World War Risus - Part II

Welcome back, soldier.

Here we're going to talk about using the cliches in a game. Think of this as a working draft, rulings not rules, etc.

(this is the second part of a mini mini- series)

Using the Cliches

General note:

In order to keep things moving, especially since I almost always play solo, rather than summing up cliche dice when they are rolled, I opted to count 5s and 6s (this idea is borrowed from Risus Skirmish, but also lines up with more traditional wargames). 

A 5 or 6 is a "success."

Let's start with the easiest use of cliches (as in, easiest for me to decide upon). Please note, this is out of order in relation to some concepts - don't worry, in the end, I'll make it all nice and neat and presentable.

Ranged Combat:

The attacker must have Line of Sight (LOS) to the target.  Units have line of site to the far side of a terrain object but not through one. Other units, friendly and non-friendly, block LOS. (Pretty much taken from Risus Skirmish, which I believe gets this from Crossfire)

Roll the Combat Effectiveness cliche (CE) of the attacker adding weapons modifier dice if any.

The target rolls their CE + cover modifier (if any) + armor modifier (if any)

Compare successes, if the defender wins or it's a tie, the target then rolls its Morale cliche:

• If no successes, it is forced back 1 move and is pinned.
• If 1 or more success it carries on normally

If the attacker has more successes, the defender loses 1 die from its CE cliche, regardless of how many successes the attacker rolled - which is pretty much inline with standard Risus.

The target then rolls its Morale cliche:

• If no successes, it loses 1 die from its Morale cliche, is forced back 1 move and is pinned.
• If 1 success, forced back 1 move and pinned.
• If 2 or more successes, carries on normally.

Shooting Modifiers (infantry):

• +1 - better weapons - MMG/Lt Mortar
• +2 - HMG, Artillery, Flame Throwers, Infantry anti-tank weapons

Defensive modfiers:

• +1 - Concealing cover - woods, rough ground 
• +2 - Heavy cover - building, ruins, thick woods, etc. 

Optional, and recommended, rules: The above work OK, but they can take some time to play out even a small combat. The rules below speed things up considerably.

If the shooting unit exceeds the target's successes by 2 or more then the target loses 2 CE dice. This makes some weapons, like HMGs and artillery, much more dangerous.

Also, one thing I've noticed in my play testing thus far has been the general lack of impact of the Morale cliche, so, if the shooting unit's total exceeds the target's successes by 2 or more then the target automatically loses 1 die from its Morale cliche (and then uses the new value to roll its Morale cliche test as above).

Melee:

****This is in need of more testing but here it is for now****

Occurs when two opposing units are in base to base contact.

In order to move into melee, the active unit must score at least one success by rolling its Morale cliche. If failed, no movement occurs and no further actions can be taken this turn.

If a unit is being charged, it also rolls its Morale cliche dice and if no success, falls back one move.

If contact is made, Treat as a normal Risus combat between two characters, using the CE cliche of both sides. There are no modifiers for cover for either side. 

The losing side is removed from the table(CE is 0. In a campaign game, there may be survivors, they may have fled, etc. In a one-off, dead dead dead.)

Wounds/Damage/Loss of Morale:

If a unit reaches a CE of 0 dice  it is no longer combat effective. It may be that everyone is dead, or just a few are, or that they're exhausted from the experience, shell shocked, etc. It is removed from the table

If a unit reaches a Morale cliche of 0, the unit will flee the field or surrender.

Cliche Dice Recovery

Unlike in Risus, units do not automatically gain all of their cliche dice back when the combat ends. This is a wargame and, generally speaking, the whole thing is a series of combats. 

CE dice represent permanent loss for the duration of the battle, with the following exception: if the winner of a melee lost any CE dice during the melee, they may regain 1 CE die at the end of the turn (as opposed to just the melee).

Morale dice can be regained if a unit leader spends an action rallying the unit. (Spends an action? You'll have to wait until next time)


Recovering Morale Dice

Roll the Leader's cliche dice, if they have any success, increase the Morale cliche by one die, not to exceed the value the unit began the battle with.

Optional rule:
Roll the Leader cliche vs the unit's Morale cliche. If the Leader cliche scores more successes, the unit gains back 1 Morale die, not to exceed the value the unit began the battle with.

Or, use the optional rule above, but allow a unit to increase its morale beyond the value it began the battle with to allow for a truly motivational leader.


Next Time, the thing that gave me fits but I think I have resolved to my satisfaction: Activation.