Let's play a game and discuss the rules.
Everyone likes to discuss rules!
Just like everyone likes pizza and frozen yogurt.
Disclaimer: Opinions about what makes rules good or bad are subjective and a matter of personal taste.
Just like opinions about what are good toppings for pizza or frozen yogurt; it's whatever you like.
Except everyone hates pineapple. Pineapple is gross.
Clash of Rhyfles Review / Overview
A Rhyfler's Pocketbook 2.0 is the ruleset included in the Clash of Rhyfles starter box, and in a very class-say move is also available as a free PDF HERE from the Rhyfler website, as is almost all of the past Quar books. These rules are labeled 'Quickstart' and there is a full version on the way sometime.
I didn't get the starter box, as I went straight for the big infantry boxes for each faction along with various blisters. I'm not too fussed about rules, as Quar are World War -ish without magic or anything supernatural, so almost any 20th century rules could work. I'm seeing Quar more and more as World War Imaginations.
But it would be nice to like the rules written specifically for the miniatures, and the price was right, so I wanted to give them a try. Enter Mr. DJ, a fellow Quar enthusiast, from the Lasgunpacker blog and places beyond...for a game.
Setting Up a Dinner Table Battle
A Rhyfler's Pocketbook (RPB for short) is a skirmish game and needs a small 2x2 or 3x3 table. My dinning table is 3' and a wee bit more so I claimed it for the game, telling the kids and wife to get out of the house because men were going to be doing some serious wargaming and shouldn't be bothered.
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Dining table set |
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I don't have any Quar specific terrain yet, but Quar are found in all sorts of environments. Today they find themselves in an AWI/ACW ish countryside. |
RPB is a little light on the terrain rules but there is enough there that you can define the things on your table as you see fit. Wanting to try a little bit of everything we declared: The fields and forest bases would be difficult ground (as well crossing any fence or wall) so 1/2 move. For cover modifiers: we declared fences and the areas with trees without a base would be light cover (-1 to be hit), Forest bases and wood piles would be 'Good' cover (-2), and the stone walls would be the 'best cover' (-3). In hindsight this was being over generous to the walls and really the 'best cover' should be reserved for trenches / purposely build fortification. Building were impassable LOS blockers. LOS could go into a forest base but not through.
The RPB suggest for the first battle to play at 300 Pts which gets you around 10-12 miniatures. But Mr. DJ and I are veteran gamers, we don't get to play all that much, we're both handsome and rugged individuals, and I'm not painting all these silly Quar for the fun of it, so we did 400ish points instead. Giving us 15 miniatures each:
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The Crusaders |
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The Royalists |
Actual lists for the Quar initiated:
Coftyran: Is-Caerten, yawdryl, Cryfen LMG, sharpshooter (sni-PAH), and 11 Rhyflers
Crusaders: Is-Caerten, yawdryl, H-11a LMG, sharpshooter (sni-PAH), and 11 rhyflers but 3 have Ryshi.
-Basically the same lists, but the Crusaders kept coming out like 10 points up; so to even it out I gave the Royalists an extra point of Pluck. More on Pluck later.
Mr DJ won the roll off so he got to pick which faction he wanted to play, and choose a side to deploy on, and we played "the meeting engagement" scenario which seems to be the one that everyone picks for a first game. The objectives are to keep more of your Quar alive than the other side, but also advance into the opposite half of the board. Which creates a nice paradox of conflicting interests.
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Mr. DJ chose the Royalists and deployed behind the barn in one large group |
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I took the Crusaders and deployed in 3 small groups across the edge. |
As Mr. DJ deployed first, he starts as the active player, so I drew a card from the Activation Deck and gave him my best shit eating grin.
Rounds, Actions, and Reactions
Because his card was a 3.
In RPB, the active player gets a certain number of Activations based on a card from an Activation deck (I used normal playing cards, you need three 3s, four 4s, and three 5s). But the player doesn't know how many activations they actually have; they know it's at least 3, is probably 4, and might be 5. So the player does 3 Activations and then looks expectantly at their opponent who will tell them if they have a fourth, the player does a fourth activation and then looks slit eyed at their opponent to see if they have a 5th. When the active player uses all their activations the opponent shows the card and says something snide or mocking like "Nope, you all done." The round ends, then switch, a new round begins.
I thought I would dislike this. I thought it would be annoying.
I actually loved it. It was fun.
RPB uses the terms Activations and Actions kinda interchangeably which can get confusing, but they are not the same thing. Basically the player uses Activations (from 3 to 5) to perform Actions with his miniatures. Each Miniature can take up to 2 actions during a round (but only 1 combat action). Most Actions cost 1 Activation, but some Actions cost 2 Activations but are still only 1 Action.
If you know you have at least 1 Activation left but want to take an Action that costs 2 Activations (like throw a grenade) you can push your luck and try it. If you have the required Activation you do the action, if not then you lose that activation and your round ends. It's a fun gamble to take because you feel like a genius when it works.
Actions are what you think they are: shoot, move, recover from being stunned, eat some bugs off the ground (Quar are insectivores), ponder the meaning of life, wonder if she left you due to her damage or your own....
It's not really an action economy game; there are NEVER enough actions. Even if you have 5 activations and 10 miniatures, at least 5 of them won't do anything that round. What you get are like cut scenes of intense action in various places of the battlefield, but not the whole thing at once.
2 of my Crusaders are having a firefight with some advancing Royalists. The one on the ground is Out of Action |
Most rolls are 3d6 versus a target number determined by the Skill of the miniature, plus / minus modifiers.
A unique aspect of the rules is the Reaction system. When you're not the active player and one of your miniatures is getting shot at, you can choose a reaction. I think this has to expanded on / explained more and maybe it will be in the full rules; but what I like about it is that when it's not your turn you still get to make meaningful choices. The only 3 reactions available are do nothing (no reaction I guess, be all stoic), fire back, or dive for cover. These are meaningful because if you choose fire back you get a free shot at the Quar shooting at you...but you only get it if his shot misses....risk versus reward.
Dive for cover is great because you get miniatures just diving everywhere and it reminds you of every war movie EVER where someone is running around being chased by bullet impacts. Diving for cover is a big negative modifier to be hit but leaves your miniature prone. Actually, it's kinda unclear if you miniature HAS to be prone after a dive but we declared that made sense. It's also unclear if you can dive for cover if you're already prone; and we declared one couldn't because how would that work? Which was rare because prone miniatures in / behind terrain can't be seen (another original concept).
Also if you dive for cover and your opponent misses but still rolls pretty well it's your opponent that chooses where the miniature dove to and it ends up prone and Gobsmacked / stunned. And that's still significant because stunned miniatures are useless until they recover and that takes Actions and you never have enough actions....
Status States (Mine and Yours)
In RPB there are more states that miniatures can be in than I am used to; some uniquely done.
Prone is one of those. Miniatures that are prone and in cover / behind something have no LOS.
Gobsmacked is stunned. Gobsmacked is a stupid word, sounds like a punch line to a dirty joke.
Out of Action is uniquely done. Usually, OOA that means the miniature is taken off the board, but it's different in RPB.
The Coftyran sprue comes with these backs with baguettes sticking out. I thought they would make great Gobsmacked markers. |
When a miniature is OOA, it stays on the table. We just laid it down. You don't really know it's final status until you go up and do a 'tend wounded' action. he might be OK! this creates motivation to go help and is another call back to EVERY war / action movie you've ever seen where someone is wounded in the field and his friends are behind in cover shouting "We have to go get Henry! He might be OK!" "Are you crazy?! he's done for! Don't go out there!" (explosions) "No, I can make it, cover MEEEEEEEE!"
You don't have to do this or course, you could just ignore the wounded. But it's amazing that just the chance of getting a miniature back can be such a powerful motivator.
1-2 the guy is OK and back in the fight; 5-6 the guy is KIA.
3 is walking wounded; is up and about but can only take movement actions rearward.
4 is wounded; lie there, but not dead.
Both DJ and I liked this mechanic, but 3 and 4 proved to be troublesome as we didn't understand how they affected the scenario, because you got points for having Quar alive at the end.
So if walking wounded: why would I spend any of my precious few activations to move him rearward? just leave him where he is; but then what's the difference from being actually wounded.
if Wounded: He counts for being alive, which means the enemy is motivated to change that from a game perspective; but shooting or bayonetting the wounded who are just lying there is not pretty. If I wanted to play the SS I could do real WW2.
3 of my Crusaders take the flank while an OOA Royalist lies by the fence. He foolishly tried to stop them. |
Ultimately, we left OOA miniatures on the table until they were tended to, and if that roll was 3+ we just took the miniature off the table. It was just easier.
But I like the idea so much that I'm very interested in how the full rules will expand on it. Otherwise I might do a houserule; something like 1-2 is OK, 3 is wounded so only allowed one action, and 4+ take off the table.
Pluck Off
'Pluck' is a resource you keep track of on the side. We didn't really 'get it' at first. Part of the idea is that you could batter with your opponent like "hey, if I spend 2 pluck can this guy here do a back flip off the house, onto the log pile, then to the ground landing in the splits and fire his pistol?"
"better make it three pluck."
I just don't see anyone doing that.
For the first 2 turns we just kinda spent it where it was obvious; like if you miss a skill check by 1, you can spend 1 pluck to pass the skill check. BUT MOST skill checks are shooting, and a successful shot puts a miniature OOA, putting a miniature OOA earns you a pluck, so you really didn't spend anything and it's just a free +1? Odd.
Though by turn 3; I will say that we were spending it way more often on things like supporting fire and opportunity fire, etc.. and it became a more dynamic resource, though in 5 turns we never ran out.
Protip: a Quar with an LMG with a Quar providing supporting fire becomes a Murder Quar.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully I've provided an idea of how the game plays. It's fun, you stay involved and there are plenty of moments when you are making choices, which are the things that make games fun. Overall it's a 20th century skirmish game with some unique mechanics / concepts. In the game there is a lot of back and forth and jumping around the battlefield as spots become the priority.
As said in the beginning, these rules are labeled Quickstart, which to me always read as 'incomplete.' That sounds meaner than I intent it. RPB is enough to get you playing but some processes need more details or examples to make them clearer. I've pointed out some in the above wall of expertly crafted text. There are others but I don't need to bang on about it. That's what the Facebook group is for....
I will definitely play again. Kinda wish now that I got the starter box as it's the only way currently to get the physical copy plus the cool Quar-ish playing cards for the activation deck. When the full rules come out I'll for sure pick those up.
Thanks for reading
Double thanks for writing a comment.
Till Next
It seems everyone and their wife are doing Quar at the moment.......
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean the best civil war is the Quar civil war.....?
Is it too late to get the starter set....? I bet you really want it now....!
I mean you paid $60 for a free rule set....☺
Neil
Thanks Neil. Everyone should be doing Quar.
Deletebut no, the ACW is still the BEST CW.
It's too late for me to get the starter box, and I really don't need it. I think it's hard to get now anyway. The only thing in it that I'd really like is the pretty custom cards. 😁
Stew, I sure thought I had responded to this post. I agree with Neil that I see Quar-related activities all over the blogosphere.
DeleteYour table and figures look superb and I really admire your brushwork on your Quar armies.
Great job!
Thanks Jonathan. On the one hand it’s nice to be part of the topical crowd and on the other I’d rather be unique as everyone else is most likely doing it better and faster. 😀
DeleteMaybe faster but not with your panache.
DeleteWonderful looking terrain and thingys moving around on it. As always, I enjoyed your expertly crafted text (even with the typos—oooh, now *that's* mean!) and got a clear sense of how this particular game works. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteNuts! would work with these wouldn't it? Especially as the 'bespoke' rules seem to have a lot of the same mechanics as those rules. The 'variable activations known first by your opponent' idea is a clever one. New to me, perhaps inspired from elsewhere(?), and I bet it is a hit with the kids/youth as well as we older folk with a sense of fun?
I am left bemused and confused though. Why are insectivores eating baguettes?!!
Regards, James
James I think the baguettes is so the Quar can set up a picnic, the ants turn up and then the Quar get to eat them. 😁
DeleteI must admit, the same thought struck me re baguettes - are Quars French?
DeleteTop stuff from you both; made me laugh aloud!
DeleteYou don't need to be French to like baguettes, everyone likes baguettes, but I think these are made from ground grasshopper instead of flour. The important thing is that they are Gluten Free. 😁😆
DeleteThanks James. What typos??!! I'll have to fire my proof reader...
DeleteI'm sure Nuts! would work. ANY 20th century rules would work really. I haven't checked out Nuts! but might look into it.
I bet bemused and confuses is a natural state for you.... (I kid, I kid).
😆😁
Thanks for a quick overview of your Quar game and some of the game mechanics. Having read various blogs where people are painting up Quar miniatures I was wondering what it was all about.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. You can also go download the rules and see for yourself if so inclined.
DeleteIt's about the same thing all miniatures games are about: fun with toys. 😁
Great looking game Stew and explanation of the rules. It does sound like a lot of fun to play, especially the unknown number of activations allowing lots of trash talk and misdirection.
ReplyDeleteGreat of your wife to give you the house for the day. I guess spending enough money is to make sure you don't want to do it too often 😂
Thanks Ben. now that you mention it, that WAS pretty clever of her. Little too clever. 😁😆
DeleteLooking really interesting!
ReplyDeleteHave to try someday!
Best regards
Thanks Michal. Appreciate you giving it a read
DeleteGreat looking set up and review of the rules. Played my first game and like them. Love the wounded rule, though my medic was not the best at administering medical attention, putting all 4 Quar in the KIA section
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil. There is a lot of good ideas in the rules.
Deletejust curious, did you give your medic the medic ability? There's no point value for it but that would help in the future so that he can perform up to expectations....😆
The table looked great, the figures lovely and the game mechanics are different enough to be interesting and fun Stew - a win/win/win.
ReplyDeleteScotty, you need to open an investigation into that medic - either he is an enemy agent or its some kind of Munchausen by Proxy situation - "look at me, I am a hero saving the wounded - oops, he died again!"
Thanks Keith. That is a good way to describe it. The rules are interesting and kinda novel (at least to me) which creates some enthusiasm. 😁
DeleteThat's a very neat looking game Stew and lovely to see the Quar in action:). The rules sound good too with some neat ideas contained therein. Looking forward to more in due course!
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. More to come. 😁
DeleteSounds like a load of fun ,your Quar and ACW terrain look splendid, I look forward to them clambering into the trench, next year?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain. Next year? hush your face, I hope not next year.
Delete(but probably next year) 😁
Great review!
ReplyDelete"These free rules just cost me $60" gave me my laugh of the day!
thanks James. Glad you liked it. 😁
DeleteReally nice table, and clearly the game went well! That mechanism with the opponent knowing the number of activations is really clever.
ReplyDelete'Gobsmacked' is a great old British-English word, which is interesting as it looks like the creator of the Quars is American? The equivalent meaning in American English would be 'Flabbergasted' or 'astounded' - lost for words, as if your 'gob' ( mouth) has been 'smacked'..Not sure that is really the right meaning in the game? Divided by a common language..
Thanks David. On the game it just means stunned but I know what it means in English and American. I stand by my comment; it’s a stupid word. 😀😝
DeleteBut besides that it was a fun game that went well. 😀
Hey Stew! Great review of the rules, and it was lovely to come round and play a game. I think we could have both benefited from having a few corporal types to help us move around the board, and it just occurred to me that I should have put ryflers into overwatch so as to shoot the crud out of your guys when they moved... next time! I did spend a bunch of time looking at the various quar nations and metal figures available on Zombiesmith... might need to get a platoon! (as inefficient as that would be since you have them)
ReplyDeleteThanks DJ. It was lovely to have you over and thanks for the great game.
DeleteYeah, I don’t get why the Is-cearten can only move 2 while the yawdryl can move 3. Next time I’ll put a Milwer in there; I only didn’t bc I don’t have a suitable model for the Coftyrans for easy recognition…yet. 😀
Having your own Quar would be fine but as you say, I’m already fairly heavily invested. But I don’t have a 3d printer so all that Quar goodness is outside my reach. 😀
Nice report and review. I think the whole activation deficit (having fewer activations than units, by structure) and "Go Fish" bit about the cards would not be to my liking--but like you, I might change my mind if I experienced it in the game. It is cool that the game fits in a 2'x2' area, particularly for anything 20th Century/Shooty. I'm guessing you'll be coming up with some house rules to cover the gaps (I would) rather than waiting for some more definitive version of the rules.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ed. Yeah, the activation sequence was one of those things that when I initially read it I was all "that sounds hinky, just tell me how many actions I have and be done with it, but I'll give it a try." What it does is create some cool friction. Most of the time the 4th and 5th actions are like bonus actions, but there were times that both of us gambled and won and lost. 😁
DeleteYes, I can fill in the gaps being a veteran gamer and all that; and in the iold days that's what we did. the weird thing now; being active on Facebook is that I can just ask the authors 'hey what did you mean by.."
Sounds like you both had fun, which is always the main thing with any set of rules. There are some interesting concepts in there, although I think prone isn't realistic, a real soldier will always use the prone position where possible, as it gives the smallest target area for an enemy to aim at, while giving you a good rest for the rifle, making you more accurate,
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. I’ve never really played a game where a miniature can go prone (or whatever you might want to call it) and block LOS. I think the main thing will be ensuring there’s not a situation where the prone can shoot but not be shot at. Real life soldiers might love that but gamers don’t. 😀
DeleteThese rules sound pretty fun and have some unique mechanics in it. Almost tempting to use it for other settings, although you'd have to make up some different stats yourself.
ReplyDeleteThanks SD. At their heart the rules are for 30th century combat/ skirmish so certainly can be used in others settings with some tinkering. 😀
DeleteThis sounds really interesting. I'm tempted by it. I wonder if it would work for a Western-style game, since the limited activations mean you could have lots of figures on the table but they wouldn't have to go all at once. Looking over the rules now... Thanks very much for the review!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jennifer. Rules probably could be used for Wild West. Though first I would look at Fistful of Lead Reloaded. 😀
DeleteThose rules sound interesting and like a mix of other rules I've seen but still fresh at the same time, if that makes sense. I like the activation system as being surprised by who or what goes next will definitely keep you engaged, so long as its mostly fair of course. Glad you were able to kick those squatters out of your house and get a game in too. The terrain and board all look fantastic! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeff. Yeah! Those squatters are always in my way with their mix of equal parts neediness and affection. 😀
DeleteThose Quar are fantastic - so fun! Looks like an amazing game!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim. Take a look at previous posts for better / closer pics of Quar. Though I’m not really a good painter.
DeleteI appreciate you leaving a comment. 😀
Oh, I WILL be having a good look around! Cheers!
DeleteI love this! I'd recommend for OOA to roll a d3 so 1-2 = ok, 3-4 = wounded, 5-6 removed.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Nice suggestion too. 😀
DeleteI found this QUAR group on Facebook. You should share this on there. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/mc84QREpc3v24Xnf/?mibextid=A7sQZp
ReplyDeleteThanks Wee. I have already linked to the main Facebook group called Quar Discussion. It seems to be the main one. 😀
DeleteYes, but like Warhammer its best to spread out now that its fairly new and get the word out. It would be a pleasure for you to share this in the group if at the very least.
DeleteStew I would love to aee a video BR next rime around. I stumbled upon Quar about a month ago and decided to place my order yesterday. This report helps so much and as a veteran wargamer myself (30+ years of Warhammer) the rules do seem a pit quirky almost as if asking for permission. I did play a game called Mageknight in the early 200's that has a very similar rules set with more modela than actions and similar point sets in 100pt increments so this should be easy to pick up. Thanks again, looking forward to hearing about your next battle. Btw about how long did the entire thing take?
ReplyDeleteThanks Wee. I would love to see a video BR too. Someone ought to get on that…
DeleteGame took about 2.5 hours all in all. 😀
Yw brother. Thank you for this, it couldn't have come at a better time honestly. And 2.5 hours isn't very long at all!
DeleteA great hit-out with what seems like a fun set of rules. It is always a pleasant surprise when a rule turns out to be much more fun than annoying when you finally play it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence. Ain’t that the truth. 😀
DeleteYou are so lucky that the Quar homeland is so much like Civil War America....sounds like a few interesting mechanisms in those rules.
ReplyDeleteThanks mark. Aren't I indeed. 😁
Delete