G.I.Joe "Miniatures" Game

[Druss]

I know this has been discussed here before but I couldn't find the thread so I figured I would start a new one.

Every year I attend a gaming convention which is heavy on the historical miniatures side of things. As a huge Joe fan I keep thinking of doing a war game with the Joe figures but had yet to commit to it, well this year I finally commited to doing the game next year.

Luckily I have a year to figure this out and find a good rules set to try and convert, any suggestions for a good rule set will also be greatly appreciated.

I do lots of miniatures gaming so right off the bat a few things come to mind I have to account for.

Turn sequence - will each "unit" move at the same time each turn? This would be my preference, each turn would be the approximation of about 15 seconds of real life. The biggest issue here is if there are any conflicts, for example if a unit of Joes with Bazooka blows up a Hiss tank on the turn but the Hiss has targeted and shot a Joe/Vehicle then both would go off, the Hiss would still shoot but then get blown up.

Movements - Each turn for a figure would consist of a move/shoot or a shoot/move, the other option is to say give a character 9" of movement, he could shoot at any point during this movement and continue his movement, soldiers do attack while moving. Probably make the character suffer a penalty to their attack due to shooting while moving, then give a bonus if the character doesn't move at all and just shoots, set shot and can aim better.

Vehicles would be able to move and fire independatly as they typically have a seperate gunner who controls the weapons.

Balance - Characters and vehicles need to be properly balances, obviously small arms fire should not be able to take down a hiss tank but a single Hiss tank can't destroy the whole Joe force. Ditto with vehicle vs vehicle combat. I need to make them all balanced so nothing gets too overpowered.

At this point I'm planning on making the figures in groups of 6, so 6 Joes, 6 Cobra Soldiers, etc. Each unit can move independantly but for control purposes each of those units will be controlled by the same person.

There are tons of wrinkles to still figure out, I want this to feel like G.I.joe. Your average fan will be more familiar with the Cartoon so I'd like to include some cartoon elements, if the Joes start charging/thrasing a unit of Troops I want them to have the chance to fail their morale and run away. If certain Cobra Characters(Destro, etc) are leading that uniti then they may not run away.

Thats just where I've started, I have a lot more work to do but I have almost a year to do it.

I'm posting this here to get others idea's but I will be working on this for a year so if anyone else is interested in helping to come up with a good rules set, define stats, test, etc this could be a very cool thing once we get done with it.

Right now the scenario I have planned will be an attack on Cobra Island, in addition to being a fun game I want this to be impressive to the viewer, a beach landing lets me bring out the Whales, use the Flagg as a staging point(though not actually playable), breach the island and make a run at a Terror Drome with a set goal once they get there(capture or kill CC?).

My biggest worry is more in the logistics, its not as much fun if its only Joe characters on the Islands, I want at least a few vehicles, but how do I get them there? The Joes don't really have any big amphibious vehicle that can drop off Tanks, I could use the Tomahawk to airlift a few in. If the Joes "suprise" the Cobra's then the vehicles could be airlifted in ahead of time and partially "hidden" and they just have to claim them.

I don't want too much of a beach landing, nothing like Normandy, I want the Joes inland and fighting after some light mop-up on the beach. I may use a few Hydrofoils to harass the Whales but the last thing I want is the Joes to get whiped out before they even get to the beach.

This is what I'm currently thinking for each side.

Cobra's
6-8 named characters - Zartan, CC, Destro, Baroness, Dr. Mindbender, Major Bludd, maybe Croc Master
Dreadnok Unit - Obvious characters led by Zartan with a Thundermachine, Stinger and Tricycle.
Ground Forces - 6-8 Hiss Tanks, 2-4 Stingers, maybe a Maggot, 2-4 Ferrets
Air Forces - 2-4 Trouble Bubbles, 2-4 Fangs
Soldiers - 75-90 Cobra Soldiers, 18-24 CG's
Sea - BUGG, 2x Hydrofoils
Emplacements - 3x Cobra Bunkers, misc small battle stations, sandbags, converted outpost defenders, etc.

Joes's
36-42 named characters broken into groups of 6 - 6-12 in reserve on the flagg
Sea Landing - Warthog, 2x APC, 2x Whale, 2-4 Devilfish as Escorts
Air - Dragonfly for the occasional called in Radio Attack, this will only be available a few times a game. Tomahawk for drop off of reinforcements, maybe vehicles.
Land - Mauler, Wolverine, Awe Striker, Armadillo, Havoc - not sure what else. I want to stick with the popular ones.

[THE FAN]

I have spent many hrs coming up with a system myself. A long time ago on an island far far away I used the 40K warhammer rules as a base.

MArk troops phase:
TEsts phase:
Move troops:
1.move charges
2. other moves
SHOOTING PHASE:
HAND to HAND:
END PHASE

THere are sequence phases in between too

D6 game system is simple enough or do the standard D20.

I have more ideas will share as I recall those memories THanks DON

[Druss]

Thanks Don, I've started looking into the 40K system and have heard from a few people that it would translate well to this.

[THE FAN]

I think it would be workable. You can use 1,3,5 , 10 man squads easy. a 4 inch control would work for unit coharance. I always thought the


Move
WS ( weapon skill)
BS ( Ballistic Skill)
S ( Strenght)
T ( Toughness)
W ( wounds)
I ( initiative)
LD ( leadership)

You could change them or add a few new ones.


Thanks DON

[Druss]

Any idea how fast the 40K rules play? I need to be able to fit this into a 4 hour game slot. I could go longer if need be but I'd like to run the game twice if possible so I can fit in all the players who want to play.

When I brought the stuff to the Con to show the guys running it so they could get a sense of the size I had about 6 people come up to look at the toys and had a few already say they want to play. Mind you this was at the very end of the con when most had already left, had it been crowded I bet I'd have gotten some serious interest.

[Toyhunter80's]

Look at the Star Wars miniatures game for ideas. I play SWM and love it. Joe would fit nicely into this. I have thought about using the Joe mini figures to try out a practice.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=starwars

[THE FAN]

THegame is in inches. 4 inch for human and 6 for faster creatures ( ninjas, etc in my opinion) Based on 30mm scale. Vehicles would go 3 speed slow, medium, fast. Can't shoot in fast with out targeting gear just makes sense. I would do no turns for tracked vehicles at fast speed, 1 turn in medium and as many as you want in slow. Here are some more ideas. I have a ton and I want right s to them if u use them Then again Gw would too

Druss I have been gaming wargames since 1987 so I have a very exstensive memory or a lot of differnet rules from GW to battletech on. THere are a lot of cool ideas from all games I like KISS Keep It Simple Stupid. Fast and easy 4-6 turns Games last depending on points 500 pts to 3000 max. 500 is about 1hr to 3000 last 3 -4 hrs I have played many sizes and this is the time frame. Since I almost worked for Gw and ran 1 game store and OWNED 2 I have a good grasp on the gaming thing. Thanks DON

[JUST ANOTHER JOE]

Are you familiar with Milton and Bradley's Axis and Allies. That would be a great pattern to build a game like the one you want. Both sides could include their factions, night force, tiger force, dreadnocks and destro's troops. You can base it off money for holding certain territories or tax.
It would take me about an hour to describe the game but if your familiar with it then you would know. It goes by dice roll for defending and attacking with each having its own power. You can invest money on certain turns for a bonus attack. SOmebody can roll a dice for x amount of dollars and whatever number comes up that would be the special attack. Check it out.

[Druss]

I'm familiar with Axis & Allies, great game but not really what I'm looking for here.

Since I almost worked for Gw and ran 1 game store and OWNED 2 I have a good grasp on the gaming thing. Thanks DON

Thanks, while I"ve never worked for a gaming store or company I've been doing it for years and it sounds like we're on the same wavelength.

I want it to be simple but it has to keep the spirit of G.I.Joe.

The base movement sounds about right, odds are I"ll go through and come up with proper stats for every figure/vehicle. Certain ones will go faster than others, same with certain figures but in general the basic template sounds right.

[Deogg]

Look at the Star Wars miniatures game for ideas. I play SWM and love it. Joe would fit nicely into this. I have thought about using the Joe mini figures to try out a practice.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=starwars

I couldn't possibly agree with you more. The SWM rules would be perfect. Too bad Wizards of the Coast pretty much dropped GI Joe though.