USEME -rules

Feb 23, 2015 09:58

USEME -rules USEME is a line of small format, inexpensive, simple and fast miniatures rules published by 15mm.co.uk. The line covers many subjects, I got the fantasy, sci-fi and spaceship rules to see what it's all about.

First Impressions

The rules come as a simple A6 booklet, but this is not one of those fold-out starter rules leaflets some companies hand out for free. It is a a full rules system with base rules, special rules, campaign rules and more. The booklets are about 50 pages each and in black and white.

The content is mostly text, though there are a few diagrams here and there.

The one thing they don't really have is background information. Even though they are obviously a vehicle for pushing the publisher's figure lines, the rules are not actually tied to any specific background (apart from the historical variants ofcourse), figure line or even scale. They are very much generic in nature.

In Use

All three examples I got use the same core rule system with minor variations. I suspect the rest of the line is the same. The system is pretty old school, based on individually mounted figures that may be ranked up in formations in the mass battle variants.

The system uses normal six-sided dice and it's really very basic. All troops have a ELAN rating from one to six. This affects initiative mostly, higher ELAN troops going first in a sort of alternating Igo-Ugo system (the first player activates all his ELAN 6 troops, the the opponent does the same, then the same for ELAN 5 troops and so on).

Larger formations of models operate as units but after taking enough casualties they dissolve into the last few indiduals. Movement is simple and straight forward. Usually you just move the leader and form everyone else on him.

Combat is a little more involved. First you need to score hits and then roll for effect. In missile fire hits are rolled against a set target number but in melee the rolls are opposed. Effect rolls are always opposed and can result in varying wounding states. You are supposed to keep track of individual wound level for each model in the game.

Forces fight until a set breakpoint, but other than that there is little consideration for any morale effects.

There are also additional rules for campaigns, solo play and so on.

Verdict

I really love the format, I love the price point and I love the genericity of it. In my opinion this is how rules should be done.

Unfortunately, I can't really say I fell head first for the rules. They are very old school and rather clunky. I'm not a fan of individually mounted figures for anything involving more than 10-20 of them. The individual wound levels potentially require more markers than you have models and opposed rolls are not my first choice of mechanic for multiple combatants.

The core rules are identical to the point that the spaceship rules sometimes talk about characters when they should be talking about ships. This is both good and bad. On one hand, you can switch to sci-fi or WWII without learning basically any new rules. On the other hand everything seems a bit samey and switching the theme seems like reskinning a computer game. So what if you've got a laser gun now, it still shoots like a crossbow.

But I still must give kudos to the publisher for doing these. We need more stuff like this.

If you're looking for a quick and easy ruleset, give USEME a go. Even if you don't like them, they cost less than some companies charge for a single figure.


Sucks! (0) Sucks by 0 votes Rocks by 2 votes (2) Rocks!

Comments

What alternatives ? Charlie B (guest) Dec 17, 2016 00:31

Thanks for the review ! So, which existing generic miniature rule-sets do you think would be less "old school"?

It's a big world out there maxxon Dec 19, 2016 12:56

It's hard to find completely generic rules, and arguably individual USEME rules aren't either. As a series it does cover a lot of bases, though.

For example for fantasy mass battles you could try Chipco's Fantasy Rules with DBx-ish mechanics.

I'd like to add that I don't think old school is a negative term in itself. It's a style. Some people like old school approach, I'm just personally not a fan.

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