FUBAR 40K : Adepta Sororitas vs Necrons : Part 2

When we last left the story, Canoness Valoria and the Battle Sisters in her command were pressing in on the escaping Necrons and their trophy.

The "x" markers remind me they need to check if the figure can return to the game or not. The green bead tells me the figure is suppressed.

Valoria gripped the hilt on her eviscerator and threw herself into the enemy - the whirring blade catching living metal in its teeth. In the ensuing chaos, the Untouchable broke free of his captors and took off for the nearest ruin.

It will forever drive me crazy that the corner piece is on it's side and i didn't notice until I looked at the pictures after!

Two Battle Sisters descended on the running Untouchable and brought him into their custody. But, the second squad of Necrons charged into the ranks of the Sisters and a massive scrum ensued.

It got a little messy here.

The Battle Sisters gave better than they got initially, but the fallen Necrons kept reforming, and Sisters soon began to fall. With no small risk of being overrun, Valoria took personal command of the prisoner and ordered her Sisters to fall back, firing as they went. 

That swarm never stood a chance against 13 dice of shooting.

With their Sisters safely away with the target, the remnants of Sister Angelique's squad dropped back as Sister Caterina's squad provided covering fire.

Reduced to a fraction of their starting force, the Necrons simply disappeared without trace. Moments later Valoria summoned the shuttle for extraction.

They had lost two squad leaders and five Battle Sisters but, costly though it was, it was victory for the Adepta Sororitas.

***

Some Thoughts on FUBAR

I've played many games of FUBAR and I like the rules, so nothing that follows is a deal breaker for me, just some thoughts on suitability for new players.. 

I started down this road because I ran into a situation I hadn't encountered in previous FUBAR games.

The game is a unit vs unit game - activation is by unit and all members of the unit must take the same action. However, while the assumption is multi-figure units, it supports single-figure units, like my Canoness. Some supplements even add rules for Heroes that give some single-figure units special abilities.

Now here's what I found to be a bit of wrench in the works: 

My Canoness charges a unit of Necrons and makes base-to-base contact with one of them. As written, it sounds to me that the whole Necron unit is now in close combat. And per the rules, they may move up unengaged figures that are within 3" of an attacking enemy figure.

1. How many Necrons in the unit can be moved into contact with the Canoness? That his, how many figures can attack one figure.
2. What about those figures who are not engaged or are outside of the 3" range? Can they shoot? Can they move? 
3. Can figures who are within that range, but can't make contact with a model be moved into contact in a subsequent round if a friendly figure is removed? 

The rules don't answer any of these explicitly. The players must decide for themselves.

If you have experience wargaming, you probably have some preferred way of handling the number of figures that can attack a single figure in melee. In my case, I allow three figures to contact one, but only if all other figures in the assaulting unit have been engaged by at least one enemy. 

But, what if you're new to wargaming? 

The second and third questions aren't as straightforward, in my opinion.

We know units can only take one action on their activation, different actions can't be taken by different figures in the unit - so shooting seems unlikely to be allowed. 

Fair enough, although this might strain the ol' noggin' as it seems to be unrealistic and especially so if your brain is telling you the figures are individuals even though you know it's a unit vs unit game.

But what if that unit was attacked before it activated? Can those figures still get their activation? (probably not for most of us, but someone might decide otherwise)

Even potentially more confusing, it implies a single figure can tie up an entire unit. This is useful for the side with the single-figure unit but is that what was intended?

Intended or not I like that, but again, players have to decide. 

It worked well for the Necrons - a scarab swarm was able to screen the main body of warriors as they made their exit. It worked well too for the Sisters, when, as in my example, Valoria charged the Necrons - she was able to freeze them in position at the table's edge. She's a heroic individual doing heroic things, so narratively speaking it made sense.

Per the rules,  "The combat continues at the beginning of each subsequent turn. The units involved automatically activate at that point. They cannot subsequently activate in that turn."

What does that mean for non-engaged models? Certainly, they can't shoot. The whole unit has to take the same action after all and they've been forced to activate automatically at the start of the turn.

Can those figures move if it involves moving into the close combat their unit is engaged in? If they were within 3" but couldn't make contact initially can they fill in for the fallen? 

It's not explicitly stated that non-engaged models can move up to fill openings as others of their side fall. Common sense tell us they should be able to, but the rules are silent and again, if you're new to wargaming, you might wonder if allowing it is in keeping with the designer's intent.

If you liberally interpret "Then the opponent can move up any unengaged figures that are within 3”/8cm of an assaulting enemy figure." as applying in subsequent rounds of close combat,  you can at least reason your way to supporting the conclusion if they are within that 3" range, they could move to fill in for a fallen comrade.

What about figures that were outside the 3" when the assault began? Can they move into the combat? Or do they just hold their position? 

Once again, the players need to decide. 

Again, none of this is a slam against FUBAR. Lots of sets of rules have issues like this. It does mean that I wouldn't make FUBAR my top recommendation for totally new players without guidance from an experienced gamer. 

"For my money" (they're free, so ...), they are better suited for people who have experience to draw on and fill in the gaps.  As I'm not new to wargaming by any means, I'll be returning to them undoubtedly, but for now I've got my eyes set on trying Warhammer 40k's 2nd edition rules. 

Space Weirdos Impressions

I don't really do reviews, but I feel like Space Weirdos deserves attention and so here we are.

The last review I can remember kind of sort of doing was my WWI rules overview. This is even less a proper review than that post was. 

Anyway, I'm late to the party on this, but in case anyone lands here first, here's a collection of my impressions of Space Weirdos, organized into my Pros, Cons, and the bits that I don't think are detriments to enjoyment of the game, but they could be in some situations.

Hopefully, they are useful to someone. Or at least my future self.

Target has been rescued but the escape is not guaranteed.

 Pros:

• Low figure count - 3 -8 figures average per side depending on point-size of game.
• Works with just about any infantry-type figure 
• Isn't limited to the grim dark future! Can easily work for Space Opera, Pulp, 20th C. conflicts, etc. 
• RPG-lite character creation process
• Includes ready to play samples
• Encourages naming the characters 
• Polyhedral dice 
• Interesting combat results
• Gear lists and trait lists (the latter are for leaders and warbands) 
• Command points can be spent for temporary boosts 
• Active community including a Discord server - a lot of house rules gathered into a 2nd publication
• Low cost
• Zine format
• Evocative artwork
• "Official" solo rules

Cons:

• RPG-lite character creation process takes time, more so if you have to build both sides.
• Potentially, many, many markers on the table
• Not at all clear where the 20-point limit per figure, 25 points for leaders, comes from or if exceeding those will break the game

I can't remember what happened next. Pretty sure the Plague Marine was knocked down.

Neutral:

• Command points can be spent at any point,during your move or your opponents. As I typically play solo, if I "play both sides" this adds to the cognitive load as every action has to be viewed from both perspectives in case a command point is warranted. Not an issue if using the included solo rules.
• Alternating activation by figure - I find this good for playing with others and not so enjoyable playing solo. However, the official solo rules mitigate this.
• Explicitly notes the side with more figures will have an advantage. To me that reads as a lone Space Marine Lieutenant attacked by a swarm of alien bugs may not have their usual heroic success rate.
• No vehicle rules - It doesn't need any as it's not that kind of game but maybe you want a vehicle on the table for a scenario. It's not hard to come up with something using the existing stats and values,but I know some people don't like anything that isn't "official".  
• Probably tops out around 10-12 figures per side, and would, in my mind, feel like an incredible slog at that level, especially when compared to One Hour Skirmish Wargames which moves at a good clip with 10-15 figures per side.

Conclusion

I like these rules, a lot. And I had a lot of fun playing. Despite a bit of reference to the rule book and force roster, the games felt like an emerging story, similar to an RPG.

Points-based games turn some people off, but in defense of Space Weirdos, unlike games where points and balance and gaining an edge come to dominate, that's clearly not the case here. Narrative is king in Space Weirdos. The points are just to keep things fun for all players involved.

And, although it takes time, if you ever had fun rolling up characters for RPGs just for giggles, then you'll probably enjoy building Space Weirdos warbands, too. Don't skip on naming the characters! The return on involvement with the story is immeasurable.

I recently learned that there is a builder online that lets you select from drop-downs and it calculates points plus any special notes/rules automatically. If there's any downside, it's that it doesn't (yet?) incorporate weapons, gear, or traits from the fan-made content (available in Space Weirdos: Weird Millennium).

In any case, neither the rules nor the expansion are very expensive, so if any of the above sounds good to you, you can pick them up on Wargame Vault!

 

 

Morschauser Shock Modifications for Fantasy Document

I played another game of modified Morschauser's Shock Period Rules last night - testing a few tweaks made since the last game. 

Human Heavy Infantry clashes with Marine Iguanas (Move 9", Front Melee 4, Rear Melee 2, SP 6, unarmored)

They worked well and gave an exciting game with unexpected highs and lows for both sides, and a lot of narrative flavor.

Here is a link to the document for those interested: Modifications for Morschasuer’s Shock Period Rules for Fantasy    

The modifications are intended to result in satisfying games of an hour or less, with 6 units per side, clearly in the One Hour Wargames way, and I have not tried them with more or fewer units.

Pteranodons were statted with the monster table - a mix of picking and rolling: Move 12", Melee Front 4, Rear 2, SP 8, 2d6 when attacking, and tagged with armored and flyer.

They require a copy of Morschauser's How to Play War Games in Miniature, original or the John Curry reprint as I have, to fill in the blanks.

It's inexpensive to get the e-book version and it is by far my favorite of the wargaming classics, only just behind Little Wars, and I highly recommend it.

Human hero captures the hill but the lizards would reclaim it. It would change hands several times.

I feel that 10 turns has worked well in my games with these rules using One Hour Wargames scenarios, however, if you want to play 15 turns per OHW, by all means.

This plucky unit of Geckos (bog standard Skirmishers in my modifications) held off the enemy General's unit repeatedly.

Going forward, I think, if the result is not obvious after turn 10, I may roll 1d6 and subtract 1 from the score. The result will be how many turns remain (so, on a 1, the game is over).

In the end, the humans claimed the hill, but the lizards were in clear control of the cross-roads. A tie!

The game pictured above was surprisingly well-balanced, probably by accident. 

What I find most surprising about Morschauser's approach, is that even without +/- to die rolls, only different unit stats, the different unit types feel different, and benefit from being used in ways that, to my mind, make sense. 

Now, admittedly, skirmishers holding the hill was not the best choice, but deployment was determined by die roll. 

That they held their own was a delightful surprise, and exactly what I want from the rules.

One Hour Skirmish Wargames : Kill Team

This is  a path I started down -it's fun, but I don't *love* it. Still, I figured I'd put it here for those who want to run with it.

In the files section of the One Hour Skirmish Wargames Facebook group, John Lambshead has a "patch" for 40K style power armored infantry. This patch adds an "Infantry Armor Penetration" value which I'm not really fond of - not for the reason he isn't satisfied with it, adding numerical modifiers a la the AFV rules, but because  I think in the 40K universe, as I understand it, you wouldn't have anyone on game table who *couldn't* hit a powered armored infantry person.

That's the assumption I'm starting from -which eliminates the need for numerical modifiers(except for vehicles, but I don't know anything about 40K vehicles, and since my goal is a Kill Team sized game, I'm not concerned with them). Using the dubiously legal (undoubtedly illegal) Waahpedia as well as my copy of Fire Team,  I set about porting Kill Team stats into OHSW terms - i.e. card draws.

Well there were two exceptions to that.

The first is movement. Kill Team uses some weird symbol based measurement system - I guess so GW can sell official Kill Team-approved rulers. They are easy enough to convert to inches though. Whatever the value in inches is for that model in Kill Team, that's the movement rate for the model in OHSW.

The second is action points. Kill Team and Fire Team both have these - some figures can take 3 actions, some 2, and I assume there are others with 1s or 4s but I haven't seen one. I won't go into how they work in those games, but I think saying the Kill Team action points is the number of actions that model may use in a single OHSW player phase works - subject to the usual way OHSW action points work

It means that Necrons won't ever get to move twice and attack, whereas assault intecessor marines can move twice and attack (assuming  the player draws a high enough card that phase). I think that fits with what I've gleaned from Fire Team as being true to the source.

Now some rambling I should have started with.

In Kill Team/Fire Team it's the weapon that determines how many attacks (seems reasonable, at least for guns), but also how likely the figure can hit the target (Weapon Skill or Ballistics Skill).  The latter really should apply *to the model* with the opportunity for it to vary among models of the same type. But, I guess we'll assume in the Grim Dark Future, anyone who differs from the desired standards, for good or ill, is eliminated. The Emperor protects. 

When it comes to defensive saves, the unit type matters - presumably all examples of the unit have the same armor or lack thereof.  Again, there is no room for highly dexterous or accident prone individuals despite the appearance that their could be.

OHSW has individuals and so OHSW Kill Team does too. Those abilities just add/subtract to the cards drawn - which, btw, is going to be significantly more than say, a WWII game.

Rambling over. At least that rambling.

What follows is not scientific, but in a few play tests, it worked. You will want to aim for something like 10 turns though,not 4 or 5!

OHSW KT : Grim Dark Skirmish Mod

Regular One Hour Skirmish Wargames rules apply unless otherwise indicated.

  

Table Size: 30” x 20”

Movement: Whatever the value in inches is for that model in that game owned by that company (KT), that's the distance of one move action for the model in OHSW.

Action Points: KT APL becomes the number of actions that model may take in a given OHSW player phase.

Rule Change: In close combat, attacker draws melee attack cards, and defender draws their defense cards. As a result, melee is ONE-SIDED.

Attack Dice:

Number of Attack Dice in KT	# “shots” in OHSW
6	4
5	3
4	2
3	1

Weapon or Ballistic Skill:

Skill	Cards Per Shot/Melee Attack
4+	1
3+	2
2+	3
1+	4

For Melee weapons, multiply the attack dice “Shots” by the Cards Per Melee Attack for number to number of cards for that weapon (see examples way below).

In KT, figures have both Defense (number of dice to roll) and Save (a target value for those dice).

Defense: 

Defense in KT	Extra Defense Cards OHSW
1	0
2	1
3	1
4	2
5	2
6+	3

Save:

Save in KT	Even More Extra Defense Cardsn in OHSW
6+	0
5+	1
4+	1
3+	1
2+	2
1+	3

 

Wounds:

Instead of tracking wounds, Wounds in KT give a bonus when checking for results at end of turn (Downed Check):

Wounds  <9 = 1 extra card to test if out of fight.

Wounds >=10  = 2 extra cards to test if out of fight.

Example Data Cards for OHSW KT:

Armored Space Trooper with Heavy Bolt Pistol and Chainsaw:

Move: 6”  Actions: 3  Defense: 3 cards

Downed Check: 2 extra cards

Heavy Bolt Pistol: Range: 6”, 2 shots, 2 cards per shot

Chainsaw: 6 cards (because 3 attacks, 2 cards per)

Shiny Living Metal Hibernating Robots:

Move: 4”  Actions: 2  Defense: 2 cards

Downed Check: 1 extra card

Electric Rifle: Range-infinite, 2 shots, 2 cards per shot

Short Range Double Barreled Electric Rifle: 

Range-6”, 3 shots 2 cards per shot [based on Fire Team data card]

Bayonet - 2 cards (because 1 attack, 2 cards per attack)

Hive Alien Grunt:

Move: 6”  Actions: 2   Defense: 1 card

Downed Check: 1 extra card

Fleshdigger: Range - 6”, 2 shots, 1 card per shot

Claws: 1 card (because 1 attack, 1 card per)

Disease Ridden Evil Space Troopers with  Bolt Rifle and Scary Knife

Move: 4”  Actions: 3   Defense: 3 cards

Downed Check: 2 extra cards

Bolt rifle: Range - infinite, 2 shots, 2 cards per shot

Scary knife: 2 cards (because 1 attack, 2 cards per)

Disease Ridden Evil Space Troopers with  Belcher  and Scary Knife

Move: 4”  Actions: 3   Defense: 3 cards

Downed Check: 2 extra cards

BElcher: Range - 6”, 3 shots, Blas, 3 cards per shot,

Scary knife: 2 cards (because 1 attack, 2 cards per)

Disease Ridden Evil Space Troopers with  Plasma pistol and Energy Claw

Move: 4”  Actions: 3   Defense: 3 cards

Downed Check: 2 extra cards

Plasma pistol: Range - infinite, 2 shots, 3 cards per shot

claw: 6 cards (because 3 attack, 2 cards per)

One Hour Wargames, Heroes, and Spell Casters

The game is afoot! Actually, it was two feet. I'm playing on a 24" square. I'll see myself out.

 

I have been considering how to handle Heroes and Spell Casters in my fantasy version of One Hour Wargames (my fantasy version just combines the units from Ancients, Dark Ages, and Medieval, and then adds heroes and casters). 

This past weekend I put them to a (very limited) test.

My ideas for Heroes worked well - they aren't *too* powerful, but they can do a lot. I'm thinking perhaps they should all receive 1/2 Damage in addition to the re-roll, so they can go toe-to-toe with Ancient heavy infantry.

The spell casting concept worked but I'm not convinced casting should cost the caster their regular strength points. I like it in theory mind you but it may be better to use the One Page Rules Age of Fantasy : Skirmish idea of spell points, managed separately from the health of the caster. It would be something else to manage though - and as a solo gamer, I try to minimize that.

Heroes

All heroes may re-roll attack die, but must keep 2nd score (this is taken from the OHW FB group)

For each hero, prior to the start of the game:

• Choose one of:
• 1/2 Damage Received (armor, dodge, luck)
• +2 to Range Attack
• +2 to Melee Attack
• Quick(9" movement rate on foot)
  
• Choose one of (these have no cost to the Hero): 
• Inspiring (friendly unit in base contact prior to unit action recovers1d3 points) 
• Combat Leader (friendly unit in base contact may reroll attack die, but must keep 2nd score)
• Tactics Master (friendly unit in base contact at start of that unit's movement may move up to double their movement rate)
  

Spell Casters

• Casting takes a toll on the caster. Each time a spell is cast, the caster takes damage. The "Cost" in the list below is the damage the caster takes.
  
• A Caster reduced to 0 points by casting is exhausted and removed from the battle.
• Each time a caster casts a spell, they may choose one spell from the following ten spells.  
• Casters may cast any spell from the list below.
• Casters may only cast one spell per turn.
  
• Target units, be they friend or enemy or self, cannot be in melee when the spell is cast on them. 

Optional: Casters melee at -2. This is the way the Fantasy rules on the OHW FB group do it. I don't like this, because my casters are warrior-casters, but if your concept is more like a DnD Magic-Users, then by all means.

Attack

Give the options descriptive names that fit your concept of the caster. For example, a Fire Mage might have Fire Ball, Rain of Fire, and Storm of Fire.

• Long Range Attack, range 48", cost 1, causes d6-2 damage
  
• Standard Attack, range 12",  cost 2, causes d6 damage
  
• High Power Attack, range 12", cost 3, d6 + 2 damage
  

Defense

• Shield (Self), range 0", cost 1, lasts until next turn
  
• Shield (Unit), range 6", cost 2, lasts until next turn
  
• Breathing Room, range 12", cost 3, enemy unit pushed back 3"
  

Utility

Call them what you will but these are the effects:

• Haste (Self),  range 0", cost 1, move double-sped
• Lesser Healing, unit within 6" cost 2, unit restores1d3 strength points
• Haste (Unit),  unit within 6", cost 3,  unit advances one move, does not count as their action
• Greater Healing, unit within 6", cost 4, unit restores 1d3 + 2 strength points
  

Many more spells are possible of course - in fact while typing this up, I thought of several more that might be fun. It ultimately depends on how much time you want to spend reading spell lists!