Having seen some of the beta versions of the full rules I have some extra insights, but I'll try and limit myself to review just this document. It's important to recognize that AUE is positioning itself to be a generic set of rules that is very easy to adapt to your setting/figures/era of modern and forward (near future, sci fi, post apoc, etc). There should be additional books released that help flesh out various settings/eras and give example stats. I know that Thomas is very keen on getting the post apocalyptic setting ready to serve his own current gaming tastes.
TL;DR Summary:
I'm looking forward to seeing more of these rules. While superficially simple they end up yielding a surprising depth of tactical decision making. It wasn't uncommon for my opponent and myself to ponder on how we were going to setup for the next turn or even how to make our plan work the current turn. In turn 5 of our game my opponent noted that I had pre-empted his own planned series of reactions to achieve his goals.
Considering this is free and will take up about 2-2.5 hours of your time including setup and reading the rules there's no reason not to try it out. Go ahead, the link is right here.
Time to play:
A friend and I had a chance to throw some models on the table and do a play through. This scenario happens over 6 turns (which I beleive will be common to most scenarios). We managed to bang out our first game in 90 minutes. This included some rule discussion and making some notes to send to the author to ask for some clarification on the most complex part of the game (more on this later).
Table & Terrain:
The table size is 3x3 feet. Terrain is VERY important as ranges are long, and it's pretty easy to kill opponents in the open. Thankfully the terrain rules are fairly simple and it's easy to judge what modifiers should apply. The few edges cases we agreed pretty amicably but I could see with a stickler/lawyer it might be more of a headache. No rule set is immune to this. Thankfully it explicitly states when in doubt to flip a coin and get on with the game.
Figures:
My last write up (link) used 15mm which was great fun. This used less figs in 28mm. I can't really say I noticed much of a difference....the system is very much focused on unit function so there is almost no micromanagement of individuals (except in this case, where the unit is one guy). It's pretty handy having a scale agnostic system as I have a lot of 28mm and 15mm. While the freebie calls for 5 figs a side, I previously played with 3 squads of 5 guys and a space jeep.
Turn order:
Alternating activation with interruptions possible. Not to be confused with IGOUGO, each player activates a unit which resolves it's two actions, then the other player activates. This continues until all units have been activated. The first player in a turn is based on an opposed initiative roll....the winner choosing whether to go first or second.
Interruptions occur with 'reserve fire' and 'reserve movement' actions, which allow a unit to hold back on their action. The 'reserves' are only triggered under certain circumstances so may be wasted if (for example) the enemy doesn't wander into your line of site in order to get shot. Interruptions are the most complicated part of the rules and, to be honest, are quite straight forward (this is no ambush alley!). Having said that there is some slightly convoluted language around the ordering and use of multiple reserve actions being triggered by the enemy (e.x. unit A fires at unit X. Y has a reserve fire and reserve move but can't currently see unit A but could move into sight....). I've contacted the author to ask him to improve the clarity around this.
Stat Lines:
Units are defined by movement, will, armour, wounds, and combat ability. Weapons have profiles of their own (range, firepower, and modifiers for infantry and vehicle armour saves). It's probably worthwhile mentioning that d10s (ten sided dice) are what's used for all rolls. For this supplement only the commander has any special abilities (shares his willpower for morale checks and gets an extra action he can use or give to a friendly)...full rules/supplements will additional way for personalizing units (skills, gear, abilities).
Morale/Psychology:
Morale, specifically pinning, is a key element of the game. Every time a unit comes under fire there's a chance it will accumulate a pin marker. Each pin marker deprives that unit of an action when it next activates (or zaps a reserve action already on it). You don't need to kill your opponents to render them ineffectual, covering fire has a purpose. How lovely to see in a set of rules.
High volumes of fire, recent casualties, total force casualties all make the will check harder to pass. Units can accumulate up to 3 pins. The second forces them to fall back to cover (or new cover if they, intelligently, were already in cover). The third pin race towards the table edge lickety split. You can very much drive the enemy off the table with volume of fire.
TL;DR Summary:
I'm looking forward to seeing more of these rules. While superficially simple they end up yielding a surprising depth of tactical decision making. It wasn't uncommon for my opponent and myself to ponder on how we were going to setup for the next turn or even how to make our plan work the current turn. In turn 5 of our game my opponent noted that I had pre-empted his own planned series of reactions to achieve his goals.
Considering this is free and will take up about 2-2.5 hours of your time including setup and reading the rules there's no reason not to try it out. Go ahead, the link is right here.
Actual Play
There was terrible lighting and mdf playing surface so the pictures are less than inspiring. The 'bone's brigade' security force clashes with some Kasrkin from the xenophobic imperium. 
Alternative deployment ended up with both forces split in two on each flank.
You often would see setups with a unit/model loaded with reserve actions while another would run to trigger actions by the enemy. Despite the multiple interrupts it was almost always totally clear what order things would occur in.
Markers are VERY useful for this game. Reserve moves and fires need to be marked. Knowing who has been activated is pretty key as well. My tokens are a bit large, but it's also possible to use small coloured beads effectively as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment