Push Back: What happens if the unit that is being pushed back bumps into something else, destroying it? Where does the chasing unit go? Is it just moved the same distance that the fleeing unit moved, and if this brings it into contact with another enemy unit, so be it?

You made some great tactical observations and assessments that were quite impressive seeing how this was your first game. Nicely done!

On turn 2, I do think you shorted the wolves a die for being on the flank of the crossbowmen.

In this case, you would move the unit being pushed back until it comes in contact with a unit. Next, you would place the unit doing the pushing in direct base contact with the unit it was shoving. Finally, remove the eliminated unit.

I'm sure you already realize this, but remember that you only need the final compared results of a roll to be a tie for a Deadlock ability to trigger. So, in your combat between the Orc spears and the Griffin, if the roll had resulted in a 2, 3, and 4 by the Orcs and a 2 by the Griffin, then a Deadlock ability would be triggered [assuming that one of the units had a Deadlock AND the Orcs chose the 2 for the combat result].

I totally did...and I also Pushed Back the Elite Orc Swords, I think...and rereading the rules, Elites get Fearless and so shouldnt have been lost...but oh well, it is what it is

Yup, got it. The battle with the Griffon was fun because all four dice were 2's...it was Deadlock or Bust at that point!

I've been thinking about Ranged weapons lately. Actually Ive been thinking about them before I played my first game, specifically their Range.

First, let me say that I love how Ranged weapons have their own stats. I think it is unique and fits the system nicely. However, I think that for their range and ability to "reach out and touch someone", they are overpriced.

WFB did this really well, I felt. I could have rows of archers in the back of my lines, and if the enemy wanted to get to them, he'd need to either break one of my flanks to get through, or use a fast flier or cavalry around and get them...and if they were exposed to a melee unit like this, they were in TROUBLE. They dont have to be in trouble in this game, as I can pay a few more points for a more better (like that? heh) CQ value...

Look at the Crossbows in my batrep. They cost 11 points, 2 more than the Heavy Foot...but have 1 less CQ die, and lack the substantial staying power of Shields and Heavy Armor. A d12 range means they can reliably hit 6" away...which is basically melee range. I dont want to have to move a ranged unit to within countercharge range to use their weapons, and as the Danger roll system has proven already, taking anything but the default is a HUGE risk for anything over that Default value.

I have two ideas for possible solutions, and by "solutions" I am not implying that Range is broken...it just isnt working how I envision a Fantasy ranged army to operate.

That leads me to my second thought of the evening: Gaminess. "Create-Your-Own" is a really, REALLY good thing...and is subjected to exploitation by everyone but Grandma. Having even a modicum of restrictions isnt bad...such as no more than 1 Ranged unit for every Foot unit, etc.

Sorry, Im in rules development mode...thinking away.

ps. You're my new favorite game designer. Your call whether you think this is an April's Fools joke or not

Intent of Movement: Movement is in a Straight Line. Does this mean, "proceed forward directly, with no deviation to left or right", or can units move "in a straight line, to any point within their forward arc, as long as they end with the same facing as they started with (prior to the free spin on their axis)"?

Wheeling: His first comment was how unwieldy it was to move large columns of units. The Wheel is a maneuver that is in most fantasy/Napoleonics ruleset, and after game 1, we introduced it. Measuring from the outside corner of the Wheel, and pivoting on the inside corner, we still moved at the default rate, but suddenly, movement felt right. Even if this isnt put into the official rules, which we really urge you to consider, this is something we will houserule.

Rally...

Heroes in a Unit: Do you get the Hero's full profile? We were wondering about a Knight with Heavy Army who joins a unit of Swordsmen. Do we need to track hits on the unit and the hero separately? Doesnt seem like it, since if the unit get killed, so does he...but if he takes 2 wounds, the unit itself should perish? We were a tad confused, I admit.

Cost of Traits and Combat/Movement: I think I mentioned this in my original write up. Again I felt, and my buddy wholeheartedly agreed, that a greater cost needs to be assessed for buying a unit's stats up. The second battle, when he created a new army, he had nothing less than CQd8, and with the Counters we were using in the game, made a big difference, but these units only cost 1 more than my d10's. Some linear scale is needed, where going from a d10 to a d8 is 2 or 3 points, and to a d6 from a d8 is more like 5 points...this might result in a higher-pointed game, but it will reflect the relative value of one unit when compared to another much better.

And we know you're coming out with Disadvantages in the next supplement, right? (besides the existing Counters...which I still love)

Ranged Attacks...

Elite: The rules say you must have "2 other units" of the same type...I take this to mean you must have bought 3 of that unit type for 1 to be upgraded. There was a debate on this Can you either put this in the FAQ, or just slot in something like, "for a total of 3 or more of the same unit type" in the line?

General Comment: I didnt want this to be lost in the mix, as it is being typed into a wall of text, but my friend's summary was simple: "This is not a game of maneuver. Doing so merely puts you out of command and costs a lot of CP's with the short movement distances."

This comes from a Warmaster player...but honestly, Warmaster seems to be exactly the main competition to Mayhem. Consider a Cavalry unit in Warmaster that moves 30cm per action (roughly 12"), versus a Default of 5" on a d10 move. How many times did we roll Danger rolls last night with a d10 unit and get a 1 or 2, or less than the Default? LOTS. We were really trying to use the Default as a result...which really slows things down. This is why Warmaster plays on a 6'x4' board, and I had zero issues playing 150 Crowns on a 3'x3' board.

Breaking up an Advancing block of 3 Units: As we moved our infantry blocks of 3 units forward, both of us at one point want to break a unit away and have it wander off on its own. This required the unit to rotate on its axis prior to walking away...which wasn't technically legal. The rotating made it overlap with its neighboring unit, technically...but we did it anyway because we saw no reason for the end result to not work. What do you think?

Action: "Set": I came up with this one on my own, but a 1CP action a unit could take might be "Set", which, if during the next turn an enemy units engages it in melee from the front, whether by actual melee or by Impacts, this unit receives +1 dice as if initiating the melee, and allows weapon counters to work (spears vs cavalry, axes vs infantry, etc). If you know a charge is coming, get those bristly points out and deter the enemy!

Impacts: This one was a big stumbling block to my opponent, who kept saying things like, "Damn, I didnt leave enough CP for melee. I keep forgetting that Combat isnt a Phase..."
The bottom 3 Infantry units have been hit by a cavalry unit to their left flank (who lived against those spears!), but to their front is a unit of Chaos Heavy Infantry, who where CQd8, Axes, Frenzy, Heavy Armor...NASTY units. They sat there for a few turns, because even before I was charged in the flank, neither of us wanted to be the one that spent the 1CP to Advance the group, then 6 more CP to start a fight with each unit (2 per unit). We wanted to be the one receiving the charge, then only spend 1 per unit to fight back. Honestly, this is a design flaw. Imagine this scene in Braveheart...
Now someone screams, "HALT! STOP! Don't crash into them, let them hit us first!!!!!" and the whole charge stops? Heh...I'm being silly here, but we feel the solution is simple:

Infantry should get Impact vs other Infantry, even if it isnt a Soft Counter. It really is weird charging a unit in and not being able to fight...especially if you're short that extra little bit of CP.

Here is a unit of my Heavy Cavalry (red and white). They have a unit of enemy Cavalry to their front, and have been hit in the right flank by some Chaos Hounds. The unit of Hounds off to the right rolled its Danger roll to come in from the back and made it...

Combat (1) + Initiating (1) + Rear Flank (2) + Supporting units (2) + Disorder Tokens on target (2) = 8 dice, with a Hard Counter (Pack Hunter vs Cavalry) = 8d4 vs 1d10. We concluded that maybe, POSSIBLY, this was why not all units get Impact? However, even if non-Cavalry units didnt get the Impact Soft Counter, this Impact would have still been 8d8 vs 1d10. I think a player could have the OPTION of not Impacting, if he was sending in a lesser unit to support an impending charge by a larger, better unit, but this was another major source of head scratching by my Warmaster-vet opponent.

Let me conclude by saying, REGARDLESS of all the above, this was one of the most REWARDING evenings of Miniatures I have had in a LONG TIME. I was happier all evening than a pig in poop. I won the first battle, had a good thing going in the second before his dice turned on me and I got rolled, and I loved it. Maybe I loved the feeling that we were still playtesting? I was taking notes all night like mad...but anyway, I had a blast. Looking forward to more discussion with you!

I like this! The thought was to do something like this as a spear specific ability, but it makes sense for units of all types. Well played sir!

Now, back to our new rule!

Charge!
The base cost to attempt a Charge! 1 Cp
The additional cost to add a die to the Danger roll is 1 Cp for each die

After paying the cost to perform the action, the owning player must make a Danger roll for movement using 2 dice [keeping only one as always] and move the unit the full distance. If this movement causes them to contact the enemy, then an Impact Hit is resolved. Any unit may use the Charge action even if they do not normally have the Impact! ability. A unit may only attempt a Charge! if the target enemy unit is within its movement range.

A unit may only use the Charge! action once per turn.

I think you made a slight miscalculation on your total dice here. Combat[1] + Initiating[1] + Flank[1] + Additional friendly unit [1] + Disorder Tokens on target [2] = 6 dice. This would make it 6 dice versus a single die.

OK...so for 1 CP I get 2 dice for a Movement Danger dice, and if I reach melee, I get an Impact hit, which by the rules is a Soft Counter vs Infantry, Cavalry and Beasts. I can increase the CP for additional dice on the Danger roll...I dont see a down side to this...except the Danger roll, but it sounds really good.

I think I had it right. The charge I was describing that didnt happen would have been to the Rear (2 dice, not 1), and there were two supporting units (the charging Beasts would have been the third in contact with the cavalry). It wasnt the Beasts already on the flank that I was describing...