Quote from: GeekyBugle;1109695So would any of you say it's easy to turn ACKS into a wargame? Has anybody done so?

Well, there's no need to turn it into a wargame, it already has a fully-integrated wargame. If you click the links above, you can read about the wargame, called Domains at War: Battles.
It essentially can seamlessly segue from RPG to wargame and back.

ACKS is good stuff, stands up there with Harn material. And because the authors took the time to explain its underpinnings it is readily adaptable to other clones and other RPGs.

Quote from: amacris;1109707Well, there's no need to turn it into a wargame, it already has a fully-integrated wargame. If you click the links above, you can read about the wargame, called Domains at War: Battles.
It essentially can seamlessly segue from RPG to wargame and back.

Nice! To my to buy list it goes!

Now to think how I'm gonna convince the wife I needed any more RPG books

Here's a take on a more limited use of ACKS.  Never say never, but in my current situation, I'll not be running it as is, because I've got too many casual gamers that aren't going to be interested enough in how it distinguishes itself from other games to make it worthwhile for me to do it.  Sorry Alexander.

On the plus side, I've picked up the core books and most of the supplements related to domains, and am getting a lot of indirect use out of them in my D&D 5E campaign.  In particular, I've got some semi-abstract domain and war activities going on that I need to relate to game in a consistent manner.  The general wash of ACKS is very helpful in setting up plausible numbers and types of people moving in, their expectations, etc.  I'm not mapping the ACKS mechanics directly to 5E, but I'm using it to inform my adjudication.

I think I want this now. And the idea of a Heroic Fantasy supplement really appeals to me.

ETA: Nevermind. Just got it. Not a bad price at all if it's everything y'all say it's cracked up to be.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;1109746I think I want this now. And the idea of a Heroic Fantasy supplement really appeals to me.

ETA: Nevermind. Just got it. Not a bad price at all if it's everything y'all say it's cracked up to be.

It is.

Quote from: estar;1109717ACKS is good stuff, stands up there with Harn material. And because the authors took the time to explain its underpinnings it is readily adaptable to other clones and other RPGs.

Yeah, for me the main value is in the presentation, which lets me easily use the material in any D&D based game from BECM Classic D&D to 5e. I haven't been using it in my Primeval Thule 5e game, since Thule has its own very simple handwavey rules for domain income & mass combat that fit my desired tone more closely than ACKS' simulationist approach, but if you want to let players *actually* build a merchant empire or literal empire as part of regular RPG play then the ACKS approach is great; just takes a bit more work.

I did this with it, and I'm liking it as a frame for my own historical games.

Domains@War is brilliant and could easily be played as a standalone wargame.

Quote from: Kiero;1109824I did this with it, and I'm liking it as a frame for my own historical games.

Domains@War is brilliant and could easily be played as a standalone wargame.

  And Amazon has deep discounts on the two individual volumes right now.

I have a silly question: how much compatible material do Domains at War and Axioms have for non-OSR games (in my case GURPS)? I'm always on the lookout for different takes on the subject, and I haven't yet found one that I would consider far and away the "best" for me.

For reference as far as what I consider "compatible," I consider Kevin Crawford's "An Echo, Resounding" largely compatible outside OSR except for the class-specific abilities and D&D-based mass combat rules.

Quote from: Antiquation!;1109905I have a silly question: how much compatible material do Domains at War and Axioms have for non-OSR games (in my case GURPS)? I'm always on the lookout for different takes on the subject, and I haven't yet found one that I would consider far and away the "best" for me.

All the subsystem outside of monsters, spells, classes, and combat rules. Even with the monsters there is some useful material as far as treasure distribution goes. Most of the economic stuff can be figured out by just equating the cost of a measure of wheat between the two system. Then if something cost 2 measures of wheat in ACKS, then it cost 2 measures of wheat in the new system.

Quote from: estar;1109975All the subsystem outside of monsters, spells, classes, and combat rules. Even with the monsters there is some useful material as far as treasure distribution goes. Most of the economic stuff can be figured out by just equating the cost of a measure of wheat between the two system. Then if something cost 2 measures of wheat in ACKS, then it cost 2 measures of wheat in the new system.

Neat, thanks!

Great. Now the last few Domains at War hardcovers on Amazon are going to be bought before I can get one for Christmas...

Quote from: RandyB;1110007Great. Now the last few Domains at War hardcovers on Amazon are going to be bought before I can get one for Christmas...

Yeah; I already had DaW: Campaigns; this thread prompted me to order DaW: Battles off amazon.com since it's not available in the UK. £16 with shipping.