Over the years my many gaming groups have come up with new ideas and redesigned charts to make play easier. Here is a collection of those ideas. You can see a photo of some of the various play aids on the left.

• Improved Weapons and Armor Chart: You can download a pdf copy of a new weapons and armor reference chart by clicking the below link. The file is 144 KB and is 300 d.p.i. It should printout fine on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper. Click here to go to the download page with notes.

• Reactions to Injuries Chits: My gaming group has invented a great play aid. I’ve made small chits roughly 1/4” square. On one side I’ve printed “-2 DX” and on the other side I’ve drawn a red star burst symbol. When a character takes 5, 6 or 7 points of damage in one blow* you place a chit next to the figure with the red star burst symbol facing up. At the end of the round (after Force Retreats) turn all red star burst chits over reveling the -2 DX. All figures with this chit showing are now at a -2 DX for this round. At the end of the round (after Force Retreats) all chits showing a -2 DX are removed and any chits showing a red star burst are turned over. This is a very easy way to visually show which characters are to deduct 2 from their DX for the round due to a reaction to injury.

*In combats involving large numbers of figures I simplify reactions to injuries. It’s hard to keep track of how much damage a single figure has taken in a turn when you’re dealing with, say 25 figures. To solve this problem I play that it takes 5 points of damage “in one blow” to cause a -2 DX the following turn and it takes 8 points of damage “in one blow” to cause a human size figure to fall down.

• Dead Body Hexes: We like to stack up the bodies when we play! Hey, Melee is a violent game. Whenever a figure is killed the miniature is removed and a dead, bloody body hex is put down in that hex. These body hexes are made out of Heroscape "Glyph" markers that have been covered with model railroad grass paper and then painted with a red blood splotch using acrylic paint (Cadmium Red works very well). During play a figure can stand on a "body hex" but must roll 3D6 vs DX or slip and fall in the entrails and bloody remains. If you kill a figure standing on a body hex then you place a second body hex on top of the first one. Now an entering figure must roll his DX twice or slip and fall down. This makes defending a doorway and stacking up the bodies in front of the door a blast to play. You can see photos of the body hexes being used during a game on the "Terrain - First Attempt" page. Click here to visit that page!

• Shadow Hexes: Once again Heroscape "Glyph" markers are great to make things on to play Melee and Wizards with. Simply spray paint several of them black and use them to represent shadow hexes. Figures standing on top of the marker are considered inside the shadow.

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