranges from 1 to 10. When an Agent’s Brawn is at 0, they are unconscious or dead – remove them from the board!

Special Abilities represent the different skills, training, and innate abilities an Agent has. Each Agent may select up to three Special Abilities from the following list:

Crackshot (Pistol): The Agent has trained extensively with all manner of pistols. The Agent may fire pistols at targets up to 8” (16 yards) away as if firing at Long Range.

Sex Appeal: The female Agent is remarkably attractive. They may approach Guards without Disturbing them, although they will not be allowed past the Guard.

Softly Softly: When the Agent moves within 5” of a Guard, the Guard must add one to his Disturbed roll.

Debonair: The male Agent is suave and sophisticated – any female Lieutenants must roll equal to or under their Cool to attack this Agent.

Ruthless: The Agent gives no quarter, and may add 1 to their melee score.

The Antagonists:

Goons, Henchmen and Lieutenants have similar profiles to Agents:

Name or Number   Cool: 4   Brains: 3   Brawn: 2

Goons may only have a maximum of 6 Cool, Brains or Brawn.
Henchmen may only have a maximum of 7 Cool, Brains or Brawn.
Lieutenants may only have a maximum of 8 Cool, Brains or Brawn.

Rogue or Enemy Agents have identical profiles to Agents, with access to the Rogue Agent Abilities (although they may only take two Abilities).

The Boss’s profile is again identical to Agents, and they may take up to three Boss Abilities.

Rogue Agent Abilities:

Boss Abilities:

Turn Sequence:

Movement Phase:
Check Alarm! Status.
If the Alarm has been raised:
Agents and Antagonists move in order of Brains score.
If the Alarm has not been raised:
Agents move in order of Brains score.
The Guards move, in order of Brains score.
Shooting Phase:
All shooting takes place in order of Cool score: lowest to highest.
Melee Phase:
All melees are simultaneous.
Turn End Phase:
Check if victory conditions have been met. If no – the game continues!

The Movement Phase:

Alarm!

At the start of the game, the Antagonist player must nominate 2+d6 Goons to be Guards.

Guards are then placed wherever the Antagonist player wishes, or as the Scenario dictates. The remainder of the Antagonists are placed in various rooms or corridors as static guards as dictated by the Scenario. Until the Alarm is raised, only the Guards may move.

Guards are either Static or Mobile – declare which as they’re deployed.

Static Guard Movement:
Each turn, roll a d6:
1-2: they turn to face directly away from their guard post and move 2” forwards. 
3: they turn 90 degrees to the left and move 3” forwards.
4: they turn 90 degrees to the right and move 3” forwards.
5-6: they stand still and do nothing this turn.

Static Guards may not move further than 5” from whatever they’re guarding (the post), even if Disturbed. If a move would take them further than 5” from their post, they turn round and move the remainder of their move towards their post.

Mobile Guard Movement:
Mobile Guards have a patrol pattern. This is a 15” straight line (that may follow corridors or go into and out of rooms) that they move up and down until they are Disturbed or the Alarm is raised.

Disturbing a Guard:

If an Agent moves at all within 5” (10 yards) of a Guard, roll a d6 and subtract 1 if the Agent has moved more than 5” this turn:

1: ALARM! ALARM! The Alarm is raised.
2: You there! The Guard turns to face the Agent. If the Agent is not fully obscured, the Alarm is raised.
3-4: What was that? The Guard stops, and listens. The Guard will not move next turn and gets -1 to his next Disturbed roll.
5: Is that you, Derek? The Guard stops and listens. The Guard will not move next turn.
6: It was nothing. The Guard dismisses the noise and carries on his move as normal.

Raising the Alarm:

Apart from Disturbing a Guard, the Alarm may be raised by:

Any Guard or Antagonist seeing a Guard or Antagonist be killed in their LOS
Shooting a non-silenced weapon
Shooting at, and missing, any figure
Attacking any figure in close combat and not killing them that turn
Using a vehicle or grenade

Movement on Foot:
All figures can move up to 15” (30 yards), or 20” (40 yards) if they declare they’re Running. The further (faster) you move, the more likely you’ll be spotted.

Vehicles:
Vehicles can move up to 40” (80 yards), although they can only make one turn of up to 90 degrees every 5” (10 yards). This can be stored up:

Example: Yuri Grigovitch, KGB Agent, has stolen a car. He floors the accelerator, driving some 20” (40 yards) before realising he’s forgotten the vital plans. He can make up to four 90 degree turns, so he turns 180 degrees and travels back to where he started, ending the car’s movement by turning a further 180 degrees so he can make his escape (again!) the next turn.

The Shooting Phase:

Firing a Weapon:

A figure can fire one weapon, or throw a grenade and fire one weapon, each turn if they so wish. You may shoot at anything you wish (yes, even the concrete and steel blast doors of Dr Steinhoff’s Super Secret Lair) that is within range and in line of sight. You may measure the range, although this must be done AFTER you declare a target.

Example: Agent 72 has worked her way into position to shoot the Gate Guard with her pistol. Lining up the shot, she realises she’s out of range and cannot shoot this turn.

Example: Agent 29, on the other hand, has the drop on the Guard with his silenced SMG. A quick glance tells him he’s easily in range, and he rattles off a burst from the hip. The Guard slumps to the floor...

Weapon Ranges:

Weapon range is an indication of the weapon’s effective range – that is to say, over what distance it can be used with a good chance of hitting your target.

Weapon   Short Range   Medium Range   Long Range
Pistol   0-2” (0-4 yds)   2-4” (4-8 yds)   4-5” (8-10 yds)
SMG   0-10” (0-20 yds)   10-30” (20-60 yds)   30-50” (60-100 yds)
Rifle, MG, etc   0-20” (0-40 yds)   20-100” (40-200 yds)   100-200” (2-400 yds)
Grenade   0-10” (0-20 yds)   n/a   n/a

Note that Grenades can (and should) be thrown round corners, into rooms, and so on!

If your target is out of range and your Agent has a Cool rating of less than 4, roll a d6. On a 1 they fire a shot anyway, alerting the enemy if they’re not already alerted.

Hitting Your Target:

Roll 1d6 and add your Cool rating. If you equal, or better, the score needed – you hit! However, even if modifiers mean the score you need is 1 or less, you must ALWAYS roll the dice as a 1 on a d6 is always a miss.

Basic To Hit Chart:

Weapon   Short Range   Medium Range   Long Range
Pistol          4                  6                  8
SMG         3                  5                  9
Rifle, MG, etc   4          5                  7
Grenade   Special – see below   n/a   n/a

A note on Grenades: They have a lethal radius of 10” (20 yards) – the same as their range! All figures within 10” of the grenade must roll a d6. On the roll of a 6, they survive. Otherwise, they have been hit.

Certain situations impose modifiers to the score needed. All modifiers are cumulative.

Example: Brian McMaster is firing at a Soviet soldier in Medium Range with his SMG. The soldier is mostly hidden behind a hard cover – a low wall (+2) – and has already fired at McMaster with his AK-47 this turn (+2). McMaster must now get at least 9 to hit the Soviet... and with his Cool of 6, he needs a 3 or more on that d6!

If the target is:
•   Up to 50% obscured by hard cover: +2
•   Up to 50% obscured by soft cover: +1
•   Running: +1
•   Firing at you that turn or the previous turn: +2
If you are:
•   Using a scope: -2
•   Running: +1
•   Stood still this turn: -1
•   Under fire from anyone this turn or the previous turn: +2 (cumulative with target firing at you)

Being Hit:

If an Agent, Rogue Agent, Lieutenant or Boss is hit, they lose a point of Brawn.

If a Goon is hit, they are removed from play.

The first time a Henchman is hit, halve their Brawn (rounding up). The second time, remove them from play.

Example: Agent Nutbrown is hit by a Goon’s bullet. He grunts, and his Brawn drops from 7 to 6.

Example: Goon # 3 has been shot by Agent 29. He falls to the ground, killed immediately.

Example: Henchman Xi-Yin Ho-No has been hit once this turn by Agent Archer, halving his Brawn of 5 to 3 (2.5 rounded up). He has the misfortune to be shot again by a different Agent, and this time he collapses: dead.

The Melee Phase:

Any figure can initiate a Melee with any other figure(s) by moving into base contact with them.

A Melee is fought as follows:

Each player rolls 1d6 and adds their Brawn score. They then compare scores:

No difference – Draw. The melee continues next turn, and the Alarm is raised.
Difference of 1-3 – Unh! The loser loses 1 point of Brawn (or halve their Brawn score if they’re Henchmen), and the Alarm is raised. Goons raise the Alarm as they die.
Difference of 4-6 – Oof! The loser is knocked unconscious for d6 turns. Lie the model face down. They may be killed if an enemy model moves into base contact and stays there for a full turn without doing anything else.
Difference of 7+ – Argh! The loser is killed. Yes, even Agents!

If a figure has a melee weapon (such as a sword, cosh, or can of CS gas), they may add 1 to their score.

The End Turn Phase:

Once every figure has moved, all firing has been resolved, and all melees have ended, the turn ends. At this stage, players must check that Victory Conditions have been met. If they have not, the game continues and a new turn begins.

Special Weapons and Additional Rules:

Grenade Types:

Fragmentation – as per the rules.
Gas – as per the rules, except that all figures within 10” are rendered unconscious for d6 turns. Lie them face down as per the Oof! Melee result.
Stun – as per the rules, except that all figures within 5” are blinded for d3 turns. During that time they may not move or shoot.

Silencers:

Silencers may be fitted to SMGs or pistols. They can then be fired without raising the Alarm – unless, of course, you fail to kill the target straight away!

Bodies:

When killed, rather than remove models from play, lie them face up where they fell. If the Alarm has not been raised, any Guard or Antagonist with LOS to the body will raise the Alarm in the next turn. To avoid this, Agents may drag bodies 5” a turn to a hiding place and dump them.

Taking Weapons:

Enemy or friendly weapons can be taken if: Dead bodies are searched by moving into base contact and staying there for a full turn, OR: the model carrying the weapon is knocked unconscious or killed in Melee.

A model may only carry two weapons of any kind at any one time. A model may carry any number of grenades in addition to his or her weapons.

CCTV:

In addition to Guards, if the Scenario allows it, or the players agree, the Antagonist player may place up d3+1 CCTV cameras anywhere on the board. These have a 45 degree field of vision, and any Protagonist that ends their move in view of the camera raises the Alarm.

Lockpicking, Security Terminals, Intelligence Gathering etc:

Agents may pick locks, operate security terminals, and so on, by spending a full turn engaged in the task. To see if they are successfull, they must roll equal to or under their Brains score on a d6. A 6 is always a failure.

If they fail, there is a chance that the Alarm will be raised – roll a d6; on a 1 the Alarm has been raised.

Civilians, Contractors, and Non-Combatants:

Sometimes there will be people in the mission area who are of no consequence. They move randomly (Roll two seperate d6. The first is the distance they move in inches, the second their direction: 1 – 12 o’ clock, 2 – 3 o’ clock, 3 – 6 o’ clock, 4 – 9 o’ clock, 5 – Protagonist choice, 6 – Antagonist choice). Civilians will raise the Alarm if they see dead bodies, fights, or Agents.

Civilians may be killed, but Agents will lose the game if they kill them deliberately.

[dinohunterpoa]

I've just found this thread; very nice rules for very fun games, CONGRATULATIONS!

[The Gray Ghost]

I'll have to give these a try