Saturday 27 February 2016

Wargaming - Man vs Dinosaur

 In WW2, dinosaurs were prized for their ability to effortlessly wield heavy weaponry.  Their vital contribution to the war effort is often glossed over by modern historians.

Inspired by my daughters toy dinos shower adventures (that sounded odd) and partly by PC games (Dino D-Day, ARK, and the ORION series - especially the latter - I mean, who hasn't dreamt of fighting a T-Rex equipped with a crossbow, jetpack and lightsabre?)   ...I've been wondering why there aren't more dinosaur wargames?

 Iron Sky has been vital for exposing the Nazi menace from their moon colonies.  A new documentary reveals their Hollow Earth bases.

Like pirates and ninjas, they are the most under-represented faction of "cool" on the tabletop.  We have plenty of robots and mecha, and every idiot and their dog is making a zombie game.  Cowboys? Tick.  But is there any dedicated dino games and miniatures lines?  No, the only way you'd get them is through some tiny boutique manufacturer, sold in a paper bag like a X-rated VCR.  They might be mentioned in passing in pulp rules, or in a supplement no one much plays.  (Though the lovable pulp-obsessed oddballs at Lead Adventure probably have a forum on it)

I can't think of any wargame franchise where dinos have their rightful starring role.  I mean, we know they fought with the Nazis in pivotal moments of WW2 (thanks to classic historical works such as Iron Sky, Danger 5 and Dino D-Day).
(No, Lizardmen don't count. They're Aztec alien lizards from space, not dinosaurs.  They're as much dinosaurs as Michael Bay's Age of Extinction transformers)

Here's my second thought - how would humans in various eras match up against dinos? 
Sure, if you're jetpacking past wielding a lightsabre you might have a fighting chance - but surely a T-Rex would mong down on a medieval knight?

I've personally never "bought" the theory a giant asteroid mashed the dinosaurs or whatever it did to bring about their extinction.  I mean, Occam's Razor suggests the most common cause of animal extinction would be behind it - i.e. mankind.   A generation raised on Jurassic Park might think "T-Rex - RUN!" but our hardier ancestors may well have throught "Yippee - food for the whole village - in one easy package!"

Since 100% of our dinosaur knowledge is educated guesswork (and in many cases, wild conjecture presented as fact) I think the man vs dinosaur matchup can be pretty much how we wish it to be - but would be slanted in favour of humans rather more than contemporary movies suggest.   Heck, computer simulations suggest a human can keep pace with a T-rex, as opposed to the "chase-down-a-jeep" speeds shown in movies.  Humans are, after all, an exceptionally cunning and vicious species.  I'm sure they would have adapted specialist tactics to bring down whatever dino they hunted. (Also, with those tiny forearms - am I the only one who thinks a T-Rex might not be so scary if it was tripped over?) Heck, they might have only had to knock out the dinos traditional food source, rather than directly hunting carnivores, but I wouldn't bet against it.  That said, for wargaming, I'm thinking traditional tactics:

Shieldwall (Romans, Greek, viking) vs Dinosaurs
Horse archers vs Dinosaurs
Knights vs Dinosaurs
English longbowmen/Crossbowmen vs Dinosaurs
Muskets vs Dinosaurs....

..I mean, just grab your favourite historical period and add dinos in.
Finally, a way to make Napoleonics fun?

As firearms become more capable it becomes hopelessly one-sided, but remember, we're flexible - if scientists have latitude to make up stuff about dinosaurs, so can we.  You didn't know that Velociraptors had infared vision and could spit acid, did you?   ...and they haaate Tiger tanks.  It's something about the smell of diesel that makes them go into an attack frenzy. 

Many species of dinosaur make excellent steeds and are both stronger and more vicious than a trained warhorse - something many medieval knights took advantage of.

Liberated from the guesses of others, we can attribute intelligence and traits as we please to - for example, perhaps dinosaurs were much smarter than their cranial capacity suggests.  Maybe they were all more like Jurassic World raptors or elephants rather than crocodiles or goannas.   Think along the lines of a Mumakil-esque gondola on a brachiosaurous or armoured ankylosuarous deflecting arrows then smashing through a battle line...   ...dinos could act as mounts or beasts of burden, even towing siege equipment or breaking enemy lines like war dogs.   

Dinos, dinos everywhere...  a visit to any department store or $2 shop will usually turn up dinos sold either individually or by the bag.  They're super cheap, and often quite decently modelled. Generally the main concern is a hideous paint job, which is easily enough fixed.  Note: the softer plastic ones don't accept spraypaint to well (so round #2 will have me holding the can back so the solvent doesn't hit it (styfoam-ball style) or see a brushed undercoat first.  I'll upload pics when I steal more dinos out of my daughters' sandpit collection.

Anyway, I meant to explore what existing wargame rules would work well with dinos, and how to fit them in to games, but I realised I must get to bed before my wife checks how late it is and my fossilized carcass is discovered thousands of years later....

26 comments:

  1. I have an extensive collection of Dinotruppen in fact.
    One of my fav demo games ever was Jurassic Reich at Melbourne Cold Wars:

    http://tasmancave.blogspot.com.au/2010/06/jurassic-reich-detailed-report.html

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    1. Why does this not surprise me?

      I recall Magister Militum had "Dino Might" but I know little about it
      http://www.magistermilitum.com/rule-system/dinomight.html

      The 10mm scale put me off (I already have 6mm and 15mm... so 10mm seems.... neither fish nor fowl)

      Also, buying expensive minaitures seems a little pointless where plastic stuff is cheap and plentiful.

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    2. Unsurprisingly, the godfather of pulp Savage Worlds has an adaption "Sticks and Stones" is $2 reduced from $15, serendipitously enough

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  2. Have you tried TUSK? Prehistoric mammoth hunting with VSF options. Fun

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    1. I was trying to think of the name, so thanks!

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    2. Tusk is (at least) three volumes still available from Irregular Miniatures. Tusk 1 has lots of good ideas, well worth the money. The two sequels expand the game with different settings and scenarios.

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    3. Is it worth getting? My impression was it was very beer-and-pretzels with the dinosaur reaction mechanics being the best bit.

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    4. The Dinosaur/Mammoth reaction mechanics are the best bit. I would say it's worth getting the first book just for them.

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  3. Hmmm....brilliant idea! There is a rumour that GW once had models for their ultra-cool dino-riding eldar ("Exodites") in the epic rules.

    That would be quite some fun...

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    1. Many historical minis (i.e Perry knights, say) come with a "mounted" pose that I'm sure you could fit a dinosaur to.

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    2. No rumour- fact. Hard to find and super expensive models now

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  4. Have you seen this? Traazorite Crusaders: Freeblades Fantasy Miniatures
    by DGS Games, LLC
    http://kck.st/1om2CbL

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    1. Worth monitoring. I'm finally going to take the ancients plunge when Osprey releases its new skirmish rules. (You know, the weird-Roman-secret service one)

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  5. I am working on a set of rules for Hovertanks and Dinosaurs in cooperation with Museum Miniatures. The setting is near future exploration of a gate to a world where dinosaurs survived and evolved intelligence (some of them at least).
    Game scale is platoon skirmish, i.e. Infantry figures and smaller dino's based in fire teams. Vehicles and larger dino's as separate models.
    Model scale is 10mm. I would have preferred 15mm or 1/300th but I'm not doing the sculpting. We have some prototype models ready.

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    1. Sounds interesting. I was imagining more skirmish level than platoon based. Sounds a bit like that novel with lizard aliens (Posleen?).

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    2. I would like to go with Individual skirmish, the figure maker wants WRG Ancients! I have to try and cover both.
      For a starter scenario human exploration groups start with a couple of strike squads, each with two fire teams and a hover APC plus a command carrier with drone operator and a light tank in support. At this point info on the Ramorians / Dinos is very sketchy.
      I have not read the Posleen books yet, but I have read some of Harry Harrison's World War SF with lizard invaders joining in WW2.

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  6. "I mean, just grab your favourite historical period and add dinos in.
    Finally, a way to make Napoleonics fun?"

    The proposal surely represents more of a challenge than this pithy comment suggests, given the prejudice in certain quarters that Napoleonics gamers are themselves dinosaurs?

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    1. There is a bit of tautology involved
      'Napoleanics with dinosaurs' is a bit like 'Himalaya Mountains'

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  7. I don't care. I don't like you or your stupid blog.

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    1. ^ goes back to checking the buttons are modelled correctly on his Old Guard

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    2. I guess he went back to flaming people at TMP

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  8. "Like pirates and ninjas, they are the most under-represented faction of "cool" on the tabletop..."

    Did you have a look at Freebooters Fate? It is a German pirate themed skirmish game with cards instead of dice.

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    1. It was way to pricey for me to get into, although the Werner Klocke minis had lots of character. Like Ron & Bones, it just never seemed to get traction and "fizzled out."

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  9. FF is about the same cost as Infinity. You need 6-8 miniatures for a standard 500 Points game, which would cost about 70-80€. But of course you want all models of your faction, some mercenaries which will add up (like in most other tabletops)

    I would not say it "fizzled". Its a niche game thats popular in Germany but mainly unknown to anglo-saxon wargamers.

    If you have the time, please write a review about it. I would love to read your oppinion about the game mechanics.

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  10. Despite having 2 children now well past the sandpit age and plastic dinosaurs up in the attic, the idea of dinosaurs on the tabletop never really grabbed me ( it was usually Lego minifigs). But the way you talk about it beyond the 'dino hunt' perks my interest.

    Dinosaurs in space. WWWierd. Hummm. Now to dig out those raptors with guns from 15mm.co.uk.


    Thanks for the cog oil.

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  11. Always liked that film clip of the war dino and their mini gun!

    May not be as quick as spray, but I like Gesso for priming. It seals the surface, doesn't obscure detail, and can be purchased with the weekly 40% off coupon at craft stores like Hobby Lobby, A. C. Moore and Michael's

    JJ

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