TheDesignofCombatPatrolTMOneMan’sWargameDevelopmentJourney

Part1©2015byJohnR.“Buck”Surdu

I have been developing a new skirmish gaming system for three years, postingoccasional notes andmusings on my blog (www.bucksurdu.com/blog). The rules wererecentlyreleasedunderthetitleCombatPatrolTM,usingtheG.A.M.E.R.TMsystem.AmakethedistinctionbetweenCombatPatrolTMtherulesandG.A.M.E.R.TMtheengine,becauseinthe future Iplantouse theengine forothersetsofrules. WhileCombatPatrolTM is theskirmishinstanceoftheG.A.M.E.R.TMsystem,andCombatPatrolTM:WWIIisspecificallytheWorldWarIIskirmishsystem,theremaybeinstancesoftheG.A.M.E.R.TMsystemforotherscalesofwargamingandotherhistoricalperiods.

Severalpeoplehavenotedthatithasbeeninterestingtofollowthedevelopmentofa set of rules from concept to finished product. In this series of postings, I will walkthroughmydevelopmentprocess,becauseitmaybeofinteresttoawideraudience.Iwillnot try to recap all the blog postings, but I will provide what I hope are interestinganecdotesaboutwargamedesign–andperhapsinterestyouinaforthcominggame.CombatPatrolTMisunique…

CombatPatrolTMisauniquedesignconceptforskirmishgaming.Nodiceareusedtoresolvecombat. Speciallyprintedcardsareusedtomanagetheactivationsequenceaswell as all combat results,movement, and morale.(Thiswillbefullyexplainedin a subsequent article.)When a figure fires, theplayer draws a card andlooks at a specific portionof the card to determinewhethertheshotwasahit.If so, he draws anothercard to determine whichfigure was hit, where hewashit,andtheseverityofthe wound. In two cardflips you determinewhethertheshothit,whichsoldier was hit, where thesoldier was hit, andwhetheranycoverprotectshim. It is very, very fast,and it involves no chartcards or table lookups and

Figure1:DungeonsandDragonsrepresentedtwodifferentschoolsofthoughtregardingthetreatmentofarmor.TheapproachtoarmorinD&Disliketheapproachtocoverin99%ofwargames.T&TandG.A.M.E.R.TMrepresentdifferentapproachestoarmorandcover,respectively.

veryfewmodifiers.Coveristreatedinauniqueway.Inthe“goldenage”whenwewerekidsandhadall

the time in theworld for gaming, after years of playingDungeonsandDragons my clubswitchedtoTunnelsandTrolls.Onereasonwasthewaymagicwashandled.Theotherwasthewayarmorwastreated.InD&D,armormadeitharderforyoutohitanadversary.InT&Twhenyouhitanadversary,hisarmorabsorbssomeofthehits,reducingthedamagescored on the opponent. Mathematically these two approaches can bemade equivalent,but there was something appealing about knowing that you received eight points ofdamagebutyourleatherjerkinabsorbedthreeofthem.

In theG.A.M.E.R.TMsystem, when a figure is hit, the cardmay include icons thatindicatesometypesofcover,suchaswoods,afoxhole,orabuilding.Whenhit,ifafigureisbehind cover that matches one of the icons on the card, the figure merely ducks backwithout being wounded. Cover matters, but you don’t have to remember or look up abunch of plusses and minuses to your to-hit die roll. For a skirmish game, I find itappealingthatyouknowyouwerehit,butthattreeorwallprotectedyou.

The cards also manage movement, hand-to-hand combat, opportunity fire, andmorale. Thesemechanicshave thebenefitof eliminating chartsand tableswhilegreatlyspeeding play. Because the mechanics are unique, new players sometimes have somedifficultywrapping theirheadsaround it at first,but theyareusually self sufficientafterjust a couple of turns – as long as they don’t try to fight it. To help players with themechanics, I created a short video that can be found on the rules’ Web page:http://www.bucksurdu.com/Buck_Surdu/Combat_Patrol.html

Inthebeginning…

I began miniatureswargaming with the AmericanCivil War using Rally ‘Round theFlagbyS.CraigTaylor.Fewrulessystems since thenhave achievedthesamebalanceoffidelity(a.k.a.,realism) and simplicity. Manyyears later I began gamingWWIIskirmish as a low-intimidationway of introducing miniatureswargaming to new prospects. Atthe time (early 1980’s) thecommon school of thought wasthat “realism” required lots ofdetail, intricate mechanics, andreamsofcharts.Aftersixyearsofdevelopment (and discarding twocompletesystemsalongtheway)Ideveloped Beer and PretzelsSkirmish. While those rules are

Figure2:Rally'roundtheFlagwasanearlyinfluenceonme.TheSwordandtheFlamepioneeredtheuseofcardstoresolveactivationandcombatresults.BeerandPretzelsSkirmishwasmyfirstpublishedsetofrulesforWorldWarII.

notnewandshiny,therearemanyuniquemechanicsandinterestingaspectsofthoserulesthatreallystandthetestoftime.

So why would I design another set ofWWII skirmish rules? Partly I was neverhappywiththeclutteroforderchipsonthetable inBeerandPretzelsSkirmish. But thatmechanism was at the heart of those rules, and subsequent attempts to bolt anotheractivationsystem to those rulesproveddissatisfying tome. Partly, Ihadother ideas forgamedesignthat Iwantedtotry. Mostpeople inmyfamily live intotheir90’sbutdon’trememberthe last fiveorsixyears. Iusegamedesignasawaytotrytokeepthe juicesflowingandstaveoffdementia–perhapsit’stoolate.Finally,Iwantedsomethingthatwaseven faster than Beer and Pretzels Skirmish for multi-player gamers. While Beer andPretzelsSkirmishwasdesignedforplayerstocontroloneortwosquads,ourgaminggroupfrequentlyranextravaganzagameswithtwentyormoreplayers.Whetheritwasrunningoutofideasforscenariosorthefactthatwewerepushingthoserulesoutsidetheirdesignenvelope, Ibecame increasinglydissatisfiedwithgamesusingBeerandPretzelsSkirmish.So,G.A.M.E.R.TMwasborn.

G.A.M.E.R.TMwasdesignedtobeareasonablesimulationofsmallunitcombatwithenoughsophisticationtokeepitinterestingaftermanygames.Yes,Iknowwe’veallheardclaimsof “simplebut realistic”many times. G.A.M.E.R.TMusesacard-drivenmechanic toresolve most combat and morale situations. Once players get their heads around thisuniquesystem,gamesflowveryquickly.Figureshavecustomizableattributes,whichallowplayerstodialupthelevelofcomplexitytotheirtasteswhileallowingotherstokeepthegamesimpleandnimble.

SinceLarryBrom’sgroundbreakingTheSwordandtheFlame,manydesignershaveused card-based activation mechanisms to control the flow of wargames. In the Look,Sarge,NoChartsseriesofrules,wetookthatmechanismtothenextlevel,mitigatingmanyof the down sides of card-driven activationwhile retaining the goodness. Inspired by anavalgamefromtheearly80s,calledSeaStrike,Iwantedtousecardstodomorethanjustcontroltheflow;Iwantedtousethecardstoresolvemostoftheactionsaswell.

SeaStrikeusedanIGO-UGOactivationmechanism,butratherthandiceandcharts,combat was resolved with a deck of cards that were divided into five areas, the fourcorners and a center circle.Depending on what kind ofcombat action you weretrying toresolve,you lookedinadifferentpartofthecardfortheresults.Youmightbelookingforatorpedosymbol,redX,orsomethingelse.Theconcept was quite good;however, when you startedadding optional rules,different symbols on thecards took on multiplemeanings, so it was difficultto remember where to lookand how to interpret the

Figure3:SeaStrikefeaturedanumberofinnovativemechanics,includingtheuseofcards,ratherthandiceandcharts,toresolvecombateffects.

resultsunlessyouplayedfrequently.Theideaofusingcardsformorethanjustactivationstuckwithme.

Years later, I began todevelopa setof rules for skirmishactions in theAmericanCivil War. I built custom cards that were divided into several segments. Rather thanlookingforfacecards,blackcards,andredcardstodeterminetheeffectofahitlikeinTheSwordand theFlame, instead you flipped one of these cards and looked in the shootingsection,meleesection,moralesection,etc.todeterminetheeffects.Therulesdidn’treallypanout,andIeventuallydiscardedthem.(Asagamedesignerdon’tbeafraidtoadmitthatsomething isn’tworkinganddecided to startover!) Though these rulesdidn’twork, formany years and through many other design processes (see www.bucksurdu.com forinformation about themany games I’ve designed), I kept thinking about using cards formorethanactivation.TheLook,Sarge,NoChartsLegacy…

Severalyearsago,withsomebuddies,IembarkedonajourneytodevelopasetofWWIIbattalion-levelrulesthatwasnotsimplisticbutwouldflow.Iwastiredofgamesthatwere supposed to be aboutmaneuverwarfare, but I couldwalk by the table after threehours of play and nothing seemed to havemoved. Still, I didn’twant it to be a kind ofbubblegumrules. Aftersixyearsofdevelopment–anddiscarding twopreviousdesigns,wereleasedLook,Sarge,NoCharts:WorldWarTwo.Thereismoreinformationaboutthison my Web page, so I won’t elaborate. While they never achieved widespread use oracceptance,Ibelievetheserulesarereallyelegantandsmooth.LSNCfeaturesacard-basedDouble-RandomTM activation mechanism, really elegant spotting rules, and some otherinterestingmechanics. Small labelsonthebackofeachbaseeliminatetheneedfor largeletter- or A4-sized chart cards littering the table. (The biggest – and certainly valid –criticismof these ruleshasbeen theaesthetics-spoiling labels, but I think theyhave lessimpacton the lookofa table than largechart cards.) While Ididn’toriginally setout todesignasetofrulesthathadnochartcards, part way through thedevelopment process, when mostmechanics worked without a chartcard, it became a challenge toeliminatethem. A pet peeve of mine is whenthe level of abstraction in a game isinconsistent.Iftheplayerissupposedto be a battalion commander, heshould make battalion commanderdecisions, not decidingwhich type ofround a loader is shoving in thebreach of a tank gun or whichdirection the turret is pointing.Battalion commanders fight withplatoons; squad leaders and tankcommanders make those kinds of

Figure4:ThecurrentfamilyofrulesusingtheLook,Sarge,NoChartsmechanics.Whilelargelyoverlookedwithinthecommunity,theyfeatureanumberofinnovativemechanicstospeedplayandeliminatetheneedforchartcardsonthetable.

decisions.Indevelopingruleswithoutchartcards,Ihadtothinkverycarefullyaboutwhatreallymatteredinthegame.Withoutchartcards,thereislittleroomonalabelforalotofinformation,sotherewasnoroomfordozensofmodifierstodierolls. Inplaytesting,playerstriedtodragustoaddmodifiersandspecialcases.Usuallythis isbecause in theheatof a game, theyare looking foramodifier thatprovides themsomesmalladvantageonthetabletop. In thenextplaytest theywilloftenargueexactlytheoppositepoint. Mypersonalopinionisthatifyouseemodifiersthathavelessthana5%impactontheoutcomeofanevent,thegamedesignerisdeludinghimself.WedoNOThave thatkindof resolutionandknowledgeabout combatphenomenology. The randomdierollaccountsformostofthosespecialcases.Goodgamedesignmeansthinkingreallyhardaboutthosefewthingsspecifictoaparticularhistoricalperiodthatareimportanttodrivingplayerstoappropriate,period-specifictactics. Myjobduringdevelopmentwastoresistthetemptationtogunkupthegamebyprovidingtheillusionoffidelity.Anaside… Letmewanderoff the reservation a bit todiscuss fidelity versus resolution. Thefalsedilemmaoftenposedon-lineissimulationvs.game.Isay“falsedilemma,”becauseallwargamesaresimulations. Theyvarywithrespecttotheirfidelityandresolution. Inthesimulationprofession,resolutiondealswiththelevelofdetail.Forinstance,Icansimulatea battalion as a single (battalion) entity, company entities, platoon entities, individualsoldiers and vehicles, or even simulate the individual vehicles as a series of subsystems,likepropulsion,firecontrol,armor,etc.Noneoftheseapproacheswillnecessarilyachieveadifferentaveragesimulationresultaftermanyiterations;however,theyvarygreatlywithrespect to resolution or detail. Fidelity refers to the accuracy of the result fora specificpurpose. Ingamingfidelitydealswithhowwellthesimulationreflectsthoseaspectsofasimulationthedesigneristryingtoemphasize.Agoodmetricoffidelityiswhetherperiod-specific tactics are rewarded by the rules. Fidelity and resolution are independent andorthogonal variables. It is possible to have a high resolution, high fidelity simulation aswellasahighresolution,lowfidelitysimulation.Similarly,low-resolutionsimulationscanhaveeitherhighorlowfidelity,dependingonwhichaspectsofahistoricalperiodyouaretryingrepresent.Byreallythinkingaboutmygamedesign,Ihavetriedtodeveloplow-tomediumresolutionandhighfidelity. Now,backontheranch…

Likemanyelegantthings,theyseemself-evidentoncesomeonecreatesthem.ManyhavenotappreciatedthetimeandeffortthatwentintothedevelopmentoftheLook,Sargefamilyofrulesandthedebatesoverwhetheraparticularmodifierorspecialcasematteredandifsothebestwaytorepresentthatinawaythatisconsistentwiththerestofthegamedesign. Similarly many will not appreciate the time and effort that has gone into thedevelopmentofthecard-basedsysteminG.A.M.E.R.TM.First,Idevelopedchartsandtablesthat had the probabilities of different results that I wanted. Then each table had to bedeconstructedanddistributedacross50cardssothatplayersneednotrememberabunchofmodifiersorconsultabunchoftables. Theresultofmostactionsisclearlyprintedonthe card – once players understand how to read the cards. There are no dice, because

flippingacardisessentiallyrollingadie,lookinguptheresultonatable,andshowingtheresultonthecard.

Aswithallmydesigns,Istartedoutwithasetofgoals–conceptsthatIwantedtoensure thegamerepresented. Since theworld certainly isn’t shortofhigh-qualityWWIIskirmish rules,whatwas I trying to achievewithG.A.M.E.R.TM? Theseweremyoriginalgoals:

• Iwantedrateanddistributionof fire tobe realistic. It isverydifficult fora teamleader to ensure that four men aren’t all firing at the same target, yet in manyskirmishgames,theplayercansnipeatthefigureshewouldliketohit.Inallofmydesigns,Itrytoeliminatethissniping–exceptforrealsnipersofcourse.

• Asdescribedearlier,Iwantedcovertoberepresentedexplicitly.Ifawallprotectedthe figure, I wanted the player to know that, not merely that the aggregate ofmodifiersresultedinamiss.

• Iwantednearmissestocausefigurestobesuppressedorstunned.Comingwithinaninchortwoofdeathhasthateffectonmostpeople.

• I wanted the game to flow. I was okay with unique mechanics if the gameprogressedquickly.

• Thegameneededtoscale.Igenerallyrungameswithsixormoreplayers.Ididnotwantmostoftheplayerswatchingoneplayerperformingactions.Iwantthegametoworkwithmanyplayerswithoutboggingdown.

• Ididnotwanttherulestobeclearlybiasedtowardonenationoranother.Thebiasofmanygamedesignersisoftenquiteevidentingamedesigns.

• Thismay seem trivial, but Iwanted the difference between bolt-action and semi-automaticrifles toberepresentedproperly. Backwhen Iwasacadet, thenMajorAlphin recorded a series of short films (seehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irG1Q2hW2LI) about different weapons. Icannot find the one that really stuckwithme on-line, but therewas a video thatcomparedthefirepowerofaWehrmachtandUSsquadinWWII. WhatstuckwithmewashowmuchmorefirepowertheGarandgavetheUSsquadthananynation’sbolt-actionrifle–eventakingintoaccountthedifferenceinmachinegunsandotherequipment.

Notethathavingnochartswasnotagoal. Similarly,acard-basedmechanicforresolvingcombatandothergameeffectswasnotagoal.(OnmyblogyouwillseethatIamtinkeringwithadice-progressionmechanicthatislookingforagame,butingeneral,IstartwiththegamegoalsandseekordevelopwhatIthinkarethemostappropriatemechanics.)

DuringdevelopmentIworkeddiligentlytobetruetothoseinitialgoals,andIthinkI’vemoreorlessachievedthem.Otheraspectsoftherulessometimeshadtobendtomakesurethatthemaindesigngoalsweremet.SothereareaspectsoftherulesthatIreallylike,andthereotheraspectswithwhichIamlesspleased.Ihopethatyouenjoythegameforwhatitismeanttobe:afunwaytorepresentsmallunitactionsinWWIIthatisreasonablyaccurateandreasonablyeasytoplay.

Andafinalwordfortoday…

Finally,IhavetosaythattheserulesweredesignedforME.Whensettingoutonthismulti-yearjourney,Ihadnointentionofpublishingthegame.Wehadjustfinishedathree-year rulesdevelopmentprocess forBearYourselvesValiantly, andwewere talkingaboutanothermajorundertaking: thedevelopmentof thenext set in theseries fornear-futurescience fiction. I havebecome increasinglydisheartenedby theon-line crowdof criticsandsockpuppetswhodecidewhatarethe“coolrules,”howquicklythrowntogetherruleswiththrillingeyecandyoftengetalltheattention,rulesthatareobviouslydesignedtobedisposable after a year or two, and reviewers who have not played the game they arereviewing – even once. In the gap between these development efforts I wanted a smallprojectthatwouldn’trequirealotofadditionalresearchandwouldbefunformybuddiesandmetoplayfromtimetotime. Intheendthis“smallproject”tookthreeyears. IwassurprisedatthepositiveresponsetotheruleswhenIfinallytookthempublic.

I call itCombat PatrolTM: WWII because throughout the development process, Ihad it in the back of mymind to apply this system to other historical periods, such assciencefictionskirmishes.Indeed,beforeIhadevenfinisheddevelopment,membersofmygaminggroupwerealreadyapplyingittoperiodsliketheWarof1812andtheNapoleonicWars.Thebasicsystemhasproventobeprettyadaptable.

Inthenext installmentofthisserializedarticleIwill talkabouttheearlystagesof

thedesignofG.A.M.E.R.TM.