VSGMR: Basic Rules

There's a new version of the VSGMR rules up on my website, and as you can see I've kept the rules almost the way they were before, but I've split the document into two parts.

Part 1: Basic Rules is what makes the name "Very Simple" true. It's seven pages from introduction to summary, but as I noted in the rules themselves, you only really need the dice roll summary page once you've played the game once or twice. The idea, as always, is to keep the rules easy to pick up but not so simplified that there's no variety in your troops at all.

Part 2: Rules Options is under development, but it will include most of what came before. I'm going to refine what was already written to include more options and offer things that no other game does. Plenty of games have special abilities for troops, but not VSGMR special abilities. And what makes the game more unique than any other is the rules for super-powered heroes and for characters of different scales. If you have action figures, let's put them to use (well, if you're not using them in a game of Plastic Attack, that is).

That's what's coming for VSGMR. After that, the plan is to generate armies, complete with points values and special abilities. I'd like to see your ideas for armies too!

VSGMR: Where Do We Begin?

A Very Simple game should have very simple rules, and in an effort to be comprehensive, I'm including everything I can think of in the game's rules. That's a conflict, of course, but here's the solution: a one-page summary of the necessary dice rolls, with detailed information on those rules, and following that a big section of optional rules, like points values, special abilities (one of the things the Yahoo Group really got a lot of enjoyment from), and scenarios.

We start with an introduction and the materials needed to play. I called the miniature figures "guys" because that's what they're most often called, especially when they're not actually hobby gaming miniatures (i.e., LEGOs, action figures, even dolls). The girlfriend of a friend used to call them "your little people," but I'm not going to use that term in the rules.

The current version of the rules also mentioned a measuring tool. As in most miniatures battle games, that refers to a ruler. For VSGMR, where "twisting and turning" the measuring tool is suggested, try a flexible ruler, like the ones used for sewing. It's basically a ribbon.

Like this, but you only need one (mine is yellow). (image: aliexpress.com)

Dice, a playing surface, and markers of some kind should be easy enough to come by. Coins are great markers, though make sure they're all the same size, since using a large coin as an objective marker makes it a little easier for figures to touch.

That leaves terrain, which at its most basic (its Very Simplest), is stacks of books or old boxes, maybe decorated a little bit. There's also print-and-fold terrain out there; finding good resources is the subject of another post.

So here's where we start, with what you need to play. It hasn't changed, and it will be part of the basic rules of the new VSGMR. It's is one of about a dozen games, or game variants, I'm playtesting and revising now. They'll all eventually be on my website, though some have work-in-progress versions available now.

VSGMR: Updating For A New Tomorrow

So, a long time ago my game VSGMR (Very Simple Generic Miniatures Rules — I wanted a placeholder name, and it kind of stuck. Hey, it worked for GURPS) was popular enough that it earned its own Yahoo Group. I was just there this morning; you can still find a number of expansions written by several participants, everything from cavemen to "Star Wars."

Speaking of old miniatures games... (image: Pinterest, uploader unknown)

But time has passed and VSGMR is a little out of date, especially given the growth of simplified miniatures games like One Page Rules and Games Workshop's own "Age of Sigmar" (much, much easier to get into than the older versions of "Warhammer"). There's room for plenty of games in the world, and so I will be bringing VSGMR back. I revitalized my own Domino Writing-style USR roleplaying game with an ongoing series here on this blog, and I'll be doing the same with VSGMR.

First, it needs an update, if only to actually keep to the "Very Simple" part of its name. Every gamer knows how easy it is to keep adding rules to a game, and looking through the most recent version of 2013 I see rules for buildings, for special abilities, for using a sheet of paper to make measurements, and on and on. I'll be streamlining the game, with the basic rules in one place, then some official expansions after that. "Very Simple" needs to mean very simple.

Here's the core rules: 

• Use any figures you have, any size. Their equipment and abilities are whatever you say they are.
• Roll 1 die (a d6) per figure, on a 4 or better (sometimes higher) it's a success.

That's it! Look for the revised rules soon. If you have any suggestions for the revised version, let me know.

Revisiting VSGMR

For the first time in about four years, I took a look at VSGMR (Very Simple Generic Miniatures Rules). There are other good simple miniatures games available (One Page, Two Hour, Brikwars, even Age of Sigmar), but I like the option of using all the standard roleplaying dice and different scales of figures. I'm going to revisit it, as there are still people in the Yahoo group.

Some of those other games are even simpler than VSGMR, and as I have less and less time to set up and play games (jobs, family, the same issues as everyone else), I lean more and more in that direction. I also want to make use of the figures I already have: 28 mm fantasy characters, 10 mm characters from wargames, and standees, the cardboard flats with a small plastic base.

These are standees.

I don't think the rules need a revision, since they're pretty smooth right now (move 6 inches, roll 4 or 5 to hit, roll 4 or 6 for defense if there's armor). There are a few special abilities, and options for using figures of different scales. I'd like to add more custom-made armies, since there are new miniature games available since 2013, with new options. So look for that soon (really!).