THE FPR GAME SYSTEM - (Fast Play Rules)

 Having gamed historical miniatures since about 1965, and for the most part together, we have noticed emerging trends at conventions like Historicon, Cold Wars, Bayou Wars, Recon and Hurricon, to name the major ones.  There are fewer “big battles” with 1000 to 1600 figures on a table that take 6 to 8 hours to complete – if a conclusion can even be reached!  Even threads on the Internet strongly suggest that many local clubs, both large and small, no longer play big, time consuming War Games.

            This has posed quite a dilemma for us in as much as over half of our 28/30mm wargame armies are in the “big” category.  Even though both of us are now retired and live 2-1/2 miles from each other here in New Orleans, we too have shied away from time consuming “big battles”.  But we were not going to give up on our large, wonderful armies that were painstakingly amassed through all these years.  There must be an answer.  We analyzed this puzzling phenomenon and after much crunching of our ancient brains we finally got it.  The Rules, stupid!

            After lengthy perusals of our own and other published rules that we have played or observed, and endless conversations with other gamers, we have determined that the maneuvering of our troops on the field of battle is the primary focus of all our table-top effort.  To close and defeat the enemy is what we all strive for in a game.  Whether we game using alternate, simultaneous or random move procedures and fire or settle close-combat by bases, individual figures, regiments or brigades, we all want decisive results for all our efforts in getting our troops where we want them when the action is critical.  Every other facet of activity on the table is irrelevant and should be as simple as possible.

            Like most gamers as we learned more facts about a historical period we instinctively added more detail to our game rules;  the result being more detailed, complex rules systems that took longer and longer to finish on the game table.  Let me cite just one example from our own past rules; you elect to Charge an opponents unit with one of your own.  So first roll a die and consult a Leadership probability table to see if said unit will react. Then roll movement dice to see how far the unit can move.  You take a defensive volley, mark casualties and check Morale, you may fall back.  If you made contact you check to see if you actually Close and if your opponent Stands.  If so, a hand-to-hand combat will take place.

            So, to save time on incidental table top actions and concentrate on the essence of maneuver, we have taken a drastic course for our gaming.  Our new approach, considering the above example, is an elegant simplicity; merely roll movement dice for distance.  If you make contact, a Close Combat ensues.  If not no Combat takes place.  By one simple roll of some dice, leadership, discipline, training, unit morale and terrain irregularities, to name a few considerations, have all been addressed with no more consulting of endless probability tables and dice roll results.  Let the dice decide what happened on the table, not endless, verbose paragraphs of rules.

            The last approach in our madness is to settle the final, decisive, table-top actions with what we call, “The Close Combat”.  Simply fight all the units involved, roll some D6’s and get an instant result.  The losing side falls back, all casualties are removed, one simple Rally roll for losing units (they Rally or leave the table!) and the next game turn commences.  Depending upon the number of players and the size of the armies involved, we have cut game time almost in half and our beloved “big” armies can once again take to the field.  And our 15 to 20 page game rules of battles past are now 6 to 9 pages.

Play Games, Have Fun !!

Larry Brom and George Carr Sr.
May 2007