Let's Talk: Fantasy Games Combat Systems

Lots of board games out there with fantasy settings. Lots of complaints or praise about how different ones use combat. Usually it seems combat is either too simple in a game and thus boring or its too complex and then considered tedious. Where is the goldilocks zone here? What fantasy games do combat perfectly?

I lovr the combat system for Titan. Each unit has a specific number of dice they roll and depending on the creature they're attacking what number is needed to make a hit. Each unit has two numbers on their chit: their attack/health value (# of dice rolled) and the second one its maximum movement allowance. When multiplied together it gives you the overall power of a creature. There is a "To Hit" chart but it is pretty straight forward and after a few games is no longer needed.

For example I have a Centaur (3/4) attacking an Ogre (6/2) and as you can see they have the same overall power (12). The difference is that the Cen will hit the Ogr for every 2 rolled on 3 dice. The Ogr on the other hand will hit the Cen for every 6 it rolls on 6 dice. Hits do not reduce the number of dice rolling so combat resolution is pretty quick (though the whole battle takes a bit of time).

I don't know if I'd call it "perfect," but I really like the Fate Deck in Runewars and the fact that it simulates a CRT. Using cards also means everyone's on equal footing as far as probabilities go, rather than one player losing because they roll poorly that game. That being said, I'm tempted to try the d20 variant combat variant the next time we play to see if it's worth the time saved to switch to a less-predictable method.

I like Runewars as well. I find it very simple and surprisingly fast to run through combat and I especially like how brutal it can be which is nicely balanced by how easy it is to recruit and move new troops. I'm also really enjoy the ability to use diplomacy to win over neutral units instead of fighting them. There's a lot of clever things going on in that game.

I know it's an RPG but I always liked the GURPS system. I loved that you could target the head or any body part you wanted to and I liked that you could describe pretty much exactly what you want to do and the GM would just come up with a difficulty for it. It made combat a lot more fun than normal.. I once saw someone kick a guys head clean off... it was two big rolls but he made them both and that's all it takes.

Cutthroat Caverns has a great system too as far as a simple card game is concerned. I like the quick back and forth of the system and I really liked that only the final kill gets points for anything.. which is a throwback to old D&D but a fun one that is used really well and has a huge impact on the game.

I think the HeroScape combat is pretty great (along with the other games that use variants of that system like Gears of War and X-wing). Attack dice vs. defense joined with easy to grok but varied powers for characters/units that enhance gameplay. It's a little tired by now but it's simple and intuitive and it just works.

Awesome idea for a thread. I'm still pretty new to gaming, but I know I love ones with some good combat.
I'm no expert with combat systems but I've always liked Descent 2nd ed.'s system. It's very intuitive for a dungeon crawler/rpg style game. I didn't really play D&D 4th but I think it's kind of that idea of grid combat. Works great as a board game, maybe not so much as an rpg.

World of Warcraft: the board game has a great combat system. It makes you feel that you activate combos, make tactical choices about which abilities to use when, and the huge amount of dice gives you a sense of really kicking ass. But it's also overly procedural, a bit long and not the least very hard to follow for the other players.

The combat system in Runebound also makes for rather long combat sessions where you don't always get what the other players are actually doing. But the good thing is that you can say your target number out loud and then roll your dice for all to see. And the three rounds of combat results in an ongoing tension since you always have one of the three your are better at or one you really don't want to fail. It also has a decision then luck-structure which I prefer. Doing stuff with your dice afterwards (as you do in WoW:tBG and Descent) is a cool thing, but it reduces intensity and makes your result not be immedately recognisable as good or bad. On the other hand having a bad result you can then manipulate into something potentially good (for instance by using rerolls granted by dice) can be a lot of fun.

Another great combat system is the one from Chaos in the Old World. Hitting on 4-6 is nothing special, but the exploding sixes are such a wonderful thing.

An interesting one is Magic Realm. No one has really ever run with the fundamental genius of the speed/heaviness movement chits as health/attacks and streamlined it. If it were less overhead, I think a version of that system could be my favorite fantasy battle system. It creates distinctions between fighting styles extremely well.

Gary Sax wrote: An interesting one is Magic Realm. No one has really ever run with the fundamental genius of the speed/heaviness movement chits as health/attacks and streamlined it. If it were less overhead, I think a version of that system could be my favorite fantasy battle system. It creates distinctions between fighting styles extremely well.

Yeah, I still couldn't full grasp it. When I thought I understood it I would conduct combat using the digital version (can't remember it name right now) and get different results than what I thought I would. Traded it off for Star Wars Epic Duels as it would see far more play with the Nephew than Magic Realm.

Nothing *really* good so far. They are still very gamey and do not encourage "real" combat behavior (what/however it is).

There should be less focus fire (when dealing with multiple enemies), wounded figures should be less effective, etc, etc.

Dr. Mabuse wrote:

Gary Sax wrote: An interesting one is Magic Realm. No one has really ever run with the fundamental genius of the speed/heaviness movement chits as health/attacks and streamlined it. If it were less overhead, I think a version of that system could be my favorite fantasy battle system. It creates distinctions between fighting styles extremely well.

Yeah, I still couldn't full grasp it. When I thought I understood it I would conduct combat using the digital version (can't remember it name right now) and get different results than what I thought I would. Traded it off for Star Wars Epic Duels as it would see far more play with the Nephew than Magic Realm.

Yeah, it's too complex once you introduce multiple person combat. But the fundamentals are, in my mind, so much more thematic and reflective of a brutal fantasy fight than adding or subtracting dice to hit or wound or whatever. In fact, this inspired me to write up a mechanic review... it deserves it.

I always really enjoyed the combat in Tomb. I loved rolling tons of dice.

Can't beat the classic.

It's not a fantasy game, but Marvel Heroes has my favorite combat system to date. Each hero/mastermind villain has three attacks and minions have 1-2 attacks, rated yellow, orange and red. Characters have three stats, strength, speed and outwit. Each attack is sort of aligned with a stat. In combat players secretly choose which attack they are going to use and then roll dice. It sort of combines "rock, paper, scissors" with dice. It's fantastic.

If we're including RPGs I love the combat in Dungeon Crawl Classics. It's simple, but a lot of fun and really encourages players to role play their attacks with descriptions. It's got lots of cool crit charts too.

metalface13 wrote: It's not a fantasy game, but Marvel Heroes has my favorite combat system to date. Each hero/mastermind villain has three attacks and minions have 1-2 attacks, rated yellow, orange and red. Characters have three stats, strength, speed and outwit. Each attack is sort of aligned with a stat. In combat players secretly choose which attack they are going to use and then roll dice. It sort of combines "rock, paper, scissors" with dice. It's fantastic.

Yes, metalface, yes. Love that combat system. Revealing what power you're using against a villain's is so full of narrative that you could envision the battle as it unfolds.