The Landshut Rules

[Finarvyn]

I'm not quite sure where to put this thread. Maybe in the "Playing with Dave Arneson" section? Anyway....

I saw on FB where a gentleman named Herbert Matausch posted something he calls "the Landshut Rules." He said:

I don't know if this is the right place, so please feel free to delete my post if it's inappropriate. We're huge fans of the Blackmoor way of gaming, and so, a while ago, I wrote down our rules. We've been using them for ages, and they're directly inspired by Dave, MAR Barker, Chirine, Bob Meyer, and many other grognards.

My reply on FB, "I've talked to Chirine about the old days, and these seem quite similar to those he described and said he still uses. Other than the funky font for titles, I like this." I don't know for sure about the value of this stuff, but it is interesting and there are still many of the old timers from the Twin Cities playing some variant of this style of play.

The link: drive.google.com/file/d/1mhJQjcTowU1yYFKCo6fV_P7kwNa3Hhdf/view

Or, the link to the blog: darkwormcolt.blogspot.com/p/landshut-rules.html?fbclid=IwAR1YNh8qDG90LpfqG8Tvd31Q2VhM1UD30wUzCVNjHn2LaxVNdomOyl9IKtM

[derv]

Mar 12, 2020 4:23:54 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

My reply on FB, "I've talked to Chirine about the old days, and these seem quite similar to those he described and said he still uses.

I looked at them. If I had to characterize them, I'd call them a "Braunsteinesque" style of house rules and agree that they are likely most influenced by Jeff B.

There's some interesting and usable ideas in them. No mention of levels or progression. You do see the repurpose of the reaction table. They incorporate the use of polyhedrals in a couple of instances that seems a little out of place with the rest of the d6 based mechanics.

One method I'm not a big fan of is combat using flat opposed roles, which is basically flipping a coin.

[Finarvyn]

Agreed. In fact some of the wording is pretty much EXACTLY like some of the wording of what Jeff B sent to me.

I'm not sure if I'd play by those rules, but it's neat to see that there are those who still do.

[derv]

Mar 12, 2020 11:54:25 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Agreed. In fact some of the wording is pretty much EXACTLY like some of the wording of what Jeff B sent to me.

I've never heard Jeff B or others express or acknowledge, so the author of these rules probably does not realize, that the opposed die roll method used for combat is a shadow (vastly distilled) of how Strategos works. The difference and why I call it "flat" is that it does not consider any "factors" that would influence and establish odds. Odds are not a multiplier or modifier in Strategos. They simply establish how many attempts a player has of rolling the die in order to get the best possible outcome for their side. The high roll is the winner and the difference in the two opponents final rolls determines the outcome.

Sometimes the odds are 1:1. Not usually in a wargame. That would not be considered optimum. The general rule is to avoid engagement unless you have 3:1 odds or better. Still not a guarantee if you're rolling poor in Stategos.

For a Braunstein I imagine the method will do.