ON GUARD!

"A man to man combat system

for Barons Of Braunstein
and other medieval wargames"

Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC) 2016 by Matteo Radice

These rules are based on:

"BARONS OF BRAUNSTEIN" Copyright (C) 2014 by James & Robyn George
"ALTERNATE COMBAT, WEAPONS & ARMOR RULES FOR BARONS OF
BRAUNSTEIN" by Aaron Gustwiller

Cover and interior illustrations are Public Domain and taken from "Scenes
and characters of the Middle Ages" by Rev. E.L. Cutts, "Handbuch der
Waffenkunde" by Wendelin Boeheim and "A history of the art of war", by
Charles Oman.

Handmade by Hipsta Stampa in Oct. 2016

 INTRODUCTION

ON GUARD! is a rules-lite addition to other "old-school" style wargaming

systems. It's meant to be used with Olde House Rules' BARONS OF BRAUNSTEIN
game, but it can be hacked and worked into any medieval wargame based on six-
sided dice.

ON GUARD! aims at introducing more realism (preserving fun!) into combat

rounds & duels, mainly featuring an active defense system; players can now roll
for avoiding damage dodging, blocking or parrying hits, rather than having an
abstract damage reduction as in other systems.

Inspired by Aaron Gustwiller's "ALTERNATE COMBAT, WEAPONS & ARMOR RULES

FOR BARONS OF BRAUNSTEIN" it integrates standard BARONS OF BRAUNSTEIN
roll target numbers and armor usage with variable damage "indirectly
influenced" by the target equipment and movement.

ON GUARD! also provides variant tables to introduce partial damage reduction

by armor, change the variable damage system to a "weighted" fixed system and
gives more tactical choices for those wanting the elegance and the simplicity of
a rules-lite game with a little more number-crunch.

1
I. COMBAT RULES

ARMOR & SHIELDS

Armor follows the original rules. It preserves the life of the player at 0
LUCK but it's not involved in active defense as damage reduction. The downside
it’s the limited movement rate already present in the original ruleset.

Shields are LIGHT or HEAVY, just like the armor. Shields can block blows but
after having successfully absorbed any damage hit of 5+ they must be checked
for integrity with a 2d6 roll: if the result is below 4 the shield is broken and
needs to be repaired.

INITIATIVE

Initiative roll depends from case to case at judge's discretion. For duels it
could be rolled individually at the beginning of each round; for bigger battles
it could be rolled for faction either at the start of each round or once at the
start of the combat manoeuvres.

ATTACK

Attacker rolls 2d6. Opponents with increasingly bigger shields are easier to
hit due to limited movement. The lower die of the roll is the potential damage:
with a lower target number to hit against opponents with better shields, the
damage can be as low as 1 and as high as 6 (+1 for two-handed weapons). For
unshielded defenders, it's 3 at minimum, so they could be harder to hit given
their dexterity but easier to damage.

TARGET SHIELD TO HIT

No Shield 9+
Light shield 8+
Heavy shield 7+

2
DEFENSE

The defender can try to block, parry and dodge a hit. The player must declare
the action he wants to attempt before making the roll, and it cannot be changed
afterward.

Blocking gets easier if a better shield is used, and if successful it totally

neutralizes a hit. See ARMOR & SHIELDS for further details.
If without shields, parrying with melee weapons can be achieved with a base
roll of 9+, eventually adding penalties depending on the weapon size and shape.
A penalty can be applied to simple one-handed weapons requiring a 10+ roll or
to smaller weapons requiring a 11+ roll.

Dodging gets harder with heavier shields due to limited movement. Successfully
dodging the hit deals no damage to the player, and it may offer an attack of
opportunity in favor of the defender (at judge's discretion, or 1-2 on 1d6).

Surprise attacks (like sneaking behind the opponent's back or a ranged attack
from the bushes) and firearms cannot be parried, blocked or dodged. Defending
from non-surprise missile attacks follows original rules.

PLAYER SHIELD TO BLOCK/PARRY TO DODGE

No shield 9+/10+/11+ 9+
Light shield 8+ 10+
Heavy shield 7+ 11+

PUSHING LUCK

Both players can spend LUCK points to enhance their attack or defense rolls.
Pushing LUCK on a roll to make it a 12 does not make it a critical roll.

ROLLING 12s or 2s

If an attacker rolls a critical hit (6 + 6 on 2d6) it can be dodged or blocked

only by a critical roll by the defender. No bonus damage is applied.

If a player in the attacking or defending position rolls "snake eyes" (1 + 1 on

2d6) the action is failed with adverse effects for the players at judge's
discretion. A failure like this in attack could have the attacker with a weapon
stuck into the ground or during a dodge it may end with the defender falling
and exposing himself to damage and another immediate attack.

3
II. VARIANT RULES

ARMOR ACTIVELY REDUCING DAMAGE

It's possible to employ a more traditional style of armor mechanics, using

armor as a damage reduction for the target. Armor reduces damage hits but
applies a penalty to the dodge rolls of the defender, as heavier armor limits
movement. The same rule for checking the integrity of shields after blocking
5+ hits is applied to armor. The penalty is not applied on critical rolls for
dodge. This variant has to be used with the standard ON GUARD! variable
damage attack rules.

ARMOR TYPE DAMAGE REDUCTION DODGE ROLL PENALTY

Light armor 1 -1
Heavy armor 3 -3

FIXED HITS FOR ATTACK ROLL

In order to decrease lethality of fights the original concept of a limited and

fixed amount of damage hits can be re-implemented following or adjusting this
table, substituting it to the standard attack table. A bonus of +1 is applied for
two-handed weapons. Integrity of shields must be checked after having blocked
damage values of 3+. It can’t be used with the previous variant rule.

TARGET SHIELD / ROLL 7 8 9 10 11 12

No shield - - 1 2 2 3 hits
Light shield - 1 1 2 2 2 hits
Heavy shield 1 1 1 1 2 2 hits

DISTINCT BLOCK & PARRY ROLLS

Blocking and parrying can be performed by different rolls as per the following
table. This distinction allows player to more advanced tactical combat with a
certain degree of realism: parrying a blow is more difficult to achieve when
using a shield instead of being free from the additional burden; at the same
time a larger, two-handed weapon can parry and deflect blows more effectively
than a lighter one. This variant can be combined with one of the others.

WEAPON & SHIELD TO BLOCK TO DODGE TO PARRY

1-handed weapon, no shield - 9+ 10+
1-handed weapon, light shield 8+ 10+ 11+
1-handed weapon, heavy shield 7+ 11+ 12+
2-handed weapon, no shield - 10+ 9+

4
III. JUDGE’S CHEAT SHEET

STANDARD UNIFIED ATTACK/DEFENSE TABLE

SHIELD TO HIT TO BLOCK/PARRY TO DODGE

None (+0) 9+ 9+/10+/11+* 9+
Light (+1) 8+ 8+ 10+
Heavy (+2) 7+ 7+ 11+

*Check DEFENSE chapter for parrying with weapons

VARIANT: ARMOR ACTIVELY REDUCING DAMAGE

ARMOR TYPE DAMAGE REDUCTION DODGE ROLL PENALTY

Light armor 1 -1
Heavy armor 3 -3

VARIANT: FIXED HITS FOR ATTACK ROLL

TARGET SHIELD / ROLL 7 8 9 10 11 12

No shield - - 1 2 2 3 hits
Light shield - 1 1 2 2 2 hits
Heavy shield 1 1 1 1 2 2 hits

VARIANT: DISTINCT BLOCK & PARRY ROLLS

WEAPON & SHIELD TO BLOCK TO DODGE TO PARRY

1-handed weapon, no shield - 9+ 10+
1-handed weapon, light shield 8+ 10+ 11+
1-handed weapon, heavy shield 7+ 11+ 12+
2-handed weapon, no shield - 10+ 9+