Wargame Mechanics Index

Hit location

Where a hit lands determines its effect.

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Watch it played 3 moments

  • 2:48–4:48
    Designing Homebrew Wargaming Rules
    Little Wars TV · Ruthless
    Rule explained Simulating lethality and stress in Shootout

    Chal explains designing his homebrew skirmish game Shootout to recreate the genuine stress of a firefight, where individual models can be eliminated by single hits. Visual cutaways show custom character sheets tracking hit locations, wound boxes, and polyhedral dice.

  • 5:08–5:33
    Ruthless Rule Review
    Little Wars TV · Ruthless
    Rule explained Shooting target numbers and wound locations

    Greg explains that shooting uses a d10 roll with target numbers of 6+ at short range or 8+ at long range, followed by a roll on the wound location chart. The camera zooms in on the Shooting modifiers and 'Darn, I Been Hit!' damage tables on the rule sheet.

  • 7:05–8:38
    Disposable Heroes 2 Rule Review
    Little Wars TV
    Rule explained Multi-step vehicle combat and hit charts

    Greg walks through the multi-step vehicle combat procedure from acquiring targets to hit location and armor penetration, showing the printed vehicle data sheets and quick reference tables.

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 7 games

2fire
Hit location & effectHorse & Musket Skirmish Rules (first draft)

Two dice (location then effect) or a drawn shooting chit determine where a hit lands and how bad it is.

How it works

Location (head, chest, right arm, left arm, belly, legs) crossed with an effect die gives graze, flesh wound, serious wound, knocked down, knocked out or dead. As an alternative, a 36-card pack or cut-out chits can be drawn by the victim.

HEAD CHEST RIGHT ARMI LEFT ARMI BELLY 6 LEGS ... USING CARDS TO DETERMINE HIT LOCATION & EFFECT below and draw one out of a box for each hit. SHOOTING CHITS
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“Darn, I Been Hit!” tableRuthless

Each hit rolls d10 for a wound location with a specific effect.

How it works

1-2 Leg (only one Move per turn), 3-4 Arm (only one Shoot per turn), 5-6 Graze (no effect), 7 Gut Punch (unconscious only from Fisticuffs), 8-9 Chest (cannot Aim), 10 Severe Wound (knocked unconscious). Aimed-shot hits may be adjusted +1/-1 by the firer.

For each hit on a target, roll 1d10 and cross off the corresponding wound hit on the character card. Hits from an Aimed shot can be adjusted +1/-1 by the firer.
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Scoring by sections and decksThe Jane Naval War Game

The struck point on the target fixes the section and deck damaged on the ship's scorer.

How it works

Ships are divided into 25-foot vertical sections numbered from the bow and lateral decks; damage is scribbled over the area centred on the hit point, limited along a deck only by bulkheads or armour, with overflow scored on decks above and below.

Damage is scored by scribbling over the area affected; the centre of the damage being always the point hit on the shooting target
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Hit Location & EffectThe Rules With No Name

Each hit rolls d6 for location and d6 for effect, or draws a shooting chit.

How it works

The locations are head, chest, right arm, left arm, belly and legs; effects range from graze through flesh and serious wounds to knocked down, knocked out or dead. Location matters: arm wounds stop shooting or reloading, belly and serious leg wounds stop movement, and leg flesh wounds cost a movement die. A deck or box of 36 shooting chits can replace the roll.

Either throw two dice, the first for location, and the second for effect, or draw a shooting chit
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5s and 6s damageTrafalgar 1805

The die face of each hit decides whether it strikes rigging or guns and crew.

How it works

6s inflict 1 Damage Point (spars and rigging, reducing movement), up to 4 points; 5s remove 1 from the target's facing broadside Gunnery Score, with 1 hit in 3 passing through to the far broadside. Rake hits are split between broadsides. Optional doctrine: French/Spanish only hit with 6s at Gun Shot and beyond; British may put all 5s and 6s on the hull at Point Blank and under.

6s: inflict 1 Damage Point on the target. This represents hits to spars and rigging, affecting a ship’s maneuverability.
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Hit Location TableBlood on the Sands: Training Grounds (Quick-start)

A successful attack rolls 2d6 for body location.

How it works

2d6: 1-2 Vitals, 3 Rear Leg, 4-5 Lead Leg, 6-7 Lead Arm, 8-9 Head, 10 Rear Arm, 11-12 Torso. Torso and Vitals give +2 on the Wound Table; each location has its own armour value and wound boxes. Aimed Strike shifts location by one.

First, the attacking player rolls to determine the specific location on the opponent where the blow has struck. Roll 2d6 and consult the Hit Location Table.
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1fire
Effect of a HitGreyhounds of the Seas: ACW Sailing Rules

Each hit rolls d20 for the area struck.

How it works

d20 results include hull & crew (3-5), hull only (6-10), gun & crew (11), gun only (12), boats, and other areas, with 20 a critical hit; heavy guns add an extra damage square on some results.

Effect of a Hit: Roll one twenty-sided die
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