Continuing my path towards running an Open Table megadungeon game powered by The Fantasy Trip, I’ve cracked open the big box to dig out the little box named Melee. The whole system is modular, starting with “Man-to-Man Combat With Archaic Weapons”.

Melee is a free .PDF download on Warehouse23 for those who are curious and the simple hexed map and little rules booklet are easy to print out. Having bought the actual box, I’ll be cracking that open to give the game a go.

Step One: Creating a Figure

Melee is a game of man-to-man combat, in which the most important factor is the ability of the individual fighters. Each counter in Melee represents a “figure” with its own capabilities, chosen by the player before the game begins.

A far cry from role-play, we begin with a board wargame at man-to-man scale. I remember my past conversation with Steve Jackson – the game’s designer – in which he stated that he wanted to get beyond the way D&D combat ends up with two combatants just whacking each other. The game is designed to encourage movement and manoeuvre.

Grabbing some scratch paper and a pencil, I sat down to create two fighters. Each begins with Strength (ST) 8 and Dexterity (DX) 8. You then spread 8 more points between those two basic attributes. You name them, give them two weapons (plus dagger), and armour.

Looking through the tokens, in two colours with a simple letter to mark them, I found two images that appealed to me. From these images, I designed the two fighters.

• Helena is ST 11, DX 13 (adjusted to 12), has a Javelin (used as a short spear) and a small shield with cloth armour. Her Movement Allowance (MA) is 10.
• Xeno is ST 11, DX 13 (adjDX 11), has a Horse Bow and a Shortsword with Leather Armour. His MA is 8.

Step 2: Play Melee!

Starting at opposite ends of the arena, in the designated areas, Xeno opts to hang back on the edge of the arena while Helena opts to take the forward position. She can see he has a bow, so she needs to close quickly.

Initiative is rolled for the first turn, one die each. Xeno gets the higher roll and opts for Helena to move first. Each turn is 5 seconds of action and he’s happy for her to charge closer before he fires an arrow.

Helena opts for a MOVE up to her full MA. She rushes forward, shield and javelin in hand, to try and close into melee. Moving 10 hexes, she is only 3 hexes away from Xeno at the end of the move.

Xeno opts to make a MISSILE WEAPON ATTACK. He choose to move the one allowed hex forward, then shoots with his Horse Bow. As Helena isn’t attacking, he must roll his adjDX or less on 3 dice. The range is one megahex (no penalty). Needs 11 or less. He rolls…

…13 misses!

Initiative: Xeno 4, Helena 1. Xeno chooses to go first, knowing he can get one more shot in before she arrives. Xeno chooses MISSILE WEAPON ATTACK again. He steps 1 hex and turns one face.

Helena chooses CHARGE ATTACK and moves in to engage Xeno. The Combat Phase goes in order of adjDX so she goes first. The javelin lances out! She needs a 12. Rolls…

…a 9 hits! The javelin does 1d-1 damage… 5 rolled is 4 hits scored. Xeno has leather armour which deducts 2 hits, so 2 hits against his ST. He’s lightly wounded.

Xeno has to take the ONE-LAST-SHOT MISSILE ATTACK now that he’s engaged in melee. He needs an 11. Rolls…11 to hit! The Horse Bow does 1d damage… 6 rolled, less Helena’s cloth (1) and shield (1) makes it 4 hits scored! Helena yelps as the arrow pierces her side!

Now both fighters are engaged, things shift into different options for engaged figures.

Initiative: Xeno rolls 1, Helena rolls 6. She chooses to move first and takes SHIFT AND ATTACK. She shifts one hex left. Xeno can’t use the bow, so he chooses CHANGE WEAPONS, drops it, and draws the shortsword.

Helena can strike first with the javelin. She’s wounded but not enough to worry. The tip of the spear lances out, needing a 12. Rolls… 9 to hit! The damage roll is 5 total hits, less Xeno’s armour (2) is 3 hits scored. The man cries out with the pain as the blade drive into his arm.

Xeno draws the shortsword and swings it wildly at Helena, seeking to strike. He needs an 11 or less. Rolls… 5 is an automatic hit with normal damage! Scores 2 hits, less her armour and shield (2) is no wounds. Oof!

Initiative: Xeno 4, Helena 6. She choose to go first, SHIFT AND ATTACK. She scooches left again, back the arena. Spotting her outflanking her, Xeno opts for SHIFT AND ATTACK and steps to her right to stop this.

Helena can strike first, the javelin flashing in the sunlight. Rolls… 8 hits for 5 damage, which scores 3 hits. Xeno is now reduced to 3 hits which gives him a -3 DX penalty from wounds. He stabs with the shortsword, rolls… 10 to miss.

Initiative: Xeno 3, Helena 3. Roll again… 1 and 5. Helena choose to move first, SHIFT AND ATTACK, stepping left around him. Xeno chooses to DISENGAGE, and shifts to face head on.

Helena can strike – the javelin attacks, roll… 6 is a hit! Damage rolls 5 again, that’s less 2 for armour to score 3 hits. Xeno drops to zero ST and falls unconscious. The fight is over! On his move, he would have stepped one hex backwards but no action is simultaneous in Melee.

STEP 3: Reflect

That was easy to play and quick. If I wasn’t typing up the notes above, it’d have been over in perhaps 15 minutes. As it was, blogging it took an hour. Not bad. Lots of promise for a quick game at the school club!

I like the manoeuvre options, even though they probably only come to life in a larger game. Both fighters survived, so they will get XP. Winners get 30XP and losers 20XP. This is the first real sign of character growth and I like it.

Overall, it’s dead simple to play. The rules make it seem quite complex but that’s because they are clearly laying out the options and edge case exceptions. I was flipping a little in the book, but by the last turn I knew what to do. Lots of fun!

Game on!