Cutlass House Rules

[Primarch]

After a few games of Cutlass it has become apparant that there are several things not covered in the rules, or that dont work very well. To that end I am proposing the following rules, some of which are in effect already, some are taken from the official Cutlass forums and some just seem 'right'.

1. The Leader's Au check is used to determine initiative, both crews receive 6 action points as standard. (This stops any of the more random results cropping up and gives weaker crews more chance against veterans who may have a higher Au).
2. Movement within buildings is not penalised if you go through the door. You can move up a floor at the cost of 3" of movement. (There are no rules for buildings in the rulebook).
3. Ignore the last four lines of the "Fame/Infamy" Table at the end of an encounter. Losing crews dont lose fame. (It penalises losing crews making it much harder to replace losses and unless you win all the time, prevents your crew from improving very much).

Any other suggestions?

[Admiral-Badruck]

This post is very old but I agree with it.

[Primarch]

Rather than start a new thread, I will use my awesome powers of Thread-o-mancy to make this long dead set of posts rise from the dark pits at the depths of the forum and walk amongst the living once more! Bwahahha!

Having got some interest in kicking off a new Cutlass campaign at some point in the future, there are a few things that I wanted to look at again. Cutlass obviously hasn't been updated since it's first edition and there are some obvious issues in the game that should be addressed.

Sprinting
As things stand, 1 in 4 rookies will trip over their own feet and stun themselves everytime they try to sprint. While I can see that hitting a moving target with a musket ball in the middle of a storm might require some training, surely even land-lubbers know how to run?
Proposed amendment to the Sprint chart:
1 - The model moves d4 inches.

Crossing Obstacles
The rules for crossing anything higher than a blade of grass are pretty punishing. Half the time you can't climb over a crate. This slows down the game and makes it less dynamic as crews struggle to climb fences.
Proposed amendment to Crossing Obstacles:
Ignore the current rules. Instead, measure the height of the obstacle to the nearest inch (round up). Deduct that much from your movement distance. If you don't have enough move left, you can't climb it this turn.

Model Facing in combat
It is really easy to manoeuvre around an opponent to strike at their flank/rear if you have a lot of actions left. This seems a bit dumb as minis should react to their enemies circling around them if they are aware of them.
Proposed amendment to Model Facing:
When a model moves into base to base contact with an unengaged enemy model, the enemy model will turn to face it's attacker. If a model is already engaged with an opponent it can't turn until it's own activation.
If a model begins the turn in an enemy model's rear arc and remains in the rear arc throughout it's move, the enemy model may not turn to face.

Daggers are really, really good.
A model armed with only a dagger is better at fighting than a model armed with only a sword or a cutlass (though they lose their ability to parry).
Proposed amendment to Daggers:
Daggers give no bonus when used by themselves. A model armed with a dagger in addition to another weapon still gets the benefits of fighting with 2 weapons. Daggers cost reduced to $3

The Parry rule is never used.
I don't think any of my opponents ever used this rule and neither did I. It adds an extra dice roll to a game already full of them.
Proposed amendment to the Parry rule:
Models armed with weapons that may Parry fight as normal. Models armed with weapons that may not parry count all rolls of Riposte on the Hand-to-hand Combat Chart (p.25) as Counter Attack instead. Models armed with weapons that give a bonus to Parry gain a +1 reaction bonus on the Counter Attack roll instead.

What do people think? Anything else that needs to be addressed in the game-play section? I'd like to talk about missions and campaign stuff at some point in the near future as well.

[kojibear]

Great revisions Prim

I remember that trying to get to a gang that were all hold up in a building was near impossible to move or get to without being taken out piecemeal. This is probably reflective of reality but it did make for a very one-sided game if it is the SKIRMISH type encounter where the objective is to kill enemy models perhaps we should limit the number of models that can be within buildings at any one time.?

[Primarch]

Great revisions Prim

I remember that trying to get to a gang that were all hold up in a building was near impossible to move or get to without being taken out piecemeal. This is probably reflective of reality but it did make for a very one-sided game if it is the SKIRMISH type encounter where the objective is to kill enemy models perhaps we should limit the number of models that can be within buildings at any one time.?

I remember watching that game, it did look pretty frustrating.
Rather than limiting how many figures can be in a building, how about rules for setting buildings alight? Players can put as many minis in the building as they like, but at their own risk.

Some errors/issues I spotted on another pass through the rules:
Elves have a skill called Knife Thrower which allows models to throw knives when charging or when being charged. However, there are no rules for charging, nor any apparent limit to how many knives you may have.

Both the hand to hand and damage charts have options for scores of 12+. On both charts, any score of 12+ on the attack hits/damages regardless of the defender's roll.
E.g. Attacker rolls a 13. Defender rolls a 14. According to the chart, the attacker hits.
As an easy fix, I think that the attacker still needs to equal or exceed the defender to succeed.

[Primarch]

Some proposals for buildings.
Entering through a door can be done as part of a standard move with no penalty.

Entering through a window can be done if you are in base to base contact with the wall, in front of the window and takes 1 standard move action.

Up to two models may fire out of any doorway or window. LoS from a door/window is a 90 degree arc. The same arc is used for firing into the building.

Targets in a building always count as being in cover.

Movement between floors takes one standard move.

A model in contact with a building may try to set it on fire as a Special Action. The model gains a reload marker (assume they are using some of their gunpowder to help set the fire) and then makes a DAR test against a 6+. If they are successful, the building starts to burn (see below). If they are unsuccessful, then other models may try to assist them. For each model that attempts to light the building, give them a reload counter and reduce the DAR target number by 1. E.g. If two models attempt to light the building, the DAR test is at 5+. A model may not have more than 2 reload markers (a brace reload) at any one time.

Burning buildings.
If a building is successfully set alight, it will start to burn. Models inside the building in contact with the door will immeadiately move 4 inches directly from the building. Models inside the building in contact with a window will move 4 inches directly from the building and are stunned. (They dive out of the window). Models on a higher floor will attempt to escape, but take falling damage based on the height of the building, see the falling damage rules on page 21.

Models not in contact with the windows or doors will attempt to escape. They must succeed on a RE test at the same target number that was used to light the building, (they smell the smoke?). If they pass, move them to the nearest window or door and follow the rules above. If they fail, they take a d6 DAM hit. On their controlling players next action, models in burning buildings MUST be given a move order to leave the building. If they are unable to escape after their first action, they take a D8 DAM hit and then MUST be given a move order again. If they are unable to escape successfully at this time, they are Taken Out.


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If that seems a little complex, I'm sorry. Hopefully there won't be too many situations where it becomes an issue, but having seen 1 game where a player stuck his entire crew in 1 room and sat and sniped the enemy, I can see Koji's point about needing a way to deal with it. It also gives me some ideas for a raid style mission...

[Admiral-Badruck]

I am for the most of the above rules but against any changed to the dagger rules. Some weapons are just plain good in games I don't have a dagger for all my models but if some one does do that with his gang then he is a bit of a cheese maker. But it should not be a game restriction. It is not like they are free.

I also think that seting a house on fire is going to happen every game it needs to be harder to do....I mean, have you ever tried to start a fire with undead pirates coming after you? I don't care how much gun powder you have it is not going to be easy to get a good sized fire going on an adoby brick structure.

I know I have not been in to play for a while but this be my two cents.

[kojibear]

Hi Admiral, good to see you on the forum and hope to catch up with you soon.

I think Prim is referring to models outside of the building trying to set it alight. Using Prim's rules a single model trying to set the building alight from the outside has a 1 in 6 chance, and if they fail, receive a reload marker. Of course, the model will also be shot at while trying to get to the building, making it even more risky and difficult.

I think this is not too easy.

[Primarch]

I am for the most of the above rules but against any changed to the dagger rules. Some weapons are just plain good in games I don't have a dagger for all my models but if some one does do that with his gang then he is a bit of a cheese maker. But it should not be a game restriction. It is not like they are free.

I also think that seting a house on fire is going to happen every game it needs to be harder to do....I mean, have you ever tried to start a fire with undead pirates coming after you? I don't care how much gun powder you have it is not going to be easy to get a good sized fire going on an adoby brick structure.

I know I have not been in to play for a while but this be my two cents.

Daggers don't need to be Wysiwyg according to the rulebook. I just find it odd that daggers are a better weapon choice than a Cutlass or anything else. If you consider taking daggers as cheesey, maybe they need a touch of a nerf?
Anyway, these are all just suggestions.

On the subject of trying to set buildings on fire, I haven't tried it. I may be an a#se, but I'm not an arsonist.

[Admiral-Badruck]

Building I have set on fire : 0

Fires I have tried to get started over the years: heaps.

It is really not that easy.