The Abstract Skirmish System is a simple tactical game. Abstract means that there is no clear definition of what the game units are meant to represent. They could be tanks and army squads, giant robots, spaceships, or wizards and dragons. Use your imagination. Skirmish means that it is designed for battles between individual units and small groups rather than large-scale warfare.
Required materials: two six-sided dice and a deck of Unit Trait cards for each player. There are five types of Unit Trait cards: Initiative, Accuracy, Evasion, Damage, and Endurance. The more units each player controls, the more cards the deck will need.
CREATING UNITS
Each player begins the game with a number of "slots." These will be equal in a fair game, but an experienced player may choose to give an advantage to a beginner. The number of slots is up to the players.
Slots represent the power of a unit. An average unit has ten slots. A twenty slot unit is strong. Units with thirty or more slots are monstrous.
Players may divide their beginning slots amongst as many or as few units as they like, subject only to whatever guidelines were agreed upon by the players before the game. For example: the players may want to have a large skirmish with sixty slots each, but do not want anyone to have a single unit of such monstrous proportions. Players could agree beforehand to limit any one unit to ten or twenty slots regardless of the total number.
Each unit should be given a name or designation to distinguish it from others.
PLAYING THE GAME
Combat occurs in turns. Each turn has two phases:
1. Decision
2. Action
DECISION
Turns begin with the Decision phase. At this point, the players must decide which Trait cards to assign to the slots in each unit.
Units have five Traits:
INITIATIVE determines which units go first on a combat round.
ACCURACY represents how easily a unit hits enemies with attacks.
EVASION represents how well a unit dodges enemy attacks.
DAMAGE represents how much damage a unit does when it hits an enemy.
ENDURANCE protects a unit from damage when hit by enemy attacks.
The level of a unit Trait is determined by the number of cards of that Trait assigned to slots in the unit for the round.
Example: Bob and Fred both have units of 10 slots. On turn one, they assign traits to their units.
Bob likes to cover his bases. He decides to assign Trait cards to his unit's slots in equal numbers. This gives him the following:
| Slot # | Trait Card |
|---|---|
| 1 | INIT |
| 2 | INIT |
| 3 | ACC |
| 4 | ACC |
| 5 | EV |
| 6 | EV |
| 7 | DMG |
| 8 | DMG |
| 9 | END |
| 10 | END |
This assignment gives his unit the following structure for the round:
| Trait | Level |
|---|---|
| INIT | 2 |
| ACC | 2 |
| EV | 2 |
| DMG | 2 |
| END | 2 |
Fred, on the other hand, just wants to get in the first shot. To this end, he puts his effort toward Initiative, Accuracy, and Damage:
| Slot # | Trait Card |
|---|---|
| 1 | INIT |
| 2 | INIT |
| 3 | INIT |
| 4 | ACC |
| 5 | ACC |
| 6 | ACC |
| 7 | DMG |
| 8 | DMG |
| 9 | DMG |
| 10 | DMG |
This assignment gives his unit the following structure for the round:
| Trait | Level |
|---|---|
| INIT | 3 |
| ACC | 3 |
| EV | 0 |
| DMG | 4 |
| END | 0 |
The cards assigned to slots are kept secret (face-down) until all players have finished plotting for each of their units. At this point, cards are revealed and the turn proceeds to the Action phase.
Note: the slot numbers are not important. The order in which Trait cards are assigned does not matter. All that matters is the total number of each type of Trait card assigned to the unit.
ACTION
Dice are rolled during the action phase. Every die roll in the game is the same:
| 2d6 + Trait |
High rolls are always better than low rolls.
When the Action phase begins, players roll Initiative for each of their units. Make a note of the numbers rolled for each unit - units attack in order of Initiative, from highest to lowest.
Attacks are resolved as follows:
1) The attacking unit rolls its Accuracy.
2) The defender rolls its Evasion.
3) 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.
If the attack hits, then:
1) The attacking unit rolls its Damage.
2) The defender rolls its Endurance.
3) Subtract the defender's roll from the attacker's to get the number of hits taken
by the defender. Each hit removes one slot from the damaged unit.
Note to wiseguy math geeks: getting a negative result when rolling Damage vs Endurance does not give the defender extra slots. Negative results count as zero.
When a unit reaches zero slots, it is destroyed.
OPTIONAL RULES
Multiple Attacks
Units may attack multiple enemies in a single turn. The Accuracy and Damage assigned to the unit is simply divided between the enemies that the unit attacks. The division need not be equal.
Coordinated Attacks
Multiple units can cooperate in attacking a common enemy. When two units coordinate their attacks, their Accuracy and Damage traits are added together and rolled as one attack. This rule makes weaker units capable of harming stronger ones by working in tandem.
VICTORY
Victory is achieved when only one side of the conflict has units remaining.
Copyright 2002 by Joshua Morris