How to play Chainmail (Part 1 - Rules)

How to play the Chainmail Rules for Medieval Miniatures Fantasy Supplement, the ancestor of Dungeons & Dragons. This is a quick overview of the necessary rules.
Part 2 - Example of Play: • How to play Chainmail ...
You can buy Chainmail at: www.dmsguild.c...
You can discuss how to play Chainmail at: odd74.proboards...

[@ExperimentalGameology]

I realize I omitted one major piece of the puzzle here - the Fantasy Reference Table at the back of the book, which shows what troop types a lot of the fantasy types correspond to. I also made a mistake, - *Hobgoblins* attack as Armoured Food and defend as Heavy Foot. *Goblins* are Heavy Foot / Light Foot as per the Fantasy Reference Table.

[@quitkid8727]

Thank you for clearing that up, I was confused for a second 😅

[@nerzenjaeger]

Probably the best way to introduce the game. With what you get here, you can get started and figure out the rest on the fly.

[@mr.e1944]

Thanks for the overview. I read the rules, but have not played it yet. I hope to do so in the future.

[@ExperimentalGameology]

We're getting some games together on the Dungeon Crawlers Discord Server, if you want to come and play there.

[@mr.e1944]

@@ExperimentalGameology cool, I will have to check that out.

[@thenachomancandysavage4074]

Thanks for posting this, I've always wanted to play this game.

[@SuStel]

The missile tables don't tell you what target numbers are needed to hit. They tell you, given how many figures are firing into a unit, how many figures in that unit will be killed. The die-rolling only determines whether you look at the first column for the number of casualties or the second. So for instance, if you've got 5 figures firing into an unarmored unit, then on a roll of 1 or 2, two figures will be killed, and on a roll of 3 through 6, three figures will be killed. The missile target categories should be taken literally. The terms "light foot," "heavy foot," don't just refer to armor; they refer to how well equipped, trained, and closely formed up a unit is. But when firing missiles, the actual armor of the target is more important to determining casualties than the target's training and formation.

[@ExperimentalGameology]

How you describe it is how I understand it, and how I've played it. Did I explain it unclearly in the video? I also understand that there is a typo in the table, and that rolling a 1-3 when 5-6 units are firing at 1/2 armor or shield should read 1 and not 2 - the jump from 0 to 2 in that column doesn't make sense, and I think one of the olds confimred that this was recognized as an error back then.

[@BobbyLCollins]

I had no idea Alan Davies was an old-school gamer!

[@ExperimentalGameology]

I've always worried about how my voice sounds recorded, so I'll take that as a compliment!

[@valfredodematteis-poet]

using Chainmail tables I devised a way to alter "archery" from man-to-man fight: with the Individual Fire With Missiles table, bows and crossbows (and the like) can kill on the spot - but if you are caught with a bow in hand in abody-to-body fight you more or less unarmed, then dead. white weapons fight are balanced and slower, archery is "unfair" and deadly. CHAINMAIL + OD&D is an amazing combination, it really has A LOT of possible uses

[@Sanguivore]

Pretty cool idea! :D I might give that a shot.

[@Luchiop]

great video, I wanted to try this one but the game seems a bit complicated for me (as in too much stuff to remember). I got as far as "Advanced song of blades and heroes" and those fantasy trip "Melee/Wizard". Still tryin to understand the proper way to play the old microquests programmed adventures.

[@yourseatatthetable]

I played Chainmail in the 70s with my friends using those old, green army men

[@scottchaney4573]

it was so fun back in the mid 70s. miss gaming or comradery

[@johnscarr70]

You might be in a place to entertain the notion of solo gaming? The cameraderie is available on KZbin and - unlike the early days - everything is so affordable! Minis, rules, scenery. Hope it's not all in the past for you.

[@Lightmane]

Thanks for sharing this on the TSR Gamers fb page. I've seen these booklets, but have never looked through them. Now I want to play : )

[@ExperimentalGameology]

Hey, I didn't share it, but I'm glad someone did. It is fun to play, enjoy!

[@MrRourk]

Thanks! There are so few videos on this.

[@aWOLtrooper]

Great video.

[@valfredodematteis-poet]

amazing content man, thank you

[@SwordlordRoy]

Can you do Chainmail's "Grandson", Swords and Spells?

[@jamesharland3727]

Yes, I'd like to, though there are several stops on the way. I want to do individual combat in Chainmail next, and then some OD&D videos, including ways of using Chainmail with that. I haven't played Swords & Spells, but I want to,

[@lopezmt5]

When I first played D&D we used the Chainmail system for large battles/wars even though Swords and Spells had come out. We liked there being some dice rolling “chance” to decide the outcome. For us it was more “fun”.

[@junainoakuma]

Subscribed

[@graveyardshift2100]

Sounds pretty simple

[@russellharrell2747]

Chainmail was the basis for combat for D&D and should have stayed that way. A few revisions could have given way to a very streamlined system that used d6s and made the game more accessible to a wide audience.

[@PauloRogerioDePinho]

When I read the combat tables in appendix A I thought those lines meant "minus 1 die per man" and I was confused. So, how many dice should be cast anyway, to subtract one from?

[@ExperimentalGameology]

Hi, no it's not minus, it's just a hyphen (dash). So "One die per man", "One die per two men etc". Of course a die is just a d6. "Man" probably means a single model, so could actually be 10 or 20 etc 'men' depending which 'ratio of figures to men' (p. 8) you're using. Basically you just add up the dice for each unit (or each part of each unit in melee range and with weapons that reach), and each side rolls a pool of d6s, trying to hit their 'kill' number or above. The number of 'kills' subtracts 'men'/figures from the opposing unit. This happens simultaneously, after which morale is checked.

[@PauloRogerioDePinho]

@@ExperimentalGameology These rules are challenging to understand. It almost seems it was written in some form of shorthand, familiar to the wargamers of the time. Thank you for the explanation.

[@atleta_gnostico]

@@ExperimentalGameology Hello! But what does that description of light infantry mean by attacking the heavy cavalry "1 dice / 4 men, 6 kills"? Unlike the heavy cavalry attacking the light infantry that is "4 dice per man, 5, 6 kills.

[@ExperimentalGameology]

@@atleta_gnostico So if Light Foot is attacking Heavy Horse, you roll one d6 for every four LF units attacking, and only a six rolled will represent a kill. If Heavy Horse is Attacking Light Foot, the player controlling the Heavy Horse will roll 4d6 per unit of Heavy Horse, and any 5s or 6s rolled will count as kills.

[@atleta_gnostico]

@@ExperimentalGameology The thing means exactly what it means. Thank you very much for the explanation and response speed.

[@ronaldlegere]

How do you interpret "Melee Continues" result on the Post Melee morale? There seems to be two schools of thought. Melee continues next turn, or it continues immediately and multiple rounds of melee occur until a different result occurs.

[@ExperimentalGameology]

I've tried both. Obviously if you go with multiple rounds after contact, then melee resolves quickly, and other things (e.g. missile) become less important. In any case, morale won't allow you _that_ many subsequent rounds of melee.

[@ronaldlegere]

@@ExperimentalGameology I think trying both and picking the one you like is the best way to answer that. When I first played Chainmail 30+ years ago I used multiple rounds approach, i think i was influenced by learning 'basic' programming at the time!

[@ExperimentalGameology]

@@ronaldlegere REPEAT UNTIL FALSE? :-D

[@SuStel]

The correct answer is that melee continues immediately. There are multiple "rounds" of melee in a turn. Here's why: in the example of post-melee morale after Heavy Horse charging Heavy Foot, the Heavy Foot is driven back one move and the Heavy Horse must continue its charge, "if applicable, and if they again contact the Heavy Foot the two units will again melee that tum." Enemy units still in melee distance from each other at the end of the post-melee morale check mean more melee happens that turn, until all melees have been resolved.