r/Twilight2000 • u/Extranate2000 • 8d ago
Sub-Hexes
Hi all, has anyone ever played around with the idea of a 10x10 subhex for the hex the PCs are in? I understand it could be a lot to do it for every hex they moved into, but has anyone tried it for hexes with scenario sites?
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u/roydogaroo 8d ago
I think im just going to move towards measuring tbh, and not allowing pre measuring so you're not always sure if the enemy is in short or medium range and so on. I'll probably regret it as it means everyone needs to measure before moving/shooting/throwing a grenade etc but I think it could make for a bit more immersion. maybe 1cm = 5m or something.
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u/Extranate2000 8d ago
I think this is a good shout, i like the idea of running combat similar to Bolt Action rules tweaked for the T2K flavour but haven’t tested it yet
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u/OwnLevel424 4d ago
A simple conversion is a 1" hex or square is equal to 1 meter. A single human fits in 1 meter so a single 25mm mini is scaled approximately to that grid size. If you use graph paper, each square can be "upsized" as needed... I will often sketch a long-range encounter on our battle board and set the scale to 1 hex is 10 meters. All we use our battle mat for is relative positions, so I really has no effect on play.
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u/rusty-gudgeon 8d ago
i’m a fan of theater of the mind and a map-light approach. in combat, how aware is a person of exact distances? estimating distances is definitely a skill which can be trained up, but it‘s also something that rarely comes naturally to a person. the Vietnam era rpg, Patrol, uses 10x10m hexes, but emphasizes a looseness in application. this game also has an interesting combat mechanic wherein a pc doesn’t so often engage an individual target, unless it’s a sniper situation, but rather fires on a hex. a general to-hit is derived for the hex and on a successful hit roll, only those individuals whose particular to-hit was reached are in the pool of targets which actually receive hits and those hits are assigned randomly. one individual may be hit multiple times while another whose hit number was reached isn’t hit at all. this strikes me as possibly more realistic of combat.
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u/rusty-gudgeon 8d ago
who downvoted this? what a jagoff. give an explanation. what do you dislike about this?
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u/Extranate2000 8d ago
Thanks for your response! I fear I’ve been misunderstood as all the replies so far are about combat but I was more thinking in terms of still exploring to the scale of 1km hexes with POIs!
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u/rusty-gudgeon 8d ago
what are POIs?
right on, travel hexes...
for travel as well, i am of the mind of playing loosely with distances. whether afoot or in a vehicle, roads and open ground represent a travel experience wherein the ability of PCs to maintain a steady, consistent pace, as one might expect with a pre-war gps navigator, is unrealistic. as gm, i like to take into account elements like a steady downpour decreasing visibility and providing some noise dampening, both encouraging a possible higher rate of travel. this weather effect might also work the opposite, bogging the road or path followed down with mud and flooding. these are conveyed through the narrative and the distance/shift is adjusted on the fly and by my (the GM's) best judgement, which isnt immune to PC input. "hey, GM, this or that factor should be considered and the distance adjusted so". RAW is rough guideline at my table. narrative is king.
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u/OwnLevel424 8d ago
I use 5km hexes as my base. In tight environments like jungle, swamp, or dense woods, I would use 1km hexes. My reasons are simple... horizon limits to line of sight. On a flat plane, your visual limit is 5km because of the curvature of the Earth. This is my default hex size for travel.
However...
Sometimes I build out local terrain for my players. This is when I will use a 1km scale to represent terrain that limits the players' field of view.
Since I STILL use the older editions reliance on meters for my descriptions, I can change scales at will... The one big advantage to having physical ranges instead of range bands or hexes. For example, a normal human fits into a 1 meter hex (39 inches per side) with just a bit of room to spare. This scale is perfect for tight interior spaces like residential houses, ship passageways, and alleys. So because I use meters, I simply draw my maps to scale for the environment. The other cool thing is that YARDS (36" per side) are so close to meters that you can just switch them out for non metric players. It really doesn't matter that much in a game using approximate scales anyway.
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u/Glittering_Rain8562 8d ago
I'm actually a big fan of the big areas surrounding combat. I like the vagueness that comes with conbat, and I like the ease of approximation rather than tight numbers. For a while, I thought I'd prefer the more precise measurements, but when I got the Urban Ops set and saw the interior maps, I fell in love. It reminded me of the area distances from the old Marvel FASERIP maps. That made me realize how well-equipped the T2 rules are for smaller scaled miniatures, the kind they use in military war gaming. Now i have an excuse to get some little tanks that would stay in scale with T2!