# Chain Reaction New Edition Notes tags: #reference Not a ruleset — a working document. These are the editor's own **line-edit and design-critique notes on the [[Chain Reaction|Chain Reaction 2026]] draft**, the kind of margin-scrawl that only exists because someone got roped into proofreading Two Hour Wargames' free core rules. It's kept here as a reference because it's a rare look at the engine being poked at from the inside: the fixes are concrete, and some of the design opinions are the sort that actually make a ruleset better. ## What's in them The notes are organized as "Edit to:" copy corrections alongside broader design takes. The concrete fixes worth stealing: - "some free computer generating programs" → **computer tabletop simulators** (the original phrase never made sense). - "Designed; not can be played solo" → **"Designed to be played solo; not *can* be played solo"** — the whole THW pitch in one clause. - A **math correction** in a PEF example: a resolution that rolled "3 Zeds, then another 3" was tallied as five; the editor makes it four — and notes that the whole "add Zeds as their own Band" bookkeeping is more tracking than the book implies. The design gripes, which read like a reasonable edit-call sheet for the next pass: - **Casters**: restricting them to Men and Elves rules out orc shamans and dwarven clerics — and since Psy and Casters share identical mechanics, merge the two sections into one "Psy and Magic" block and standardize the appearance roll. - **Charging**: nothing actually defines "a charger," and the charge action is buried under Melee instead of the Action table — opening the door to charging as a free 12" move with no target. The suggestion: confine charging to a result on the Action Table, and drop chargers from the movement list. - **In Sight / PEFs**: pulling a whole Band In Sight means you can't peek a corner and resolve a PEF with part of your force — which, the editor notes, makes maneuver and recon pointless. - **Zombies**: track shots fired and add a Zed per 1-in-6 instead of the clunkier band-spawning bookkeeping. - **Skeletal Undead**: their weapon entries are just an undefined "X"; the fix is melee skeletons plus a couple of archers and a mage on the list — "go for the Harryhausen thing." - **Shields**: should carrying a shield count as both *protected* and *armored*? Not fantasy-specific — personal shields exist in sci-fi too. ## Context A companion to the [[Chain Reaction]] reference — the same editorial hand is visible in the garden's own write-up on pitting Chain Reaction's resolution against **[[Ironsworn]]** and **[[Blades in the Dark]]**. Held in the library, tagged `reference, thw` and related to the 2026 editions. ## References - [[Chain Reaction]] — the game these notes are about.