SIMPLE ABSTRACT WARGAME

Simple Abstract Wargame (SAW) is just what it sounds like - a wargame with simple rules and no clear definition of what game units are meant to represent. They could be tanks and army squads, giant robots, spaceships, or wizards and dragons. Use your imagination.

Required materials: one game map, two six-sided dice, and counters for the game units. Counters can be anything - coins, dice, and Monopoly figures all work fine - but each unit should be distinct from the others.

UNIT TRAITS

Units in SAW have five traits:

MOVEMENT is how many spaces a unit may move in one round.

EVASION represents how well a unit dodges enemy attacks.

ENDURANCE protects a unit from damage when hit by enemy attacks.

ACCURACY represents how easily a unit hits enemies.

DAMAGE represents how much damage a unit does when it hits an enemy.

CREATING UNITS

Each player begins the game with a number of units. In a fair game, all players will have the same number, but an experienced player may choose to give an advantage to a beginner. The number of units is up to the players.

Each unit is built using a number of points. A ten point unit is weak, a thirty point unit is strong, and a sixty point unit is a monster. The number of points in each unit is up to the players and need not be equal - if players have five units each, they could decide to each have one thirty-point unit, two twenty-point units, and two ten-point units.

Points are divided among the stats of the unit at the beginning of the game.

A twenty-point unit might look like this:

 Movement: 4
  Evasion: 4
Endurance: 4
 Accuracy: 4
   Damage: 4

Or this:

 Movement: 2
  Evasion: 0
Endurance: 8
 Accuracy: 4
   Damage: 6

Or any other combination that totals twenty. No trait can be less than zero.

Unit traits are kept secret from other players during the game, but players should be told the total points allocated to each unit at the beginning. Players are not obliged to reveal the total points of any unit that has taken damage, but must reveal whether the unit takes damage from any particular hit.

Finally, each unit should be given a name or designation to distinguish it from others.

PLAYING THE GAME

Combat occurs in turns. Each turn has four phases:

1. Plotting
2. Movement
3. Attack
4. Damage

Plotting

Turns begin with the plotting phase. Each player must decide where each of their units will move and what enemy units, if any, that they will attack. Once these decisions have been made for every unit, players write them down on a scrap of paper and place them on the map, face-down.

When all players are finished plotting, the scraps of paper are turned face-up so that everyone can see the plans.

Movement

After the plotting phase, all units move simultaneously according to what was plotted.

Attack

Attacks are resolved after all units have moved.

To resolve an attack:

a) The attacker rolls 2d6, adds his accuracy, and subtracts the range penalty.
b) The defender rolls 2d6 and adds his evasion.
c) If the attacker's result is greater than the defender's, then the attack hit. If the attacker's result is less than or equal to the defender's, the attack missed.

Range penalties are based on the distance to the target. By default, this is 1 point of penalty per 5 hexes of distance to the target:

Hex Distance Range Penalty

1 to 5 1

6 to 10 2

10 to 15 3

15 to 20 4

etc...

Hex Distance	Range Penalty
1 to 5	1
6 to 10	2
10 to 15	3
15 to 20	4
etc...

Players may agree to alter the range penalties if they are using a map that is unusually large or small.

If the attack hits, then:

a) The attacker rolls 2d6 and adds his damage.
b) The defender rolls 2d6 and adds his endurance.
c) Subtract the defender's roll from the attacker's to get the number of hit points taken by the defender. These will be taken during the damage phase.

Damage

On the damage phase, each unit must subtract all of the hit points taken during the turn from its traits. Where to allocate damage is entirely up the the player who owns the unit. Traits may not go below zero.

If all of the traits of a unit have been reduced to zero, that unit is destroyed and removed from the map.

ADVANCED RULES

The following rules are optional. Each adds more complexity to the game, but some players may find them fun.

Multiple Attacks

Some players may wish for their units to have multiple attacks per turn. This optional rule allows players to design multiple attacks for their units.

Attacks have two traits: accuracy and damage. Players who wish to have multiple attacks simply write down several independent pairs of accuracy and damage instead of just one. They then divide their points between the traits as usual.

This rule could be used in games where players want to limit the power of weapons. They could set a limit on the total (accuracy + damage) of any one attack while allowing players to have multiple. This would lead to players designing different weapons for different situations.

Coordinated Attacks

This optional rule allows multiple units to cooperate against an enemy. When two units coordinate their attacks, their accuracy and damage traits are added together and rolled as one attack. Range modifiers are subtracted for both weapons.

Note that the multiple units must agree to coordinate before the attack phase. Units do not get this bonus simply because their players plotted to attack the same enemy independently. The desire to coordinate must be indicated in the attack plan.

This rule makes weaker units capable of harming stronger ones by working in tandem.

Variable Traits

This optional rule allows players to vary the amount of points in their traits during play.

During the plotting phase of each turn, players may re-allocate any remaining points in a unit to any of its traits. A unit under siege by multiple attackers could put all of its points into evasion and endurance, while a unit at a safe distance could put all of its points into accuracy.

Point allocations are kept secret during play, but must be recorded so that they can be revealed after the game is over.

Using this rule makes the multiple attack option superfluous. Since players can place their points anywhere they wish in the middle of play, they can choose to allocate points to one, two, or ten attacks at will.

Obstacles and Terrain

Some players may want to have more complex maps than an open arena. This option allows games with various types of map hexes. Some could cost two, three, or ten points of movement to cross rather than the normal one point, while others might be completely impassable. These areas must be indicated on the map in some way - players should not be surprised to find that their units can't move in a direction they had planned to go.

This option also allows certain areas of the map to carry greater range penalties than the normal -1 per hex. These areas may correspond to areas of more difficult movement, but they don't have to.