Atomic Africa (Pt 2): Attributes, Armor, & Experience

I originally designed Atomic Africa as a skirmish game that bordered on a role-playing game, with the focus on developing certain personalities within an infantry squad.  As the game developed, it evolved into a test bed where I could explore all my favorite aspects of other wargames while avoiding trends I dislike.  I realized quickly that in order to avoid record keeping (my biggest goal) and eliminate excess dice rolling (my other biggie), the game had to be simple.  So I rejected the idea of individual figure statistics and even those for individual squads.  Instead only three attributes, an armor score, and an experience level define the entire platoon.  The platoon leader has a separate experience level but otherwise shares the other characteristics with his troops.  Figure 1 below shows a sample Unit Data Sheet.  The Unit Data Sheet allows players to track their platoon's progress by recording, after game play is finished, experience gained and lost through battle.  The Data Sheet also provides a quick reference for the player during a game, reminding him which dice types to roll.

Figure 1: Sample Unit Data Sheet

Attributes

Three Attributes, individually rated at one of five levels, quantify a unit's combat effectiveness.  The attributes are Training, Equipment, and Morale.  The Training rating never changes during individual battles, and rarely changes during campaigns.  The lowest level of Training reflects little or no training at all, such as that received by ad-hoc militia units formed of old men and schoolboys.  The fifth level of Training represents the incredibly focused and exclusive training received by the most elite forces of the most well-funded militaries.  Equipment ratings also never change during battles, but may drop during campaigns in order to simulate ammunition exhaustion and wear-and-tear on gear. A level one equipment rating represents improvised weapons and equipment in disrepair, while the fifth and highest rating means the unit is armed with unconventional, possibly experimental devices beyond the cutting edge.  Level four Equipment would be new, well maintained arms and armor from a military superpower.  Unlike the other two Attributes, Morale changes for most units during every battle.  A fanatical, well rested unit would be at the fifth and highest Morale level, while an unmotivated and exhausted unit would be at the lowest (if this seems familiar, yes my Morale levels are greatly influenced by Stargrunt II). 

As illustrated on the Unit Data Sheet in Figure 1, the five Attribute levels each correspond to a specific polyhedral die type.  A four-sided die (d4) represents the lowest and worst level, while units armed with the best Equipment and operating at the highest levels of Training and Morale use d12s for their respective attributes.  Table 1 summarizes the Attribute levels and their corresponding dice types.  As an example, the unit in Figure 1 above is a regular army unit from a first-world nation which engages in constant realistic Training, giving them a d10 in that Attribute.  The example unit, armed with the latest gear available to regular troopers, uses a d10 for its Equipment Attribute Die.  Finally, as citizens of an economic powerhouse and inculcated from youth with a sense of democratic righteousness, the unit's members are fairly motivated but not raving fanatics.  Unfortunately facing a number of recent battles has left the men tired, so the unit uses a d8 for its Morale Attribute Die.

Armor

Atomic Africa classifies infantry units as either light, medium or heavy based on their armor ratings.  Armor ratings span from 1 to 5, with 1 to 3 corresponding to the three infantry classes, and 4 and 5 reserved for vehicles.  The weapons fire rules details the effect of the armor rating, but basically the higher the rating the less wounds a particular attack can cause.  Armor ratings also influence movement for infantry units as detailed in those rules.  The example platoon in Figure 1 has an Armor rating of 2 and is therefore considered a medium infantry unit.

Experience

The final defining characteristic for a unit in Atomic Africa is Experience.  The Unit Data Sheet in Figure 1 shows two blocks of 32 boxes each, with four letters over certain boxes.  The platoon tracks its experience in one block, while the platoon leader tracks his in the other.  Each box marked indicates one Experience Point (XP) earned, and the letters designate the XP thresholds for four of the five levels of Experience: Green, Regular, Veteran, Legendary.  Table 2 below summarizes the XP requirements for each level, including the first and lowest level: Untested.  The example unit in Figure 1 has earned 6 total XP in its recent battles, putting it at Regular Experience.  The platoon leader made a valiant charge last battle, resulting in a grievous wound and hospital time.  The replacement lieutenant arrives with only 2 XP, giving him Green Experience.

In addition to the Unit's characteristics, the Data Sheet also lists any special equipment, such as heavy weapons, or attached units, such as a scout team, available to the unit.

Next up we'll start into the nuts and bolts of the game and explore the game turn!