I've been reading some reviews on In Harm's Way (Aces & Angels, Aces in Spades) and the aerial combat rules look amazing.

I'm wondering if these rules could be ported over to model melee combat.

The goal is to gain an advantage on your enemy through a series of maneuvers and deliver killing blows.

You can attempt a number of different maneuvers, more complex maneuvers require more energy pull off and with some of the more difficult maneuvers, a failed attempt could result in leaving you tired, demoralized, or exposed.

Let's say you go into combat with scores in adrenaline, stamina, and morale (or others I'm missing). These change over the course of combat depending on how successful you are and how long the fight lasts. How much armor you are carrying and the weight of your weapon, while offering more protection and dealing more damage, burns through your stamina faster.

Basically what I'm wanting to do is change the plane/pilot into a type of melee combatant. So type of plane = creature/class and pilot = skill/level.

Too much work? Interesting idea at all? Thoughts?

I wonder if Clash has seen this thread??

What do you think? I know you liked the system for aerial combat.

Quote from: vgunn;922537I've been reading some reviews on In Harm's Way (Aces & Angels, Aces in Spades) and the aerial combat rules look amazing.

I'm wondering if these rules could be ported over to model melee combat.

The goal is to gain an advantage on your enemy through a series of maneuvers and deliver killing blows.

That's how combat works in my homebrew system, so I obviously agree:).

QuoteYou can attempt a number of different maneuvers, more complex maneuvers require more energy pull off and with some of the more difficult maneuvers, a failed attempt could result in leaving you tired, demoralized, or exposed.

The only problem I see with that is balancing it, since your more difficult maneuvers might or might not require more stamina, but they require more skill.

QuoteLet's say you go into combat with scores in adrenaline, stamina, and morale (or others I'm missing). These change over the course of combat depending on how successful you are and how long the fight lasts. How much armor you are carrying and the weight of your weapon, while offering more protection and dealing more damage, burns through your stamina faster.

The other problem you might encounter is modelling the effects of adrenaline;).

Hi, Vgunn!

I have used this basic combat model for submarines, ground vehicles and mounted combat, so I think you should not have any problem modeling melee combat. It would be a matter of research more than anything - researching available maneuvers and the fail state for those maneuvers. To tell the truth, it doesn't matter what the maneuvers are or what the fail state is, just that they exist. The actual combat system is pretty much systemless and would be trivial to move to whatever system/mechanic you prefer. If I wasn't so uninterested in Fantasy games, I probably would have done it myself long ago.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;923065Hi, Vgunn!

I have used this basic combat model for submarines, ground vehicles and mounted combat, so I think you should not have any problem modeling melee combat. It would be a matter of research more than anything - researching available maneuvers and the fail state for those maneuvers. To tell the truth, it doesn't matter what the maneuvers are or what the fail state is, just that they exist. The actual combat system is pretty much systemless and would be trivial to move to whatever system/mechanic you prefer. If I wasn't so uninterested in Fantasy games, I probably would have done it myself long ago.

-clash

I'd like to point out that fantasy is far from the only genre that can benefit from a close combat system;).

Quote from: AsenRG;923076I'd like to point out that fantasy is far from the only genre that can benefit from a close combat system;).

When you have a system like this, AsenG, in my experience the game becomes ABOUT whatever the system does. I can't think of any game genres but fantasy/fantasyesque that are all about the melee combat.

Quote from: flyingmice;923082When you have a system like this, AsenG, in my experience the game becomes ABOUT whatever the system does. I can't think of any game genres but fantasy/fantasyesque that are all about the melee combat.

Martial arts stories in the present or future.
Historical swaschbuckling.
Modern low-level crime gangs in London or, even better, in Tokyo:).

Overall, it's best to remember that in many places on the globe, the amount of gun ownership seen in the USA today is seen as not fitting a country in peace. Furthermore, many of the guns in use aren't in decent condition, and the criminals using them haven't had much opportunity, if any, to practice.
So, a lot of countries today and in the future would easily fit for any genre but military or counter-terrorist action;).

Quote from: AsenRG;922937That's how combat works in my homebrew system, so I obviously agree:).

Can you give me a rundown on your system?

Quote from: vgunn;924225Can you give me a rundown on your system?

It's no secret, but it's far from finished. The basic structure is more or less clear, though:).
You don't have a "round", you have a "contact phase". You also have degrees of success.
First, you roll opposed rolls for who gains initial advantage. Enough degrees of success would allow you to skip some stages and go straight to hitting (though if you want that to be without a penalty, you really need a huge difference in the initial roll).
If not, one side has advantage, and initiative, and you're no in the "second stage" ("past initial contact") That side can start pressing it, by using manoeuvres to gain advantage.
The other side uses manoeuvres to nullify said advantage. Using the wrong manoeuvre can really screw you up, BTW. However, if you manage to win here, not only do you gain advantage, you can gain an opportunity for a clean shot. The more advantage you gained, the easier it gets to press it.
If you don't, whoever gained advantage last, has initiative and can press it (or even try and land a blow, but the farther away you were from obtaining a clean shot, the bigger your penalty).
At the end, one of you might want to break contact or turtle up and recover. You'd better succeed, or the enemy would get a clean shot almost automatically.
The same approach would apply to wrestling, for most cases, though the manoeuvres would be somewhat different, and "clean shot" is called "got you at disadvantage".