Tactical Assault Games

Creative Ideas

ROLE PLAYING AID

It has been brought to our attention that both the Combat Cards & the Fantasy Cards can serve as useful aids in running role-playing campaigns - especially to resolve combats that do not directly involve the player characters, but may still have an important bearing on the campaign.

Who hasn't played in a role playing campaign where the heroes set out on a mission or quest along with a company of the king's guard or a platoon of colonial marines escorting them?

The extra troops are not there do the heroes' work for them, but rather to support the heroes in some important role - such as keeping the escape route open from marauding orcs while the heroes explore, or by holding the alien monstrosities at bay while the heroes search a wreck site.

Unfortunately, playing out a side battle that doesn't involve the heroes, at the level of detail that most role playing games do, may prove impractical and tedious - and result in too much precious game time being taken away from the action involving the characters.

Yet the success of these troops and their mission is important to the story line and will eventually affect the heroes, so some attention should be given to their struggle and its outcome.

That is where the Combat Cards & Fantasy Cards can really be a life saver. With the simplicity of generic unit types, the speed of play, and the ease of teaching the rules to newbies, they can be an efficient and effective way to resolve those important side battles - without taking too much time away from the main adventure.

The narrative nature of the Cards also allow game masters flexibility in determining how important aspect of the battle will mesh with the role playing action as well with the role playing system being used.

(Some examples being: How many rounds went by before that alien nasty broke through the marines' lines and went for the heroes? Has an Eliminated unit truly lost all of its "damage points" or is just unconscious and clinging to life?).

Combine the core games with the appropriate expansion sets, and the feel and flavor of just about any role playing system can be emulated on the Combat Cards or Fantasy Cards battlefield.

So the next time your heroes are about to set out with an escort in tow, give some thought to how the Combat Cards or the Fantasy Cards just might prove to be a real help to you the beleaguered game master...

Welcome To Tactical Assault Games

Welcome to our new website! Take a look around and see what’s here, then take some time to dive into our games a little deeper to see what they are all about. Hopefully with all of the information available on the site you will have a better idea what we as a company are hoping to do, and just how fun our games can be!

Again though, welcome…

* * Recent Articles * *

How Do I… Use Hex Maps

February 28, 2011

To play either the Combat Cards or the Fantasy Cards on a hex based map is very simple. In the either game, you take the shortest side and use that distance as your Very Long distance for the game. Half of that distance is the Long range, and so on. Well, instead of measuring that distance in inches or centimeters, you will simply measure it in terms of hexes.

Now some things do need a little tweaking to work, but they are very minor. When doing the math to determine distances, keep all the fractions as you half each distance. Then, when everything has been calculated, round any fractions to the nearest whole hex (up or down as appropriate).

For example, if you are going to play a Standard Game on a hex map 22 hexes wide, your Very Long range will be 22 hexes. Your Long range will be 11 hexes, your Medium range 6 hexes (5.5 rounded to 6), your Short range 3 hexes (2.75 rounded to 3) and your Very Short will be 1 hex (1.375 rounded to 1).

The other small tweaks are that all of the other rules (Lines of Sight, Cover, etc.) will now just apply to the hex rather than the model (though still center-to-center). Also, depending on the size of your hexes and the size of your models, you may have to set some “stacking” limits for the number of units allowed in a given hex. Otherwise you should be all set to enjoy a game on the multisided wonders that are hexes…

Category: How Do I...

Legendary Battles Pack #4

January 4, 2011

Battles Around Kursk: Changing Tides

This Pack focuses on the the battles in and around the Kursk salient on the Russian Front in mid-World War II. It includes the scenarios: A Tanker’s Duel & Clearing The Village.

During the mid-war period (c.1943) of World War II the Germans were making one last desperate effort to take the offensive on the Eastern Front. The effort failed and quickly degenerated into a slew of small unit actions as the initiative passed to the Russians. This Pack includes two scenarios depicting typical battles fought during this phase of the conflict, a map representative of the terrain the battles were being fought over and a host of game pieces representing units typically involved in the battles at this time.

Category: Available Packs

Legendary Battles Pack #3

January 3, 2011

Battles of the Red Wastes

This Pack focuses on the eternal struggle between good and evil in the sword & sorcery lands of Rondel. It includes the scenarios: Defending The Rampart & Squeezing The Pocket.

The peace loving peoples of Rondel are faced with the perpetual threat of invasion from their neighbors in the Red Wastes – the ruthless Xor. Can you help the Rondellians defend their lands, or will you lead the Xor on one of their merciless raids up the massive escarpment that protects the lands of Rondel? This Pack includes two scenarios depicting typical battles fought during a Xor invasion, a map representative of the terrain the battles are often fought over and a host of game pieces representing units typically involved in the battles at this time.