Printer Paper Tabletop

[sp]

I've been messing around with various ways to try to hybridize the simplicity of Battle Board set-up with the tactical complexity of a full tabletop-minis-rulers game.

I think I've got my thoughts far enough along that they're fit for human consumption and critique:

Printer Paper Tabletop

Not super-complex... it's basically printing out a six-by-six grid on a sheet of paper, drawing a map on top, and using that to play with tabletop rules, more or less.

But there's pictures!

Let me know what you think, or if someone else has already done this concept, and better!

[atomicfloozy]

THW's Fortunes Won & Lost did something similar in the way that PEFs & minis moved through sections on the tabletop. You could move from the edge of a section to the center of the section & from a center of a section to a section edge in any direction including diagonals. It really sped the game up.

[davidlhsl]

I love the way you've illustrated your system at your website. I've done something similar in Microsoft Excel, except that I've broken each section into smaller 3 x 3 sections instead of 2 x 2 that you're using where each cell/square = 4" x 4". You could use 3/4" squares to fit the entire field onto a sheet of paper. I've used your same method for handling diagonals - 1.5.

If you look at the pictures I've posted in this thread: twohourwargames.proboards.com/thread/1100/travellin-verse

The second picture on my first post shows something I created where I play in half scale: 1" = 2". My third post shows where I use battle mats using the same half scale.

When using these methods, I love to revert to the more classic THW rules with the more detailed reaction tables (man down, received fire, recover from duck back, etc.).

[sp]

Just checked that thread out and love the set-up!



Also, it does seem that dividing each major grid into 3x3 lines up with most THW measurements better (1 grid as a 4"/6"diagonal vs. a 6"/9" diagonal). Though in theory I like the idea of a larger-than-one-inch "base" square so that a 28mm mini on a 25mm base would fit in one of them... then again, I use 15mm based on US pennies, so they would certainly fit in the smaller squares.

Now I'm imagining a "choose-your-own-adventure" style scenario book. Spiral-bound. Miniaturized map on one side of the DPS, mission rules on the other (or double-page map for bigger ones)... Play on the book with mini rules, on the book as a 3-by-3 grid of battleboards, on the book as a single battleboard, or use the mini-map to build your table with terrain... then if you win, turn to the mission on page 12. Lose, turn to the mission on page 7. Got this objective but not these ones? That's on p. 15.

Probably, such a thing already exists.

[jgregory]

This calls to mind Peter Pig's grid based games like P.B.I and The Men of Company 'B' - they use tables that are divided in 6x6" squares that are used for movement and weapon range (often by just having a dot where each grid line would intersect on the mat).

A lot of those guys build their terrain pieces on 6x6 or 6x12 bases and use them as tiles that fill the grid.

[sp]

I've seen (but never played) those games, and wondered if that concept started with the terrain tiles? Like, "I'm already building these modular tiles for tabletop set-up... why not just use their boundaries to simplify ranging and movement?"

For my personal taste, if I'm going to set up a full-size tabletop, I want the granularity that measuring-tape movement and ranging gets me, but either way, it's fun to see how there are so many ways to play essentially the same rulesets, based on your taste, time, and space available, and get essentially the same (or "close enough") end results while drastically altering the "play experience."

Also, since I'm now philosophically rambling, I'm realizing I've only been back into PLAYING RPGs and wargames for about a year after a nearly 25-year hiatus. I started out long ago with Avalon Hill hex games and Star Fleet Battles on the one hand, and Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun 2nd & 3rd edition on the other. So I keep thinking things like "What do you mean counting ranges and looking up damage tables are too crunchy? This system is STREAMLINED!" and "Here's my cool new idea... oh! You mean you've already been doing that in a more elegant way?"

Either way, it's cool to have a variety of options and opinions to pick and choose from!

[davidlhsl]

Feb 26, 2023 14:16:30 GMT sp said:

Either way, it's cool to have a variety of options and opinions to pick and choose from!

Actually, you can have it all if you wanted. I like to think of the different ways of playing (tabletop, battle board, quick play) as each being appropriate for different things going on in your story. Back when the rules were only tabletop, you had to set up a table in Six Gun Sound to travel into town. You then had to place three PEFs and then travel through all nine sections before exiting the table. This is something that's best handled by resolving the PEFs one at a time, then going to the battle board during combat. You didn't really need the table. This allows you to move more quickly through the story.

But then you might get to a set-piece battle, such as stopping a bank robbery in progress. Here you'd want to set up a table -- whether as an actual table with terrain pieces, or playing on a map board divided into squares/hexes with the bank layout drawn on it, and using dice with the Rep number face-up to proxy for characters. Then you'd play with the classic reaction system.

[Ed the Two Hour Wargames Guy]

Exactly as you outline it. That's, what I've been working on with THW.