A New Black Powder Skirmish Game

[Ahistorian]

What, another? Yes! But this one fits on two sides of A4 and was written by a LAFer.

Midst Battle's Din at the Wargame Vault

Midst Battle's Din is a skirmish game for 10-50 models a side, designed for the period 1745-1856. Recreate the battles for North America, Sharpe's adventures, the fall of the Alamo and the Spanish Americas, the Sikh Wars, the Wild West and more with your own cast of heroes and masses of minions! Though not designed to cover the period explicitly, the game also works for the later 19th century - for instance the ACW, the Prussian Wars and the colonial conflicts of various European empires.

The game has an initiative-based activation system with an element of risk, and elegant firign and melee mechanics that resolve the entire attack using just one roll of two six-sided dice. The "Panic" based morale system integrates personal and force level morale to produces believable results with no book-keeping.

The rules as written are for models from 15mm to 28mm - halving or doubling ranges will give good games in smaller or larger scales. An average-sized game takes about an hour, and large games can still be finished in an evening. If you are playing a large game, you may want to get a few easily differentiated pairs of d6 to help move things along.

Wargames Illustrated's "Rulesmeister Mike" said: "It is easy to learn, has a good period feel, and, for a compact set of rules, gives the players a satisfying range of challenges and decisions." Get your copy now at a cheap, cheap price!

http://www.wargamevault.com/product/137450/Midst-Battles-Din?manufacturers_id=6623

[Emir of Askaristan]

Off to have a sniff.....

Mexicans vs Texians tomorrow night so these might be handy....!

[matakishi]

Looks interesting, how is it for multiplayer games?

[Ahistorian]

Emir, they should be perfect for that!

Matakishi - you could either do several players with their own forces and activations, or force players to share initiative points between them. Either way, it should be fine - as ever, it just means proportionally more downtime for everyone at the table. If you have decisive players though, a phase takes very little time.

[matakishi]

Thanks, I'll give it a go.

[Ahistorian]

Hurrah! I really like your website by the way, I'm constantly checking it out for terrain tips.

[Malamute]

Off to have a sniff.....

Mexicans vs Texians tomorrow night so these might be handy....!

Photos?

 

[Emir of Askaristan]

Photos?

 

Gimme a break.....it's not tomorrow yet here...!

[Malamute]

Gimme a break.....it's not tomorrow yet here...!

It's yesterday now!

[Ahistorian]

Excellent point! Pics please 

[Emir of Askaristan]

Actually you'll need to wait...we did LOTOW instead because one of our chaps brought along his fantastic western town....sorry!

Denied!

[Ahistorian]

Any pictures yet? 

[Emir of Askaristan]

I've been away on business so planning a game this week.
Just reading the rules now.

One question - in shooting, once hit, how do you determine what wounds? You say "the firing chart determines the range and difference required to kill with each weapon."

Difference between what - the original die score and targets toughness ??

[Ahistorian]

The difference between the two dice rolled together to resolve the shot. Toughness is solely for combat, because no amount of fancy bayonetwork is going to save you from a bullet!

So if you are a Good shot firing a musket at a target in the open 12" away, you need a total of 6+, with a difference of 3+ between the two dice - as we call it, 6s & 3s. Therefore 5+1=6 is a killing hit, but 6+6=12 only causes a Panic.

That misunderstanding is a great idea though! Can I use it for another ruleset?

[Emir of Askaristan]

Thanks for clearing that up. I spend most of my day writing and reading procedures and standards so sometimes get a little bit stuck on language!!

Of course you can use the idea, (though it's not really mine), as long as you send a copy when you're done!