FULL RULES! Basic Battles: Tabletop Games for Kids

NEW AND REVISED RULES for Basic Battles - Version 2.0 can be found here:

In this video I walk you through the full rules set for Basic Battles that I have come up with in order to play tabletop skirmish games with my children who are between 5 and 7 years old. Kids this age are right on the cusp of breaking into tabletop miniature games, but at this point the rules sets of games such as WHFB, WH40k, Mordheim, Regiment of Renown, War Cry, and Kill Teams are still a bit too complicated and the games take a bit too long to play.

In response to this challenge, I have come up with a set of rules that is both basic and really fun as well as strategically challenging. The rules are built around two phases: 1) The Movement Phase (moving and charging using a d12) and 2) The Combat Phase (using d20s). I have play-tested this rules set extensively and it has proven to be really fun as well as something that is on an appropriate level for 5-7 year olds. I would love to get you feedback on any improvements that could be made to the system to make it even better. Please leave some feedback in the comments below!

One thing that is great about Basic Battles is that you can use any figurines/toys that you have lying around. For example, dinosaurs, dragons, cars, figurines, even rocks! Whatever you can find you can throw down on the table, grab a few dice and some measuring stick, and have a great time with your kids!

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Credits:
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
-Industrious Ferret
-Brain Trust
-Impact Moderato

-Bright Idea by Geographer. Used with permission from the YouTube free music library.

[GrayArmyGaming]

I am also working on a PDF of the rules set that I will make available when I have finished it. I will make sure to keep you all posted!

[joedt]

I play this with my grandchildren and we use Lego Star Wars Minifigures. It's Great fun. Thanks for the Rules.

[rondanuser]

Nice video and great breakdown of the rules system. Thanks!

[sigaretto]

As a dumb adult who doesn't have the patience to read 200 page rule books, I appreciate this for learning the flow of how these games work.

[CharlieStalk]

Was just this morning printing off some minis for my 7 year old to paint and he asked if he could try playing a game. So glad I found this channel!! Excellent rules.

[GrayArmyGaming]

Here at Gray Army Gaming we are currently working on Basic Battles 2.0 where we try to tweak the rules a bit and to add a few more simple elements (such as simple rules for ranged attacks). Stay tuned for that upcoming video!

[GazghoulThraka]

Thank you so much been trying my hardest to get into this hobby

[Crzd]

This actually heavily evokes the Chainmail Fantasy Supplement, especially when you mentioned "Dragon vs. Dragon" as a scenario, and the other "Fantastical Creatures" as options. I really like this in general, especially the fact that it's a "universal" system that you can use with literally any figure, which is actually what I've been looking for for a while now.

[iwasliveful]

I can't wait to try this with my kids, very simple very easy. I know my kids love their space marines so I will probably use guns. I think to stop everyone from shooting everything always will be a d6 vs d6 roll, if a player has cover they can roll a d8 instead as a chance for better cover

[ShifTactical]

Thanks for this! Gonna apply it with a bunch of Army men plastic soldiers I have lying around to play with my siblings and occasionally, my friends. Cheers!

[juliangilbert]

This is great. I've been doing the same, creating my own rules to play with my kids. I made my rules similar, but we only have one phase: either you can choose to shoot or move (tanks, cars, infantry etc). Each player takes it in turns to move one figure of your choosing at a time. In one cycle of play, each figure can only be moved or shoot once, until the cycle goes back to the first player. This makes it more tactical, you can react to others movements or whatever . My kids love it.

[cyrillowe]

This is genius. I can't wait to play this with my daughter. Thanks so much man. You should publish this or something. A writeup of the rules somewhere would be great. I'd pay for that!

[explodogames]

Thanks for this . I'm going to do something like this with my kids . Really excited to use what you come up with here and maybe tweak it myself a bit . My kids are going to love it

[neboutantoine]

Nice way to play with childrens. I will try the rules with my 2 daughters. Thanks.

[quintenkoning]

Thx mate!tried it today with my son although without the nice tabletop you have made (compliments!) and it worked fine!

[bombjelly]

Amazing video. What about range attacks ?

[wonderoushistoryofclassicf]

When I was a kid my cousin and I played with little green army men. We'd call attacks (green guy attacks tan guy for example) and flip a coin. If you call it right the guy lives if not he dies. Realllly simple but when we were like 7 it worked well.

[jackrussell]

This is spot on. I always cringe on a f/b group when some guy declares "Im going to play legion or 40k with my 8 year old: Its like, nah man you need to kit bash your own simplfied rules because like you said their attension spans are not there yet.

[matheuscypriano]

This was exactly what I needed! Thank you very much!

[iwasliveful]

Some suggestions to anyone who might be interested but don't have d&d dice. We can use 2d6 for movement, this means your minimum movement is 2" instead of 1" and you don't need a d12. If we are rolling d20's to see who wins we can replace them with a d6, however I would change the crit rule to be when you roll a nat 6 you get to roll another dice as an attempt to crit, compare it to the original def dice. Yes it is more confusing but simply put for every initial 6 add another attack dice, then resolve the damage.