I don't intend to review the rules at this point, rather, I'll just talk through the main points of tonight's game with Matt Slade.
Before the game, we struggled with the rules a bit. They're simple enough, but there are plenty of choices to be made each turn and the rules are spread awkwardly through the slim 52 page A5 book. They really could be laid out better. After the game we had a pretty good grasp so this shouldn't be a problem again, but a QRS will be made.
Anyway, the game. First, the forces.
In the brown corner, from Ground Zero Games, the NAC. Weighing in at level 4 (trained soldiers) with superior ballistic protection we have one RPG, one LMG, three assault riflemen and a commander with an assault rifle. 99 points worth.
In the red corner, from Armies Army, the SKOV! Hitting the scales at level 3 (untrained militia) with no armour whatsoever, are one RPG, two LMGs, six riflemen with assault rifles and a commander with an SMG. 100 points.
The site of a terrible crash will be the venue for tonight's rumble. The main objective is in the centre of the board and cannot be moved, only claimed and occupied. Four other objectives lie scattered around, probably the Colonel's CD collection from his crashed car. These four objectives start in the centre and scatter d10" in a random direction before the game.
Deployment points were placed and missions rolled. We both rolled the same mission, number 3. It seems that as well as collecting personal effects and securing the wrecked car we'd be after each other's commander. 14 points Alive or 7 points dead if we can recover him to the deployment zone.
We start to deploy...
A lot of the fighting took place around the grouped objectives. We rolled low when they scattered!
First objective quickly returned to my DP. It's safe there for now but not necessarily out of the game.
An opportunity arose. A long shot in both senses of the phrase. Could my RPG fire across the board and take out Matt's commander? It's worth a try.
That's him laying down top left. I also killed two other riflemen but we leave the commander on table so that I can bring him to my deployment point if possible, whilst Matt defends him.
The crack shot RPG trooper with his bright reload marker (a hastily commandeered 7TV token):
It got a bit exciting after this and I forgot to take photos. Notably, I drew a land mine card and saw off a few more militia, whilst an RPG duel ended up as a pistol duel due to reduced range. I managed to clear the central area but time was running out and I wouldn't be able to recover any more objectives. I did however claim and occupy the unmovable objective in the centre, despite having a jammed rifle.
A lot of manoeuvring later and a lone rifleman on my left flank threatened my commander and the recovered objective. Things got worse when in the last turn Matt played a card that saw my Commander cracking up about something 'Kevin' said and unable to activate!
Superior firepower and armour saw me through against superior numbers and unfamiliar rules. When my commander stops laughing I'm sure he'll be asking why we didn't recover all the CDs, but we'll try again.
An enjoyable game with plenty of depth to the rules and a system that we'll certainly try again.
I will write that QRS though.
Man of the match thanks to one awesome lucky shot:
That's an enjoyable report, thanks!!
ReplyDeleteFrom your report it seems that the event cards, that are a great solution to spice up the game flow, are rather a game changer, determining the outcome of the game. Is that so?
Ralph's RPG hit was far more decisive than any of the cards. The cards are good fun and fit nicely in what I see as quite a cinematic set of rules. Lots of decisions to be made about deploying your troops, making best use of cover etc but not the intense detail of some modern rules. Also on the card front you only get them by spending a valuable commander action to draw one (immediate use so not always applicable) or if you lose the initiative to determine who goes first in each turn (must be used during the turn so again, not always useable). We are definitely going to work on QR sheets and possibly some weapon stat cards to save us leafing back and forth through the book. I enjoyed it, even though I was thrashed! Damn those lethal hits!
DeleteI think the most useful card I had was the land mine, which happened to 'scatter' to a really useful spot and caught two enemy soldiers in its blast and none of my own. Could have gone the other way. Matt's right; the circumstances under which you get a card mean that not a lot will usually get drawn, and on the occasions that you have to spend an action to get one, you have to use it there and then. It is often not useful at that time. The initiative loser gets a whole turn to use theirs, but even then it's not always possible. Matt's first card was an angry homeowner who would kick somebody out of their building. No good when I wasn't in a building.
DeleteThe cards are split into 3 piles: Resource, Event and Action, so you can influence the general type of card you get but not the specifics.
Thanks, great read.
ReplyDeleteNo, thank you.
Delete:)
cheers for this, good overview and the models and terrain look superb
ReplyDeleteThanks Ant
DeleteI forgot to say above that we used 15mm figures and didn't bother changing the ground scale to inches. It worked just as well and didn't feel wrong at all.