Is it possible to get a list of well tested combat systems with pro's and con's for each system?
I need a combat system for my game, and I'm not sure which way to go, but I would like to both keep it fairly simple, but also reasonably low on luck. (Luck may play a factor, but it should not be all-deciding. I do NOT want to see an elite unit get pounded into the ground by an utterly green one.)
Thank you.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "well tested". Do you mean "has appeared in a good game", or "has appeared in several good games"?
If you do a forum search on "combat systems", no doubt you'll get a lot of hits, as this is a subject of perennial interest. Not sure if one of those posts provides the "all in one place" kind of distillation you're looking for.
In my opinion, the games most worth looking at for having interesting combat resolution mechanics are Dune, Wallenstein, Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation, Samurai Swords, War of the Ring, and Risk. But, I'm sure there are many other great systems as well; those are just the best of the games that I'm aware of.
Hope this helps,
Jeff
In my opinion, the games most worth looking at for having interesting combat resolution mechanics are Dune, Wallenstein, Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation, Samurai Swords, War of the Ring, and Risk.
- Seth
Eidt: How could I forget? A very different combat mechanic is featured in All For One (shameless plug), which you can read about in these boards - it's a sort of voting system, where players 'vote' for who they want to win the fight, but they are restricted by the cards in thir hand which they might want to use for something else. Admittedly, this only works if players have a vested interest in one or the other side winning the fight, so in a 1-on-1 combat it wouldn't be any good.
Also consider A Game of Thrones. The rulebook can be downloaded from Fantasy Flight Games, and you can probably find summaries in the reviews on BGG.
Have a look at this list on boardgamegeek:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listid=165
It talks about different games that have interesting or representative combat systems
How could I forget? A very different combat mechanic is featured in All For One (shameless plug), which you can read about in these boards - it's a sort of voting system, where players 'vote' for who they want to win the fight, but they are restricted by the cards in thir hand which they might want to use for something else. Admittedly, this only works if players have a vested interest in one or the other side winning the fight, so in a 1-on-1 combat it wouldn't be any good.
Actually this could work well for two players as it adds a degree of hand management, where the hand management costs must not only be weighed against the threat/value of any given battle, but also to the long term strength of the hand for future battles (of varying degrees of threat/value). Of course what we're really talking about here then is a blind bidding system...
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Thank you. Several of these games, I actually own myself, and I've played quite a bit of A Game of Thrones, and now that I think of it, yes, that could be a fairly good approach to it.