Recaps & Roundups part 9: Chainmail 3rd edition

After Guidon Games folded in 1973, TSR were able to acquire the rights to Chainmail. In early 1975 they republished the game, making some minor updates to the rules for its 3rd edition. There's not a lot to discuss, but I'll quickly go over the additions that were made.

• Hobgoblins are added at the end of the Goblin entry, but nothing is said about them except that they are stronger in battle than regular goblins.
• Rangers are mentioned for the first time in a D&D-related product, in a single sentence at the end of the entry for Heroes. They are simply Heroes with a +1 bonus. No other description is given, so one has to assume that the reference here is to Tolkien.
• Seers are added as the lowest level of Wizard, below Sorcerers, Warlocks and Magicians.
• Eight new spells are added: Levitate, Slowness, Haste, Polymorph, Confusion, Hallucinatory Terrain, Cloudkill, and Anti-Magic Shell. All of these are based on spells in the D&D boxed set, and any differences in implementation can be chalked up to specialist battle magic.
• An optional rule is added for spell complexity. Spells are given a complexity between 1 and 6, which corresponds to the spell's level in D&D. Now when a spell is cast, 2d6 must be rolled to determine if the spell will be cast immediately, delayed, or ineffective. The introduction of this rule will be explained by the destructive nature of battle magic; with it being used frequently, reality has become strained and the spells are harder to cast.
• An entry is added for Giant Wolves, which includes Wargs and Dire Wolves. They are said to be able to carry Goblins into combat.
• Zombies are added at the end of the Wight entry.

I'm not sure if that's comprehensive, but it should cover most of the changes to the Fantasy Supplement. I didn't go through the medieval rules, but they're of less relevance to this project. Most of these additions I will introduce to any mass battles at around the same time as I bring in the material from Supplement I: Greyhawk (which is the next post.)