Two Hour Wargames has just upgraded its Chain Reaction rules. Chain Reaction are a set of sample rules to show you how THW titles are played. Although THW titles range from wargames to roleplaying games, they all have one thing in common; no Game Master is needed. You can play each of the games single player, same side, or even head to head.
Here is some sample game play from CR 2018:
While the previous version of CR used a 3 x 3 map for its games, CR 2018 uses a Battle Board, which is an 8"x 10" board. This can be anything from a printed out map to an ordinary sheet of paper. You can even buy a set of Battle Boards from THW.
Unfortunately, my printer ran low on ink, so I couldn't print out the Battle Board that came with the game and instead threw together a board from some game tiles.
My group of soldiers are ready for battle.
Since there's no game master to tell you what's going on, games use Encounters to give you an objective. I'm playing a Raid, in which my soldiers are attacking the enemy. The details can be anything I wish. In my case, my troops are livid after the enemy hijacked a shipment of bathroom supplies that we were expecting. And if there's one thing I learned, it's never to come between a killing machine and his loofah!
Here's the game board. It's a little bigger than an 8x10, but it does the job. Since the enemy is defending, they'll be placed in the building.
In THW titles, your enemy is created using PEFs, or Possible Enemy Forces. These create a sense of uncertainty for your adventures. Maybe we'll encounter nothing at all, or maybe we'll face an entire army!
With the 3x3 game maps, PEFs would be placed in random positions, but for the Battle Board, you simply resolve them one at a time. When one resolves as Contact, you place the opponents on the board.
The first PEF resolves as "Something is out there!" Nothing appears right away, but my troops see movement in the building and know for sure that it's not empty. This increases the chance of a later PEF resolving successfully.
Sure enough, this one resolves as contact. Rolling for how many, versus my group of 4 results in 6 enemies. Rolling for Who are they results in Mercenaries. Someone paid these guys to steal our loofahs. I bet they're holding them hostage in that building!
Now, I line everyone up for battle. Normally, your Star (the character you control) is in the center and lined up with the enemy leader, but I forgot about this and instead lined them up on the side. The numbers on the dice represent the characters' Reputation (or Rep). Rep represents your character's experience, combat skill, health, and (depending on the game) non-combat ability. Each character also carries certain weapons and has attributes based on their classes. My troops, who are Military, get a bonus when shooting. The Mercenaries get a bonus when rolling on the Action table (which determines who moves first).
Despite their bonus, we win on the Action table and go first, with my character starting.
My Star goes first and opens fire on the enemy leader (2 shots) and the soldier closes to him (1 shot). I kill the leader and incapacitate the soldier.
The next soldier in my group opens fire, missing twice on the enemy before scoring a vicious hit with the third shot.
My third solider scores a hit, but it results in Duck Back, meaning the enemy soldier ducks behind cover, ending his turn if he hasn't acted yet.
My final soldier shoots at the two remaining opponents, causing one to Duck Back and missing the last one. The last soldier, meanwhile, is now able to return fire, and he causes my soldier to duck back.
He now attempts to shoot again at the same soldier, but luckily he scores another duck back result.
Now that this round is over, we roll for Will to Fight. This is a morale test taken by any side that loses troops. Since they lost teammates, the two opponents have to take the test.
And they fail, resulting in one opponent fleeing and leaving only one to deal with.
Now it's our turn again.
I let the closest soldier in my group open fire and he scores a direct hit, dropping the last mercenary and ending combat.
But wait, that was only the second PEF and we're supposed to have 3 . . .
Whew! Lucked out as nothing else appeared. We win the encounter and my team goes home knowing their loofahs now safe and sound!
This is a sample of game play that you'll find in other THW titles. In most games, you'll have a wealth of other options. Not all encounters will end in combat. Sometimes, your group will simply wander the town and chat up the bars. Or maybe they'll stop in and gamble a bit. but don't drop your guard because a possible brawl is always around the corner! Other encounters have you defending your group against an enemy attack; possibly a burglary or a fight on equal ground.
In addition, different games give your characters more options. Maybe they're not soldiers. Maybe they're knights defending the kingdom from enemy bands or monsters. Maybe they're pilots flying space ships across the galaxy. Or maybe they're just average Joes trying to get through a normal day . . . until the zombies attack! More character classes, attributes, and skills allow you to create all types of characters.
Want to keep playing your same characters? Most THW titles include campaign rules where your characters get stronger and more skilled as they progress. Or they might lose a skill if games end badly.
THE titles cover all sorts of eras. Talomir Tales cover fantasy worlds of warriors, wizards, and monsters. 5150 covers the future, with space ships and laser guns. Nuts covers World War II, with supplements and rules to let you play every inch of the war. And All Things Zombies covers, well, guess!
But if you want to try out the THW rules first, check out Chain Reaction, which you can download for free, at www.twohourwargames.com.
Chain Reaction rules can be found here:
Happy gaming and hope your characters survive!
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