Alternate, 'simplified' combat in AM?

[larsdangly]

Does anyone use the alternate, simplified combat system in the back of Advanced Melee? I always thought it was a waste of page count, but perhaps someone out there got something out of it? Would SJG like to comment on whether or not it will be retained?

[Rick_Smith]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

Does anyone use the alternate, simplified combat system in the back of Advanced Melee? I always thought it was a waste of page count, but perhaps someone out there got something out of it? Would SJG like to comment on whether or not it will be retained?

Hi all, larsdangly.
I fairly often run large or huge battles, and used those rules, altho it has evolved at my table. Basically, the more people on the map, the more I insist that NPC actions become simpler. In very large fights, all PC's go first, then I sweep across the map regardless of DX order.

However, I will shed no tears if the section is dropped.

Warm regards, Rick.

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

Does anyone use the alternate, simplified combat system in the back of Advanced Melee?

Yes Lars. I use it for two things:

1. When testing the play-balance of a planned combat encounter for GM'd play.
2. When playing solo while sandboxing with random generation tables.

I find it serves me well, because unlike the regular combat system where everything happens sequentially, in the Quick Combat System all attacks happen simultaneously, so it helps me get around that uncomfortable feeling of trying to play Chess against myself (which is what soloing the regular full combat system feels like to me), and gets me to the net result quickly, and without feeling like I may have not tried hard enough for the opposition force; in other words, it keeps me honest.

Perhaps you might not feel it was a waste of space if the Quick Combat System had also been promoted for the benefits of solo-play and testing; as opposed to just faster with less detail; or alternately titled: Solo Combat System?

JK

[Chris Rice]

I never used these rules and suspect most others didn't either. Perhaps they could make way for more useful things and be reserved for a later supplement.

I do wonder if they were part of Steve's original conception or something that came from Howard Thompson.

[larsdangly]

I just don't think they are significantly simpler than the standard rules; that's why I don't understand why they are there. If I were the author, I'ld pull them out and replace them with something closer to a zippy skirmish or even mass combat system.

[Jim Kane]

So you said in your OP.

Besides the speedier resolution to a combat, in your playing of the Quick Combat System, what were your thoughts and conclusions regarding the simultaneous action the QCS is based-on, versus the sequential action of the regular combat system?

JK

[Skarg]

I and my main other TFT GM felt the quick combat system was mostly weird & pointless (by the time we considered it we were good at running TFT) because it did not seem to offer much if anything that really took us any appreciable amount of time to do using the full system. If anything, it seemed like it added complexity to remember the differences and to have to deal with the "it's all simultaneous" part.

Worse, it changes the rules so that the results will be rather different, ignoring facing and especially the part about simultaneous results. Normal TFT combat is largely about managing to take out enemies without getting hurt, and making everything "simultaneous" removes much of that. The negative effects seemed like too much to sacrifice, and for little/no gain.

I did try running some large battles with enitre sides or entire groups on one side acting at once as Rick suggested, but unless you're wanting an effect where there is a "better" side than smears weaker units, that seemed too lopsided to me (except if they'd mostly do that anyway because one group is all 29-33 points and the other is all 35-40 points).

(I have since developed some quick combat systems that I do like for some battles in GURPS, which I use just for the NPC vs NPC fighting that doesn't involve the players or known NPCs, and which focuses on trying not to have different outcomes from the full system, and which can actually be massively faster than actually the full (GURPS, which I'm really fast at anyway) system.)