Combat/Feudal Patrol

[MondayKnight]

I am thinking about changing over from several different rules sets to one comprehensive rules set that covers many of my miniature collections (Aztec, Dark Ages, Old West, WWII and Fantasy) and I am looking at the "Patrol" system.  Looking for some input, one way or another.

I am looking to run fun Beer/Pretzel games at my house plus larger convention games to use my lines of miniatures.   How long to run a game?  Do the card become redundant/predictable?  How good is the game at handling larger groups (4-6 players)


Thanks for any input you can give, W

[Lost Egg]

Ignore me...I got the wrong end of the stick and can't seem to delete my post...

[Chris Abbey]

To start off with, I need to let you know that I an not unbiased as I'm a friend of Bucks's and also the European distributor, but hopefully I can answer some questions and point you in the direction for some reviews etc.

The cards in Feudal / Combat / Albedo Patrol would never become redundant or predictable as they are the core component used for pretty much any action in the game including shooting, melee, movement and morale test.



A typical game lasts 2-3 hours.
Feudal / Combat / Albedo Patrol are designed to be played either solo, 2 player, or team play. Team play works particularly well with players commanding a couple of sections each. The games put on at conventions often have 3 or 4 players per side.

Feudal Patrol covers the period from Cavemen to Pikemen (roughly), i.e. the period where melee rather than shooting dominates. Combat Patrol focuses on WW2 but there are free to download supplements that cover Horse & Musket, Western Gunfight, Falklands War, Star Wars and much more. Albedo Combat Patrol covers Sci-Fi mainly in Albedo Universe, but could be used for any genre.

Intro rules can be downloaded for free, together with solo rules, supplements, player aid cards etc from: http://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/Combat-Patrol/Downloadss

Information about Feudal Patrol can be found here : http://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/Feudal-Patrol

There are a selection of battle reports you can read here : http://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/Combat-Patrol/Front-Line-Reporting

Wargames Illustrated did a great 5 minute video review here :

The Author Buck Surdu has a great web site about rules here : http://www.bucksurdu.com/combatpatrol/

Hope this helps.

[MondayKnight]

Thanks Chris!

I just wanted some input before pulling a $75 trigger for a new rules set.  But everyone I chat with says the same thing, so I am going with it!  I will be ordering Feudal from Sally 4th later today.

Thanks again! 

Oh, and unless I miss my guess, you have also been helping me with Wars of Ozz!  Something I am also looking at getting rolling this winter!

-Will

[Chris Abbey]

That's great. I am sure you will enjoy both games.
Buck Surdu wrote both sets of rules, and has done a great job.

[Morin84]

I am also big into the Combat and Feudal Patrol families of games.  Great systems (and I also am a friend of Buck's)

[NurgleHH]

I think Fistful of Lead is a good alternative. Fast and easy to learn. And with the basic rule set you can play a big range of periods. Maybe you have a look at Wiley Games. Here is the link: https://wiley-games.myshopify.com/

[Commander Carnage]

I would second the recommendation on the Fist Full of Lead series. It literally checks all the boxes you mentioned. Solid rules that my group has played for several years in many different periods.

[Malamute]

I am looking to run fun Beer/Pretzel games at my house plus larger convention games to use my lines of miniatures.   How long to run a game?  Do the card become redundant/predictable?  How good is the game at handling larger groups (4-6 players)


Thanks for any input you can give, W

To suggest an alternative that has already been mentioned Fistful of Lead is perfect for your needs. The core rule book covers all the periods you mentioned. A perfect beer and Pretzels game.

[Chris Abbey]

Just a quick update to let you know that we have shipped out pre-orders and Feudal Patrol is now on general release from Sally 4th and On Military Matters and Noble Knight in the USA.

There are lots of links to reviews, videos, downloads etc on Feudal Patrol page @

http://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/Feudal-Patrol

[Munindk]

Yet another vote for Fistful of Lead.

It was built for convention games, so its very easy to pick up, and it can handle up to 8 players without issue.

There's a Bigger Battles rules where you each player controls a number of units, as opposed to the other versions where each player controls a number of individual models (4-9'ish model, depending on how you build your team).

Oshiro games stocks the physical books in the UK, in the states you can buy directly from Wiley games.
There's cheap PDFs available and more titles in the works, including a medieval book and a fantasy book.

If you own a deck of cards and some 10 and 8 sided dice, you can get startet with the core book PDF for $7.

And I'm not sponsored by Wiley games

[Tibson]

The Patrol series has some really interesting mechanics.  Coincidentally, I just watched Buck's Feudal Patrol demo video from his site earlier today.  The thing that keeps me from pulling the trigger is watching the video examples and seeing what seems to be a never-ending sequence of card pulls.  It feels like a lot of "mechanics", even though no individual step seems all that difficult.  There are certainly no lack of available skirmish games, so if you can't find something to your taste, you're probably not looking hard enough

[Chris Abbey]

The card mechanism actually speeds up the game dramatically, it is the same as a dice roll followed by a look up the result in a table in the rulebook combined into one simple action. For shooting for example you flip a card to see if you hit then flip a card to see who got hit, whether cover saved them and how badly they were hit.

[surdu]

There are a number of Combat Patrol(TM) vidoes on YouTube as well as Feudal Patrol(TM) videos.  When we are allowed to have shows again, I would encourage you to give the game a try.  I run them at a number of US shows, and Sally 4th demonstrates them at many of the UK and European shows.