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Wargame Rules for Weird World War II (and related)

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Westfalia Chris:
Hiya folks!

This is kind of an experiment. As moderator of the WWW board, I suggested that we introduce sticky topics to the various thematic boards in which we can then collect questions and, more importantly, answers :mrgreen: pertaining to rules for the respective period. Such threads pop up from time to time, and while the frequency here on LAF is as of now rather low, it may spiral out of control.

Thus, it might be useful to collect references to existing rule sets in a single, handy thread. Of course, you may still open new threads for rule development and the like, but if you have found or written a ruleset you wish to recommend, please add it to this sticky.

Generally, I donŽt really want to go all rules-lawyery considering what and how to write. IŽd like those "in the know" (IE with a working knowledge of rulesets) to write some posts in this topic describing their rules of choice, maybe with a short description of the fluff (if existent), a very cursory rundown on the scale and rules mechanisms topics and, if available, links for purchase or download, if your post is on a modification for existing, non-WWW rules.

I reserve the right to perform some formal editing, for example in obvious cases of rules violations (particularly the Swastika thing).

Now, IŽd be happy if you could contribute.

Cheers!

Weird WWII:
As many of you know I have been doing this Weird WWII for a long time and I have fashioned my own rule set called, Battleground Weird WWII. 

The reason I wrote all this stuff was because I wanted to put my love of pulp, comics, grindhouse and horror in my WWII gaming.  The rules depict realistic combat on the tabletop from digging foxholes to fighting in the vacuum of space and with mechanics like the Skill and Gut Check you can perform limited roleplay to add more depth and character to your battles.  So if you want a game in which realistic tactics can be performed on the same battlefield as Captain America and Nazi walkers, then are the rules for you. 

If you are interested check out my site for more info. (weirdwwii.com)

Brian

KeyanSark:
There are several interesting rulesets out there:

First of all, for Weird Skirmish Games: AE-WWII
http://www.darksondesigns.com

Another ruleset that will be well known soon is Secrets of the Third Reich
http://secretsofthethirdreich.com/forums/index.php

Don't forget about the WWW suplement of Rattrap: Amazing War Stories
http://www.rattrap-productions.com/

Verdammnis, a ruleset to play with the Gotterdamerung line of miniatures
http://verdammnis.free.fr

Gear Krieg: a classic from Dream Pod 9
http://www.dp9.com/Worlds/GK.htm

And Geheimkrieg, with a solo zombie ruleset avaliable
http://www.blease.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/WG.geheimkrieg.html

Lowtardog:
Occult Wars
http://www.occultwars.com/

While not strictly Weird War 2 it covers all manner of beasties and heroes which can be used. Very good character generation too and nifty game mechanics, Skirmish level with an RPG feel to them

winterborn:
Okay, i'll have a crack at talking about AE-WWII.

First off, the background. The differences in the Core Rulebook and the Real World spring from three incidents. Firstly, the Tunguska event in Siberia has led to usable psychic powers developing in the Soviet Union. Secondly, Nikola Tesla was recruited by the US Govt to come up with tech for them, and Thirdly, an alien spaceship crashed in Poland, and that is one reason why Germany invaded, to recover it.

These differences have led to a series of different events in AE-WWII, i.e. Normandy failing, Turkey joining the Axis and invading British Palestine, Iraq and Persia, etc... All are believable when taken in context, nothing stretches credibility beyond the basic premise, for which we have all taken our pills of suspension of disbelief.

Each of the listed factions have special troops based on the Incident referred to above. The Soviet Union has a number of psi-active units and weapons, including the cool chimp-human hybrids Chumans. The psi-units are truly deadly when used correctly, they can effectively ignore armour or cover, providing an invaluable weapon.

The US units are based off the high tech weapons and ideas developed by Nikola Tesla. They have things like death-rays, robots, powered armour, and jet packs. Very cool. (My faction of choice)

The Germans have hideous abominations developed from the genetic information and techniques they extracted from the ships wreckage. Cloned mecha-apes on combat drugs, giant uber-soldats with a panzerfaust in each hand, fire-spewing pyromaniacs and others. Awesome stuff and dangerous as hell, though primarily in close combat.

Each faction also has its own regular units, like Airborne and GIs for the US, Wehrmacht and Volksturm for the Germans, and Red Guard and Conscripts for the Soviets. Units are available to create complete platoons, though that would get a bit complicated to actually play, see later.

The miniatures are 'true' 28mm, and so will look somewhat smaller and skinnier than many other ranges, but they are some of the best sculpted and detailed minis i have ever owned in my 17 years as a wargamer. (oh god, 17 years. I cannot recommend the minis high enough, the only issue is that some of the minis are very fiddly, and require a reasonable degree of modeling skill. Not all miniatures are available for every unit yet, but they are coming.

The rules are simple without being simplistic, while being quite fun. They also require you to think about everything. The higher your experience level the more actions you get, and you need to keep in mind what your less-experienced troops will be doing down the track, or you risk having your forces out-maneuvered. Leadership, or Drive in AE terms, is key to a successful battle. Drive is lost due to casualties and other actions, and once it drops to zero, that unit is broken and fleeing. Losing other units can cause a drop in Drive, so dont throw anyone away, there are no cannon fodder in AE. Weapon ranges are very short, perhaps too short, but anyone used to Evil Empire ranges wont notice anything, and it just ensures that you must maneuver and engage the enemy, no just sitting at the back and dakka-dakka'ing the enemy.

Playing more than two detachments, up to twenty odd minis a side, would get rather complicated, but the Darkson guys are looking into that. Check out Over the Wire, their magazine.

Army selection is pointless, in a good way. There are no points, you simply select units to fill the slots in a detachment. There are restrictions of course, but there are many, many options, and i am having great fun figuring out what detachments to field.

Basically, AE-WWII is a great game, with simple but fun and engaging rules that make you think and plan. The minis and fluff are excellent, and the guys at Darkson answer questions on the forum quickly. My first question is already in the official errate, (yay im finally published  8) )

One of the coolest things, is that it is highly customizable, and I for one have already posted some rules for other units to the forum. With the number of possible hero units and hero templates, there are a huge number of possible combinations. And with your opponents permission, use some of the other factions hero templates, and OSS Agent with Assassin, or Politruk with Movie Star would be cool.

Go out and buy it, or at least try out the Quick Start rules on the website.

Website: http://darksondesigns.com/
Forums: http://darksondesigns.proboards21.com/
Quick Start Rules: http://darksondesigns.com/files/AEQSR_1.3.pdf
Over the Wire: http://darksondesigns.com/files/AEWWII_OTW_1.pdf

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