Wargame Mechanics Index

Modifier stacking

Cumulative +/- modifiers on a base roll.

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Watch it played 4 moments

  • 5:05–6:33
    9-Player Pyrrhic War Campaign | TURN 2
    Little Wars TV
    Rule in play Resolving repeated siege attempts at Lilybaeum

    The host explains the abstract campaign siege chart, after which King Pyrrhus conducts several consecutive siege attempts against Lilybaeum and fails each roll despite stacking cumulative attempt bonuses.

  • 9:54–11:37
    Learn to Play Live Free or Die
    Little Wars TV
    Rule in play Resolving close combat and bayonet charges

    Tom and Greg calculate combat modifiers for an attacking British regiment with bayonets against Continentals behind a fence, then roll simultaneously and apply results.

  • 12:54–14:32
    Talavera 1809 Napoleonic Wargame
    Little Wars TV · Kriegsspiel (Anleitung zur Darstellung militairischer Manöver mit dem Apparat des Kriegs-Spieles)
    Rule in play Assaulting Talavera's urban sector

    French infantry assault Spanish-held Talavera as the referee walks players through dice pool modifiers for attacking a village, unit size, and morale, followed by simultaneous combat rolls and tracking hits.

  • 13:07–14:01
    Band of Brothers Crossfire Wargame
    Little Wars TV
    Rule in play Close assault on the 88mm gun

    Greg launches G Company into close combat against a suppressed German 88mm flak gun. After calculating modifiers (+5 for the Americans and -2 for the German crew), an opposed single-die roll results in Greg's 9 annihilating Tony's 1.

Moments picked automatically, by AI watching the video or reading its captions, and linked at the timestamp on YouTube. Quotes are from the captions.

How games do it 5 games

1engine
Combat Values TableCanvas Eagles

A base value by range is adjusted by many cumulative modifiers to produce the Combat Value.

How it works

Modifiers vary by range column: burst length (+1 to +4), attacker speed 3-4 (-3 to 0), deflection (-3 to -1), firing at a spinning aircraft, restricted manoeuvre, tailed target last turn (+1/+2), fired at it last turn, target lower/higher, minor/serious wounds, target stalled, flexible vs rigid and single vs dual weapons, aircraft stability.

The cumulative total of the base value and all the applicable modifiers is the combat value.
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1engine
Melee FactorsClassical Hack Siege Rules: The Siege of Tyre

Side-specific base melee factors with cumulative modifiers.

How it works

Persian basic melee factor +10 with +3 defending, +2 enemy shieldless, +2 hoplite charging, +1 enemy disordered; Macedonian basic +14 with +2 enemy disordered, +2 shieldless, +2 charging, +1 others charging. The scenario uses averaged base factors rather than per-unit values.

Persian Melee Factors Basic Factor +10 +3 Persian Defending +2 Enemy shieldless
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1engine
Plusses and MinusesLoose Files and American Scramble

Firing and combat stack many cumulative modifiers on a single die.

How it works

Artillery has eight modifiers and combat over a dozen (training, fortification, terrain, bayonet, general, formation, flank, DPs, casualties, odds). The author's afterthoughts call them far too many to be user-friendly.

Very much ‘of their time’ and far too many of them here in Firing and Combat to be user-friendly.
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1engine
Cumulative die roll modifiersMicro Armour: The Game - WWII (2nd Edition)

Cohesion and CRT rolls stack many modifiers, where additions hurt and subtractions help.

How it works

Modifiers apply to the die roll, not the cohesion value, and are all cumulative (state, posture, terrain layers, smoke, range, HQ, mission type). Optional natural-roll rules add events: a natural 1 on a fire roll shifts two CRT columns ('Hot Shot'), and a natural 20 on an artillery deviation roll scatters the fire 1D20/2". A natural 1 or 20 on an ordered movement roll gives 'Intuitive Action' or 'Conflicting Orders'.

Subtractions from the die roll are beneficial modifiers, whereas additions to it represent disadvantageous conditions.
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1engine
Firing dice modifiersThe Rules With No Name

Situational modifiers add or remove dice from the pool rather than changing the target number.

How it works

Cover is -1 die, firing a pistol after moving -1, a rifle after moving -2, and two pistols or off-hand -3. A head wound or flesh wound on the firing arm is -1, and each serious wound -2. Backshooting is +3 and a knocked-down target +2. Class modifiers are Citizen -1, Shootist +1 and Legend +2. The same dice-adding approach applies to fighting, nerve and fast draw.

Modifiers: add or subtract the following NUMBER OF DICE rolled by the character
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