Using rules for a different period?

[Ivan Sorensen]

What are some cases where you have used a set of rules for a period they were not intended for?

[Usagitsuki]

I used WW2 aerial dogfight rules for 12th century mounted samurai skirmishes.

https://adcgaming.wordpress.com/2019/11/06/fighting-the-genpei-war-with-bag-the-hun/

Sengoku 'blog: https://tenkafubu608971038.wordpress.com

[Mike Headden]

I took part in a Midway 1942 game using Battlefleet Gothic rules. Worked surprisingly well.

There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

[Punkrabbitt]

I use Ravensfeast for Pre-Colombian skirmishes and have made a sci-fi adaptation for it, but we haven’t played that one yet.

Please visit my OSR products for sale at
www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/17194/Punkrabbitt-Publishing

[Whirlwind]

Warhammer 40K for Vietnam.

[MartinR]

AK47 for WW1, SCW, WW2 and Biblical Chariot Warfare. They are very versatile rules!

My One Hour WW2 variant of Neil Thomas’s rules is based on his Ancient set.

 

"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke

[Sane Max]

‘AK47 for WW2’
‘Black Powder’ and then ‘Hail Caesar’ for ECW until the ‘Pike and Shotte’ set came out.
‘Tractics’ for a ‘Girls Und Panzer’ game.

[Shaun Travers]

The (fairly obvious) using US Old West skirmish rules for SF skimish.

Also fairly easy, fantasy massed battle (with no historical equivalent) for ancient massed battlegames.

Using THW post-apocalytic car racing for a space economic-based game.  Was ok but not great.

[Patrice]

Ivan Sorensen wrote:

What are some cases where you have used a set of rules for a period they were not intended for?

Well, I spent and still spend a lot of time trying to adapt a set of (originally medieval) 1:1 skirmish rules to more and more different periods… 😉

Usagitsuki wrote:

I used WW2 aerial dogfight rules for 12th century mounted samurai skirmishes.

Very surprising, congratulations, thanks for the article.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[bobm]

Graham Evans To Ur is Human rules work well for early medieval with a few mods.

There's 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.....

[Ivan Sorensen]

A long time ago, there was a blog with a gent running Napoleonic scenarios using the original 40K rules (which had stats for muskets) to prove a point about the scenario mattering more than the rules. The blog appears to be long vanished though.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Thinking back, there were two conversions of the 3rd edition 40K rules for WW2. Warhammer Panzer Battles by Phil Yates and another called Warhammer WW2 that seems to have completely vanished. The rules would also be the basis for the Great War book from Warhammer Historical.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

Rules are basically a probability resolution system, with period specific chrome and alteration of engagement ranges, rates of march, command, lethality, etc. as needed.  you can say that all rules hearten back to the first wargaming rules (HG Wells? Fletcher Pratt?) with just adjustments.  40k is just a reskin of WH, which doesn’t look much different from Featherstone or Tony Bath.  Roll to hit, roll to save.  it’s not like crossbows are any less effective than Bolters in range or effect within the game.  Look at FFOL…. it’s all basically the same game despite which rule book you are using.  All that matters is plausibility of outcomes relative to the period recreated.

 

 

Mick Hayman
Margate and New Orleans

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

I used WW2 aerial dogfight rules for 12th century mounted samurai skirmishes.

 

I wonder when the last time a samurai had to worry about maintaining airspeed to avoid stalling, or had to dive to low altitude to escape a quick turning opponent in a dogfight.  Yeah, you can port the air game to the samurai, but i doubt it can go the other way! (and still look like air combat).  I would love to see a samurai do a tactical yo-yo!

Mick Hayman
Margate and New Orleans

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