Assessing Squad-Hammer

I recently purchased and experimented with Squad-Hammer by Nordic Weasel Games. It is described as "dirt simple gaming for many settings..or all of them." In essence, it is set up as a flexible, simple set of rules that can handle multiple settings. As you can see from the cover, you can mix dinosaurs and tanks!

The author admits that the system is intended for eras relying on ranged firepower so they aren't quite universal (although they likely can be adapted for melee-era battles). The rules themselves are fairly light. As Kaptain Kobold noted on Stronghold Rebuilt: "The rules are very much a toolkit, with no clearly defined troop stats, but lots of information on how to prepare such things." Sounds like my cup of tea.

So what are my thought after my first game of S-H? Let's take a look at a couple of the core mechanics and my thoughts about them.

Activation
On his turn, the player rolls 2D6 and keeps the highest. The die score is the number of activation points available for the turn. One activation point will allow the player to act with one unit; armies typically have 4 - 6 units. Thus, it is possible for all units to activate on a turn. This is especially true because rolling 2 dice can mitigate against a bad roll. For example, a player would have a 1/6 chance of having 1 activation point per turn if only rolling 1D6 but that probability drops to 1/36 on 2 dice.

At first I was a little concerned about this mechanism. It reminded me of De Bellis Antiquitatis (roll 1D6 activation points). In my home-brew games I dropped the DBA system because it did not generate enough fog of war for my taste. If I rolled a 1, I could take a deliberately conservative move because I knew I could not move up support. Later I adapted the Song of Blade and Heroes system because it created greater uncertainty. When I moved the first unit, I did not know if any others would follow it. Thus, I could move a unit forward aggressively only to find it unsupported. Or I could be more conservative but find that I missed an opportunity. Decisions, decisions. . .

Nevertheless, there is merit in the S-H approach. First, it is very simple in application with minimal dice-rolling. Second, it mitigates frustratingly bad activation rolls. There have been many times in my solo games when one side does nothing in a turn because of bad rolling. That won't happen with S-H.

Overall, I was content with the S-H approach. Because most units could move in a turn, the game moved along at a good pace. Nevertheless, there were enough times when a side was restricted in what it could do, which forced some decision-making. Although I may try out other activation methods, I will likely continue to use this approach for the time being.

Movement
Movement is very straightforward. Typically, infantry will move 6" with other types moving relatively more or less. There are modifiers due to terrain. Pretty basic stuff, actually.

I had no issues with this in my test game. However, I prefer using a gridded battlefield so I will be considering ways to grid-ify S-H.

Combat
Combat is very simple, and perhaps a bit too vague for some. An attacking unit will roll 2D6, needing to roll at or above a target number to hit. In general, the target number is 7+ for targets in moderate range in the open. The game does not provide a long list of modifiers to account for different situations. Players need to improvise a target number from 5 to 10, although S-H does provide some general suggestions.

While some might hate the ambiguity, I absolutely love it for solo gaming. The lack of definitive modifiers certainly speeds play; I don't have to look anything up. In fact, I often roll before I determine the target number. If I roll really high or low, the target number becomes moot because the result is clear. If it is borderline, I usually just make a judgement call - "yeah, close enough" or "nah, not quite." Simple and quick!

Once a unit hits, roll for damage. Damage is typically D6 (although it could be D3 or best of 2D6). Damage is marked off and units are usually destroyed with 7 points. It is a simple system that is primarily attritional but can feature variability (a unit could sustain anywhere from 2 to 7 rounds of damage. Naturally, 2 would be most common but I had units that survived until 3 or 4 hits)

Damage was my biggest concern with the combat rules. I hate using rosters and it seems clunky for a unit to have up to 6 damage markers beside it. For my first game, I used a roster but I was not thrilled with it. My units were not identified in any way so I had to remember that the one on the left was unit 1, etc. Issues cropped up when units switched positions. Of course, I can mitigate the issue by adding ID numbers to the units. I'd rather not do that. Instead, I want to look into damage markers (Kaptain Kobold has some effective ones in this Trench Hammer battle report). This is going to take some experimenting.

Overall Thoughts

• I really haven't scratched the surface of this game yet. There are things I forgot to do (for example, a unit can withdraw and recover from some of its damage). Nevertheless, I like the base mechanics and plan on more experiments.
• I am a fan of universal mechanics and D6s. S-H offers both of these features. Thus, these rules are right in my wheelhouse.
• The activation system worked fine. I will probably use it as-is for the time being, however I may experiment with other systems at some point.
• My most immediate concern is with damage. I want to avoid rosters and I cannot use single figure removal. What are my options? I can make try to make some markers that are unobtrusive but still allow up to 6 damage points. Or I can play with the damage rules to reduce the amount of damage a unit could take. I would then need to modify the damage rolls. I may need to give this some thought.

Regardless of my quibbles, I am very pleased with this purchase. 

My evaluation - Buy Squad-Hammer now!

Follow-Up
After I wrote this assessment, I was perusing my battle report from the day prior. I realized that my sci-fi forces are still on wooden bases. I thought to myself that I should upgrade to the Litko clear bases (I've become a big Litko fan). I then had an epiphany - I could mark damage on the bases with a marker!

Below is an experiment. The infantry and tank have marked damage.

As you can see, the ink works on the bases. Furthermore, it was no trouble wiping off the marks. It seems like a good option. I'll have to re-base and test it out!