Killchain: Mass combat, minimalist (free) ruleset
A streamlined and simple Chainmail tribute for your OSR game
I think 1971’s Chainmail is awesome.
In fact, I’ve always lamented not being in a friend group of wargamers, because I love the idea of setting up terrain and minis etc, but my crew is largely theatre of the mind style OSR gamers.
No problem.
However - in a lot of our games, the subject of mass combat comes up, due to lots of hirelings, or general play style.
The problem is, my table doesn’t want the session to slow to a crawl as a major battle scene is set up and drags on for the rest of the session.
They wanted something simple, fast, yet still satisfying with a few tactical options that could be played out on the same graph paper we use for…pretty much everything else.
I also play solo a lot, and had the same issue. I want to be able to run a mercenary group, or run a battle between two settlements or whatever without it being “a whole thing.”
The solution:
Read and test Chainmail and about a dozen of its variants, like Delta’s Book of War, Platemail, and some other fun ones, all of which did something cool, but really usually added more, or still required minis and a table and so on.
KILLCHAIN is my super fast and rules light option for those looking for this sort of thing.
I even included some prices and basic rules and ideas for running a mercenary company type game (works great solo, I’ve been enjoying sacking villages all week), and a d20 table for job offers.
Best of all - it’s FREE!
GET IT HERE
Knock yourself out, but -
Keep your blades sharp!
