Fudge Dice

Miniature
System
A Universal System for Miniature Wargaming

The text of Fudge Dice Miniature System by Charles Wickersham is

licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

The FDMS Logo (left) is a trademark of Charles Wickersham. All Rights

Reserved. Permission is granted for its use in works which implement the
Fudge Dice Miniature System..
Introduction
I started collecting Warhammer 40k miniatures in my 30’s. As much as I enjoyed putting them
together and painting them, I felt that it was pretty pointless unless I could get them out and play
with them! Well, the main people I had to play with were my children, but they were way too
young to attempt to play by Warhammer rules. So I began making up my own rules.

What you are holding is the culmination and distillation of the system that I honed while playing
with my children. I hope that it will bring you as many fun and joy filled hours as it has us.

Materials
This system is based on the use of Fudge dice. They are usually sold in sets of 4, and 2 sets
should be enough. If you don't have Fudge dice or just want to use regular 6-sided dice you can
simply use the table below:

D6 Roll Fudge Roll

1-2

3-4

5-6

In addition to dice you will need standard wargaming fare such as:
● Miniatures. Any kind of miniature may be used.
● A ruler or tape measure.
● Tokens or other wound markers.
The Core Mechanic
Each model (organized into units) is given a number of Fudge dice to roll for attack. Based on
the result of the attack roll, the target model(s) get to roll for defense. The results are resolved
as below:

Attack Roll
Result Meaning

A solid hit. Target unit takes a wound.

A glancing blow. Target unit gets a defense die.

Miss

Defense Roll
Result Meaning

Defense success. No wound taken

Defense success. No wound taken.

Defense failed. Target unit takes the wound.

Example: The attacking unit gets 5 dice. Rolling to attack they get . The
defending unit already takes 2 wounds from the , but then they roll 2 dice in order to
defend against the . The defending unit rolls , blocking one glancing blow, but
taking a wound from the other, for a total of 3 wounds.

Deployment
● Roll off to see who goes first (most wins)
● Each player takes turns deploying all of their models.
● Deploy in a single location at the edge of the field.
○ Just be sure to keep your distance from other player’s units!
Anatomy of a Turn
Each player takes a turn, one at a time. If you can’t decide who goes first, roll for it. On a players
turn they take the following steps in order:

1 - Movement
Unless otherwise specified, each unit has a maximum movement of 12”. If you are playing a
closer game on a smaller field, this can be reduced to 6”. All units may be moved up to their
max movement, or not at all, at the players discretion.

Example: Player1 has their models organized into 3 units. On Player1’s turn they may move all
three units from 0-12” as they see fit.

2 - Trade Blows
Once all units have been moved, now it’s time to trade blows! Melee units must be base-to-
base, or as close as they can physically get, with their target unit. Ranged units, unless
otherwise specified, may fire at targets within 24” and within line-of-sight. Again, if you are
playing on a smaller field, you may cut this down to 12”.

Taking each unit in turn, apply the Core Mechanic: roll the number of dice for your unit. The
defending unit takes a wound equal to the number of rolled. The defender then rolls a
number of dice equal to the number of rolled by the attacker. The defender then takes
additional wounds equal to the number of that they roll.

After each unit attacks as above, the defending unit may “return fire” and counter attack the
offending unit using the same Core Mechanic.
Note: A melee only unit cannot return fire on a ranged unit if they are not already base-to-base.

Example: Unit1 attacks Unit2. Once that attack and defense is resolved, Unit2 then has the
opportunity to counter attack Unit1. However, any unit that is not attacked cannot join in a
counter attack.

3 - Remove Destroyed Models

Each model in the unit contributes a number of wounds to the whole (see the section on Unit
Types). Each wound taken by a unit should be applied to a single model until it can take no
more and is removed by its owning player. Additional wounds are then applied to the next model
until all wounds have been distributed.
Unit Types
In this section you will find a list of basic unit types. They are merely suggestions. Please feel
free to change any of the units or invent new ones as you see fit.

The Attack and Wound stats are divided equally among the models in a unit. Therefore each
model in a unit with 4 models, 4 attack dice, and 4 wounds, contributes 1 wound and 1 attack
die to the total. In this way, as models are removed, the Atk of the unit is reduced as well.

● # Models - Tells you how many models make up the unit.

● Atk - The number of dice rolled when making any kind of attack.
● Wnds - The number of wounds that a unit can take.
● Mov - The table distance a unit may move. Default = 12”
● Rng - The maximum range that the unit may attack if applicable. Default = Mov x 2

Commander
The commander for your army. The head honcho.
# Models Atk Wnds Mov Rng

1 3 3 12” 24”

Melee Infantry
Standard melee only infantry.
# Models Atk Wnds Mov Rng

4 4 4 12” 0”

Range Unit
The standard ranged only unit.
# Models Atk Wnds Mov Rng

4 4 4 12” 24”

Melee and Range Unit

A combination Melee/Range infantry unit. Typical modern/futuristic Infantry.
# Models Atk Wnds Mov Rng

4 4 4 12” 24”
Heavy Infantry
This is the blueprint for a heavy infantry unit, either melee, range, or both
# Models Atk Wnds Mov Rng

4 8 8 12” 24”

Heavy Armor Unit

This unit is usually made up of mechanized models such as tanks.
# Models Atk Wnds Mov Rng

1-3 6 6 12” 24”

Army Building
FDMS does not have a point system by default, but since each Unit of the same type is equally
powered, the way to build balanced armies is to simply agree on a set of Units that both sides
will include in their armies.

For Example: Player1 and Player2 want to play a small medieval skirmish game. They decide
they will use 1 Commander Unit, 1 Melee Unit, and 1 Range Unit. So the armies of both Player1
and Player2 will be composed of these three units.

Optional Rules
Most of the rules in FDMS are optional, but this section contains rules that you may wish to
apply in order to tighten up or deepen gameplay.

Routing Units
If more than half of the models comprising a unit have been destroyed at the end of the turn,
that unit is considered Routed and removed from the table.

Unit Cohesion
Each model within a unit must stay within 2” of two other models in the same unit. If at any time
a model leaves unit cohesion, it cannot be moved again until the unit comes back into cohesion.
Terrain
Terrain affects the Mov stat of units as well as the types of units that can traverse it. Below are
some examples:

Terrain Examples Effect

Difficult Mud, Plowed Fields, Shallow Rivers Mov halved.

Rough Forrest, Rocky Hills Mov and Rng halved.

Fortified Low Walls, Palisades, etc Can only be traversed by Infantry units.

Special Abilities
Certain units may be given tags indicating they have special abilities. Below is a list of
suggestions:

Tag Description

Tough Unit may re-roll any when defending.

Fast Unit may double their standard movement and still attack.

Powerful Unit may re-roll any when attacking.

Unit may attack more than one unit in range, removing one die from Atk for
Assault
each extra attack. I.e. Unit1 attacks UnitA at full Atk, then UnitB at Atk-1, etc.

Flying Unit may move over other units and terrain at normal speed.

Unit can give another unit the Tough and Powerful tags in situations below:
Supporter Melee Supporter: Must be base-to-base behind another Friendly Unit.
Range Supporter: Friendly Unit and Enemy Unit within range of Support Unit

Instead of attacking, may roll Atk and restore a number of wounds equal to the
Healer
number of rolled, to any unit within Unit’s range.