Post by faithless on Aug 15, 2010 20:33:26 GMT -5
The Game
Players must first come to an agreement about the points size of the game. Armies may be constructed up to this size from any army list chosen, but may only be made from that army list.
Players then construct the playing field. In a 2 player game, the field is made up of 96 hexagonal zones arranged 12 wide and 8 deep. In a 3+ player game, the zones are arranged to form a hexagon, each side being 6 zones long, making a total of 91 zones. Each zone is then assigned an elevation from 0 and upwards, and a type, ranging from cover, road, impassable, and open. Cover has 2 types, being light, and heavy.
With armies assembled and the playing field finalized, players may choose a mission There are 3 main mission types, though players are encouraged to design their own unique scenarios.
The first mission is objective, where 3 objectives are placed are placed on the field. Objectives must be accessible by all unit types, and have 6 zones surrounding them. none of those zones may be adjacent to another objective. The 6 zones surrounding an objective are called contesting zones. In order to control an objective, you must have a unit occupying the objective zone, with no enemies inside any of the contesting zones. You gain 1 point for each turn you control an objective, as well as an additional point if you controlled the objective the previous turn. if, at the end of the game, you control an objective, you get 2 bonus points. if, at the end of a game, you have controlled an objective through the entire game, you gain an additional 2 points. the person at the end of the game with the most objective points wins. the game ends when a player runs out of units, concedes, or when a certain number of turns or time has passed. If a player concedes that player is assumed to lose, no matter how many points he or she had.
Next, is domination mode, where your objective is to control your enemies deployment zone, cutting off their reserves, and systematically destroy their ability to wag war. In order to win a Domination game, you must have your units positioned so that no enemy unit may be able to reserve normally onto the field. If you manage to achieve this, it doesn't matter if your enemy has special reserve types, Commanders merely recognize how dire the situation is and order a retreat. Similar to Objective mode, the game will end if a player runs out of squads, or a player concedes. The battle should continue until one of the above happens, but if players run out of time, then the battle is assumed a draw.
Last, but certainly not least, my personal favorite, Grinder. the sole purpose of grinder missions is to destroy the enemy. you gain victory points equal to the value of the squad you destroy so long as you remove its last wound. It doesn't matter who may have wounded it before, just who scores the last wound. Should you be unlucky enough to deal the last wound to a friendly squad, you have the number of victory points you would have normally gained, subtracted from your total. this can make you go below 0 victory points. the person who has the most victory points at the end of the game, wins. like other missions, the game ends when a player runs out of units, concedes, or a certain amount of turns/time has passed.
With your armies ready and waiting, the terrain set, and the mission goals established, it is time to deploy your initial forces. Different armies have different fighting styles and so will allow a different amount of units in your initial deployment. you have the first 3 rows of your half of the board to deploy your units into. A unit may not be deployed in an area they would not ordinarily be able to occupy. to find out who deploys their forces first, players may either choose to let their opponent decide, or may opt to force their opponent into first. A player that wishes to force their enemy may devote any number of Command Points to this. this represents second recon units to gather information about enemy strength and whereabouts. the player may choose to resist being forced by devoting their own number of command points. Compare the totals. if the forcing players total is higher, than that player has successfully forced the other player to deploy first. players reduce their command pool by the numbers they devoted. If the forcing players total is equal to or less than the would-be forced player, than the forcing player, is instead forced. both players pay command points normally.
Command Points. You start the game with access to 20% of your command pool. (say if you had 100 points, you start the game, and can force your opponent with, 20 points.) you gain 10% of your points each turn, starting at turn 1. (so out of 100 points, you would gain 10 points each turn.) You may never have more than 33% of your total pool available to you at one time, and any points you might have gained, are lost. all numbers are rounded normally. 10% of a 72 point pool, would be 7. 10% of a 77 point pool, would be 8.
Now, lets get down to the nuts and bolts of playing the game. A single game turn is divided into 2 phases, aptly named phase 1 and phase 2. each phase has 2 components, being the movement, and the action components.
Deciding who gets first phase is determined in much a similar manner to deciding who deploys first. One player may let the other decide, or may attempt to force.
Phase 1 has the first players Action component, and the second players Movement Component, in that order. The second phase has the second players action, and the first players movement. in that order.
At the beginning of of a players Action component, that player first calls for and attempts to mobilize reserves. The first reserve called for during a players component is free and cannot be intercepted, but are limited to a reserve cost of 5 or lower. (subject to change may replace with a number of free reserve points). every unit after the first incurs their own reserve cost, with an increasing fee on top of that. the first additional unit has an additional fee of 0, the second, of 1. the third, of 2, the fourth of 3 and so on. You may call any number of reserves, but as you can see this will quickly drain your command pool. An opposing player may attempt to intercept these reserves and delay them. a player calling an intercept devotes a number of his or her command points to the interception there must be a minimum of the cost to mobilize the reserves, +1 point devoted to this interception. the Mobilizing player may then choose to devote however many additional command points to ensure that the Reserves understand their orders. the totals are then compared. so long as the interceptors total is higher, they have been successfully intercepted and they are not mobilized this turn.
Reserve units that are successfully mobilized use their action to get onto the battlefield. The may not act further, regardless of rules, and may not move until the next turns movement. All units may use a normal reserve, in which they walk in from your field edge. Mobilized units that can outflank, must come in one of the side board edges. Units capable of Deep Strike may be placed anywhere on the field, so long as it is not impassable terrain, and it is not a zone adjacent to an enemy. All units held in reserve must declare what kind of reserve they are using, and in the case of outflanking, which board edge they are coming from.
Units that began this turn already on the field may choose to act, using either a long or short ranged attack, making an assault move, or by double-timing it and moving a single zone.
Since this is the Action phase, lets talk about attacking. You have ways 3 of attacking a target. The first, is a short ranged attack. This kind of attack is generally short ranged, but can be used after movement and does not prohibit moving such as long ranged attacks. Long ranged attacks are precisely that. Attacks made over longer ranges. The requirement of stable firing platforms or set-up times generally prohibit any movement in the turn a unit wishes to make a long ranged attack. Lastly, there are Assaults. Assaults are made to get units into melee combat with enemy units. The advantage is that those enemy units may no longer make ranged attacks, until the enemy is dealt with.
Ranged attacks are made as follows. find the path of the attack, counting the zones between you and your target. the targets zone adds to this tally. so if the path of the attack has 3 zones between you and your target, the range of it is actually 4 zones. The number of zones the target is away, may not exceed the range of the weapon. in the event that there are 2 or more paths between your unit and your target of equal length, take the average of their modifiers to apply, rounding to the closest whole number. Each unit, friendly or otherwise, or piece of heavy cover provides a -1 modifier to your ranged strength Do not count the zone the target is inside. if your target is located inside light cover, they gain +1 defense. Heavy cover provides +2 defense. Each point of elevation you have above your target provides a +1 modifier to your strength, to a maximum modifier of 2. One of the trickier parts of line of sight has to deal with elevation. if you and your opponent are on the same elevation, but the path of your attack passes through an elevation 1 or more points above you, this blocks your sight. in the event there is more than 1 path, assume that each sight blocking path provides heavy cover, average, round, and apply to the defender.
should your firing unit be in a tower of elevation of lets say, 5, and are 5 zones away from your target. immediately next to your target, and on your path, is a hill of elevation 1. following the firing path, take the slope of each point from the target. the change in elevation above being the rise, and the number of zones away from the target they are being the run. in our example, the slope is 1. since your unit is 5 zones away, and is at an elevation of 5, the enemy unit is considered to be, in sight. were the hill any higher, however, you would not have sight. if you were any lower, you would not have sight either.
After all modifiers have been applied, commanders may choose to devote command points to boost their side of the fight. This represents attacks waiting for the perfect moments to pick the perfect targets and achieve maximum damage. Conversely, units receiving fire will find and make use of whatever cover they can to protect themselves. no more points may be devoted than the modified values they may be boosting. Example, a strength 5 ranged attack fires through an enemy unit in heavy cover, to reach another target in light cover. the strength of 5 has been reduced to 3, and assuming the enemies defense was 2, it was increased to 3. either player may then devote up to 3 command points to try and boost their combat performance.
Should you feel that one unit doesn't have enough potential to damage their enemy with their ranged weapons alone, they may make a combined ranged attack with a friendly unit that is adjacent to, and within 1 point of elevation. the combined unit must be able to draw a path to the target in order to contribute, and uses its action to do so. you may choose which unit acts as the primary firer, and each contributing unit past the first adds half of their ranged power (rounded normally) to the main unit.
A unit may use their action to charge into close combat with their enemy. This is the only time that a friendly unit may move into the zone adjacent to an enemy. an assault move obeys the normal movement restraints for a unit of the assaulting type.
Melee. If one unit charges into close combat with another, that unit gains their charge bonus during that phase. A unit does not gain their charge bonus if they charged from, or into cover. Units in combat use both their defense, and assault power against the enemies. Players may then also devote command points to boosting the combat, using the modified assault and defense numbers. as like shooting, you may not exceed the modified numbers in devoted command points.
The advantage of assaulting an enemy, is that the enemy cannot freely move away from you, due to being locked in combat. Also, do to the more pressing matter of fighting for their lives, they cannot make ranged attacks, they may only choose to continue the assault in their own action.
A combined melee attack must be made if there are 2 or more units in combat with 1 or more enemy units, and those friendly units are adjacent to each other. they must also make a combined attack back. Should you lose a combat when you are making a combined melee attack, all units contributing o the attack take a wound. these attacks are made in the exact same fashion as a ranged attack.
Damage is dealt so long as your total is higher than the enemies. if your total is more than double the enemies, you deal 2 points of damage. if your total is triple the enemies, you deal 3 points, and so on. Each point of damage removes a point of toughness from the affected enemy (or friendly) units. Each unit with less toughness than its starting amount, loses 1 from all their strengths for each point of toughness they have lost. Ranged attacks fail if your enemies defense total is equal to or higher than your attack. nothing happens. During close combat, however, if your total is less than your enemies, you instead take damage. should the results be the same in a close combat however, the combat is a tie and continues.
A unit that manages to destroy an enemy unit in close combat, provided it is not still in combat with another enemy unit, may make a free move. this is treated as a move made in the movement component, and may not be used to get into combat again.
Movement Component. During the movement component any units that have not fired long ranged weapons, or are involved in a combat, may move up to their movement value. its that simple. Units that do choose to move may not use a long ranged attack, if they moved during phase 1 and act during phase 2. Most units, namely Infantry type, can only safely move up or down 1 zone of elevation per point of movement. Jump Infantry, with their special jet packs or warp generators, are capable of moving 2 points of elevation. This also affects whether or not they can assault or assist in a combined ranged attack.
Players must first come to an agreement about the points size of the game. Armies may be constructed up to this size from any army list chosen, but may only be made from that army list.
Players then construct the playing field. In a 2 player game, the field is made up of 96 hexagonal zones arranged 12 wide and 8 deep. In a 3+ player game, the zones are arranged to form a hexagon, each side being 6 zones long, making a total of 91 zones. Each zone is then assigned an elevation from 0 and upwards, and a type, ranging from cover, road, impassable, and open. Cover has 2 types, being light, and heavy.
With armies assembled and the playing field finalized, players may choose a mission There are 3 main mission types, though players are encouraged to design their own unique scenarios.
The first mission is objective, where 3 objectives are placed are placed on the field. Objectives must be accessible by all unit types, and have 6 zones surrounding them. none of those zones may be adjacent to another objective. The 6 zones surrounding an objective are called contesting zones. In order to control an objective, you must have a unit occupying the objective zone, with no enemies inside any of the contesting zones. You gain 1 point for each turn you control an objective, as well as an additional point if you controlled the objective the previous turn. if, at the end of the game, you control an objective, you get 2 bonus points. if, at the end of a game, you have controlled an objective through the entire game, you gain an additional 2 points. the person at the end of the game with the most objective points wins. the game ends when a player runs out of units, concedes, or when a certain number of turns or time has passed. If a player concedes that player is assumed to lose, no matter how many points he or she had.
Next, is domination mode, where your objective is to control your enemies deployment zone, cutting off their reserves, and systematically destroy their ability to wag war. In order to win a Domination game, you must have your units positioned so that no enemy unit may be able to reserve normally onto the field. If you manage to achieve this, it doesn't matter if your enemy has special reserve types, Commanders merely recognize how dire the situation is and order a retreat. Similar to Objective mode, the game will end if a player runs out of squads, or a player concedes. The battle should continue until one of the above happens, but if players run out of time, then the battle is assumed a draw.
Last, but certainly not least, my personal favorite, Grinder. the sole purpose of grinder missions is to destroy the enemy. you gain victory points equal to the value of the squad you destroy so long as you remove its last wound. It doesn't matter who may have wounded it before, just who scores the last wound. Should you be unlucky enough to deal the last wound to a friendly squad, you have the number of victory points you would have normally gained, subtracted from your total. this can make you go below 0 victory points. the person who has the most victory points at the end of the game, wins. like other missions, the game ends when a player runs out of units, concedes, or a certain amount of turns/time has passed.
With your armies ready and waiting, the terrain set, and the mission goals established, it is time to deploy your initial forces. Different armies have different fighting styles and so will allow a different amount of units in your initial deployment. you have the first 3 rows of your half of the board to deploy your units into. A unit may not be deployed in an area they would not ordinarily be able to occupy. to find out who deploys their forces first, players may either choose to let their opponent decide, or may opt to force their opponent into first. A player that wishes to force their enemy may devote any number of Command Points to this. this represents second recon units to gather information about enemy strength and whereabouts. the player may choose to resist being forced by devoting their own number of command points. Compare the totals. if the forcing players total is higher, than that player has successfully forced the other player to deploy first. players reduce their command pool by the numbers they devoted. If the forcing players total is equal to or less than the would-be forced player, than the forcing player, is instead forced. both players pay command points normally.
Command Points. You start the game with access to 20% of your command pool. (say if you had 100 points, you start the game, and can force your opponent with, 20 points.) you gain 10% of your points each turn, starting at turn 1. (so out of 100 points, you would gain 10 points each turn.) You may never have more than 33% of your total pool available to you at one time, and any points you might have gained, are lost. all numbers are rounded normally. 10% of a 72 point pool, would be 7. 10% of a 77 point pool, would be 8.
Now, lets get down to the nuts and bolts of playing the game. A single game turn is divided into 2 phases, aptly named phase 1 and phase 2. each phase has 2 components, being the movement, and the action components.
Deciding who gets first phase is determined in much a similar manner to deciding who deploys first. One player may let the other decide, or may attempt to force.
Phase 1 has the first players Action component, and the second players Movement Component, in that order. The second phase has the second players action, and the first players movement. in that order.
At the beginning of of a players Action component, that player first calls for and attempts to mobilize reserves. The first reserve called for during a players component is free and cannot be intercepted, but are limited to a reserve cost of 5 or lower. (subject to change may replace with a number of free reserve points). every unit after the first incurs their own reserve cost, with an increasing fee on top of that. the first additional unit has an additional fee of 0, the second, of 1. the third, of 2, the fourth of 3 and so on. You may call any number of reserves, but as you can see this will quickly drain your command pool. An opposing player may attempt to intercept these reserves and delay them. a player calling an intercept devotes a number of his or her command points to the interception there must be a minimum of the cost to mobilize the reserves, +1 point devoted to this interception. the Mobilizing player may then choose to devote however many additional command points to ensure that the Reserves understand their orders. the totals are then compared. so long as the interceptors total is higher, they have been successfully intercepted and they are not mobilized this turn.
Reserve units that are successfully mobilized use their action to get onto the battlefield. The may not act further, regardless of rules, and may not move until the next turns movement. All units may use a normal reserve, in which they walk in from your field edge. Mobilized units that can outflank, must come in one of the side board edges. Units capable of Deep Strike may be placed anywhere on the field, so long as it is not impassable terrain, and it is not a zone adjacent to an enemy. All units held in reserve must declare what kind of reserve they are using, and in the case of outflanking, which board edge they are coming from.
Units that began this turn already on the field may choose to act, using either a long or short ranged attack, making an assault move, or by double-timing it and moving a single zone.
Since this is the Action phase, lets talk about attacking. You have ways 3 of attacking a target. The first, is a short ranged attack. This kind of attack is generally short ranged, but can be used after movement and does not prohibit moving such as long ranged attacks. Long ranged attacks are precisely that. Attacks made over longer ranges. The requirement of stable firing platforms or set-up times generally prohibit any movement in the turn a unit wishes to make a long ranged attack. Lastly, there are Assaults. Assaults are made to get units into melee combat with enemy units. The advantage is that those enemy units may no longer make ranged attacks, until the enemy is dealt with.
Ranged attacks are made as follows. find the path of the attack, counting the zones between you and your target. the targets zone adds to this tally. so if the path of the attack has 3 zones between you and your target, the range of it is actually 4 zones. The number of zones the target is away, may not exceed the range of the weapon. in the event that there are 2 or more paths between your unit and your target of equal length, take the average of their modifiers to apply, rounding to the closest whole number. Each unit, friendly or otherwise, or piece of heavy cover provides a -1 modifier to your ranged strength Do not count the zone the target is inside. if your target is located inside light cover, they gain +1 defense. Heavy cover provides +2 defense. Each point of elevation you have above your target provides a +1 modifier to your strength, to a maximum modifier of 2. One of the trickier parts of line of sight has to deal with elevation. if you and your opponent are on the same elevation, but the path of your attack passes through an elevation 1 or more points above you, this blocks your sight. in the event there is more than 1 path, assume that each sight blocking path provides heavy cover, average, round, and apply to the defender.
should your firing unit be in a tower of elevation of lets say, 5, and are 5 zones away from your target. immediately next to your target, and on your path, is a hill of elevation 1. following the firing path, take the slope of each point from the target. the change in elevation above being the rise, and the number of zones away from the target they are being the run. in our example, the slope is 1. since your unit is 5 zones away, and is at an elevation of 5, the enemy unit is considered to be, in sight. were the hill any higher, however, you would not have sight. if you were any lower, you would not have sight either.
After all modifiers have been applied, commanders may choose to devote command points to boost their side of the fight. This represents attacks waiting for the perfect moments to pick the perfect targets and achieve maximum damage. Conversely, units receiving fire will find and make use of whatever cover they can to protect themselves. no more points may be devoted than the modified values they may be boosting. Example, a strength 5 ranged attack fires through an enemy unit in heavy cover, to reach another target in light cover. the strength of 5 has been reduced to 3, and assuming the enemies defense was 2, it was increased to 3. either player may then devote up to 3 command points to try and boost their combat performance.
Should you feel that one unit doesn't have enough potential to damage their enemy with their ranged weapons alone, they may make a combined ranged attack with a friendly unit that is adjacent to, and within 1 point of elevation. the combined unit must be able to draw a path to the target in order to contribute, and uses its action to do so. you may choose which unit acts as the primary firer, and each contributing unit past the first adds half of their ranged power (rounded normally) to the main unit.
A unit may use their action to charge into close combat with their enemy. This is the only time that a friendly unit may move into the zone adjacent to an enemy. an assault move obeys the normal movement restraints for a unit of the assaulting type.
Melee. If one unit charges into close combat with another, that unit gains their charge bonus during that phase. A unit does not gain their charge bonus if they charged from, or into cover. Units in combat use both their defense, and assault power against the enemies. Players may then also devote command points to boosting the combat, using the modified assault and defense numbers. as like shooting, you may not exceed the modified numbers in devoted command points.
The advantage of assaulting an enemy, is that the enemy cannot freely move away from you, due to being locked in combat. Also, do to the more pressing matter of fighting for their lives, they cannot make ranged attacks, they may only choose to continue the assault in their own action.
A combined melee attack must be made if there are 2 or more units in combat with 1 or more enemy units, and those friendly units are adjacent to each other. they must also make a combined attack back. Should you lose a combat when you are making a combined melee attack, all units contributing o the attack take a wound. these attacks are made in the exact same fashion as a ranged attack.
Damage is dealt so long as your total is higher than the enemies. if your total is more than double the enemies, you deal 2 points of damage. if your total is triple the enemies, you deal 3 points, and so on. Each point of damage removes a point of toughness from the affected enemy (or friendly) units. Each unit with less toughness than its starting amount, loses 1 from all their strengths for each point of toughness they have lost. Ranged attacks fail if your enemies defense total is equal to or higher than your attack. nothing happens. During close combat, however, if your total is less than your enemies, you instead take damage. should the results be the same in a close combat however, the combat is a tie and continues.
A unit that manages to destroy an enemy unit in close combat, provided it is not still in combat with another enemy unit, may make a free move. this is treated as a move made in the movement component, and may not be used to get into combat again.
Movement Component. During the movement component any units that have not fired long ranged weapons, or are involved in a combat, may move up to their movement value. its that simple. Units that do choose to move may not use a long ranged attack, if they moved during phase 1 and act during phase 2. Most units, namely Infantry type, can only safely move up or down 1 zone of elevation per point of movement. Jump Infantry, with their special jet packs or warp generators, are capable of moving 2 points of elevation. This also affects whether or not they can assault or assist in a combined ranged attack.