The VSF world's naval elements in HotT

Andy and I have been talking for several months about how we might include naval elements into our HotT (Hordes of the Things) games. Why? Partly the aesthetic.. we both fancy the look of some suitable fantasy and especially VSF naval 'ships'. I'd also had a taste of the use of naval elements in some DBR games with Keith.. and liked what I'd experienced. This was an itch that needed to be scratched. I am careful to make it clear however that we are NOT looking for a naval game, merely an additional layer of 'flavour' in our HotT games.

Currently the HotT rules allow for 'water lurkers', but these are relatively limited in use (as are all lurkers). That is not to say they lack use, merely that they were not quite what we were looking for. That is just a matter of taste.

We decided to see if we could take the DBR rules for Ships, Boats, and Galleys, and adapt them to HotT games. This game was out first 'play test' to see what we had. We placed the games in the Weird World War 1 genre, with our WWW1 German and British armies.

My British army contained:

1 x Hero general
1 x airboat
1 x boat
2 x riders
2 x blades
3 x shooters

Andy's German army contained:

1 x shooter general

1 x Boat

1 x Horde

3 x Blades

2 x Behemoth

2 x shooters

Deployment, with the two boats in the 'waterway' deployed to the left

While the two Boat models look very different, there is no significance in their appearance, the are both simple 'Boats'

The opening round of fire forced one of the German behemoths back

... and a British shooter back

However more telling, was the opening of the naval action when the German Boat eliminated the British Boat. Both boats were carrying their compulsory land element, and so the loss for the British cost them their Boat and a blade

Action continues on land

The German Boat advances towards the British shoreline flank

The British Airboat attacks the German horde.. a mistake as it happens, as the airboat was to be tied up in this combat for the entire game

Action is joined on the British left

The German behemoth makes a break through against a shooter element

The German Boat prepares to disembark it's blade element. Andy placed the Blade element on the Boat base simply to remind himself that it was there.

It gets very messy in the centre

Repeated attempts to eliminate the German general fail

The Germans eliminate the left flanking riders

The British Hero general is eliminated, and the battle is lost for the British

So, how did we think this all went? Basically well.

• Our DBR adaptation requires naval elements to carry one land based element (as with DBR). If we assume that is necessary (we have included that requirement for now) then I learned that when the opponent has a naval element too, it is better to disembark the land element asap.
• The adaptations are probably not a tournament option because if you are the attacker, with a naval element when your opponent doesn't and if she therefore chooses not to pace a river or waterway,, that means you've effectively lost 3 AP (even though they don't count towards losses). The same thing happens with a water lurker, but that of course is only 1 AP
• The option of a Boat vs Boat combat is interesting
• We found several more areas that need consideration. The DBR rules include March moves which don't exist in HotT. Rather than add them in (an unnecessary complication, as we don't intend to change the fundamental nature of the rules.. they work just fine) we have another plan.
• We found we needed to add in 'waterway' as a terrain feature, again essentially mirroring the DBR rules. 

Once we are happy with progress, we'll post our suggestions for comment. 

A little Firefight ...

A week earlier Adrian and I played another Firefight game (the Mantic sci fi rules system). We played  a small 1000 point game with my GCPS (GW Imperial Guard figures) versus Adrian's Asterians (GW Eldar figures). At 1000 points the game is almost too small to create the best feel with the activation system we felt, but the purpose was to build familiarity with the system.

Again, not full AAR, just some photos that give a little of the look and feel of the game. We'll be persisting with the rules, and looking soon at the warpath version.

Fleshing out the Firefight rules tests.

Another go at Firefight, the skirmish level sci fi game from mantic (and their answer to GW's 40K game). This time we upped the size to 1500 points, and added in a vehicle, some walkers, a flyer, and the use of orders to see how the game played.

Andy took the Marauders, and I took the GCPS. The mission was 'Violent encounter'. VPs are accumulated for each 5% of the enemy's strength destroyed.

The initial set-up, with Marauders on the left, GCPS on the right.

GCPS Marines rushed forward into fortified ruins to claim an objective.

Similarly a unit of Goran auxiliaries did the same

Things evolving on the GCPS left - a unit of Orc commandoes backed up with 2 units of Goblin snipers. Marines backed by autocannon and Striders thinking about being aggressive

The other orc commando unit tried to be a bit sneaky, pushing towards the Marines ensconced in the fortified ruins

Andy pushed his missile armed raptor vehicle around the Marines' right flank

Marines in the centre rained fire down on a unit of snipers, eliminating the entire unit (it had been deployed in the forest area at the top of the photo( .. not a lot of resilience there

Suppressions accumulating all across the battlefield

A unit of Marines try to move forward to take the initiative on their left, backed by the fire support of a unit of autocannons, and two striders

However the defensive fire of the commandoes on the hill, equipped with two flamers, caused devastating casualties

 This unit had been nominated under secondary objectives as a 'meat shield'. This meant that their loss did not give VPs to the enemy.

Air support arrives for the GCPS

And another air strike ...

Only the sergeant survives from the Marines on the left, and the commandoes opposing them have taken serious fire, with quite a few suppressions

The GCPS fire support platoon equipped with laser cannons is eliminated after coming after serious sniper fire

More air strikes...

At this stage we realise that the special ability of each side's commander meant that units within 12" can't be Grounded. However both sides have several units grounded at this stage, unable to shake off sufficient suppressions. This proves to be crippling for both sides. The Marauders however still have a unit of Goran auxiliaries, and several units of Goblin snipers very much intact and able to take the initiative on the battlefield.

Secondary objectives included the Marauders gaining 3 VP if their commander is alive at the end of the game. For the GCPS 1 VP was gained for each time an order was rolled for and the number of successes exceeded the number required.

The Marauders were ahead by 1 VP.. a minor victory, and so GCPS pulled back for the night.

I was surprised at how quickly units became grounded. We tended to stick to the terrain, and so I was also surprised at how little manoeuvre there was as a result. It may of course be because we haven't mastered the nuances of the rules yet.

Looking forward to another game at some stage.

Firefight get's an outing

The Warhammer 40K models don't get much of an outing here. It's true that at the moment work tends to dominate life so most of my army collections don't get much of an outing, but the 40K armies even less so. Basically we have found the rules to be overly complex, with a lot of those 'annoying itches' that leave us dissatisfied. It's a shame, because we really like the miniatures that are produced for the game.

When Mantic produced it's Warpath/Firefight rules we looked forward to trying them out, and Andy and I subscribed on Kickstarter, taking early delivery of the rules. Firefight is the 40K equivalent with single based figures fought in units. Warpath steps the level of action up so that you are fielding units made up of multi figure bases.

The core mechanisms are not new, but they are good. Think 'Epic lite' if you want a mental model around which to frame your thoughts. The turns are activation based, with clearly defined options for action in each activation. Players take turns at activating units on the table top until all available units have been activated. Notions like basic melee and fire mechanisms, and nerve, are consistent with those used in Mantic's successful mass battle fantasy game 'Kings of War'.

So Adrian, Andy and I set out to try the mechanisms .. something of  a baptism of fire. We didn't pretend to be playing a full game. Rather, I set out approximately 640 points of Marauders and GCPS with a little terrain so that we could test the core mechanics.

The play test didn't disappoint. We could very easily see the layers of subtlety implicit in the mechanisms. There are plenty of opportunities to be clever without the encumbrance of a 200 page tome of rules. The appropriate combination of weapons (fire and assault), and the ability to create suppression, seem to be the key.

Here are just a few shots of this small play test in action. The 'flame' markers indicate suppressions.

A good start. Next we'll play a proper game with a greater variety of weapons. Finally, a thinking man's sci fi game that will use those 28mm miniatures I collected and painted with so much hope.