So, you're probably wondering: What the heck? How would this even work? And I'm going to answer that question in these sections ahead. Right now, I'm going to be going over the basics of what this experience will be like and what to expect when playing. So, to start off, don't think this will be simple: it wont. It's going to require some math, creativity, and the understanding of how PPG works along with the general knowledge of what a wargame is and how it's played. This basically throws everything you know about PPG out the window and turns it into something completely different. But, the positive side of this complicatedness is that it's highly customizable and can be changed to fit whatever style you want. You can totally change a bunch of this stuff if it makes things too complicated for you. The whole purpose of this is to be different from average PPG while still being fun. The second thing is that this is NOT a multiplayer way of play unless you do some tweaking. It's mostly just about having fun seeing some dudes fight while also being fair to both sides and not just making one side destroy the other immediately: basically a battle simulator but you control everything your units do and how. I know that sounds a little bit weird, and it is. It's just PPG isn't really comfortable playing with two people just alternating who has the mouse or whatever so I didn't keep multiplayer in mind 24/7. I'll be down in the comments to answer any questions about this guide that you may have as best I can. Alright, if you're good with all of that, read on!

How did I come up with this crazy idea? Well, it starts long long ago (a few months ago), when me and my buddy Pinha were discussing stuff about the Wood army (now the Cutternians) and the Metal army (now the Legion of Steel), mostly discussing the lore and new contraptions for the two. It was late at night and obviously I was pretty tired, so my creative brain kicked in. I asked Pinha what he though about PPG wargaming and if the Wood army and Metal army could turn into wargaming factions. He said no, and that it'd be too complicated alongside the lore and stuff. And, yeah, I agree with him. That's why it's being kept separate from the Metal and Wood and Batonian armies and all the other factions in the lore. Maybe I'll make a Metal army wargaming faction guide in the future, you never know. But, yeah. The idea stayed in my head for like a week and eventually dissipated into nothingness inside my mind. Though, a week ago, I realized this idea was still in the back of my head and it was re-awakened by the realization that I haven't painted my T'au figures yet! So, with the idea in my head again, I decided yeah, I'll go through with this. It's going to be an ambitious project, but I think it'll turn out awesome in the end. Stay tuned, fellas!

So, this part will go over the basics of how to play. Pretty self explanatory, it's the basic tutorial.

The first thing that happens in a match is determining which side will go first: this can be figured out by rolling dice or choosing who would likely go first in the little scenario you've set up: if you're going for an ambush scenario, it'll be the side that's ambushing that would go first because the people they're ambushing obviously don't know they're there yet. You can also literally just choose whatever side you want if you wanna be like that, because, of course, this whole way of PPG play is about doing things how you want.

The second thing is picking a unit to use for the turn: you can choose whatever unit you want if it's the side that's going first. It honestly doesn't matter at all which one you choose, but you'll typically want to have a specific approach set out for maximum fun. If you're going with a specific approach, select the unit that would best fit the approach. Like, if you were going for a big and heavy attack first, you'd pick a big guy to carry out the attack. Pretty simple.

The last thing is choosing what you want your unit to do. You can either choose to attack, in melee or ranged, move, or use your unit's special ability if they have one. I'll go in depth on these in the next section.

This section will go over the basic types of stats that a unit will have. It gets pretty complicated from here on, beware!

Stats should typically be balanced for a unit. If a unit had a lot of melee skill, it would most likely have a small amount of ballistic skill. If a unit was slightly skilled in melee, then it would have the potential to also be slightly skilled in ballistics. This would, of course, require the unit to have both a ballistic and melee weapon. Stat numbers can be shown on text-screens for easy access to what stats a unit has if creating a unit, such as the melee stat number being shown on the melee weapon, or the agility stat number being shown on the body or legs. Of course, all of this is by choice and if you'd like you can just have the stats in the description instead of the actual unit's body if you want it to be more cosmetic.

Melee - How good a unit is at utilizing their bare hands or weapons in melee combat. Only comes into play when the unit attacks something with a melee weapon or if they gun bash / pistol whip / use a bayonet on their gun. If they choose to fight in ranged / with a projectile, it doesn't relate to the melee stat, it would relate to the ranged stat. When fighting a unit while utilizing a melee weapon, if your selected unit's melee stat is higher than the one it's attacking, it gets to perform two hits with its turn. So, if you selected a unit with a higher melee stat than the one it's attacking, it would be able to hit the enemy unit twice in one turn. After that, if fighting that same unit you'd only be able to attack once with a melee weapon every turn that comes after the double-attack turn. If the enemy unit dies or a different unit is selected to be attacked then if you still had a higher melee stat then the enemy unit you would be attacking you could still use a double-attack on them. If the melee stat is equal (or, if you want, within a specific number away from the enemy unit's melee stat) then only one melee attack could be used per turn. Melee is typically a death-by-papercuts situation, a battle of attrition. Small victories eventually contributing to the larger one. 5 is unskilled, 10 is lightly skilled, 15 is skilled, 20 is specialized, 30 is mastered. Melee skill amount depends on the type of unit. If a melee-only soldier was created, it would most likely have a stat of around 20, specialized, because of its weaponry restriction and the assumption that it is a mid-ranked soldier, instead of something like a commander. A commander-like melee-only unit was created, it would most likely be around 30, mastered, because of its assumed rank and weapon type.

Ballistic - How good a unit is at utilizing ranged weapons in combat. Does not apply to pistol whipping, gun bashing, or bayonets. The ballistic stat affects how many bullets the unit can shoot. The higher ballistic stat, the more bullets that can be fired. Bullets can not be fired at the head for balancing reasons unless the unit has the maximum amount of ballistic skill (can disregard this rule if you'd like). 5 is lightly skilled, one bullet, 10 is skilled, two bullets, 15 and above is specialized, three bullets. If the unit's skill is at 30, the unit can headshot enemies. Like melee, If a ranged-only soldier was created, it would most likely have a stat of around 10-15, skilled to specialized, because of its weaponry type and the assumption that it is a mid-ranked soldier, instead of something like a commander. A commander-like melee-only unit was created, it would most likely be around 30, mastered, because of its assumed rank and weapon type.

Agility - How many grid-squares a unit can move on the battlefield. Larger weapons or armor would cause a unit's agility skill to be lower than a unit with less armor or less large weapons. The agility stat number is the same amount of squares the unit can move to cause less confusion. If a unit's agility stat was 6, the unit would be able to move 6 grid-squares if it chose to move during its turn. Scout units or light soldiers would typically have the most agility out of a selection of units, due to having less gear.

Melee Range - How many grid-squares a unit can move to attack an enemy while utilizing a melee weapon, bare hands, or a pistol whip / gun bash / bayonet. The melee range stat's number, like agility, is also directly proportional to how many grid-squares the unit can move when attacking with a melee weapon. If a melee unit is within its melee range of an enemy unit, it can choose to attack and either lunge forward / walk forward to attack the enemy. Melee range, also like agility, depends on how large the unit's weapons are and how large the unit's armor is. Less armored units with smaller melee weapons would typically have more melee range.

Ballistic Range - How many grid-squares an enemy unit has to be within for a ranged-weapon unit to fire at them. The ballistic range stat is higher in units with longer weapons, such as a sniper rifle or an assault rifle. If a unit has a smaller weapon like a pistol, it would have a smaller ballistic range because of how short the weapon is. Sniper and riflemen units would typically have the most ballistic range.

Armor - The armor stat is calculated with how many parts of the body are covered by bullet-resistant or bulletproof armor. It is the main factor in how many units of a certain type can be placed. A unit type with better armor, and by proxy a better armor stat, would be able to be placed fewer times than a lesser-armored unit. Juggernaut-like units would typically have the most armor. The amount of units of a certain type that can be placed is up to the player / author of the unit type, and is mostly a stat category for the purpose of balance.

Still awake? Good.

Special abilities are usually a unit's primary gimmick, and are capable of either supporting their team or causing a lot of damage to the enemies. Special abilities can be disregarded by the player, and can be outright not present if the author of a faction doesn't want them to be. Special abilities can be pretty much anything you want them to be, as long as they fit with the theme of the faction and aren't completely overpowered. Special abilities can include throwing a type of grenade, deploying a small shield to take cover behind, being able to rip off a small piece of a building to use as an improvised melee weapon, healing units, and many many more. These are meant to keep units interesting and not just another boring soldier. Though, special ability usage amounts are typically finite. If an author creates a unit with a special ability, the special ability and the amount of times the special ability can be used should be stated in the description.

Unit classes will sometimes be established in a faction for understanding of what the unit is meant for or for the faction creator to be able to sort units / have a template for what a specified unit type should be like. Unit class names and base purposes are completely up to the author of the faction, but some basic ones include scout, gunner, juggernaut, commander, demolitions, support, sniper, and CQC. Classes can also be used to better put units in a specific squad if the squad needs certain classes that can work together well to get a victory. If the player wanted one side to have a specific approach, classes are a good way to figure out what types of units to use for that approach.

Maps can be created for a faction to have a battlefield that fits with their theme or just to have a nice spot for units to fight in that isn't completely made up of black squares or some water. Maps are recommended for use when playing, so that units can better attack each other and to have more interesting battles. Some maps will most likely be uploaded soon from me for use if you don't want to create your own or have to look far and wide for one that suits your scenario / style. Maps can also have certain spots that give a side the advantage, such as terrain which can provide cover, vantage points that can bolster ballistic stats, hazards that activate traps or areas to push an enemy unit into, and hiding spots where units can take refuge at to not get hit by enemies. If you're making a map, it's best to use signs to distinguish where beneficial parts of the map are located in case it isn't clear.

If you want to make your own wargame-compatible PPG content, you're gonna have to put some effort into it for it to be recognized and used. First off, you should probably put [WARGAME] in the title somewhere so if someone searches for the term, they'll see your content and possibly use it.

A wargame faction should, obviously, be well thought out and interesting to any would-be players that see it. They should be unique, have a wide variety of units and classes, and a cool story to go along with them as well as a defined theme and playstyle. They should also have some sort of motive for fighting, like a bloodthirsty god, a conquering mission, or expansion of their species (if the faction is meant to be alien-like). It could also be to pillage factions of their materials and valuables, if the faction is meant to be made of criminals. Anything is possible, just make sure you try to balance the faction out and give them uniqueness. Use your creativity!

Making a map is more simple than making a faction. All it requires is some creativity and the knowledge of how PPG works. The map should include unique areas to benefit both sides, such as the already mentioned terrain, vantage points, hazards, and hiding spots. These should be designated places with text-signs telling the player what type of area it is. A map should also have a certain theme, it shouldn't just be a bunch of jumbled-up randomness smacked together with no intention of it being interesting or unique or cosmetically appealing. And, remember, maps should be able to have a bunch of units placed on them, and they shouldn't be packed together tightly in every place. Maps can include little safe zones where units can stay at and be healed by a medic if that's the type of map you want. It's all about fun, remember that.

Well, this was a fun guide to make. You can make changes to any of these rules and stats when playing if you want, and you can ask me questions in the comments if you need help figuring out your style or understanding a recommended rule better. If you're a PPG player looking for something more fun, I encourage you to try out this little wargaming thing and if you're a workshop creator I encourage you to make some wargaming stuff if you want to make different types of things than usual. Have fun, everyone, and wargame on!

-Sam of Saturn