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Lethality of firearms
Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:29 am
by SteveBurt
I’ve seen a few posts on this subject, but it is certainly an issue for Pirate games where most units have some sort of ranged weapon (pistols, muskets, blunderbusses, bows, thrown spears). I found that the pistol volley before melee was killing more figures than the hand to hand. That didn’t seem very piratey somehow. So I made a simple change - use a d8 for saving rolls, and add a 7+ save for figures in the open. That seemed to moderate the casualty rate nicely (obviously you could use a d10 if you wanted to tone things down even more). I also gave a +1 on save against arrows, which otherwise seemed a bit too lethal; I’d expect them to shoot more but be less deadly than firearms.
Re: Lethality of firearms
Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:50 pm
by obriendavid
SteveBurt wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:29 am
I’ve seen a few posts on this subject, but it is certainly an issue for Pirate games where most units have some sort of ranged weapon (pistols, muskets, blunderbusses, bows, thrown spears). I found that the pistol volley before melee was killing more figures than the hand to hand. That didn’t seem very piratey somehow. So I made a simple change - use a d8 for saving rolls, and add a 7+ save for figures in the open. That seemed to moderate the casualty rate nicely (obviously you could use a d10 if you wanted to tone things down even more). I also gave a +1 on save against arrows, which otherwise seemed a bit too lethal; I’d expect them to shoot more but be less deadly than firearms.
Remember that it’s only pistols which can be used before h2h which should be limited to who has them, I don’t have my books with me to check availability for pirates. The other thing to remember is the misfire rule which can cause a number of self inflicted casualties.
I agree about bows being too effective IMHO so I restrict them to raw troops who then need 6’s on a d6 for casualties.
I’ve already had discussions with Clarence regarding their effectiveness as they can move and shoot thereby increasing their range, have no misfires and no need to reload.
The great point about Donnybrook is that it’s easy to tinker with the rules to suit your tastes.
Dave